Joe's place

I had over 150 of this summer’s releases piled up and waiting for me to winnow down to those I know I’ll listen to for a long time. There are so many artists who are new to me and making unique and memorable music! I like writing about what I hear because what I learn gives the songs more depth and meaning as I listen. I hope there’s something new for you on here, and I also hope that you’ll share what your ears have been loving with me. You can hear the list on Spotify, right here: Summer 2017

Dori Freeman is new to me. My friends Amelia and Winston saw her at Pickathon and recommended a listen, and they were right! Freeman says she’s just trying to make honest, sincere music. “Ain’t Nobody” is just vocals and finger snapping, (and I think a guest appearance by a cricket near the end) and I assumed it was a traditional tune, but it turns out that she wrote it. I love this voice.

“Muddy Water” doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the more raucous rock and roll songs on The Deslondes new record Hurry Home. It’s a languid, lazy, acoustic ballad that makes you feel like it’s summertime in Louisiana. Which is what the song is about: small town kids hanging out. “Run to the holler by the old trash pile/Pig farm’s closed, the kids are still hog wild.” The Deslondes are from NOLA, and two members previously played with Hurray for the Riff Raff.

Molly Tuttle is another ‘new’ talent who has just released her first solo record. I say ‘new’ because apparently she’s been performing since she was 13. Now at a ripe old age of 22, her crystal-clear vocals and wonderful guitar shine on “Good Enough,” a song that she says “came out of a feeling of dissatisfaction that I struggle with…the tendency to feel like something’s missing is pretty prevalent in this day and age.” She’ll be fun to follow for many years.

Kurt Vile contributes the vocals to “It’s Easy (Like Walking) from The Sadies, and it’s a great combination. He’s just talking his way through as the guitars jangle and wash over. What’s the song about? Well, I really don’t know, for example “My left hand’s got a permanent air guitar tick/But don’t confuse it with a crutch/ ’cause I like it a lot.” Right?

Big Thief caught my attention with last year’s Masterpiece, and they’ve followed it up with another great record – Capacity. It was tough to decide which song to put on my list, as I love “Shark Smile”. But “Mythological Beauty” is a tune that sticks with me. Over a haunting drone, with a raw and fragile voice, Adrienne Lenker sings the story of her mother and of a traumatic accident when she was 5. Story aside, I love the opening “You have a mythological beauty/You have the eye of someone I have seen/Outside of ordinary situations/Even outside of dreams.”

Michael Nau’s second album, Some Twist, has been getting a lot of attention. “Good Thing” is reminiscent of a War on Drugs tune, and Nau says, “This one’s about learning on the fly to fly on.” It’s just a fact of life that good things can go bad, and life moves on.

“I’m a rebel just for kicks, now” is the chorus of this punchy tune, “Feel It Still” by Portugal. The Man, a group out of Portland. The driving bass line is the song’s foundation, with some Shirley Bassey symphonic kicks, handclaps and John Gourley’s falsetto croon. Super-catchy in the style of Electric Guest’s “This Head I Hold.”

The Black Keys were my favorite band. I loved that fuzzy, funky, power blues thing they had going – and then lost to record poppier songs with high harmonies that made me think of children’s choruses. So I’ve done my best to ignore Dan Auerbach’s solo projects, which have moved the same way. Now this new record, Waiting on a Song. It’s still poppy as hell, but some of it is really good pop without a hint of the old blues, so I can forget what I loved about the Keys before and move on to appreciating the new stuff. “Shine On Me” is powered by Mark Knoffler’s unmistakable guitar and a general retro feel-good vibe that’ll stick with you.

I’m not a big fan of old guys trying to stay relevant when their talent has long faded. I guess Mick Jagger is an exception. I love the Stones’ last release, and the two new songs Mick released as a solo project. This is a ‘reimagined’ version of “England Lost” with an interlude by Skepta, a grime rapper. The song is ostensibly about a football match, but gets into immigration and other political issues over a jerky rhythm, chunky bass, distorted guitars, and a nice harmonica break. It may turn out that the other one, “Gotta Get a Grip,” has more staying power.

Thievery Corporation is a couple of DJ’s who’ve made a reggae record with a lot of guest artists providing the authenticity and soul to their electro mix. This one, “Letter to the Editor,” features Raquel Jones, a young Jamaican roots reggae singer. I love the drive, the chorus (“cause our bombs dem metaphoric…”), and this verse in particular: ”Yo! Gimmi Di microphone get the people riled up/too much fuckery piled up.”

