Bob Powers

MARIETTA, OH, USA - This gray bearded columnist reviews mostly jazz in all flavors. But when good music of any genre crosses my front door, I always give it a listen and ­ when appropriate ­ will write a review.

Burrito Deluxe's new CD, "Georgia Peach"(Lamon Records) conducts an overdue salute to the 60s country rock band, the Flying Burrito Brothers. Gram Parsons was one of the founders who received lots of ink for his "bittersweet hipness" in the liner notes. But Sneaky Pete Kleinov, steel guitarist supreme, never got his proper due. "Georgia Peach" tries to make amends. The effort works well, as Kleinov never sounded better. Three compositions of Gram Parsons receive a proper salute in this joyous return to those special times when we all were a helluva lot younger.

Not quite jazz, not really country, and closer to rock than most of the salute bands working today, Burrito Deluxe has put together an album that will please folks from all categories. Then again, it could possibly offend devotees of every category to which the band pays homage.

Country Kiss?

Hayseed Dixie sprang to life two years ago when the hillbilly rock band exploded and drew attention with their debut album, "Hayseed Dixie: a Hillbilly Tribute to AC / DC." Coming Feb. 18 to a record store near you will be "Hayseed Dixie: A Hillbilly Tribute to Kiss" (Dueltone Music).

Hearing bluegrass versions of the songs of Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons makes the listener yearn for the original versions. The musicianship of these redneck masters works for awhile, but quickly turns for the worse. Kiss made a lot of rabid fans and seemed to have their pseudo "music" unworthy of a full album. Kiss was and is a parody. The music back at the beginning made teenagers grin and developed a fan base that wandered about the country from one venue to another, many adult men decked out in full replicas of the band's members' notorious quartet.

The album has its moments, but a full CD seems unnecessary.

Mike Longo, Jazzman

While working 42 years in various clubs in Greater New York, Mike Longo has always portrayed himself as a jazzman. Longo's work on piano has crossed many types of jazz, starting out as a bop performer and changing with the times to the spot he has today. Longo plays piano and does it extremely well.

His new album demonstrates that he's been out of the spotlight for much too long. I confess that I never heard of Longo, and I believe myself to be a walking encyclopedia of the New York scene that goes back further than Longo himself.

"Mike Longo Trio Live" (CAP Records) was recorded last fall at the Detroit International Jazz Festival. Backed by Santi Debriano on bass and Ray Mosca behind the drum kit, Longo plays a varied program that touches many bases of jazz. The program opens with a fine rendering of "My Funny Valentine." Longo contines to pay tributes to some of the biggest names in jazz history.

"Trane's Blues" is :Longo's bow to masterful John Coltrane. Dizzy Gillespie's long reign as one of music's major musicians is one reason that Longo uses three of Dizzy's long list of great melodies.

Longo devotes more than 13 minutes to a medley of songs from "Porgy and Bess," with the trio making these familiar compositions seem brand new.

Mike Longo, born in Cincinnati, years later wound up in Chicago where he met piano genius Oscar Peterson. Soon he was enrolled in the Advanced School of Contemporary Music. Moving on to New York City, Longo settled down and found work accompanying such stars as Nancy Wilson, Gloria Lynn, Jimmy Witherspoon, and Joe Williams.

Longo spent nine years as pianist for the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet. He became music director for Dizzy and began writing for the quintet. He delivered a eulogy at Gillespie's funeral in 1993.

Monk the Miraculous

I could listen to Thelonius Monk all night. Although one of the seminal musicians in the development of jazz, Monk can't be classified other than to inform all that ask that the man was simply one of the great men in jazz history.

Riverside Records has recently reissued "Misterioso," which for my money is one of the better efforts to come from this pianist. Recorded back in 1957, "Misterioso" contains magnificent music including several live appearances, along with other music recorded the following year. The remastered album will thrill those who first bought this material. The increased fidelity will please anyone who remembers how the music of that period sounded back then. It could be tinny or sometimes muffled. Now it's definite ear candy.

Monk's band at the time consisted of Johnny Griffin, a jazz master on tenor sax, Ahmed Abdul Malik on bass and the incredible (and still performing) Roy Haynes on drums.

The album includes Monk's salute to his fellow pianist, Bud Powell, titled "In Walked Bud.: And near the finish of the album, Monk plays one of his best known tunes, "'Round Midnight."

You can't get much better than 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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