QUARTERNOTES
Jimi Hendrix is back. Well, as close to back as we can ever hope for. People, Hell & Angels (Legacy) presents his final set of unreleased studio recordings, songs he had begun recording as a follow-up to Electric Ladyland, and I have to say, it gives me chills when I crank up the volume and hear new Hen- drix music that was recorded over 40 years ago. Here, Jimi is backed by mainly the Band of Gypsys lineup featuring Billy Cox and Buddy Miles, with Mitch Mitchell on drums on a few tracks and Stephen Stills on bass on one tune. The majority of the recordings are drawn from sessions in 1968 and '69 and include a mighty powerful “Hear My Train a Comin,’” some hot blues on “Bleeding Heart,” and perhaps my favorite on the album, “Izabella.” Wecome back, Jimi. Everybody sure has missed you...Hot Club of Cowtown is back with Rendezvous in Rhythm(Proper), with the trio putting their acoustic stamp of perfection on a set of songs that include swing classics from the 1920’s and ‘30’s like “Melancholy Baby,” “Avalon,” and “I’m in the Mood for Love.” Elana James’ fiddle never sounded finer...Randall Bramblett has always been a favorite of mine, as far back as when he was a member of Capricorn Records’ band Cow- boy, and later Sea Level. And oh, what it must have been like to see and hear him team up with Steve Winwood during the recent Traffic reunion. Just amazing. Of course, his solo
work is where this multi-talented artists truly shines. He is not only a multi-instrumentalist who is a masterful piano player and sax man, but he is in possession of one of the absolute smoothest voices in all of rock and roll. On his latest, The Bright Spots (101 Distribu- tion), Bramblett brings it once again, with the funky, rollicking set opener, “Roll,” and more of his melodic, brilliantly worded tunes like “My Darling One” -a personal favorite- “John The Baptist,” and the beautiful “Shine.” Excel-
lent...Bobby Whitlock and CoCo Carmel are quickly establishing themselves as a solid performing duo. No small wonder, given Whitlock’s hefty resume and Carmel’s impressive studio expertise. On Car- nival: Live in Austin (The Domino Label), Whitlock’s voice sounds as strong and robust as ever, and his collabora- tor/wife Coco Carmel is
also in excellent voice and plays spot on bass guitar and sax, among other things. On this live outing, the set is heavy with Derek & The Dominos covers, which is cool since Whitlock either wrote or co-wrote most of them. Great songs like “Anyday,” “Why Does Love Have to Be So Sad,” and “Keep On Growing” are aug- mented with equally impressive live readings of the full gospel “John The Revelator,” “River of Life” (with Coco’s wailing saxo- phone), and “Devil Blues.” One of my favorite tracks is their cover of the Dominos version of the Jimi Hendrix classic, “Little Wing.” Kudos to their other band members as well, who help this super talented duo bring the songs to life live onstage...Texas songwriter Guy Clark never fails to amaze me. On his latest, My Favorite Picture of You (Dualtone), he takes us right into more of his brilliantly writ-
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