The Brooklyn Side

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Imagine for a moment that the survivors of the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash in 1977 had decided to keep going and had replaced Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines with the Clash's Joe Strummer and Mick Jones. The reborn band would have had it all: redneck country-rock with in-your-face class consciousness and cockney punk-rock with swing and guitar chops. It would have sounded a lot like the BottleRockets on their second album, The Brooklyn Side. When the BottleRockets' chief singer-songwriter Brian Henneman wants to sing about the American class structure, what does he do? He tells jokes about buying a "1000 Dollar Car." "A thousand-dollar car ain't gonna roll," he sings over grinding, Neil Youngish guitar chords, "till you put at least another thousand in the hole/Sink your money in and there you are:/The owner of a two-thousand-dollar thousand-dollar car." --Geoffrey Himes --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The Brooklyn Side
Average customer rating:

Absolute Classic Alt-Country

Bought for one song, and dig them all!

The Brooklyn Side
Bottle Rockets
Manufacturer: Atlantic / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Bottle Rockets

ASIN: B000002JUT
Release Date: 1995-09-19

Tracks:

Welfare Music
Gravity Fails
I'll Be Comin' Around
Radar Gun
Sunday Sports
Pot Of Gold
1000 Dollar Car
Idiot's Revenge
Young Lovers In Town
Take Me To The Bank
What More Can I Do?
Stuck In A Rut
I Wanna Come Home
Queen Of The World

Amazon.com

Imagine for a moment that the survivors of the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash in 1977 had decided to keep going and had replaced Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines with the Clash's Joe Strummer and Mick Jones. The reborn band would have had it all: redneck country-rock with in-your-face class consciousness and cockney punk-rock with swing and guitar chops. It would have sounded a lot like the BottleRockets on their second album, The Brooklyn Side. When the BottleRockets' chief singer-songwriter Brian Henneman wants to sing about the American class structure, what does he do? He tells jokes about buying a "1000 Dollar Car." "A thousand-dollar car ain't gonna roll," he sings over grinding, Neil Youngish guitar chords, "till you put at least another thousand in the hole/Sink your money in and there you are:/The owner of a two-thousand-dollar thousand-dollar car." --Geoffrey Himes

Customer Reviews:

Absolute Classic Alt-Country.......2003-03-19

This album is just fantastic! Every song is soulful, witty, edgy and just plain brilliant. Brian Henneman and The Bottle Rockets are without a doubt the best alt-country band making records today. I cannot say enought good things about this record. BUY THIS CD!!! YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPOINTED!

Bought for one song, and dig them all!.......1998-09-14

While listening to this album, I was taken back to the days I listened to Lynard Skynard. I could hear a definite influence. This is a must-buy for fans of the old rock-a-billy style of music.

Average customer rating:

A piece of history
A BIG disappointment!

New York New York
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Asv Living Era
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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New York Songs
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The SoundOf New York City

ASIN: B000069HGR
Release Date: 2002-08-13

Customer Reviews:

A piece of history.......2006-06-03

Many of the songs on this recording are not available in sheet music, and although the sound quality isn't "leading edge" it makes me feel as though I am listening to actual performers back in the 30's & 40's, with young and gifted singers like Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford, and Mel Torme, as well as others who are nameless or unknown to me on this album, and a delight to listen to. Manhattan Tower is why I bought this CD, and I got so much more from it than I bargained for. The illusion I have when I play it is that I am a young jazz artist in New York, feeling the pulse of the city and filling up with everything about being a part of New York.

A BIG disappointment!.......2004-08-19

I bought this CD for the Slaughter on Tenth Avenue soundtrack ballet by Richard Rodgers and Lennie Hayton. But none of the tracks on this CD can be appreciated. It is a mono recording, and that immediately leaves you with a very incomplete sound. No amount of treble and bass adjustment can eliminate the awful tinny sound throughout the disc.

Average customer rating:

The tradition just got fatter, deeper weirder! Praise Be!

