Trouble (Shawn Colvin) (LP 1043)

Shawn Colvin  Whole New You (CD, Columbia Records, 2001) ***

Genre: Folk rock, Americana 

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Whole New You

Gear costume: Matter Of Minutes 

Active compensatory factors: Shawn's voice is smooth and rich, relaxed and expressive. I like it a lot. 

Sunny Came Home hooked me first from her previous album (A Few Small Repairs). While that album was about her divorce, Whole New You came four years later and by that time the songs were about family and commitment in relationships.

So it's a more relaxed, laid back, Shawn -which suits her (and my moods) better that divorce (something I know nothing about). Family and commitment? Yes - happier with that as I celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary. 

Where do they all belong? A stand alone, nestled into the folk rock section.

Who do you think I am (Joan Baez) (LP 1042)

Joan Baez  Gone From Danger (CD, Guardian Records, 1997) ****  

Genre: Folk, Americana 

Places I remember: Amoeba Music (LA)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Reunion Hill

Gear costume: Mercy Bound

Active compensatory factors: I used this album recently as my album of the week selection for the WTW Music Club. I aim to only use 4 or 5 star rated albums for my selections and I was pretty confident my mates would like it a lot. Which they did.

You don't have to love Joan, as I do, to appreciate the joys of Gone From Danger. Joan sings superbly of course, but these songs and the instrumentation fits snuggly in the Americana genre, hence broadening her appeal.

I love my CD copy, which I found recently on our trip to California at Christmas time, but it's also worth exploring this Spotify link for the expanded version as it includes some incredible live material showcasing this album and more. 

Where do they all belong? Always on the lookout for more albums from Joan. That's it for now though.

Tell the truth (Winwood and Clapton) (LP 1041)

Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood  Live From Madison Square Garden (CD and video, Reprise Records, 2009) ****  

Genre: Blues rock 

Places I remember: Tron Records in Hamilton (CD); Electric City Music (Napier) for the VHS.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Had To Cry Today

Gear costume: Voodoo Chile

Active compensatory factors: For some reason this is something of a rarity. I had been after a copy for a few years until I stumbled upon one last year in Hamilton's Tron Records (great shop - well worth your time when visiting Hamilton).

Then I managed to find a copy of the video of the concert last month in Napier. 

This was a great reunion concert featuring these old friends and the video adds a lot to the experience as you can sense the friendship from the pair.

Songs come from each of their solo careers, Derek and The Dominos, Traffic and Blind Faith, plus some Hendrix covers that are standouts.

Where do they all belong? A one off it seems as they haven't recorded anything together since then.

My time after a while (John Mayall) (LP 1037 - 1040)

John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers  Crusade (CD, London Records, 1967) ****  

John Mayall's Bluesbreakers  Diary Of A Band Vol 1 (CD, Decca Records, 1967) **

John Mayall's Bluesbreakers  Diary Of A Band Vol 2 (CD, Decca Records, 1967) **

John Mayall  The Blues Alone (Vinyl, Decca Records, 1967) ***  

Genre: Blues rock

Places I remember: Amoeba Music (Los Angeles); Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Man Of Stone (Crusade)

Gear costume: Sonny Boy Blow (The Blues Alone)

Active compensatory factors: He was pretty busy in 1967. These three albums plus A Hard Road come from that year - hence my grouping them together.

Crusade is the third Bluesbreakers album in two years. Given that it's Mick Taylor's debut and he was only 18 at the time I guess it's natural there wasn't much fanfare at his arrival, given that both Clapton and Green had jumped ship after an album each.

It's a third brilliant album in a row for Mayall and band (Taylor and Mayall are joined by John McVie and drummer Keef Hartley plus horns). All three Bluesbreakers' albums have different approaches and remain fresh and essential listening for blues rock fans in 2023.

