John Batdorf and James Lee Stanley - All Wood and Stones II - CD Review

 Being the rebel that I am, I love it when I can prove the "conventional wisdom" wrong! So I therefore particularly relish the opportunity to skewer two of these "truisms" at the same time. Two such commonly held beliefs coud be stated simply as "remakes are always inferior to the originals" and "sequels are never as good as the first of the series". Well I just finished listening to a CD that is essentially a sequel to an album of remakes, a double-whammy that should doom the project to failure according the widely-held notions! I am very happy to tell you, that the new "All Wood and Stones II" CD by John Batdorf and James Lee Stanley is a such a fun concept and so perfectly executed that it is not only a wonderful exercise in nostalgia, but also a vital and new-sounding musical set in its own right.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        So here's the set-up:  Back in 2004 (can it REALLY be that long ago?), two of my  favorite singer/songwriters announced a new joint project. John Batdorf and James Lee Stanley in many ways are among the original trend-setters of  Southern California acoustic rock, guys whose careers have been contemporary with luminaries like Jackson Browne and The Eagles. While neither have enjoyed the commercial success of such acts, their original writing and recordings over the years have consistently been of world-class quality and had tremendous musical influence. So when they announced "All Wood and Stones" as a musical re imagining of the songs of the early Rolling Stones done as SoCal acoustic rock, I was pretty surprised. Songwriters of their stature rarely do "cover tunes" and certainly not whole albums of them! But the final product they came up with, eleven of the best known and most beloved Stones songs significantly rearranged, was a really interesting and fun CD that was quite popular, as were the shows they did together to support the CD.                                                     

Since then, nine years have passed and that CD remains a favorite of mine and it still sells well over the internet and at the guys' live performances. So when I heard John and James were talking about doing another album together, this time it wasn't a big surprise. I figured they would find another artist or group to cover this way; there was talk it might be a Motown album or something similar. Yet, heeding "conventional wisdom", I was really shocked that they chose to do another album of Stones material! But now that I have the new CD in hand to listen to, I understand their decision. The new CD may have fewer "hit" songs than the original, but it includes what, in my opinion, are some of greatest tunes in the Rolling Stone archive which are given the SoCal rearrangement and meticulously recorded. To my great surprise, I like it even more than the first one!

The tunes run the gamut from huge hit songs like "Honky Tonk Women" to obscure album cuts like "Before They Make Me Run" and tunes from early years, like "Time Is On My Side" to later stuff like "Miss You". Like the first CD, some songs are drastically changed and rearranged and some are fairly faithful to the original, but all feature the note-perfect musical arrangement and production skills for which both of these artists have long been known. This time around, all vocals and all guitars were done by John and James, with bass by old pros Bill Batstone and Chad Watson and drums by Tom Walsh.

I won't bore you all with note-by-note and song-by-song dissection. These tunes are mainly about having fun and fun is an elusive feeling not readily analyzed and explained. But this "fun" is not something to dismiss as unimportant! In the realm of the singer/songwriter, it is an element often under-appreciated and ignored, which can lead to some ponderous music trying too hard to be "important". John and James have never been guilty of this and this album is a genuine reflection of the fun-loving spirit within each of these artists. And how do two old musical pros have "fun"? By applying the years of perfecting their art to these tunes, finding the most interesting aspects to highlight and making some subtle comparisons to other music. I simply love the little hints of Beatles music that pop up, like the driving Beatle-esque guitar riff behind this version of "Honky Tonk Women" or the "yes it is" line of "Time Is On My Side" that evokes the old Beatles song, "Yes It Is". There are lots more of these always-subtle musical allusions lurking in the shadows of this recording; the "feel" of Steve Stills' guitar work in the Buffalo Springfield tune "Mr. Soul" pushing underneath "Jumping Jack Flash"  or the good-time, call and response "yeah,yeah" towards the end of "Get Off Of My Cloud" that sounds right out of "Hang On Sloopy" by The McCoys. It doesn't get much more fun than a chorus of  "Sloopy" !!!!

