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Todd Clouser's A Love Electric: 20th Century Folk Selections

By Mark Corroto
March 8, 2012
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Todd Clouser's A Love Electric: 20th Century Folk Selections

More than rock musicians and more than blues artists, jazz musicians carry the greatest burden of musical legacy. There are not stories about a contemporary rock musician who dedicates his career to mastering

The Beatles

band / ensemble / orchestra

" data-original-title="" title="">The Beatles catalog, or of the one who's playing is paralyzed because she cannot deal with

Jimi Hendrix

guitar, electric
1942 - 1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Jimi Hendrix's solos. Nope. Only in jazz does the legacy of the past pose obstacles so large as

Art Tatum

piano
1909 - 1956

" data-original-title="" title="">Art Tatum,

Charlie Parker

saxophone, alto
1920 - 1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Charlie Parker, and

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane that many contemporary musicians can never scale the mountain and forge their own paths. Some say that happened when jazz stopped being our music and became art music.

Guitarist

Todd Clouser

guitar
b.1981

" data-original-title="" title="">Todd Clouser hopes to reverse all of that thinking with

A Love Electric

" data-original-title="" title="">A Love Electric, a band that is rediscovering rock, funk, and pop as jazz music, and most importantly, jazz as folk music. This disc follows A Love Electric (Rope-A-Dope, 2010) with a celebration of "The Peoples'" music. Where his previous disc only had one cover, Harry Nilsson's "One" (made famous by

Three Dog Night

" data-original-title="" title="">Three Dog Night), here all the tracks are covers. On this first disc of a three-part series of folkloric music, the music is exactly what jazz once was. Remember when songs from Tin Pan Alley and Broadway were mined to serve as a launch pad for jazz?

Their modern launch takes in

Pearl Jam

" data-original-title="" title="">Pearl Jam's "Release," Nirvana's "All Apologies," and the Beastie Boys' "Gratitude." The key to Clouser's success is the lack of campiness.

Lou Reed

guitar
1942 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Lou Reed's mini-masterpiece "Heroin," written for

Velvet Underground

" data-original-title="" title="">Velvet Underground, is delivered with the crazed crescendo of the original;

Adam Meckler

trumpet
b.1984

" data-original-title="" title="">Adam Meckler's trumpet gives voice to Clouser's guitar. As with most instrumental jazz, that voice is a soloist. Clouser invites fellow band leader and trumpeter

Steven Bernstein

trumpet
b.1961

" data-original-title="" title="">Steven Bernstein to sit in on

Buddy Holly

composer / conductor
1936 - 1959

" data-original-title="" title="">Buddy Holly's "Everyday." They lay out a relaxed cover that smooths the rockabilly into something closer to surfer music. Not so with

Neil Young

guitar
b.1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Neil Young's "The Needle & The Damage Done." Clouser maintains the sorrow of addiction here, much like the early work of

Bill Frisell

guitar, electric
b.1951

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Frisell.

Clouser's music reinvests jazz in the traditions of modern folk music, and it is about time.

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Track Listing

Little Boxes; Everyday; The Needle & The Damage Done; Pay Me My Money Down; All Apologies; Heroin; Gratitude; Release.

Personnel

Todd Clouser

guitar

Todd Clouser: guitars, Rhodes piano; Mark Aanderud: piano; Aaron Crus: bass; Hernan Hecht: drums; Adam Mackler: trumpet; Bryan Nichols: Rhodes piano; Rick Parker: trombone; Cyro Baptista; percussion; Steven Bernstein: trumpet (2); Greg Schute: percussion (6).

Album information

Title: 20th Century Folk Selections | Year Released: 2012 | Record Label: Royal Potato Family

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