ROCK • A • RAMA

ROCK-A-RAMA

This month’s Rock-A-Ramas were written by Michael Davis, Richard Riegel and Richard C. Walls.

VARIOUS ARTISTS The Jazz Singers (Prestige)

There’s much disagreement on exactly what constitutes a jazz vocal or exactly who is or ain’t a jazz singer (though everyone knows that Danny Thomas and Neil Diamond, who starred in the ’53 and ’80 versions of The Jazz Singer definitely ain’t), but the 23 singers collected on this tworecord set (spanning ’21-lb) offer a good definition by example. Present are pioneers (Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller), classic swing-era stylists (Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Billy Eckstine), ’50s-style vocalese boppers (King Pleasure, Annie Ross, Joe Carroll, Mark Murphy, Eddie Jefferson) as well as “sidetrips” into the blues (Ray Charles, Jimmy Rushing, Aretha Franklin, Joe Williams) and a few trips not readily pigeonholed (Mose Allison, Flora Purim). An excellent intro to the field, whatever it may be.

R.C.W.

FREIDA PARTON Two-Faced (Bearsville)

Freida’s famous sis has the jump on me in the metaphor dept., as she’s already described this record as a product of “the Janis Joplin of the Smokies.” Not bad, but Freida’s shrill performances contain new-wavy and metal elements from much later periods of pop. Some wags might even compare her punky screeching on “Oriental Dolls” to an ambient recording of Rob Halford being run over by many spike-tired motorcycles (doesn’t like to get his leathers mussed, that boy doesn’t). This record is highly recommended to anyone who finds Pat Benatar too histrionic; it’ll get your perspectives back in place in a jiffy. And the fact that old foghats like Paul Butterfield and Rick Danko contributed background vocals to this hardcore-country howler is just icing on yer Little Debbie bar. R.R.

WOODY SHAW Night Music (Elektra Musician) SPHERE Flight Path (Elektra Musician)

Two more hot flashes from the acoustic jazz ranks. Woody’s record comes from the same concert as his ’82 live Master Of The Art album, which was a beaut, but for some reason this time the sound is muddy and the pacing (three fast ones and a ballad) is a drag. For fans only. Sphere, though, got it down—not just a pick-up group and no longer restricting themselves to Monk tunes, this quintet of vets has developed into a genuine full-range band. Tenor saxist Charlie Rouse, whose hoarse chunky tooting of old (so good when he was with Thelonious) has evolved into a smoother, equally satisfying style, co-mingles with the almost-too-hip rhythm section of Kenny Baron, piano; Buster Williams (who gets off some especially articulate solos), bass; and Ben Riley, drums. Singularly swell, in the instant-classic mode. R.C.W.

SPECIMEN Batastrophe (Sire)

I tell ya, these Britoids are getting hard up for fads if the publicity rap on this disc carries any currency in the Old Country. Specimen claims to idolize the pure glamrock of Bolan, Slade, and early Bowie, but filtered thru the group’s rubberspidered collective brainboxes, this re-creation of glitter comes out as a spaghetti-Western version of Aerosmith. Which isn’t a bad concept, come to think of it, but Specimen is definitely spurting on the wrong tree if it really thinks such stuff will convey any shock value to us anciently-jaded Yanks. After all, we were already yelling “Where’s the beef?!” at Elton John when these duffers were still in A.M. kindergarten. R.R.

KENNY WHEELER Double, Double You (ECM)

A fairly typical ECM set, which may be good or bad news depending...Canadian trumpeter Wheeler pursues what the promo sheet calls “a more traditional jazz feeling” than is usual for the label, i.e., songs with heads and strings of solos and (here’s the crux) actual syncopated rhythms with lapidary enhancements by bassist Dave Holland and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Wheeler, usually more romanticist than rhythmatist, is energized by the groovy duo and is joined by tenor saxist Michael Brecker, solidly into his post-Trane thing here (thank goodness) and pianist John Taylor, the only weak link in the quintet what with his tendency to go for the pretty arpeggio. Still, not too shabby. R.C.W.

DAVID MURRAY OCTET Murray’s Steps

(Black Saint/Polydor Special Imports) Murray is an amazing reed player/composer who has found the seemingly perfect outlet for his music before he’s even turned 30. He’s one of those cats who’s got one leg hip-deep in the roots of black music while the other one kicks your front door down. With this octet, he’s managed to combine the sophisticated swing tradition of Mingus and Ellington with the energy-flowing tradition of Ayler and Coltrane in a way that is both personal and passionate. This is his third excellent album in a row, and if it lacks a soulbending scorcher like “The Fast Life” from 1980’s Ming, it still slinks and screams, sweats and swings like nothing else out today. M.D.

BRANFORD MARSALIS Scenes In The City (Columbia)

Wynton’s bro’ may never get an opportunity to issue a purist manifesto at the Grammy Awards ceremony, but he carries the flag in his own fashion here on his debut as a leader with five nononsense originals and the title cut, a borrowed manifesto/recitation about jazz and the big city penned by Charlie Mingus. Branford covers a variety of acoustic post-bop moods with Tranelike soprano on the roiling “Solstice,” a more individual soprano approach on the up-tempo “Waiting For Tain,” sounding already like a grand old man of the tenor on “No Sidestepping”.. .and, if his facility is less startling than Wynton’s, it’s also less glib. Another blow for the anti-pap league (provided, of course, that it gets on the radio).

R.C.W.