Far Side of Here
Brooklyn Sax Quartet
Manufacturer: Omnitone Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00082MXA0
Release Date: 2005-06-14

Tracks:

Tie Me Sufre
Fishing Song Of The East China Sea
I Understand Now
A Night In Tunisia
The Black Nation Suite: O, Freedom
The Black Nation Suite: We Shall Overcome
The Black Nation Suite: Free New Afrika! Boogaloo
The Black Nation Suite: Song For A United Socialist Pan Africa
Lush Life
Spinning
Jajo

Album Description

Fusing classic modern American jazz with newer sounds and rhythms drawn on African and Asian influences, the Brooklyn Sax Quartet explores works by co-leaders David Bindman and Fred Ho, melding the sounds that teem through the "far side of here."

Besides featuring wide ranging original compositions by Bindman and Ho — including Ho's dynamic Black Nation Suite and a hip arrangement of "A Night in Tunisia" in 5/4 — this recording is dedicated to and includes some of the the last recordings of a founding member of the BSQ, the late alto saxophonist Sam Furnace.

"The vibrancy and emotion of the Brooklyn Sax Quartet underscores its social conscience. This inventive group puts together a program that embraces multiculturalism and acknowledges the struggle against injustice without proselytizing...." —Terrell Kent Holmes, All About Jazz: New York

"....far from predictable. Its range of styles spans from spirituals and fairly straight melody statements to some nearly free-form blowing. Even its interpretations of straight-ahead material is informed by the jazz innovations of recent times and there are no moments when it sounds as if the group is coasting.... this is a consistently colorful set of rewarding music." —Scott Yanow, AllMusic.com

"...these four horns bob and weave and play with the abandon of children — albeit very smart, well-trained children.... the musicians get deep inside the compositions and blow their way out with melody, harmony, and rhythm." — Keith Goetzman, Utne Reader

Customer Reviews:

The tradition just got fatter, deeper weirder! Praise Be!.......2006-01-01

One of my foundational epistemolgical precepts is that "Everything we know is wrong, it is just a matter of time before it is shown to be so". I like this precept, it keeps me humble.
So I am probably wrong when I say this but to my sense of jazz history, the tradition of the contemporary sax quartet can be dated to the emergence of the World Saxophone Quartet (WSQ) and ROVA in the mid to late seventies.
If the WSQ (still going strong) ever needs to anoint a successor then may I suggest the Brooklyn Saxophone Quartet (BSQ). This is (I believe)their second CD- the first is called The Way Of The Saxophone on the Innova label. There are a lot of similarities between the WSQ and the BSQ. They both have a great love of the tradition which shows up in many covers. This BSQ CD has covers of tunes by Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Strayhorn and Pete Seeger. In comparison ROVA seems more interested in commissioning works by composers like Barry Guy or Lindsay Cooper.
All three groups have lots of inside/outside chops and have fully absorbed technical and harmonic innovations of recent times. The BSQ is in many ways the most traditional and melody driven of the three. They may be the best intro to the genre as a result.
On this CD the BSQ is David Bindman on tenor, Fred Ho on baritone and John O'Gallagher on the soprano. Sam Furnace plays the alto on pieces 4 through 8. He must have taken ill during the recording and passed away as the CD is dedicated to his memory. The alto chair was then turned over to Rudresh Mahanthappa.
This is another similarity to the WSQ. All of these guys (except possibly Sam Furnace) are solo artists of note on various independent labels. Mahanthappa's and Ho's CDs are available on Amazon. Bindman's presence on Amazon is limited to his work on Royal Hartigan's extremely fine Blood Drum Spirit. He can also be heard leading his own session of the CIMP label as can O'Gallagher. Furnace can be heard on sessions with Bill Cole and the great Saxophone Sextet of Julius Hemphill. By the way, if you are curious about any of the above CDs and can't find them write me an email and I will guide you to sources. Cultural richness must be shared.
The final similarity to note is that all three groups have members who are excellent composers who use the quartet to refine their arranging and compositional skills. With the BSQ, the members in question are Fred Ho and Bindman. I find Bindman in particular to be an emerging voice worth listening to. Others may prefer Ho.
On most of the compositions, the lead voice is O'Gallagher's soprano who is as nimble as any I know. His soloing has a physical presence of darting movement that makes you want to see it choreographed. All of the others have fine solos turns as well. I really enjoyed Ho's baritone turn on Lush Life.
As a group, their playing can be infectious and joyful. They seem wild sometimes but then stop on a dime and change directions completely. Great group playing.
If your are new to the genre of the contemporary sax quartet this is a great intro. If you are an old friend of ROVA and WSQ and others like the 29th Street SQ ad infinitum, this is a great and impressive new addition to the genre. Give it a listen and see if you don't agree.

