Allen Toussaint's latest, on 2 vinyl records on Nonesuch, is a lovely, brilliant recording, and the music is very satisfying. It's new and modern, but it's right where I am right now in my interests: Early, New Orleans-inflected jazz.
My only complaint is the way the piano is recorded. Everything else sounds lovely -- woody, textured, real. But the Toussaint's Steinway sounds like an electric piano.
A small complaint about an excellent LP.
Posts
I think the piano sounds just like Toussaint wanted it to sound; a bit recessed.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the record (2) is a trip to modern New Orleans and its roots in Traditional Jazz (If you like the word Dixieland, that's OK, too). The traditional Jazz band had no piano, it was not easy to carry a piano while marching to a funeral, for instance.
At a gig, if they had a piano, fine, if not, no piano that night. While much music was written and performed for solo piano, it was still done in a place where you may have to duck your head as a bottle flew by. A hotel, a bar, the entire ensemble was the important part of the music, not solo. The entire band played, sometimes with breaks rather than true solo parts.
Thus the piano would have been placed toward the rear of the group, not in the front as modern Jazz groups would have it.
Or not.
Dr. Notathing
Dr. Notathing,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you've got a lot-things to offer and I look forward to learning more. I'm a babe-in-arms. I'm just learning. All I've got is love -- and that's a lot. Keep reading and responding.
Jim