But all of this fun is not to deny the artistry John and James display here! Front and center in all these tunes are the magnificent vocals of both. It almost seems unfair to the competition to meld maybe the two best male vocalists in the acoustic music scene here on this one CD. James' full, deep voice brings a distinctive darkness to songs like "Miss You" and "Jumping Jack Flash" which make these versions even more meaningful than the originals. And while John has always been known for the sweet, higher vocals that he wields here on ballads like "Play With Fire" and "Wild Horses", his bluesier takes on tunes like "Honky Tonk Women" and "Sympathy For Devil" growl with surprising intensity! And these voices were made to be blended! These guys really know how to use them behind the lead vocals to grand effect. I wish I had the technical capacity to isolate just the background vocals on this album, picking them out of the full mix they sound simply astonishingly great and, on songs like "Get Off Of My Cloud" or "Before They Make Me Run", they stand out as the most dynamic component of the arrangements.

Then there is the guitar work! Like on the Stones' original versions, these songs are built around the framework of the guitar chording and riffs. John and James have such great voices, I think their guitar virtuosity can often be overlooked. The guitar playing is perfection everywhere on this album. Its hard for me to tell who does what where on this CD, but there are some really remarkable guitar parts played all across the CD. The lead guitar work is all done on acoustic, and I believe the guys both take turns at it, but its hard to tell. And while the acoustic guitars are able to make some songs really rock out, they can also sound almost like a harpsichord behind "Play With Fire"!

So, take a listen yourself and see if you agree that, "conventional wisdom" be damned, this is a thoroughly exciting and inspired "sequel of remakes" that are just a whole lot of fun! The ten songs on this album have already stood up to the test of time in their original versions but here they are injected with new life and added meaning in the fascinating new interpretations. As a whole album they come off as a completed work and there is a fitting irony in the closing tune, because for me, as a huge fan of these tunes back in the day and as a huge fan of  these new versions, I can truly say, "Time Is On My Side".


Here is a link to the "All Wood and Stones" website:
http://allwoodandstones.com/
and the Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=458371687576189&set=a.268778803202146.63445.216725755074118&type=1


And  links to John Batdorf's websites:
http://johnbatdorfmusic.com/

http://www.reverbnation.com/johnbatdorf

and his Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/John-Batdorf-Music/279578037051

And a link to James Lee Stanley's website:
http://www.jamesleestanley.com/

and James' Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=458371687576189&set=a.268778803202146.63445.216725755074118&type=1#!/james.l.stanley.7?fref=ts



Perla in Wonderland - Perla Batalla and Band in Concert with The Eclipse Quartet at the LACMA Bing Theatre February 4, 2012



photo by Claud Mann


There is one thing that I have learned in the few years that I have been writing music reviews. It seems that, the more you like a given performance, the harder it is to express your feelings about it and describe why you liked it so much. When we don't care for something, we can almost always cite specifics; the singing was out of tune, the lyrics were pedestrian and trite, that sort of thing. Well, last week, we attended a performance by Perla Batalla and her band, along with The Eclipse Quartet at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Bing Theatre as an adjunct to the current exhibit, "In Wonderland : The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States". I now find myself in a state I rarely experience, near speechlessness!!!! I really should end my review there, because I know words will be ineffective to communicate the transcendence and wonder of that evening's performance of old favorite gems and exciting, triumphant, newly-commissioned songs. But, as you all expect, I will persevere and attempt to share my enthusiasm in the simple hope it may spur some to investigate more fully the work of this amazing artist!

My expectations leading up to this concert were sky-high for a whole variety of reasons. First and foremost, we have been Perla fans for more than a decade and have seen many of her performances and always have found them to be pure bliss! Whether its been a night of Perla singing jazz standards or a night featuring her Latin roots or a night of her performing her own work, we have always come away exhilarated and inspired. But of all her many "reinventions", our favorite has always been the work she has cowritten with guitarist/singer/composer David Batteau. They recorded two albums of original compositions awhile back entitled "Mestiza" and "Heaven and Earth" which remain to this day two of my all-time, very favorite CDs. Then, of course, there was the fact that this concert was to be the debut of new collaborations by these two talented songwriters and that these new works were actually commissioned by as prestigious an institution as LACMA! This is nearly unheard of territory for indie singer/songwriters and yet, as amazing as it is, I am thrilled to say Perla and David have been commissioned previously to collaborate. It says a lot in these tough economic times that there are institutions that recognize the significant cultural value in the work of these two talented composers.