Zara McFarlane is a British jazz singer/songwriter whose parents were Jamaican, which helps to explain some of her music choices. I just ran into her recently and discovered her beautiful cover of “Police and Thieves” on a previous album called If You Knew Her. Her new record, Arise, has only this one song, “Fussin’ and Fightin’” available so far, and it’s a good one. Love the backup singers!

The Kronos Quartet has two spots on this list because they’ve got two releases this summer. This one is a collaboration with Trio Da Kali that was initiated by the Aga Khan Music Initiative. This Initiative brings the quartet together with leading musicians from the AKMI countries to compose, arrange, and perform new music rooted in regional traditions. Trio Da Kali unites three outstanding musicians from the Mande culture of Mali, who come from a long line of distinguished griots. I love the sound of the balafon with Kronos, and Hawa Diabate’s vocals are rich.

“How did this black chick with dreads grow up with Julie Andrews as her role model?” is what ALA.NI asks about herself. Hearing her sing feels like being transported back in time, but just not quite. There’s some Judy Garland in her voice, but a whole lot sweeter. Like this song, “Ol Fashioned Kiss,” sweet and corny and somehow still very current.

I think the Secret Sisters are just about the quirkiest musicians I know. Weird in that these actual sisters are so traditional and their harmonies are so 40’s ish. “He’s Fine” is a matter-of-fact tune about moving on. Someone wrote “the sisters’ voices slowly wrap around one another, revealing new emotions with every breath.” Yes. This record is produced by Brandi Carlile and I think she did a remarkable job.

When Folksinger, Vol 1 by Willie Watson came out in 2014, I really realized why Old Crow Medicine Show was so good in their early days. His is that high lonesome voice, and his arrangements and musicianship are superb. “Samson and Delilah” is an old-time tune, recorded by many (my favorites are Rev. Gary Davis and the Blasters) but never better than this. Can’t wait to see Willie at the Sweetwater and then in Portland in September.

You know I’m going to put some twang in my mix, and “Underground Railroad” is a twanger that I like a lot. Zoe and Cloyd are wife and husband whose vocals are lovely, but this is a straight-up fiddle and banjo duet – somber, haunting, yearning, as the title suggests it ought to be.

Another new voice for me is Rachel Baiman. A little reminiscent of Gilliam Welch, she’s tweaking folk in really interesting ways while carrying on a tradition of being topical in her songs. She started an organization called “Folk Fights Back” which does benefit shows for different issues; so far one for immigrants and refugees and another with an environmental focus. This song, “Shame,” has a nice little ramble and is easy on the ears as Rachel launches into a diatribe about religious hypocrisy. Here’s a verse: “Well old white men write books about faith and healing love/And old white men look happily onto others from above/In the name of sweet religion they would lay their claims on me/And ask me to be grateful for triumphant jubilee/They wanna bring me shame/Well there ain’t no shame…”

I hope everybody spends a little time listening to Colter Wall. Last year’s list included his “Sleeping on the Blacktop” and he’s followed up with a really fine self-titled record. He’s got a glorious, weathered baritone voice, a little reminiscent of Johnny Cash but (I have to say) better. “Kate McCannon” is the oldest sort of song, a love/murder tale, and I think one of the most effective I’ve ever heard. Wall does things with his voice – flattening notes, dragging and slurring syllables, breaking it – that are just brilliant.

Here’s the second song with The Kronos Quartet, this one off their outstanding new release Folk Songs. The record has vocal contributions from Sam Amidon, Natalie Merchant, Olivia Chaney, and Rhiannon Giddens. “Last Kind Words,” though, is Giddens on her fiddle with the quartet. Plucked strings provide the rhythm and Giddens’ fiddle sounds like a wailing cat (but good.) Check out this whole album – I’m a fan.

Kate Stables says about her band This Is The Kit’s song “Moonshine Freeze”: the song “is a big clumsy creature lumbering its way towards you. It’s the past, present, and future coming to get you.” It’s a folky/psychedelic groove, at times backed by an army of bobbing horns, over which Stables meditates on impermanence.

A Deeper Understanding, The War On Drugs’ new album, is one I’ve really appreciated front to back. My favorite song is “Thinking of a Place,” but I thought eleven minutes was more than I wanted on this list. “Strangest Thing” is a bit different than much of the record; it’s a slow burner that builds with a memorable riff and a sort of drama. I love the slippery nature of War On Drugs’ music, and the lyrics are equally slippery with the line “I ain’t got everything I need/If I’m just living in the space between the beauty and the pain” a perfect expression of it all.

Bedouine is Azniv Korkegian, born in Aleppo but now a Californian. Her understated, tranquil vocals belie the message of the song “Solitary Daughter,” which she describes as a reaction to traditional gender roles and a rejection of conventional romance. There’s a defiant tone in (NPR’s words) someone “defending the sanctity and solitude of her rich inner life.” Bedouine is opening for Willie Watson so I’m looking forward to seeing her.

