1. A Love Supreme
2. Live At The Village Vanguard
3. Giant Steps
4. Ascension
5. Live At Birdland
6. Olé
7. Bye Bye Blackbird
8. My Favorite Things
9. Interstellar Space
10. Coltrane’s Sound
11. Crescent
12. Blue Train
13. Africa/Brass
14. Expression
15. Coltrane [Impulse!]

Voilà, afsluiten doe ik met de man. Staan wel nog op het aan te schaffen/beluisteren lijstje: Live In Japan en Last Performance At Newport. Een maand lijstjes en luiheid. Maar blijkbaar bestaat er een publiek voor, als ik de blogstatistieken moet geloven. Binnenkort misschien meer. Bedankt voor de reacties. Vanaf morgen opnieuw het normale gelul.

NP: John Coltrane – A Love Supreme

Stop motion feito com a partitura da musica do John Coltrane.

Aqui também tem Jazz

The Red Garland Quintet with John Coltrane: Dig It! (Prestige PR7229)
Of course it is that crucial “with…” that makes the ears prick up, and pricked ears are just the thing for listening to Coltrane’s dazzling opening solo on Billie’s Bounce, filled as it is with the remnants of bop and the beginnings of the sheets of sound explorations that the saxophonist would increasingly engage in.

This was 1957 and along with Trane, the Miles Davis Quintet pianist had Donald Byrd on trumpet, Paul Chambers or George Joyner on bass and Arthur Taylor on drums. This was an influential band for record collectors but not a live playing unit. Nevertheless it has that late ’50s jazz essence, and Garland remained a favourite for many piano fans.

The tracks are unusually long for the era – Garland’s original composition, Lazy Mae, which concludes this Rudy Van Gelder remastered edition CD, runs to over 16 minutes. It’s a stately blues with the leader laying out the basics in a left hand riff before he adds some treble, and the rhythm team enter for a strong, swinging work through. In fact, it’s not until near the halfway mark that Coltrane enters with another masterful solo, followed by Joyner and finally Byrd, high and lyrical.

The single trio track is Crazy Rhythm, with Garland in exemplary form.

Apparently this disc was originally compiled from the left-overs from sessions which had produced three previous records. Well, what delicious leftovers!

Undoubtedly one of the most influential line up’s in Jazz history gathered together to record the seminal album ‘Kind of Blue’ in 1959 at Columbia’s 30th Street studio in New York.

Miles Davis (Trumpet) – John Coltrane (Saxophone) – Julian Adderley (Saxophone) – Bill Evans (Piano) – Wynton Kelly (Piano) – Jimmy Cobb (Drums) – Paul Chambers (Bass)

Here’s some film footage of Miles Davis and John Coltrane performing ‘So What!’ in 1959.

Anwesende: Thomas

Motto: “2012 ist JETZT!”

Das hat heute mit einer Weltuntergangsstimmung begonnen….. aber 2012 geht ja eh die Welt unter! Und das ist HEUTE, wenn wir uns verrechnet hätten!

DOWNLOAD/STREAM

Musik von: John Coltrane, Hugh Masekela, mElek Bacsik, Count Basie, Yusef lateef, Dave Brubeck, Pink Turtle, Elder Richard Byrant’s Sanct. Singers, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Chet Baker & Stan Getz

Doug Chaplin has tagged me on this one. It’s a bloggers (though I’m still not so sure I am one) chain-letter. The meme asks us to share eight memorable musical moments, not favourite pieces, but the moments in which music combined to create memory. The rules are

Think of eight memorable musical moments, not necessarily all time favourites, but those when, for example, you felt compelled to wait in the car when listening to this amazing song on the radio because you just had to know who it was by. Or the piece you heard on the tv in a drama that drove you straight onto iTunes to download… (remember once we spent the princely sum of 6s 8d on a vinyl single?!). Optional details for each song give where, why and Spotify or youtube links …

At least I can say that I’m still too young to ever spent 6/8 (that’s 33⅓ p) on anything. Here are my eight, in no particular order

1. A Love Supreme by John Coltrane. When I was twenty, I bought a couple of editions of a jazz magazine. Each copy came with a cassette, and an excerpt from A Love Supreme was on one of them. I was rapt by its troubled passion, its prayer is total humanity communing with the divine. I love it, but jazz is musical marmite.

2. Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards by Billy Bragg. I remember buying a cassette of his album Workers Playtime as a teenager. This track is the last on the album, and I remember playing it over and over. The mixture of protest song, poetry and humour was an inspiring first to me, and turned me into a complete Bragg fan. Below is an updated version rather than the one I know. It’s still good, but I miss the lines “Doctor Robert Oppenheimer’s optimism fell at the first hurdle” and “The revolution is just a t-shirt away”.

3. Cantique de Jean Racine by Gabriel Fauré. This was sung by friends of the bride and groom at a wedding I took. The wedding was moving for pastoral reasons, and the gentle, thoughtful beauty of this song has remained with me. Last year, I sang this with the Wolfson(g)ians and loved singing its soaring, melodic tenor line.

4. Prelude, Adagio et Choral varie sur le theme du ‘Veni Creator’, Op. 4 by Maurice Duruflé. This magnificent organ piece came on the radio one dark and stormy evening. It’s a musical history of the Holy Spirit, and leads into the ancient hymn Veni Creator Spiritus.

5. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For by U2. Just as U2 were getting big, before they got messianic, there was the Joshua Tree album. The live recording with New Voices of Freedom on Rattle & Hum is still my favourite.

6. Deus in adjutorium by Claudio Monteverdi. I sang this in a choir in Durham Cathedral as a young undergrad. It was my introduction to early music. Its monotonous opening is almost shocking, punctuated by outbursts of brass, before opening out like an estuary in the alleluia.

7. Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinéad O’Connor. I remember when this was all over the radio, and then I saw this video.

8. Goldberg Variations by JS Bach. I’ve got a Glenn Gould recording. This is perfect for sunny mornings at home.

I now tag cycads.

It took me a long to time to find Coleman Hawkins but only a moment to realize that he was the master.

Here is Coleman late in his career, hip as ever, careening through a sweet, boozy blues.

The backing group is George Arvanitas on piano, Mickey Baker on guitar, Jimmy Woods on bass, and Kansas Fields on drums. Recorded in Paris, mid-60’s.

Tomorrow would’ve been Hawk’s 105th birthday. WKCR will be hosting their annual birthday bash marathon. It was there, only last year, that I was introduced to the majesty of Coleman Hawkin’s authoritative playing. I have been devouring his music ever since.

The backing group is Tommy Flanagan on piano, Major Holley on bass, and Eddie Locke on drums. Recorded for Prestige Records, 1962.

If you started with Coltrane and never went backwards to Hawkins, take a moment to cross that bridge. There’s that Monk recording they did together, Monk’s Music, which has Trane blazing away while Bean keeps an understated cool before utterly and emphatically making “Ruby, My Dear” his own. That ballad had my jaw on the floor.

Speaking of amazing Hawk ballads…

The backing group is Thad Jones on trumpet, Eddie Costa on piano, George Duvivier on bass, and Osie Johnson on drums. Recorded for Crown Records, 1960.

Happy Birthday, Hawk!

faces
worn
telling stories
from people
that know the meaning
of pain
and knots of hunger
gurgling up from
empty stomachs
on baseless plains
featureless, flat
swelling, breathing
with that human power
to see inside
finding beauty in nothing
and love from indifference
I was once a child of ignorance
so that now my false wisdom inflates my ego
so that no one can hear me
so that in my intellectual prism
I am but
a prisoner
in the chains of spoken words

lifted straight from my new favourite tumblr - jazz channel, coltrane’s giant steps in time with the written music. the genius doesn’t come though just the notes on the page but seeing them in time with his playing is humbling and inspiring:

Mural of Hoagy Carmichael in downtown Richmond, Indiana

Richmond, Indiana was a jazz town.

