Watermelon Slim & The Workers: The Wheel Man
Northernblues Music NBM0038
Format: CD

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Good blues is easy to come by -- Mississippi John Hurt, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, and a slew of sight-deprived hard-luck souls have left us a mighty fine legacy. But good blues by living artists is a different story. Shiny alligator shoes don’t make it the blues, but a howling, bawling voice, some left-handed, upside-down dobro slide guitar, and a name like Watermelon Slim -- now, that combo is blues-worthy. With the release of his fourth CD, The Wheel Man, Bill "Watermelon Slim" Homans earns his salt and his title as "a blues man." Slim has worked as a truck driver, mill sawyer, forklift operator, and watermelon farmer, and served in Vietnam, and his songs have many an inspired tale to tell. Lyrically witty, rhythmically rocking, and gloriously original, Watermelon Slim and the Workers play blues for a new era, and The Wheel Man ushers it in like hell on wheels, pedal to the metal. This album won’t be released until mid-April but has already been nominated for six music awards. No collection should be without it….Shannon Holliday

Paul Simon: Surprise
Warner Bros. 49982
Format: CD

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Paul Simon has long had a keen interest in sound and texture in his recordings, so it’s not surprising that he would eventually collaborate with Brian Eno, who is credited with the "sonic landscape" of Simon’s latest album, Surprise. However, Eno’s electronic effects don’t overwhelm or distract from Simon’s profoundly beautiful songs about the mysteries of life and spirituality, at the center of which, always, are Simon’s skillful guitar playing and soothing voice. He’s aided by other great musicians -- including guitarist Bill Frisell, bassist Abraham Laboriel, and drummer Steve Gadd -- and the sounds of their instruments are often processed, a fact that can be attributed to the mix of Tchad Blake. Audio purists often scorn Blake, who does crowd the soundstage more than is usual for a Paul Simon recording. But in most cases, Blake’s choices seem right for the enveloping sound Simon clearly aimed for in such songs as "How Can You Live in the Northeast" and "Sure Don’t Feel Like Love." On occasion, however, I wondered if Blake couldn’t have restrained himself from trying to make every snare drum sound like something else. In the end, it’s Simon’s sure songwriting and singing that make Surprise well worth hearing….Joseph Taylor

Tom Waits: Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards
Anti- 86677
Format: CD

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I knew of Tom Waits through his role in Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1993). Waits’ performance as Dracula’s minion, Renfield, stuck with me. Little did I know that the performance was more a function of Waits’ persona than of his acting prowess. That same gravel-voiced, slightly perverse personality delivers some very poignant and disturbing anecdotes by way of song in this three-disc set of "orphan" tracks that never made it to any of Waits’ many albums of the past three decades. I’m not much for atonal music. I prefer more traditional structures of layered melodies coupled to sweet vocals. Still, Orphans has a hypnotic charm that’s hard to resist. Songs such as "Fish in the Jailhouse," "Long Way Home," and "Lie to Me" possess an honesty that is in some ways catchier than the most effervescent melody. Waits is a wonderful storyteller, recounting tall, twisted tales of lady shoppers ripping him off, as well as an insightful take on King Kong. It’s hard to tell if these songs were recorded at the same time. Many sound as if they originated from scratchy LPs or half-dead master tapes. My guess is that they were engineered this way. The sound quality is good in terms of vocal textures and overall clarity, even if the noise floor sounds abnormally high….Anthony Di Marco

Christopher O’Riley: Second Grace: The Music of Nick Drake
World Village 468066
Format: CD

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If you’d enjoy a superb recording of a master classical pianist performing live on a Hamburg Steinway Concert D, Christopher O’Riley’s arrangements for solo piano of 14 songs by an enormously talented and influential singer-songwriter-guitarist most people have never heard of, who died in his mid-20s in 1974 after making only three LPs, might be for you. A possible caveat, depending on your taste: Despite O’Riley’s obvious passion for the task, and his thoughtful adaptations and fine playing, in the absence of these songs’ lyrics, there is a bit of fluid New Age sameness to the disc. Drake’s mysterious early death in no way explains serious musicians’ and listeners’ high regard for his work. In the decades since his death, few have caught up with his unique combinations of tradition and invention, precision and ambiguity, solidity and ethereality. Skillfully preserving every tone and texture of O’Riley’s playing while nixing applause and other concert-hall sounds, the engineering of Second Grace launches the listener more into O’Riley’s than into Drake’s musical orbit. Fortunately, all of Drake’s recordings are still in print….David Cantor

Turbo Tabla: The Belly and the Beat
CIA 941 690 012 2
Format: CD

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Turbo Tabla culls ancient rhythms from their primordial roots and blends them with an amped-up dance-club vibe to create a fusion of traditional Arabic music and contemporary house, hip-hop, and techno. Musician-DJ-producer Karim Nagi enhances his tabla drums with electronic effects and looping, mixing the traditional with the modern to deliver beats of urban sophistication and exotic eastern appeal. Audiophiles will relish the swirling spectrums of sound created by cerebral high ends and infrasonic, bass-driven lows. The Belly and the Beat bursts open with "Turbo Tabla 4," a frenzied drum anthem, and maintains that fervor throughout. "Saidi Song" is the best example of how Nagi pays homage to both old and new; traditional Egyptian instruments such as the nay, mizmar, and rubbaba recall the entrancing melody of an ancient snake charmer, but the remixed groove and pulsating beat are meant to charm club kids more than snakes. As its title suggests, this music is the ultimate outlet for the seductive gyrations of belly-dancing -- so skip Pilates, turn up some Turbo Tabla, and break a sweat. Just be careful not to break anything else….Shannon Holliday