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French Cafe

Although far from definitive (no Edith Piaf in sight!), this enchanting compilation delivers a perfect aural snapshot of what spending a late summer afternoon in a French cafe actually feels like. The supreme elegance and understated approach that lie at the core of these 13 tracks will delight fans of sophisticated pop. As is the case with previous Putumayo releases, the sequencing is seamless, combining the endearingly old-fashioned flavor of George Brassens with the iconoclastic romanticism of George Gainsbourg and the sultry whispers of a youthful Brigitte Bardot. Better yet, the disc spends some valuable time introducing listeners to a new generation of French musicians who have embraced the traditional chanson format while incorporating fresh elements into the mix. Try the light-as-a-feather caress of female vocalist Enzo Enzo, the sweet playfulness of the electronica-informed Mathieu Boogaerts, and the irrepressible optimism of Paris Combo--a jazzy quintet that represents the French cafe ambiance at its cosmopolitan best. --Ernesto Lechner

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Customer Review:

French Cafe

I was very pleased with this CD. An excellent sample of all kinds of different artists. I recommend this to anyone wanting a good sample of french music. I will pick out my best ones and look for these artists to find what music they have done. Once again, I recommend this.

Offbeat collection of fun French selections!

Well thought-out selection of various French cafe artists, nicely presented in one long playing CD. If you're in the mood for this genre of music, this ecclectic mix will be sure to delight. A real diverse group of artists, time periods and personalities.

This CD is Just Wonderful

This is how I've imagined the atmoshere of a French cafe would be...sophisticated, stimulating, with just a touch of fun! I truely enjoy this music and have already listened to this CD over and over. Studying the french language and planning a voyage to France in the near future, I wanted to familiarize myself with some of the music. This CD contains both recent and past icons of French music. I have just fallen in love with Paris Combo and plan to see them in concert when we do visit France. This music is definitely not for everybody but I was not the least bit disappointed. Great if you want a taste of the French culture in the form of their music!

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Keywords: France; French Pop; Int'l & World Music; Pop; V/A Compilations; World Beat Collections;

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Buena Vista Social Club Presents Ibrahim Ferrer

Picking up where Buena Vista Social Club left off, BVSC Presents Ibrahim Ferrer soothes with the hushed romanticism of Cuba's yesteryear while boasting the talents of one of its greatest singers, Ibrahim Ferrer. Again there's an all-star lineup of musicians led by pianist Rubén González and singer Omara Portuondo creating music at the renowned Egrem studios, whose live room brings the slow lucidity and intense vigor of the Cuban classics to life. --Karen K. Hugg

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Customer Review:

wonderful

I wasn't a Ry Cooder fan but I've discovered respect for him after these associations. Previous posters seem to think that Ry Cooder was the only guitarist, which would be a surprise to Manuel Galban. Ibrahim's voice is as amazing as his story. BVSC the film is basically a film of the sessions for this album. I think Ry deserves 'props' for bringing this music to a much wider audience than was expected. I'm sure people will read that as a 'whiter' audience as well. Lighten up, shake off the ghost and dance.
I would also like to mention that the production on this and the other BVSC is incredible, much better than other productions of modern latin music.

Ry Cooder's awful

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Would you dare to try picante sauce and garlic on your favorite ice cream?

That awful are Ry Cooder's annoying "musical" intrusions in the beautiful Cuban music recorded on these CDs. Ry's distasteful interventions are few and far in between, but the damage he caused disproportionately stands out, loud and clear. Ry Cooder's total lack of knowledge or feeling for this wonderful music is only equaled by his tactlessness in trying to be part of an art which is way beyond his understanding, sensibility and abilities.

I do not know whether the recordings can be digitally cleaned to get rid of Ry's garbage, but that would be a great service that most Cuban music lovers and collectors would truly appreciate.

I give these CDs only four stars on account of Ry's grotesque interventions, otherwise I would give them 5 stars, because this is very polished music, music that only highly refined musical spirits can compose and interpret, accomplished musicians with traits and inspiration way above Ry Cooder's distorted, unpolished, primitive musical perception and abilities.

(...)

Such a shame Ry Cooder felt he had to

Stunning vocals by Ibrahim mingled with aweful, fumbling guitar by Ry Cooder. What was Ray thinking, especially on track 2? I agree with some of the other reviews on the "hawaiian" feel to Ry's playing... Thankfully, his input isn't apparent on all tracks, although this album is not as polished as the original buena vista. I'm dying to bring this CD with me on my next visit to Cuba and ask the local Cubans what they think. Incidentally, it is worth mentioning that it isn't too difficult to find musicians of equal caliber playing all around Cuba, pretty much any night of the week. If you love the music and are from any other country than America, go there for the ultimate musical experience.

