Shopping List: The New and the Notable
Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, Mahler 5 (Deutsche Grammophon)
Twenty-six-year-old Gustavo Dudamel was recently selected to succeed Esa-Pekka Salonen as the Los Angeles Philharmonic next music director. His assured and sympathetic navigation of this irrepressible Venezuelan Youth Orchestra through the dramatic twists and turns of Mahler's Fifth Symphony justifies his new gig.
Habib Koité & Bamada, Afriki (Cumbancha/Contre Jour)
Bonnie Raitt's just one supporter of guitarist Habib Koité, the Mali neotraditionalist and leader of Bamada, a band that specializes in high yet understated energy and loping grooves. The real magic arrives whenever balafon (wooden xylophone) elder Kélétigui Diabaté raises his musical voice in songs that urge African independence, praise motherhood, and celebrate Malian culture.
Bettye LaVette, The Scene of the Crime (Anti-)
"I was singin' R&B back in '62/ Before you were born and your mama, too," wails Bettye LaVette in the autobiographical "Before the Money Came (Battle of Bettye LaVette)." Sixty-something LaVette, one of the greatest soul singers you've probably never heard, is the real deal. The Scene of the Crime, recorded in Muscle Shoals, Ala., and backed by the brawny alt-rock group Drive-By Truckers, packs a powerful punch with a country twist. This career summation has promise to spare.
The Pizzarelli Boys, Sunday at Pete's (Challenge)
On this charmingly unadorned album of instrumental jazz, guitarist John Pizzarelli, his rhythm-guitarist father Bucky, and his bassist brother Martin recreate family evenings spent picking, singing, and jamming along to the likes of "Sweet Sue," "Alabamy Bound," and "Yes Sir! That's My Baby" at their uncle's dinner table. With music this relaxed and casual, even the mistakes sound good.