Ous" Modern Music, Rock, Jazz

the level of the music, and vice versa. "Go" is experimental music in the same sense as Cage, Stockhausen, and Henze-or Weather Report and Return to Forever, if you will. It may not be entirely successful as an end product, but the experiment is valid, and I applaud the attempt. J.G. LINDA RONSTADT: Hasten Down the Wind. Linda Ronstadt,vocals; vocal and instrumen- talaccompaniment. Lose Again; The Tattler; If He's Ever Near; That'll Be the Day; Lo Siento mi vida; Hasten Down the Wind; Rivers of Babylon; Give One Heart; Try Me Again; Crazy; Down So Low; Someone to Lay Down Beside Me.[Peter Asher, prod.] ASYLUM 7E 1072, $6.98. Tape: IPIPTC5 1072, $7.97; ET8 1072, $7.97. Would only that beauty were enough. The photo of Linda Ronstadt on the cover of this Steve Winwood new album will break male hearts from coast to coast. Yet what is inside is-well, dull. It isn't the music that's dull. Mostly basic rock with slight country overtones, itis adept and often quite exciting. The problem is with Ronstadt herself. She can be very moving in her concert performances, but something about recording seems to put her off. She's hardly the first female singer to have difficulty coming across on disc. Odetta, a most enthralling performer, sel- Stomu Yamashta dom cut a convincing record. In "Hasten Down the Wind," Ronstadt runs through an interesting assortment of love songs, most of them little-known tunes written by others. Among the best of them reviewed by are "Try Me Again," written by Ronstadt MORGAN AMES with Andrew Gold, and Karla Bonoff's ROYAL S. BROWN "Lose Again." A reading of the old Buddy Holly tune "That'll Be the Day" contains HENRY EDWARDS the LP's most moving vocal, which may JIM GOSA prove a point; perhaps the lady needs MIKE JAHN standards, songs of proven excitement. Even on "Crazy," a very basic, easy -to - JOHN S. WILSON grasp country song by Willie Nelson, she doesn't project a decent amount of feeling. It's all rather sad, especially since Ron- Michael Shrieve stadt delivers in concert. Maybe she doesn't like recording studios. Maybe our tape STOMU YAMASHTA, STEVE WINWOOD, well as one of the best singers rock has pro- technology hasn't come quite as far as we AND MICHAEL SHRIEVE:Go. Stomu duced. Michael Shrieve is the inventive like to think. M.J. Yamashta, percussion and synthesizers; drummer who gained fame in the Santana Steve Winwood, vocals and keyboards; Mi- band. Klaus Schulze is an innovative ex- chael Shrieve, drum kit; Al DiMeola, guitar; plorer of the synthesizer's role in modern AL JARREAU: Glow.Al Jarreau,vo- Klaus Schulze, synthesizers; Rosko Gee, music. Al DiMeola is the brilliant young cals; Tom Canning, electric piano; Joe bass guitar. Solitude; Nature; Air Over; Man guitarist from Return to Forever. Correro and Larry Carlton, drums; Wilton Fel- of Leo; Stellar; Crossing the Line; eight more. These men and their collaborators on this der, bass; strings and synthesizer accom- [Dennis McKay, Stomu Yamashta, and Paul project have created one of the most inter- paniment, Dale Oehler, arr.; et al. Rainbow in Buckmaster, prod.] ISLAND ILPS 9387, $6.98. esting recordings of new music I've heard. Your Eyes; Your Song; Aqua De Beber; six It is, in that term dear to producers, a con- more. [Al Schmitt and Tony LiPuma, prod.] These musicians are some of the most cept album. In fact, "Go" is the musical plot REPRISE MS 2248, $6.98. Tape W M52248, highly regarded in contemporary music for a possible multimedia expansion that $7.97; !.:M 82248, $7.97, from Japan, Germany, England, and Amer- will include dance, film, and music -as -the- ica. At twenty-eight, Stomu Yamashta, the ater. It is also a work that ambitiously at- brilliant percussionist /composer steeped in tempts to coalesce the idioms of the "seri- Explanation of symbols the classical tradition (his father is director ous" modern music, rock, jazz, and of the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra), has electronics.Indeed, ,those elements are written seventy film scores, including Ken present in abundance. exceptional recording Russell's TheDevilsand the David Bowie In this context, rock certainly seems to *1 film The Man Who Fell to Earth; he has pio- have come a long way from its primitive be- Recorded tape neered new ballet and theatrical works; his ginnings, within the memory of most of us. Open Reel credentials alone could occupy more space What rock has needed is to be elevated 8 -Track Cartridge than allotted here. Steve Winwood is the from its simplistic roots by serious, accom- ^ premiere British rock -and -roller and an plished musicians. The result is reciprocal, Cassette outstanding guitar and keyboard player, as of course. The level of musicianship raises 142 HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE.

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