THE UNDISCOVERED INDIGO SOUL

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ON THE BLUE SIDE

by Hank Crawford & Jimmy McGriff

released: 1990

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I'm shocked and disappointed to find that here in late 2004, I'm the first person to submit a review [*at Amazon.com*] for this excellent album. I bought ON THE BLUE SIDE shortly after its release and I've probably heard it well over a hundred times. This wasn't the first collaboration between HANK CRAWFORD & JIMMY McGriff -- just the best!

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I'm an inveterate whistler. I catch myself unconsciously whistling all the time, and almost always it's either 'Sunshine Of Your Love', 'Keep On Loving You', 'Bumpin' On Sunset', 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen', or 'ANY DAY NOW' from this collection. My gosh, I've been whistling 'Any Day Now' for 14 years!

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This is an exciting and soulful 4-piece band which features the Bluesy but always swinging alto sax of CRAWFORD, which dances over McGRIFF's thick washes of Hammond B-3 Organ chords - chords which suddenly and frequently transform into popping, red-hot, electrically-charged riffing! It is McGRIFF who keeps this music grooving with an addictive, stylistically Jazzy R&B mood. He's a vastly talented musician whose keyboard technique makes him a peer of other notable B-3 masters such as Jimmy Smith, Bill Doggett, and Booker T. Jones.

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Not to be overlooked, however, is the much employed Wes Montgomery-influenced guitar work of JIMMY PONDER, whose imaginative playing punctuates the undulating, snake-like rhythms with purple, pinpoint notes that both heighten and release the musical tension. Man, this is great stuffs! It gets under the skin and just COMPELS the body to move! It seems that some people don't have an aural affinity for the organ sound. That's a real puzzlement to me because I don't just HEAR the B-3, I FEEL it!

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These instrumental pieces that make up ON THE BLUE SIDE are rhythmically-structured pieces that are danceable, and yet they contain plenty of space for the exciting, improvisational interplay that Jazz fans listen for.

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ON THE BLUE SIDE may be one of my more frequently spun discs, but you know, I didn't have to share this treasure with ya. I could-a kept Hank's and 'Jimmy's Groove' thang all to myself. I could-a taken the attitude that if you don't already know, that's 'Tuff' for you! I could-a said to myself, "Stephen" (that's what I occasionally call myself), "only one person is lucky enough to listen to ON THE BLUE SIDE, and 'You're The One'!" But I couldn't act so selfishly. Instead, I brought you on board with me. I hope you appreciate this review. 'Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good To You'?

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~ Stephen T. McCarthy

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1959: Frankie Would Say, “IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR!”

