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CD Reviews

Colin Brooks: Chippin' Away At The Promised Land
Brooks Wood Products, 2002

If you see Colin Brooks strolling down the streets of Woodstock or New York City, you might think he's got some sort of Johnny Depp-cowboy thing going on. But if you've read Billboard or Performing Songwriter recently, you know this winner of a 2002 scholarship from Songwriters Hall of Fame has a helluva lot more to him than hats and hair. Truth be told: Colin Brooks has a voice like an opiate and some kick-ass Dobro licks.

Each year, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, The Songwriter's Guild, and The National Academy of Popular Music each designate a songwriter who shows enormous potential. This year, SESAC chose this Berklee College of Music graduate for his indie debut Chippin' Away at the Promised Land, which is dang promising, to say the least. And by tossing names like Jerry Marotta, Sara Lee, and Tony Levin into his mix, Brooks has cleverly ensured himself even more attention from ravenous industry goons in the near future.

Brooks is a man of hooks, and his songs stick to your brain like brambles. Recorded primarily in Woodstock, this 12-track, May 24 release is a melange of moods and genres; Brooks describes it as "a swampy, pop, alt country thing." He dances with the brass slide like a veteran in the catchy blues-pop of "Drive Me Home," his vocals breathy, rough, and yearning: "My fingers are blistered from holding tight to these dreams... but I'll make it there if I have to crawl it on my knees." He laments a gypsy woman in the smoky, pass-the-bottle blues of "Nobody Like You"; twangy, verbose "Mexico" should be played loudly while motoring through Texas, pedal to the metal, top down. Brooks' deep, growling vox maneuvers from sandpaper to silk in the humorous, churning tale "Sugar Wants a Cowboy"...cuz she saw one on TV; she rides her cowboy, and life is a rodeo. No offense to Dylan fans, but Brooks' one cover song, "Lay Lady Lay," is way sexier than the original. And the intense title track lays down some sinewy Dobro and driving percussion as Brooks, raw and earthy, reveals, "I'm chippin' away at the promised land, pick axe in my hand."

Brooks is currently cooking up some things in Nashville and working on his second release, but he'll soon come a-callin' and you'll need to know these songs. Pick axe or no, cdbaby.com or amazon.com can help you carve your way to one man's Shangri-La.

—Sharon Nichols

Shadow and Light: The Shadow and Light Quartet
Drimala Records, 2002

Jazz music is structured around voices-voices of the musicians who use their instruments to convey personal feelings of joy and happiness, pain and sorrow. Trumpets, flutes, clarinets, saxophones, percussion, and bass are some of the instruments that Joe Giardullo, Joe McPhee, Mike Bisio, and Tani Tabbal performed on Shadow and Light. Their latest release presents doleful, minor-mode music, in the light of September 11. When these musicians came together on that late summer morning, Shadow and Light became their palette-an opportunity for each man to speak his peace, alone and together.

When the recording session began at the Make-Believe Ballroom studio in West Shokan, the group didn't talk about what they were going to do, they just started to play, according to Paul de Barros of Signal to Noise Magazine. "Everything was a natural expression of how we were feeling," said Bisio.

Three quartets, two duos, and three solo pieces were recorded that day. The pieces are aptly titled "One Moment and the Next," "Cries, Whispers and Cries," "City on the Edge of Forever," "Twilight at Noon," "In the End There is Peace," "Well of Souls," "Question of Time," and "Shadow and Light." This CD contains snapshots of the band's collective emotions-a portrait of what unravels when creative musicians are subject to devastating acts on humanity.

Multi-instrumentalist Giardullo (flute, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, and shenai, a classical, double-reed instrument from the Indian sub-continent) organized this, his 11th recording session. He has recorded with McPhee (tenor saxophone, pocket trumpet) on the "Specific Gravity" project and Bisio (bass) on "Primal Intentions." Tabbal, (drums, percussion, djembe) a newcomer to the group, has worked as a professional percussionist since he was 14 years old.
"Cries, Whispers and Cries" is inspired by African rhythms. The track features McPhee and Giardullo performing tenor and soprano saxophones, respectively. The notes squeezed from the two men's horns float around the atmosphere, wailing and dancing aimlessly like thousands of displaced, searching spirits.

On "Well of Souls," Tabbal accompanies Giardullo, whose shenai playing calls the world to come together in prayer. On "Question of Time," Tabbal improvises alone-his melodic musical phrases are spelled out on the wings of delicate cymbal crashes and caressed drumbeats.

At the root, these songs are complex arrangements of free-form jazz, echoing elements of the early masters Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry. "Shadow and Light" traces the quartet's footsteps as they create a haunting landscape tinged with elements of light and hope.
Performance poet Mikhail Horowitz, who worked with Giardullo in the 1980s and early '90s, said that, "He can always be counted on to summon every ounce of head, heart, and breath to play something astonishingly specific to that time and place, to whatever thoughts are being thought and whatever feelings are being felt by him and his fellow musicians in that room, at that moment."

—Christian F. Polos

Robert Randolph and the Family Band: Live at the Wetlands
Dare Records

If you're looking for religion without the hypocrisy, seek refuge in the authentic R&B of Robert Randolph & the Family Band. Randolph, a New Jersey native, began his musical career in the service of the Lord, singing and playing in the House of God Church. He is now a mere 24. His passionate playing suggests a soul twice his age.

Acknowledging the genre's musical roots in revival tent gospel, RR serves up jam sessions that are as exhilarating as anything you'll get in church. In the case of this live debut album, the church is Wetlands. For several years, the late, lamented Manhattan club drew the tie-dyed and the tripping for equal parts music, communion, and activism. It was truly a musical democracy, where blues, rock, Deadhead music, and everything in between flourished. RR was one of the last groups to play Wetlands before it closed down last year.

From the opening number, "Ted's Jam," the RR quartet hits the ground running. This is not merely a blues tribute band; they attack the numbers and make them their own. Randolph penned five of the six numbers, and they have the immediacy of Mississippi Delta classics, without the belabored sound that tribute bands inevitably serve up. His voice is as much an impressive instrument as his pedal steel guitar.
The rich production values of this CD serve the band well in their purpose and can barely contain their energy. Too often, a live album only drives home the distance between you and the performance. Chalk it up to the small venue, superior recording equipment, or simply this group's chops, but "Live at the Wetlands" is fresh and blistering. Offering equal parts showmanship and pure instinct, Randolph and the band wail and rock and raise the worshippers in their pews. The only thing you'll miss at the end of this "live" club experience is smoky clothes and ringing ears. My single beef is that the entire performance does not appear on this CD. Randolph signals to the audience that the band is going on a 15-minute break, and the CD ends. Damn.

With signature self-assurance, RR tackles the Slim Harpo number "Shake Your Hips." Over 30 folks may recognize this number from 1972's Exile on Main Street, the best Rolling Stones album ever. (This point is not open to debate.) RR captures the roiling, dangerous, carnal spirit of this blues classic, and reminds you why the term "rock and roll" originally was a slang term for intercourse. For now, Randolph can be excused for tarting up the number with a few too many audience shout-outs. As the group becomes more seasoned, they'll lose the need to dazzle and trust in their already-formidable musical talents.

The Family Band comes by its name honestly; band members Danyel Morgan (bass guitar, vocals) and Marcus Randolph (drums) are Robert Randolph's cousins. Organist John Ginty completes the foursome. They recently played two nights at Madison Square Garden. Critics and audiences nationwide are shouting their hosannas. In this rare case, the hype is deserved. They will make believers of you.

—Jay Blotcher