The Diary Of A Band Volumes one and two (they were released separately at the time but my CD copy compiles both sets) are pretty rough live documents from 1967 (featuring basically the Crusade version of the band), as opposed to the studio recordings of Crusade and The Blues Alone, so approach these with some caution.

The Blues Alone is the result of one day's work (1st of May 1967) with Mayall doing everything except playing drums on some tracks - that's Keef Hartley's area of expertise. He even wrote all of the songs and designed (as usual) the cover art. Given all that it's another remarkably confident set by Mayall, with some inspired harmonica from him featuring in particular.

Phew - 1967! Quite a momentous year!

Where do they all belong? The sixties versions of John Mayall will continue to gather steam.

Jade visions (Bill Evans) (LP 1034-1036)

Bill Evans  Everybody Digs Bill Evans (CD, Avid Jazz, Originally released 1958) ****  

Bill Evans  Portrait In Jazz (CD, Avid Jazz, Originally released 1960) *****  

Bill Evans  Sunday At The Village Vanguard (CD, Avid Jazz, Originally released 1961) *****  

Genre: Jazz piano 

Places I remember: Fopp (Covent Garden)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Autumn Leaves (Portrait In Jazz)

Gear costume: What Is This Thing Called Love (Portrait In Jazz); All Of You (Sunday...)

Active compensatory factors: Everybody Digs Bill Evans was only his second album as a leader. Remarkable.

He may have made a poor album at some point, but I've yet to hear it. 

These are all trio albums and both Portrait In Jazz and Sunday At The Village Vanguard are great examples of his languid, smooth genius.

Sunday... is my favourite of the three because it sounds like he and the boys are playing in your front room! There is a real intimacy to the recording that I love.

Where do they all belong? If I see other Bill Evans albums I'll be buying them, but that's it for now. 

P.S. Just back from a holiday in Taupo where I picked up two more of Evans' albums from 1961 on vinyl!!

Oops (Powerband) (LP 1033)

Powerband  Powerband (CD, Ode Records, 1990) ***  

Genre: Jazz fusion/ Modern jazz 

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi (Palmerston North)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Bobbin

Gear costume: Oops 

Active compensatory factors: For a while there, I profited a lot from JB Hi Fi's sale bins - mainly when CDs had begun waning in popularity and vinyl was starting to make a comeback in their shops. They off loaded quite a few Ode recordings of people like Frank Gibson, Brian Smith, and this one by Powerband.

They recorded this in 1989-1990 and it's influenced by the kind of jazz moves being made at the time by bands like Yellow Jackets and Spirogyra.

This album holds its head up high amidst that company thanks to stellar NZ musicians like Martin Winch on guitar and Kenny Pearson on bass.

Where do they all belong? More NZ jazz fusion coming (eventually).

Happy house (Frank Gibson) (LP 1031-1032)

Frank Gibson's Parallel 37  Frank Gibson's Parallel 37 (CD, Ode Records, 1982 - re-released 2007) **** 

The Frank Gibson Quartet  Rainbow Bridge (CD, Ode Records, 2003) ****  

Genre: Jazz, NZ music 

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi (Palmerston North)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Tinkle Tinkle (Rainbow Bridge)

Gear costume: Lennie's Pennies (Rainbow Bridge)

Active compensatory factors: Frank Gibson Jnr is a NZ drummer who can play it all. He's been a session drummer and a group leader in a variety of genres. His bio is extremely impressive!

These two albums present him leading a jazz quartet - classic sax, drums, bass, piano; while Parallel 37 has him playing in all sorts of formats from solo to quintets.

Parallel 37 came out in 1982 and was the jazz album of the year in NZ. He's accompanied on his explorations with NZ musicians like Mike Nock, Bruce Lynch, and Brian Smith, plus Milt Jackson and John Scofield. It's a remarkable album - even Zappa-esque on some tracks.

Sadly it's not available on either YouTube or Spotify so I've featured two selections from Rainbow Bridge.

Where do they all belong? More to come from Frank as a member of NZ jazz fusion band Space Case.