These high expectations spurred me to purchase tickets for this show on the very day that Perla first announced it publicly, so we were lucky enough to settle into our front row center seats in the Bing Theatre. This was a lovely, comfortable and classy venue for such a concert and it was filled to capacity, I presume with mainly Perla fans. Projected on a backdrop screen on stage were a series of paintings taken from the exhibition that this concert was associated with, which created an atmosphere of serious culture, but, maybe because it was surrealist art, there was nothing stuffy about the vibe at all (see above photo). Very appropriate to the evening's theme, the first half of the performance was by The Eclipse Quartet, four young female string players who presented two extremely interesting and enjoyable avant-garde modern classical works by two female composers, Meredith Monk and Ruth Crawford Seeger. Classical music criticism is WAY outside my area of any sort of expertise, so suffice it to say that this act was a great opener for Perla and her band in that the music was SO different from what we would hear in the second half, and yet so fitting as surrealism and so conducive to the aura of serious cultural significance that this night held.

After a brief intermission it was on to the main event! Perla took the stage along with the great band she had assembled just for this special evening, Pete Korpela on percussion, Perla's junior high classmate, John Beasley on piano, and, of course, David Batteau on acoustic guitar and vocals. They started out their set with a selection of songs from Perla and David's "Mestiza" collaboration. I now see in hindsight how these songs in particular were chosen for this performance: the themes and emotions they explore would be echoed in the new songs presented later, creating a building atmosphere to showcase the new work. I found it interesting that Perla mentioned that she never thought of her work as surrealism prior to being asked to compose for this exhibit. While I'm not sure I would have previously used that word in describing her work, her lyrics have always had the sort of indefinable but strong imagery that is wholly in the surrelist tradition. And the music that she and David create has always been genre-defying, at once jazzy and folky, Latin and pop, ethereal and straight-ahead. "Don't Say That You Did This To Me" started us out with its dark imagery and insistent melody. Then came "Cine de Llantos" or "Cinema of Tears" whose very title embodies the surrealist theme and I have always loved the jazzy Latin rhythms that propel this song. "Tears of the Sun" offered more poetic abstract imagery and then came one of Perla's tour-de-force vocal numbers, "Iberia", with Perla's vocals soaring high but totally under precise control, delivering the surrealistic imagery of a place where "everything runs backwards". In my mind's eye, I was seeing a Dali timepiece in the glare of a Spanish desert, I guess I really took all this surrealism to heart!

That concluded the "old favorites" portion of the show and I was finally about to hear what I really came for, the newest collaborations in the Batalla/Batteau canon! I think, though I am not certain, that Perla was commissioned to write ONE new song, or maybe a couple to accompany this exhibit. But that isn't the way Ms. Batalla does things! As she is known to do, she totally committed herself to this project, and she and David researched the exhibit and its artists and became captivated and inspired by the art and the love story of renowned artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. On this evening we were treated to five new songs documenting the lives and work of these singular talents. Because I have only heard these songs just the one time, I'm short on musical details to share about them, but they are thoroughly delightful songs that are unlike anything I've heard these two come up with before and yet, totally within the musical traditions they have explored together, also. First was "Mexican in Paris" which was about Diego's years in a Paris full of artistic freedom and experimentation. This delightful waltz was made all the more special by the addition of special guest artist, the legendary Van Dyke Parks on his accordion, "Carmen"! This was an unbilled appearance that not only added to the musical spice, but also made so much sense thematically, given that Mr. Parks has long been acclaimed as a surrealistic lyricist, most notably in his collaboration with Beach Boy genius Brian Wilson on the legendary "Smile" album. Next came a song about Frida's art called "The Great Unreason" followed by a tender love song "Diego Mi Amor" which featured a masterful jazzy solo by pianist John Beasley. Through all these songs, I was so impressed by the other players, most notably David's amazing rhythmic guitar-playing and his understated background vocals, which were a perfect foil for Perla's huge voice and vocal charm. "Tell Me" was next, I jotted a note that it was a broken-hearted love ballad, but, I must confess, all I remember about it was that I loved it! But the finale song to evening, "My Blue House" which was accompanied brilliantly by The Eclipse Quartet, was probably the most memorable of the new songs, a totally charming, almost child-like melody that reminded me of abstract carousel music and turned to a chant-like repetition of "Frida/Vida" that brought the song and the show to rousing and triumphant finish!

