Elvis tunes, in this tribute album by Elvis Bossa Nova! (above), haven’t been this fresh since Presley romanced the 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu in 1959.
Hi, I'm Elvis Bossa Nova!
- Elvis Bossa Nova!
- Independent
Elvis Presley is all shook up, and more. On a dynamic new album by a high-flying Toronto garage-jazz troupe, Elvis is celebrated,smartly investigated and, at times, rendered almost unrecognizable. "My boy, my boy!" the King's sad-eyed mama might despair, "what have they done with my boy?"
What Elvis Bossa Nova! has done is transform material made famous by rock 'n' roll's greatest hero into something daring again. Presley hasn't been this fresh since he romanced the 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu in 1959. The Memphis leg-shaker would have been 75 on Friday, the non-coincidental release date of Hi, I'm Elvis Bossa Nova! The group's name and album title notwithstanding, this colourful eight-song interpretation isn't strictly based in bossa nova. Sure, there are cha-cha-cha rhythms, but there are no rules: What happens in oft-covered Viva Las Vegas does not stay at all in Las Vegas, and neither does it simply keep to Buenos Aires. The track starts in a relaxed manner, with choppy jazz chords from the resourceful guitarist James Robertson and the accenting vibraphone of Michael Davidson - these guys are this album's co-stars. Davidson then ripples across his instrument, before slowing down to strike round notes that plunk like ice cubes in a highball. The tempo accelerates; here comes a brief drum workout; wait for the surf guitar; and dig those burping six-string riffs, in the style of another inquiring guitarist Kevin Breit.
Speaking of Breit, this project should draw comparison to his Sisters Euclid's Run, Neil Run , a Neil Young cover album similar to Hi, I'm Elvis Bossa Nova! in that it employs no singing and uses well-known material as departure points for follow-us-if-you-dare flights. The melodic romantic croon of Are You Lonesome Tonight , for example, is replaced by the vibraphone, accompanied by smooth slide guitar and a slow dance between Brian Kobayakawa's stand-up bass and the drum toms of Jake Oelrichs.
To be clear: If you're a snarled-lip Presley traditionalist or a vibraphone-hater, this album isn't for you.
And another thing: This is a fun listen, but not a novelty. Let me tell you, Ito Eats , with its tasty calypso grooves and a spacey middle-part jam, is decidedly not the overly carefree 1961 Blue Hawaii original.
Things close exquisitely with the Rodgers and Hart ballad Blue Moon , done as a polyrhythmic lullaby.
On the 1954 recording of Milkcow Blue Boogie , Presley told his band mates that the too-smooth version wasn't working. "Let's get real, real gone for a change," he instructs, before striking up a livelier pace. Now, he gets real gone again. Thank you, Elvis Boss Nova, thank you very much.
Elvis Bossa Nova! says Hi, I'm Elvis Bossa Nova! at Toronto's Lula Lounge on Friday (416-588-0307).