John Coltrane – Stardust

Epiphany
Tuesday, December 1
9pm
Faire Gallery Cafe Bar

ij5

synergyisnowepiphanysogetupondis&jammysistas&brothers
Life is a rehearsal 4 eternity
sogetupondis
callin all
onlysinginindashowermofo’s
ivory feelers
pubescent jazzophiles
babysmomas
lonely travelers
booty juice bassist
maniac membranophonist
horny horn blowers
2daultimate jam experience
(formerly known as synergy)
but since we all know each other
hot tub felatio
peep shows
plumbers cracks
dry humps
& holy sodomy
it’s time 4 :
Epiphany

Jazztrain ha trasferito il suo blog dove parla di scacchi, dama e musica sulla piattaforma wordpress, la giornata odierna è propizia per la pulizia mensile del blogroll!

C’est vrai, je passe pas mal de temps sur Twitter. Endroit idéal pour la procrastination du no-life quadragénaire en reconversion misanthropique avec syndrome d’angoisse sociale Allégations à vérifier chez un de ces psy dont la parole vaut de l’or vu ce qu’ils tarifient la demi-heure pour lâcher quelques mots

Donc, en tweetant, parmi ce qui me sert de plus en plus de fil d’infos – autant si ce n’est plus que les abos RSS et agrégateurs habituels -, on suit pas mal de liens vers des articles ou du contenu produit par les blogueurs. Mais il y a aussi un temps pour partager ses goûts et au hasard de clics on peut s’offrir de belles découvertes ou l’occasion de se plonger un peu plus dans ce qu’on avait négligé. Les applis de partage sont nombreuses, comme ce Blip.fm par exemple, mais il suffit aussi de linker vers Deezer, Spotify, Dailymotion, Youtube…

Justement là, je vais rester sur les chemins qui m’ont été tracés vers des écoutes via ce site de partage.Tranquille ce dimanche après-midi, avant d’aller gagner à la sueur de mon front ma maigre pitance sous le joug inhumain du capitalisme financier (je galéje un peu là : je bosse assis derrière un ordi et la paye est assez correcte; mais l’idée y est quand même – je vous donne pas de détails ?), voilà que b-mode (retrouvez-le avec “ses” co-auteurs sur Ruminances et sur Tes reins et terroirs) et loloster (par ici pour son blog) s’échangent quelques “scuds” amicaux mais musicaux. Ni une, ni deux, je profite de ces “tirs” croisés…

Et me voilà débarquant en vol aussi libre que plané chez des cadors du jazz. Faisons simple, je ne peux prétendre à aucune connaissance dans ce domaine. Tout au plus quelques notions éparses via notamment un super pote,  zikos expat’ et fervent du genre, mais une culture bien insuffisante pour tenter quelque analyse de ce que j’entends. Je serais plutôt du genre auprès de qui on peut faire passer du free pour du bebop et du cool pour du west coast (et je ne cite là que des courants dont j’ai retenus le nom )  Ce qui n’empêche de se laisser aller à l’écoute et à être emporté par (dans) le son. Issu de leur échange, et mis en favoris de suite, je me fis donc “bêtement” plaisir en écoutant plus avant Charlie Mingus et John Coltrane.

Ce qui me valut de me faire Impressions dans la foulée

Autre chemin sympa via les méandres du web, celui qui m’a conduit vers un Bashung crépusculaire revisitant L’Homme à tête de chou. C’est depuis chez Thephase3 que j’ai rapatrié dans mes esgourdes ces Variations sur Marilou de Gainsbourg, dont la version originale était déjà écoutable jusqu’à l’infini pour y découvrir sans cesse des détails aussi infimes qu’indispensables qui s’y étaient dissimulés. Ce titre fait partie d’une relecture de cet album concept définitif que Bashung envoie post-mortem pour une mise en scène et une chorégraphie de Jean-Claude Gallotta présentée à Grenoble et qui s’apprête à voyager (dates à la fin de ce billet de Menilmuche).

Quatre autres titres sont dispos en écoute sur le site de L’Express (clic clic clic).

