Tracy Lawrence Is Complete Package
Tracy Lawrence “Time Marches On” - Atlantic
Lawrence has quickly and quietly established himself in the upper tier of male country singers. Forget the hat, he’s got the chops. He can write, he’s got the hottest producer in the business, and he knows how to spot good songs. With a big, round voice with a raw honky-tonk edge, Lawrence has become a complete country singer. Here, he moves deftly through a solid collection of ballads, drinking songs, lost-love songs, and hell-raisers. The title cut is a quirky kind of “Pilgrim’s Progress” set in the saga of a white-trash family. Indeed, a complete country singer.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds “Murder Ballads” - Mute
Though it’s not the most consistent statement of Nick Cave’s considerable career, “Murder Ballads” features some of its most compelling single moments. The black humor and killer groove of the vintage “Stagger Lee” put gangsta types to shame, and Cave’s duet with PJ Harvey on the traditional ballad “Henry Lee” is a perfect symbiosis, divergent yet wholly typical of each artist.
But it is Cave’s ghostly beautiful duet with Australian siren Kylie Minogue on the international hit “Where The Wild Roses Grow” that makes this album indispensable to fans and recommended to neophytes.
Joe Lovano “Quartets” - Blue Note
It’s hard to imagine this new double CD by tenor lion Joe Lovano not becoming a classic. Disc one is from a January 1995 date with a dropdead band: Mulgrew Miller on piano, Christian McBride on bass, and Lewis Nash on drums. Disc two is a generally more ruminative and “free” date from March 1994 with Lovano’s pianoless quartet: Tom Harrell on trumpet, Anthony Cox on bass, and Billy Hart on drums.
Both feature Lovano’s rangy tunes, but the ‘95 side is more straight-ahead in style and song choices - lesser-known compositions by Monk, Miles, Coltrane, and Mingus.
Ray Charles “Strong Love Affair” - Qwest
This set’s dynamic range illustrates the reason for this craftsman’s lasting appeal. Trademark vocals are marked by good-time gusto on uptempo tracks, while ballads bear the familiar, down-home blues flair for which Ray Charles is noted worldwide. Big-brass bellowings, sultry organ grinds, and saucy sax yield stimulating audio cuisine. Similarly, acoustic piano-and-vocal tracks produce equally euphonious, albeit more shaded renderings. Tracks of note include the hypnotic title cut, the blues-infused “Tell Me What You Want Me To Do,” and fun romps “No Time To Waste” and “The Fever.”
Pam Thum “Feel The Healing” - Benson
Pam Thum may be one of Christian music’s most underrated female artists, but her third Benson project, “Feel The Healing,” should change all that by illustrating, more profoundly than her previous efforts, just what an astute songwriter and affecting vocalist she is.
Her voice has a warmth and an emotional edge that vividly conveys the themes of struggle, hope and healing in these well-crafted pop songs.