Singer, harmonica virtuoso, and keyboardist
Karen Mantler has inherited her father,
Michael Mantler's sense of whimsy and her mother,
Carla Bley's musical fearlessness -- not to mention her electric-shredded-wheat hairstyle. Although
Mantler's debut album was produced by
Bley and new husband
Steve Swallow and features fellow avant-jazz offspring
Eric Mingus as co-lead vocalist and
Jonathan Sanborn on bass, 1989's My Cat Arnold isn't quite jazz, but it's not exactly pop either; the closest comparison is the more out experiments of
David Byrne or
Laurie Anderson at her most musical.
Mantler's lyrics have the childlike primitivism of prime
Jonathan Richman; the title track has no hidden meanings, and it's not meant to be ironic. It simply is what it claims to be, a love song to
Mantler's cat, Arnold. Some find lyrics like this sophomoric or cutesy, but in songs like the cheerfully fatalistic "People Die" or the breakup saga "My Stove,"
Mantler is actually finding emotional truths in tiny everyday situations, a lyrical gift that's rare in popular music. The eight-piece band plays
Mantler's quirky compositions skillfully, with few of the late-'80s clichés that make other jazz-based albums from the period such a trial. It's not for everyone, but My Cat Arnold signifies the beginning of an increasingly peculiar and rewarding career. ~ Stewart Mason