Monthly Archives: May 2009

Review: Pat Metheny’s “Secret Story” Collectors Edition Reissue

Music

Pat Metheny’s Secret Story is one of my Desert Island discs.  Despite Metheny being cast as a jazz guitarist, Secret Story crosses so many boundaries that it cannot be pigeonholed into any one style of music.  Throughout, elements of jazz, new age, instrumental pop, world music and orchestral works add to create something that not only resounds musically, the rich melodies and arrangements give it an added dimension of emotion that is rare to find in a project such as this on.  This is an album that haunts you long after it has left your ears.  Good news:  Secret Story was reissued recently, and adds a second disc with five previously unreleased tracks from the same sessions.  How well do the new tracks work up against the original album?

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Music Review Changes

Music, Site News

Located here in our pages linked at left, I have our Desert Island Discs page.  In the past, this page listed all of my Desert Island picks.  Rather than continue adding to a lengthy page, I’ve split each disc off into its own separate sub-page.  This not only makes reading easier, and pages easier to find, it also allows me to expand on these entries to flesh them out into full-blown reviews.  I haven’t yet begun rewriting most of these yet, but it’ll be happening over the next few weeks.

And rather than do a “runners-up” section, I’m going to focus my attention on a Recommended Recordings list, which includes more recordings of merit that might not warrant having a “Desert Island Disc” tag hung on them, but are still noteworthy enough for me to recommend them.  These will be selected items from my collection, including a few that may be out of print (but good enough that I’d recommend seeking them).  At any rate, enjoy the upgrades!

Review: M.F.Horn 2 & The Ballad Style of Maynard Ferguson

Music

I just picked up the Vocalion two-fer reissue of these Maynard Ferguson albums on CD: M.F. Horn 2 and The Ballad Style of Maynard Ferguson.  First impression: the CD sounds pretty good, although I do detect some digital noise reduction (given a “swirly” type of noise in the background, like I’ve heard with digital filters).  It doesn’t seem to have fallen victim to the ultra-maximized sound of so many recent discs, and the EQ seems tame.  The music?
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Amazon.com: The 100 Greatest Jazz Albums of All Time

Music

By way of my mailbox this morning:  Amazon.com MP3 Downloads: The 100 Greatest Jazz Albums of All Time.  At first glance, it is a rather curious list with some dubious selections.  I can think of a few that are missing, and a few others that don’t belong here.  (For instance, much as I like Whipped Cream & Other Delights, the Tijuana Brass does not belong on a jazz list!)  Likewise, a few of the album choices are odd, such as choosing the Pat Metheny Group album Offramp as opposed to the self-titled debut, First Circle or one or two others.  Rather than discuss it at length here, click the “Discuss” link below to put in your two cents worth!