The Wild Reed’s 2016 album, Blind and Brave, introduced me to their awesome harmonies and passionate presentation. “Of All the Dreams” was just about my favorite song last year, as a matter of fact. This tune, “Only Songs” is built a bit differently from that banjo ditty. It’s a tougher, more powerful song about liberation from anything that’s holding you back. Mackenzie Howe says “it’s…about the moment when you realize no man [or] woman, relationship, or status can give you the satisfaction of the strange and holy experience that is your own creativity.”

Yet another new group for me is Weather Station. In this song, “Thirty,” Tamara Lindeman sings a stream-of-consciousness lyric about a crush, with observations about the minute details of her life at the time. She says in the song that she “noticed fucking everything” and it’s clear that is exactly what she does. I love the gallop of this tune and the urgency she projects in the telling of the story.

I have to say it took a little time to love Holly Macve. Susan played me her whole CD in the car and it took a couple of songs to get over the crazy acrobatics (it’s a cross between a Tammy Wynette kind of catch and a yodel) she does with her voice. The other surprise is that she’s Irish, as her lazy drawl sounds about as down home as you can get. “Heartbreak Blues” is a warning that “every single road you choose/is going to end at the heartbreak blues.”

So other than that truck driver who saw her changing clothes, and the guy she did in the back of the taxi, Julia Jacklin has been saving herself for her guy, while wondering if her new man misses her yet. “Hay Plain” starts like a lullaby and builds in tempo and volume into a powerful, expansive climax. It’s a driving song and you can feel the vast plains as you pass through.

Kaia Kater is a very young clawhammer banjo player/singer who showed up in my 2016 list. Her new album, Sorrow Bound, is very strong throughout. I included this charming little Kate McGarrigle song, “En Filant M Quenouille,” just voice and banjo, because it makes me happy.

Song title	Artist	Album
Ain’t Nobody	Dori Freeman	Dori Freeman
Muddy Water	The Deslondes	Hurry Home
Good Enough	Molly Tuttle	Rise
It’s Easy (Like Walking)	The Sadies w/ Kurt Vile	Northern Passages
Mythological Beauty	Big Thief	Capacity
Good Thing	Michael Nau	Some Twist
Feel It Still	Portugal. The Man	Woodstock
Shine On Me	Dan Auerbach	Waiting On a Song
England Lost	Mick Jagger w/ Skepta	England Lost Reimagined
Letter To The Editor	Thievery Corporation w/ Racquel Jones	Temple of I & I
Fussin’ and Fightin’	Zara McFarlane	Arise
Eh Ya Ye	Trio Da Kali & Kronos Quartet	Ladilikan
Ol Fashioned Kiss	ALA.NI	You & I
He’s Fine	The Secret Sisters	You Don’t Own Me Anymore
Samson and Delilah	Willie Watson	Folksinger, Vol 2
Underground Railroad	Zoe & Cloyd	Eyes Brand New
Shame	Rachel Baiman	Shame
Kate McCannon	Colter Wall	Colter Wall
Last Kind Words	Kronos Quartet and Rhiannon Giddens	Folk Songs
Moonshine Freeze	This Is The Kit	Moonshine Freeze
Strangest Thing	The War On Drugs	A Deeper Understanding
Solitary Daughter	Bedouine	Bedouine
Only Songs	The Wild Reeds	The World We Built
Thirty	The Weather Station	The Weather Station
Heartbreak Blues	Holly Macve	Golden Eagle
Hay Plain	Julia Jacklin	Don’t Let the Kids Win
En Filant Ma Quenouille	Kaia Kater	Sorrow Bound

 

 

You know, I do feel some spite lately…toward our government. And in spite of that, music goes on and thank goodness it does. Hence the title. This playlist is mostly 2017 releases, with a few tunes I missed last year, and a few that are re-releases or I just heard for the first time. Don’t worry, the music isn’t spiteful.

So far this year there are 3 albums that really jump out at me as complete works: Ryan Adams’ Prisoner is getting crappy reviews but it appeals to me and I keep appreciating new songs. It’s really no fun at all; it’s a break-up record in full despair, yet not self-pitying. Valerie June put out The Order of Time, and her mix of blues, country, soul, folk, gospel, African rhythms, and lord knows what else is fresh and vibrant. The album flows and holds together as a piece from the first song to the last. Hurray for the Riff Raff’s The Navigator is another album that deserves a full listen. The record’s concept is to follow Alynda Segarra’s character Navita, a Puerto Rican street kid experiencing life in the city and looking for a way out. The music has elements from everywhere, and I’m really enjoying repeated listens.

