Bob Dylan: No Direction Home
Columbia/Legacy C2K 93937
Released: 2005
Format: CD

The two-disc No Direction Home is a companion to Martin Scorsese’s excellent documentary of the same title. It is also Bob Dylan’s The Bootleg Series Vol.7, and, like other sets in that series, it helps bring Dylan into a little more focus. No Direction Home carries us through Dylan’s early folk years -- his very earliest recording, made by a friend in 1959, already shows a deep understanding of old folk and blues song forms -- through alternate takes of the songs that would appear on Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde On Blonde. Al Kooper’s witty liner notes give some background to those recordings; all these years later, Kooper still seems genuinely excited to have been a part of them. All but two tracks are released here for the first time, and while the alternate versions of, say, "She Belongs to Me" or "Highway 61 Revisited" may not supplant the originals, they offer fascinating glimpses into how Dylan’s songs developed in the studio. On one track, you can hear history: Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul & Mary) is getting ready to introduce Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, and as he shushes Dylan’s band, he sounds like a high school principal at an assembly. As he continues with his pompous introduction, the sounds of electric guitar amplifiers buzzing rudely behind him herald the future.

Bob Dylan: Live at the Gaslight 1962
Columbia/Legacy A96016
Released: 2005
Format: CD

Live at the Gaslight 1962 is available for a limited time exclusively through Starbucks, but Columbia/Legacy will give it a wider release when that agreement ends (in about a year). Bootleg copies of these 1962 shows from the Gaslight, a Greenwich Village folk club, have been around since the late 1960s, when Greil Marcus described them in a long article for Rolling Stone about unreleased Dylan recordings (though some of the songs he mentioned aren’t included here). Dylan sounds strong and confident in these performances, which were recorded between the release of his debut album and his first masterpiece, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. Only three of the ten songs are his, but even the remaining blues and folk tunes are sung with the power of a musician who’s found his voice. The sound is somewhat primitive but very listenable.

Paul Weller: As Is Now
Yep Roc YEP 2112
Released: 2005
Format: CD

Paul Weller took some time off from writing to produce last year’s collection of cover versions, Studio 150, and the hiatus has done him good. As Is Now is his most consistent album since Heavy Soul (1997). Songs such as "Blink and You’ll Miss It" and "From the Floorboards Up" recall the Jam at its most ferocious, while "Bring Back the Funk (Pts 1&2)" and "Roll Along Summer" are examples of the kind of sophisticated soul Weller perfected with the Style Council. He isn’t just re-creating old triumphs, though. Weller’s always been restless, refusing to be tied to a single musical style or approach. His unpredictability takes him to some unusual places (e.g., the McCartneyesque "Here’s the Good News"), but it keeps his music fresh. Ocean Colour Scene’s Steve Craddock joins Weller on guitar, and drummer Steve White, who’s been with Weller since the Style Council, keeps things solidly grounded. Recorded live in the studio, As Is Now has a big-hearted, analog feel. It’s also available in a limited-edition vinyl pressing from the UK that I’m eager to hear.

Graham Parker: Songs of No Consequence
Bloodshot BS 123
Released: 2005
Format: CD

Graham Parker isn’t happy about the current state of radio. "I don’t want those whiney chicks / Or those cardboard country hicks," he sings on "There’s Nothing on the Radio." One way radio could redeem itself is to play selections from Parker’s tuneful new disc, Songs of No Consequence. He’s joined by the Figgs, whose 1997 tour with Parker resulted in The Last Rock N Roll Tour (currently out of print). This is their first time in the studio with him, and their support is as edgy and tough as Parker’s original band, the Rumour. Parker goes after some of his usual targets here, including the media ("Vanity Press"), the changes that come with age ("Did Everybody Just Get Old?"), and the pains of romance ("She Swallows It"). Although he gets topical on "Dislocated Life," he sounds less angry than disappointed and bemused. His observations about life as a musician on "Bad Chardonnay" and "Suck and Blow" show pretty clearly that he wishes he had the fame he deserves, but he rocks so hard on both tunes that they end up being statements of hope.

Gooding: Angel/Devil
S3 S3-3044-2
Released: 2005
Format: CD

Gooding is the name of the band and its leader, who plays a pretty hot guitar and sings in a pleasing heartthrob voice. The songs are sharp and rhythmic, and the guitar work, especially on the acoustic guitar, is very impressive. Drummer Jesse Reichenberger hits hard but has a loose, rangy style. Billy Driver’s bass work is solid and bouncy, but he’s mixed too low, while Reichenberger’s drums are up a bit too high. The best songs (e.g., "Everything or Nothing Again") have a vaguely jazz feel and tricky time signatures, but sometimes it feels as if the band is trying too hard to get itself on the modern rock charts. For every unique song, there’s one that sounds too radio-ready. Still, Angel/Devil’s best moments showcase a band with impressive instrumental skills that should play to its strengths and not worry about competing with anyone else.

