When I was a lad, I picked up Rare Silk's 1983 album, New Weave. It was rather Manhattan Transfer-ish, which I dug at the time. The difference being that MT was a vocal quartet with 2 male and 2 female voices while RS was a vocal quartet with 1 male and 3 female voices, so the sound was different in that way. They still relied on jazz transcriptions, vocaleses, and close harmonies. However, I never heard of them again and figured that they were one and done. Turns out they were just one and done as far as major labels go. I first heard of this album while putting together this list, then found the CD fairly inexpensively a few weeks back (as of this writing, people are asking $54-$310 for this CD on Amazon; I found a copy at Goodwill for less than $20.) This follow-up was issued on a small but well-respected California jazz label, Palo Alto, which for some reason released CDs on a different imprint, TBA Records (bad decisions all around on that one). But enough of all that, what about the music here?
In music that features vocal harmonies, the material and arrangements must be strong and it's hit or miss on this one. Of the 8 tracks, I can recommend about half. On a couple of tracks, the group tries their best imitation of Al Jarreau scat which is best left to Jarreau. Stick to the harmonies.
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| Billboard, April 6, 1985, p. 66 |
"Eclectic but accessible" is a nicer way of saying "hit or miss" - I'm gonna need to steal that phrase. Overall, I'm going to use my usual cop-out phrase: it's good, not great. I'd rather hear New Weave again.
I could easily tear into the lack of liner notes and lack of credits therein, but since these CDs were a newfangled thing back in 1985, I'm giving the label a pass 31 years later (even though it's an easy target with a label name like TBA). Thanks to Discogs - hope your info is accurate because this is all I got:
Album chart Peaks
- US Billboard 200: Did not chart
- Billboard Jazz: #4
- CashBox Jazz: #14
- Radio & Records Jazz Radio National Airplay: #2
Tracks: The band shines on 'Round Midnight and Stanley Turrentine's Storm. I also like the cover of Steps Ahead's Oops!. I want to dislike the laid back island groove of Hello, but the marimba and steel drums draw me in. The song was written by bassist Kim Stone and features Dave Samuels and Manolo Badrena, all of whom have played with Spyro Gyra so maybe that's why I'm digging it. Skippable tracks include Watch What Happens, an ill-advised Hendrix cover (Up From The Skies), and the eclectic final track.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: see above
Eight years on and I find this review of American Eyes. Nice work.
ReplyDeleteRare Silk first came to my attention when their album New Weave turned up at my local record shop. At the time I was heavily into jazz/funk/fusion and spent a lot of time in that shop listening to new record releases from the UK and imports from the USA and Japan. I'd buy the ones I thought worthy of parting my meagre earnings for.
New Weave impressed me a lot. The vocalese style differed from Manhattan Transfer because I thought it more punchy and modern - my opinion based on hearing Chanson D'amour and Walk In Love etc. The experience of hearing Manhattan Transfer's 1980s and 1990s output has changed that view somewhat, although New Weave still stands up to scrutiny today. Indeed I still have my vinyl copy bought new in 1983.
So anyway Rare Silk were very much on my radar, and I recall watching them perform live on an episode of the US series Harvest Jazz aired on Channel 4 here in the UK, which included a version of the Eddie Jefferson classic "Jeannine" with Todd Buffa scatting quite well towards the end of the song. The three female vocalists made a heck of a combo, each one comfortable leading but Buffa added something extra.
In 1985 I wandered into a record store in London and noticed the vinyl of American Eyes on the shelf. Picking up the album I discovered they were now with Palo Alto Jazz, a label familiar to me as I already had LPs from George Howard, Elvin Jones, Victor Feldman and David Lahm. Guess I was expecting a style similar to New Weave, so it came as quite a surprise when I listened to the lead track Oops! for the first time. A bright synthesized sound which to be honest I thought suited their vocals quite well. Okay, one or two of the tracks didn't quite work and the album was slightly disjointed but I enjoyed it anyway, especially Storm, Burn It! and Round Midnight. The Title track skipped along nicely too. In fact so impressed was I that I bought an additional copy on a Japanese pressing later that year.
So next up was Black And Blue, and this time they left me - and a number of people actually - standing on the platform as they rode off on a different track. I just couldn't get my head around it at all. It's not that I couldn't handle such a change in direction, more likely I'd grown weary of the new electronic sound (couldn't quite follow Chick Corea over to his Elektrik Band either, although I still give that album a listen every now and then).
Black & Blue bombed. They pretty much disappeared afterwards.
New Weave is still in my vinyl collection. American Eyes - both copies - vanished without trace and I've no idea what happened to them. Replacing them today would cost a small fortune.
Rare Silk occupy a special place in my heart, a reminder of a happier time when all I worried about was what the next record purchase would be.