And now the playlist; I think it’s a good one! Listen to it right here on Spotify: In Spite

Nina Simone – “Liza Jane.” Kicking it off with this amazing performance at the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival, a featured scene from What Happened, Miss Simone? This was her first of six appearances there, and I wish I’d been in the audience to discover this incredible artist. There are a few shows in this movie that are just electric, and the story of her life is fascinating.

Valerie June – “Shakedown.” One of my favorite newer artists, Valerie June blends Appalachian bluegrass, soul, folk, blues, and some African rhythms into some of the most compelling and rocket-powered songs I’ve heard. The album is varied and a real stand-out.

Rihanna – “Desperado.” From 2016’s Anti, this song closed out the “American Bitch” episode of Girls, and I found both the episode and this song to be revelatory. Watch the show, but it closes with an author’s daughter playing “Desperado” on flute for dad and Hannah and morphs into the Rihanna song.

Tinariwen – “Sastanaqqam.” Tinariwen is a Malian desert blues band that keeps producing deep and volatile rebellious political music that tells stories of displacement and the struggle for autonomy for the Azawad region of Northern Mali.

Otis Taylor – “Ten Million Slaves.” Otis Taylor tells the story of sitting in his fallout shelter as “rain and fire crossed that ocean” and thinking about slave ships carrying their cargo across that same ocean. Built on a relentless and dissonant banjo strum and electric guitar blues riff, it gets stuck in my head for days at a time. This song was from 2002’s Respect the Dead but just resurfaced with the Oxford American music issue.

Rhiannon Giddens – “At the Purchaser’s Option.” Freedom Highway is not my favorite album; in general I like Rhiannon Giddens’ amazing voice better either doing other people’s songs or being more rootsy – but I really admire how she takes on issues like police shootings, church bombings, and sexual violence on this record. And I do really like everything about this story of a mother dreading the fate of her child born into slavery.

Benjamin Booker and Mavis Staples – “Witness.” The virtuoso guitar takes a backseat in this gospel-style song about violence done to black people. Mavis sings the chorus “Am I going to be a witness…just going to be a witness?” A great question, as we all witness insanity and injustice – what would it mean to bear witness?

Sandy Bull – “Little Maggie.” I read about Sandy Bull recently, and how his 1960’s recordings were decades ahead of his time (which isn’t easy for a guy who played so many traditional songs!) He was a string virtuoso, playing electric and acoustic guitar, banjo, oud, bass and creating new arrangements for old tunes and new fusions like Bach on the banjo or bossa nova on the oud. This is a traditional tune and I love how he starts it off with what I assume is clawhammer style playing and jumps into bluegrass.

Jake Xerxes Fussell – “Have You Ever Seen Peaches Growing on a Sweet Potato Vine?” This guy’s a hoot. Last year’s “Ragged Levy” remains one of my most frequently played songs and has the same sort of whimsical lyrics and loping, buoyant guitar groove. He creates a kind of call and response with his guitar picking, and he can pick!

Tift Merritt – “My Boat.” This is a Raymond Carver poem set to music. It’s a tune about having a boat built that will take the writer and his friends away from the troubles of the world, which sounds like a nice idea. I keep thinking of “My Town” by Iris Dement in the chorus, and that’s okay, too.

Dead Man Winter – “Danger.” Dead Man Winter is Dave Simonett’s other band (he’s better known as the principle in Trampled By Turtles.) The band is a little less twangy than Trampled, and the album it comes from is a serious break-up, and not a good break-up, record. This song, for example, contains the lyric “You’re a danger to my health.”

Hurray For the Riff Raff – “Settle.” Alynda Segarra’s new album The Navigator narrates a personal and political journey that is incredibly engaging. Riff Raff has gone from a kind of New Orleans folk vibe to something unclassifiable – it’s just good music. Lush melodies, great stories, world rhythms, this record has so much going for it that I’ll be playing it start to finish many times.

Sharon Van Etten – “The End of the World.” This is from Resistance Radio, The Man in the High Castle, which is a take-off on the Philip K Dick science fiction novel imagining that the US had lost WWII and that the country was occupied on the East Coast by Germany, and on the West Coast by Japan. What would music have been? Probably no Elvis, Beatles, Dylan…This record is made of songs that would have been recorded in the ‘neutral zone’ of the Rockies in the 60’s, and they’re remakes of some familiar and mostly somber tunes. Sharon Van Etten is the perfect voice and tone for this song originally done by country singer Skeeter Davis.

