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Arts & Entertainment Preview - February 1998
B Y B O B B L U M E N T H A L & C H A R L E S M. Y O U N G
The Woodstock of the McCarthy Era
 | Paul Robeson at the Peace Arch, 1952
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Although songs are usually lame
vehicles for the serious examination of political issues, they do provide
inspiration and fortitude when it's time to act. In American history nobody
understood this power of music better than Paul Robeson. Next year is the
centennial of his birth, and Folk Era (705 S. Washington St., Naperville, IL
60540-6654; 630-637-2303) is seizing the day by issuing The Peace Arch
Concerts, a live recording of Robeson singing one foot from the Canadian
border in 1952 and 1953, when the U.S. government had revoked his passport and
forbidden him foreign travel. Previously available only to members of the
Mine-Mill and Smelters Workers' Union in the early fifties, the concerts have
been transferred from the original 78s to compact disc. The sound quality isn't
perfect (Robeson was singing from the back of a pickup truck), but his amazing
bass voice cuts through everything. "Ol' Man River" was written for him, after
all, and nobody ever sang it better. Convinced of humanity's essential unity,
Robeson sang songs from many lands (in twenty different languages) long before
"world music" was even a concept. Here he shines most on the spirituals, with
their obvious relevance to the nascent civil-rights movement, and on the labor
anthem "Joe Hill." The final cut is one of Robeson's few recorded speeches, in
which he discussed the FBI's largely successful attempts to destroy his
performing career by threatening concert promoters. His defiance is
exhilarating, and far more dangerous than anything the punk movement managed to
snarl. --C.M.Y.
The Peace Arch Concerts, Paul Robeson, Copyright 1998 Folk Era Records
"Joe Hill," AU, Real Audio 28.8
"Ol' Man River," AU, Real Audio 28.8
Interpreting Monk
As a composer, Thelonious Monk was the master of jagged dissonance and
inexorable swing. As a pianist, Fred Hersch is one of the most sensitive and
genuinely lyrical players in jazz. This might imply that Thelonious: Fred
Hersch Plays Monk (Nonesuch) is an oil-and-water affair. Instead this
triumphant recital should convince any skeptics of the depth of both composer
and performer. | Pianist Fred Hersch
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Hersch decided to play this music his way rather than in direct imitation, which has produced uncommonly introspective readings of Monk's
ballads. By employing his gentler touch and more impressionistic harmonic
vocabulary, Hersch reinforces the melodic integrity of Monk's music while
allowing it to accommodate a different range of colors. The compositions are
also programmed to comment on one another and themselves, as Hersch applies
five different slants to the blues "Misterioso," sets up one ballad with a
snippet of another, and employs "'Round Midnight" as a parenthetical frame for
the entire enterprise. Hersch is becoming something of a songbook king, having
previously produced volumes of music by Billy Strayhorn and Rodgers &
Hammerstein for Nonesuch. He is also jazz's most committed AIDS activist, and
his second collection for Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS
appeared at the close of last year. Fred Hersch and Friends: The Duo
Album finds him interpreting standards with a dozen notable friends
(including Gary Burton, Tommy Flanagan, Diana Krall, and Joe Lovano) and
highlights one aspect of Hersch's talent that solo recordings by definition
ignore: an affinity for other musicians. --B.B.
Thelonious: Fred Hersch Plays Monk, Fred Hersch, Copyright 1998 Nonesuch Records
"'Round Midnight," AU, Real Audio 28.8
"In Walked Bud," AU, Real Audio 28.8
"Let's Cool One," AU, Real Audio 28.8
Where Tubas Dare To Go
 | Getting down: Howard Johnson
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Six tubas and a rhythm section may suggest some kind of raw, rambling joke.
Under the direction of the prodigious Howard Johnson, however, they form
Gravity, a conclave of low brass players that has been around in various forms
since 1968. On Right Now! (Verve), Johnson and company deliver a
spirited, wide-ranging program that proves that even the lowest
instrumental voices can soar. Gravity's sonorous blend enhances all kinds
of material, from the tender ballad "Tell Me a Bedtime Story" and the relaxed
big-band staple "Frame for the Blues" to charging evocations of Gil Evans and
hard bop. Taj Mahal, who toured with a smaller version of Gravity in 1971, adds
gritty funk with vocals on three tracks. The tubas are the main story, however.
Dave Bargeron, Joe Daley, Earl McIntyre, and Bob Stewart, musicians who are
generally buried in the brass sections of the big bands, take eloquent solo
turns, and the non-soloing Carl Kleinsteuber handles most of the lead playing
with admirable warmth. Johnson is deservedly the star. He arranged all the
music, spreading the voicings in a manner that best takes advantage of the
range and dexterity of his partners, and he roars through his several tuba
solos. For variety Johnson, who is one of jazz's most inventive
multi-instrumentalists, even switches to penny whistle and baritone saxophone
on two tracks. Not that changes of pace were required, with Gravity
demonstrating just how much music can be found in the depths. --B.B.
Bob Blumenthal is a jazz critic for The Boston Globe.
Charles M. Young reviews popular music for Playboy, Musician, and other publications.
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Copyright © 1998 by The Atlantic Monthly Company. All rights reserved.
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