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An occasional blog about populist politics and popular music, not necessarily at the same time. LinksLocal Links Social Media My Other Websites Music Politics Others Networking Music DatabaseArtist Search: Website SearchGoogle: Recent Reading
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Thursday, May 14, 2026 Music Week
Music: Current count 45922 [45881] rated (+41), 18 [14] unrated (+4). I blew through Monday working on Loose Tabs. By the time I was done, I had accumulated 331 links, with 23,402 words. It covers 28 days, so I continue to be almost monthly. I think it's getting better organized and edited, but it's still pretty scattered. I wish I had an AI genie that could read this and generate a plan to outline 6-8 more purposeful Substack essays. I don't even care that much about recycling the words, as that part comes easy enough. It's formulating the plan and sitting down to tackle it that's the hard work. While I was wrapping it up, I had the idea that my next Substack post would be some sort of "executive summary" of this Loose Tabs. I opened a draft file for that purpose, but didn't put anything into it (yet). I do think that my digressions on gerrymandering and bankruptcy are worth elaborating on as standalone essays. That could still happen, but I still have plenty more fish to fry. After posting Loose Tabs on Tuesday, I figured this Music Week would be next. I did the cutoff early Wednesday, the extra two days pushing the rated count up from an anemic under 30 to a robust over 40. Then, before I got into writing an introduction, I decided that I should knock out my DownBeat Critics Poll Ballot. I always get a laugh when I read the invite, which admits "this is a LONG ballot" then adds it "will probably take a little less than an hour to complete." The ballot has 51 questions, and each one asks you to allocate 10 points (usually 5-3-2) among a list of nominees that runs from 30-80 individual names (sometimes more for albums: this year's "Album of the Year" listed 158 titles). It took me 8 hours yesterday, plus six hours today, to get it all filled out. Of course, part of the problem was that I took notes. Still, I did very little writing along the way. Most of what I did was copy the nominee lists, then sort them into two tiers, then pick three votes from the upper tier. I wrote in votes very rarely:
One could save time by not taking notes, but then you would also not have reminders from the previous year. I often wind up voting for the same people this year as last year, trusting my previous judgment over having to rethink everything again. But to get down to one hour, you'd have to answer each and every question in just over one minute. I'm a slow reader, so I can't even read every line in the list in that time, let alone mull it over. Of course, you could save time by skipping questions, or by not using all of your votes. That's allowed, and they don't make the ballots public, so who will know? Or care? I started writing notes on the DownBeat polls in 2003, way before I got invited to vote, and wrote about them every year through 2009 (see index), so those pieces are all after-the-fact commentary. It's always interested me what other people are thinking, perhaps as a sanity check on my own thought (which is often quite different). I skipped 2010, which was in the late, declining days of Jazz Consumer Guide, although that may have just been a coincidence. I resumed in 2011, when I was invited to vote, so all the subsequent notes are structured differently. Even so, I wrote more commentary back then than I have in recent years, as the whole process has seemed more and more like a lot of work for little value. Still, it might be interesting to take a couple days and write an essay about what I've learned about jazz and polling over the last 23 years. That's on my mental list of things to think about writing. Another possible item is a comment/response to Robert Christgau's belated Dean's List: 2025, where his list of "the 61 best albums of last year (or so)" came up well short of his actual review log (Joe Yanosik figures 23 albums short) and rather skewed (6 of his top ten albums were originally graded A-, while one full A album wound up at 51, with others at 49, 43, 42, 39, 29, 28, and 27). It's possible that part of the reason is my own fault, in that I'm way behind updating the Consumer Guide database on Christgau's website. I started to work on correcting that before I got sidelined with Loose Tabs and so forth, and got caught up to September. I'll get back to work on that soon. Once I have the database up to