Average customer rating:

Holy moly
You have to hear it to believe it
Find it
The Brooklyn Side
The Best release to Date by a great American Band

The Brooklyn Side
The Bottle Rockets
Manufacturer: East Side Digital
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Leftovers

ASIN: B00000DTQR
Release Date: 1994-11-01

Tracks:

Welfare Music
Gravity Fails
I'll Be Comin' Around
Radar Gun
Sunday Sports
Pot of Gold
Thousand Dollar Car
Idiot's Revenge
Young Lovers in Town
Take Me to the Bank
What More Can I Do?
Stuck in a Rut
I Wanna Come Home
Queen of the World

Customer Reviews:

Holy moly.......2006-01-14

This CD was in storage for a while, and just got on the CD again after a decade... it's great! Gravity Fails is one of those mindblowingly good songs that sticks in your head, and keeps you happy all day long. I'm a total sucker for songs like that.

You have to hear it to believe it.......2005-01-21

Really, get this. These guys are something special. I bought this album back in ninety-something when they had a few songs on the radio. I liked it enough, but put it away with the rest of my cd's. I pulled this out two years ago and haven't been able to shake it since. There's something witty, sad, decent, and profound about every song on this album. I expanded my BRox collection and got the rest of the albums and I haven't heard a thing that wasn't near perfection.
This album, on Atlantic, was probably their biggest seller, it comes after a collection of songs that Brian did solo on the first bottle rockets album. (five star rating on that album as well.) Brian and the boys got some serious airplay out of Brooklyn and probably made enough to buy a trailer off the royalty checks alone. I don't know what's better, the driving, rockabilly, kick you neighbors cat beat, or the very simple and ultra-insightful lyrics to the songs. I really can't begin to tell you what's good or bad, but the gang (Brian and all that contributed lyric and music) got it right on this one. If you only buy one Brox album, go for this one and then expand if you like, and of course you will. I met the guys in Minneapolis in 2004. It was an unreal show they put on at the Fine Line Music Cafe, so go see them live if you can.
Finally, I'll leave you with this from Gravity Fails. "Maybe it's something in my genes/maybe it's something in my jeans..." Throw down your twelve bucks and don't look back. Tommy Bracket

Find it.......2004-11-14

Go to Insound.com. They have it for under 10 bucks. Not that the album isn't worth three times as much - you just shouldn't have to pay it.

The Brooklyn Side.......2003-10-27

I had no idea this disc was so hard to find. I found it with relative ease on the internet. All that aside, this is a great country rock disc. This is the first exposure Ive had to the Bottle Rockets after reading much about them, and they exceded my exptations. They sort of remind me of Neil Young and the Jayhawks combined, but they also have a wicked sense of humor to some of thier songs. The song "1000 dollar car", any one who has ever bought a used piece of junk can relate to this hard rockin song. Any fan of alt-country mixed with the best of classic rock will like this album

The Best release to Date by a great American Band.......2003-08-22

This Hard to find gem is worth every penny. Somewhere between Neil Young and Crazy horse and C.C.R. the Bottle Rockets can Rock out, listen to "1000 dollar car" or put out ballads, ala "Pot of Gold". This is a great witty rock and roll album. Well played and great cutting lyrics. If you have'nt picked this one up yet- you need to before it's not possible anymore.

