Audio Files

By GINA VIVINETTO, SCOTT PALMER, BRIAN ORLOFF and ALAN RITTNER

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 15, 2001

LIZA MINNELLI, THE MILLENNIUM COLLECTION (A&M/UNIVERSAL) Anyone who knows me knows I'm completely freaked out by Liza Minnelli. It's not that she's perpetual tabloid fodder, or that she talks in that old Vegas lingo where everyone is "magic" and a "gem." Once, I got spooked in an Italian restaurant because my server -- a vivacious, effeminate man -- resembled Minnelli so much in demeanor: big, bombastic voice, shmaltzy delivery, jittery mannerisms.

Minnelli just seems as if she's being forced to be a star, and that scares me. I imagine an invisible pistol to her head all the while she's maniacally laughing and singing and kicking and doing those "jazz hands."

So, with trepidation I slipped Minnelli's Millennium Collection into my stereo. Now, these Millennium Collections are a case unto themselves. Universal has issued one for just about every artist you can imagine. (I'm crossing my fingers for a Pia Zadora collection. Tiny Tim, too.)

But Minnelli, of course, is deserving of one. Like her mom -- that would be superstar Judy Garland -- she has a grand voice. It's gigantic, all encompassing. It can grab you by the lapel and shake you, for heaven's sake.

But, if this collection represents the best of Minnelli's 35-year recording career, we're in trouble.

It's not her; it's the tunes. Some are magnificent gems penned by Gershwin, Bacharach and Porter, but the arrangements are filled with more sap than a maple tree. I'm all sticky just listening to them. Can't this woman find a decent producer? I ache for Minnelli. She has proved she's more than a novelty act, more than Judy's Daughter. Imagine trying to live under that rainbow your entire life.

But, in Minnelli's attempt to be hip, trying to blend standards with the rock era, she fails, as The Man I Love demonstrates. And, good lord, what have we done to Johnny Mercer's Come Rain or Come Shine? Disco beats? Much of this is just dated. The cover of MacArthur Park, you know, the "someone left a cake out in the rain" song, is unnecessary. And, where's New York, New York, pray tell?

We have a nice live version of Cabaret, Minnelli's signature tune. Which reminds me: Minnelli has earned armfuls of Oscars and Tonys and other little men. This is a lady who's bursting with talent, we know that. But she doesn't get her due in this collection. Grade: C.

-- GINA VIVINETTO, Times pop music critic

JOHN LEWIS, EVOLUTION II (ATLANTIC) Unfortunately, John Lewis, one of jazz's most enduring composers and ambassadors, founder of the Modern Jazz Quartet, died last month at age 80. We're left with Evolution II, his follow-up to 1999's pristine Evolution, the first solo piano collection Lewis had released in 30 years.

This second installment is as lovely. Lewis is accompanied by a trio, but they sacrifice none of the spare eloquence. Lewis' playing mimics Count Basie's; everything counts. No flowery notes. No frills.

He chooses some of his own classics, such as Trieste and Django, and some by others: the bouncy What Is This Thing Called Love? and Come Rain or Come Shine. The pieces seamlessly follow each other, creating a whole that is dignified, sinewy and sumptuous. Grade: A.

-- G.V.

AEROSMITH, JUST PUSH PLAY (COLUMBIA) Fresh off being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in March, Aerosmith has released Just Push Play. It's the group's first full-length studio venture since 1997's Nine Lives. Remarkably, Just Push Play is the first Aerosmith album to be produced by band members Steven Tyler and Joe Perry.

The CD starts promisingly enough with two strong rockers, but quickly disintegrates. After the radio-ready hit Jaded, everything on the album sounds the same. The cheesy ballads, hard-driving rockers, trippy vocals and hip-hop experimentation have the band going in no clear direction. It makes you long for the days before Aerosmith discovered the commercial joys of the corporate power ballad. If you're an Aerosmith loyalist, the CD has enough predictable riffs and pop melodies to keep you satisfied. Fly Away From Here and Sunshine are highlights. It's too bad Just Push Play doesn't measure up to the massive amount of PR and advertising being spent to promote this release. Grade: C-

-- SCOTT PALMER, Times correspondent

ANI DIFRANCO, REVELLING/RECKONING (RIGHTEOUS BABE RECORDS) Ani DiFranco is a music-machine workaholic. In the past two years, she has released three major albums and toured all the while.

Once fans hear Revelling/Reckoning they may not be willing to let DiFranco take a breather any time soon, either. From the first note of the acid, jazzy Ain't That the Way to the final, somber horn toots of In Here, DiFranco has crafted a pure folk/funk fusion and then some.

DiFranco's recording sessions turned into a big ol' funky jam session, incorporating lush instrumentals (including a proper horn section) into the traditional mix. No longer is she the confused, indignant twentysomething known for her poetic venom. Revelling/Reckoning showcases a more mature, complex side of DiFranco.

New touches expand DiFranco's sound, including several purely instrumental and spoken-word tracks. Such features breathe new life into DiFranco's repertoire. Her songs captivate the mind -- they're thinkers -- in true Ani-bliss. Revelling/Reckoning is a moving, stimulating, stunning tapestry of music. Grade: A.

-- BRIAN ORLOFF, Times correspondent

STEVE MALKMUS, STEVE MALKMUS (MATADOR) Reportedly, Malkmus wanted to credit his solo debut to the Jicks before Matador kayoed the idea. Shame, because it would have been a nice, modest way of establishing his identity outside Pavement while underscoring his commitment to the concept of a band. Which in turn might explain why this sounds pretty much like a Pavement album rather than the usual renounce-the-past breakaway indulgence.

Not exactly like a Pavement album, though. With Malkmus overdubbing himself, there is a variety of keyboards where Scott Kannberg's second guitar might be, and rhythmically it's a bit more off-kilter (dig that funky cowbell on The Hook). More crucially, the recording sessions seem to have caught him in an almost frivolous mood: This is a lovely, casual, sweet-tempered record, a labor of love for a man who wears Underdog T-shirts and enjoys a good microbrew. Lyrics are gnomic as usual, with narratives and in-jokes about pirates and Agamemnon and Yul Brynner and various exotic locales. As usual, you could build a seminar around decoding them. But if Pavement's farewell, Terror Twilight, seemed a bit too logey to be worth the trouble, the buoyancy of the music here might inspire you to believe you know what he's speak-singing about. And also as usual, the tunes are amazing. Grade: A-.

-- ALAN RITTNER, Times staff writer

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