With seven releases available for Record Store Day, the Liberation Hall label has been busy; those records are Charlie Parker’s The Long Lost Bird Live Afro-CuBop Recordings, the various artists collection Bossa Nova at Carnegie Hall, Muddy Waters’ Hollywood Blues Summit: Live at The Ash Grove July 30, 1971, The Sir Douglas Quintet’s Texas Tornado Live: Doug Weston’s Troubadour, 1971, Romeo Void’s Live from Mabuhay Gardens: November 14, 1980, Phil Ochs’ The Best of the Rest: Rare and Unreleased Recordings and Eddie Money’s The Covers. We cover all seven below.

The Long Lost Bird Live Afro-CuBop Recordings documents a half dozen different live dates with the great alto saxophonist Charlie “Yardbird” Parker the commonality, but only a portion of the 2LP really falls into the Afro-Cuban stylistic category. Parker obsessives might know this material from a 2015 CD issued by RockBeat (where the track order was different), but I’m unsure about prior appearances on vinyl. In a nutshell, this isn’t the place to start with Parker, but lovers of the saxophonist and the original bebop era will find much to enjoy. Overall, The Long Lost Bird radiates a vibe similar to those Archive of Folk & Jazz Music LPs on Everest Records that used to turn up fairly regularly in the bins.

The sound quality is acceptable to good and the performances are consistently worthwhile. Much of the set includes Parker’s fellow bebop architect Dizzy Gillespie, but interestingly, the trumpeter is absent from two of the selections with Afro-Cuban flavor; it’s Howard McGhee playing trumpet on those, along with a large Afro-Cuban band, from a concert held at the Renaissance Ballroom in New York City in 1950. Dizzy is instead heard in two small bands captured in ’45 and ’47 in Los Angeles and NYC respectively, with the participants including pianists Al Haig and John Lewis and vibraphonist Milt Jackson.

Dizzy also takes part in a ’54 concert from Portland, OR’s Civic Auditorium that paired him and Parker with the Stan Kenton Orchestra; “Manteca” from this date adds considerably to the Afro-Cuban quotient and finds Dizzy nearly stealing the show (in ’54 and on this LP, as the performance wraps up side four). But Parker is heard sitting in with Woody Herman’s group in Kansas City, MO in ’51 (offering “Cuban Holiday”), and there’s a wonderfully breakneck-paced “Salt Peanuts” from Birdland in ’50 with trumpeter Red Rodney, pianist Kenny Drew, bassist Curley Russell, and drummer Art Blakey.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | “This is a time capsule of a studio . . . known for recording many iconic DC area punk bands, including Minor Threat, Bad Brains, and Bikini Kill . . . Through the compilation of memories of recording at Inner Ear and the experience of working with Zientara, the editor pieces together not only the history of the studio but also Zientara’s story and the space he created for musicians. Verdict: With a wide range of pieces and candid photographs throughout, this work will likely appeal to music fans and readers interested in independent music studios and music history.” —Library Journal

In the late 1970s, Don Zientara—a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War—founded Inner Ear Studio in the basement of his home in Arlington, VA, using the electronics training he received from the army. Inner Ear remained in Don’s basement until its 1990 relocation to a larger space on South Oakland Street. Along the way, Inner Ear became best known for recording iconic DC punk musicians including Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Bikini Kill, Rites of Spring, Mary Timony, and Fugazi.

The Inner Ear of Don Zientara is an oral history of not just Inner Ear’s recordings, but the role that Don played in creating one of the most welcoming and nurturing recording studios the world over. Alongside 250 photographs, the volume includes testimonials from members of Fugazi, Scream, Fire Party, Shudder to Think, Jawbox, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Dismemberment Plan, as well as musicians like Kathleen Hanna, Henry Rollins, among other notables.

In addition to DC punk bands, Don also recorded many other styles and genres, including Celtic folk tunes, harp music, Russian balalaika groups, political advertisers, and choral singers. The studio was also featured on Dave Grohl’s Sonic Highways television mini-series. The Inner Ear of Don Zientara pays tribute to this iconic studio, celebrating the man at the heart of this remarkable space

The story of trumpeter Chet Baker is one of brilliance and struggle with a terribly sad end. Too often, those acquainted with the tale bypass his later recordings, assuming that it’s the work of a former great brought low by drug addiction who was living out his days as a journeyman in Europe. But Blue Room: The 1979 VARA Studio Sessions in Holland, the latest in a long line of exquisite discoveries by Zev Feldman, captures Baker in sharp form as he plays and sings for broadcast on Dutch radio. It’s the newest release on Feldman’s Jazz Detective label, available as a 2LP set for Record Store Day on April 22, with the CD and digital due April 28.

