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SACD

James Taylor – October Road (2002) [SACD / Columbia – CS 63584]

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Title: James Taylor – October Road (2002)
Genre: Acoustic, Soft Rock
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

James Taylor’s 15th studio album of his first new recordings in 32 years is, if possible, even more familiar and self-referential than ever. By now, it is an article of faith that you could take practically any track from any Taylor album and put it on another one without disturbing the mood, and that is as true of the songs here as it is of those on the other 14. That warm (if slightly deepened) tenor, singing in its odd accent which combines New England and the North Carolina Piedmont, and that acoustic guitar, with its sparkling, unhurried fingerpicking, remain the most prominent elements in the sound. But even more, October Road finds Taylor seemingly intent on evoking his own past. The title track, of course, recalls his song “Country Road,” and “Caroline I See You,” (even if it refers specifically to his wife), inescapably echoes “Carolina in My Mind.” Also, Taylor deliberately recycles themes from his earlier work. “October Road” begins, “Well I’m going back down maybe one more time,” while “My Traveling Star” ends, “And shame on me for sure/For one more highway song.” Throughout, on what seem like the most personal songs he has written in decades, Taylor appears to be commenting on a second chance he feels he has received, and though he couches the negative aspects in humor (“Mean Old Man,” whose subject is the singer, ends with a dog joke, and “Raised Up Family,” which contains recriminations, tosses in a musical reference to Gilligan’s Island), there are strong hints of a man who feels he’s been rescued. As such, it is perhaps fitting (if seasonally curious for an album released in the summer) to conclude with “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” a holiday song from wartime that reaffirms the importance of family in a world gone awry.

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2 min read

SACD

James Scholfield – All Stations (2004) [SACD / Challenge Jazz – SACHR 70120]

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Title: James Scholfield – All Stations (2004)
Genre: Jazz
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

James Scholfield is born in Manchester, England and moved to South Africa in his childhood. After playing in all kind of different bands he was bitten by the Jazz-bug. That made him decide to study at the excellent Jazz scholl in Graz, Austria for several years, but South Africa eventually pulled him back. In Cape Town he met Dutch producer/bassplayer Hein Van de Geyn, who was visiting South Africa at that time. Hein immediately was impressed, not only by his excellent playing, but also by his prolific compositions. As you will hear yourself James’ music has a very personal signature, deeply rooted in the tradition, hints of the Cape, on the edge and above all original. Not too long after hearing James’ demo Hein bumped into Dutch hammond player Arno Krijger and he immediately realised that he should get these two wonderful musicians together at some point. The only thing they missed (according to Hein) was a great drummer. In his mind it couldn’t be anybody else than the amazing, exciting Billy Hart. And if it had to be, Billy was up to it and even better, going to be on tour. So now they had a tour and the possibility to record. The result of their wonderful week, of great music and good food can be heard on this CD. It’s strong, potent, gentle, sensitive, grooving, original, accesible and creative. And on top of all that recorded in the SACD format, which gives this music even more intensivety then a normal recording would do. So listen and enjoy!

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2 min read

SACD

James Horner – Titanic: Music From The Motion Picture (1997) [Reissue 2003] [SACD / Sony Classical – SH93091]

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Title: James Horner – Titanic: Music From The Motion Picture (1997) [Reissue 2003]
Genre: Soundtrack
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

James Horner’s score for James Cameron’s epic romance Titanic is much like the film itself — against all expectations, it delivers exactly what it promises. His score is grand, without falling into typical melodrama, and delicately romantic, without being sickly sentimental; it offers genuine emotion and excitement, with the haunting vocals of Norwegian singer Sissel providing a nice counterpoint to Horner’s blend of strings, vocals, orchestras, and synthesizers. Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” may feel a little like an afterthought, especially after experiencing Horner’s wrenching, affecting score, but its heart is in the right place. Nevertheless, it is Horner’s instrumental work and its whirlwind of emotions that makes the score of Titanic a voyage worth repeating.

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1 min read

SACD

James Horner – A Beautiful Mind: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2002) [SACD / Decca – 440 018 139-2]

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Title: James Horner – A Beautiful Mind: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2002)
Genre: Soundtrack
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

This Ron Howard film parlays the troubled story of Nobel laureate John Forbes Nash Jr., a gifted Princeton mathematics professor tormented for decades by paranoid schizophrenia, into something considerably richer than typical Hollywood triumph-against-all-odds fare. Howard has teamed here again with frequent collaborator James Horner, and it’s the composer who deftly shades the film’s difficult emotional landscape and helps impart a compelling humanity. Horner’s first task is not inconsiderable: musically portraying the arcane realm of mathematical theorems that are the story’s backdrop. In doing so, the composer leans heavily on modern minimalist technique, bright flourishes that recur briefly throughout an orchestral score that increasingly reflects Nash’s bleak inner landscape in its quietly somber and brooding tones. And while Horner has frequently been accused of excessively repeating himself in his scores, the neo-minimalist gambit employed on this reflectively pastoral, postmodernist soundscape neatly nips such criticism in the bud. Nash’s triumph is ultimately an intensely personal one, well reflected in Welsh soprano Charlotte Church’s lilting performance of the Horner/Will Jennings ballad “All Love Can Be”.