date, I'll have a better idea what's going on, and then I can write something up. I'll save speculation on details here, but note that my first thought was simply to write up a feature on the albums in my The Best Non-Jazz Albums of 2025 that Christgau didn't review, for whatever reason. I do make a point of listening to everything I can find that he's reviewed, so I can offer second opinions within the limits of my taste and analysis, and I try to place that within the context of everything else I listen to. He listens as broadly as I do, but only writes about things he has something substantial to say about, so it's never clear what he knows about what he hasn't written about. I don't want to get into an argument about methodology, but as someone with historically similar tastes, I think his readers might find my takes on albums he hasn't written about to be of some use. That's all. Some of what I've listened to below comes from working on the Dean's List and his CG database. I reexamined four of his top six albums, but only bumped the grade of one up. I already had the other six of his top ten at A-, which was good enough for me. Only two of the next ten I have at less than A-: Jeff Evans Porkestra and Dingonek Street Band; same for two more from 21-30: Ale Hop & Titi Bakorta and Marshall Allen; the differences of opinion swell to four in 31-40, three in 41-50, seven in 51-61, including the bottom 5. Overall, 65.5% of his Dean's List albums rated A- or higher for me. On the other hand, where he came up with 84 albums (counting Yanosik's +23, I have 107 (counting 2 late 2024 finds): 54 of which he has yet to review, or maybe even to hear (half are by artists he's never reviewed); the other 11 are albums he reviewed with lower grades than I came up with. I should note that while I've been writing quite a bit recently, I'm also thinking more about doing some website work. I'll write this up when I get serious, but main thing I could use help on is to come up with some sort of design template that I can use for the Christgau website, and eventually for mine and possibly some other projects I have in mind. My problem is settling on a visual model. I can figure out how to implement whatever design appeals, but getting to the design has been an obstacle. In this vein, I'm also thinking about running another mid-year Jazz Critics Poll. It will just be up to 10 new albums and up to 5 reissue/vault jobs. I'm less certain about running an end-of-year poll. One key consideration may be how easy I can make it. The last few years have been a lot of work, leaving me drained and frazzled afterwards. New records reviewed this week: أحمد [Ahmed]: Play Monk (2025 [2026], Otoroku): British quartet of Pat Thomas (piano), Joel Grip (bass), Antonin Gerbal (drums) and Seymour Wright (alto sax), formed in 2017 as a tribute to Ahmed Abdul-Malik, seventh album, really came into their own with the 5-CD live box Giant Beauty (2024). Just six tunes, five running over 20 minutes, an extrapolation which can leave their models deeply buried. But they continue to impress, mightily. A- [sp] J. Cole: The Fall-Off (2026, Cole World/Dreamville/Interscope): Rapper Jermaine Cole, opened with a mixtape in 2009, seventh studio album since 2011, all charted at number one, billed as his final album (he's 41), supporting a world tour with 73 dates running from July to December. I've followed the studio albums, impressed by his flow and beats, put off the N-word intensity, but I paused when I saw the size (24 tracks, 101:17) of this effort. Turns out it wasn't much effort. B+(**) [sp] Mikaela Davis: Graceland Way (2026, Kill Rock Stars): Singer-songwriter from Rochester, third album since 2012. Cover shows her in western wear including a white hat, instructing us to "file under canyon country," and title makes a connection to Elvis Presley and Memphis, but neither is very clear in the grooves. Her main instrument is reportedly harp. B+(*) [sp] Alabaster DePlume: Dear Children of Our Children, I Knew: Epilogue (2026, International Anthem): British saxophonist, spoken word poet, actual name Angus Fairbairn, half-dozen albums since 2015, counts this as an EP (5 songs, 26:02), styled as an epilogue to his 2025 album A Blade Because a Blade Is Whole, and a bookend to his 2024 EP Cremisan: Prologue to a Blade. Also plays synths, sampler, and guitars, backed by bass (Shahzad Ismaily) and drums (Tcheser Holmes). B+(**) [sp] Friko: Something Worth Waiting For (2026, ATO): Indie rock band from Chicago, principally Niko Kapetan (vocals, guitar) and Bailey Minzenberger (drums), second album after a couple of EPs. Has the sound, not that I much care. B [sp] The Ghost Wolves: Consumer Waste (2024, Saustex): Austin Texas garage/punk band, principally Carley Wolf (guitar, vocals) and Jonny Wolf (drums, synth, vocals), seventh album since 2011, 12 songs in 26:16. B+(**) [sp] Hang on the Box: Spiritual War (2025, Beijing Modern Sky Cultural Development): All-female Chinese punk rock band, formed 1998, debut album 2001, Wikipedia lists seven albums through 2017, Discogs has four of them plus a 2020 live cassette and a 1998-2008 2-CD compilation. I was clued to this by a stray reader comment, but I haven't found anything about the album, other than that it is on streaming. Some punk edges, but mostly post, with new wavish vamps, and an interesting ballad/ambient break. B+(**) [sp] Jasper Høiby's 3 Elements: Conversations of Hope (2026, Edition): Danish bassist, based in London, third album with this trio with Xavi Torres (piano) and Naima Acuña (drums). B+(**) [bc] Peter Holsapple: The Face of 68 (2025, Label 51): Singer-songwriter, started in a 1970 band with Mitch Easter and Chris Stamey, founded the dB's with Stamey, and has several duo albums with Stamey (starting with Mavericks in 1991). Only has a couple albums under his own name, with this one produced by Don Dixon. Not much interesting here, until "That Kind of Guy" reveals his Rolling Stones collection. B [sp] David Janeway Trio: Live at Blue LLama (2024 [2026], SteepleChase): Pianist, debut album 1986, but not much more until 2021, when he landed on SteepleChase. Third album there, trio with Robert Hurst (bass) and Billy Hart (drums), playing two originals and a bunch of standards. B+(*) [cd] Ingrid Jensen: Landings (2025 [2026], Newvelle): Trumpet player from Canada, debut 1995, seems like her recent efforts have been lost in collaborations (including Artemis) and exotica, but this one focuses on her trumpet, backed by Gary Versace (organ), Marvin Sewell (guitar), and Jon Wikan (drums). B+(***) [dl] Kneecap: Fenian (2026, Heavenly): Hardcore hip-hop group from Belfast, "political" is an understatement, as they've been banned from touring in countries like Hungary, and one member was charged under UK's "Terrorism Act" for "expressing support" for a banned group. Title refers to reuniting divided Ireland. One song features Palestinian rapper Fawzi; another Kae Tempest. I'm not following the words very closely, but the beats and sounds hit the mark. A- [sp] Loveseat: Our Way (2025, Reckless Pedestrian): Married duo from Effingham, Illinois, Bill and JJ Passalacqua, only album, they tend to trade verses, Bill often opening up with his best John Prine impersonation, playing 12-string acoustic guitar. She finishes them off with aplomb. Ends with a Tex-Mex dance number, a real bonus. A- [sp] Brian Lynch: Torch Bearers (2024-25 [2026], Holistic MusicWorks): Trumpet player, started in a group with Charles McPherson (1980-81), moved on to Horace Silver, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Art Blakey, and especially Eddie Palmieri, with his own string of albums starting in 1986. He's reunited with McPherson (alto sax) here, along with Boris Kozlov (bass), various pianist and drummers, and singer Samara Joy (2 tracks). Has an old bebop feel, especially with McPherson. B+(***) [sp] Doug MacDonald: Tribute to South Central (2026, Dmac Music): Jazz guitarist, first record 1982, second a decade later, gradually picked up the place and has become quite prolific of late. Five originals, covers from Ellington, Jobim, and Wes Montgomery, comes with trumpet (Wayne Cobham), keyboards (Richard Turner Jr.), bass, and drums/percussion. B+(**) [cd] [06-01] Jennifer Madsen: Girl Talk (2026, SingBaby Productions): Jazz singer, Discogs lists one previous album from 1983, website suggests she has more since then. Has a large band (12 instrumentalists listed, plus 7 guest artists), with pianist Brent Edstrom arranging. Standards, the title song preceded by "Besame Mucho" and followed by "You Turn Me On Baby." Good singer, good band, more or less according to the songs. B+(**) [cd] [06-26] Media Puzzle: New Racehorse (2026, Impressed): Australian post-punk (or egg punk?) group, first album (if you credit 12 songs, 23:19), group named for a race horse (winner of the 2002 Melbourne Cup), led by Tom Peter (vocals, guitar, bass, synth, sax, percussion), includes other singers and bits of trumpet and violin. B+(*) [sp] Melanie C: Sweat (2026, Red Girl/Virgin): Former Spice Girls singer Melanie Chisholm (Sporty Spice, or Mel C), ninth solo studio since 1999. Pretty good. B+(***) [sp] Michaela Anne: These Are the Days (2026, Georgia June): Country singer-songwriter, surname Neller, sixth album since 