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Pino Palladino and Blake Mills: Notes with Attachments

By Chris May
March 12, 2021
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Pino Palladino and Blake Mills: Notes with Attachments

Do not be put off by the cover. It might suggest inaccessible, up itself, bone-dry cerebralism, but the reality is contrariwise. Around a third of the music is vaguely reminiscent, in spirit if not in execution, of the 1949-1950 Birth Of The Cool sessions conducted by

Miles Davis

trumpet
1926 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Miles Davis with arrangers

Gil Evans

composer / conductor
1912 - 1988

" data-original-title="" title="">Gil Evans,

John Lewis

piano
1920 - 2001

" data-original-title="" title="">John Lewis,

Gerry Mulligan

saxophone, baritone
1927 - 1996

" data-original-title="" title="">Gerry Mulligan and

John Carisi

trumpet
1922 - 1992

" data-original-title="" title="">John Carisi. Much of the rest sounds like a sci-fi twist on traditional Senegambian music.

The protagonists here—bassist

Pino Palladino

bass, electric
b.1957

" data-original-title="" title="">Pino Palladino and producer / arranger / guitarist

Blake Mills

guitar and vocals
b.1986

" data-original-title="" title="">Blake Mills—are infrequently seen on All About Jazz pages. Mills, the younger of the two, gained notice in 2020 with his co-production of drummer

Ted Poor

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Ted Poor's You Already Know (Impulse!), which shares some of Notes With Attachments aesthetic, though it realizes it with a smaller lineup (Poor and alto saxophonist

Andrew D'Angelo

saxophone, alto

" data-original-title="" title="">Andrew D'Angelo with an occasional string section and the odd flourish from Mills' guitars). Mills' production touch is subtle and understated and in this respect he reminds one of

Daniel Lanois

guitar
b.1951

" data-original-title="" title="">Daniel Lanois in his early years.

Palladino is a London-based session musician who has spent forty years touring and/or recording with high-end rock, funk and jazz artists, including The Who, Keith Richards, Erykah Badu, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Questlove, Elton John,

John Mayer

guitar
b.1977

" data-original-title="" title="">John Mayer and

Herbie Hancock

piano
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Herbie Hancock. One of Palladino's best known associations has been with neo-soul singer D'Angelo on the latter's

Sly and the Family Stone

band / ensemble / orchestra

" data-original-title="" title="">Sly and the Family Stoned-out albums Voodoo (Virgin, 2000) and Black Messiah (RCA, 2014). On the face of it, Palladino's partnership with Mills is an unlikely one, but, like they say, opposites attract. On Notes With Attachments the duo are seamlessly on the same page.

The diverse group of thirteen musicians, who are heard in various combinations over the eight tracks, include drummer

Chris Dave

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Chris Dave, saxophonists

Sam Gendel

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Sam Gendel and

Marcus Strickland

clarinet, bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Marcus Strickland and keyboard player

Larry Goldings

organ, Hammond B3
b.1968

" data-original-title="" title="">Larry Goldings. The aforementioned Ted Poor pops up on one track playing prepared piano, as do You Already Know string players

Rob Moose

violin

" data-original-title="" title="">Rob Moose and

Andrew Bird

violin

" data-original-title="" title="">Andrew Bird. The range of instruments to be heard is particularly rich in saxophones (a wide range of acoustic versions plus a Poly-Sax and a Mellotron simulation), keyboards and synthesizers, Senegambian percussion and string instruments, and, of course, basses. Low-end frequencies are to the fore, from Palladino's various acoustic, electric and synthesized instruments through a bass saxophone, a bass clarinet, a baritone guitar and a bass harmonica. Check Personnel below for details.

Notes With Attachments straddles several genres including art rock, library, jazz and West African music without slotting neatly into any of them. The playing time is disappointingly short at 31:24 minutes, but too-short is preferable to too-long.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Just Wrong; Soundwalk; Ekut��; Notes With Attachments; Djurkel; Chris Dave; Man From Molise; Off The Cuff.

Personnel

Pino Palladino

bass, electric

Blake Mills

guitar and vocals

Additional Instrumentation

Pino Palladino: semi-acoustic bass, bass harmonica, bass, polyphonic bass synthesizer, calabash, guitars, fretless bass, Fender bass; Blake Mills: berimbau, nylon string guitar, electro guitar, Coral electric sitar, DI Neve Fuzz, percussion, polyphonic guitar synthesizer, rubberized guitar, ngoni, fixed reeds, string synthesizer, e-flute with Direct String Synthesizer, fretless baritone guitar, drums, slide guitar, marimba, wordless vocals; Chris Dave: drums, baby kit, percussion, clavinet, Rhodes, brushes; Sam Gendel: Poly-Sax with BOSS Super Shifter, saxophones; Larry Goldings: Mellotron saxophone, celeste, Hammond B3, Prophet V; Rob Moose: viola, violin; Jacques Schwarz-Bart: sax section; Bruce Flowers: IZotope synthesizer; Andrew Bird: violin; Marcus Strickland: bass clarinet, saxophone; Ted Poor: prepared piano; Ben Aylon: Senegalese percussion; Matt Chamberlain: timbales.

Album information

Title: Notes with Attachments | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: Impulse! Records

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