Pieta Brown – “Street Tracker.” A catchy tune with gentle vocals and a really lovely guitar backing by Mark Knopfler. The album was all collaborative; Pieta sent simple acoustic demos of songs to friends like Calexico, Bon Iver, Knopfler and others, and they would finish the tracks. This song in particular produced killer results.

Colter Wall – “Sleeping on the Blacktop.” I heard about this guy only recently. He’s a very young Canadian country singer with a rich, weathered voice and a patient approach. This song is a hand-clapping rhythmic collection of images, released in 2015 but I didn’t know!

Florist – “White Light Doorway.” One of those indie pop groups that I just like. Emily Sprague sounds appropriately bored while painting some pretty beautiful pictures and conjuring up memories like “please come quick I stuck my head in the bannister again.” Charming.

The Cave Singers – “That’s Why.” The Cave Singers were my favorite local band in Seattle. Sincere, regular guys who put on great shows and wrote some very good songs. Here they are off their 2016 album Banshee. It’s all about the bass line.

Joan Shelley – “Wild Indifference.” I’ve been loving this voice since it found me a few years ago. Her rhythms and textures are hypnotic and her lyrics are clear and sweet – like her voice. This song, the first release from the new album Joan Shelley, is her signature: simple, and as she says, “an exercise in understatement.” The gist of this tune: “In your wild indifference / It’s all centered around you / Ain’t it lonely?…“Well I’ve been the chaser too long.” Tweedy produced this record, and I’m looking forward to hearing the rest.

Birds of Chicago – “Dim Star of the Palisades.” A great song off their 2016 release Real Midnight. Allison Russell’s voice is restrained from its full power and is therefore more expressive, and the song is a sweet reminder to an ex (I’m guessing) to “Hold on, hold on / tomorrow’s on you / like a pack of wild hounds.”

Real Estate – “Darling.” It’s the beginning guitar hook – its crazy rhythm and syncopation – that makes me love this song. A little jangly and surfy, they may be waiting “impatiently for you” with the finches on their front porch, but they sound perfectly content to me and put me in that same frame.

Ryan Adams – “To Be Without You.” Coulda picked a few tunes off this excellent record, Prisoner, but this is my favorite. The same despair and weary voice as “Nothing” by Townes Van Zant, but without the ‘fuck you’ attitude. “Nothing left to say or really even wonder / We are like a book and every page is so torn / Nothing really matters anymore.” Nice interweaving acoustic guitars and he’s in great voice.

Tom Rush – “No Regrets.” This is from the 40^th anniversary re-release of the record The Circle Game. If you don’t know this song, I think it will creep into you on first listen.

Son Volt – “Sinking Down.” Loving this tough tune off the new album Notes of Blue. And yes it’s got this great Chicago blues electric guitar driving right through it. Jay Farrar’s voice lends itself to these blues.

Kefaya – “Indignados.” Listened to much Ethiopian pentatonic jazz with flamenco vocals? Me neither, till this. These guys are a UK collective that use all the ethnic influences of London in their music. The title refers to a group in Spain that was formed around an ‘anti-austerity’ platform and went from street protests to the country’s 3^rd largest political party – Podemos. A translated line from the song “Tell them that the rage of the people is well-oiled.”

Carrie Rodruiguez – “La Ultima Vez.“ The 2016 release Lola was Carrie Rodriguez’ first that highlighted the disparate influences on the ‘half gringa, half Chicana fiddler’ (her words). This song is a cumbia sung mostly in English that proclaims the final straw in a dead relationship.

Phoebe Bridgers – “Smoke Signals.” I am a sucker for a soft and beautiful woman’s voice, and Phoebe Bridgers is a new one for me. The song is a single with wonderful imagery and a guitar line out of ‘Peter Gunn’ or something. It is said that her friends who dressed as zombies for the video were paid in pizza.

Etta Baker and Cora Phillips – “Railroad Bill.” Susan plays banjo so I listen to a lot of banjo music. This one turned up on the Oxford American Southern Music record this year. I love the dialogue at the beginning – “She plays Steamboat Will, and this is Railroad Bill.” Those old tunes get around, and these sisters get into a groove as only those who’ve grown up together can do.