Average customer rating:

Very interesting and beautiful as well as fun
Peerless Player
Wailing to the Converted

Brooklyn 2000
Jay Clayton
Manufacturer: Sunny Side
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Tito's Acid Trip

ASIN: B00005K9X0
Release Date: 2001-06-19

Tracks:

You Taught My Heart to Sing
Lament for John Coltrane
Young and Foolish
Raga/Let It Go
I Told You So
Lady Sings the Blues
I Wish I Knew
Three Free/Random Mondays

Customer Reviews:

Very interesting and beautiful as well as fun.......2006-06-09

This is a beautiful and varied cd. Normally I'm not so fond of a cd with a number of quite different styles but this one works. Clayton also gives lots of room for the rest of the (very excellent) band, something that every singer should learn (or should have learned from Holiday). My 14 year old, who is indifferent to most jazz, even commented on how he liked this cd.

Peerless Player.......2004-04-06

In the interest of balancing a previous review, I must point out that the music on this album is anything but posturing, pulverizing, and pretense. Of all singers currently on the scene, Jay is one of the least contrived or programmed and the most open and honest. At its most basic level, this music is a game, and its greatest practitioners, such as Dizzy Gillespie, are above all master "players," willing to take risks and entertain serendipitous surprises. I have yet to hear a Jay Clayton album that is not as much about the other players and the sport of music-making itself as it is about her. "Brooklyn 2000" is no exception.

All of the performances on this album delight and communicate--even the so-called "experimental" ones--because of Jay's example and influence. She approaches the two Cummings' lyrics and the Cables' waltz with the curiosity and openness of a child--not with pretentious "hipness" or artistic self-consciousness. But like Blake's or Wordsworth's "wise" child, she's also a reassuring enabler, a performer who continually reminds us of the joy of making and sharing music.

And she demonstrates once again that she has an unerring ear for great songs along with a knowing savvy about making them work. McCoy Tyner's and Sammy Cahn's "You Taught My Heart to Sing" is a lovely tune but so full of starts and stops, premature tonics disruptive of continuity, that I had not heard it done justice until Jay's performance here. She resists overblown emotional rhetoric, connects the right phrases, and makes it seem, well, like child's play. That's what the best jazz, if not all creative art, is about--and Jay is one of the few surviving singers who can take us there.

Wailing to the Converted.......2002-07-20

It would be nice to admire Jay Clayton for being a risktaker. In a sea of caution-erring female jazzers who set their sights on little more than crooning and cooing in ready-made prescriptive role-playing, Clayton stands out. Her adventurous choices make her the opposite of someone such as Jane Monheit.

Clayton, nevertheless, takes self-indulgence to such extremes that you wish she'd knock it off. She doesn't shape notes so much as she pulverizes them, and all too frequently she sings flat in arrangements antethetical to the songwriters' intent. Clayton loves to sing "out" as she will tell anyone willing to listen, yet it's the "out" numbers that are numblingly awful. Her "Lament for Coltrane" doesn't have a honest bone it its exhumed body; the piece fails to convince. Likewise, the attempts to combine ragas with ee cummings poems come across as overwrought, overbearing, boorish.

Clayton is at her best when she bags the gimmicks and downtown posturing and just plays it straight. She has two duets with the glorious George Cables playing piano that make Brooklyn 2000 worth a listen. Cables and Clayton take a poignant turn on the standard "Young and Foolish" (including the verse, rarely heard) that is simply heartbreaking. When she sings "one day we fell in love/now we wonder what we were dreaming of...smiling in the sunlight, laughing in the rain/I wish that we were young and foolish again" in a clear, unforced delivery, it's worth suffering the multitude of aesthetic sins she commits elsewhere.

Planet Sax
Average customer rating:
Planet Sax
Jenny Hill
Manufacturer: Rat Beach Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music
Latin Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000CAEFPE
Release Date: 2003-06-24