Zev Feldman is nothing if not indefatigable. Focusing only on the artist under review here, it was just a year ago, and also for Record Store Day, that Feldman helped bring to light Live in Paris: The Radio France Recordings 1983-1984 by Baker in a trio configuration, and notably sans drummer. Dating from an earlier point in Baker’s comeback, the Blue Room recordings situate him in a more traditional quartet formation with two lineups on two dates, April 10 and November 9, at VARA Studio 2, Hilversum, the Netherlands.

In 1979-’80 Chet Baker recorded over 20 albums. Some were obviously better than others. The material on Blue Room, which was intended for broadcast rather than commercial release and was essentially lost until Feldman received a tip into its existence, bests anything I’ve heard from the same period. Cut in studio, it’s vibrant and focused as Baker, clearly invested in the proceedings, gels with these two groups (who shared no members in common).

In my experience, Baker’s playing nearly always sounds good, even deep into his post-comeback period (there are a few exceptions). Overall, the lesser recordings in his discography really come down to a lack of rapport with his bands (or a lack of proper investment by audiences). That’s part of what makes Blue Room so interesting, as each session was over in a day, the music radiating the immediacy of a live performance but without the potential baggage and snags of a club date.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Steely Dan’s sprawling 1973 sophomore LP, Countdown To Ecstasy, with such standouts as “Bodhisattva,” “Show Biz Kids,” and “My Old School,” sung by founding member Donald Fagen who took over as lead vocalist, will return to vinyl on May 26th via Geffen/UMe, continuing the extensive reissue program of the band’s classic ABC and MCA Records catalog. The series, which began in November 2022 with the Dan’s legendary debut LP, Can’t Buy A Thrill, is being personally overseen by Fagen, and returns the group’s first seven records to vinyl, most of which haven’t been available since their original release.

Countdown To Ecstasy has been meticulously remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes and will be pressed on 180-gram black vinyl at 33 1/3 RPM. Additionally, the album has just been released as a limited edition premium 45 RPM version on Ultra High-Quality Vinyl (UHQR) from Analogue Productions, the audiophile in-house reissue label of Acoustic Sounds. Analogue Productions is also releasing this series of titles on Super Audio CD (SACD).

Additional albums will roll out periodically over the next year and will include 1974’s jazzy Pretzel Logic, their first Top 10 album with the massive hit, “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number;” 1975’s swing-pop perfection Katy Lied, with highlights “Black Friday,” “Bad Sneakers,” and “Doctor Wu,” and the addition of Michael McDonald on vocals; 1976’s guitar-driven The Royal Scam, featuring “Kid Charlemagne” and “The Fez;” 1977’s platinum-selling jazz-rock masterwork Aja, which includes the three hit singles—”Deacon Blues,” “Peg” and “Josie”—and the elegant title cut; and their final album for MCA, and last for 20 years, 1980’s brilliant Gaucho, with “Hey Nineteen,” and “Time Out Of Mind,” featuring Mark Knopfler on guitar.

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Tommy James has not led a boring life. The pride of Niles, Michigan and his band the Shondells saw their first single, 1964’s impossibly innocent ode to sex “Hanky Panky,” become a modest Midwestern hit before fading out, leading to the dissolution of the band. And that would have been the end of it had the song not reached the ears of a Pittsburgh DJ, whose ceaseless promotion broke it nationwide and took it to the top of the pop charts, leading a shocked and (by then band-less) James to hire a group of nobodies he ran across playing a club in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

That’s hardly a unique story, but James’ unfortunate connections with the Mob during his dealings with Roulette Records and its president Morris Levi—the real life inspiration for Herman “Hesh” Rabkin of Sopranos fame—and participation in Hubert Humphrey’s 1968 presidential campaign tour as “Youth Affairs Commission” director are. Oh, and then there was the night in 1970 a doped-up James walked off stage in Birmingham, Alabama and promptly dropped dead (he was ultimately resuscitated). As for Hubert Humphrey, he was so grateful to James he wrote the liner notes for the band’s 1968 album Crimson & Clover. In the notes he misspells “rallies” as “rallys.” No wonder the guy lost.

