A Musical "F**K YOU!" to Homophobia

It may not be safe for work but this French anti-homophobia campaign made my day. Thanks to Lily Allen for allowing the French group, GayClic, to repurpose her track (originally recorded as a critique of George W. Bush) in this very concise and funny video for May 17's International Day Against Homophobia (who knew?)

DISCOVERIES: Ben Folds' "Selfless, Cold & Composed" (A Capella)

I'm not terribly familiar with Ben Folds' work, though I have enjoyed a couple of tracks that his group, Ben Folds Five, has contributed to compilation albums over the years. Yesterday, Folds released a striking approach to his past work with BEN FOLDS PRESENTS: UNIVERSITY A CAPELLA! It's exactly what you would expect from the title: a bunch of university a capella choirs performing his music. While I haven't finished listening to the entire thing, there is already one performance that has literally rocked my world--The Sacramento State Jazz Singers performing "Selfless, Cold, and Composed." It's a brilliant choral performance, and happily you can catch it on YouTube here:



Perhaps it's not for everyone--I'm admittedly a huge fan of choral music and have always been entranced by the power of harmonizing voices writ large--but I can't imagine failing to recognize how kickass this rendition is, between the insistent sung percussion lines and thick, gorgeous unison chords backing really lovely featured vocals. Simply astounding!

DISCOVERIES:Holly Yarbrough's "Mister Rogers Swings!"

Recently I had the pleasure of seeing the off-Broadway show "Everyday Rapture". The show features star Sherie Rene Scott covering an eclectic selection of songs that were important to her as she was growing up. I was dumbstruck by some of the pieces she chose to sing because they were such touchstones of my own childhood and adolescence, including Harry Nilsson's "Life Line" (from the animated movie "The Point") and Tom Waits' "Rainbow Sleeves", one of my favorite heart-breakers.

Most astonishingly, Sherie performed a mini-set of songs from "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" and identified Fred Rogers as a seminal figure in her life, teaching her self-love and self-confidence (traits that were frowned upon within the spartan Mennonite community of her youth.) Upon returning home from the show, I jumped online to see if I could find any recordings of Fred Rogers' music, and that's how I stumbled across last year's release of MISTER ROGERS SWINGS!


Vocalist Holly Yarbrough is the star of this appealing piece of brilliance, featuring jazz arrangements of 16 of Roger's television tunes. Yarbrough is terrific, delivering cheerful (never saccharine) interpretations of the Rogers' oeuvre with the assistance of a small combo (they are equally wonderful). I suspect you won't believe me when I say that they pull off these performances without a trace of kitsch, but they manage it somehow. You'd expect "a kid's album" but it's really not that at all; it's sophisticated, heartfelt jazz. It's also proof of Rogers's own talents as a composer in his own right (he received his BA in music composition).

There's not a bad track on the album. In fact, the best songs are those where things could most easily have veered into irony, with a wink and a nod. Instead, Yarbrough wrings real passion out of "Then Your Heart Is Full of Love" and brings a clever simmer to "I Like To Be Told". Appealing voice, ingenious arrangements, brilliant concept (someone should win a Grammy just for having the idea); I can't recommend it enough.

HOLLY YARBROUGH on MySpace

Cracks Me Up!

Well, since the musical-blogging has been interrupted, I might as well take an opportunity to post something (non-musical) that cracks me up!

We Interrupt This Music Blog...

James Purdy has died. To most average readers I suspect this news is met with a shrugged "who dat?" Allow me to say we just lost a good one--far and away my favorite novelist. His works aren't for the squeamish, drenched as they are in turgid obsession, Southern Gothic imagery, a hefty dose of melodrama and--above all--sex, sex, sex (usually repressed, but not always). In Purdy's worlds golden birds nest in the bellies of human hosts, huts in secluded groves hide orgies upon piles of fresh-baked pies, and tortured souls degrade themselves in carnal quests for youth, beauty, innocence--and even love. Purdy was truly sui generis; I can't think of another writer who so boldly plunged into the messiest human impulses. Tennessee Williams' damaged protagonists, particularly Streetcar's Blanche, were surely distant cousins of the inhabitants of Purdy's books, but where Williams let our imagination fill in the blanks of Miss DuBois' shady past, Purdy would have let it rip and told us everything in decadent paragraphs of his trademark florid prose. It's gorgeous and frustrating writing, a very peculiar alchemy of bodice ripper meets Gordon Merrick meets Flannery O'Connor. And I am very sad today. Viva Purdy!