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Keywords: Bolero; Cuba; Cuban; Cuban Jazz; Int'l & World Music; Latin Jazz; Pop; Son;

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Verve Remixed, Vol. 3

It's an idea that never should've worked in the first place: Verve classics remixed by today's hottest DJs and producers. Yet here's the third installment in the successful series and quality control remains high. Granted, there are a few tracks on each compilation that don't work as well as others and Verve Remixed 3 is no exception. The Postal Service take on Nina Simone's "Little Girl Blue," for instance, makes for a pleasing listen, but sounds too much like the former (the Album Leaf does a better job at staying out of Simone's way). Adam Freeland's "Fever" and Max Sedgley's "Peter Gunn," however, get the balance right. Both songs have been updated for the dancefloor, but Sarah Vaughn's exquisite vocals remain front and center. Then there's Lyrics Born with Jimmy Smith's "Stay Loose," which keeps Smith's groovy organ work in the foreground, but makes a funky track funkier yet. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Customer Review:

Three times a charm.

"Sing, Sing, Sing" and that's what I do when I hear this tune. The RSL remix really puts me in a great mood. Another stellar track is "Just One of Those Things" - sparingly gorgeous. Already a BG fan, this remix reaffirms my belief that there is something really special going on with that team. More than groovey, emotional too- Remix #3 is a great listen.

-B.A.

NEITHER FISH NOR FOWL

I bought this album after hearing two tracks from it on the Santa Monica public radio station KCRW. The Peter Gunn theme sung by Sarah Vaughan appealed to me; it's hard to find more catchy themes than those written by Henry Mancini. The cut that really hooked me, though, was the Astrud Gilberto song with that hypnotic piano. I don't know the original recording so I assume that the piano was done on the remix. This is the only cut on the CD that I felt was improved by the remix. Most of the remix components do not match the aural quality of the original recordings; the remix components sound pasted on, like a cutout baseball cap stuck on the Mona Lisa. It isn't that the original recordings from the 1950s and 60s are masterpieces, but they are stylistically so strong that putting new electronic sounds over them makes them into weird, unappetizing hybrids --- neither fish nor fowl. Don't get me wrong. I am happy that I bought the CD. As I say, that one cut (Astrud Gilberto) is powerful and haunting.

Unfortunately... 2 stars. I had high hopes.

As a big fan of Remixed 1 and 2, I was very excited to hear that 3 had come out. But upon listening to it, it turns out that I'm only keeping 6 out of the 13 tracks on my playlist. Little Girl Blue, Speak Low, Fever, The Gentle Rain, Peter Gunn and Stay Loose made the cut. Everything else was very discordant-sounding to my ears, with none of the electronic groove that I was used to on the other albums. My tastes may be too mainstream to truly appreciate the unusual choices made by the more experimental remixers.

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Keywords: Club/Dance; Dance Music; Electronica; House; Jazz Collections; Pop; V/a Compilations;

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You Ain't Talkin' to Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music

It's fitting that this Charlie Poole box set comes in a beat-up cigar box. Enclosed are the stories, both in song and print, that serve to foreshadow a stereotypical hard-living country musician. Poole's tunes of gambling, girls, guns, and gin are real-world tales of a rambling drifter and fighter with a bum pickin' hand (broken on a drunken dare) and broken teeth (shot out during a run-in with the law).

The cover illustration by R. Crumb and the photos enclosed within hardly hint at Poole's being one of country music's earliest outlaws--rather, they portray him as a coiffed businessman-cum-banjo. It is in the three discs and the 35-page booklet that we begin to see a true picture of Charlie Poole. Though he didn't write the songs, he sang his rough-and-tumble life in the ones he chose: "Can I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight Mister?," "Husband and Wife Were Angry One Night," and "I'm the Man That Rode the Mule 'Round the World." These are songs of a simple and stubborn man in trying times. It's not all misery and strife though. The pure George Formby style of "Monkey on a String" hints at a lighter side. "Sunset March" (inspired by Fred van Eps's "Infanta March," also included in this set) may be the track that best gets at Poole's banjo style. "Hellions both, the pair loved nothing more than traveling, raising Cain, playing music, and having a drink, and another tune, and another drink."
--Henry "Hank" Sapoznik on Poole and close friend Posey Wilson Rorrer (from the booklet) It's not the lightning speed that the world would hear in the bluegrass greats, but a unique clawhammer arpeggio plucking style that comes across rough yet streetwise, like the player himself.

Not all the tracks in this set are performed by Poole, hence the subtitle ...and the Roots of Country Music. Also included are a couple dozen tracks recorded by Poole's mentors and contemporaries, giving excellent context to Poole's work. The term "bluegrass" was yet to be coined and the country outlaw profile was still a good 20 years away. It's surprising to learn that Charlie Poole only recorded and released records during a five-year period leading up to the hell-bent bender that led directly to his death at 39.

In terms of packaging, this box set is top-notch. The design, typography, and photographs are as genuine as the music. The booklet contains a brief introduction by Roanoke, Virginia, DJ Kinney Rorrer, whose father was close with Poole. Also included are accounts of Charlie's run-ins with hecklers, women, and the law, as well as an in-depth bio that surely contains the majority of what is known of his short life. Perhaps only Rorrer's out-of-print Rambling Blues: The Life and Songs of Charlie Poole reveals more about this grandfather of country music and godfather to country ruffians. --Peter Hilgendorf

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Futures

Box set;

Original recording remastered;

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Customer Review:

Brilliant, Original Thematic Exegesis

In this dissection and distillation of the roots of Charlie Poole's music, the early incidence of the folk mutation from commercial phonograph records is clearly and meticulously demonstrated by the erudition of the Hank Sapoznik selections. The most originally conceived anthology since the alchemical song-matching of Harry Smith. An education in sound, and very rewarding.

