LITTLE ROCK — Kurt Elling
1619 Broadway -The Brill Building Project
Concord A
Singer Kurt Elling taps American pop’s nirvana - New York’s Brill Building - for another adventurous album. Starting in the 1930s, songwriters of the Brill - Duke Ellington, Harry Warren and Sammy Cahn, Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Burt Bacharach and Hal David among many others - crafted some of pop’s most enduring tunes.
Elling and collaborator/arranger Laurence Hobgood strike out in new directions with harmonics, rhythm and timing on this jazzy, artful and entertaining set.
Two are among Elling’s finest: a haunting read of King’s “So Far Away” pulls every bit of its pathos and longing. “A House Is Not A Home” is brilliantly reinterpreted,elegant and even more heartbreaking.
Goffin and King’s “Pleasant Valley Sunday” (a Monkees hit) is darker; its sarcastic edge sharper. Throughout, Elling makes these songs his own.
Hot tracks:
The above plus a stirring “I Only Have Eyes For You,” “Come Fly With Me,” the bluesy “On Broadway.”
- ELLIS WIDNER
Josh Turner
Live Across America
Cracker Barrel/MCA A-
Being a live album of hits that come from Turner’s first four albums (not including his latest, Punching Bag), this album has a high bar to leap over to be necessary for cash strapped consumers.
But Turner - he of the impossibly deep baritone - sounds just as impressive live as in the studio and, because this is concentrated on the hits, Live Across America doesn’t find many low points. His great songs like “Firecracker” and “Long Black Train” have an added bounce and then he covers Waylon Jennings’ wonderful, all-inclusive “America.” All live albums should be this lively.
Hot tracks:
“Firecracker,” “Long Black Train,” “America.”
- WERNER TRIESCHMANN
Ed Sheeran
Plus
Elektra B
On his first full-length album, British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran sounds similar to Jason Mraz with a hint of a British accent.
“Grade 8” is a catchy, fast paced song with fun guitar strumming and fast lyricism, much like Mraz. Sheeran’s warm, mellow voice makes this song addictive. “U.N.I.” has parts that seem to be almost a rap song. Some lyrics are sung so fast, they can’t be deciphered. The other parts are beautiful, but this song can’t seem to hold true to a genre. Acoustic guitars accompany the songs. This album is great to sing along to in the car, or just have playing in the background while reading or cooking.
Sheeran takes some time to get used to, but once you take the time to listen to him, you’ll be glad you did.
Hot Tracks:
“Give Me Love,” “The A-Team.”
- LISA BURNETT
Encores! Cast Recording
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Sony Masterworks A-
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is best known as the 1953 film in which Marilyn Monroe professed a love for gemstones while dancing in a form-fitting pink dress, but before that it was a stage musical starring Carol Channing. This year, a limited-run version was performed as part of the Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert series.
It’s the story of diamonds loving, Paris-bound Little Rock native Lorelei Lee (Megan Hilty of NBC’s Smash playing the Monroe part) and her best pal, Dorothy Shaw (Rachel York) as they encounter all sorts of stumbling blocks on the way to love and financial security.
With a score by Jule Styne and lyrics by Leo Robin, it’s bouncy and frothy, a show designed to put you in a good mood. The singers acquit themselves well - particularly Hilty and York, who sing with bold, brassy Broadway power.
Hot tracks:
“Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” (and its two encores), “A Little Girl From Little Rock,” “I Love What I’m Doing.”
- JENNIFER NIXON
Kix Brooks
New to This Town
Arista B-
Mostly forgettable, sometimes cringe-worthy and occasionally pretty good, this solo album proves why Kix Brooks wasn’t the lead singer in Brooks and Dunn. Joe Walsh is on board so there are some solid numbers that are built to show off the guitar (“Tattoo”) and make you forget that Brooks at one time ruled the country charts.
But the best here - by a long stretch - is the title track, a rock solid pop song about romantic alienation that benefits from Brooks’ plaintive rasp. But mostly Brooks seems to be fishing around for an identity and having a real hard time figuring it out.
Hot tracks:
“New to This Town,” “Tattoo.”
- WERNER TRIESCHMANN
Carly Rae Jepsen
Kiss
604/Schoolboy C
No question that “Call Me Maybe” has been the song of this summer, taking the former Canadian Idol to the top of the charts. So, now comes Carly Rae Jepson’s second album and it’s ... well ... uneven is a word that comes to mind.
And two more: kinda boring.
The catchy pop of “Call Me Maybe” is the high point. Justin Bieber’s duet with Jepson on “Beautiful” is sweet. But too much of this Kiss is wasted on pedestrian dance pop where beat masquerades as melody.
Hot tracks:
“Call Me Maybe,” “Beautiful.”
- ELLIS WIDNER
Style, Pages 27 on 09/25/2012