Review highlights: 69 Année Érotique

Paul Abella, Chicagojazz.com:

"Origin Records strikes again with another outstanding disc..."

“Oh man, this really is hip!”

"I loved Bishop’s disc from the second I put it in the CD player..."

"... fat bass lines and funky drum grooves..."

CD review: 69 Année Érotique - Allaboutjazz.com (#2)

69 Annee Erotique (Allaboutjazz.com - published: April 20, 2009)
Todd Bishop's Pop Art 4 | Origin Records (2009)
By Dan McClenaghan

69 Annee Erotique gets extra credit for off-the-beaten-path-ness. It is a work celebrating the music of the late French pop songster Serge Gainsbourg (1928- 1991), by Portland Oregon-based Todd Bishop's Pop Art 4. Gainsbourg, whose name may not be person-on-the-street familiar in the United States, was a pop icon in France from the late-1950s to the 1980s, a musical renaissance man of sorts who delved into jazz, pop, reggae, soundtracks, psychedelia and electronica, all while nurturing a reputation for unseemliness and personal excess in the mode of California poet/writer Charles Bukowski, to whom he has been compared.

The sound that drummer/band leader Bishop has crafted is a curious mix of garage/surf rock and Phil Spector-like wall of sound production, with some gritty saxophone, a dash of Neil Young and Crazy Horse grunge, going with gusto after Gainsbourg's simple and engaging yet ofttimes Brian Wilson (of The Beach Boys) type of pop song melodies.

Best of 2009: 69 Année Érotique - Allaboutjazz.com (#2)

Allaboutjazz.com's Dan McClenaghan put our 69 Année Érotique on his top ten CDs of 2009 list, along with albums by Jan Garbarek, Gary Peacock, Steve Kuhn, and Jessica Williams. Here's his introduction followed by our entry:

2009 was a fantastic year for music. Every disc on this list is a marvelous set of sounds. This is what keeps me excited about the art form.

Todd Bishop's Pop Art 4
69 Annee Erotique
Origin Records

A meticulously-crafted jazz/pop mix nod to the music of the late French musical Renaissance man, Serge Gainsbourg.

Dan's complete list after the break:

Best of 2009: 69 Année Érotique

69AE makes another best of 2009 list on AllAboutJazz.com- thanks C. Michael Bailey!

Here's the complete list:

Martial Solal
Live at the Village Vanguard: I Can't Give You Anything But Love
Cam Jazz

Enrico Pieranunzi
Enrico Pieranunzi Plays Domenico Scarlatti
Cam Jazz

Todd Bishop's Pop Art 4
69 Annee Erotique
Origin Records

CD Review: 69 Année Érotique - Chicagojazz.com

CD review: Todd Bishop’s Pop Art Four - 69 Annee Erotique (chicagojazz.com, published July, 2009)
by Paul Abella

Origin Records strikes again with another outstanding disc, this time from drummer Todd Bishop and an outstanding group playing the music of Serge Gainsbourg. I have to admit, I hadn’t a clue who Serge Gainsbourg was, prior to seeing this disc make its way across my desk. Of course, curiosity got the best of me and I had to check out Gainsbourg’s music to hear these songs straight from the source. What I heard was charming and familiar on a number of levels. At once, I heard the jazz meets French folk of Maurice Chevalier (or Edith Piaf), the soundtracks of any number of hip sixties and seventies movies, the nouveau chanson of Pauline Croze and even the music of Beck. What started off as, “These guys are doing a tribute to who?” quickly turned into, “Oh man, this really is hip!” I loved Bishop’s disc from the second I put it in the CD player––I am a sucker for fat bass lines and funky drum grooves, after all. But now, armed with the knowledge of what this stuff sounded like the first time around, I was eager to go back again and check it out anew.

Best of 2009: 69 Année Érotique / Larry Appelbaum

Here Library of Congress jazz specialist, writer, and WPFW DJ Larry Appelbaum plays his favorite recordings of 2009, including 69 Année Érotique:

Sound of Surprise
WPFW-FM
Washington D.C.
Sundays 4-6 pm

A Look Back at Favorite Releases From 2009 (in no particular order)

1) Gerald Clayton-Con Alma (Two Shade)
2) Dominick Farinacci-Don't Explain (Lovers, Tales & Dances)
3) Martial Solal-Green Dolphin Street (Live at Village Vanguard)
4) John Scofield-Just a Little While To Stay Here (Piety Street)
5) Allen Toussaint-St James Infirmary (The Bright Mississippi)
6) Joshua Redman-Round Reuben (Compass)
7) Fred Hersch-Por Toda Minha Vida (Fred Hersch Plays Jobim)
8) Luciana Souza-Sorriu Para Mim (Tide)
9) Gretchen Parlato-Doralice (In A Dream)
10) Kurt Elling-Dedicated To You (Dedicated To You)
11) Roberta Gambarini-So In Love (So In Love)
12) Bill Frisell-Lovesick Blues (Disfarmer)
13) Jeff "Tain" Watts-Return of the Jitney Man (Watts)
14) Anders Christiansen-Dear Someone (Dear Someone)
15) Anour Brahem-The Lover of Beirut (The Astounding Eyes of Rita)
16) John Patitucci-Mali (Remembrance)
17) Todd Bishop-69 Annee Erotique (69 Anne Erotique)
18) Cyro Baptista-Batida de Coco (Infinito)
19) Arve Henriksen-Migration (Cartography)
20) Miguel ZenonVilla Palmeras (Esta Plena)

