Miles, The Boss and Steve Earle

It's been a quiet week on the island, musically speaking any way. I did get quite a few newer releases yesterday but haven't had a chance to listen to all of them. I'm sure I'll get through them by next Friday. OK, on to "What's Esion listening to this week"

Miles Davis - Evolution of the Groove
Is it Jazz? Is it Hip/Hop? I'll tell you what it is. It's a 5 track* release featuring Nas on one cut and Carlos Santana on another. Miles may have liked this disc for it's original spin, but I feel slightly duped. It was nice hearing Miles speak on Freddie the Freeloader (croak actually, Miles didn't really speak) and I do like the remixes with the drums and base cranked up. However, four tracks? And only one track clocking over three minutes. Please!
Since I'm a Miles fan and have a lot of his stuff I was able to listen to the original songs. It's About That Time, the track featuring Santana, is great but less than half the length of the original. Once you change time keeping from the rider cymbal to the snare and turn up the bass line, the song is really funky, much more so than the original. Add Carlos trading licks with Miles and you've got a nice tune. I should clarify that the first version didn't need work.
I really like the slow build intro on the original recording of the bluesy Honky Tonk. Again by trading the rider cymbal for snare & kick-drum the whole feel of the song is different. It has more umph. I like it.
This disc will appease some Miles fans and offend others. I have to say it is an interesting exercise in what can be accomplished with technology. It's a shame that someone took the time to secure the rights, gather the musicians & techs and then said, "We're only doing four songs*" It's like dinner without dessert.
*There are 5 tracks but Freddie the Freeloader is an incomplete outtake.

Steve Earle – Washington Square Serenade
I totally messed up by missing Steve Earle at Bumbershoot '07. I was tired of the crowds, I couldn't eat another bite of that wonderful African food from Horn of Africa and I had seen Steve with the Bluegrass Dukes at the Woodland Park Zoo a couple of years before so Iwent home. Admittedly they weren't good excuses, but they were the only ones I had.
After listening to Washington Square Serenade the first time through I understand my error. I should have sucked it up, gone to the special KEXP, invite-only performance and then stayed for the evening show. My buddy John said both shows were excellent. Oh well, I'll always have the KEXP archives.
Steve Earle is one talented SOB. He doesn't just write songs. He paints pictures with words and music, sometimes a portrait, sometimes a landscape, sometimes a portrait within a landscape, in the same tradition as Bob Dylan, Paul Simon or Tom Waits. I agree he can't sing for shit, but his gravely, twangy, sometimes whisper, sometimes growl, mainly average voice fits perfectly with the picture he's crafted.
Steve never strays far from his country roots, even when playing the bozouki on the bluesy Red is the Color. City of Immigrants, with its Calypso feel, is as far as he gets from Nashville, but it has a hint of down-homeyness. Maybe it's the southern drawl. Anyway, Washington Square Serenade won't top the many releases by Mr. Earle. That would be a monumental feat with a body of work featuring masterpieces like El Corazon, I Feel Alright and The Mountain. However, this disc is very good and one I'll add to my collection.

Bruce Springsteen – Magic
One of my girlfriends in high school was from New Jersey. She listened to The Boss before he'd made the covers of Time and Newsweek and shared his music with me. It seems like The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle received constant play for at least a decade.
I've listened to Magic several times now. It's comforting to see Bruce return to his roots, namely, making great music with a fantastic backing band. Bruce puts the familiar themes of lost love, lost youth and lost innocence to some wonderful melodies and comes up with tracks that sound like they came from the sessions for The River. It's very good, classic Bruce and the E Street Band is in fine form. I think it's the best disc he's done since The River. Radio Nowhere, the track he gave away as an MP3, is an up-tempo number that laments the sad state of music radio and makes the statement "I just want to hear some rhythm." Well folks, Magic definitely has rhythm and I recommend purchasing the CD.

More to follow...