Mistaken Purchase - Lackluster result.
HighNDrye | MI USA | 09/11/2009
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I won't say much as I'm really not familiar with Terry Callier. This album shows up under Massive Attacks albums as some of the songs were written/produced by a member. I purchased this (my own dang fault) thinking it was perhaps a solo career disc or a Massive Attack release...my mistake.
Overall the CD was pretty mediocre. I'm only writing this to make people aware this sounds nothing like Massive Attack and to give it a listen before purchase...nothing to take away from Terry Callier."
Honest and inspired, with a trip-hop twist.
for jazz music's sake | Warsaw, Poland | 05/27/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This recording is another snapshot of a career that has spanned nearly four decades and fourteen albums.
Terry Callier is, without question, one of the few remaining true musical legends.
He was a childhood friend of Curtis Mayfield.
The 64 year-old Chicagoan found a mainstream audience in the early Nineties - mostly in UK - when the likes of Paul Weller and Beth Orton raved about him.
The singer, who gave up music altogether in the 1980s when he became disillusioned with the business, has since enjoyed somewhat of a revival, thanks to a group of underground British DJs (the famed Gilles Peterson among others) who had started playing his old records in clubs.
His music might have passed unremarked into the dustbin of history had it not been for these club DJs who found his gentle, trippy brand of soul ideal for their chill-out zones.
The ever-charming folk-funk, country-soul and deep jazz 'cult' singer/songwriter has had an incredible renaissance in the past ten years or so, winning admiration from all quarters for a string of great solo albums, as well as collaborations with 4Hero, Massive Attack and Beth Orton
"Hidden Conversations" marks 50 years in music and has a light trip-hop flavours with two songs co-written with Massive Attack's Robert Del Naja, who composes another, "Live with Me", himself.
He tends to give an initial impression of being a folk singer but listen closely to his gentle, world-weary songs and you'll hear a deep connection with jazz and soul.
Comparisons with Richie Havens and Jon Lucien are valid.
As with most of Callier's work from the past decade, it's a mixed bag, older songs such as "Sunset Boulevard" matched by new material.
The backings are a bit Massive-on-a-budget, with nothing as compulsive as Groove Armada's work on "Just My Imagination" from "Total Recall". But the title track, "Jesse & Alice", and a Katrina song, "Rice and Beans", are great.
The beauty of the set is the band's ability to move between genres Soul, Jazz, Electronica, Funk and Folk and back again, wearing the musical heritage of Callier's hometown (Chicago) on their sleeves.
All in all, the album is another winner number, which marks his fiftieth anniversary as a creative artist and adds a new electronic edge to his work.
My highligts: the title track, "Jesse & Alice" and "Rice and Beans".
Speak Your Peace
Collected
Creating Patterns
Trailer Park (Legacy Edition)"
We have a tendancy...
C. J. Wiley | Herndon, Virginia USA | 05/10/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
"...to expect greater and greater things from the best artist and Terry Callier is one of the best. However; when our favorite artist stretch, experiment and try to grow they sometimes leave their audiance a little disappointed with their efforts. In my opinion, which doesn't mean thing, the mixed genres in some of the songs do not fit well. There are some brilliant moments though, that keep me listening to the CD and each time I listen I seem to find another golden nugget."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1