Brad Paisley Water 2009

Here in Northeast Ohio it's been a hot summer. I feel bad for the Canadians and western Americans suffering through wildfires and water shortages, as well as many others throughout the globe experiencing heat and crazy weather in general. But climate change is a hoax sold to you by "scientists" that have investments in wind and solar energy. Yeah, right. Here in Northeast Ohio it might be hot, but we can seek relief the good old fashioned, Brad Paisley way.

Inflatable pool full of dad's hot air

I was three years old splashing everywhere

And so began my love affair

With water

On a river bank with all my friends

A big old rope tied to a limb

And you’re a big old wuss if you don't jump in

The water

Yeah, when that summer sun starts to beating down

And you don't know what to do

Grab your swimming trunks

Ice up that old Igloo

Drive until the map turns blue

Daytona Beach on spring break

Eighteen girls up on stage

White t-shirts about to be sprayed

With water

Oh let her go boys

Yeah, when that summer sun starts to beating down

And you don't know what to do

Just go and grab someone

You'd like to see in a bathing suit

And drive until the map turns blue

You can stay right there when the daylights gone

Play truth or dare and it won’t take long

'Fore you and her got nothing on

But water

All you really need this time of year

Is a pair of shades and ice cold beer

And a place to sit somewhere near

Water

Finn Wolfhard Fire From The Hip 2026

 

Smart guitar driven pop-rock with a touch of folk is hardly a rarity these days. And really, there's never been a time when it wasn't popular, at least as a fringe movement. Canadian actor/musician Finn Wolfhard's second solo album is a solid example.

Album opener and lead-off single I'll Let You Finish kicks things off in fine power-pop style. Other highlights include Common Side Effects, with it's driving beat, second single Tunnels, a pounding mid-tempo rocker, and Crater, a straight-ahead rocker with big fat guitars. His softer, folky side is represented by Lights Go Down and the more acoustic Maggie and Trail. The record closes with more acoustic guitars and solid harmonies on The Climb (Not That One).

Wolfhard has a high, slightly nasal, sometimes whiney voice that is effective. His songs are generally good, although sometimes they drive the same chords all the way through, and could use a more distinct chorus or middle eight/bridge section. Harmony vocals are good, and drummer Josh Resing deserves special mention for his particularly fine work. The first half has more energy than the second. 

It might not be a thrill all the way through, but it is darn good, especially when compared to some of the stuff that actors-cum-musicians have produced over the years. Wolfhard writes all the songs, and if he got help from one of the many song writing pros out there to flesh things out just a bit more, his acting career could end up being the lesser of his talents.

Jazz

I'm a lightweight when it comes to jazz. BeBop, Hard Bop, Fusion, Free Jazz, Modal Jazz, they all chase me away with aggressive and/or chaotic music, loud and frenzied horns. I've heard lots of those styles, and I can appreciate even what I do not enjoy. But I'm more of a Cool Jazz, West Coast Jazz, Pop-Jazz type of guy. I like female jazz singers, classic trios from the fifties and sixties, and generally more mellow, less challenging fare. This isn't a list of the finest jazz, and I'm not qualified for that list. But I think these are all very good records, and they strike a chord with me. I went through the stacks looking for my favorites. All of these records get played frequently around here.

Karrin Allyson In Blue 2002 There's a theme, and it is done brilliantly. 

George Benson The Other Side of Abbey Road 1970 Odd choice, odd record. Fascinating reinterpretation.

Kenny Burrell Midnight Blue 1963 Bluesy jazz guitar from a master.

Eva Cassidy Live At Blues Alley 1996 An amazing voice. Jazz-pop of the highest order.

Nat King Cole After Midnight 1957/2006 The trio with soloists on most songs. Cole's voice and piano are smooth as silk. The reissued 2 LP version from 2006 is sonic nirvana, but it will be great however you get to hear it.

John Coltrane My Favorite Things 1961 Not many sax players on this list, but this is irresistible.

Bill Evans Sunday at the Village Vanguard 1961 One of the two greatest piano trios at the top of their game. All the praise of Scott Lafaro is well-deserved. 

Bill Frisell Good Dog, Happy Man 1999 There's plenty of great Frisell records, this is my pick.

Melody Gardot My One And Only Thrill 2009 Sensuous. 

Original Chico Hamilton Quartet Complete Studio Recordings 2006 West Coast jazz, mellow and distinctive. 

Milt Jackson and the Monty Alexander Trio Soul Fusion 1978 Fine jazz piano trio plus Jackson's vibes. Jeff Hamilton and John Clayton many years before they were Diana Krall's rhythm section.