CD review: 69 Année Érotique - Allmusic.com

69 Année Érotique: Music of Serge Gainsbourg (Allmusic.com - published May, 2009)
by Adam Greenberg

Todd Bishop has taken groups Lower Monumental and Flatland through somewhat revolutionary jazz territory before, exploring what modern free jazz could sound like while still putting together entirely listenable albums. On 69 Annee Erotique, Bishop takes his Pop Art 4 through some surprising new arrangements of old Serge Gainsbourg songs.

The songs vary from dark to light, slow to jumpy, but they're all given a strong touch of the new in Bishop's arrangements. There's some extra electrofunk quietly placed into the opening title track, and some extended low-end soloing on the sax from Richard Cole in the Ballade de Melody Nelson. A stronger European flavor makes its way in with Initials B.B., a bit of Albert Ayler-style funkiness in Cannabis, and an incredible mix of Brazilian friction drums, saxophones, and Olatunji's Akiwowo in New York, USA. The pace slows down considerably for a more sultry waltz then immediately jumps back up for Le Poinconneur des Lilas. The keyboards, courtesy of Steve Moore, get a chance to shine in Intoxicated Man, and the album finishes off with more of a period piece in Je T'aime…Moi Non Plus, complete with a few sultry vocals thrown in.

The album slinks and squirms all the way, keeping a sultry vibe to the proceedings, but at the same time never leaving a vibe to fend for itself. The arrangements and the band hold up each sound with care, giving it just the right bit of timbre to carry it through the piece in an almost destined manner. An excellent bit of reworking from a group that sounds like it has more to offer yet.

CD Review: 69 Année Érotique - Allaboutjazz.com

CD review: 69 Annee Erotique (Allaboutjazz.com - published: May 16, 2009)
Todd Bishop's Pop Art 4 | Origin Records (2009)
By C. Michael Bailey

Context can be everything or nothing. Listening to 69 Annee Erotique with no background will spark recognition of well-preserved lounge music of the 1960s/'70s, performed with modern sonics imitating those of the period: A bit of psychedelia wisping into the edges of post-war Western society right before the Summer of Love and the sexual revolution. The music is all well played and entertaining. Portland Oregon drummer Todd Bishop creates a themed recording as well integrated as Bob Sneider's and Joe Locke's Film Noir Project, Nocturne for Ava (2008, Origin), but that theme has no story.

Given the context of who Serge Gainsbourg was, both artistically and culturally, and particularly after having listened to some of Gainsbourg's music in situ, 69 Annee Erotique takes on a greater artistic gravity. Todd Bishop has done something special here, respectfully presenting Gainsbourg's music with his own (Bishop's) American flair. Bishop readily captures the international sexiness of Gainsbourg's tunes while buffing them to a 21st Century shine.

Le Figaro n'est pas verbeux

Todd Bishop's Pop art 4 joue Gainsbourg: Le jazz quartet rend hommage à Serge Gainsbourg.

Airplay: 69 Année Érotique - WWOZ - New Orleans

WWOZ 90.7 New Orleans

An old playlist, but a new station for us:

Playlist for June 23, 2010 from 4:00PM - 7:00PM
Current New Orleans Time: Sat, 12:33pm
Show Host(s): Valerie "The Problem Child" Kacprzak

Playlist Date & Time: 6/23/2010 4:00PM - 7:00PM

Program: Jazz from the French Market with Sondra Bibb
Playlist Tracks
[...]
Bill Frisell & Jack DeJohnette"Otherworldly Dervishes"The Elephant Sleeps
Medeski Martin & Wood"God Fire"Radiolarians
Gabor Szabo"Corcovado"
Madeleine Peyroux"Blue Alert"Half the Perfect World
Duke Ellington w/John Coltrane"In a Sentimental Mood"Priceless Jazz
Ella Fitzgerald"Love For Sale"Sings the Cole Porter
Ike Quebec"Blue Samba"Bossa Nova Soul
Nina Simone"Lilac Wine"Diva Series
Duke Pearson"After the Rain"Midnight Blue
Steve & Edie Gorme"Black Hole Sun"Lounge a Palooza
Quincy Jones"Walking in Space"Walking in Space
Gabor Szabo"Gypsy Queen"Spellbinder
Todd Bishop "69 Annie Erotique"
The Bad Plus"Baraccuda"
Shakti and John McLaughlin"Together"
Cat Power"I Can't Get No"The Cover Record


WWOZ
Second Floor
French Market Building
1008 N. Peters
New Orleans, LA 70116