James rejected the bubblegum music label, and he was right to do so. Unlike virtually every bubblegum musician out there, James wrote or co-wrote most of the Shondells’ hits, and his band actually played on their records. And the band’s music wasn’t targeted exclusively toward the pre-teen set. Even “Hanky Panky” and “I Think We’re Alone Now”—both of which I couldn’t get enough of as a pre-teen—appealed to both kids and their parents, as did most of the songs on the hit-filled 2002 Rhino Records compilation The Essentials: Tommy James & the Shondells. “Hanky Panky” and the band’s other songs may have earned the Shondells zero cred amongst the Summer of Love’s drop-outs, freaks and hairies, but America’s much larger short-haired demographic loved them. Squares Tommy James & the Shondells may have been, but America was still one square nation, LSD, sexual revolution, and anti-Vietnam war protest marches notwithstanding.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | “Triple Fast Action will always be ‘the band that got away’ as far as I’m concerned; the very best band out of all of us from Chicago in the ’90s. IYKYK.” —Nina Gordon, Veruca Salt

Chicago’s Triple Fast Action is set to release a massive self-titled collection of 37 rare and unreleased tracks, including many songs previously unheard by anybody who wasn’t there to see them live in the early ’90s. This collection is now available to pre-order, and will be released on Friday, April 21, 2023 via Forge Again Records as a 32-song gatefold triple LP (with 5 bonus digital tracks) and 37-song double CD.

Twenty of these tracks were recorded by the band in their practice space in late 1994 while recording demos for their debut album, Broadcaster, on Capitol Records. They were transferred from the original 1/2″ tapes and remixed by John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr., Redd Kross, Sonic Youth). The rest come from various studio sessions and radio appearances, and the entire collection was mastered by Carl Saff.

Triple Fast Action provides an incredible glimpse into the early days of the band and their polished yet unrestrained songwriting. Their trademark searing rock highs and delicate, textured lows created mesmerizing tempos that rose and fell much like a rollercoaster.

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Celebrating Mick Abrahams, born on this day in 1943. —Ed.

When friends recommended I check out Blodwyn Pig’s 1970 sophomore LP Getting to This, I was dubious. This was, after all, the band England’s New Musical Express praised for its promising blend of “Hooting grunting blues mingled with snorts of jazz.” The only adjective they omitted was squealing. Then there’s the issue of the awful band name, which only beats Pearls Before Swine by snout. You really shouldn’t name your band after livestock, unless you’re The Cows.

But now that I’ve listened to Getting to This, I can only say the above description is an understatement. Ex-Jethro Tull guitarist Mick Abrahams and gimcrack saxophonist/flautist Jack Lancaster (who’s been known to play two saxes at once just like Rahsaan Roland Kirk!) do more than hoot, grunt and snort—on Getting to This they whip up a pig’s ear stew, and toss in everything but the trotters.

The eclectic shtick doesn’t always work. Take “San Francisco Sketches.” It opens with some ocean atmospherics ala the Who’s “Sea and Sand,” then cuts to Lancaster sitting beneath a tree in Sherwood Forest playing a fey flute. Then a high school jazz band enters stage right, Abrahams plays a hot dog of a guitar solo, and a choir of heavenly voices enters stage left and pulls a Godspell on ya. Then things kick into overdrive, Abrahams’ guitar adds kraut to the dog, and Lancaster follows up with a tasty sax solo. Me, I want to take a surgical knife to the damn thing and remove the parts that irk me. I guess this is what your aficionados call progressive rock. I prefer to call it attention deficit disorder.

“Variations on Nanos” is even more out there. Lancaster opens on a freak flute note, launches into a flitting butterfly of a solo, then hands things over to Abrahams, who serves up a subdued but classy guitar solo. All’s as should be until Abrahams (who sounds a whole lot like nemesis Ian Anderson) decides to sing from the deep end of a swimming pool before climbing out, drying himself off, and launching into a dead-on impersonation of Captain Beefheart. Weird, but not as weird as “To Rass Man,” a Deutsche Schlager Oompah reggae tune designed to excite the lederhosen hacky-sack crowd.

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The arrival of each season brings with it some balance. When one element is taken away, another quality takes its place. It’s the old adage of one door closing and another one opening. No matter how hard we want the long, warm days of sunny summer to last forever, the fall brings its own snug serenity (depending on where you live on planet Earth, of course).

Alexz Johnson is a Canadian singer-songwriter and actress who first gained recognition in the early 2000s by playing the role of the lead character in the Canadian CTV series Instant Star, where she also contributed to the show’s soundtrack. She also appeared in the Disney Channel series So Weird, and in the 2006 horror film Final Destination 3. Throughout it all, Johnson has released several critically acclaimed albums and singles, showcasing her talent in various genres, including pop, rock, and folk. Johnson has built a loyal fan base and established herself as a promising and dynamic artist in the Canadian music scene. On her latest LP, Seasons, Alexz explores nature’s natural patterns.

Join Alexz and I as we discuss the ups and downs of the Gregorian Calendar to which we all subscribe. On this episode, you’ll hear Alexz describe her songwriting process, detail the challenges of simultaneously balancing a show business career with raising a family, and how she crafted her latest record which is contemporary and soulful. The skies outside might be warm and beautiful, or perhaps they are overcast and nefarious, nevertheless, Alexz takes it all in and details the highs and lows that each season brings.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.