Today, March 7, is his 73rd birthday. He died over 20 years ago – hard to believe. And even harder for me to believe upon listening to his songs today. He wrote and sang a different kind of blues; deep, dark, stark and beautiful. Townes looked straight at all the heartbreak and desolation and wrote poetry that that is both blunt and delicate to describe the experience. Here’s a playlist of favorite songs performed mostly by him, but some done wonderfully by others. You can listen here: Spotify Townes Van Zant playlist

• Loretta                                      Townes
• Standin’                                   Townes
• Columbine                               Townes
• Lungs                                         Townes
• Waiting Around to Die         The Be Good Tanyas
• Flyin’ Shoes                            Townes
• To Live Is To Fly                     Townes
• Marie                                         Steve Earle
• Tecumseh Valley                   Townes
• Colorado Girl                          Townes
• Highway Kind                         Cowboy Junkies
• No Lonesome Tune               Townes
• Ill Be Here in the Morning  Townes
• Tower Song                               Townes
• If I Needed You                        Townes and Emmy Lou Harris
• Snake Song                               Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan
• Dead Flowers                           Townes
• Two Girls                                   The Gourds
• Maria                                          Townes
• Be Here To Love Me               Norah Jones
• Where I Lead Me                     Townes
• For the Sake of the Song       Townes
• Rex’s Blues                                Jolie Holland
• Poncho & Lefty                         Townes
• White Freightliner Blues       Gillian Welch
• Nothin’                                        Townes

I love catching up on jazz. I don’t tend to research and discover during the year, but I catch up once the year’s over, reading reviews and listening to a lot of new music. I’ve been playing this list all the time, and the more I listen the more I love the variety, expression, composition, and musicianship.

Like in popular music, jazz musicians have been paying attention to the world politically and well as musically. In fact, since Louis Armstrong’s “What Did I Do to Be So Black and Blue?” in 1929, race and racism have been a staple in jazz, so this is nothing new.

This year, old dogs like Charles Lloyd and younger artists like Jaimeo Brown, Darcy James Argue, and J.D. Allen have explored Americana, work songs, and protest tunes and allowed whole new perspectives.

At the same time, the influences of classical, rock, blues, folk, and even bluegrass have entered the lexicon. Not like some of the forced-sounding fusions of the past, these are intelligent and relevant frontiers.

Take a listen – the playlist is on Spotify right here: https://open.spotify.com/user/1260266133/playlist/4fheH1KP8UYf37570ZbmNO

SONG                                                             ARTISTS                                                                ALBUM

• Masters of War       Charles Lloyd & the Marvels                                         I Long to See You
• Alabama                    Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane, Matt                               In Movement
• Hips & Sticks           Jane Ira Bloom                                                                    Early Americans
• The Distance           Michael Formanek & Ensemble Kolossus                        The Distance
• Dialogue of the Black Saint           Greg Ward                          Touch My Beloved’s Thought
• Lester                        Matt Wilson’s Big Happy Family                      Beginning of a Memory
• Another Man Done Gone            J.D. Allen           Americana – Musings on Jazz and Blues
• Caribbean Vortex    Aruan Ortiz Trio                                                                     Hidden Voices
• Black Focus               Yussef Kamaal                                                                             Black Focus
• Movement                 Tyshawn Sorey                                    The Inner Spectrum of Variables
• Ornithology               Joshua Redman & Brad Mehldau                                               Nearness
• Scarlet Town             Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau                     Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau
• Unspeakable World    GoGo Penguin                                                               Man Made Object
• Away With You (No. 55)   Mary Halvorson Octet                                              Away With You
• Otis Was a Polar Bear        Allison Miller                                                 Otis Was a Polar Bear
• Executive Life            Jeff Parker                                                                              The New Breed
• Lazarus                        Jaimeo Brown Transcendence                                               Work Songs
• Cotton                          J.D. Allen                                Americana – Musings on Jazz and Blues
• All My Trials              Charles Lloyd and the Marvels                                    I Long to See You
• Rising Grace              Wolfgang Muthspiel, Ambrose Akinmusire, Brad Mehldau, Larry Grenadier, Brian Blade                                                                                                  Rising Grace
• Eileen Jackson Southern      Wadada Leo Smith                           America’s National Parks
• Hidden Angel            Jaimeo Brown Transcendence                                               Work Songs
• Part Four                    Henry Threadgill                                      Old Locks and Irregular Verbs
• Singular Serenade   Greg Ward                                                   Touch My Beloved’s Thought
• Lydia                             Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane, Matt Garrison            In Movement
• Song Patrol                 Jane Ira Bloom                                                                   Early Americans
• Mind Free                    Logan Richardson                                                                                  Shift
• Be So Glad                   Jaimeo Brown Transcendence                                              Work Songs
• Einbahnstrasse         Jeremy Pelt                                                                           #JIVECULTURE
• The Hidden Hand     Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society                                Real Enemies

Lots of death, lots of politics, lots of pain and anger in the world and in the music of 2016. And as it has always been, the music can make it at least feel a little better. The expression alone, but also the kinship and the hope that it brings.

