Customer Reviews

Revolver: New Spin

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

For all the talk of how ground breaking The Fab Four were, Beatles fans have become increasingly protective of Beatle music. It should come, then, as no surprise that this new album by Ann Dyer is going to take its lumps.

Revolver: A New Spin does not fall into the mould for usual jazz song book. It is not Kenny G musak, nor is it straight ahead Joshua Reman fairly standard readings of fairly standard songs, this is not even Cassandra Wilson (Re)Running The Voodoo down. Revolver: A New Spin is much more than all that, it is a very personal take on the Beatles' best music. It sounds nothing like the Beatles, instead hindustani influenced jazz vocals mix with electric and accoustic instruments, giving us the freshest take on Beatles music since... well, a very long time, I'm sure.

At it's most pop, songs like "Good Day Sunshine," and "And Your Bird Can Sing" sound as if they could have been played at Lilith Fair. At it's most daring, which would be pretty much every other track, the unorthedox instrumentation, and breezy, loose production compliment Ann's beautiful, edgy, droning, and whether you like her music or not, unique voicings producing truly psychedelic jazz.

I must admit that at first I was put off by such a daring approach to such sacred, (to some of us,) music. Where were the great Macca basslines? But after a second listening the music opened up for me, and I see this album as a real treasure.

I played New Spin for a friend the other day and he said that it sounded like something the late great Don Cherry would have played on ten years ago. If that last sentence means anything to you check this album out. If not, well your guess is as good as mine. I just had to write something, lest people would think that New Spin is really as wretched as the previous reviews said it is.

This spin on Revolver, the ground braking Beatles recording, is a new spin indeed! And why not, it sounded different then as a Beatle album, and sounds just as fresh now. Ann Dyer takes these tunes to new grounds, proof that well written music can be taken anywhere. Open your minds for these versions of Revolver classics.

Ann Dyer was one of the hits of the 1994 Monterey Jazz Festival and this 1999 album that provides, as the title indicates, a new spin on the Beatles' classic "Revolver" album from 1966 was her second release. "Revolver: A New Spin" puts Dyer firmly in the new wave of jazz singers who mines rock and roll for songs to cover and are just as happy to do John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison songs as they are the classic popular songs of Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and Cole Porter. The result is a scintillating fusion of rock and avant-garde jazz that should impress open-minded listeners of both jazz and the Fab Four. Dyer and her musicians make some bold choices, but for all of those who were less than inspired by the covers on the "I Am Sam" soundtrack, "Revolver: A New Spin" definitely represents the road not taken.

I was interested to learn that Dyer has studied Hindustani vocalizing because I mistook some of her efforts on songs like "Tomorrow Never Knows" as reflecting the Eastern influences that Harrison was starting to bring to the Beatles at that time. I found myself enjoying the longer tracks, such as the moody "Eleanor Rigby," which now has some tango elements, and runs almost nine minutes long. If those tracks prove too be too much, then something amidst the slowed down "She Said, She Said," the rather simple funk of "Good Day, Sunshine," the cabaret feel of "For No One," and/or the avant-garde version of "Taxman" might be more to your tastes. You just have to be open to the idea of reinterpretation, which is certainly central to the idea of jazz.

Hats off to Ann Dyer's wonderful reincarnation of the beatles classic. Music must change and this is a perfect way to drive the point home. While many musicians are content to do placid covers or reworks of the Beatles seminal songbook into the jazz idiom in a sort of commercial tribute, Ann and her Fairy's just decided to tear the roof off. They take no prisoners as each song is deconstructed and reformed around it's lyric essence. All the inventive musical precision of the players and singer do not detract from the original. There is a clear respect to the Original Past Masters. This album's concept as well as commitment to do something truly original is biggest breath of fresh air this listener has inhaled since Dread Zeppelin! Peace and Namaste.

I agree with everything the Amazon editor and the Supper Chief set. Fans of Patricia Barber, Holly Cole and Cassandra Wilson will love it. After listening to this album all I could say is wow!

For all 10 or so of you out there who have heard this, I'll bet 5 of you love it and 5 of you hate it; and nobody is in between. The reason you feel that way is that you believe that "Revolver" is one of the absolute hallmarks of the '60's (and you're right, of course); and this album takes the psychedelia of the Beatles to new heights (note what's not on this album: "Here There and Everywhere". The prettiest Beatles song ever, IMHO; and much too pretty for this album). Some of you will hate that anybody had the chutzpah to try to "out-do" the Beatles; and some of you will admire the "chutzpah" of anyone who tried and appeared to "out-do" the Beatles. So rate it without reference to The Fab Four, if you can; and on that scale, it's pretty good. Ann Dyer is not the most vocally gifted singer in the world; but she gets it done with what she has, and the end result is always interesting. Recommended.

There are a few good cuts on this album, the key word is "few". I agree with an earlier reviewer that some of the tracks are un-listenable. Ann does have an amazing voice; how many modern singers can sound exactly like a kitten with its tail caught in a screen door? Ann Dyer can. How many singers can make you hate a wonderful, melodic, Beatles song? Ann can. Some of the tracks ARE listenable, and sound a little similar to Patricia Barber, the key words here are "a little". Ms Barber, however, is much, much better. Doing a complete Beatles album in a jazz style is a tremendous and original concept, however Ms. Dyer has failed. Those of you interested, listen to all the samples b/4 u buy!

I don't want to be too harsh in my criticism of the artist, being one myself. I would just like to say that I found it very hard listening to some great songs get an out of tune rendering by a westerner fascinated with Indian vocal music, who is simply not a very good singer. I can't help wondering why the artist went down this street. It is almost painful to listen to being a fan of both the Beatles and of Classical Indian music. This recording has really turned me off the artist . Sorry Ann.

I believe I have fairly planet-wide taste in music...world beat...classic jazz...old southern rock... sometimes even children's tunes. I felt nostalgic for the Revolver days after reading a local jazz columnist's review of this new release so I purchased it. I couldn't believe the noise I was hearing. Who pays to produce such junk? I've enjoyed other interpretations of the Beatles work but this one is simply awful. Dyer's voice is droning, the interpretations depressed, not unique, and the use of the sitar doesn't reach me at all. I wouldn't bother with this CD and I am unmoved to check out the rest of this "artist's" catalogue.