JAMES PURDY OBITUARY in The New York Times

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Melinda Doolittle's "Coming Back To You"

Melinda Doolittle placed 3rd during the 2007 season of the television juggernaut, American Idol (season 6). A former professional back up singer, Doolittle routinely impressed A.I. judges and viewing audiences with her soulful voice which rang out again and again in stark contrast to her meek stage persona. Though I'm not a diehard Idol-watcher, I'd have to admit that after catching Doolittle once, I did bother to tune in again to see how she'd do. It was hard not to root for her, because Doolittle was such a surprising pro in a field of rank amateurs.

Like all contestants on American Idol, Doolittle was required to prove herself by singing a smorgasbord of songs with assurance including "My Funny Valentine" (Rodgers & Hart), "Sweet Sweet Baby" (Aretha Franklin), "I'm A Woman" (Lieber & Stoller), even "Have A Nice Day" (Bon Jovi). Doolittle was one of the few who actually managed to pull off this schizophrenic performing seal act with her head held high, but her week-after-week success also served to make her harder to define as a performer.

This week, Doolittle finally released her long-awaited first solo album, Coming Back to You. She seems to have chosen a "retro-soul" approach, and the album sounds like one you'd have expected from Melba Moore or Gladys Knight in the mid-1970s. The album--like the singer--is pleasant listening, but that's both a blessing and a curse.

Highlights--to my ear--include "The Best of Everything" in which Doolittle's muscular voice gets an ever-building workout, and "Wonderful" which grooves along sweetly with irresistible girl-group backing vocals. "I'll Never Stop Loving You" is an enjoyable detour into the Doris Day songbook, with a lush string orchestra backing Doolittle's entirely convincing delivery of an old-school ballad.

I'd sum up the album's shortcomings with two words: "Adult Contemporary." The musical arrangements are occasionally so generic they flirt with Muzak territory. Wrong-headed production choices short-circuit some other moments: the toe-tapping "Dust My Broom" sounds like it's building into a real barn-burner until it inexplicably fades out fast. Likewise the album's final track, the ballad "Wonder Why," closes things out with a mellow vibe but the final note is cut so short I couldn't help wondering if they had to unplug the keyboard to get out of the studio on time.

What I'd wish for Doolittle next time around is more of what she brought to her best moment on American Idol. Singing one of Bon Jovi's latter-day rock anthems, "Have A Nice Day," Doolittle stepped well beyond her comfort zone and hit the song out of the park:



Clearly, Doolittle is capable of moving beyond her musical safety zone, but I think she needs a producer who's up to the task of leading her there. Next album, I'm crossing my fingers for Jack White (Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose) or Rick Rubin (Johnny Cash's late-career albums) to step up and take Doolittle to the promised land!

YOU SHOULD KNOW: M.J. Williams

M.J. Williams is a sublime vocalist. She is also a Montana native and a jazz trombonist (of all things). Her solo album, I CAN HEAR YOUR HEART (1999) has been a favorite of mine for many years. Two subsequent albums, each featuring a talented jazz trio (shifting configurations of bass, piano, guitar, and drums) have become equal aural pleasures.

Williams, like another of my favorite vocalists, Jimmy Scott, favors holding long extensions of notes that emphasize the effect of the voice as a member of an instrumental ensemble of equals (as opposed to a lead vocal being supported or "backed" by the instruments.) These extensions cast such a languid spell that you can forget you are listening to a song with words. Williams delivers the lyrics beautifully, but the end result (to my ears at least) is one of enjoying a tapestry of sound more than focusing on the words of the song.

Most of these tracks are jazz interpretations of real classics like My Foolish Heart, The Nearness of You, or Rodgers & Hart's Lover. Also featured are songs composed by Thelonius Monk, Antônio Carlos Jobim, and Pat Metheny, as well as Williams' bass player, Kelly Roberti. Throughout these albums Williams voice is gorgeous--with a solid, mellow center not unlike the timbre of Dianne Reeves' voice.

To my knowledge none of M.J.'s work has had anything like a major-label release, and a quick search reveals nothing via amazon or iTunes. It does look like you can get some of Williams' albums (as well as listen to mp3 samples) at this link:

SHOP FOR M.J. WILLIAMS AT WORLD JAZZ SCENE ONLINE

Of the albums I have, none feature Williams' skills on the trombone, but she's undoubtedly a vocalist well-worth getting acquainted with!