SOUND CHECK.SOUNDTRACK: ``The Triplets of Belleville'' (Higher Octave Higher Octave is a sub-label imprint of Narada Productions which is part of EMI's Blue Note Records label group, located in New York. Higher Octave was founded in 1986 as an independent record label specializing in a wide variety of uplifting music, including smooth jazz, ) - Three and one half stars The most intriguing musical moment of the recent Oscars telecast was a wonderful Hot Club of France-style number from the dark animated comedy ``Belleville.'' The album is equally refreshing, packed with beautifully realized continental jazz Continental Jazz is a term used to describe early jazz dance bands of Europe in the swing medium, to the exclusion of Great Britain. The genre was generally practiced until the conclusion of World War II. By the time Bebop came to popularity, the style became more or less obsolete. , cabaret and a handful of very different versions of Benoit Charest's award-nominated theme song ``Belleville Rendezvous.'' Opening strong with ``Under the Bridge,'' an avant-garde piece utilizing car horns and bicycle spokes, the thoroughly clever score takes in a plaintive plain·tive adj. Expressing sorrow; mournful or melancholy. [Middle English plaintif, from Old French, aggrieved, lamenting, from plaint, complaint; see plaint. ``Bruno's Theme'' (colored by doleful dole·ful adj. 1. Filled with or expressing grief; mournful. See Synonyms at sad. 2. Causing grief: a doleful loss. accordion), the gorgeous pop song ``Attila Marcel'' and a fascinating ``Cabaret Hoover'' (played on refrigerator, vacuum and other stuff). This joyous disc sent me straight back to the brilliant French gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt Jean "Django" Reinhardt (January 23, 1910 – May 16, 1953) was a Belgian Sinto Gypsy jazz guitarist. He was one of the first prominent jazz musicians to be born in Europe, and one of the most renowned jazz guitarists of all time. - and it will ideally lead others to the same place. - Fred Shuster SLAID CLEAVES: ``Wishbones'' (Philo/Rounder) - Four stars For his first album in four years, fine folk song crafter Cleaves rocks out. Produced by Austin avatar Gurf Morlix, this electrified effort sacrifices none of the dark character insight and telling detail Cleaves has traditionally brought to his story songs. Humor, deep destructiveness and fraying strands of hope work their way through the 11-song set. And it's all backed by a new propulsiveness that, rather than overwhelming the melodiously gripping singer, lends his work an extra, urgent energy. - Bob Strauss DAVE BRUBECK: ``For All Time'' (Columbia/Legacy) - Four stars You don't need even a mild interest in jazz to own a copy of Brubeck's 1959 classic ``Time Out,'' which is as popular today as it was 45 years ago - just like another album recorded that year, ``Kind of Blue,'' the Miles Davis classic. ``Time Out'' wasn't the only instance in which pianist Brubeck and his great quartet - saxophonist Paul Desmond, drummer Joe Morello and bassist Eugene Wright - experimented in odd time signatures. The ``For All Time'' box collects the five Brubeck albums recorded between 1959 and 1965 that find the ensemble obliterating o·blit·er·ate tr.v. o·blit·er·at·ed, o·blit·er·at·ing, o·blit·er·ates 1. To do away with completely so as to leave no trace. See Synonyms at abolish. 2. the boundaries of 4/4 and proving that odd meters can swing, too. (Just ask Brubeck disciple Sting.) Of the five discs here, three - ``Countdown: Time in Outer Space,'' ``Time Changes'' and ``Time In'' - have never been available on CD, making the set an essential purchase. - Glenn Whipp VARIOUS: ``The Q People'' (Spirithouse) - Three stars Listening to the wacky SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon rock opera ``Little Floater's Wild Weekend'' is just one of the highlights of this eclectic tribute to the cult band NRBQ NRBQ New Rhythm and Blues Quartet - New Rhythm and Blues rhythm and blues (R&B) Any of several closely related musical styles developed by African American artists. The various styles were based on a mingling of European influences with jazz rhythms and tonal inflections, particularly syncopation and the flatted blues chords. Quintet - and the self-dubbed ``omnipop'' sound it's been cranking out (below the radar) since the late '60s. There's the serene, western-flavored Yo La Tengo offering ``Magnet.'' Los Lobos jazzes things up with ``Never Take the Place of You.'' The creaky creak·y adj. creak·i·er, creak·i·est 1. Tending to creak. 2. Shaky or infirm, as with age; decrepit: creaky knee joints; a creaky regime. throated J Mascis, formerly the frontman front·man n. 1. also front man A man who serves as a nominal leader but who lacks real authority. 2. Music A leading singer with a group. of Dinosaur Jr., lays into the raucous bar-rocker ``I Want You Bad.'' From Steve Earle to Bonnie Raitt, R.E.M.'s Mike Mills to Widespread Panic, there's a little something for everybody whether you're familiar with NRBQ or not. - Sandra Barrera CAPTION(S): 4 photos Photo: (1) SOUNDTRACK: ``The Triplets of Belleville'' (Higher Octave) (2 -- 4) no caption (CD covers) (5) no caption (DAVE BRUBECK) |
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