Finissant ce billet, je ne sais pour toi lecteur quelle heure il sera au moment où tu le croisera. Pour moi, celle du sommeil approche. Le moment de trouver sérénité et quiétude, de se laisser aller vers un état un peu contemplatif. Cette ouverture des Glassworks, je ne me souviens plus, malheureusement, par le tweet de qui j’y atterris (s’il se reconnaît sait-on jamais qu’il le dise pour être linké plutôt que de se taire à jamais).

Il va sans dire que la musique classique contemporaine en général et Philip Glass en particulier, ce n’est pas mon univers d’origine ni même de prédilection. Quand on grandit le regard entre Best et Rock&Folk, avec sur sa platine les Ramones, les Clash ou le Boss et que ses nuits de concerts furent longtemps faites de Cramps, de Gun Club ou de Lords of the new church, il y a quand même des séquelles Cela n’empêche pas d’écouter. L’occasion de prolonger une soirée où je le vis rendre hommage à Allen Ginsberg avec Patti Smith. Cette vidéo minimaliste sur  Opening Glassworks,  filmée en plan fixe un jour de pluie depuis une fenêtre à Los Angeles par twentyflights a, sans non plus ici prétendre à toute lecture “autorisée” de cette musique, des vertus que je trouve bien apaisantes.

Tom Dowd was a brilliant mathematician and physicist who changed careers abruptly after the development of the atomic bomb and changed the course of musical history. He is responsible for Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, Cream, Rod Stewart, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers Band, Dusty Springfield and countless other celebrated musicians. Dowd also formed both strong professional and personal relationships with many of these artists, including Eric Clapton, starting with Cream and leading to their working partnership on Layla and Other Assorted Loves Songs and collaborations on several of Clapton’s finest solo albums. So much of the music i love was produced by him, and yet he was man behind the curtain. Even being responsible for so much of musical history, he, like Geoff Emerick before him, was paid only scale and was never compensated commensurate to the contribution he made to history. See http://www.thelanguageofmusic.com/

Some videos, interviews, broadcasts added… the marvellous Marian McPartland Piano Jazz programmes, interviews with Coltrane, Lester Young and Liebman, plus some practice advice from Joe Lovano and Steve Coleman. Click here…

Davis representa el sonido de la soledad, la tristeza, la resignación (en cuanto congoja, no conformismo), jazzman carismático, negro orgulloso de su raza y de su oficio que jamás cedió al abuso de los blancos, que no vieron en él al ser integral sino a un bufón del poder. A esto opuso la fortaleza del carácter, la vitalidad del espíritu, la magia de su arte, al que se dedicó de manera decidida tras iniciar su rebelión con la toma de conciencia frente al miedo, al que conoció y a la vez perdió por una llama en el fogón: “Esto es lo más lejano que puedo recordar; más atrás sólo hay niebla, misterio… pero en mi mente la llama azul de aquel fogón es tan clara como mi música. Yo tenía tres años. Vi la llama y noté su calor muy cerca de mi cara. Sentí miedo, miedo de verdad, por primera vez en la vida”.

En Miles se encarna la voluntad de poder, el ánimo de no mirar atrás, de avanzar sin reparos, lejos de aquella llama… como quien sabe y cree: sólo quien no tiene ningún tipo de miedo puede amar libremente; hay que amar para poder tocar. De ahí la validez de su arte y del arte, el que existe para que, como dijo Nietzsche, no nos mate la verdad.

Esta extensa y completa biografía así como tantas palabras sabias acerca del compositor provienen de la boca de un crítico famoso de jazz, Luis Carlos Muñoz Sarmiento que escribió un artículo “El Picasso del Jazz” homenajeando a Davis y a su carrera y vida como músico.

En la foto, Miles Davis junto con John Coltrane y Bill Evans durante la grabación de Kind of Blue.

Por canciones como “So What” y “All Blues”, que pasaron a la historia.