Various Artists: Mysterious Voyages: A Tribute to Weather Report
Tone Center TC 40392
Released: 2005
Format: CD

Of the original fusion bands from the 1970s, Weather Report was probably the only one whose soloists did not include a guitarist. In addition, the band’s principal composers, keyboardist Joe Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, wrote memorable tunes that were never just opportunities for empty displays of virtuosity. Weather Report was loaded in the chops department and the band was not shy about showing off, but its compositions stood on their own, emphasizing melody and atmosphere over the more typical fusion values of speed and volume. They also provided strong foundations for improvisation.

The two-disc Mysterious Voyages: A Tribute to Weather Report demonstrates why the band’s work stands the test of time. European and American musicians are included here, and they bring varied approaches to Weather Report’s sound. Some players reinterpret the band’s songs, others perform their own material. The best tracks are Michael Wolff’s take on "Pinocchio," John McClean’s cool but intense "Three Views of a Secret," and Rachel Z’s beautifully focused "On the Milky Way Express." All three are acoustic arrangements that highlight both the innate musical qualities of the tunes and their rich creative possibilities. Various producers, but the sound is consistently impressive.

Flashpoint
Tone Center TC40422
Released: 2005
Format: CD

Flashpoint is Dave Liebman, Anthony Jackson, Steve Smith, and Aydin Esen. It would be easy to draw comparisons with Weather Report, since both bands use similar instrumentation, but Flashpoint plays a higher-energy jazz-fusion that’s less tightly constructed. It’s also a little edgier, and emphasizes its members’ soloing talents. For all that, it’s highly enjoyable, if a little propulsive at times. Liebman is a consistently exciting and inventive saxophonist, and his melodic inventiveness never flags. Turkish keyboard player Aydin Esen is a perfect foil for him and an equally exciting improviser. Jackson, on bass, and Steve Smith, on drums, are quick, responsive players. Lots of space and detail in the recording.

The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra: Live at MCG
Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild/Telarc MCGJ1017
Released: 2005
Format: CD

The Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild is a Pittsburgh-based urban outreach center that gives inner-city teens the opportunity to use the arts as "a pathway for life-skill, communication, and leadership development." MCG helps support its education programs by presenting jazz concerts in its 350-seat theater. Many of the musicians who perform at those shows give master classes to students at little or no cost. The Los Angeles-based Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra spent four days at MCG, where they recorded this exciting live set. It opens with the overplayed "Georgia," but the arrangement has the swing and drive of Count Basie’s bands of the 1950s. Coleader John Clayton’s arrangements occasionally show the influence of Gil Evans and Duke Ellington, but he has a strong voice of his own that brings fresh ideas to Thelonious Monk’s "Evidence" and Alan and Marilyn Bergman’s "Like a Lover."

Telarc distributes MCG, and the smaller label’s recordings are consistent with Telarc’s sonic standards. Also recommended: Frank Mantooth’s Ladies Sing for Lovers [MCGJ1018], which features 12 female jazz singers performing with lush charts by the late, well-regarded educator and arranger; and Kevyn Lettau’s Bye Bye Blackbird [MCGJ1019], on which the enchanting vocalist interprets 11 standards with understated elegance.

Bobby Darin: Live! At the Desert Inn
Neon Tonic/Concord NTD-6509-2
Originally Released: 1987
Reissued: 2005
Format: CD

Bobby Darin (1936-1973) began as an early rocker who decided he wanted to be an all-around entertainer in the same way his predecessors Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra had been. He became a solid, swinging singer whose best recordings, from the late 1950s and early ’60s, compare favorably with Sinatra’s. In 1963, he received an Oscar nomination for his performance in Captain Newman, MD. By 1965, however, Darin must have felt the odd man out. Rock’n’roll was no longer music for kids, and the kind of adult pop he had mastered was rarely charting. He tried folk rock and protest music, but by the early 1970s Darin had returned to the sophisticated sound that took him from American Bandstand and into supper clubs.

This 1971 recording, originally released by Motown in 1987, captures Darin in a masterly performance. Darin was only a few years older than Bob Dylan and the Beatles, and his early-’70s stage show included songs by them and other ’60s artists. When Sinatra and other singers of his generation tried to interpret material by the younger generation, they sounded awkward. Darin has a more intuitive understanding of songs such as Dylan’s "I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight" and James Taylor’s "Fire and Rain." He gives his bluesy, swinging band full rein, and convincingly sings everything from swinging jazz to folk tunes with consummate skill. He even takes a pretty good run at soul music. A beautiful example of this singer’s art.

…Joseph Taylor
josepht@soundstageav.com