CD Reviews: October 2008

Marilyn Crispell's Vignettes, Spiv U:K's So Far Machine, and The Wood Brothers' Loaded

by Peter Aaron, Sharon Nichols, Robert Burke Warren, September 29, 2008

Marilyn Crispell Vignettes
(2008, ECM Records)
Treasured local pianist Marilyn Crispell emerged on the modern jazz scene in the late 1970s, when she began her 15-year tenure with the Anthony Braxton Quartet. Building on the classical studies of her early years, the influential Crispell has created a singular style that bridges the aggressive attack of Cecil Taylor with the balladic introspection of Keith Jarrett. In recent years, however, over her three previous trio albums for ECM Crispell’s approach has drifted from the keyboard-strafing runs of Taylor to something that, while still suggesting Jarrett’s wistful lyricism, also palpably reflects the austere, monochromatic Scandinavian winter landscape that she cites as a current influence.
Though most of the 17 short pieces on the aptly titled Vignettes (the longest track, “Stilleweg,” clocks in at 6:18—brief, compared to much of Crispell’s output) are indeed pregnant with Bergmanesque brooding, Crispell’s patented discordant flurries haven’t evaporated entirely; see the feverish “Axis,” which finds the pianist’s hammering hands spiking the keys with the force of an IRT express train. Nothing ever was, anyway, Crispell’s 1996 ECM debut, is a double album of music by one of her neighbors, pioneering composer and performer Annette Peacock; for the mainly improvised Vignettes Crispell reaches out to another fellow Woodstocker for material: flutist and composer Jayna Nelson, whose “Cuida Tu Espiritu” offers perhaps as good a taste of this fine album’s bittersweet sadness as anything else on the track list. www.ecmrecords.com.
—Peter Aaron


(2008, Independent)
It may seem odd that Woodstock is now spitting out Brit pop, but anything goes these days. That being said, Spiv U:K’s second record has a warm and trippy feel that is both old school and refreshingly new. Imagine a completely modern band that generates an arsenal hinting of early ’70s Bowie, Pink Floyd, and the Beatles while folding in its own blend of psychedelia, and you’ll have it just about right.The guitar, drums, and bass-fueled Spiv (British slang for a man who lives by his wits) is led by Sham Morris of the Mick Ronson-produced band One the Juggler. Intricate, enigmatic, spaced out and witty, the 11 tunes on this disc retain a mellow sensibility without being even remotely melancholy or depressing.The Velvet Undergroundesque “Mumble Hello,” with its tranquil chorus leads into the rocking ’60s groove of “Another Day in Heaven,” which is followed by the danceable, almost Latin vibe of “Angeline.” There’s a lot of variety here. If you like Radiohead, T. Rex, the White Stripes, and/or any of the aforementioned bands, check out Spiv U:K. This CD is definitely a keeper that you’ll find yourself spinning again and again. I know I will, ’cause it’s bloody good. www.myspace.com/spivuk.
—Sharon Nichols


(2008, Blue Note Records)
The Wood Brothers—Atlanta guitarist/vocalist Oliver and Saugerties bassist Chris—are road-weary, bereft, and ranting. Which, apparently, makes for a great album. Following their freewheeling, live-in-the studio 2006 debut Ways Not to Lose, Loaded is the sound of a brother duo becoming greater than the sum of its parts. Recorded in the shadow of their mother’s recent passing, it’s both a lusty celebration of life and an emotionally and physically moving expression of loss. John Medeski—from Chris’s other gig, Medeski, Martin & Wood—is back as producer, and he’s deftly fleshed out the sound with subtle touches that add color without stealing focus.
Oliver’s grosgrain, vibratoless voice wraps around well-wrought lyrics that are by turns keen, deep, and wry. Warmly greeting the listener with the yearning gospel of “Lovin’ Arms,” that same voice will deliver the regret of the album’s title track and the wonder of love beyond life in “Still Close.” The secret funk weapon on Loaded is Chris’s versatile upright bass playing; the four-string veteran is without peer, providing harmonic underpinning that is felt as much as heard—here a dancing heartbeat, there a slap and tickle. Loaded’s three covers, the traditional “Make Me Down a Pallet on Your Floor,” Jimi Hendrix’s “Angel”—a duet with the bros’ Blue Note compadre Amos Lee—and Bob Dylan’s “Buckets of Rain” get interesting essays, but, remarkably, pale in comparison to the Wood originals, and are rightfully relegated to the back end of this impressive collection. Loaded indeed. www.thewoodbrothers.com.
—Robert Burke Warren