retroactivekaos.weebly.com

For years, I've been disappointed with one Tracy Nelson album after another. Call her one of the greatest vocalists of our time, and you'd be right. But many of her records in recent years obscure Nelson's mastery of blues singing (enhanced by her deep feeling for gospel), as they have been bogged down by unexciting production, a dirge-like pace
--you name it.

Those dreary elements have vanished with Nelson's recent Victim of the Blues (Delta Groove), her most wonderful outing in ages. This one absolutely crackles, with singing that goes the extra mile, and a first rate band, including guitarist George Bradfute and keyboardist Jimmy Pugh. Indeed, they sound authentic, in direct contrast to some of Nelson's backing musicians of the last 20 years or more. You know...the rock band
that says, "Yeah, we can play blues--it's easy."

On Victim of the Blues, this collection of players has stripped away pretense and goes for the gut--Bradfute, for instance, isn't afraid to ride one guitar note over several bars if this direct method propels the song to where it should go. The musicians are straightforward and compelling, looking to make emotional ties to what Nelson is doing, rather than providing "power blues," a rock group term which insinuates that traditional blues is really kind of boring and needs to be pumped up.  

Victim of the Blues isn't loaded with the most original song choices, because it's stuff blues fans know: Howlin' Wolf's "You'll Be Mine," Chuck Willis' "Feel So Bad" (credited to Lightnin' Hopkins, for some reason), and Percy Mayfield's "Stranger In My Own Home Town." It's one of those scintillating Tracy Nelson records where you can hear her pushing herself as if she's got a rep to uphold; this one roars.

Talk about being lucky!

My wonderful sister and brother-in-law bought me quite a birthday present last month:
tickets to Paul Simon's April 15 Seattle show, the first one of the tour.

Gina and I had a fabulous time, as it was a gig to remember. Where do I start? The setlist was a terrific cross-section of Simon's catalog, from about half of the new, superb
So Beautiful or So What (Hear Music) to a few Simon & Garfunkel-era tunes to something from nearly every solo album. And a band (eight musicians besides Simon, who all played more than one instrument) brimming over with irreverence and texture. The sounds of deep bass and drums, interlocking Afropop guitars, keyboards, horns, accordion and even steel guitar popped through the mix in unexpected places--meaning, in all the right places.

We took in one remarkable song after another: "Hearts and Bones," "The Obvious Child," "Father and Daughter," "Peace Like a River," "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover," "Diamonds On the Soles of Her Shoes," "The Sounds of Silence" (Paul in a stirring
solo version), "The Only Living Boy In New York," "Late In the Evening"--even "Gone at Last," which I thought I'd never hear (the radio never plays that one). 

Two or more surprises were not Simon originals: He combined "Mystery Train" with something he said was by Chet Atkins; the second encore began with "Here Comes the Sun," which Simon performed with the personable Mark Stewart. (I looked at the website of Mark Stuart, Stacey Earle's husband, to see if it was the same person--it
wasn't.) My guess is that the George Harrison song was performed to commemorate  Simon and Harrison playing it together on "Saturday Night Live," circa 1976. 

I should mention that while Simon was basically in excellent voice, he had a little trouble
holding long notes and nailing some of the nuances of those tricky and amazing melodies he has written. It's a bit startling to hear those imperfections when you know that practically every recording Paul Simon has ever made--especially since going solo--sounds exactly the way he wanted it to sound. But for heaven's sake, he will be 70
years old in October. What Paul Simon and band put across was communication of the highest order, and it moved our hearts as well. A truly great show.

The concert marked the 20th anniversary of Seattle radio station KMTT, which was once a rich listening experience but not now. What they play is utterly obvious, in the main. When three of the station's best known announcers came out to bring Simon to the stage and tooted their own horn about the music they play that's "off the beaten path," they had to be glad that I wasn't close to the stage. Because I really wanted to yell out, "Right--'Brass In Pocket' every day!" 

Haven't meant to neglect writing about music or anything lately, but I had cataract surgery last week and I'm recovering nicely. Now that I'm able to compare the vision I have in my left eye--which used to be the stronger of the two--with the newly repaired right eye...well, I'm amazed.

I'm five weeks away from having the other eye corrected, and then I may not need glasses at all, except for reading at night. If all goes well a second time, I will throw the Who's "I Can See for Miles" on the box and blink like crazy. Such a daredevil.

KAOS radio was on the stereo while the Mariners game was on the boombox (I'm dating myself, right? Stereo! Boombox!) at my house tonight. The Kinks' "Who'll Be the Next In Line"--all two minutes of it--lit up the radio. Brevity is power.

Lately, I've enjoyed concise pieces of writing and they're everywhere. Here's Ellen Sander in the Lefsetz Newsletter, talking about the explosive power of '60s rock as she lamented how the concert biz is now outpricing itself: "The audience was more than half the story (then). I don't want to even know what it's like to be in a concert audience where everyone is willing or able to pay $1,000 a pop. That's not the big fun I grew up on, the extraordinary connection and commonality of a live show, hearts beating together, bodies swaying in time, cheering as one."

How about the back cover endorsement of Matt Taibbi's "The Great Derangement:
A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics & Religion at the Twilight of the American Empire" (Spiegel & Grau, 2008)? It comes from Janeane Garofalo: "Where other mainstream news sources fail, Matt Taibbi madly embraces his role as an honest political observer/writer/citizen in a democracy. I would also like to take this opportunity to ask for Matt's hand in marriage."