Well for the guy who claimed to be near-speechless, I've again, not surprisingly, managed to ramble on and on! But this was such a special, special evening that I just had to do my best to describe the indescribable. Perla has mentioned that she and David hope to add to these songs and maybe even expand them into a musical, which I think is a natural for these songs and subject matter. While that is an exciting prospect, I just can't wait to hear these songs again and again and to be able to own them on CD! But until that happens, you can be sure that I will take EVERY opportunity to visit Perla in Wonderland!

Here is a link to Perla Batalla's website:

http://perla.com/home.html

And one for the LACMA exhibition this show was part of:

http://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/in-wonderland

And one for The Eclipse Quartet:

http://www.eclipsequartet.com/

Severin Browne - "LUCKY MAN - A Songwriter's Notebook" - CD Review

At the end of every calendar year, there is always a rush by artists to get their new CDs released in time for holiday gift-giving and, this year, among my most-anticipated releases was the new Severin Browne CD, which we had purchased as a pre-order. With it now in hand and having listened to it numerous times, I notice a very apparent error!  No, the songs are all great and there are no bad notes here; my problem is with the title. While "Lucky Man" is a VERY appropriate title, being the name of the killer opening track, my beef is with the subtitle, "A Songwriter's Notebook". To me the concept of a "notebook" gives connotations of unfinishedness, a work-in-progress glimpse at the artist at work, and that certainly is not a very good description of this CD. With the well-honed perfection of these songs and the wide array of styles  and feelings they incorporate, "A Songwriter's TEXTBOOK" would have been a MUCH more apt description!!!

So, now that my ridiculously cute opening paragraph has hopefully grabbed your attention, let me tell you a bit about this wonderful collection of songs by one of the best songwriters around. For those unfamiliar with Severin and his work, he has spent the better part of four decades as a professional songwriter and was a staff writer for Motown  many years ago. The discipline he learned back in those days has given him  a real depth of musical experience to draw from in creating and arranging this remarkable bunch of tunes. The first thing that will grab you about these songs are the amazing variety of styles and feels these songs encompass. From tender ballads to uptempo rockers, from cosmic folk tunes to bouncy calypso, from Cajun raveup to bluesy soul vamps, Severin is able to find just the right voice to tell the story at hand in the most effective manner.  What always strikes me about his music, whether enjoyed live in concert or recorded on CD, is how the performances are always about the SONG, not the singer or the instrumentals. Severin's singing can be deceptive in its strength. He will never wow you with vocal fireworks, like hitting big huge notes or soaring to incredible high notes or the like. Instead the "everyman" warmth in his voice helps lend these songs a universality that would be less effective delivered in a bigger voice. But please don't misunderstand what I'm saying, I have NEVER heard the man sing a bad note in countless performances both live and recorded over many years. He has a GREAT voice that I know is capable of much more than we ever hear, but he uses restraint to serve the purpose of the tune with no distractions. Similarly, while Sev is one of the best guitarists you'll ever hear, he is content to let his incredible side musicians play the solos and provide the background coloration, while he concentrates on the message in the song.

Now that we have established that Sev is all about the songs, lets examine these great tunes a bit. I could write on and on about each and every song here, but I know I tend to get too wordy when I'm this enthused about music. I will only describe a few of my personal favorites so I won't bore any of you, but each and every song on this CD is praise-worthy in its own way and deserves your careful attention. The CD starts with the title song, "Lucky Man", a jazzy musical morality play which features Gary Popenoe's plaintive harmonica work underscoring the twists of the ironic story of the lyrics. Its a perfect opening tune to draw the audience into Severin's view of the world. The song "Calypso Rose" lets us know that we will travel the world appreciating his songs, a full-blown Calypso rocker complete with steel drums and infectious rhythms that make you want to get up and do the limbo all by yourself!!!  Some songs are more about FUN than anything else, which makes a terrific release from the "seriousness" of some of the other tunes.

"To The Light" is a song Severin penned along with Freebo, James Lee Stanley and David Roth. We have also heard Freebo and James perform this tune both live and on record, but I think Severin's version is the best of all! His breezy delivery of this "cosmic"  new-age sounding song keeps the message grounded in every-day realities, steering the song from over-blown philosophy into the realm of a much more personal universe, without sacrificing the "cosmic" feel. This a superbly crafted song that features a chord progression that is at once unusual and totally logical, which again, perfectly underscores the lyrical content.

