JANUARY 1996
LOOKING FOR A SOUL TO STEAL
With any luck, the next important rock musical on Broadway
will be Randy Newman's Faust. Having completed a trial run in California, it
should arrive in New York within the year, although nothing
is definitely scheduled. In the meantime, you can hear the album (Reprise) and laugh at some of the most
twisted theology this side of . . . oh, say, your friendly neighborhood cult.
But unlike your friendly neighborhood cult, Newman has a theology that is meant
to be twisted and funny, and it succeeds. An ardent atheist with a breathtaking
command of most of the important American musical genres, Newman sings the part
of the Devil in this retelling of Goethe. You get the impression that he
strongly identifies with this angel who is thrown out of heaven for getting
drunk at a party and telling God that He's a figment of the human imagination.
God--sung by James Taylor as a successful but dull white guy--and the Devil
subsequently make a bet on whether the latter can tempt Henry (sung by Don
Henley), a student at Notre Dame who is so lacking in curiosity that he
doesn't even read the Devil's contract before signing it. You'll have to buy
the CD to get the rest of the plot. America's wittiest songwriter, Newman has always written from the
points of view of a marvelous array of comic characters. He was born to do
a complete musical, and this is his masterpiece. --C.M.Y.
Lucifer himself
Photo: Pamela Springsteen
Don Pullen was a rarity in the jazz world of the past quarter century--a unique
stylist comfortable in both the most traditional and the most exploratory
settings. Best known for his bruising, volcanic piano textures, which he
produced by swirling his knuckles and the backs of his hands across the keys,
Pullen could also instill his music with the simple eloquence of spirituals and
the roadhouse rock of the blues. He built a reputation for coherent cataclysm
through work with Charles Mingus, co-leadership of an extroverted quartet with
the saxophonist George Adams, and creation of his own quintet, the African
Brazilian Connection. The Connection's ability to merge disparate ethnic
strains over an identifiable jazz base paved the way for his most ambitious
work, Sacred Common Ground (Blue Note), originally conceived in 1993 and
completed just six weeks before Pullen succumbed to lymphoma, last April.
This music, which puts the African Brazilian Connection together with seven
singer-drummers from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes
of Montana, was designed to accompany a dance work by Garth Fagan, but it works
powerfully on its own. The key is the sureness of composer Pullen's dramatic
development. The Native American chants and instrumental interludes function
separately at first; then they succumb to the power of J. T. Lewis's drum set
and Mor Thiam's African percussion, and slowly boil into collective expression.
Pianist Pullen provides further continuity with his most reflective playing.
Without surrendering his iconoclastic flourishes, he remains sober and
contemplative, ensuring that this uncommon meeting of musics will also serve
as his heartfelt benediction. --B.B. 
During his days with Jefferson Airplane, Jorma Kaukonen played the hottest
electric guitar in San Francisco. But his first love was acoustic finger-style
guitar, and his acoustic instrumental "Embryonic Journey" from that period has
evolved into a staple for aspiring finger-style players. Kaukonen went on to found
Hot Tuna,
which balanced electric and acoustic approaches in mostly traditional music,
and he has become a revered and highly effective guitar
teacher on videotape
and in person (his farm in Ohio will soon become a retreat for guitar
students). The Land of Heroes (American Heritage) is Kaukonen's first solo
studio album in eleven years, and for all his fans who've been making do with
his various live recordings (some authorized, a lot bootlegged), it is welcome
news indeed. Renowned for his interpretations of the Reverend Gary Davis,
Kaukonen here covers two more Davis songs, "Banks of the River" and "Have a
Little More Faith in Jesus," both with delightful melodies--which Davis
obscured on the originals with his ragged bellow (an acquired taste even for
blues fans). Kaukonen's friendly vocals are immediately accessible, though
capable of spiritual depth when called for. His guitar remains the main
attraction. It sparkles on "Re-Enlistment Blues," originally sung by Merle
Travis in the movie From Here to Eternity. It roars and snarls on "Dark Train,"
an electric blues instrumental. And it goes deepest on "Follow the Drinking
Gourd," an underground railway tune that suits Kaukonen's improvisational
explorations. Watch for his tour. He's great live. --C.M.Y.
A long-awaited return
Photo: top, Luciano Viti; bottom, courtesy American Heritage
