Casual Listening 9-7-07

Casual Listening

a review of cool new music

by Jeff Pinzino

September 7, 2007

Labor Day week is slow for releases – watch for a raft of blockbusters due next week.

! Dee Dee Bridgewater – Red Earth (world/jazz)

The veteran vocalist draws her latest material and her backing musicians from Mali. Bridgewater’s jazz approaches traditional African music like visiting a cousin, both with interesting stories to share since they last talked. The result does justice to both styles, while opening new horizons through their dialogue. Bridgewater makes it seem natural to trade scat-singing solos with a kora (African harp).

Patti Scialfa – Play it as it Lays (rock)

Raw roots-rock from a whiskey-throated singer. A member of the E Street Band, she could easily slip many of these songs right into their set. Scialfa shows herself a powerful performer in her own right, a name worth remembering more for her bluesy artistry than for being Bruce Springsteen’s wife.

Manu Chao – Radiolina (world)

Manu Chao is a musical nomad, drawing Latin and Reggae influences into a psychedelic rock beat. He manages to sound sexy in Spanish, French, or English, which accounts for his global star power. Groovy stuff.

* highly recommended

! highest recommendation

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