The sound of Jodie Levinson is that of a sweetly sensual, warm woman, influenced by blues, jazz, and rock, and her voice is distinctive, though there are times when one hears echoes of Laura Nyro, Rickie Lee Jones, Vanessa Williams, and Mariah Carey. The song “Quand Va T’il Arriver (When Will He Come),” which presents a picture of a woman waiting for a man, actually has a relaxed groove, and “You Make Me Smile” is both girlish and sultry. It is a cliché that men and women want different things—men want easy and quick sexual contact and women want a relationship, and the charm and conversation between them are enjoyed with different purposes in mind.
Compassion, Desire, Fury, and Thought: Play On, an album by The Picardy Birds, featuring Emelie Guidry
The life and career of an artist, like that of an intellectual or critic, can be much more precarious than anyone can guess: meals and message and momentum can be much less predictable than one would like. One returns to the work in exhaustion and hope and hunger and inspiration, and against circumstance and all the odds of neglect and rejection one is sustained by the work itself—again and again and again.
Ardoin as Ancestor and Artist: Mama, I’ll Be Long Gone by Amede Ardoin
Was Amede Ardoin poisoned by a jealous musician? Was Amede Ardoin relegated to a madhouse, in which he died? Questions remain. What we know is that Amede Ardoin, a Creole singer with a high, plaintive sound and an accordionist with a bold blare and songs of family, longing, struggle, adventure and pleasure, performed with Cajun fiddler Dennis McGee (born January 26, 1893, died October 3, 1989); and Ardoin’s work influenced both Creole and Cajun music—previously, for one thing, the accordion had not been considered a prominent part of Cajun music.
Challenging, Thrilling Music as Modern Art: Manto and Madrigals by Thomas Zehetmair and Ruth Killius
One has an experience that is challenging, frightening, thrilling. On Manto and Madrigals, one can hear musical lines that evoke mathematics more than melody and the unlikely appearance of folk music and the classical swell of strings. Beneath the work of Thomas Zehetmair and Ruth Killius is the timeless revelation that there may be nothing more demanding, and more terrifying, than freedom, and nothing more necessary.
Exploring Mood: Lee Konitz, Brad Mehldau, Charlie Haden, and Paul Motian, Live at Birdland
In what is the body of the piece, the piano and double-bass offer what might be a fleeting semblance of the song’s original melody, and the saxophone’s now robust playing is less easy to mistake—its singing more recognizable. That is what I hear: is that what is there?
Daughter of the Blues: Shemekia Copeland, Deluxe Edition
Shemekia Copeland, who has performed with B.B. King, Koko Taylor, and Buddy Guy, has been welcomed by critics and the blues audience in clubs and at festivals, and has appeared on television and in film. Alligator Records’ Deluxe Edition of Shemekia Copeland’s work allows a more attentive listen for those who know her work less well: the anthology contains sixteen songs taken from her albums.
A review of The End of the World—A Tale of Life, Death and the Space In Between by Andrew Biss
While it’s unlikely anyone could possibly write something new on this subject, what Biss has done with The End of the World is to create characters who express various viewpoints on what I assume Biss sees as the most noteworthy issues affecting our species, and rather than give us the answers—which, of course, he doesn’t have—encourages us to chew on these questions for ourselves. In this he has succeeded.
A review of 1000 Checkmate Combinations by Victor Henkin
That being said, 1000 Checkmate Combinations is an excellent book containing a wealth of tactical examples, including 456 (!) exercises. The solutions could perhaps have been more fulsome and detailed, since usually only the main line of a combination is given.
A review of Buffalo Unbound by Laura Pedersen
Through her nostalgic but realistic lens, readers may find themselves looking at their own hometowns in a new way—one that is not the idyllic memory of childhood, but more true to life, warts and all. It is clear that Pedersen makes no apologies for Buffalo’s hardscrabble past, but instead chooses to celebrate the unique spirit and character of her hometown.
A review of Whose Cries Are Not Music by Linda Benninghoff
I especially liked when she reaches a moment of spirituality in “Dream” that has a happy, feel to it “… Your eyes quivering in the light / Where is God / But in a dream where / the light between us, always yellow …” hints that there is something more one can obtain beyond our life.