'TOWN HALL'

'TOWN HALL'
Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker
Uptown
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'THELONIOUS MONK QUARTET WITH JOHN COLTRANE AT CARNEGIE HALL'
Thelonious Monk
(Blue Note)
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'LIVE AT THE HALF NOTE'
John Coltrane
(Impulse)
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What an extraordinary year it's been for buried treasure. Here are three previously unknown or underground discoveries featuring the architects of modern jazz captured before their secrets became common practice material: Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie in 1945, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane in 1957 and the Coltrane Quartet in 1965 -- snapshots of the avant-garde.
Live recordings of Parker and Gillespie together are rare, and on "Town Hall" it's fascinating to hear the revolutionary alto saxophonist and trumpeter play with such commanding authority only months after the first studio recordings of "Groovin' High," "Hot House" and other bebop icons; the rhythm section of Al Haig, Curly Russell and Max Roach hasn't quite caught up yet to the leaders. DJ Symphony Sid Torin's announcements add period charm, and the sound quality is better than you might expect.
The 51 minutes of Monk's Quartet with tenor saxophonist Coltrane at Carnegie Hall on Nov. 29, 1957, are one of the most important finds of the last 25 years: "Carnegie Hall" is the only document of this legendary band beyond a few stray studio tracks and a poor fidelity bootleg from 1958.
The unique architecture of Monk's compositions and pianism helped slingshot Coltrane into maturity. This recording, in breathtakingly clear sound, comes near the end of a historic six-month run at the Five Spot in New York.
Everything is startling: Coltrane consolidating his "sheets-of-sound" approach, Monk's ever-fresh originality, the locomotive swing of the quartet, anchored by drummer Shadow Wilson, and the electrifying dialogue between the two principals.
Eight years later, Coltrane was again in transition. His innovative quartet with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones had perfected an incantatory and cathartic style that crested on waves of modal harmony, group interaction and Jones' polyrhythmic drumming. By the start of 1966, Coltrane would enter his final period of roiling rhythms, expanded ensembles, free tonality and dissonance.
The "Half Note" recordings from March and May 1965 derive from live radio broadcasts and capture the quartet at the peak of its unity and expression. The sound quality is gorgeous in its immediacy. Coltrane's 28-minute solo on "One Down, One Up," including a ritualistic duet of frightening intensity with Jones, is a landmark.
'Z'
My Morning Jacket
(ATO)
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Two key members of this Louisville, Ky., rock band, guitarist Johnny Quaid and keyboardist Danny Cash, quit in January of last year, shortly after the release of the breakthrough album "It Still Moves." That left vocalist and chief songwriter Jim James to figure out whether or not the group still had a future. The good news: "Z' is strong proof that My Morning Jacket is alive and well, thanks to James' perseverance and the seamless addition of new members Bo Koster (keyboards) and Carl Broemel (guitar).
My Morning Jacket has become a critical darling of the moment, earning rave reviews across the country for its sound, which mixes funk, indie rock, Southern and jam-band sensibilities. Still, like anchovies or caviar, MMJ may be an acquired taste for some -- James has a high, sometimes wayward voice that takes a bit of getting used to. "Z" has more than a few moments of high-decibel bombast, something that's effective at first but a little tiring and repetitious after a while.
What succeeds in large measures is James' gift for conjuring up the striking images and melodies in "Wordless Chorus," "It Beats 4 U" and "Off the Record," which bear influences of everyone from the Beach Boys to Traffic to Pink Floyd to Wilco.
'TALKING HEADS'
Talking Heads
(Rhino/Sire/Warner Brothers)
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Maybe not all eight of the official studio albums included in this eight-disc box set were 4-star albums -- "True Stories" would not likely qualify on its own -- but this truly incredible collection is almost beyond hyperbole. Each Talking Heads record released from 1977's "Talking Heads: 77" to the 1988 swan song "Naked" gets the DualDisc treatment, meaning the original tracks are remastered and appended by outtakes on one side of the disc, with the other side containing those songs remixed for 5.1 Dolby Surround, along with videos, broadcasts and live performances. It allows us to hear the songs anew, in a sonic experience that almost equals the artistic achievement.
Artistic is the key word, since the Talking Heads were, with Elvis Costello and the Attractions, one of the two bands to emerge from the punk-New Wave repositioning of rock 'n' roll that did not aspire to seem primitive. The braininess of chief songwriter David Byrne, abetted by bass player Tina Weymouth, drummer Chris Frantz and keyboard player Jerry Harrison, was never disguised.
"THIS BIRD HAS FLOWN -- A 40TH ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTETO THE BEATLES' 'RUBBER SOUL' '
Various artists
(Razor & amp; Tie)
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Just what the world wasn't waiting for -- a different artist covering every tune from The Beatles' "Rubber Soul" album. One listen to this wildly uneven collection will make you realize how tough it is for anyone to come near, let alone improve upon, the original songs from the Fab Four's sublime '65 release.
Saving this recording from being a disaster are a few songs on which the artists successfully rework and refashion the originals. Sufjan Stevens, Ben Harper and Nellie McKay each try out some new approaches to "What Goes On," "Michelle" and "If I Needed Someone," and Cowboy Junkies deliver a particularly slinky reading of "Run For Your Life."
But best of all is "Norwegian Wood," done by the au courant indie band the Fiery Furnaces. Eleanor Friedberger's delightfully off-kilter vocals sound like a combination of the Velvet Underground's Nico and Bob Dylan, with her brother Matthew at the helm of an arsenal of keyboards and guitars that stray off into strange, wonderful places.
'THOSE WERE THE DAYS'
Dolly Parton
(Sugar Hill)
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Take a dozen shopworn folk-pop tunes from the '60s and '70s, add a generous dash of bluegrass fiddle and banjo, and mix in guest turns by everyone from Porter Wagoner to Norah Jones to Yusuf Islam (a k a Cat Stevens). It's a feat only the unsinkable Dolly Parton would dare attempt, and on "Those Were the Days," she gets surprisingly engaging results.
The celebrated singer-songwriter turns Pete Seeger's "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" into a whispery, feather-light heartbreaker and reimagines Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" as a swift-gaited, banjo-laced romp. A too-glossy take on John Lennon's "Imagine" feels out of place, but it's a misstep that's more than redeemed by "The Cruel War," a 19th-century love-and-soldiers ballad popularized in the '60s by Peter, Paul & amp; Mary. Parton's delicate-as-crystal version, with harmonies by Dan Tyminski, Alison Krauss and Mindy Smith, is a lump-in-the-throat moment that feels as fresh -- and despairing -- as this morning's headlines from Baghdad.
Detroit Free Press