2011. B+(**) [sp] Kacey Musgraves: Middle of Nowhere (2026, Lost Highway): Country singer-songwriter, seventh studio album since her breakthrough hit in 2013. B+(***) [sp] Octo Octa: Sigils for Survival (2026, T4T LUV NRG): American house producer Maya Bouldry-Morrison, several albums since 2011, beats steady here with minor frills. B+(***) [sp] Sergio Pereira: Colors of Time (2025 [2026], Sergio Pereira Music): Brazilian guitarist, sings some, moved to New York in the 1980s, fifth album, recorded in Spain, Norway, and the USA, with a large but seamless cast. B+(***) [cd] [05-15] Leigh Pilzer: Keep Holding On (2025 [2026], Strange Woman): Baritone saxophonist, DC native, teaches at University of Maryland, seems to be her first album, original compositions, trio with Paul Bratcher (organ) and Greg Holloway (drums), starts with a "hard bop tribute" and keeps swinging. B+(***) [cd] [06-19] Jefferson Ross: Low Country Wedding (2026, self-released): Folkie singer-songwriter, moved to Georgia after years in Nashville, Discogs lists four previous albums (since 2008), and I should check them out. (Spotify has nine.) I didn't like his voice at first, but "Livin' in a Red State Blues" got my attention — my main complaint there is that I'm not fast enough to quote it (and the internet isn't hip enough to recount the lyrics), so I'll quote the closer instead: "I won't dwell on the liars and the haters, and all the despicable things they do; I just thank God for peaches and tomatoes." A- [sp] Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band: Arsenio and Beyond: Live at the Bronx Music Hall (2026, Jazzheads): Drummer, from the South Bronx, started with Mongo Santamaria in 1983, recorded an album in 1993, and many more since 2000, adopted Multiverse in 2012, has several big band tributes to prominent Afro-Cuban figures, including Arsenio Rodriguez here. A mind-boggling tsunami of vocals, horns, and percussion. B+(*) [cd] Christopher Sánchez: Latin Jazz Meets Opera (2026, Zoho): Dominican "baritone singer," you know he's serious when the range is specified, based in New York, seems to be his first album. Nothing I've received this year looked less appealing, but he hid the Bizet and Mozart arias behind a tango, and followed them with a deliciously torchy "Unforgettable." The Latin rhythms grease the skids, and I'm duly impressed by the voice, even though I normally put little weight on pure skill. Appeals to me as grand camp. Your mileage may vary. B+(***) [cd] Joe Syrian Motor City Jazz Octet: A Blue Time (2023-25 [2026], Circle 9): Drummer, third group album since 2015, personnel varies over sessions, but Adam Birnbaum (piano) and Doug Beavers (trombone) are constants, and help with arrangements (which also draw on outsiders, like John Fedchock and Rich DeRosa). All standards, including a Jobim and a Lennon-McCartney, with feature spots for Paul Bollenback (guitar) and Lucy Yeghiazaryan (vocals). B+(**) [cd] Adia Vanheerentals: Taking Place (2025, Relative Pitch): Belgian soprano saxophonist, solo here, limited appeal. B [sp] XG: The Core (2026, Xgalx): X-pop vocal group, identified as Japanese but based in South Korea and mostly rap and sing in English, first album after two EPs, 10 songs, 29:46. I'm not going to think about the lyrics beyond "if you don't like it, fuck you." As snappy as anything I've heard this year. Follows the most infectious song with a ballad, which works nearly as well. A- [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Fight the Fire: Digital Reggae, Conscious Roots and Dub in Nigeria 1986-91 (1986-91 [2026], Soundway): Reggae has had a niche role in West Africa since the mid-1970s, with Alpha Blondy perhaps the best known exponent. No names I recognize here, but these 14 pieces are remarkably steady. B+(***) [bc] The Oscar Peterson Trio: At Baker's Keyboard Lounge: The Complete Recordings (1960 [2026], Verve): With Ray Brown (bass) and Ed Thigpen (drums), five full sets, in the order performed, from a single Friday in a two-week engagement, recorded for a live album that never got released. At best, this is what you expect from jazz piano c. 1960, fast and sparkling. B+(***) [sp] This Is Lorelei: Box for Buddy, Box for Star [Super Deluxe] (2022 [2026], Double Double Whammy): Nate Amos, the tunesmith behind singer Rachel Brown in Water From Your Eyes, released this solo album in 2024, followed by a "Deluxe" edition (+3 songs) in 2025, and now this "Super Deluxe" (+10 songs, all covers by others). Variety is nice, but doesn't make a lot of difference. B+(**) [sp] Mike Westbrook Orchestra: The Cortège: Live at the BBC (1980 [2025], Cadillac): One of the British composer's