Guys with guitars
On the covers of their respective albums May The Better Man Lose ( Waterdog ) and Messenger ( Lava/Atlantic ) , Peter Bernas and Edwin McCain pose with their guitars. They are both singer/ songwriters, and like Ron Sexsmith on Whereabouts ( Interscope ) , David Usher on Little Songs ( Nettwerk ) , and P.J. Olsson on his self-titled disc ( Red Ink ) , they are the latest male artists to release albums in these testosterne-heavy days of Ricky Martin, the Backstreet Boys and Limp Bizkit.
May The Better Man Lose was produced by Ralph Covert, who met Bernas when he was a student of CovertÂ's at ChicagoÂ's Old Town School of Folk Music. ThereÂ's a Neil Young quality to the best of BernasÂ's songs ( "With You On My Mind" ) and the material is of a consistently high caliber. Well worth a listen.
I wasnÂ't overwhelmed by the first two Edwin McCain discs and tended to write him off as a one-man Hootie & The Blowfish. I feel differently after listening to Messenger. Tracks such as "Wish In This World," "Ghosts of Jackson Square," and "See Off This Mountain," gave me a newfound respect for McCain. The omnipresent Diane Warren is inescapable, even on an Edwin McCain album. She wrote the popular ballad "I Could Not Ask For More," which was also on the Message In A Bottle soundtrack.
IÂ've probably seen Ron Sexsmith open for about 20 different performers. HeÂ's a great opening act, and I think his self-titled debut from a few years ago is something special. Dar Williams, Lucy Kaplansky and Richard Shindell ( of Cry, Cry, Cry ) also like Sexsmith and covered his "Sleeping With The Angels" on their self-titled debut disc. On Whereabouts, his third "major-label" disc, Sexsmith gets production assistance from Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake, and musical accompaniment from Froom, Dan Zanes ( of Del Fuegos fame ) , Tracy Bonham, Lorenza Ponce and Jane Scarpantoni, among others. The album is a stunning achievement and tracks such as "Right About Now," "Riverbed," "Feel For You," "In A Flash," "Beautiful View," and "Seem To Recall," are some of the best songs IÂ've heard so far this year. However, at a time when albums equally good albums by Wilco and Paul Westerberg are virtually being ignored, what chance does Sexsmith stand?
P.J. Olsson was once given the difficult task of doing an acoustic set to open for Rufus Wainwright. IÂ'm sure most people forgot him the minute he left the stage, so slavish are we in our devotion to Wainwright. But, donÂ't write Olsson off. IÂ'm pretty sure that tracks such as "Visine" with the line "The ozone/like a clit/dripping sunshine/on my lips" ) , "Pray I DonÂ't Die," "SheÂ's Got Eyes," and "Thorazine," which are more fleshed out on his disc, are unlike anything youÂ've heard recently.
Like Olsson, David Usher incorporates electronic technology ( loops and keyboards ) to augment his acoustic songs on Little Songs. ItÂ's a daring move that pays off more often than not. Highlights include "When Jesus Was My Girl," "Forestfire," "F Train," and "Final Thoughts And The Last Day On Earth."
That swing
It must mean something that the swing dancing craze is staying on longer than expected. At a screening of the movie Blast From The Past, earlier this year, the entire row and a half in front of me was taken up by a group of mid-20 to mid-30-year-old Lindy-Hoppers. They must have been there to see the scene in the movie in which Brendan Fraser, Alicia Silverstone, and Dave Foley ( playing a likeable and sassy gay man ) all go to a swing club for a night out on the town. The most remarkable thing about that scene was not FraserÂ's dancing, but the fact that gay men ( FoleyÂ's character runs into a male couple he knows at the club ) would even be at a place like that to begin with. After all, swing-dancing requires two people of different sizes in order to make many of the tricky dance moves work.
The folks at long-established labels such as Capitol and Columbia must be ecstatic over the renewed interest in swing-dancing and the music of the era. Several recent re-issues demonstrate just how happy they must be. SwinginÂ' At Capitol ( Capitol ) is a 13-track various artists compilation of swing songs from 1942 through 1958, with most of the songs being from the mid-䙸s. There are familiar songs in unfamiliar ( at least to me ) versions including the Gershwin brothersÂ' "Oh Lady Be Good" performed by Billy Butterfield and his Orchestra and Duke EllingtonÂ's "Prelude To A Kiss" by Benny Carter and his Orchestra. Only two of the tracks feature vocals, and they are "Mister Five By Five" by Freddie Slack and his Orchestra ( vocals by Ella Mae Morse and Johnny Mercer ) and "Where Were You" by Pete Rugolo Orchestra, featuring Nat Â'KingÂ' Cole on vocals. The disc also features the orechestras of Harry James, Benny Goodman, Illinois Jacquet, Les Brown and Duke Ellington, to name a few.
Go Daddy Go ( The Right Stuff ) and the Tiki Ultra-Lounge Sampler ( Capitol ) also run the gamut and suggest the potential for summertime swing-themed barbecues.
Louis Prima ( with assistance from his female vocalist Keely Smith ) was a performer who put in time on both Capitol and Columbia Records. The man responsible for "Jump, Jive AnÂ' Wail," is feted on discs from both labels. The two disc set from Capitol ( as part of their Ultra-Lounge series ) features the aforementioned "Jump, Jive AnÂ' Wail," along with 43 more tracks, from the mid-1950s through the early 1960s. Breaking It Up! ( Columbia/Legacy ) by Louis Prima with Keely Smith, was originally released more than 40 years ago. The album compiles tracks from 1951 to 1953, when Prima was recording on Columbia Records. The swing spirit is strong on this 15-track disc, particularly on "Oooh-Dahdily-Dah," "Boney Bones," "One Mint Julep," the Latin-influenced "Chili Sauce," "Paul Revere," "Barnacle Bill The Sailor," and "Chop Suey, Chow Mein."
The live two disc set The Best of Louis Armstrong ( Vanguard ) also captures the legendary horn-player and vocalist at his most swinging. Just listen to "Indiana," "Perdido," "On The Alamo," "Lover Come Back To Me," "Muskrat Ramble," "StompinÂ' At The Savoy," and "St. James Infirmary," and see if you wonÂ't be swinginÂ' too.
Imitation and flattery are going hand in hand these days as "younger" performers continue to pay tribute to their elders by keeping the swing-dancing revival alive and swinging. The latest contenders are The Atomic Fireballs who have just released their debut disc Torch This Place ( Atlantic/Lava ) and A Night In The Arms Of... ( Epic/Work ) by Jimmy Luxury and the Tony Rome Orchestra. Of the two, I prefer the Jimmy Luxury disc because it has both a nostalgic and fresh sound.
