A & E

Sometimes an album release is an album release. And sometimes it's an event.

It always is a good bet that with the Beatles, it's going to be an event. So it is this week, as the group's new "Love" soundtrack hits stores, ushering in the latest round of hoopla for a band that long ago rewrote the rules of pop fame.

"Love," a soundtrack to the Las Vegas theatrical production that opened this summer, might best be described as a remix record: Drawing from the Beatles' original master tapes, producers George and Giles Martin have jumbled and rearranged familiar songs and sounds into a distinct new work.

The album, which is available in CD and DVD versions, already is No. 1 at online retailer Amazon and is a sure bet to top charts worldwide during the hot holiday shopping season.

Few artists have been more protective of their work's integrity -- and more tightfisted with their catalog -- than the Beatles. So when the band's members and their estates sanction a new project, you know it's a big deal.

"Love" is a big deal. Officially, it's the soundtrack to the Cirque du Soleil theatrical production that opened during the summer in Las Vegas, a swirling mash of Beatles songs and sounds. But it also is a glistening array of music that works in its own right -- and is the best glimpse behind the Beatles' creative curtain since the "Anthology" series a decade ago.

To some Beatles purists, the very idea of "Love" might sound like sacrilege, akin to melting down "Mona Lisa" to doodle with the individual oils. But even the most stubborn traditionalists likely will be won over by this exquisite, often rapturous album, which stands as its own unique opus while affectionately celebrating the group's legacy.

The disc's track count is 26, but there's far more Beatles music here than that. Having isolated individual sounds and performances from the group's master tapes, producer George Martin and son Giles Martin find links among tempos and keys to stitch a broad but intimate sonic tapestry. The result is an album that retains the marrow of its showcased songs but with "enough little bitties to it to keep you interested for a hundred years," to borrow a John Lennon line.

Whole books and Web sites have been devoted to logging every sound and sonic anomaly the Beatles put to tape. For fans of those, "Love" will be a treasure hunt. Horns from "Savoy Truffle" decorate "Drive My Car." "Lady Madonna" finds a "Hey Bulldog" riff tucked underneath. "Get Back" churns with a lick from "A Hard Day's Night," crowd noise from "Sgt. Pepper," drums from "The End" and the final chord from "A Day in the Life."

It's that playfulness with perception -- familiar sounds refracted through an aural prism -- that gives "Love" a kind of psychedelic sheen. And it's a quality that most fully comes to life on the surround-sound version, included on a "Love" DVD edition that is the highly preferred package.

If you haven't invested yet in a home-theater system, here's your incentive: a chance to absorb the 20th century's best-known music as you never before have heard it. The six-channel separation brings an often breathtaking new clarity and precision to the mixes without losing the material's fullness. Two "Abbey Road" cuts near the disc's finale -- "Here Comes the Sun" and "Come Together" -- are among the finest offerings yet in the burgeoning realm of surround presentation.

The surround approach works particularly well on busy productions such as "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" and "I Am the Walrus," which unfold into kinetic carnivals of sound. The high fidelity offered by the DVD mix brings nuances to the fore -- a you-are-there shimmer to Paul McCartney's guitar strings during "Yesterday," Lennon's palm keeping time on the body of his acoustic guitar during "Help!" And the answer to one of Beatledom's most hotly debated questions at last might be at hand: Who sings the harmony on "Come Together"? (Sure sounds like Paul!)

But the appeal of "Love" isn't limited to Beatles diehards. Rich and dynamic, often spine-tingling, the album is a dazzling new twist on a body of work four decades old -- proof once again that there's perpetual life to be found in the venerable relics.

-- McClatchy-Tribune

'The Road to Escondido'
J. J. Cale & Eric Clapton, (Reprise)

On "Hard to Thrill," a song from his new collaboration with J.J. Cale, Eric Clapton sings "Hardly anything moves me anymore/there is nothing you can show that I haven't seen before."

That was evident on "Back Home," the simply dreadful album Clapton released last year that sounded as if he was mailing it in from his rocking chair. Without a foil for his talents -- B. B. King or even the ghost of Robert Johnson -- Clapton seemed to be making an album to satisfy a contractual obligation.

Thankfully, that's not so with "The Road to Escondido." Cale, who penned "After Midnight" and "Cocaine," wrote 11 of the 14 tracks, and Clapton warms to the material. "Danger," the opening track, sets the tone, chugging along comfortably on the back of the late Billy Preston's Hammond organ until Clapton lets forth a concise-but-blazing solo midstream.

"Dead End Road" is country raveup laced with fiddle, and "Don't Cry Sister" features a reggae-flavored beat that recalls "461 Ocean Boulevard." The aforementioned "Hard to Thrill," co-written with John Mayer, is arguably the album's best moment, a slow bluesy number that seems to fit Clapton's persona and mood perfectly, an elegant guitar solo adding to the song's sense of malaise.

-- Regis Behe

'Minions Dominion'
Delfeayo Marsalis (Troubadour Jass)

A few years ago, trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis didn't seem like he deserved to bear his last name. "Minions Dominion," however, proves how much he has improved. On swingers such as "Brer Rabbit" or mid-tempo pieces such as "Lone Warrior," he not only shows great tone but a fine sense of improvisation. Five of the seven tunes are original, highlighted by a beautiful, muted "If You Only Knew." The album also is noteworthy because it was recorded in 2002 and is one of the last recorded works of the great Elvin Jones. The rest of the lineup is powerful, too, with Branford Marsalis and Donald Harrison on saxophones, Mulgrew Miller on piano, and Robert Hurst, Eric Revis and Edwin Livingstone sharing bass duties.

-- Bob Karlovits

'Simpatico'
Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project (ArtistShare)

Trumpeter Brian Lynch and percussionist Eddie Palmieri on "Simpatico" lift Latin jazz away from the folk nature in which it often is mired. The music on the album not only features a range of jazz stars, but the arrangements by the trumpeter elevate the material. Naturally, the dance- and rhythm-oriented sound of the music is its strongest element. But the solos and ensemble play give it more sophistication. This is accomplished by the work of the album's namesakes, but they get a great deal of help. For instance, alto sax players Phil Woods and Donald Harrison show up on "Guajira Dubois" and "Jazzucar," respectively, and percussionist Giovani Hidalgo is on "Freehands." For Latin jazz fans, this album is a standout. It is available at www.artistshare.com, the artists' cooperative.

-- Bob Karlovits

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