One of the most personal songs on the CD, "I Am Not Cactus", takes a metaphor and runs free with it, comparing the walls with which we protect ourselves emotionally to the protection that the spines give a cactus. The simple melody and chord progression, the spare production and Severin's warm vocal delivery are one of the most starkly beautiful expressions of vulnerability you will ever hear!

Do you know what is the most recognizable song in the English language? "Happy Birthday To You" has generated a huge amount of royalties over the years and is maybe the song most firmly entrenched in our Western culture. So who would be able to replace this song for us?  Sometimes the most simple, straight-forward sentiments are the hardest to express. No worries, Severin Browne is on the job and more than up to the task! "Britta's Birthday Song" is a brave attempt to come up with an a grown up song to celebrate our personal milestones in song and it succeeds on every level:

"The longer it steeps, the better the tea, the more time that the sauce can slowly simmer naturally, Today we celebrate another year, Happy birthday!"

Wow! This is simply ASTOUNDING songwriting! I hope that this eloquent expression of the upside of aging and the celebration of the lives of our loved ones will replace the old standard at future parties in my circle of family and friends!

The next highlight is a stop at the back alleys of New Orleans for a Cajun rocker, "Cat Woman", with its tales of love and fast food and felines, this song has been a crowd-pleasing staple  of Sev's live act for years. Its another tune that is just a lot of fun, from a serious songwriter who never takes himself all that seriously. On songs like this or "Calypso Rose" you can hear Sev's years of experience as a bandleader and these songs have a "live" feel and immediacy to their groove that only hundreds of live gigs can impart to a tune. I need to stop and mention the great musicians and background vocalists that Severin has assembled to add some serious polish to some already gleaming songs. There are too many different players here for me to mention them all, but the list of names resembles a Who's-Who in SoCal music circles and includes some players that are particularly favorite to me. In a business climate that lends itself to down-sizing and do-it-yourself technologies, it is a singularly refreshing and wise decision that Severin made in bringing in all these pros and it has a wonderful effect on every moment on this CD.

The next song on the CD, "Dear Ruthie", could very well be my favorite Severin Browne song and maybe just one of my favorite songs by anyone! Another seemingly simple tune that is utterly perfect in its construction and starkly beautiful in its execution, and whose emotional  "pay-off" at the end avoids over-the-top sentimentality mainly by virtue of Severin's perfect vocal delivery and the inevitabilities built into the structure of the song. The same tune written by less of a craftsman would never work, but this gem never fails to bring a tear to this jaded, cynical reviewer's eye! I am being purposely vague on the "story" of this song, since it is best experienced for the first time without knowing where the story is headed. I remember Sev saying once in a live show that that night was the first time in years that he had performed it, and it still blows me away that a songwriter could discard a tune of this magnitude! In a review of that live show, I wrote that, to me, that was "like Michelangelo leaving the Sistine Chapel out of his portfolio"!

Well, hitting just these seven "highlights" has left me neglecting some really great songs, because this CD has no filler at all. The remaining six songs, stated as succinctly as I can, include the nostalgic drinking song "Enough For Us", the blue-eyed soul of "Is It Really True" seems to hearken back to Sev's Motown days, "Don't Give Up On Me Virginia" with its bluesy boozy vibe, "The Other Man" a beautifully dark, minor key ballad with its wonderful "pirate" metaphors, "When It's Right It's Right", another gorgeous simple melody with wonderfully optimistic lyrics and finally "Lessons" a heart-felt finale of a tune with its child-like questioning and questing.

So there you have it, thirteen exquisitely crafted tunes that embrace  an amazing breadth of styles and feels and are recorded with all the love and care they deserve by some of the greatest musicians around! Like I said originally, a veritable "Songwriter's Textbook"  delivered by the old master himself, Severin Browne!  There is a lot to be learned here, please get yourself a "textbook" and see what lessons YOU can learn!

Here is a link to Severin Browne's website where you can learn more and purchase the CD directly from the artist!

http://www.severinbrowne.com/

And here is a link to a video I shot of Severin accompanied by Ed Tree  doing "Lucky Man" at Russ and Julie's House Concerts on 11/11/11


http://youtu.be/N_QnB0TEbZw