Since its inception in 1975, jazz label Black Saint/Soul Note, like the similarly run Delmark in Chicago or FMP in Berlin, remains independent. Based out of Italy, the label has been the point of passion for owner Flavio Bonandrini since 1977, when he bought the label from fellow jazz fanatic Giacomo Pelliciotti. While the Soul Note side of the operation focuses on “less avant garde” (Bonandrini’s term) jazz, the Black Saint imprint has released highly regarded cutting edge sessions by Billy Harper, Anthony Braxton, David Murray, Cecil Taylor, and Henry Threadgill, to name a few. With over 600 albums in the catalog, it’s virtually impossible to keep all of their discs available while surviving on a labor of love budget. The following is a partial list of CDs that have recently gone out of print. Fortunately for those who may have missed them, Bonandrini has devised a way to make sure these sessions get to the die-hard listeners through his website.

Read the rest of this entry »

Finding mainstream jazz performances and documentaries on DVD is relatively easy. A quick in-store or online search will bring to light several excellent choices on favorites like Louis Armstrong, Miles, Mingus, and Ellington. However, if you’re seeking the avant garde on DVD, you gotta dig a bit deeper. Two films to be on the lookout for are Rising Tones Cross and Imagine the Sound. –>

With the growl of Wanda Jackson, the controlled vigor of Patsy Cline and boogie woogie piano showmanship taught to her by older brother Jerry Lee Lewis, it’s hard to believe Linda Gail Lewis is not as revered as the aforementioned. In 1961, at the age of 14, Linda Gail was on the road providing backup vocals for Jerry Lee. By the late ’60s, she stepped into the spotlight and released two albums on Smash that unfortunately remain out of print: Two Sides of Linda Gail Lewis in 1969 and Together — with Jerry Lee — in 1970. The later disc produced a Top Ten single on the country chart, “Don’t Let Me Cross Over.” Just as her solo career was building, she pulled back, evidently content to keep out of the spotlight, but managing to record sporadically and play live gigs.

Read the rest of this entry »

Most music fanatics have that one cherished LP or old homemade cassette taped from said LP, which hasn’t made it to the digital world, falling through the cracks for one reason or another. The first solo album by Blasters vocalist Phil Alvin is a classic example.

One year after the release of Hard Line, the Blasters broke up after spats between band members, mainly brothers Phil (the vocalist) and Dave Alvin (the songwriter), became unbearable. Dave joined X and co-founded the Knitters, as Phil Alvin released his first solo LP Unsung Stories on Slash in 1986.

While the Blasters had incorporated rockabilly, R&B, blues, New Orleans R&B, country, and boogie woogie, Unsung Stories allowed Alvin to pay homage to swing-era jazz, work with horn charts, and direct larger ensembles. To achieve that delicate balance between tradition and revitalization he called on the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Sun Ra Arkestra. Both conjure up the unique perseverance it takes in maintaining and handing down that particular style of American music.

Read the rest of this entry »

Whether it be vocals and/or instrumentals, listening to surf and hot rod music shouldn’t be relegated to the summer months alone! The following tracks/albums, with images of warm weather, fun and folly, will help nudge away the winter doldrums.

The Pyramids

Record Run

The Pyramids were mainly an instrumental surf band, although they did record a few songs with vocals, including The Kingsmen-like “Koko Joe,” “Long Tall Texan,” “Custom Caravan” and the awesome “Record Run.” The last two songs were featured in the 1964 AIP flick Bikini Beach. During “Record Run” the band appears wearing shaggy Beatles wigs only to have them pulled off to reveal their shaved bald pates. They were also known to do amazing back flips, kinda like H.R. of Bad Brains.

Read the rest of this entry »

With the season of lists upon us, and a time when favorite Christmas songs begin to creep out from just about everywhere, it’s interesting to point out those rarities/oddities that don’t treat the most wonderful time of year with the traditional yuletide cheer. Among the many songs that shouldn’t be overlooked is a rare Phil Ochs track, “No Christmas in Kentucky.” The song made its first appearance on a compilation released by Rhino in 1987, A Toast to Those Who Are Gone, for which Sean Penn (who at the time was supposedly writing a screenplay in which he would portray the singer in a biopic) wrote the liner notes. Recorded in the early ’60s, the song reflects, specifically, the hardships that plagued coalminers in West Virginia and tackled workers rights in general. Like all of Ochs pre-Pleasures of the Harbor material, the presentation is vocals and acoustic guitar straight out of the Woody Guthrie tradition. Considering the song’s content, you’d expect it to be played as a dirge instead of at a brisk medium tempo.

Read the rest of this entry »

Fans of the Burritos have waited a long time for this. Gram Parsons was an erratic performer, and the band he formed with Chris Hillman didn’t last long. Poor quality live tapes floated among collectors as nothing else existed. The only “official” live album, 1972’s Last of the Red Hot Burritos, caught the band, sans Parsons, on its last legs.

Well, it only took 35 years, but fans finally have a real gem in the new CD Gram Parsons Archive, Vol. 1 on Amoeba. Never before released, these tapes come from the private collection of former Grateful Dead soundman/confidant Bear aka Owsley Stanley. Recorded in 1969, it features the Burritos opening for the Dead over two nights, April 4 and 5, at the Avalon Ballroom. The sound is board quality and captures the Burritos in their heyday, with the lineup of Parsons, Chris Hillman, Sneaky Pete Kleinow, Chris Ethridge, and Mike Clarke. Yes, some of the performances contain ragged vocals and a bit of sloppy playing — not embarrassingly so, just heartfelt. The real treat is hearing Parsons and Hillman harmonizing live, like a slightly wobbly Don & Phil Everly.

Read the rest of this entry »