What We’re Listening To: Molly Tuttle’s Bluegrass Ballads & Other Things You Need To Hear

Record reviewer Peter Baker brings you the releases you need to know about. This week, get to know a Grammy-winning producer behind songs by Fiona Apple, Bob Dylan, and The Killers, and sit back to a boundary-breaking jazz album from the 1960s.

Blake Mills — Jelly Road

You may have heard Blake Mills’ input on recent releases from Fiona Apple, Bob Dylan, The Killers, Phoebe Bridgers and others, but possibly aren’t aware of the artist himself. Mills is a multi-instrumentalist, Grammy-winning producer, songwriter and recording artist with a string of solo albums to his name. Jelly Road is his fifth solo outing and fourth for Impulse/Verve recordings. Here he’s joined by Vermont jazz musician Chris Weisman (the pair first worked together on the songs for the television dramatization of Daisy Jones & the Six) who continue their fascination with layered guitars, sonic textures, vintage keyboards and a host of wind instruments. Collectively they breathe life into Mills’ soothing yet complex compositions and have created a truly engaging listen.

Record label: Verve Records

Release date: Out now

Listen to: ‘There Is No Now’

For fans of: Beck, Cass McCombs, and Jenny Lewis.

Cut Worms — Cut Worms

Cut Worms is the stage name of Ohio-born singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Max Clarke, who now calls Brooklyn, New York, home. This self-titled album is his third release for Jagjaguwar (stablemates include Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Bon Iver and Sharon Van Etten) and finds him mining a deep vein of vintage pop. Clarke enlists a host of Brooklyn associates to flesh out his whimsical creations. Lending a helping hand are brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario from The Lemon Twiggs and Rick Spataro of Florist. Inspired by the brevity of the three-minute pop song and a host of classic American songbooks (think Lou Reed, Brian Wilson and Tom Petty), Clarke conjures up a quirky soundscape that’s somewhere between The Beach Boys, Randy Newman and Kevin Morby. It’s a refreshing listen that already sounds familiar.

Record label: Jagjaguwar

Release date: Out now

Listen to: ‘I’ll Never Make It’

For fans of: Lou Reed, Tom Petty, and The Beach Boys.

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway — City of Gold

Molly Tuttle was playing guitar at eight years old. By 11, she was performing with her father Jack Tuttle, a bluegrass multi-instrumentalist and tutor. By 15, she had joined her family band The Tuttles with AJ Lee. In 2017, Tuttle was the first woman to win the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Guitar Player of the Year Award. Golden Highway is her band of bluegrass virtuosos featuring mandolinist Dominick Leslie, banjoist Kyle Tuttle, fiddle player Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, and bassist Shelby Means. Together they complete the talented Tuttle’s tales of cattle rustling, rodeos, whisky drinking, reefer smoking and blazing saddles. Forward-thinking bluegrass music for those willing to make the leap!

Record label: Nonesuch Records

Release date: Out now and available on vinyl

Listen to: ‘Next Rodeo’

For fans of: Dolly Parton, Béla Fleck, and Alison Krauss.

Yusef Lateef — Psychicemotus

Growing up in Detroit, Yusef Lateef picked up the tenor sax at 17 and studied the flute at Wayne State University. He was a constant in the Detroit jazz scene through the 50s and shared the stage with the likes of Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, Donald Byrd and the Cannonball Adderley Sextet. This album was recorded across two days in July 1965, where Lateef was joined by Georges Arvanitas on piano, Reggie Workman on bass and James Black on drums. Psychicemotus sees Lateef coupling his love of ancient mystics and traditional wind instruments, all the while continually stretching boundaries. His stunning flute work on their interpretation of Erik Satie’s ‘First Gymnopédie’ is highly recommended.

Record label: Verve Records

Release date: Out now

Listen to: ‘Bamboo Flute Blues’

For fans of: Pharoah Sanders, Ornette Coleman, and Alice Coltrane.

Peter Baker is a local industry stalwart with 30 years of experience and musical tastes from 80s electronic through to reggae, soul, jazz and country. If you’re lucky, you’ll find him in Tāmaki Makaurau behind the counter at Marbecks.co.nz, sharing his love of music. Read his album recommendations on Viva every Saturday.

Previously: Kraftwerk’s staggering techno discography