Bozo Mark's Hot Picks In The CD Player For Fall

1. Jazz...Has...A Sense Of Humor

Horace Silver

Verve

I don't know exactly how old Horace is, but he's definitely a geezer, and yet... He keeps putting out albums of the same high-quality, blues-influenced bop tunes. Sometimes he'll have name players, sometimes, as on this album, young unknowns. Sometimes he'll have up to four or five horns, sometimes, as on this album, only two. Four constants: a) the tunes are always infectious with snap and pop, b) the playing and soloing are uniformly great, c) the liner notes for the last four or so albums have included the Silver-penned lyrics, even though there's no vocalist on the gig (you get to sing along, if you want), and d) Horace Silver's music makes you feel good. Long may he reign.

2. The Complete Blue Note Sixties Sessions

Herbie Hancock

Blue Note

One of the seminal albums of my musical youth was Speak Like A Child, which I probably bought on the basis of a downbeat review, and which I liked so much I bought the albums which preceded and followed it, Maiden Voyage and The Prisoner. So the release of this box set is wonderful for me. I wasn't that familiar with the four albums that preceded Maiden Voyage, although I knew some of the tunes, so I very much enjoy digging into those. And it's fabulous to hear the last three without my old LPs' ambient noise. I think Herbie is perhaps the most important post-bebop jazz composer, and this set lays the argument out, six discs worth. One caveat: the alternate takes are usually stacked back to back, but putting two or three discs in at a time and spiralling them eliminates all chances of redundancy. Also recommended: The Complete Warner Bros Recordings (much better than you remember).

3. Social Studies

Loudon Wainwright III

Rykodisc

In the sixties, Tom Lehrer wrote amusing songs on topical subjects for a satirical television news show called That Was The Week That Was. In much the same vein, LWIII started writing ditties for National Public Radio, and they've been collected and re-recorded (original broadcast versions were just Loud and guitar) here. Topics include Tonya Harding, O.J., Bill Clinton, Jesse Helms, and Bill Gates. Unlike some satire (but like Lehrer's work) these songs hold up to repeated listenings. And the closer "Pretty Good Day", wherein Loudon sings about how his day doesn't include bombings or snipers or death or destruction, is quietly devastating.

4. Riccardo Fassi Tankio Band	Plays The Music Of Frank Zappa	SPLASC(H)
Ed Palermo Big Band	Plays The Music Of Frank Zappa	Astor Place

What can I say? Zappa is one of my gods (sorry girls!) and both of these larger, horn-driven ensemble recordings do him great justice. Riccardo gets the edge over Ed, due to more idiosyncratic charts (the latter is a bit too slavish to the originals, whereas the former often sounds more like what Zappa himself might have gone on to do had he had more fun and bigger success with the Grand Wazoo project), more and better soloing (including quite a bit of free playing), and a more interesting instrumentation. Highpoints: the five-horn free playing a cappella introduction to "Let's Make The Water Turn Black", and that way that tune turns into a very, very clever medley with "Eat That Question" and "I'm The Slime"; the drunken pit band enthusiasm of "America Drinks And Goes Home"; and the delightfully demented accordian (!) ending to "Peaches En Regalia." So why even include the Ed Palermo disc? Well, if you put them both on and spiral back and forth, it's perfect - over two hours of instrumental Zappa ("Shut up and play your tunes!"), and Ed's more catholic approaches spell Riccardo's outrageous behaviors very nicely indeed.

5. The Mad Hatter

Chick Corea

Verve

I've been looking for some time for a CD to keep My Spanish Heart company, and I just haven't been able to find it. None of the other Chick stuff I have on lp - the Return To Forever bands, the acoustic forays, the more recent Elektric Band material I have heard - none of these delighted me like Heart has and does. Until now. This is the album that was released right after Heart, and it has many of the same strengths: Bartok-inspired string writing, hot brass quintet playing, great synth sounds, and wonderful Latin-based tunes. In addition, Gayle Moran's singing gets a welcome, more prominent role, and Joe Farrell is on the gig to provide another hot soloist. Steve Gadd returns on drums, but Eddie Gomez takes Stanley Jordan's bass chair and wails his ass off. I know this period of Chick's is not everybody's favorite. I don't care. I like it best.