John Mellencamp: Life Death Love and Freedom
Hear Music HRM- 30822-00
Format: CD/DVD

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In 1982, on his fifth album, American Fool, John Mellencamp found his voice by singing about the region and people he knew best. The Midwest is his beat in the same way the Northeast is Bruce Springsteen’s, and, like Springsteen, Mellencamp creates vivid stories about the lives of the people he grew up with. Life Death Love and Freedom consists of songs about middle-age doubt ("Longest Days"), life in politically difficult times ("Troubled Land"), civil rights ("Jena"), and spiritual longing ("A Ride Back Home"). Mellencamp knows how to write hooks, but the emphasis here is on atmosphere and deep feeling. Producer T Bone Burnett gives the album a gritty, simple sound that underscores the sober austerity of Mellencamp’s songs. The singer-songwriter proved his deep understanding of American music on the underrated Trouble No More (2003), and this new disc is filled with dark, bluesy gems such as "If I Die Sudden," which Burnett (who also plays guitar here) knows how to put over. Life Death Love and Freedom is being released as a two-disc set that includes a CD as well as a DVD, on which the album appears in a 24-bit/96kHz two-channel version recorded using CODE, a high-definition system that Burnett helped develop. It sounds terrific in both formats, and it’s a masterpiece. . . . Joseph Taylor

Jorge Albuquerque, Marcos Amorim, Rafael Barata: Revolving Landscapes
Adventure Music AM1036 2
Format: CD

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The music of Brazil is varied and exciting, and no one brings it to American audiences with more conviction, class, and quality than Adventure Music, a label based in New York City. Revolving Landscapes is the third disc for Adventure by guitarist Marcos Amorim, who this time shares billing with bassist Jorge Albuquerque and drummer Rafael Barata. The three weave a fascinating tapestry of modern jazz and Brazilian rhythms that is captivating and stunningly played. Like Pat Metheny, Amorim is a master at creating atmosphere, and uses overdubbed acoustic and electric guitars to give Revolving Landscapes depth and texture. While the album has its share of tunes that would fit well in any contemporary-jazz playlist, it’s on the strongly Brazilian compositions that the trio shines, inhabiting the South American rhythms of "Sea Party (Festa No Mar)" and "Mariana" with a natural affinity that no American jazz musician has. All three are exceptionally skilled players who bring fresh ideas to their improvisations. Albuquerque’s fluid, melodic solos on acoustic and electric bass are engaging and fully realized, while Barata is a responsive and frequently witty drummer whose cymbal work is a highlight here. Like every other Adventure disc I’ve heard, Revolving Landscapes is beautifully and warmly recorded. . . . Joseph Taylor

S.M.V.: Thunder
Heads Up HUCD3163
Format: CD

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Thunder is an extraordinary album on any number of fronts. First, it combines the talents of three of today’s most accomplished electric bassists: Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, and Victor Wooten. Second, it tosses in guest appearances by such musicians as Chick Corea, George Duke, Patches Stewart, and Butterscotch. Third, it shows that jazz fusion isn’t dead, it’s just been dormant. Fourth, it revisits some of the classic tunes of that era: Clarke’s "Loopsy-Lu" and Miller’s "Tutu." Fifth, it’s just a darn good album musically. Top off all of the above with first-rate sound that gets the tone, timbre, and frequency range correct, from the deepest bass notes to the highest treble, and you have an album that will test the resolution abilities of your system: The three bassists play together on most of the tracks, and if your system is up to the challenge, you’ll be able to tell who’s playing what. A fun album of wonderful music that makes your system sing -- what more can one ask? . . . John Crossett

The Grascals: Keep On Walkin’
Rounder 11661-0608-2
Format: CD

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The Grascals are at the center of bluegrass because they excel at the genre’s core skills -- strong vocals, vocal harmonizing, and picking, strumming, and bowing traditional stringed instruments -- and on Keep On Walkin’ they benefit from the careful recording and mixing of these many sounds. The Grascals won the 2006 and 2007 International Bluegrass Music Association Entertainer of the Year awards, the genre’s most prestigious, and this third album is sure to enhance their already-superb reputation. New banjoist Aaron McDaris makes great contributions throughout, and the guest artists all shine, including country star Vince Gill on Aubrey Holt’s "Sad Wind Sighs." Writing strong lyrics and still young, these guys are well positioned should they ever decide to address matters beyond the personal. Meanwhile, with the Grascals, you’re in the heart of bluegrass. . . . David Cantor

The Paul Carlon Octet: Roots Propaganda
Deep Tone DT 004
Format: CD

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This second octet album from saxophonist Paul Carlon pops with original compositions influenced by musics from around the world. Carlon and his players have succeeded in this attempt at "making roots music through a jazz lens," delivering 12 tracks that incorporate styles ranging from blues and big band to spiritual chants, call and response, and the click-clack of tap, to name but a few. Trombone, sax, trumpet, and flute take the fore, bursting forth exuberantly on every track, while piano, bass, and drums provide the backdrop -- but each player’s individual nuances and style are palpable, making the lush whole greater than the sum of its parts. Three tracks ("Backstory," "Morô Omim Má," and "Yorubonics") feature French-Caribbean singer Christelle Durandy harmonizing in perfect key with the woodwinds, then scatting alongside running piano and bass lines. But each member of the group is talented and plays with taste. Fans of the Caribbean Jazz Project or Miles Davis and Gil Evans’s Sketches of Spain will note strong similarities, but the inclusion of Latin rumbas, New Orleans street jazz and tap, and Afro-Cuban Yoruba chants make this disc an original worthy of applause. . . . Shannon Holliday