SOUNDCHECK: Long Live Prince

Jack White brings back Loretta Lynn in triumph










MUSIC BOX



Kitty Margolis


Heart & Soul: Live in SanFrancisco

Scat artist Kitty Margolis is captured at the On Broadway Theater in North Beach, covering a number of classics and making them her own. As impressive as her vocal skill is her talent for arrangements, and the entire CD is an utter joy.



Diana Krall


The Girl in the Other Room

You know an artist is popular when everybody in the office, from the alt-rock fan to the Dylan devotee, comes by your desk, saying, "Oh, Diana Krall! I'll review that!" It doesn't hurt that Elvis Costello worked on more than half the tracks, nor does it hurt that Krall is one of the most talented and sexiest performers on the jazz scene today. This is a stunning, sterling release.



Danny Aiello


I Just Wanted to Hear the Words

In the liner notes, actor Aiello frets people will think he just used his fame to get recorded. He has good reason to worry. He's able to handle "All Of Me" and "You Made Me Love You," but his 70-year-old voice isn't strong enough to carry any of the other tracks. The lush orchestration and skilled musicianship by industry vets helps the songs soar while Aiello sounds muted.



Frank Gambale


Raison D'être

Long-time guitarist with Chick Corea's Elektric Band, Gambale also has had two guitars designed in his name, started his own label, and been produced by Steve Vai. You can't touch the man's skill at speed-sweep picking, and he's only improved with age. One of those discs that keeps getting better the harder you listen.



Paul Wertico


StereoNucleosis

Former member of the Pat Metheny group and a kick-ass drummer and percussionist, Paul Wertico's label let him cut loose on this album and it shows, with some tracks having upward of 60 overdubs. The creative freedom, and the density, sometimes gets a little too trippy, but overall it works.



Thomas & Sampson


When The Lower Resembles The Higher

Sparse, scratchy music and simplistic lyrics make this offering seem like the new Barney CD recorded in a Soylent Green-type world. It's why John Belushi smashed that guitar in Animal House. If only he were alive today.




Martin Stein


Prince (3.5 stars)


Musicology


A few wonderful things happen 20 seconds into "Musicology," the James Brownish title track to Prince's first major-label effort since 1999's Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic, and arguably his first good album since 1987's Sign O' The Times. The artist neé The Artist, effortlessly riding atop one of his cleanest arrangements, talks up "the party just east o' Harlem," and says: "Doug E's gonna b there / but u got 2 ... call him." With that, Prince promises that Musicology will be an old-school party record, and with the pause between "2" and "call," he lets us know he didn't spend his time out of the spotlight forgetting his audience. It's a loaded pause, and you lean into it expectantly. Prince owns those opening seconds, and the 48 minutes which follow.


There are at least four solid singles on Musicology. The title track is a classic rump-shaker, nearly on a par with "Gett Off." "Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance" could effortlessly segue into "Kiss." "Cinnamon Girl" has the psychedelic bop of "Raspberry Beret." And "Mr. Man" harks back to the societal ills Prince first addressed in "Sign O' The Times." But, time hasn't tempered his anger, diluted his joy nor lessened his gift for a solid pop hook.




Geoff Carter



Loretta Lynn (4 stars)


Van Lear Rose


Making a disc with a childhood idol on hard times is a rock-star perk. Bowie did it for Iggy Pop in the '70s. In the '80s, Springsteen did it for Gary "U.S." Bonds. And in the '90s, star producer Rick Rubin dedicated years to recording Johnny Cash. So, as shocking as it is to see them together, in retrospect it seems inevitable that Jack White, who has dedicated a White Stripes album to Loretta Lynn and covered one of her songs, would get the country singer back into the studio to make Van Lear Rose.


For her first new release in years, Lynn has written great songs filled with coal miners, cheating husbands and hard times, yet leavened with family, community and love. Her voice is powerful, young and fresh, but White is the driving force. His natural restraint and minimalist aesthetic yank Lynn from the Nashville strings and Conway Twitty duets of recent years and return her to a sound closer to the Honky Tonk of her youth. Not that this is a traditional country recording in any sense; White's backgrounds are decidedly more anarchic in intensity. As a result, Van Lear Rose is far more certain to satisfy White Stripes fans than those who love country.




Richard Abowitz

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