On this live release, Wonder is backed simultaneously by the 30-piece Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and a smaller but ferocious band of plugged-in musicians. This is no album of overindulgent schmaltz, however. Never one to merely spoon out the same old renditions of his best-loved work, Wonder, with some help from conductor Dr. Henry Panion III and orchestrator Paul Riser, buffs his classics to a brilliant, fresh sheen. There's a brassy, sassy reworking of "Living for the City" and a full-funk version of "Superstition." But nothing matches the 8½ minutes of unbridled joy on "Ribbon in the Sky." The interplay between Wonder on harmonica and a lone sax from the orchestra sounds like two exquisite birds trilling in the treetops, and the song then ends with a mad burst of bossa nova. (Four previously unreleased tunes are thrown in, the best being the life-affirming "Dancing to the Rhythm.") Even if you didn't think you could hear one more version of "My Cherie Amour," you'll find yourself marveling at the restless Wonder's prodigious talent. (Motown)
Dan Baird
Baird is just a skinny white guy who was raised in Atlanta. But let him plug his guitar into a stack of amplifiers and sidle up to a microphone and, SHAZAM!, he is transformed into an imposing sonic superhero. Harken to his mighty riffs and rejoice.
With Buffalo Nickel, the former singer for the Georgia Satellites serves up another heaping helping of zesty open-pit rock. His raunchy but pure style recalls Crazy Horse, Lynyrd Skynyrd, NRBQ and the Faces. On his second solo LP, Baird does the three-chords-and-a-cloud-of-reverb tradition proud, from the stinging opener, "Younger Face," which rumbles along on a voracious Neil Young-like guitar juggernaut, to a smash-mouth cover of Deep Purple's "Hush." In lesser hands, this raucous retro rock would seem derivative, but Baird manages to sound like he just invented the power chord this morning. (American Recordings)
Golden Smog
Golden Smog is the gen-X answer to the Traveling Wilburys, a busman's holiday for a number of musicians who might otherwise never get to play together. The members of this ad hoc sextet are drawn from popular Alternative Rock groups like Wilco, Soul Asylum, the recently disbanded Jayhawks and Run Westy Run. The basic Smog style is a laid-back warble, somewhere in the country-rock continuum that runs from Gram Parsons in the early '70s to Uncle Tupelo in the '90s. But this album was hurriedly recorded over five days in 1994 (conflicting schedules precluded a more extensive commitment). The fruit of that minimal labor is slapdash and often trifling, like "Pecan Pie," an airy celebration of a dense dessert. Only a few tracks—"V" and "Red Headed Stepchild"—suggest a talented group of guys letting their hair down. Still, you may be drawn to Golden Smog for their willfully casual attitude and novelty. Just don't try to join the fan club. (Rykodisc)
Tracy Nelson
Nelson chose the right name when she called her '60s blues-rock band Mother Earth. More than a quarter century later, she still puts meaning in the moniker every time she steps to the mike. Her voice is deep and full, with a tug like the tide.
Nelson, 51, has been a solo artist since Mother Earth's demise in the early '70s, never pushing herself to venture far from her secluded Tennessee farm. This is the second album of her rejuvenated recording career following a 13-year hiatus. It's hard to imagine a better white blues singer, one who is equally rich and commanding of voice and so direct in delivery. When she sings the chilling "Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair," made famous by Bessie Smith, she brazenly confesses to slitting the throat of her unfaithful lover and makes you shiver.
The punch and locomotion of her backup band, featuring such battle-tested veterans as Al Kooper, Delbert McClinton and the Memphis horns, could uproot a tree and teach it to shimmy. (Rounder)
Various Artists
When rap impresario Russell Simmons launched Def Jam Records 10 years ago, he was really onto something. The label's earliest hits—LL Cool J's "I Can't Live Without My Radio" and the Beastie Boys' mega-platinum Licensed to Ill album—defined bare-knuckled, hip-hop minimalism. Later, Def Jam's Public Enemy brought on the noise with their black-empowerment agenda and sonic temple of boom. Today the label, more likely to follow than to lead, offers highs and lows, from melodious rap (Warren G.'s "Regulate") to flimsy crossover soul (Montell Jordan's "This Is How We Do It" and MoKenStef's "He's Mine"). This four-CD boxed set includes all the above and Def Jam also-rans like Third Bass and Nice & Smooth. Unfortunately the 49 tracks are haphazardly arranged, so you don't get a clear sense of the label's evolution or recent stagnation. Perhaps obscuring that decline was the point. (Def Jam)
>Tim Robbins
SOLICITING THE GIFT OF MUSIC
Even after shooting ended on Dead Man Walking, writer-director-producer Tim Robbins remained intrigued by his film's subject, Sister Helen Prejean, a Louisiana nun who acts as a spiritual adviser to death row inmates. "There's an innate poetry to Sister Helen's journey," says Robbins, 37, whose longtime mate, Susan Sarandon, stars in the film based on Prejean's 1993 best-selling memoir. "I became interested in seeing what her story would inspire in songwriters I admired." The result is a companion album to the movie (Columbia) featuring 12 original songs by such musicians as Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash, Patti Smith and two duets by Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. (The duets, along with the Springsteen and Cash songs, are also part of the film's soundtrack.)
How did you get these big name musicians on board?
I sent them a rough edit of the movie and a copy of the book and said, "If it inspires anything, great; if not, that's cool too. Enjoy the movie." Most came back with songs. I'd be sitting editing the movie, and cassettes would arrive. I felt like I was just getting these incredible gifts in the mail.
How did the duets come about?
Nusrat is a legend in his part of the world. The songs he sings have been passed down from generation to generation. You hear the roots of all music in them, from jazz to gospel to scat. Vedder is a big fan. It turned out Nusrat was in New York on tour when we were doing the score, so we set aside a day, and Eddie and Nusrat each brought in songs. They became the duets. For me, those moments with Eddie and Nusrat were among the most remarkable.
- Contributors:
- Andrew Abrahams,
- David Hiltbrand,
- Eric Levin,
- Jeremy Helligar,
- Shelley Levitt.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