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2 min read

SACD

James Gang – The Best Of The James Gang (1973) [Analogue Productions 2019] [SACD / Analogue Productions – CAPP 120 SA]

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Title: James Gang – The Best Of The James Gang (1973) [Analogue Productions 2019]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

The James Gang was an American rock band formed in Kent, Ohio in 1966. The band went through a variety of line-up changes until they recorded their first album as a power trio consisting of Joe Walsh (guitars, lead vocals), Tom Kriss (bass) and Jim Fox (drums). Dale Peters replaced Kriss on bass for the band’s second and third albums. The band had two hit songs, “Funk #49” and “Walk Away”, which continue to be popular on classic rock and AOR stations. In 1972, Walsh left to pursue a solo career and would later join the Eagles. The band continued on with a variety of other guitarists and lead singers to replace Walsh, but failed to produce a hit song over the course of six more studio albums and broke up in 1977. Various incarnations have reformed for several reunions since then.

On this compilation you’ll hear James Gang favorites including the FM radio staple “Funk #49,” – kick-started by the outspoken declaration “I sleep all day, out all nightI know where you’re goin'” – the sexual thrust of the head-bobbing “Woman,” and proto-metal slash of the multi-part “The Bomber.” The rest of the track list is just as steeped in psychedelic-and-blues-leaning discourse. “Midnight Man,” “Stop,” “Yadig?” “Take A Look Around,” “Funk #48,” “Walk Away” and the Jack Nitzsche-orchestrated “Ashes the Rain and I” are rounded out by Walsh’s Echoplex-equipped slide guitar, and his trio-mates, band founder Jim Fox on drums, piano and vocals, and bassist Tom Kriss, later replaced by Dale Peters. The James Gang burning on stage with the audience getting higher and higher. Listen — this is American music — strong, inventive and clean.

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2 min read

SACD

James Gang – James Gang Rides Again (1970) [MFSL 2017] [SACD / Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab – UDSACD 2195]

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Title: James Gang – James Gang Rides Again (1970) [MFSL 2017]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

With their second album Rides Again, the James Gang came into their own. Under the direction of guitarist Joe Walsh, the group – now featuring bassist Dale Peters – began incorporating keyboards into their hard rock, which helped open up their musical horizons. For much of the first side of Rides Again, the group tear through a bunch of boogie numbers, most notably the heavy groove of “Funk #49.” On the second side, the James Gang departs from their trademark sound, adding keyboard flourishes and elements of country-rock to their hard rock. Walsh’s songwriting had improved, giving the band solid support for their stylistic experiments. What ties the two sides of the record together is the strength of the band’s musicianship, which burns brightly and powerfully on the hardest rockers, as well as on the sensitive ballads.

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1 min read

SACD

James Carter – Gardenias For Lady Day (2003) [SACD / Columbia – CH 89032]

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Title: James Carter – Gardenias For Lady Day (2003)
Genre: Jazz
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

As James Carter’s career has progressed he’s always attempted something new, never just producing an album without building on the previous one. On this album of Billy Holiday tracks he not only places himself within the confines of what could seen as an album of covers,(relatively well known tunes as well) but also chooses to add strings to the mix, as well as three tracks with vocalist Miche Braden. That it works so well and so effectively is a tribute to both Carter and his arrangers Greg Cohen and Cassius Richmond.

Following up his 2000 tribute to guitarist Django Reinhardt, Chasin’ the Gypsy, saxophonist James Carter pays homage to iconic jazz singer Billie Holiday on Gardenias for Lady Day. Perhaps never before has the jazz iconoclast balanced so perfectly his “big top” avant-garde leanings with his more pinstriped traditionalist aesthetic. This is a beautiful album that revels as much in classic melody as it does in Carter’s most torrid saxophone “skronk.” Although the album largely succeeds on Carter’s virtuosic performance, it gains most of its character from the deft and unpredictable orchestral arrangements of Greg Cohen and fellow Detroiter Cassius Richmond. In particular, Richmond brings a cinematic quality to the album with his treatments of “Sunset,” “I Wonder Where Our Love Is Gone,” and “Gloria” that breathe and swell, rubbing dramatically against Carter’s muscular sound. Similarly, Cohen — who has worked with such N.Y.C. downtown scenesters as John Zorn, David Byrne, and Tom Waits — brings a quirky and epic quality to his tracks. Featuring a very Nina Simone-esque performance by vocalist Miche Braden, Holiday’s most famous number, “Strange Fruit,” is magnified by Cohen into a brooding film noir that ultimately descends into an apocalyptic barrage of screams and wails, with Carter and Braden manifesting all the anguish and anger the song implies. It is unclear if the orchestra and band recorded at the same time, but even if they did not, Carter’s stellar rhythm section featuring pianist John Hicks, drummer Victor Lewis, and bassist Peter Washington lends an organic quality to the proceedings that feels natural and lithe. Continuing to display a unique and singular vision, Carter has crafted a fittingly urbane, elegant, and unnerving album that celebrates both Holiday’s haunting spirituality and earthy sexuality.

