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Written by Gregg Shapiro, Staff writer
Sep 29, 2011
Madeleine Peyroux plays The Pabst Theater in Milwaukee on Oct.13
Madeleine Peyroux
With a distinctive voice that recalls none other than Billie Holiday, Madeleine Peyroux made an indelible impression with her 1996 debut album. Then she virtually disappeared. Fortunately, when she returned in 2004, she sounded just the way her fans remembered her. On her third album “Standing On The Rooftop,” Peyroux interweaves originals, including the remarkable title cut, with her lovely renditions of tunes by the Beatles (“Martha My Dear”), Bob Dylan (“I Threw it All Away”) and Robert Johnson (a thorough reinvention of “Love in Vain”). Poetry plays a delightful role on this disc. Peyroux teamed up with Andy Scott Rosen on “Don’t Pick a Fight With a Poet,” and the Auden poem “Lay Your Sleeping Head, My Love” is set to music by Marc Ribot.
Lea Salonga
Theater queens far and wide are sure to recognize Lea Salonga as the actress who originated the role of Kim in the Broadway production of “Miss Saigon.” On “The Journey so Far,” recorded live at Café Carlyle, Salonga opens singing and then speaking in Tagalog before breaking into a medley of “My Romance/Let’s Fall in Love” in English. Born to perform for the cabaret crowd, Salonga sticks with interpretations of show tunes, including “On My Own” (from “Les Miserables”), “Too Much for One Heart” (a song cut from “Miss Saigon”) and even a pair from “They’re Playing Our Song” (“Fallin’” and “I Still Believe in Love”).
Pat Metheny
Jazz guitar god Pat Metheny is better known for his original compositions than for his renditions of songs by others. That’s what makes “What’s it All About” such a treat. Mainly playing solo baritone-guitar, Metheny applies his hands (and fingers) to several songs from the 1960s, including “Sounds of Silence,” “Cherish,” “Alfie” and “And I Love Her,” as well as selections from the early ’70s, including “That’s the Way I’ve Always Heard it Should Be,” “Rainy Days and Mondays” and “Betcha by Golly Wow.” Metheny’s reinterpretation of these classics tunes is pure listening pleasure.
Eddie Vedder
When Eddie Vedder titled his non-soundtrack major-label solo effort “Ukulele Songs,” he wasn’t fooling. Vedder utilizes the hipster instrument of choice over the course of 16 tracks, which includes his cover versions of a pair of Billy Rose numbers (“More Than You Know” and “Tonight You Belong to Me”), as well as “Dream a Little Dream of Me” and “Sleepless Nights” (a duet with Glen Hansard). Vedder’s own compositions, including the exceptional “Sleeping by Myself,” “Goodbye,” and “You’re True,” reveal a romantic side that he has managed to keep hidden all these years.
Terri Lyne Carrington
Out jazz drummer Terri Lyne Carrington’s new album “The Mosaic Project” certainly lives up to its name. The 14 songs aren’t just a smooth and multi-hued blend of cover tunes and originals, but also a patchwork quilt of stellar guest musicians and vocalists. The disc begins with a jazzy version of “Transformation,” co-written and reinterpreted by queer icon Nona Hendryx. With the aid of vocalist Gretchen Parlato, Carrington invites listeners to get lost in Irving Berlin’s “I Got Lost in His Arms.” Angela Davis provides the powerful commentary that precedes Dianne Reeves’ vocals on Bernice Johnson Reagon’s (Sweet Honey in the Rock) “Echo.” And Carrington and Cassandra Wilson are reunited on Al Green’s “Simply Beautiful.” The disc ends as it begins, with another new reading of “Transformation,” this time titled “Sisters On The Rise (A Transformation).”
2 Cellos
While it probably helps that Croation cellists Luka Sulic & Stjepan Hauser of 2 Cellos are hot, it’s their combined talents as musicians on their self-titled “2 Cellos” disc that makes this disc so enjoyable. The dudes have great taste in music, as they display in their renditions of songs by U2 (“Where The Streets Have No Name,” “With Or Without You”), Michael Jackson (“Smooth Criminal,” “Human Nature”), Kings of Leon (the much-covered “Use Somebody”), Muses (“Resistance”), Nine Inch Nails (“Hurt”), Coldplay (“Viva La Vida”) and Nirvana (“Smells Like Teen Spirit”).
Red Hot + Rio 2
The Red Hot Organization has been incorporating music in its fight against AIDS for more than 20 years, ever since the release of the groundbreaking benefit disc “Red Hot + Blue.” More than a dozen albums later, we have the double-disc set “Red Hot + Rio 2/Nova Tropicalia 2,” a sequel o 1996’s popular “Red Hot + Rio.” If you didn’t think it would be possible to equal the marvel of the first “Rio” album, this collection does just that. It offers brilliant pairings (including Alice Smith + Aloe Blacc, Mia Doi Todd + Jose Gonzalez and David Byrne + Caetano Veloso) along with sensational solos and terrific trios, performing songs from the 1960s and ‘70s. “Red Hot + Rio 2” is one of the best party-for-a-cause albums of 2011.
