For every other Udelson track, Spotify displays a blank instead a number in the “Plays” column–which why the phrase “vanishingly small” seems apt. (Probably most of those plays are mine.) The trio’s most popular track on Spotify is their take on Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android.” It has 17,000 plays. (During the COVID lockdown period, the trio got together virtually to share some new material with fans–so maybe there’s more albums coming in the future.) This next part I find mystifying: these two albums and the songs on them have a vanishingly small number of views/plays. The band has so far released two recordings, both of them cover albums: Irrational Numbers and Minor Infractions (20).
For me, the Michael Udelson Trio brings all the good aspects to their jazzy treatments, and leaves behind the undesirable bits. A good cover has a proper edge to it: there’s embellishment and surprise in it, a searching quality, a point of view–all the things missing from the music that elevators listen to during their work hours. The trick is that a more modest and direct approach can wash the color out of a song–it becomes the music you hear when the bank puts you on hold. More and more I appreciate instrumentalists who play the melody straight, who embrace the original arrangement of the song and work within its comforting confines. They are lovable troublemakers, but sometimes their jarring ways, all the virtuoso-signaling, is not what the mood calls for. When it comes to instrumental covers of popular music, my go-to is the edgier jazz artists–you probably know the ones I mean. Vincent, Steely Dan, Sublime, Taylor Swift, The Black Keys, The Brother Brothers, The Chats, The Mantles, The Strokes, Tom T Hall, Troy Millette, Ty Segall, Valerie June, Watkins Family Hour, Wet Leg Continue reading » Best Of, Best of the Month, News Tagged with: Amythyst Kiah, Beabadoobee, Benmont Tench, Bonnie Raitt, Brett Eldredge, Cate Le Bon, Cher, Dean Hurley, Dido, Dua Lipa, Eliza and The Delusionals, Elton John, Elvis Presley, Fiona Apple, Fleet Foxes, Frank Ocean, G Dragon, G Flip, Gloria de Oliveira, Green Carnation, Green Day, Harry Styles, Jeff Buckley, Jim Croce, John Anderson, John Cale, Johnny Cash, Johnny Marr, Joni Mitchell, Judee Sill, Kate Bush, Lake Street Dive, Loveless, Lucy Dacus, Marlon Williams, Microwave, Nathaniel Rateliff, Neil Young, Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, Phoebe Bridgers, Rachel Chinouriri, Richard Swift, Sandy Denny, Sara Watkins, Sean Watkins, Sierra Ferrell, St. It also fairly shameless incorporates bits of earlier hit singles “Rocket Man” and “Sacrifice” as well as deeper Elton cuts “Kiss the Bride” and “Where’s the Shoorah?” In country star Brett Eldridge’s live cover, though, it all blends together seamlessly. Having current pop hitmaker Dua Lipa on board no doubt helped, as did releasing it as a remix by Pnau (“Hot Dance/Electronic Songs” was one of those secondary U.S. It did nearly as well in the States, reaching number 7 and topping a number of secondary charts. Brett Eldredge – Cold Heart (Elton John, Dua Lipa cover)Īgainst all odds for a rocker of his generation, Elton John had a genuine hit with a single he released just last year, at age 74: “Cold Heart.” It topped the chart in the UK – his first song to do so in 16 years.