Robert Baird

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Greg Lake and The True Meaning of Prog Rock
Robert Baird
Robert Baird  |  Dec 11, 2016  |  9 comments
Lake’s death, followed by the fact that I had three new 140 gram ELP LP reissues...
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Norah Returns
Robert Baird
Robert Baird  |  Dec 09, 2016  |  3 comments
Perhaps there’s a little nostalgia talking here...
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Afro-Funk Rediscovered
Robert Baird
Robert Baird  |  Dec 08, 2016  |  3 comments
One of the few '70s funk/soul holy grails that’s actually worth digging for.
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Recording of December 2016: Made in Brooklyn
Recording of the Month
Robert Baird  |  Nov 15, 2016  |  3 comments
John McEuen: Made in Brooklyn
Chesky JD388 (CD). 2016. John McEuen, David Chesky, prods.; Norman Chesky, exec. prod.; Nicholas Prout, Mor Mezrich, Max Steen, engs. DDD? TT: 65:03
Performance ****
Sonics ****½

The invite from David Chesky was simple enough: "Hey Robert, John McEuen, David Bromberg and a lot of other people are going to make a record in this abandoned church that a friend of mine owns in Brooklyn, you wanna come by?" Knowing the resourcefulness, not to mention good ears, of David and Norman Chesky, owners of Chesky Records, I soon arrived in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, to find Stereophile contributing editor Herb Reichert munching on cookies and listening through headphones to what was going into the computer. Ahh, that freelancer lifestyle.

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Let There Be Rock (and Roll)?
Robert Baird
Robert Baird  |  Nov 04, 2016  |  9 comments
That scraping noise you hear is coming from the bottom of the barrel.
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A Go Go
Robert Baird
Robert Baird  |  Oct 21, 2016  |  2 comments
If there ever was a sure-enough soul man, it was the Big O.
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Winter's Return
Robert Baird
Robert Baird  |  Oct 14, 2016  |  0 comments
Electronics is electronics, love them or hate them, your choice.
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A Great Hash of Demonic Sound
Robert Baird
Robert Baird  |  Oct 14, 2016  |  1 comments
Or perhaps a duo effort by Chilton and storied Memphis producer Jim Dickinson?
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The Best Beatles Solo Work?
Robert Baird
Robert Baird  |  Oct 02, 2016  |  9 comments
To my ears, the masterpieces of the solo careers are obvious.
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Recording of October 2016: Lovers
Recording of the Month
Robert Baird  |  Sep 22, 2016  |  2 comments
Nels Cline: Lovers
Nels Cline, electric & acoustic guitars, lap steel, effects; Charles Pillow, C & alto & bass flutes, oboe, English horn, B-flat clarinet, alto saxophone; Steven Bernstein, Taylor Haskins, others, trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone; Julian Lage, guitar; Yuka C. Honda, celeste, Juno 60; Devin Hoff, contrabass, bass guitar; Alex Cline, drums, percussion; Kenny Wolleson, vibraphone, marimba, percussion; Michael Leonhart, arr., conductor; many others.
Blue Note 8002505102 (2 CDs). 2016. David Breskin, prod.; Ron Saint Germain, eng. DDD? TT: 90:02
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½

There's an old saying about music written for films and the stage: It's so lush and tuneful that it's almost too schmaltzy to be heard without accompanying visuals. Add to that the suspicion that many so-called "out" jazz cats—guys with outsize reputations as loud, atonal shredders of the brainiac variety, blinding talents who prefer endless effects and generally play unhinged and far away from the melody—are really, under all the noise, big softies. There you have the story of Lovers.

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