Mathis Gets Pipes Working Again

Sun., June 2, 1996

From Billboard

Johnny Mathis

All About Love - Columbia

Master of the romantic ballad, Johnny Mathis re-emerges from an absence from the spotlight with a collection of contemporary love songs penned by such top tunesmiths as Diane Warren, Stephen Bishop, Gerry Goffin and Carole King, Burt Bacharach and others. From the layered string sounds of “I Will Walk Away” to the intimacy of “Why Goodbye” to the catchy chorus of “Every Beat of My Heart,” Mathis soothes with his trademark silky tenor.

David Torn

What Means Solid, Traveller? - CMP

Last year, sonic alchemist David Torn’s “Tripping Over God” seemed like the ultimate six-string solo flight, but “What Means Solid, Traveller?” is “Tripping” times 10. Torn melds disparate noises into an artful whole, crafting mutant expression of the highest order. Industrial metal, jazz fusion, hoodoo blues, kraut-rock, ethno-beat and more are all seamlessly present in various strains. “Spell Breaks with the Weather” is emblematic: The key riff will capture the heart of the hardest rocker, while the loopy textures will entice ardent ambient types. Music for the millennium.

Sammy Kershaw

Politics, Religion and Her - Mercury

For an album that almost started over when producers were changed in mid-stream (from the team of Wilson and Cannon to Stegall), this set still manages to be a cohesive step forward in Kershaw’s career. For a singer who is placed in the ludicrous position (in some circles) of sounding too country, he sounds just about right in his mix of trad and modern country.

For someone who seldom writes, his song sense is usually unerring, as in the title cut and the should-be-a smash “Vidalia” - a rarity in that it is a clever song that isn’t simultaneously stupid.

Benny Carter, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones

Journey to Next - Lightyear

Innovative animators John and Faith Hubley cued their cartoons to swinging scores by the likes of Benny Carter, Dizzy Gillespie and Quincy Jones. Compiled here for the first time and recorded variously between 1956 and 1985, these syncopated soundtracks were crucial - not incidental - to the animated action and were often divided into multiple movements.

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