Albums of the week (Nov 21-27)

The latest album releases reviewed by the Evening Standard's music critics
Local talent: Mary J Blige came to London to record with Sam Smith and Naughty Boy
Evening Standard Critics21 November 2014

Pop

Mary J Blige

The London

Sessions

(Universal/Island)

★★★★

At 43, New York’s queen of hip hop-soul has found a new beat, relocating to London to record with Brits of the moment Disclosure, Sam Smith and Naughty Boy. While her R&B peers have been flirting with the EDM scene for a while, she might be the first to adopt our less bombastic house sound. It’s a canny move that results in some great moments, not least on Disclosure’s thudding groove Right Now and Naughty Boy’s Pick Me Up, with its jazzy clarinet and uplifting piano chords. The other Londoner she channels is Amy Winehouse, on a doo-wop number called Therapy that recalls the subject and sound of Amy’s Rehab. There are generic clubby moments elsewhere but that mighty voice keeps things classy.

David Smyth

Dave Davies

Rippin’ Up Time

(Red River)

★★★

Dave Davies is a survivor. He made it through — though not without the occasional scratch — the internecine warfare that characterised The Kinks, the band he put together with brother Ray. He suffered a life-threatening stroke and lived to tell the tale. His latest solo LP is released in the shadow of the successful West End musical Sunny Afternoon, which deftly narrates the story of his old band and the pre-eminence of brother Ray in it. After initial reservations, Dave apparently now loves the show. Whether anyone will much love Rippin’ Up Time is a moot point. The LP is unashamedly of the Sixties and is coloured by nostalgia (Front Room, King of Karaoke) and understandable anxieties over mental health (Semblance of Sanity, Mindwash). The sound is often dominated by Dave’s bruising electric guitar, with occasional nods to his epic riff on You Really Got Me. It is his vocals that are the problem: depending on your point of view they are either pained (Between the Towers, Through My Window) or painful (Johnny Adams, Nosey Neighbours). A real curiosity, a kink in time.

Pete Clark

Olly Murs

Never Been Better

(Epic/Sony)

★★★

Having finished second in The X Factor 2009, by rights, by now, Olly Murs should be burger-flipping. Instead, he’s carved out such a successful and durable career that he’s seeking a hat-trick of British No 1 albums and a second successive Top 20 place in the United States. He’s co-written a few tracks on his fourth album but his increasing commercial clout has secured an impressive guest list including Demi Lovato, John Newman and OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder. Most surprising of all, Murs has written the bland acoustic strum, Let Me In, with Paul Weller but it’s eclipsed by the appealing swagger of Did You Miss Me? and the springheeled Lovato duet, Up. Understandably, he refuses to take chances but Murs does little wrong. Albeit without sparkling.

John Aizlewood

David Guetta

Listen

(What A Music/

Parlophone)

★★★

Just in time for your Christmas party, David Guetta has returned with his sixth album but he’s cut back on the beats-per-minute. Perhaps the Parisian DJ has decided that banging dance tunes are unbecoming for a man in his late forties. So Listen is his calling card as a producer who can marshal a mix of vocalists in a range of pop styles. There’s knock-off Coldplay on S.T.O.P featuring Ryan Tedder, a dance-hall flavour from Nicki Minaj on Hey Mama and a soaring, soulful John Legend on the title track. When Sia is accompanied by just piano for most of The Whisperer, it’s hard to believe this is a David Guetta album. While it lacks cohesion, Listen is a polished production on which the Frenchman’s signature dance-pop lurks a little more discreetly in the background.

Andre Paine

World

Abelardo Barroso

Cha Cha Cha

(World Circuit)

★★★

As the long nights draw in, what better than a glorious reissue from the Fifties golden age of Cuban music? And from the label that brought us the Buena Vista Social Club, this is like a strange precursor of that phenomenon — a forgotten singer resurrected late in life to become a star with the Orquesta Sensación, a great charanga band with flute and violins in the Fifties. The best of these recordings have been splendidly remastered and packaged with great notes and photos. Abelardo Barroso is certainly no Benny Moré — I find his voice rather nasal but for many he is one of the greats of Cuban music. Certainly the band, the arrangements and presentation make it worth hearing this forgotten hero.

Simon Broughton

Jazz

Jaco Pastorius

Anthology: The Warner Bros Years

(Warner)

★★★

“Women, children and rhythm section first,” said the late Jaco Pastorius, a revolutionary bass guitarist who was also a bit of a wag. This two-disc anthology spans the music Pastorius recorded between 1980 and 1982, at the end of his stint with jazz fusion supergroup Weather Report and just a few years before his untimely death. Hardcore fans will probably have this material already. Most of the 22 tracks have been cherry-picked from famed studio album Word of Mouth and live discs The Birthday Concert and Invitation, complete with crowds cheering on Pastorius’s innovative solos and rock-star posturings. Outsider tracks feature guest slots with percussionist Airto Moreira, a duet with guitarist Mike Stern and a live take on Charlie Parker’s Donna Lee. A collection, then, for those new to Pastorius’s genius — showing why this one-man rhythm section gets special dispensation.

Jane Cornwell

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