major works, with a later studio recording released in 1982 and reissued by Enja in 1993. The piece was commissioned in 1979, and recorded here in the BBC studios in London on Oct. 25, 1980, with a 17-piece orchestra, counting vocalists Kate Westbrook (who also played tenor horn and piccolo) and Phil Minton (who also played trumpet). I didn't care for the studio album — often the vocals are a personal peeve in albums like this, but while dramatized I don't particularly mind them here. The band, of course, is often terrific. B+(**) [bc] Old music: Barbara Carr: The Best of Barbara Carr (1997-2001 [2003], Ecko): Blues/soul singer from St. Louis (1941-2026), released some singles on Chess (1966-72), but didn't get to albums until 1989, with this compilation from five albums the core of her output. By the 1990s, neo-soul was floating off in the pop ether, while vintage soul singers were being revived on blues labels. This starts risqué, with "Bone Me Like You Own Me" and "If You Can't Cut the Mustard" ("don't go sniffin' around the jar"), then slips in a disco joint, before coming up with titles like "If the Lord Keeps the Thought of You out of My Head, I'll Keep Your Booty out of My Bed." B+(***) [sp] Justin Golden: Golden Country: Volume 1 (2024, Vocal Rest): Richmond-based singer-songwriter, plays guitar, claims roots in the Mississippi Delta and Chicago, nothing on Discogs but Bandcamp has a 2022 album, folowed by this set of 8 songs (25:16). Tags for blues and folk, mostly covers, some old-timey twang to the picking. B+(**) [bc] Justin Golden: Golden Country: Volume 2 (2024, Vocal Rest): Eight more songs (25:51), starting with "Sitting on Top of the World" and "Sixteen Tons," including a "St. James Infirmary" and a "Diving Duck Blues." B+(**) [bc] Hang on the Box: Yellow Banana (2001, JingWen/Scream): Chinese punk rock band, four women, first album, Scream seems to be the name of a club in Beijing. Most titles in English, like "No Sexy," "For Some Stupid Cunts at 'BBS,'" "Kill Your Belly," "and "Ass Hole, I'm Not Your Baby." Another scene I know nothing about, but they're clearly plugged into a familiar world. B+(**) [sp] Jefferson Ross: Azalea (2008, Deep Fried Discs): First album. Songwriting solid, including one about "Stillwater Oklahoma," one about "The Prophet Elijah," and one mentioning peaches and tomatoes." He's right about "Lucky Now & Then." B+(***) [sp] Jefferson Ross: Hymns to the Here and Now (2011, Deep Fried Discs): Second album. Starts with the assertion, "there's no such thing as ordinary people." Title track is the odd one out, a cappella where most of this veers between bluegrass and Western swing. The more it swings, the better. B+(***) [sp] Jefferson Ross: Isle of Hope (2013, Deep Fried Discs): Third album, runs 16 songs (53:48), recorded by Thomm Jutz. Seems like both the songwriting and the music have gotten subtler, which may well pan out in the end, but is less obvious at first blush. Or maybe this is just "easy listening"? B+(**) [sp] Jefferson Ross: Dogwood Cats (2015, Deep Fried Discs): Fourth album, thirteen more songs (52:22). B+(*) [sp] The Mike Westbrook Concert Band: Celebration (1967, Deram): British pianist (1936-2026), started with this debut album, leading a 12-piece group, where young saxophonists Mike Osborne and John Surman were soon to become famous. This is regarded as a classic of the British avant-garde. It could be. B+(***) [yt] Grade (or other) changes: S.G. Goodman: Planting by the Signs (2025, Slough Water/Thirty Tigers): Folk singer-songwriter, from Kentucky, third album. Surprised to find this soft, unassuming album ranked 5th on the 2025 Dean's List. Sounds plausible at first, slips a bit, two duets don't exactly help, but the 8:59 closer ("Heaven Song") is transcendent. [was: B+(**)] A- [sp] Rechecked with no grade change: Body Type: Expired Candy (2023, Poison City): Australian rock group, number 4 on 2025 Dean's List, half the songs hold together beyond reproach, so I'm not surprised that someone could latch onto them, but multiple plays leave me not quite caring. B+(***) [sp] Margaret Glaspy: The Golden Heart Protector (2025, ATO, EP): Idiosyncratic Dean's List top pick, hard for me to figure why let alone concur. Seven songs (25:23), all covers and most duets, the more familiar the more touching. B+(***) [sp] Rhett Miller: A Lifetime of Riding by Night (2025, ATO): Eighth solo album, many more in Old '97s, as noted before "easy to listen to, and not without merit." A couple of songs touched me, but not enough to upgrade. B+(**) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
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