DISC ussions
by Greg Hall
Feels So Good - Chuck
Mangione (A&M Records)
Feels So Good is the perfect
MOR jazz album. It is also
Chuck Mangione's most im
pressive and successful effort
since Chase the Clouds Away,
of a couple years back. Along
with the recent albums of
George Benson, this album is,
one of the very rare breed of
jazz album to establish itself
firmly in the top ten. But,
unlike Benson, Mangione's
success has not involved
changing his style or making a
musical sacrifice for the sake of
commercialty. Mangione is
doing what he has always
done--giving intelligent, refined
textured music to his audience.
The reason that Feels So Good
is striking a popular common
chord is that the music does feel
good, both as a change of pace
that the title song has provided
for top-forty playlists, and also
A • fi:l i I 11 /1•1 1 ' ' I
iL 1 Ll_
0.4_
ARTS and CULTURE
as a happy fanfare for the
summertime.
Mangione's band is con
sistently excellent throughout
the album and they are the
biggest reason why Feels So
Good feels so good. Mangione
has integrated himself into a
band that perfectly under
stands and lavishly comple
ments his arrangements. At the
same time he can free himself
from the spotlight enough to let
music do the talking. Each
member of the band carries the
weight of the music, and solo
spots are traded off by the
three frontmen while the
rhythm section cooks down
below. What is unusual is that
Mangione is the only jazz
flugelhornist in the business,
yet his horn provides expres
sion and texture equaling that
of the more common jazz sax,
and most importantly gives his
overall sound an element
slightly foreign to jazz buffs
and completely different from
his contemporaries.
Jazz - Ry Cooder (Warner Bros
Records)
This is Ry Cooder's most
unique and also best album in
his career. He pays homage and
tribute to musical forms not
acknowledged by too many
artists in jazz circles these
days. The results of the
sessions that made up this
album are interesting and fun
to listen to. Cooder dives
head-first into "slow-drag"
whorehouse ragtime, mellow
swing, Jelly Roll Morton
rhythm, 40's jazz impression
ism of Bix Beiderbecke, an
obscure form of Bahamian
syncopated and transformed
hyms, and even some jazz
burlesque. The resulting album
is pure, and the interpretations
showcase Cooder's guitar work
as an example of one of the
greatest and most versatile
guitarists around. Special
guests include Earl Hines, Red
Callender, and mandolinist
David Lindley. Jazz is Cooder's
first experiment in this,
direction--I hope there are more
ideas where these came from.
Boys in the Trees - Carly Simon
(Elektra Records)
This album is, a moving,
sensitive portrait of Carly
It,
ie 10 4
444
ing copies
ies, suite (W:
Simon. The music is well
conceived, the lyrics brilliant,
and the production by Arif
Mardin superb. The greatest
portion of the album consists of
slow and tender ballads, but
there are also two up-tempo
numbers ("You Belong to Me",
"Tranquillo"), a new song by
James Taylor ("One Man
Woman"), a duet between
Carly' and James Taylor ("One
Man Woman"), a duet between
Carly and James (The Everly
Brother's "Devoted To You"),
and an extremely humorous
surprise in the calypso "De Bat
Fly In Me Face". Most striking,
however, are the self-penned
ballads, most noteably the title
cut where she tries to come to
grips with her instilled femi
nine ideals so guilt-ridden and
different from those of the
"boys in the trees."
U.K. - (Polydor Records)
U.K. is made up of refugees
from Yes, King Crimson, and
Roxy Music; yet they sound
like someone spliced unused
tapes and rejects of songs from
Genesis, Yes and ELP together
and tried to release an album
from the jumble of cold,
synthesized techo-rock sounds.
This band has no identity of its
own, and despite a few
scattered moments of technical
It"
xuktM,,. '4e4
The Creative Voice of Capitol Campus..
Free! Drop in at our reception, receive
copy, meet Tarnhelm contributors and staff.
Refreshments will be served -- Come help us
celebrate!
Gallery Lounge,
Thursday June Ist,
proficiency U.K. comes off as
uninspired and lifeless.
Greatest Hits—Nilsson (RCA
Records)
Early in his career, Nilsson
proved himself both as a master
composer and as interpreter of
the serious as well as the
playful pop song. Since then he
has isolated himself from the
mainstream, and his writing
has become obscure, unin
telligible and even abstract.
This collection documents Nils
son's contribution to the art of
the pop song, and they all are
here:"Without You", "Every
body's Talkin", "I Guess The
Lord Must Be In New York
City", "Without Her", and
"Coconut". All the songs still
sound as fresh now as they
were when they were first
recorded early in this decade,
and they are still as pleasurable
to listen to now as they were
then.
Watch for new albums in
the next weeks--Rolling Stones
("Some Girls"), Boston ("2"),
Bruce Springsteen ("Darkness
at the Edge of Town"), -Moody
Blues ("Octave"), Graham
Parker ("Parkerilla"), Neil
Young ("Give to the Wind"),
Dylan, Barbra Streisand,. and
Dave Mason.
/vz&zff--
12-4 p.m.