Bart Davenport
Maroon Cocoon (Antenna Farms)

Maybe it's because Bart Davenport lives in a microclimate, but on his latest album, Maroon Cocoon, a bit of sun-dappled pop always finds a way to break through the cloud-covered songs sung in minor keys. Having been born and raised in the East Bay, he might have learned to conform his moods – and along with them, his beautiful, smooth voice – to the hourly shifts in weather. Davenport's stroll through soft rock land never heads too far in one direction or another; always his voice is there – breathy, blue, and close to our ears. He definitely seems to favor the rainy side of the street. When, on "Following a Red Balloon," he lazily sings, "Sunshine, come and see me sometime," I hear "Not now, baby; I'm busy with the rain." Greg Moore, of East Bay psychedelic pop group the Moore Brothers, rounds out the song with cooling harmonies. Davenport uses his remarkable vocal talent to jump from one musical genre to another while he plays narrator of his friends' and lovers' lives. On one of those incandescent, sunbeam numbers, "Into Music," he lets his dad take over and tell us all about his troubled life. Much like his son, he was really, really into music. (Deborah Giattina)

Hot Club of San Francisco
Postcards from Gypsyland (Lost Wax)

The Hot Club of San Francisco's ninth release in a dozen years is remarkable considering that the original Quintette du Hot Club de France, on which they model their acoustic string-swing music, were much shorter-lived (1934 to '39) and that the local group are coming close to amassing a larger body of work than the Quintette's. Not that the music being made by guitarist Paul Mehling's quintet is as earthshaking as were the elegantly swinging sounds popularized in pre-World War II Paris by guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli, but it nevertheless serves as a respite from the hustle of modern life. Reinhardt's playing is the template for Mehling's rhythmically assertive guitar attack, yet the band's repertoire strays far from that of the legendary Gypsy picker. Postcards from Gypsyland includes arrangements of melodies by Ravel and Rimsky-Korsakov, a salute to American jazz guitarists Carl Kress and Dick McDonough, a lovely Aldo Romano musette in 5/4 time featuring the melodica of Oliver Manchon, and an electric guitar solo by Norah Jones sideman Adam Levy (the disc's producer). And "Nuages," Reinhardt's most famous composition, is treated to original lyrics by Mehling and a Chet Baker-meets-the Four Freshmen harmony vocal reading. The Hot Club of San Francisco play March 28, Yoshi's, Oakl. (510) 238-9200. (Lee Hildebrand)

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