There was incredible artistry and creativity in both the words and the music of last year. The variety of classifiable and unclassifiable music styles here alone is astonishing, as is the storytelling and poetry of many of the lyrics. I was struck by the return of the ‘broadside;’ topical songs that tap current events and emotions like old folk, corridos, or calypso. Sturgill Simpson, Drive By Truckers, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Ben Harper, Sharon Van Etten, and Common all have cuts here, and there were so many more. My ‘Witness’ playlist – old songs and new – is here: https://open.spotify.com/user/1260266133/playlist/2f1DBkGNH5mhs7r5gbPPC1

Amidst all the musicians who died this year, one passed at the end of 2015 and his album was released this year. Allen Toussaint left us with a cover of Paul Simon’s ‘American Tune’ that is so politically timely and so fitting for him; I found really riveting. (I put together a collection of his songs – by him and others – which you can listen to here: https://open.spotify.com/user/1260266133/playlist/7Dsze6GGjIHE4cizLlXFMm )

Of the old guard, The Stones have shown us that old men were meant to play those old blues tunes; Leonard Cohen sounds like he’s halfway to the afterlife on his really excellent last record, Lucinda Williams made some of the best music of her life last year, De La Soul returned with a very creative album. (I made a Leonard Cohen playlist right here; so many incredible songs: https://open.spotify.com/user/1260266133/playlist/0xeIRcXhZ05O8mrNXsEXB8 )

I was happy to discover a lot of new artists: Valerie June, Pony Hunt, Obongjayar, Kiko Bun, The Frightnrs, Overcoats, Sierra Hull, Mandolin Orange, Margo Price and Big Thief among them. And I’ll keep looking for more ways to find more music – we know it’s out there!

Here’s the link to Spotify if you’d like to listen to my Top 40 of 2016… https://open.spotify.com/user/1260266133/playlist/19ZkG5ey0VaQ3LiuNPdCux

Song	Artist	Album
Workin’ Woman Blues	Valerie June	Pushin’ Against a Stone
Ain’t No Man	The Avett Brothers	True Sadness
Hands of Man	The Stray Birds	Magic Fire
Ophelia	The Lumineers	Cleopatra
House of Mercy	Sarah Jarosz	Undercurrent
Over You	Pony Hunt	Heart Creek
Nighttime Hunger	Overcoats	Nighttime Hunger (single)
Creeping	Obongjayar	Creeping (single)
I’m a King Bee	The Rolling Stones	The Rolling Stones in Mono
St. Ides	Macklemore and Ryan Lewis	This Unruly Mess I’ve Made
Brace for Impact	Sturgill Simpson	A Sailor’s Guide to Earth
Sticky Situation	Kiko Bun	Sticky Situation (single)
Hate To See You Go	The Rolling Stones	Blue & Lonesome
What Would You Give?	The Devil Makes Three	Redemption & Ruin
It Seemed the Better Way	Leonard Cohen	You Want It Darker
God Don’t Never Change	Lucinda Williams	God Don’t Never Change
Hey Brother	The Frightnrs	Nothing More To Say
What It Means	Drive By Truckers	American Band
Everybody Knows (for Trayvon Martin)	Hurray for the Riff Raff	Everybody Knows (single)
Call It What It Is	Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals	Call It What It Is
Not Myself	Sharon Van Etten	Not Myself (single)
Letter to the Free	Common	Black America Again
Drawn	De La Soul	And the Anonymous Nobody…
Celebrate	Anderson.Paak	Malibu
Wristband	Paul Simon	Stranger to Stranger
Look How Far We’ve Come	Dylan LeBlanc	Cautionary Tale
I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine	Eric Clapton	I Still Do
Here and Whole	Joan Shelley	Cost of the Cold (single)
Is It Me	St. Paul and the Broken Bones	Sea of Noise
Wantin’ Ain’t Getting’	Esme Patterson	We Were Wild
Black River	Sierra Hull	Weighted Mind
Wildfire	Mandolin Orange	Blindfaller
Hands of Time	Margo Price	Midwest Farmer’s Daughter
St. Elizabeth	Kaia Kater	Nine Pin
Then I Found You	Kieran Kane	Unguarded Moments
Cold To See Clear	Nada Surf	You Know Who You Are
Plunder	The Felice Brothers	Life In The Dark
Masterpiece	Big Thief	Masterpiece
American Tune	Allen Toussaint	American Tunes
And We Bid You Goodnight	Sam Amidon	Day of the Dead

It’s not like we listen to albums much anymore. I pick out the tunes I like from the albums and download them, so it’s not my common practice to listen to an entire record. That’s why I make this list – these are entire records that are really strong. Some don’t even have an individual song on my Top 40 list. There’s still something to be said for listening to these artists’ complete thoughts over the course of a whole album, and these guys all have something to say.