Amongst various lagoons, canyon wildernesses on the pacific shores, various places like Modjeska Canyon and others, long haired naked sun worshippers, wandered in the naturelands, singing songs, eating fruits, fasting, praying, doing yoga, playing guitars in huts and befriending American Indians, all in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, before the SF rennaisance carnival and all its merry troubadours shone into the Haight and elsewhere.
Nature boys they were called and of various stock they were, of English, Jewish, of German and of other. Meditating and doing yoga, eating pure foods, sunbathing an waterbathing and connecting with the wilderness they were a different breed to the settled gold trailsters and cattle ranchers, they were America’s sadhus, babajis, yogis and sants. And they had inherited things which went back further, things of the German spirit and nature far from the Hitler-Nazi perversions.
We can understand this curious brand of nature mysticism in the works of Thoreau, of Emerson, but moreover we can see them also trickling in the background of Herman Hesse, in the founder of Naturopathy and its various historical clinics, some in California. Going even further back we can see the Rosicrucian and Paracelsian fords and pastures and their glimpses of places further east, in North Africa, in Morrocco, Spain and Damascus, Syria and India.
Oriental Nature Boy Mystics housed the river of traditions arcane and forgotton and a spirit of freedom.
And not all nature boys were celebate and single, as some took their girlfriends along as well.

Laguna Beach, a place in the ambit of the nature boy wilderness wanderings, took in curious surfers who had given up the car gangs of beachrealm, and took to surfboard, yoga and pure foods not to mention psychedelic alchemistry. But before this period, Laguna Beach also housed bohemian types, artists and was a faved retreat renowned for its natural beauty and somewhere amongst these were esoetric interests in a mysterious group named the Order of Loving Service who harked back to an important inspiration, a Baba Premananda Bharati, who in the first decade of the 1900s established various Krishna congregtions centered on an ashram in Los Angeles caled the Krishna Home. Many of California’s esoterically inclined came across it, one such being a Maud Lalita Johnson, a famed esoteric writer in her own way. Another called Elsa Barker famed for her many esoteric novels had contact with the first wave of Krishna Chaitanya devotion. Premananda Bharati belonged to the Krisna traditions of Chaitanya, the blessed madman and holy fool and incarnation of Krishna who bathed Bengal in waves of ecstatic love of Godhead. This Krishna baba had an influence of Gandhi and Tolstoy, but the two world wars meant that this period of the oriental in American esoteric latter day Rosicrucian traditions such as New Thought, Golden Dawn, Theosophical society and others were forgotton, remembered by only a few. But all that is known is that the Order of Loving Service published a book dedicated to Baba Premananda Bharati in Laguna Beach and that it was associated with the Royal Order of Tibet founded by George Adamski who was the pioneer of UFO abductee narratives. They were also inspired by the wriings of Lalita Johnson and it was her book with the dedication to Premananda that they published in Laguna Beach called Square. It was later in 1969 that another Krishna temple of a different lineage appeared in Laguna Beach, that of the Krishna tradition represented by a famed guru named Bhaktivedanta Swami which is more commonly known. Certain folk in this new Krishna temple in Laguna had links to another group named the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, whom we shall look at another time.

Nat King Cole did a song dedicated to a certain nature boy named eden ahbez  or ahbe in which he describes this  nature boy as being wise. This track of Nat King Cole’s was also covered by John Coltrane, the great jazz musician who himself was inspired by metaphysical stuff descended from the latter day Rosicrucianism as well as oriental mysticism. Another nature boy named Gypsy Boots was friends with various musicians of the sixtiees of which the major music tribes of SF and was respected by Jerry Garcia. Kerouac wrote about him, Frank Zappa was friends with him and he appears on the stages between band sets of certain of the major bands at the Monterey Pop Festival and Newport Festival. He inspired Sky Saxon of The Seeds, Arthur Lee of Love and Randy California of Spirit to become vegetarian, he was admired by Mama Cass as well as Garcia’s wife, who was once Ken Kesey’s girl, named Mountain Girl, a name with a nod to the nature mystic in and of itself. He appears with Zappa in his film Mondo Hollywood in 1968. Gypsy Boots was an American of Russian Jewish descent, born in San Fransisco in 1916, he was taught directly by Maximillian Singer another nature mystic in 1935 learning yoga and fasting and special diets from him after a period of travelling and living in nature. After a while, he was living with many of the prominent nature boy mystics of the time around Tahquitz Canyon and selling crafts in Palm Springs, the very place the Brotherhood of Eternal Love had an epiphany, according to certain historical annals which we shall look at later. He eventually after a period of living as mystical wild man and learning lots, was married in 1953 to a Lois Bloemker, and settled into living near Griffith Park in LA and had three sons. He opened a ‘Health Hut’ in Hollywood where he taught his wisdom of living close to nature.

