What Cliff has been listening to lately

Here's a sampling of some of the stuff that is stacked around my stereo due to frequent rotation in my CD player:

Geggy Tah: Into the Oh
Action Figure Party: Action Figure Party
I've been waiting for Geggy Tah's new album for over two years, and it finally has been released. It's awesome---just as good as the previous two, though not a clone of either. Tommy Jordan's voice just soars over a complex sonic landscape, with plenty of groove. If, after hearing this album, you still haven't had enough of that L.A. groove, check out Greg "Geggy" Kurstin's Action Figure Party, a mostly-instrumental funkjazzgroove-fest. If you like Fender Rhodes, this album has a lot of it. Alas, Greg has left Geggy Tah, but maybe that means we'll get to see performances by groups with Greg or Tommy twice as often as we used to...

Steve Turre: Sanctified Shells
This album sounds like nothing you've ever heard before. I first got interested in Steve's shell playing when I heard a strange instrument on McCoy Tyner's Latin All-Stars album that sounded like a cross between a flute and a trombone. Turns out it was Steve Turre playing a conch shell. (You may have seen him on TV with the Saturday Night Live band.) Sanctified Shells features shell playing on just about every track, often with several shell players all at once. When I was in New Orleans for Jazz Fest, I stopped in at Preservation Hall to catch the last set of the evening, and in walked Steve Turre! He didn't have any shells with him, but sat in on trombone for the set. It was really cool sitting just ten feet away from him, since I had just recently started getting into his music.

Beastie Boys: Check Your Head, Ill Communication
I discovered that Ill Communication was a really cool album back in 1994, but didn't own any Beastie Boys albums until recently. Both these albums are much more musically and lyrically advanced than the "steal your lunch money" tripe on License to Ill (Not that License to Ill isn't a good album, but it's still tripe.) I got interested in Check Your Head after playing the instrumental tune "In 3's" with Yamagata

The Sundays: Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, Static & Silence
You may have heard the hit "Summertime" back in 1997 and fled in terror, thinking "Ear candy! Ear candy!" At the time, I found myself wondering, "this is so sweet, how can it be good for me?" Yet, there seemed to be something cool about the layered wah-wah guitars and the overall sound of the music. A while later, I started hearing "Here's Where the Story Ends" on the radio, and was certain it must be the Cocteau Twins. Turns out it's the Sundays as well. So this convinced me I needed to check them out. I bought both albums the same day, and couldn't stop listening to them. The music is sweet, but with substance. Pay close attention to the lyrics on "Monochrome", the last song on Static & Silence. It ties together the title of the song, the title of the album, and the album cover, and is a really cool depiction of... well, I'll let you figure it out.

Tabla Beat Science: Tala Matrix
This album consists almost entirely of tabla music. (Tablas are drums from India which are played with the fingers and have a multitude of sonic possibilities. Try to go see someone play them if you never have---it's amazing.) With this album, Bill Laswell takes the ancient sounds of the tabla and combines them with modern electronics to produce music that looks into the future. Most of the tabla playing on this album is by Zakir Hussian, the most well-known tabla master in the world, though other tabla players are featured on some of the tracks as well.

Joshua Redman: Beyond
Ingrid Jensen: Higher Grounds
These are two of my favourite recent "mainstream" jazz albums. Both albums feature fairly standard jazz instrumentation, but the music itself is innovative, and doesn't just rehash the well-trodden paths that the backward-looking conservative jazz faction adheres to. Plus, both albums begin with songs in odd meter, which is a sure way to get my interest quickly...

Tortoise: Tortoise, Millions Now Living Will Never Die, TNT, Standards
When I first heard a Tortoise album playing on the sound system at Trees before a Magpu show in 1999, it totally rocked my musical universe. It was like hearing the music I had been imagining in my head. They produce a seamless blend of acoustic and electronic sounds, and feature mallet percussion extensively. Don't be fooled by the substandard artwork on the CDs; this is some of the best music out there. Unfortunately, they seem bent on making their album credits as incomprehensible as possible, but I guess they just want us to listen. If you haven't heard any Tortoise, start with TNT, then work your way outward from there. All four of these albums have been getting heavy rotation because I'm getting warmed up for the Tortoise show at Trees on June 15. See you there!

Ornette Coleman: The Shape of Jazz to Come
Pat Metheny: Rejoicing
Both these albums feature drummer Billy Higgins, who we lost recently to liver cancer. I feel really lucky that I got to see him with Charles Lloyd at Jazz Fest in 1999. His smile and energy were contagious. Billy, we miss you.

Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade: Live Frogs Set 1
I saw the Frog Brigade last September after the Saturday Phish concert in Vegas, and it really made the weekend for me. This album captures some of the crazy antics of this band, jamming out on a variety of tunes, including King Crimson's "Thela Hun Ginjeet" and Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". (The latter is a rather unique interpretation of the song, with a strong 6/8 feel.) I'm looking forward to Set 2, which is scheduled to be released this summer and will include their flawless rendition of all of Pink Floyd's Animals album.