Search - Jazz Passengers, Deborah Harry, Elvis Costello :: Individually Twisted

Jazz with a twist

N. Dorward | Toronto, ON Canada | 11/15/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'd been only mildly grabbed by the Jazz Passengers' previous CD, _In Love_, which is a pile of self-consciously wacky songs sung by an admittedly impressive array of guest stars: Mavis Staples, Jimmy Scott, Bob Dorough, Debbie Harry, Jeff Buckley, &c. It's more listenable than Carla Bley's _Escalator Over the Hill_ & less slick than a Hal Wilner album, but it's still a bit wearyingly offbeat & kaleidoscopic. So I'm extremely pleased that _Individually Twisted_ marks a considerable advance over its precursor. In large part this is because of the full-time recruitment of Debbie Harry, who is stunningly good throughout, on worldly-wise originals like "Porkchop" (a sardonic tirade about self-absorbed, two-timing boyfriends) & "Ole" (with its amusingly virtuosic lyric about Mexico, worthy of comparison with Tom Lehrer's "In Guadalajara"), chilling ballads like "Imitation of a Kiss" & "Angel Eyes" (Harry's reading of the line "Excuse me while I disappear" is devastating), or some entertaining revisitings of material like Neal Hefti's "L'il Darlin'" or the Blondie favourite "The Tide Is High". Elvis Costello pops in for a couple of tracks, including a marvellous duet with Harry on "Doncha Go 'Way Mad" (an instant collector's item, of course, but also, more importantly, one of the best things on the disc). -- The Passengers are in impeccable form, the slightly woozy horns riding the cooled-out sound of Bill Ware's vibes. Rob Thomas on violin is a new recruit (jazz fans will know him as the only violinist to take a solo on Lee Konitz's _Plays French Impressionist Music_), & turns in some nifty work.A really fine album, very much worth checking out. Alas, I don't think Harry's with the Passengers anymore, since Blondie's reformed recently. However, I gather she's still keeping her hand in with the band, since she turns up on Bill Ware's new CD."

WOW!

Todd Johnson | Lakeland, Florida United States | 06/03/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Though I don't know Jazz Passenger history, I do love this album...especially because of Deborah Harry and Elvis Costello. Their duet "Doncha Go Way Mad" is spectacular! And it is because of Debbie and Blondie that I learned to love all kinds of music, including jazz (their album AUTOAMERICAN has two jazz songs "Here's Looking At You" and "Faces". And NO EXIT features the cheeky "Boom Boom In The Zoom Zoom Room"). Either if you like jazz or Deborah Harry, you'll love INDIVIDUALLY TWISTED. The Passengers really know good hitchhikers when they see 'em!"

Amazing!

John | 08/02/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Perhaps the most absurd yet beautiful recording of jazz I have heard in awhile! I bet this was as fun for the artists to create as it is to listen to! Buy it! WOW!"