#cdreviews

Crate Digger’s Corner…by DJ Musically Rich

Here is the last part to my 2017 list. For those that missed the earlier parts (and haven’t taken a look at it yet), I’m giving a quick list of albums that I heard from 2017. I may do a listening to some of the ones that I know I like, but want to revisit, and use that as an opportunity to review some of those more deeply (If there are any you see that you would particularly like to see a review of, leave a note). This is the list of reissues, live material and compilations that I heard from 2017.

Artist- Album (general genre)- and brief description

Dennis Coffey- Hot Coffey In The D (jazz-funk/R&B)- One of the guitarists for The Funk Brothers (the house band for the Motown label) releases  a set from Detroit in 1968. He covers jazz, pop, funk and gospel all wrapped in the sound of his guitar/organ/drums trio. A fantastic set, and the other set from this night has since been released CD.

Sleater-Kinney- Live In Paris (rock/punk)- This is a strong concert from Paris for the Sleater-Kinney crew from 2015 in support of their album “No Cities To Love”.

Gentle Giant- Three Piece Suit (progressive rock)- This is a collection of songs, remixed by Steven Wilson for both stereo and 5.1 sound, from the first three albums by Gentle Giant. It was limited to these 9 songs plus one demo because they were the only multi-tracks that hadn’t been lost from those albums. The Blu-ray has the 5.1 and, I believe, expanded stereo versions of the album and the instrumental tracks from the album. The Blu-ray also has the first three full albums in their original album mixes. The CD includes the new album, remixed for stereo by Steven Wilson, and a bonus track. That is the Steven Wilson 7” edit of Nothing At All. This is a fantastic deal for people looking for not only some high quality audio of Gentle Giant, but also interested in obtaining their first three albums for a very reasonable price.

Prince And The Revolution- Purple Rain (R&B)-  The iconic ‘80s album gets the full Deluxe Edition treatment. The original album containing hits ‘Let’s Go Crazy’, ‘Take Me With U’, ‘When Doves Cry’, ‘I Would Die 4 U’ and ‘Purple Rain’ amongst other great songs is presented in the 2015 Paisley Park remaster. The second disc is full of unreleased songs and an alternate version of ‘Computer Blue’ and ‘Electric Intercourse’. The third disc has all the single edits and B-sides from the album. The final disc is a DVD of the live show at the Carrier Dome on the Syracuse campus from 3/30/1985. This is an excellent edition for people who know the original album inside and out.

Jerry Garcia And Merle Saunders- Garcia Live, Volume 9: 8/11/1974, Keystone Berkley (rock/jamband)- Another excellent release in the Garcia Live series which has this group playing, mostly, a mixture of R&B and rock classics.

Gary Clark, Jr.- Live/North America 2016 (blues rock)- Gary Clark, Jr. releases this live album following his second major label album. Despite the short time span since his last live album, which followed his first major label album, there are only two songs repeated between the two albums. If you want to see if you enjoy Gary Clark, Jr. live albums (or live in concert) is the way to find out.

King Crimson- Live In Chicago (progressive rock)- King Crimson played Chicago on 7/28/2017 (this is the show after I saw them in Minneapolis a night or two before) and they had the tape rolling. As was the case with the show that I saw, they put on a great show. Fripp’s crew used everything in their bag to play songs from all eras of Crimson and put it together for this three-headed drummer Crimson band. If you’re a fan and are curious to what they are sounding like these days, this (or any of their recent live releases) is a good place to start.

King Crimson- The Elements 2017 Tour Box (progressive rock)- Each year before they start their world tour, they release a 2CD mix of King Crimson material that spans all eras of the band and can include anything Fripp has in his vault. That includes live material, unreleased studio material, etc. Some of it has been previously released (typically some of the live cuts) but he makes sure that everything has the   flow of a wonderful album or concert. Everything always is of excellent sound quality and you would not know that these songs weren’t necessarily prepared for release before this.

Grateful Dead- Get Shown The Light, May 5-9: New Haven, CT > Boston, MA > Ithaca, NY > Buffalo, NY (rock/jamband)- This is the run of shows many consider to be their best all-time, and many consider the Ithaca, NY (Cornell) to be their best show ever. Another candidate for that is often the Buffalo show. What I can say is that this is definitely a highly entertaining quartet of shows!

Here are the last albums I heard from 2017, and this isn’t necessarily a ranking, just in the order that I was writing them down. I hope you enjoy and happy hunting!

Crate Digger’s Corner…by DJ Musically Rich

(If you’d like to listen to a track from the album as you read, go to the end of the post to start the song)

For today’s Crate Digger’s Corner I’m listening to the sophomore effort from Lenny Kravitz, “Mama Said”. Much like his 1989 debut, “Let Love Rule”, Kravitz performs most of the instruments himself, but has a little help from friends and studio musicians. Some of the bigger names include Slash (Guns ‘n’ Roses), Sean Lennon and Karl Denson (who was also on the debut). Musically, this album mines similar territory to his debut combining the feel of ‘70s era rock, funk/R&B and its pop sensibilities. It has a nice mix of uptempo, mid-tempo and slow burners or ballads to keep the album varied while still feeling cohesive. It also has the highest charting hit of Kravitz’s career (and at this point, I think it’s safe to say, probably the highest charting hit he’ll ever have).

‘Fields Of Joy’ sets the stage for “Mama Said”. This is a lovely, acoustic track that has a biting electric guitar solo in the middle of the song provided by Slash. He also co-wrote and played on the second song, the funky ‘Always On The Run’.  Early on in the album we get the incredibly catchy ‘It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over’, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Pop charts. There is also the Curtis Mayfield inspired ‘What Goes Around Comes Around’ with its Superfly-ish vibe and a nice sax solo by Karl Denson. That is followed by ‘The Difference Is Why’ a psychedelic ballad with a cool reverb sound on the guitar.

A few songs after is the lullaby Kravitz wrote for his daughter, the beautiful ‘Flowers For Zoe’. That is followed by the return, in a very different feel, of ‘Fields Of Joy (Reprise)’. The reprise has a number of studio effects being used in the song that are reminiscent of what The Beatles were doing in the studio during some of their more experimental songs. ‘What The …. Are We Saying?’ is another slow burning song with psychedelic keyboard effects being used to envelop the song. That leads to a short, beautiful acoustic ballad called ‘Butterfly’ to end the album.

There was no sophomore slump for Lenny Kravitz on this album. He picks up right where he left off with “Let Love Rule” and delivers another gem. For fans of ‘70s funk or rock, this album will be right up your alley.

Stars 4/5

Available on: CD/Cass/LP

RIYL: Curtis Mayfield- Superfly/  Prince- Purple Rain/ Marvin Gaye- What’s Going On/ Amp Fiddler- Waltz Of A Ghetto Fly

To see photos of other albums in my collection follow my IG: djmusicallyrich

To listen to a track from the album…

‘What Goes Around Comes Around’