Bob Powers

MARIETTA, OH, USA - Mae Robertson could well become the next big star. She's used to doing things not by the book, but by setting her own terms for life. Her fourth album, "Smile" (Lyric Partners) displays a wonderful voice, just a smidgen beyond the best of the folk singers. But Robertson, 48 this year, realizes that things must happen soon if they are to happen at all.

A few years ago, Robertson owned three children's stores in the Northeast. Then her friend Don Jackson overheard her singing the traditional folk song, "The Water Is Wide" as a lullaby to her baby. Now her fourth album is reaching stores nationwide.

Although Robertson has won many plaudits in her brief career, she remains one of those talented but little-known performers, the kind of entertainer who needs many things to happen before she can become the major star that possibly lies in her future. Here is a singer who has all the talent in the world, needing now only the big break that will put "Smile" into the charts and Robertson fielding offers from night clubs, a major label record contract and cooperation from radio stations around the country.

"Smile" has all the ingredients needed to propel Robertson toward the top rung of the music world. Robertson's voice is golden, pure, charming, warm and as one writer said, "smooth as velvet."

The New York Times, back in 1995, described Robertson as having "a luminous throaty voice."

The new album opens with "Lanterns on the Levee," a beautiful song that speaks of a woman who promises to be on the levee when her loved one returns. It's nice and a fine showcase for Robertson's truly special voice. The third song is "Side of the Road," a spectacular ballad from the great Lucinda Williams. The words seem written with Robertson in mind and she sings them with a solemnity that makes the arrangement cause listeners to come alive with a ballad that is both deep and romantic, a song that speaks of a lost love and the need to be alone. Anyone who's been there, done that, may well adopt this version for their personal, meaningful and stirring lament.

Robertson knows how to pick great songs and then do wondrous things with them. There a bunch of superb talents who wrote these winners, including Johnny Cash, Eddy Arnold, Beth Neilsen Chapman, Paul Simon, the clever Randy Newman and Charlie Chaplin, who composed "Smile," a beautiful and moving composition which never fails to score a direct hit on one's vulnerable heart.

Mae Robertson has come up with a winner in "Smile." Head for your favorite record shop today and demand a copy.

Classic Jazz From Fantasy

When the package left by the postman carries a return address of Berkeley, Calif., I know some of the good stuff has arrived at the Powers office in little old Marietta, Ohio.

Fantasy Records continues to pursue a remastering program of some of the best jazz ever put on records. Over the years, Fantasy has acquired many classic albums, done a fantastic job of fixing the sound, thereby producing breathtaking "new" CDs from tapes and other relics of the early (and prime) years in the history of jazz.

Here are some recent examples of the master's touch:

1. Miles Davis had a great quartet in 1956, when "Steamin'" with the Miles Davis Quintet was first released. The new CD sounds great, giving a fresh sound to the work of Davis on trumpet, John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, the fabulous Red Garland at the piano, Paul Chambers on bass and the extraordinary Philly Joe Jones behind the drums.

   The set opens with "Surrey with the Fringe on Top," an unlikely choice for improvisation, but it sounds fine. The old Dizzy Gillespie tune, "Salt Peanuts," should bring smiles to the faces of older jazz fans who have pleasant memories of the fellow with the bent trumpet. "Diane" gets an excellent arraignment, and jazz perennial "Well, You Needn't" gets a fine handling by this truly all-star group.

2. "Far Cry": Eric Dolphy played more instruments than most major jazz figures at work around 1960. He was accomplished on alto sax, bass clarinet, and flute. I particularly like his work on the odd-for-jazz clarinet. Booker Little was a great prospect for immortality when he died at ten months after this 1960 album was recorded.

   "Far Cry" (Prestige Records) is an album that sounds joyful, yet the knowledge that the exuberant Little would pass from the scene shortly thereafter should make a true jazz aficionados appreciate the goodies found in this session. Besides Dolphy and Little, the band includes Jaki Byard, a solid pianist, the magnificent Ron Carter on bass and the masterful Roy Haynes on drums.

   The album commences with two salutes, one to Charlie Parker's mother and the other, a tip of the derby to Parker himself. The title song, "Far Cry," proves memorable. Unusual jazz arraignments are given to two standards, "Tenderly," and the old Doris Day smash, "It's Magic."

   I still remember where I was when I heard about the deaths of trumpeter Clifford Brown and pianist Booker Little in an auto accident, removing two of the jazz greats from the scene. I walked into the Post Office in the small town of Florence, Ky., taking a stack of mail to be dispatched to subscribers of the weekly newspaper when I began my career in journalism.

3. "Sonny Rollins Plus 4" (Prestige Records) gives jazz fans the final studio performances of two of the most talented jazzmen of that era. The album contains "Valse Hot," "Kiss and Run," "I Feel a Song Comin' On," "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep," and "Pent-Up House." All are performed with the verve and excitement of some of the great all-time performers in jazz history. This is an album that longtime jazz fans will enjoy. In fact, I can't imagine anyone with an acquaintance with jazz who wouldn't dig this one.

Bob Powers always is interested in hearing from record distributors who deal in jazz, rock, folk, and anything that's good. For instructions on getting your album reviewed, contact him at oldbob@localnet.com.

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