Reloading The CD Changer; Rediscovering The Music Collection

My CD and LP collections are in a disarray right now. Since my main listening area is on the main floor of the house now, rather than the basement, only parts of my main system and music collection have followed me. I just don’t have the storage room for everything yet. Nothing that some major redecorating, and a few trips to Ikea, wouldn’t fix. My CDs, especially, are scattered around the house. Many are in bins in an upstairs closet. Others are downstairs on CD shelves. And I recently spent an afternoon putting away and organizing a lot of my CDs. While I was at it, I began picking out candidates to load into the CD changer. I found a few discs I haven’t heard in awhile, and have been becoming reacquainted with them.

In the late 80s and early 90s, we had better radio in our area. (Didn’t we all??) Back then, our local jazz station would play mainly current jazz, or would stretch back into the 70s for some of the more easygoing or popular fusion jazz, even playing something by Bill Withers, Gino Vannelli or other vocalists every so often. Some of the great discoveries I made back then were CDs I ended up buying after being enticed by them on radio for awhile. I found some of these while loading up the CD changer, and it’s been a good to hear them after a long absence! And in a couple of cases, I slipped in a few CDs that never really grew on me, to give them a second chance…and now I’m starting to warm to some of them. Here are some of the highlights, in no particular order.

Lyle Mays: Street Dreams — Two tracks from this CD were in heavy rotation on the jazz station: “Possible Straight” and “Before You Go”. On the strength of those two tracks, I could not resist picking up the CD. I only made a passing note that the disc was a Metheny Group Production. (And as it would work out several years later, I’d get into Pat Metheny’s recordings in a big way.) This album hits quite a few different styles. Some of the tracks are almost reminiscent of Steely Dan’s instrumental sound, with its small brass section (“Possible Straight” and “Feet First”). “Chorinho” is a difficult solo workout on Fender Rhodes–I’d be challenged to play just the melody line, let alone the whole piece! The Rhodes gets used quite a bit here on several songs, which is a change from the synthesizers and piano that are a trademark of his involvement in the Pat Metheny Group. The title track is an extended “cityscape” that features strings and brass. The real centerpiece of this album, for me, is “Before You Go”, which is a lush, beautiful composition set off well by Lyle’s piano and keyboards, and strings.

Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays: As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls — I only listened to this album in passing several times after I picked it up. “Ozark” has always been a favorite, but I must admit the rest of the album didn’t grow on me much. Up until now, anyway. The sprawling, side-long title track (on LP) is like a journey across the country, with the feeling of traveling past various outposts of civilization. “It’s For You” is similar to “Ozark” in style, but takes more time to develop…and when it does, it soars. “September Fifteenth” is their tribute to the late pianist, Bill Evans. It’s hard to pin down any particular style for this recording. You could listen to “Ozark” and “It’s For You” and come away with impressions of either folk music, world music or new age. And yet, a small taste of jazz sensibilities comes through as Lyle or Pat set their solos aloft. Yes, it’s filed under jazz, but it’s in such a unique style that Pat and Lyle have pretty much made up their own. Ideas from this album would later surface on such recordings as Imaginary Day (which also has a variety of wide-ranging influences, and a theme based on travel), and the sprawling, almost symphonic breadth of the recent album The Way Up. Pat’s Secret Story also has more than a few similarities to Wichita Falls.

Steps Ahead: N.Y.C. — This could almost qualify as a jazz “supergroup”. In previous incarnations, Michael Brecker was the main voice on tenor sax; on this album, he’s replaced by the singularly named “Bendik”, who coaxes many different sounds out of the sax to keep things interesting. The rest of the band is Mike Manieri on keyboards and MIDI instruments (including vibes), bass legend Tony Levin (who has appeared on most of Peter Gabriel’s albums), and the ever-flexible Steve Smith on drums, formerly of the rock band Journey, as well as his own band entitled Vital Information. What really hooked me was the lead-off track, “Well In That Case”, which had a ton of airplay back when this was released. For a jazz fusion track, it rocks!! There are other great tracks here, too.

George Duke: A Brazilian Love Affair — This one deserves its own write-up here! But for now, let me just say that this album is a perfect blend of Duke’s funk/jazz style with modern Brazilian music. George Duke fans will find a lot to like here, but the surprising twist is that he so easily integrated a Brazilian feel feel throughout this album, pulling talent from Rio to make it all work. Plenty of Brazilian percussion here (thanks to Airto), and vocals from none other than Flora Purim and the great Milton Nascimento on a few tracks. The LP sounds very nice, but the CD sounds just as good, especially with a bonuss track featuring another Nascimento lead vocal. I even noticed a small touch here and there, such as an organ sound reminiscent of Walter Wanderley on “Summer Breezin'”. Fantastic album!