Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Review: David Budway- A New Kiss


















Classical recital by David Budway at YouTube.

Jazz musicians are accustomed to all sorts of indignities. Pianist David Budway would be justified if he feels slighted by the way the individual tracks from the CD version his new album A New Kiss are labeled when ripped to iTunes.

"Japanese Brunch," the first track, is credited to Marcus Strickland. Sure, the saxophonist who guests on the selection is one of the "it" players of moment, but still… The second song is listed as "Brandon Marsalis" [sic]. Sure enough, the star is featured on the ballad, but c'mon man! Tracks 3 through 9 are credited to Jeff "Tain" Watts. An insult? Maybe. Yet the drummer has never sounded better. Guitarist Ron Affif takes the honors on the tenth song and accordionist Joe "Sonny" Barbato is listed on the final track, a fascinating fusion of Arabic sounds and jazz already familiar to fans of Kansas City-based band Alaturka.

I typically don't pay much attention to the way individual MP3s are tagged, so maybe this is merely business as usual. It's also conceivable that Budway approved of these tags, viewing the concept as a savvy marketing ploy by the consistently excellent MaxJazz label. Budway may not have a particularly salable name, but A New Kiss shows that he's a formidable pianist. His solo rendition of "'Round Midnight" is great and his unaccompanied take on "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" is absolutely stunning. "Love You Tonight" is one of the prettiest things I've heard in 2011.

Anyone fortunate enough to hear A New Kiss will know that it ultimately doesn't matter who gets the credit for the remarkable music the album contains.

EDIT: Clayton McDonnell of MaxJazz responds:
Thanks for your review of Budway’s recording. We’re aware of the Branford misspelling and are having it fixed. Obviously, we didn’t deliver it that way since other services, including Amazon, have his name spelled correctly. When our distributor encodes a recording for digital distribution we provide them as much information as possible, and listing the personnel is the only way a consumer will know who appears on the recording. We feel it’s important these musicians are recognized. Once the content is delivered, it’s out of our control as to how each retailer will list the information. Both iTunes and Amazon have the names listed the way we intended, with Budway appearing first. Keep in mind the cover art also appears next to each track, so if ‘Tain’ is listed first, at least the customer has the cover art as a reference. If you want to let me know which retailer you were using I’ll see that the mistakes are corrected. These are just some of the challenges we’re facing in the digital environment. If you feel inclined to update your blog with any of this information we would appreciate it.

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The news that Radiohead will perform an arena show in Kansas City has many of my colleagues giddy. I like Radiohead, but the announcement doesn't send a thrill up my leg. Off the top of my head, here are ten acts that would make me all tingly inside if they were to come to Kansas City: Arab Strap/Aidan Moffat, Erykah Badu backed by a jazz band, Anthony Braxton, Ornette Coleman, Aretha Franklin (all-gospel concert), Gilberto Gil, Metallica/Lou Reed, Nas (backed by the likes of Robert Glasper), Cecil Taylor and The Zombies.

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Tech N9ne turns forty today. Here's his new video.

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Oh, Janelle Monae! What were you thinking?

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Nicholas Payton's B*tches, one of the most intriguing projects of 2011, is now available as an official release.

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Steddy P. has a new video for "Live Your Life".

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I was too wussy to drive to Lawrence for Tuneyards' show last night. Here's footage.

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I'd refer to Hobo Tone's new video as "Spelling Trouble," but he gets a pass because he titled his new project Hobolavirus. I also like this quintessential Kansas City hip hop line: "You punk *ss rappers are going to learn to respect mine/ Most of y'all trying to sound like Rich and Tech N9ne."

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What's in Henry Rollins' bag? A whole lotta noise.

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I'm late to the Animal Man party. This is hilarious (and adorable).

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Kansas City Click: Joe Lally of Fugazi is at the Record Bar on Tuesday.

Max Groove returns to Chaz on Wednesday.

1911 Restaurant & Lounge hosts Alejandro Escovedo on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

think that's 1911 Main

Happy In Bag said...

Thanks for the catch, Anon.

Gary said...

You want Metallica/Lou Reed to play KC? This might persuade you to change your mind. http://www.gigwise.com/news/68543/Metallica-And-Lou-Reed-Cover-Velvet-Underground-On-Jools-Holland---Watch

Happy In Bag said...

I'll admit that the footage is pretty rough, Gary. Even so, I bought a ticket to this weekend's Guns N' Roses' concert. I'm not opposed to iffy propositions.