7 days Archive

A winner: Brad Paisley's new CD, "Time Well Wasted," displays his fine vocal delivery and guitar-playing. -- Mark Humphrey / Associated Press

BRAD PAISLEY

"Time Well Wasted," Arista Nashville. Reviewed by Fred Shuster, The Los Angeles Daily News.

Whether or not you appreciate commercial contemporary country, one fact is indisputable -- Paisley knows his way around a Telecaster like few other headliners in the field. His highly enjoyable fourth disc is full of the sort of thrilling runs and snake-bitten chicken-pickin' that fans of Vince Gill, Albert Lee and the great James Burton (who appears here on the album-closer "Cornography") will delight in.

The seamless set opens with a punch -- a heartfelt "The World," the good-humored hit single "Alcohol" and "Waitin' On a Woman" -- each displaying Paisley's fine vocal delivery along with the string-pulling. Elsewhere, cameos from Dolly Parton on "When I Get Where I'm Going," and Paisley's label mate Alan Jackson on "Out in the Parkin' Lot," are two other reasons why "Time Well Wasted" will soon be taking up residence on various charts.

Paisley is so much fun as a soloist, you sometimes just can't wait for the dazzling fretwork to kick in.

NICKEL CREEK

"Why Should the Fire Die?," Sugar Hill Records. Reviewed by Bob Strauss, The Los Angeles Daily News.

This youthful, Southern California three-piece string band had great success with its first two albums -- and with that came a kind of smug virtuosity, as if they were saying "look how effortlessly we can jump between jazz, bluegrass and modern classical motifs."

But on their third time out, mandolinist Chris Thile, fiddler Sara Watkins and her guitarist brother Sean integrate those genres, as well as snappy pop and some blistering rock, into a well-balanced, holistic/acoustic sound.

Their songwriting has grown deeper and more searching, too, though Thile's stud posturing is still evident on tracks like the rueful "Can't Complain." All in all, "Fire" percolates with genius, energy and, for the first time, maturity.

• Nickel Creek is scheduled to perform Oct. 23 at the Murat Egyptian Room, 502 N. New Jersey St. For more information, call (317) 239-5151.

BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB

"Howl," RCA Records. Reviewed by Mikel Jollett, The Los Angeles Times.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club once was poised to be the dark shadow of garage rock, a beat- poet counterpoint to the Strokes playing high-volume rock 'n' roll in black leather jackets, a lo-fi Jesus and Mary Chain. Like most buzz bands, its reputation preceded it and its sales never matched the media frenzy.

The band was dropped by Virgin Records last year, and out of desperation or depression or whatever comes over people when they've lost all options, its members dug deep and came up with a record that is not in the least interested in target markets, it-band status or the puddle-deep scenester hipness that is often behind a "buzz."

"Howl" (due in stores Tuesday) is a love song to American blues, gospel, country dirges and classic songwriting, rife with harmonica, soulful harmonies and dark lyrical themes anchored in notions of loss and redemption. "Gospel Song" is the most sincere and affecting song any recent it-band has recorded, and though "Howl" doesn't quite match the generational cry of Allen Ginsberg's namesake poem, it's nice to know that angel-headed hipsters still burn for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo.

CLAYTON-HAMILTON JAZZ ORCHESTRA

"Live at MCG," Manchester Craftsmen's Guild. Reviewed by staff writer Jay Harvey.

Richmond native Jeff Hamilton has been co-leading the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with brothers John and Jeff Clayton since 1985. Based on the West Coast, the band tours frequently and was just coming off the road in May 2004 when it stopped in Pittsburgh at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, an arts organization with a strong jazz program.

John Clayton's characteristically searching, intricate arrangements are precisely brought off by the expert band (despite one apparent false entrance in "Silver Celebration," a tribute to pianist-bandleader Horace Silver).

He refreshes the harmonies of "Mood Indigo," while not upsetting its classically reflective mood. The program opens up with his hard-charging version of "Georgia on My Mind," certainly a counterweight to Ray Charles and other sentimentalists, but is that enough of a point to make? And does it do anything that illuminates the melody worthily?

Clayton awards himself a nice vehicle for his arco technique in the haunting "Nature Boy," and, at the other end of the excitement spectrum, scatters ensemble blips, bleeps and blasts all around the angular contours of Thelonious Monk's "Evidence." That's good, clean, Monkish fun.

A couple of more conventional rave-ups -- through Sonny Stitt's "Eternal Triangle" and Johnny Hodges' "Squatty Roo" -- display the band's rapport and gleaming tone. And throughout there is the drive and subtlety of Hamilton's drumming, all of it giving capable soloists like pianist Tamir Hendelman and saxophonist Rickey Woodward backdrops to die for.

Star ratings: excellent; good; fair; poor.

Email this

Print this

Post message

Letter to editor

Reprint info

Today's top stories • Senior's complete game is difference • Cops: 'He lost it'; a baby lost her life • Panel votes to move Air Guard planes to Fort Wayne • Football careers take a troubling toll

Top entertainment stories