God Don’t Never Change: The Songs of Blind Willie Johnson    Fresh versions of classic blues spirituals from Tom Waits, Lucinda Williams, Cowboy Junkies, Blind Boys, Maria McKee Luther Dickinson and more. So many excellent songs, but the title track is exceptional.

Redemption and Ruin –The Devil Makes Three      I love their harmonies and old-timey sensibilities on this record that is split down the middle – 6 songs of ruin and another 6 of redemption. These are all covers of folks like Tom Waits, Hank Williams, Muddy Waters, Townes, and unlike many covers, these guys take really smart and engaging approaches.

 Weighted Mind – Sierra Hull   I love this record and Sierra Hull, and can’t wait to see what she does next. She’s a young mandolin player (mandolin player of the year, in fact) and vocalist who offers a fresh take on bluegrass with minimal accompaniment (double bass and occasional banjo) and some fine songwriting.

Blue and Lonesome – The Rolling Stones   I had been listening to early Stones on their new record “Rolling Stones in Mono”, was stuck on ‘King Bee’ from 1964 and thinking how good these guys were playing the blues. Then out comes their new blues record and now I know they’re even better at it now. These blues were made for old men.

Day Breaks – Norah Jones   She’s singing with some jazz players again – Wayne Shorter, Brian Blade, Lonnie Smith – the tunes are interesting and her voice just belongs here. I’ve liked Norah through a few phases, but this one feels more like home.

Blindfaller – Mandolin Orange    A group that’s new to me. They’ve just expanded their husband/wife duo to a band, and their brand of bluegrass is very modern and organic sounding. I’d just started hearing this record when we saw them at the Tractor and now they’re one of my favorites.

The Ghosts of Highway 20 – Lucinda Williams    This is a wonderfully loaded record. So personal and honest and painful, and some of the affects her voice took on with previous releases are let go on this one. Highway 20 holds a lot of memories and personal history, including the death of her father.

A Day for the Hunter, a Day for the Prey – Leyla McCalla    Leyla was the cellist for Carolina Chocolate Drops and brings their historic sensibility to her own work, from Haitian folk ballads to Creole slave songs to new and old jazz.

You Want It Darker – Leonard Cohen    …and then he died. This record clearly anticipated the end and often feels halfway off the ground and into the ether. Leonard seemed to be responding to the political moment in his deeply religious and sacrilegious way, while continuing his questions and answers with the unknowable. It just seeps into you.

Unguarded Moments – Kieran Kane   Truly unguarded moments in reflection on loss and life. Just solo voice and banjo, this is a time for Kiernan to be alone and process his life through music.

Nearness – Joshua Redman and Brad Mehldau   Two of my favorite jazz musicians having a great time working together, sax and piano. Half standards, half new compositions, these were culled from a tour a couple of years ago. This to me is the best of modern jazz – reworkings and interplay that builds on the past to create something entirely new.

Boots No. 1: The Official Revival Bootleg – Gillian Welch   Outtakes and rejects from Gillian’s first album ‘Revival.’ She’s just so easy to listen to, and Dave Rawlins’ harmonies and guitar are as married to her music as he is to her.

Nothing More to Say – The Frightnrs     I was in a record store in Brooklyn and picked up this album from the Queens-based group. They’re a ska/reggae band with soul/doo-wop overtones and I love them. Tragically, their lead singer died from ALS the week after I bought the record, so it is their first and last. Love the organ!

American Band – Drive-By Truckers    This is a fierce album – these guys sound pissed off and take on the dilemma of Southern pride and shame by vivid, blunt, and direct storytelling with music to match in what they call ‘protest music.’

Changes – Charles Bradley   Charles worked hard to get here, and now that he’s here he’s not pulling any punches. He puts everything he’s got into every soulful sound he makes. Sadly, he’s now got stomach cancer, continuing the bad musician news of 2016 and for DapTone records (Sharon Jones and the above mentioned Frightnrs.)

Teens of Denial – Car Seat Headrest   My friend Will turned me onto this, and I keep listening to it even if I still don’t get it.

Masterpiece – Big Thief    New and young and talented, some folks call it ‘saloon grunge’ and others ‘rangy folk rock.’ Whatever. They’ve got great hooks, nice lo-fi sounds, can rock out a little, and tell a good story.

Live From A&R Studios – The Allman Brothers Band    This 1971 live recording was just released in 2016. Duane is on fire for the whole thing, but especially moving is ‘Soul Serenade’ which they drove into as a tribute to King Curtis, who Duane had recorded with and who had been murdered 2 weeks prior. Duane was dead 2 months later.