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NOVA BOSSA: Red Hot On Verve
by Assorted Artists
released: 1996
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If you have read my review for the album [link> 'Bossa Nova For Lovers' then you know that I’ve only just recently discovered that I’ve been in love with Bossa Nova for pretty much my entire life without ever knowing it. (And if you haven’t read that review, I’d like to know why not! I mean, if you’re not hanging on my every word, then I’m just going to stop nailing them up there. ;o)
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I purchased two Bossa Nova collections as soon as I realized that “Bossa Nova” was the name of the musical genre that my heart has been carrying around for the past 43 years. (I do catch on, but slowly.) I acquired the aforementioned set because I’m a real “lover” -- yeah, bring it on ladies! (But I’m a “fighter”, too, so watch yer step, dude!) And I simultaneously bought “NOVA BOSSA: RED HOT ON VERVE”, and danged if I can tell ya which one I like best, because they’re both Boss! I might prefer this collection overall, only by the slimmest margin, but “For Lovers” includes Astrud Gilberto’s “The Shadow Of Your Smile”, and without that song in my collection, my smile would be turned upside down. :o(
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I found John Carlin’s liner notes included with this compact disc to be very informative, so I’m copying them below:
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“Brazilian music is American music. It comes from the same multicultural fusion that spawned blues, jazz, salsa, reggae and rock. In Brazil it is called samba. Samba fused three sounds that thrived in Rio de Janeiro at the end of the 19th century: West African polyrhythms, Portuguese melodies, and Native American chants. [*By chants were you aware that I’m part Mohawk Indian? I want 40 acres of land and a jackass! Oh wait, I’M the jackass.*]
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"This potent combination was turned into a classic myth by the poet Vinicius de Moraes, whose play [link> “Black Orpheus” brought Afrocentric Brazilian culture and samba to international attention. In the well-known film version, Orpheus dies for love, but his artistic spirit lives on in a young boy who picks up Orpheus’ guitar and plays his song to make the sun rise. The beauty of the music makes the film’s heavy-handed theme credible. Orpheus’ song, “A Felicidade”, composed by a young Antonio Carlos Jobim, comes out of samba culture while effortlessly introducing something new and even more beautiful to the world. That sound later became known as bossa nova, the new wave. It was created by Jobim and de Moraes along with the great singer/guitarist Joao Gilberto. Inspired by samba, along with the sophistication of Debussy and Cole Porter, Jobim began writing simple, beautiful songs that suggested, but were never burdened by their eccentric harmonies, asymmetrical structures and abstract thoughts.
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“Within a few years, American jazz musicians like Herbie Mann, Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz began to sample these new exotic songs. By 1962, Jobim’s “The Girl From Ipanema” performed by Getz with Joao Gilberto and his wife Astrud, on the Verve label, became the biggest hit in the U.S., the year before the Beatles arrived. [*According to my Billboard book, it was '64.*] The success of the song and the bossa beat created a pop formula capitalized upon by Astrud, Sergio Mendes, Walter Wanderley and others throughout the mid-Sixties. At the same time, Jobim and Gilberto – as well as musicians like the Tamba Trio, Edu Lobo, Baden Powell and Marcos Valle – continued to refine bossa and samba into one of the finest means of expression in the world of pop music.
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“By the late ‘60s, a new generation of artists began to emerge in Brazil from the Afrocentric northeastern state of Bahia. Led by Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, they merged bossa with rock by adding more aggressive beats and avoiding romantic lyrics. This new movement, called tropicalismo, demonstrated the continued vitality of Brazilian music and that samba, like the blues, grew from the multicultural character of the Americas to become one of the great art forms of the 20th century.”
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~ John Carlin
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I saw the movie “BLACK ORPHEUS” in the late ‘80s because I tremendously enjoyed Vince Guaraldi’s song “Cast Your Fate To The Wind”, which I knew had first appeared on his album titled, “Jazz Impressions Of Black Orpheus.” I don’t recall being much impressed with the movie back then, but seeing it a second time is suddenly a priority for me. (“NOVA BOSSA: RED HOT ON VERVE” begins with Jobim’s “A Felicidade” taken directly from the 1959 “BLACK ORPHEUS” soundtrack. I feel it’s spoiled a bit by the voices and various other audio portions of the film’s soundtrack, but historically, it’s still the perfect opening for a Bossa Nova set. And I can’t tell you how cool I think it is that Bossa Nova was introduced to the world at large in the same year that I entered into it.)
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The so-called “Interludes” on this set are merely 15-30 second snippets of drums, ocean and street sounds, etc. I’m not sure what their purpose is, and I could have done without them, thank you very much. But they don’t diminish my listening pleasure because the tunes are simply Mmmm-Mmmm Good! I swear, I love Bossa Nova. My only wish is that some of the tracks were extended: it seems that no sooner has a particular rhythm and melody enveloped me and begun carving grooves into my heart and soul than it comes to an end and we’re off to the next delicious slice of Bossa Nova. Oh well, “Leave ‘em wanting more” is the old entertainment maxim.
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I dig every song on “NOVA BOSSA: RED HOT ON VERVE”, although Caetano Veloso’s “Superbacana” is pretty goofy. Why do I see The Brady Bunch in my mind when that one plays? No, seriously, why? But this is a funky Fun Fiesta; less Saudade than the 'Bossa Nova For Lovers' disc, which is perfectly fine with me because now I have a Bossa Nova concert for both moods. If you too have a heart for Bossa Nova, I can guarantee your satisfaction with this first-class set.
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And speaking of the heart, always remember what that great Brazilian pianist Yoey O’Dogherty once said to a group of budding Bossa Nova musicians in 1963: “Listen with your heart, speak with your fingers, and love with your -- HEY! Who took my beer?”
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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I'm NOT SHY Now . . .