Maximillian Singer, Gypsy Boot’s mentor was from Augsberg who spent many years travelling and living as a nature mystic in and around Europe, thus the mystical life and water curing, sun bathing, breathing, nutrition and the like was practised assiduously by him. He came to California in 1935 and whilst here inspired many Euro-American born nature mystics. In the Brotherhood of Eternal Love linked loose knit community of Topanga Canyon, he was revered almost as a guru figure, and later on he appeared at the various festivals, be-ins and concerts of the period.

Some that were associated with these brothers of nature were called to the akashic realm, that same part wherein which PBRs Rosicrucians dwelled, that place between the portals of Eulis a place where others dwelled and visisted from time to time, others such as Beatfreak not to mention certain folk of the Order of Loving Service.

BOS REC

So sehr ich die Musik von John Cotrane schätze,  so wenig sind mir die Stücke seiner Frau bekannt. Deshalb kann ich nicht mit Sicherheit sagen, ob das Tribut geglückt ist oder nicht.Was ich aber sehr wohl weiß, ist, dass die Eigenkompositionen den Coverstücken in Nichts nachstehen. Ganz besonders beeindruckt hat mich das 11-minütige 2:300, das sich mit dem Todestag Alice Coltranes und den Toten des Irak-Krieges befasst. Bei diesem Stück wurde alles richtig gemacht. Langsames Intro, tolles Saxophonsolo, furioser Schluss. Das ist Jazz, der Spaß macht. Empfehlenswert!

]]> http://blessingandburden.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/keep-the-chorus-well-take-the-melody-and-make-it-shine/ Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:47:19 +0000 The Host of Our Program http://blessingandburden.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/keep-the-chorus-well-take-the-melody-and-make-it-shine/

Mr. Coleman (photo credit: Karlheinz Klüter)

…

living the dream

Cheers to memorable days followed by memorable nights. On my way to Mr. Baraka’s reading, I passed the Davies Symphony Hall, where I saw Ornette Coleman was slated to play that night! I almost did a backflip. I couldn’t believe it. For whatever reason, I never imagined that I’d get to see Coleman do his thing, switching between sax and trumpet and violin and conducting his aural magic.

The show was down-tempo, and it made my year to hear him play live. His 1975 album To Whom Who Keeps a Record is one of my all-time favorites. A classic of the free jazz movement that I have played no less than a trillion times. If you like the early 1960’s avant-garde Jazz of Coltrane, Thelonius Monk, Sun Ra or Cecil Taylor, you’ll dig this.

Turn the lights low, put your dark glasses on, light some candles, fill the room with smoke, pour something to sip on and please enjoy the Pulitzer-winning, Miles Davis Award-recieving, Jazz Hall-of-Famer and all-around baddass: Mr. Ornette Coleman.

video is cell-quality, but the music is what’s pretty.

Of course, we could be here all day talking about the best live performances on an album… So, I’m just gonna give you a well rounded taste of some classics. Music is amazing like that! There are so many wonderful artists with diverse talent to offer. Get to know somebody new… and get reacquainted with the ones you already love, right here….

To get things started, I thought I might share a lil’ footage of myself Enjoy!

Miss R&B

‘Erykah Badu “Erykah Badu Live”

Great covers, effortless on stage, absolutely classic

Aretha Franklin “Amazing Grace”

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find video footage of a song from her Amazing Grace live  album in 1972 with Rev. James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir. It’s been toted to be one of her best recordings live. I decided to share other footage instead. Enjoy;)

Keith Jarrett “Live in Koln”

The Koln concert… completely improvised, another dimension…WOW!

