The Adrian Ruiz Quintet - Premiere: A Collection of Originals (2017)

Within weeks of my moving to San Antonio in October 2017, my father and I headed to the Witte Museum for a Sunday afternoon jazz concert sponsored by radio station KRTU. We had no idea who would be performing, but the weather was nice and it was an outdoor concert by the river - one of those bring your own lawn chairs kind of thing. Perfect setting. We heard a set from the Adrian Ruiz Quintet playing tunes from this recently-released album. At the time, Ruiz was Director of Jazz Studies at The University of Texas-San Antonio. I picked up this CD on the way out for two reasons: 1) to support local jazz, and 2) I've got a CD addiction to feed. So I've had this CD for three years and never cracked the cellophane until this morning. My mistake because it is every bit the enjoyable neo-bop/modern straight-ahead stuff I remember hearing that afternoon. The band plays well together and all five band members contribute at least one tune so things are kept interesting. I particularly like the contributions (both writing and playing) from pianist Collin Shook. The sound of the recording is muddy, but that's a minor complaint. Austin's alternative newsweekly, The Austin Chronicle, gave the album a ★★★★ rating.

Tracks: my picks today are the aforementioned Shook tunes (The Desert, Glas) along with The Mountains of Tennessee and Friends In The Right Places.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: see above. I certainly hope Sunday Jazz at the Witte (and Jazz'SAlive, etc.) is able to make a return after the pandemic. I can't wait to get back to live entertainment.

Squeeze - The Knowledge (2017)

I had high hopes after the release of 2015's Cradle To The Grave, but this follow-up doesn't meet expectations. Most Squeeze albums requiring multiple listenings to reveal all their goodness, but that trick didn't seem to work here (at least to my ears). The album just plods along with midtempo songs too long for their own good - as the songwriting duo of Difford and Tilbrook have aged, their songs have gotten about a minute longer than their early output. Metacritic has it rated at a very positive 81 so I'll admit there's the possibility I'm missing something, but on the continuum of Squeeze albums, I'll place this one is closer to Domino and Ridiculous than Play or Argybargy. That's more in line with the "User Score" below.

Metacritic also has the producer of the album as John Cale, so they may be having problems over there.
(Cale disastrously produced the group's debut album over 40 years ago;
Laurie Latham and Glenn Tilbrook produced The Knowledge)

And yes, I'll buy their next release as soon as its released; I'll always be a fan.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: While the album is ultimately disappointing, there are a few great tunes sprinkled about: Patchouli, Departure Lounge, Please Be Upstanding, and Two Forks. Rough Ride might have been good if the arrangement hadn't included a children's chorus and opera singer.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but I took a road trip this past weekend on I-37 and my Cool for Cats CD provided part of the soundtrack.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Cradle To The Grave (2015)
The Complete BBC Sessions (2008)
Domino (1998)
Ridiculous (1995)
Some Fantastic Place (1993)
Play (1991)
Frank (1989)
Babylon and On (1987)
Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti (1985)
Difford & Tilbrook (1984)
Singles: 45's and Under (1982)
Sweets From A Stranger (1982) and 2008 reissue
East Side Story (1981)
Argybargy (1980) - 1987 reissue and 2008 Deluxe Edition
Cool For Cats (1979)
U.K. Squeeze (1978)

Nick Heyward - Woodland Echoes (2017)

I received this double CD set a few weeks back after pre-ordering it in early April as part of Nick's self-funding efforts on Pledgemusic. Nick's in love again and wants to express it through song (as someone wrote in an Amazon review: "'I love this girl. She's the one. I'm happy and content. I want our life together to go on and on. She's the sun, moon, and stars.' That's the theme. Yeah, I get it.") So I'll focus more on music than lyrics which is my m.o. anyway. There's nothing similar to Haircut 100 tunes on this thing, but there's some great cuts that sometimes hearken back to his earlier solo work. The critics like it:

and it's easily his best work since 1995's Tangled. Metacritic currently has it rated at 81 which sounds about right.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart, but debuted at #89 on the UK charts.

Tracks:

1. Love Is The Key By The Sea - a beautiful waltz and my current favorite track on the album.
2. Mountaintop - I'm not wild about this foray into the pseudo-country genre (complete with fiddle solo) but I'll be damned if I don't sing along anyway because it's such a happy tune.
3. The Stars - sounds like it could have been on Nick's 1993 album, From Monday to Sunday and that's a good thing. '90s college/singer-songriter pop still exists in 2017.
4. Beautiful Morning - a laid back acoustic ballad. Pretty, but not much to hold my interest for four and half minutes.
5. Who? - in which Nick does his best imitation of Michael Buble with some measure of success. Wish it swung a little harder, but I like it nonetheless.
6. Forest of Love - starts as a quirky little number à la TMBG, but then the tension is released when it goes into the chorus. Typical beautiful Nick melody over a descending bassline. I really like the coda that starts about 2:30 in.
7. Baby Blue Sky - currently my second favorite tune on this album, this song echoes back to his '90s work when he was being compared to Oasis. Feel good music with beautiful harmonies.
8. I Can See Her - a mid-tempo Beatlesque love song complete with string quartet on the chorus and slide guitar solo in the manner of George Harrison. One of Nick's strengths is writing bridges and this song is a good example of that.
9. Perfect Sunday Sun - another Britpop throwback which is, beneath the wall of electric guitar, catchy as hell.
10. New Beginning - enjoyable acoustic instrumental interlude, perfectly sequenced
11. I Got a Lot - Good chorus hampered by a bland verse. Pleasant but not memorable. Notable for an appearance by former Haircut 100 drummer Blair Cunningham.
12. For Always - My least favorite cut. A bland way to end the album. Needs salt?

Bonus tracks (for some reason, the bonus tracks are on a separate disc, which is a pain for 9 minutes worth of tunes but whatevs):

1. Angelfish - Nick's attempt an an all-out rocker. Can't blame him for trying, but easy to see why this wasn't included on the album: it sounds nothing like a Nick Heyward tune.
2. Make It Happen - Another rocker, but this one is more melodic and more adventurous with the chords. Might have been big on the '90s rock charts, but again, apart from the Heyward norms.
3. Back Together - a fun ukulele-driven love song which should have been the album closer instead of For Always so that's the way I'll hear the album from this point forward.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None as it is a new release, but if you've followed this blog for very long, you know that I sprung for this mediabook:

My copy is 78/1500. The companion book is lyrics and Nick's photography, which is better than it probably should be (I'm just saying that because I wish I had that talent).

Previously revisited for the blog:

Live At The IndigO2 28th Jan 2011 (2011)	Tangled (1995)
The Mermaid And The Lighthouse Keeper (2006)	From Monday To Sunday (1993)
The Apple Bed (1998)	He Doesn't Love You Like I Do (1993)
Stars In Her Eyes (1998)	Kite (1993)
Today (1997)	The Best of Nick Heyward & Haircut 100 (1989)
The Man You Used To Be (1997)	I Love You Avenue (1988)
A Hard Days Nick (1996)	You're My World (1988)
Greatest Hits of Nick Heyward & Haircut 100 (1996)	Postcards From Home (1986)
The World (1995)	North of a Miracle (1983)
	Pelican West (1982) and Deluxe Edition (2016)