Kicks off with a heartbreaking rendition of In A Sentimental Mood and never lets up. A beautiful mind-meld of extravagant geniuses, and refreshing after all the late-phase 'Trane I've been fracturing myself with lately.
Even at the height of my adulation of Frank I wasn't a fan of this LP; I much preferred the brash muscular swing of the other Riddle/Sinatra colaborations. One 4am bout of insomnia, however, changed my mind forever when I played In the Wee Small Hours and found its sense and mood delicately nuanced and Sinatra's restrained vocals pristine:
My cigarette burns me
I wake with a start
My hand isn't hurt but
there's pain in my heart...
Lovely stuff.
This is a listening-station promo I got from Borders--one of hundreds. It's delicious for fans of guitar. Mr. Green was ahead of his time.
At times this album is a bit too extravagant--Getz is a great soloist but at times he clutters up and drowns out Evan's stately playing with too much high-end blowing. Still, this LP is ebulliant like few others and perks me up every time I hear it.
If Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz played bass and drums I couldn't imagine their rhythm section sounding any more apocalyptic than that of Mr. Ward and Mr. Butler. Tony Iommi has that fucked-up liquid trill and spooky reverb blues tone working overtop those crunchy granite powerchords, and Ozzy wails like a coked-up banchee. I love it.
Another promo--I think this LP rules, and was glad when I saw Office Space to note that several tracks from this Geto Boys release made that soundtrack. Great for lifting weights or smashing things.
I should check out more Merle, because there are several great tracks on this CD; my favorite is The Bottle Let Me Down:
I've always had a bottle I could turn to,
And lately I've been turning every day.
But the wine don't take effect the way it used to,
And I'm hurting in an old familiar way.
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