Word: jazze
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...constant comparison of this trio with the Bill Evans trio by critics has been a thorn in my side," frets the young jazz pianist Brad Mehldau, in quite possibly one of the most erudite and sincerely self-promotional set of liner notes in recent memory. The biographical hearsay and pseudo-legend that has plagued Mehldau throughout the years is certainly not the worse of fates, but let's give him a break... this is a man on a mission...
...latest, live album Art of the Trio 4: Back at the Vanguard, Mehldau wages his battle against jazz sophistry, playing everyone from Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein III ("All The Things You Are") to Radiohead ("Exit Music (For A Film)", the perfect Harvard-Yard-on-a-rainy-day ballad) to Miles Davis as well as many of his own originals. Not surprisingly, on this more rockin' than swingin' installment of the piano/bass/drum combination, not so much more than a few prickles of the late Evans can be felt. But so can a bit of the Well-Tempered counterpoint...
...three principal artists of Splashdown clearly have varied musical tastes, experimenting with everything from acid jazz to ambient trip-hop and hard-core guitar riffs. On their Redshift EP, sometimes these diverse elements come together in an interesting mesh, but often the combinations are jarringly incoherent. "Waterbead" incorporates ethereal vocals, jungle beats and one heavy metal interlude in a disconcerting jumble that misses the mark. The jungle beats sound particularly strange, as they sit on top of the melody, instead of forming the undercurrent of the song. In contrast, "The Archer" is a smoother ambient track, reminiscent of Luscious Jackson...
...kids' novel about a plucky orphan who is not Harry Potter? What awful timing! Happily, though, Curtis (a Newbery Medal honoree) has conjured a hero just as mesmerizing but grittier. Ten-year-old Bud Caldwell ditches his foster home in Depression-era Flint, Mich., and heads for the jazz clubs of Grand Rapids in search of his long-lost dad. A gentle diva, based on Flint's own Betty Carter, shows Bud that a family exists whenever folks decide to stick together. Kids will take to Bud's hilarious advice for "becoming a better liar." But be warned: they...
...Watt and Tracey Thorn put down roots in the New York City and London club scenes a few years ago, after their dance-floor remake of Missing became an international smash. Watt even started manning nightclub turntables. No longer content to be ultra-cool purveyors of trip-hop and jazz-pop, EBTG now adds dance-friendly house beats to its mix. Thorn's magnificently melancholic voice can find its footing anyplace, but some of the beats sound a bit like last year's, and in pop, that's ancient...