MAERCKS, OWEN - Kinds of Blue

"Four decades after his last solo LP, Teenage Sex Therapist (FTR 153-2LP), Owen Maercks is back with a new one. Crazily, much of the same gang is on hand for Kinds of Blue. Guitarist Henry Kaiser was even the instigator of this project (as he so often is), suggesting it was time for Owen to cut the blues album they'd always talked about. Saxophonists Larry Ochs (ROVA) and John Oswald (Plunderphonics) are also back to blow gorgeous squalls. There's a new rhythm section in town -- Doug Sovern on bass and Scott Amendola on drums -- and they sound great, laying down whatever sounds are required as a base for the most-cracked blues wailing of Owen's guitar and vocals. The choice of cover tunes should be read as some sort of key. Lonesome Sundown's "Love Me Now" replaces some of its original swamp vibe with an approach one might liken to Bobby "Blue" Bland's sophisto-hunch. "Blue Monk" is a wonderfully fractured spin on a par with Chadbourne's visits to the Thelonious songbook. And Robert Pe