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NOT SHY
by Walter Egan
released: 1978
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I'm NOT SHY now . . . but I'm still rather attached to my body. I graduated from high school in 1977, and at the Theatre Arts Department's year-end banquet, I received two awards: 'SHYEST' and 'BEST BODY.' That said a lot for my acting ability, didn't it? And you wouldn't expect the guy with the best bod to also be the shyest, would you?
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Well, take a look through some of my online reviews and you'll see that I'm no longer shy (some might even call me an opinionated, loudmouthed jerk). And, yes, I did have the best formed male body in the Theatre Department, but that's because I was also on the wrestling team -- pumping iron all the time -- and my competition in the Theatre Department was a bunch of prancing sissies singing 'Westside Story' tunes. Not much competition there, ya know?
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One summer after graduation, my friend Eric and I were hitting all of the Rock 'N' Roll clubs and seldom missed the free Noontime Friday concerts at Santa Monica City College. One Friday we caught this dude named Walter Egan playing great Summer beach town tunes on that diminutive stage, and I liked his catchy Pop so much that I went right out and bought his just-released album, 'NOT SHY'. Within weeks, I heard his song 'Magnet And Steel' on the radio and listened as that July and August it steadily climbed the charts all the way up to #8, making Egan yet another One-Hit Wonder. I felt like I was an "insider"; I was on the bandwagon before there WAS a bandwagon.
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What's surprising is that the album 'NOT SHY' contains at least half a dozen other cuts that could have just as easily cracked Billboard's Top Ten chart, being (to my ears) much better than the "one hit", but they got no radio airplay. Who can explain that stuff? But if you want an authentic slice of that late '70s Pop Pie, you could do much worse than Egan's second release, 'NOT SHY'. It was recorded in L.A. in '77 and contains 36 minutes of music that includes Fleetwood Mac icon Stevie Nicks singing backup on 5 tracks, and bandmates Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood on 2 each, along with Dean Torrance (of Jan & Dean fame) on 1 other.
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As I write this, 'NOT SHY' (out-of-print as a single release) is currently available in a "Two-Fer-One" package along with Egan's debut album, 'Fundamental Roll'. It would be a better buy (more music, less money, and brand new). But I also bought 'Fundamental Roll' way back when and wasn't crazy about it. A little older now (OK, a lot older), and wiser, and more mature, I couldn't bring myself to play that one at this point, as it contains a song called 'Tunnel O' Love' which is about a certain part of a woman's anatomy. Yeah, it's a little too lewd and crude for me at (nearly) 47 years of age. I think women should be considered in their totality, not examined part by part. So let's look at 'NOT SHY' alone:
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SWEET SOUTH BREEZE is a real toe-tapper that opens with Egan's twangy guitar. This had Top Ten hit potential.
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MAGNET AND STEEL is the big hit. A ballad which includes a very Beach Boys-like guitar break. "Hey baby, ya wanna camp out on the beach tonight and build a bonfire and... uh... OK, well maybe next weekend?"
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FINALLY FIND A GIRLFRIEND with Stevie Nicks featured rather prominently in the background had "hit" written all over it. After years of being the loneliest guy with a good body, I finally found a girlfriend. But the minute I began joyfully singing this song... she dumped me! And the search began again.
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THE BLONDE IN THE BLUE T-BIRD is another one that shoulda been a hit. Who can hear this one without thinking of the movie 'American Graffiti'?
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STAR IN THE DUST contains the lyric, "I recall what somebody once told me: Only the lucky in love survive." Here Egan cleverly references his debut album which kicked off with the song 'Only The Lucky (In Love Survive)'. So now you know who the "somebody" was who told him.
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I WANNIT is the weak link on the album. Not offensive but not a standout track either.
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MAKE IT ALONE contains some angst-driven guitar playing from our boy which gives the song the edge it requires -- really his best work on the album. And, yes, you can make it alone! Just look at me -- I've made it alone. But it IS kinda lonely to be a lone kinda guy. But you CAN make it... alone... and lonely... very lonely... desperately lonely. OK, that's all I have to say about that because it's starting to depress me.
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UNLOVED. Ah, yes, here's another one about being alone, lonely, unloved. It's about a girl who can't be contacted because she's "unlisted" her phone. But hey, the singer's gonna make it alone even though he may be a bit lonely, a bit unloved... REALLY unloved. Oh man, here we go again. "Hey baby, let's get together and... oh, I see. OK, well maybe next weekend?"
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JUST THE WANTING. No, this brooding ballad is not about wanting a girl when you're unloved and trying to make it alone. Desperately, pathetically alone. This one is about the wanting to attain something in life... something a little BIGGER than a girlfriend... unless of course, your girlfriend is named Bertha, or something like that. There's a line in this song that says, "I remember when I was seventeen and my life had just begun." That's funny because I was seventeen when I first saw Walter playing on that little college stage, and I too felt that my life was full of pristine promise. Little did I know back then that the best I'd ever do in life was to write semi-appreciated reviews for a then unimaginable Internet shopping site while trying to... make it alone... so alone.
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HOT SUMMER NIGHTS. Yeah, I know all about hot summer nights (today's high here in Phoenix was about 115 degrees and it's still about 100 at 2 AM), but somehow I get the feeling that Egan has a different kind of "hot" in mind. This may be my favorite track. Here's another one with tremendous hit potential that inexplicably never got played over our radios in the summer of '78.
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"A-Woo-ooo-ooo-OO-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo, hot summer nights."
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There's nothing fancy on 'NOT SHY'. It's just simple but catchy commercial Pop, warm, Summery and tasty.
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Alright listen, I gotta go now. No, you can't go with me, and don't let me catch you trying to follow me, either. I'm gonna MAKE IT ALONE, gosh darn it, and I can't do that if you're following after me like a lost little puppy dog! "Alone" means alone and I can make it that way... I can... I just know I can. Of course, if you're blonde and female... you think maybe I could catch a lift with you in your blue T-bird? Perhaps we could MAKE IT ALONE together. ...OK, well maybe next weekend?
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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BUT CAN HE PITCH?