John Handy Hard Work 1976 Funky jazz-blues.

Ahmad Jamal At The Pershing: But Not For Me 1958 The other of the two greatest piano trios. 

Norah Jones The Fall 2009 I'm not sure this is jazz, but it's my favorite of Jones' work.

Stacey Kent Breakfast On The Morning Tram 2007 Kazuo Ishiguro provides the lyrics for Jim Tomlinson's music on the four best tracks. The rest is well-chosen covers. Kent's singing is always the star. 

Diana Krall Live In Paris 2002 The voice, the piano chops, the amazing small combo. Wow.

Peggy Lee Ultimate Peggy Lee 2020 Great vinyl pressing that combines her Decca and Capitol recordings in one place.

Robin McKelle Mess Around 2010 The best singer you never heard in your life. 

Maceo Parker Roots and Grooves 2008 Maceo with the WRD Big Band Cologne do a tribute to Ray Charles and then give a master class in funk. Indispensable. 

Frank Sinatra In the Wee Small Hours 1955 The concept album is invented. And Frank sings every song perfectly.

Frank Sinatra Classic Sinatra- His Great Performances 1953-1960 2000 A fine compilation of Frank's greatest fifties hits for Columbia, his peak period.

Frank Sinatra Moonlight Sinatra 1966 Nelson Riddle and Sinatra on Frank's most woefully neglected album. Strangers In The Night came out three months later.

Cal Tjader Soul Sauce 1964 I just love vibes.

Allen Toussaint The Bright Mississippi 2009 Toussaint's late career masterpiece, and an all-star supporting cast.

Cassandra Wilson Blue Skies 1988 Wilson takes on the great American songbook. Mulgrew Miller, Lonnie Plaxico and Terri Lyne Carrington provide trio support.

Randy Newman Sail Away 1972, Bad Love 1999

He's an unusually gifted songwriter and lyricist. Randy Newman made lots of interesting records over the years, and made many dollars writing songs for others, as well as thirty-one movie soundtracks. These two, made twenty-seven years apart, are his finest.

Sail Away opens with the title track, which Newman described as "a commercial jingle written for slave traders looking to recruit naive Africans", a beautiful delivery of very dark satire. Lonely At The Top outlines the downside of stardom. He gives Us All His Love is a not at all ironic ode to God. More like a nightmare, Last Night I Had A Dream tells of nocturnal fear while Simon Smith and the Dancing Bear is a curious story of strange fame. Old Man is an unsentimental look at the end of life.

The humor in Political Science is biting and a bit sardonic, and hilarious or scary depending on your outlook. As a Clevelander, Burn On has a special place in my heart. The seemingly slight Memo To My Son turns out to be as sentimental as Newman gets. The quaint Dayton, Ohio 1903 longs for a simpler time. You Can Leave Your Hat On, made famous by Joe Cocker, sounds both sexier and just a bit sad and creepy in Newman's superior version. The final track, God's Song, is one of the more nasty rants against religion ever put to music. 

Some of them seem small compared to the big statements, but everything is perfectly crafted with the appropriate support and ideal arrangements. Classic.

Bad Love contains some of Newman's most sentimental moments as well as some of his most biting satire. Newman himself said, "Before I started Bad Love, I wasn't exactly sure I could do a rock 'n' roll record at 65, or however old I was. But I was satisfied that it was a good record. Maybe my best record."

My Country starts things off with a lovely story of family, community and television. Shame presents a pathetic old man's lust for a younger woman. One of the highlights is I'm Dead (But I Don't Know It), a scathing indictment of rockers who have kept at it too long that includes the lines "Each record that I'm making, Is like a record that I've made, Just not as good". Then we get the sadly sentimental longing for lost love that is Every Time It Rains. That's followed by The Great Nations of Europe, an hilarious (or awful) evaluation of the barbaric tendencies of the "refined" European explorers of the Americas. The One You Love is a warning to men that can't read their lover's mind.

The World Isn't Fair is Newman's critique of the Aristocracy we all live in (or with). Newman sings the praise of untruths in the western swing of Big Hat, No Cattle. Better Off Dead tells the sad tale of one-sided love affairs, in his own funny way. I Miss You is a beautiful, sensitive, sentimental ode to a lost love. Going Home is a brief WWI soldier's story, and then I Want Everyone To Like Me ends the record on an upbeat swinging tune about just what it sounds like. It is both funny and true.

Some of them seem small compared to the big statements, but everything is perfectly crafted with the appropriate support and ideal arrangements. Classic.