Sam Cooke “Live @ The Harlem Square Club”

Stirring vocals, with breathtaking drama and unparalleled soul

The Roots “The Roots Come Alive”

Full of energy, classic hip hop nostalgia and dope collaborations

Nirvana “Nirvana Unplugged”

Signature grunge that comes together for an effortless set in New York…

Jay Z “Jay Z Unplugged”

Hip Hop’s Renaissance man…backed by The Roots

James Brown “Live @ The Apollo”

Thrilling, let’s go adrenaline, passionate and soulful delivery…just dynamite

Jimi Hendrix “Band Of Gypsy’s Live @ The Filmore”

A sign of the times…war and self expression… famous for the 12 minute rendition of Machine Gun… Here’s a taste

KISS “KISS Alive 1975″

Electrifying, fist pumping, neck jarring rock!

Curtis Mayfield “Curtis/Live”

His second album came with his solo debut! Very bold and well worth the risk. Brilliance…

Bill Withers “Live @ Carnegie Hall”

Reveals his layered personality which sets up the emotional content of his songs… stellar renditions

Simply divine with a guitar, trendsetting  and smooth as smooth gets

Woodstock

A day to remember in music history… hippies, psychedelics and everything between… an incredible jam session

Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane “Live @ Carnegie Hall”

Two jazz giants… Lost recordings for over 40yrs… skill, expression… enjoy!

The Commodores “Live”

One of the greatest soul R&B band albums live… classic after classic

Earth, Wind and Fire “Gratitude”

The infamous Earth, Wind and Fire super band with Phillip Bailey delivering one of our favorites leads…

Bob Dylan “Bootleg series Volume 4″

Can’t ignore his huge impact on music… strange, extraordinary poetic power tucked into musical genius

Johnny Cash “At Folsom Prison”

Raw passion, unadulterated humanity… a very influential musician of the 20th century

Bruce Springsteen “Live 1975-1985″

Inspirational with an X factor that makes him a people’s champion

Donny Hathaway “Live”

Couldn’t pick just one video… capturing his essence is well worth it

Marvin Gaye “Live”

Golden pipes, dripping soul with non-stop sex appeal … Mr. Marvin Gaye

…with a sultry voice that soothes just about any soul,Florida native Saunders Sermons is not only a Jazz Singer but, can play a mean tune on the trombone as well..

..not familiar with his work, voice or trombone skills? Well, he’s worked with Jay-Z on Vh1 specials and is also featured on Jay-Z’s ‘The Roc Boys’. Other features include his work done with Diddy, Fantasia and Mary J. Blige & Jill Scott…

…though he’s currently on tour with Maxwell, Sermons’ album Classic Delights dropped earlier this year…

Check out his joint “Sentimental Mood” which seems like a contemporary tribute to Ellington & Coltrane’s masterpiece…

No, it’s not a Jimmie Lunceford original.  But I just read a newspaper profile by Rachel Swan devoted to the drummer Donald Bailey (whose work I know from recordings he made with Jimmie Rowles) where he spoke about being a young player in Philadelphia.  These words leaped out at me (italics mine):

Bailey started playing drums as a preteen by practicing along with his brother’s records. His timing couldn’t have been better: Be-bop had become the avant-garde, and Philly was a veritable hotbed of it. John Coltrane, Bud Powell, Lee Morgan, Stanley Turrentine, Buster Williams, Jimmy Smith, Dizzy Gillespie, and Charlie Parker all lived in Philly at some point in their careers — and that’s only a partial list. Unknowns like Bailey would hobnob with these elder statesmen at places like the Blue Note Club and get whatever they could get. At that time, the scene was more of a meritocracy, said Bailey. “Nowadays, anybody can get up on the bandstand and play. We couldn’t do that when I was coming up,” the drummer said. “You just couldn’t do it. You would either be too embarrassed or they would embarrass you. They would take you by your pants and throw you out the door.”

Consider that, dear readers.  The full piece can be found here:

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/music/an_old_blueprint_made_new/Content?oid=1228901