Ryan Blotnick: Music Needs You
Songlines SGL 1570-2
Format: CD

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Ryan Blotnick’s guitar playing shows the influence of Jim Hall and Pat Metheny, two guitarists he claims as influences. But Blotnick is edgier than either of those players is assumed to be, and his willingness to take risks shows how much he has learned from his predecessors, both of whom are more experimental than they’re given credit for. Blotnick wrote eight of the nine tracks on Music Needs You, and they are evocative, emotionally stirring compositions. He gives generous solo space to the other members of his quintet, who respond with wit and intelligence. As a composer, Blotnick has absorbed lessons from everyone from Jimmy Giuffre to Ornette Coleman, and his music is cerebral without being cold. Pete Robbins, on alto sax, and Albert Sanz, on piano, blend effortlessly with the guitarist, and Joe Smith is a consistently engaging and responsive drummer with a wonderfully fluid sense of time that underscores the unpredictability of Blotnick’s tunes. Bassist Perry Wortman holds things down solidly but also takes advantage of the flexibility Blotnick’s music offers. On its website, Songlines says that Music Needs You is "not an audiophile recording." To my ears, it sounds excellent, with the instruments sharply focused in a deep soundstage. Music Needs You is a notable addition to this label’s already excellent catalogue….Joseph Taylor

The Kennedys: Better Dreams
Appleseed APR CD 1107
Format: CD

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The acoustic/electric performing, songwriting, and covering duo Maura and Pete Kennedy work their magic again in Better Dreams. In the booklet they announce that these 12 songs, all of which they wrote, "have something to do with the dreamtime," but that needn’t put off the serious listener. No incoherent hoo-ha here, but a linking of the subconscious to the social and the political. Maura’s singing is restrained but direct and emotive. Pete’s handling of many instruments -- including guitar, bass, mandolin, keyboard, drums, even electric sitar -- is skilled and well integrated. And what a knack for melding melody and chord changes to lyrics! The album was recorded in many places, including motels and an Airstream trailer. But the Kennedys produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered it into a unified 40-minute experience, giving the largely treble-weighted instrumentation a shimmering effect….David Cantor

Jeremy Pelt & Wired: Shock Value: Live at Smoke
MaxJazz MXJ 406
Format: CD

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If you hadn’t heard the name Jeremy Pelt before now, consider this your introduction. The young trumpeter and his band, Wired, were recorded on a March night in 2007 in New York City, and the energy and innovation present in Smoke Lounge that night are cleanly captured on Shock Value: Live at Smoke. Six of the seven tracks are original compositions, most of them fast-paced, challenging, and flawlessly delivered. Pelt’s ingenuity and his Berkley College of Music training amicably intertwine here, blending straight-ahead jazz ("Beyond") with electrified inventiveness ("Suspicion"). On the final track, "Scorpio," his wah-wah-infused trumpet calls out a lone opening cry, screeching and searching like a hunting hawk; warped Fender Rhodes piano and a droning, unearthly deep-bass line reply. From there, the group climbs up and down scales faster than members of a Weight Watchers support group. While Shock Value is not Pelt’s first recording and won’t be his last, it leaves a lasting and first-rate impression….Shannon Holliday

M.I.A.: Kala
Interscope B-0009659-02
Format: CD

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Since exploding onto the scene four years ago with her debut album, Arular, rapper M.I.A. has established herself as the go-to girl for all things hip and pop. Her second disc, Kala, abounds in themes of lootin’, shootin’, stolen cash, and political upheaval, but M.I.A. doesn’t use hip-hop iconography for cheap street cred -- when she speaks of thugs and guns, she speaks from experience. A product of guerrilla rebel parents and Sri Lanka’s civil war, she lived a childhood fraught with violence and the struggle for survival. M.I.A. has since moved beyond that life, but her beats still conjure images of guerilla-soldier drum lines and children donning war paint. "World Town" is the best example of this strange congruence of opulence and assault: "I put people on the map that never seen a map," she sings, to the sound of a gun clip locking into place. Embraced by the fashionable, star-studded worlds of London and L.A., which stand in stark contrast to her third-world upbringing, M.I.A. uses the spotlight to bring the harsh realities of global strife to high society and the club….Shannon Holliday

The Captain & Tennille: Songbook
Retroactive Entertainment RET-105
Format: DVD-Video

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The Captain & Tennille were to pop music what The Brady Bunch was to television. Sunshiny and clean, they were for many the antidote to confusing times. Retroactive Entertainment has released three of the couple’s television specials from 1978 and 1979, and the Christmas show from their 1976-77 variety series. The couple’s final special, Songbook, is the best of the group. Guests Ella Fitzgerald, B.B. King, and Glen Campbell join C&T for 50 minutes of music. The stars give each guest a chance to perform alone, then join them for a tune. The Captain (aka Daryl Dragon) plays a tasty Hammond organ behind B.B. King (himself in strong voice and guitar), and Toni Tennille acquits herself well with Ella. Other shows feature Fats Domino and the Pointer Sisters. The Captain & Tennille are at their best, and most relaxed, when making music, and Tennille is a more agile and versatile singer than I had assumed. All the shows were recorded on videotape, with lots of static camerawork and some poor editing. The stereo sound has more immediacy and background detail than the mono, but the 5.1-channel mix only attempts to add some echo to the rear channels, to little effect other than irritation….Joseph Taylor