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3 min read

SACD

James & Lucky Peterson – If You Can’t Fix It (2004) [SACD / JSP Records – JSP5100]

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Title: James & Lucky Peterson – If You Can’t Fix It (2004)
Genre: Blues
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Lucky Peterson is an American musician who plays contemporary blues, fusing soul, R&B, gospel and rock and roll. He plays guitar and keyboards. Music journalist Tony Russell, in his book The Blues – From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray has said, “he may be the only blues musician to have had national television exposure in short pants”. A rare new release from the folk and blues reissue specialist label JSP, James & Lucky Peterson’s If You Can’t Fix It is the first full-length collaboration by the father and son bluesmen. Neither man overshadows the other, as they take turns showcasing their own songs and each man’s uniformly fine guitar playing. The best track by far is James’ fiery “Cripple Man,” one of his most passionate and driven performances in years, on a song that has the potential to become a modern Chicago-style blues standard. Lucky’s standout is the epic “Too Young to Die,” which evolves into an extended guitar duel between father and son. In a rather unusual turn for traditional electric blues recordings, If You Can’t Fix It was released in the nascent SACD format before it was available as a standard compact disc.

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2 min read

SACD

Jakob Lindberg – John Dowland: The Complete Solo Lute Music (1994/2008) [SACD / BIS – BIS-SACD-1724]

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Title: Jakob Lindberg – John Dowland: The Complete Solo Lute Music (1994/2008)
Genre: Classical
Format: SACD ISO

NB Ultra Extended Playing Time – This product can only be played on a machine with SACD capability (super audio single layer). It cannot be played on a conventional CD player. This pioneering recording, which was first released in 1995 as a set of four conventional CDs, contains the complete solo lute pieces ascribed to John Dowland. As opposed to the composer’s lute songs and instrumental dances, which Dowland himself carefully prepared for publication, his lute solos have survived in much less reliable versions. Jakob Lindberg, lute professor at the Royal College of Music, brought all of his expertise to bear in preparing the scores and choosing among variant versions for his recordings, and also wrote the informative liner notes included in this edition. Dowland’s solo lute music is extraordinarily varied and ranges from light frivolous pieces to profound works expressing the darkest melancholy. It is characterized by an uncommon tunefulness and many of the pieces were given texts to become lute songs, one example being his famous pavan Lachrimæ which he also published as the song Flow my teares. This also applies to several of the many galliards – a genre which also shows a wonderful diversity: extrovert dances inspired by 16th-century ‘battle pieces’ but also sublime, introvert and sweet-sounding pieces such as the Melancholy Galliard. In order to perform these 92 pieces, Dowland’s testament to lutenists, Jakob Lindberg uses three different instruments, first and foremost an 8-course lute but also a 10-course lute and an 8-course orpharion.

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2 min read

SACD

Jacques Loussier Trio – The Best Of Play Bach (2004) [SACD / Telarc Surround – SACD-63590]

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Title: Jacques Loussier Trio – The Best Of Play Bach (2004)
Genre: Classical
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Jacques Loussier came up with his Play Bach jazz conceptions while still in the conservatory around 1950. He started recording them in 1959, and he’s been at it ever since, adapting other classical composers along the way, but always returning to Bach. It made sense then, and it makes sense now, for Bach’s linear, continuo-driven, contrapuntal style has always implied a swinging pulse; even some inspired, if strictly score-bound classical recordings of Bach sound as if they are poised for takeoff. These recordings are not the originals, though; they are remakes made in France in the mid-’90s (from Plays Bach and The Bach Book) and compiled by Telarc a decade later to coincide with Loussier’s 70th birthday year. No real surprises here; the repertory is mostly basic-repertoire Bach favorites, which Loussier alternates straight classical playing with straight-ahead, elegant, rhythm-shifting jazz elaborations for jazz piano trio. The main difference between the 1990s Loussier and his best-sellers from decades before is his willingness to occasionally update his adaptations with newer rhythms that didn’t exist then (check out the playfully funky Gavotte in D from the Orchestral Suite No. 3). Nevertheless, listeners are so used to hearing Bach peddled in so many different idioms and wardrobes that it is impossible to hear anything radical in this concept anymore — and certainly not since fellow pianist Uri Caine’s wacky, eclectic Goldberg Variations raised the bar for outrageously entertaining Bach adaptations in 2000. Nothing much to report about the surround mix — basically room ambience in the rear channels. But the piano has an appealingly robust, full-bodied timbre in SACD, more like that of a live instrument than on the original CDs, though the drums register more clearly on CD. This was released only as a hybrid SACD disc — Telarc’s first experiment with a single inventory title — so don’t go hunting for a stereo CD-only version; it doesn’t exist.

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2 min read