ECM and other tunes

A passel of recent releases on ECM find a couple surprises among the expected genteel chamber jazz offerings. Ketil Bjornstad's disc-long "Remembrance" features the composer on piano, Jon Christensen on drums and tenor saxophonist Tore Brunberg. Bjornstad plays prettily throughout the disc, and Brunberg's occasionally Garbarek-like sax is more often reserved than icy. The gentle melodies roll though the 11 movements, with the third movement among the standouts. The two melodists echo or complement one another, and occasionally embrace the same lines, while Christensen keeps the pulse in the background, never intruding.

Paul Motian's Lost in a Dream offers the same setup, with drums, piano and tenor saxophone. The leader composed all the music for this live date at the venerable Village Vanguard in New York City, with the exception of Irving Berlin's "Be Careful Its My Heart." Chris Potter's sax is spotlighted on the opening "Mode VI," while pianist Jason Moran manages to play in a stand-out manner without really standing out. Motian remains one of the most sensitive drummers in jazz, always empathetic to his band members, but it would be nice to hear him wail a little bit more sometimes. His cymbal work on the title track is crisp and incisive.

Francois Couturier goes the solo piano route on Un jour si blanc, more chamber-y and less jazzy than, say, Keith Jarrett or Steve Kuhn. Much of the disc could be described as ambient, based on Brian Eno's original definition of the term, "music that must be as ignorable as it is listenable." It's no less beautiful for that.

Most surprising is Manu Katche's Third Round. It was surprising enough to find out that Peter Gabriel's longtime drummer possessed the ECM esthetic, but now - he swings! His band features Brunborg on sax, and here he sounds almost jaunty at times. The surprises continue, as Katche' features another horn player on two cuts, Kami Lyle, who doubles on vocals! But wait, there's more - the bass player is the always formidable Pino Palladino. If you're not familiar with the name, he's graced numerous (mostly British) rock records over the years, including the brilliant North of a Miracle by Nick Heyward. He's also a member of John Mayer's trio. And, oh yeah, he happens to be the bassist in the Who since John Entwhistle's death. He swings, he swoops, he's perfectly at home with Katche's compositions. Great, great stuff.

There's still a boatload of ECM to get to, but the rest have to wait till another day. Move on to the groove of Soulive, one of the hottest acts out there. They've embraced the Beatles on Rubber Soulive, consisting exclusively of tracks from the Fab Four. "Drive My Car" is fat and funky, heavy on Neal Evans's organ, and "Eleanor Rigby" is all right angles, courtesy of Eric Krasno's guitar. Drummer Al Evans conjures up images of what Ringo might have sounded like if he'd been influenced by Art Blakey. If you remember and love Booker T and the MGs, this is for you. 

Keep pushing on Memphis Blues by - Cyndi Lauper. Sounds outre, right? You have no idea. The opening "Just Your Fool" features Charlie Musselwhite; Allen Toussaint guests on "Shattered Dreams;" Toussaint and B.B. King join in on "Early in the Mornin';"and Jonny Lang guests on "Crossroads." This is slooooow blues, with mournful horns, wailing guitars, and Lauper doing her best to sound like someone who's lived the blues her whole life. One problem: She hasn't. Kudos for trying something new, but it just doesn't work.

Gaelic Storm's Cabbage is what it would sound like if the cast of Riverdance took last call at the pub with the Rovers. The opening "Raised on Black and Tans" celebrates the band's Irish heritage with harmonica, fiddle and more. "Space Race" questions why there aren't any Irish astronauts, while "Green Eyes, Red Hair" also celebrates her long legs, but notes "devil inside her." Ladies and gentlemen, here's your St. Patrick's Day soundtrack.