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JUBILANT
by Jubilant Sykes
released: 1998
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There's no question about it: this cat's got a "SINGular" voice! The few people in this world who have a REALLY remarkable gift are invariably recognized at a young age. I was in Boys Chorus with Jubilant Sykes at John Adams Junior High School in Santa Monica, California, in 1972, and our vocal coach, Linda Anderson, ascertained that she had found a world-class singer in Jubilant in no-time flat! In her ears, there was "him", and then there was "all the other children". (Teacher's pet!)
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I'll never forget auditioning at Anderson's piano. She gave me this funny look. "With Jubilant?" I queried, hopefully. "No", she answered. "With all the other kids?", I asked dejectedly. "No", she shook her head again, "with all the other whining dogs at the kennel."
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My music aspirations had come to an ignoble end. But Jubilant was headed for big things and we all knew that.
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I still have the LP recording from the Santa Monica Unified School District's, 1972, STAIRWAY OF THE STARS concert, which included Jubilant (with hair) as the featured soloist.
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(*AN ASIDE: This 1972 public school district-sanctioned performance included the Judeo-Christian musical compositions, 'In The Beginning Of Creation' [a choral "portrayal of the Lord's creation of order out of chaos."]; 'When I Was Sinkin' Down'; 'Great God A'mighty'; 'Sit Down, Servant'; and 'Alleluia'. Obviously the A.C.L.U. and other Communist front organizations had not yet discovered that with the help of Liberal revisionist judges, they could banish such public religious expression under the completely bogus, NON-EXISTENT principle of "Separation Of Church And State". Try to find it in the Constitution! And be sure to read David Barton's great book, 'ORIGNAL INTENT: The Courst, The Constitution, & Religion'.)
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'JUBILANT' is an excellent showcase for its singer's God-given gift. The simple Jazz-inflected arrangements are the perfect complement to Jubilant's soulful, Good News-inspired voice. Watch those tear ducts when, in 'MARY, DID YOU KNOW?', he sings:
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DID YOU KNOW THAT YOUR BABY BOY HAS COME TO MAKE YOU NEW?
THIS CHILD THAT YOU DELIVERED
HE WILL SOON DELIVER YOU...
DID YOU KNOW THAT YOUR BABY BOY HAS WALKED WHERE ANGELS TROD?
AND WHEN YOU KISS YOUR LITTLE BABY
YOU'VE KISSED THE FACE OF GOD?
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I've been listening to Jubilant since 1972, and to 'JUBILANT' since 1998. My only complaint with this excellent collection of "Good News" songs is that I've always had a difficult time finding the proper volume in which to play it. His voice rises and falls considerably as a natural result of his vocal style and phrasing, and if I play this CD loud enough to discern the quieter moments, it becomes too loud when he goes to the rafters. But any lower and I can't hear some passages well enough. Still, this is a small price to pay for music this glorious. Don't let it cause you to hesitate in making this purchase if the idea of hearing great Gospel painted by a certifiably great voice appeals to you!
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Sure, Jubilant has ALWAYS been a tremendous singer; in that, there can be NO argument! He surely deserves all of the accolades he's received. But I'll tell ya what: not in a million tries could he have beaten me in a game of Wiffle Ball out on the playground and, after all, which is more important, music or Wiffle Ball?
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(*Jubilant, I'm proud of you, and God must be pleased with the way you're handling His gift; thanks for sharing it with us, Brother!)
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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