Give Charlie Poole's music another shot in the arm

Comprised of three generous CDs with a total 72 tracks, this box set compiles music of Charlie Poole. In his book "Classic Country," Charles K. Wolfe relates an anecdote about a group of musicians pulling up to country store in Virginia in the late 1920s. Examining the watermelons, a jug-eared man asked the shopkeeper, "How much are those cucumbers? I'm down from North Carolina, and we have cucumbers bigger than these things." After introducing himself, Charlie Poole introduced himself, grabbed his banjo, and played a few tunes. The shopkeeper went into the back and returned with a half-gallon of prime moonshine. Stories are still told about Charlie today, and his songs are still sung today. Born in a textile mill town in 1892, the rough, unsettled and temperamental hard-living man was a skilled banjo picker, songwriter, and arranger of the old folk songs. Some of his songs are "Take a Drink on Me," "Hungry Hash House," and "Husband and Wife were Angry One Night." Liking a good fight, in "Coon from Tennessee," he sings about wanting to run a cemetery of his own.

Poole recorded 84 songs from 1925-31 for such companies as Columbia, Paramount and Brunswick. Joining him for his earliest New York sessions were fiddler Posey Rorer and guitarist Norman Woodlieff. "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down" would become a bluegrass standard. I don't see his other hit, "Can I Sleep in your Barn Tonight, Mister?" included in this compilation. After selling over 100,000 copies of the first disc (about five times the normal sales for a 1925 hit), the band released "The Man That Rode the Mule Around Town" and "The Girl I Left in Sunny Tennessee." Both selections are included on this CD set. Fingerstyle guitarist Roy Harvey replaced Woodlieff, and various hits followed.
Included in this collection are White House Blues, There'll Come a Time, Leavin' Home, Budded Rose, and Hungry Hash House. The Depression hurt record sales, but his legacy remained with songs like "Old and Only in the Way," "If the River was Whiskey," "It's Movin' Day," and "He Rambled" (a New Orleans funeral song).

True to his band's name, North Carolina Ramblers, Charlie Poole would sometimes disappear for weeks. Columbia Records wanted him to stick to older musical styles, but Charlie wanted to explore new ones. He formed The Highlanders with piano and twin fiddles. In this box set, "Lynchburg Town" and "Flop Eared Mule" are two selections from this band. "A Trip to New York" is attributed to The Allegheny Highlanders, a name used when they recorded for Brunswick. Poole's drinking led to a heart attack and his ultimate demise in 1931 at age 39.

Nearly thirty tracks on these CDs feature some other old-timey musicians from Poole's time. Some of the singers and groups he learned from are sampled from old 78s and cylinder recordings. Such artists featured are Floyd County Ramblers, Arthur Colins, Dock Walsh, Uncle Dave Macon, Cal Stewart,Blue Ridge Highballers, Branch & Coleman, Fred Van Eps, Red Fox Chasers, Peerless Quartet, Gid Tanner, Eddie Morton and many others. Transferred by sound engineer Christopher King, these digital transfers have an amazingly high fidelity. "You Ain't Talkin' To Me" was produced by Henry Sapoznik, an old-time (and klezmer) musician himself. He also wrote the informative 6,000-word liner notes that accompany the package.

About 1960 following the folk revival, there was a revival of Charlie Poole's old-timey sound. This 3-CD set will give his music another shot in the arm and ensure he and the North Carolina Ramblers aren't forgotten. The release precedes the annual "Charlie Poole Festival" in May in his hometown of Eden, North Carolina. There is also a documentary film about Poole in the works. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

Best box set of 2005 for the old-time fan

I had heard about this set several months before it was released and I expected the typical major label treatment for the very important, but largely ignored, Charlie Poole. This box set has completely reversed my expectations. Not only was the artist well-represented in the set, but the design, the notes, and especially the remastering were topnotch! Previous collections from Sony/Legacy left me cold, particularly the dull, overcompensated and heavyhanded remastering (like the Bluegrass box that came out earlier). Not so with this collection! Most of the material on this set sounds far better than I have ever heard and many of the tracks sound like Charlie, Posey, and Roy are in the room with you. I did check the notes and it was no surprise that this is due, probably in large part, to the efforts of Chris King who has done remastering for County, Old Hat, Bear Family and others. In addition, the notes & selections of the producer, Hank Sapoznik, are really exceptional. He shows a rare interest and insight into both the music of Charlie Poole (and old-time music) and also the musicians from which Poole learned. Add to this the fact that the set itself is extremely well-designed and attractive in a nostalgic sense (it resembles an old cigar box)with cover art by R. Crumb and period-style CD sleeves. This is really one well thought out project and I'm glad I pre-ordered it. I highly recommend this to fans of old-time, bluegrass, and roots music.

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Keywords: Appalachian Folk; Bluegrass; Country; Old-Timey; Pop; String Bands;

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