Re: [Harp-L] Review of JJ Milteau's Blue 3rd

["Dave R. Fertig" <drfertig@xxxxxxxxx>]

Ben, that's a really interesting review.  I especially appreciated your 
circumspect discussion of the stylistic and super-clean lyrical component, 
which you didn't find particularly engaging, as part of an overall very 
cool-sounding allbum by JJ Milteau.   You didn't cruelly pan that element 
as so many critics love to do, you simply described it.   And to me, your 
discussion of the subordination of virtuosity to musicality in ensemble, 
without diminishing the vitality of solo efforts within the combo, is quite 
welcome.   Ok, maybe I'm projecting, but that's what I got out of 
it....   Anyway, I look forward to meeting you in St. Aignan.

-Dave Fertig

At 06:41 AM 4/22/2005, Planet Harmonica wrote:
> JJ released his album Blue 3rd last year and I have only now found the 
> time to translate the review I had written at the time. It is now 
> available on my weblog at http://harmonica.typepad.com. Here are first two 
> paragraphs :
> "Blue 3rd is the most recent release of French harmonica player 
> Jean-Jacques Milteau. JJ's approach on this album is similar to the one 
> taken on the excellent Memphis released in 2001: recorded in the states, 
> with a mix of local musicians and some of the talented crew that normally 
> accompanies Milteau in France. The album features 13 tracks including 8 
> instrumentals and, as on Memphis, not only is the backing band partially 
> native, but four guests enhance the record with their vocals and/or 
> instruments.
> This time, it's not in Memphis that Milteau decided to drop his harmonica 
> case but in New York. Memphis was clearly aiming for a 'Memphis Sound' 
> whereas Blue 3rd is not so much preoccupied with a context as it is with 
> sound in general. It's a quest for a particular grain, a particular growl, 
> the one, specifically, that we often associate with black singers. 
> Unsurprisingly, the three vocal guests are therefore soul-blues songster 
> Terry Callier, Nu Soul diva N'dambi and grandfather of protest hip-hop Gil 
> Scott-Heron. The fourth guest, Howard Johnson, does not sing, but he 
> brings with him that growling timbre of baritone sax and trombone that 
> fits perfectly with the  album's concept."
> Ben FELTEN
> http://harmonica.typepad.com
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