Peter Erskine, legendary jazz drummer, and other L.A. session musicians poured their own experiences of trying to make a living playing jazz into the work they did on La La Land's soundtrack. Randall Roberts of the L.A. Times writes: Don’t judge, says Erskine. Asked what advice he’d give Seb, who in a defining scene is shown lazily playing rote versions of Christmas carols in a restaurant instead of the Thelonius Monk-inspired music that drives him, Erskine says, “Every playing opportunity informs the next one. You might learn something profound about just how to work with other musicians, … [Read more...]
Cold Duck Time
"Cold Duck Time" is on the album Swiss Movement by the Les McCann trio with saxophonist Eddie Harris and trumpeter Benny Bailey. It was recorded live on June 21,1969 at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. They learned the song earlier that day. Duck is a cheap sparkling wine. … [Read more...]
“Great Song, Thanks Alexa”
I highly recommend the Amazon Echo Dot for your family. The sound quality is surprisingly good for something that basically has the look and size of a hockey puck. We have one hooked into the stereo system in our kitchen. Around dinnertime on Saturday night I pulled out the large wild caught shrimp we were having for dinner and said “Alexa, play Jimmy Buffett radio.” As I was in the middle of cleaning the shrimp a song came on that I hadn’t heard in forever. My hands were wet so instead of picking up my phone to Shazam the song, I simply asked "Alexa what song is this?" "Right Down the … [Read more...]
Before Bob Dylan there was Chuck Berry
Here’s a great tribute to Chuck Berry from Newport Daily News columnist Jim Gillis: You could argue that Chuck Berry, who died recently at age 90, helped invent rock ‘n’ roll. I’d throw Little Richard and Elvis in as well. Berry’s appearance at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival was rife with controversy—a rocker crashing a jazz event. This was seven years before Bob Dylan rocked out at the folk fest. You can see Berry in “Jazz on a Summer’s Day,” the documentary on the ’58 fest. Berry never traveled with a band. He gathered with whichever local band signed on (never providing a set … [Read more...]
Vinyl is Far from Dead
If you’re a music lover like me and own some vinyl records then you know what I’m talking about when I say vinyl is a listening experience. Daniel Adrian Sanchez reports at Digital Music News that Warner Music Group has announced their first vinyl-only record label, named Run Out Groove. He writes: “Run Out Groove is a new vinyl only label that caters specifically to music fanatics, pressing limited edition titles made by music fans for music fans. We want every record we release to be a cornerstone of your collection. Similar to archaeologists, we plan to dig, discover and deliver records … [Read more...]
Sick and Tired of Bad Sound Quality, Americans are Coming Home to Vinyl
Becky and I love our vinyl record collection. And we’re not alone. 2015 sales of $416 million were the highest since 1988. Stay tuned for 2016’s numbers. Below Josh Friedlander and Cara Duckworth of the Recording Industry Association of America explain the phenomenon of accelerating vinyl sales. Now that our 2015 sales numbers are out, there is one category that continues to befuddle even the most astute industry observers: vinyl (in a good way, of course). So if you’re one of these observers or a casual music fan doing some research on this waxy format (or both), we thought we’d offer up a … [Read more...]
RIP Clyde “Funky Drummer” Stubblefield
Your Retirement Life: Stay on Beat
One of my favorite drummers is the Rolling Stones' Charlie Watts, known for keeping it simple, keeping the beat, and playing to the song. He doesn’t look for something that’s not there. There’s a story about how Watts could play a song in the studio then have the volume turned off, with everyone leaving the room, continue playing in silence, and when they came back in and turned the music back on he was still on beat. Think about that for a moment. Let it sink in as you consider what’s going on today. There’s a lot of noise out there. Imagine turning it off. Would you stop what you’re … [Read more...]
Congratulations to Nobel Prize Winner, Bob Dylan
In what The New York Times calls a redefinition of the boundaries of literature, Bob Dylan has been awarded the Nobel Prize. The prize comes with some controversy from critics who charge that Dylan isn't writing "literature," but he also has his supporters. The NYT reports: Billy Collins, the former United States poet laureate, argued that Mr. Dylan deserved to be recognized not merely as a songwriter, but as a poet. “Most song lyrics don’t really hold up without the music, and they aren’t supposed to,” Mr. Collins said in an interview. “Bob Dylan is in the 2 percent club of songwriters whose … [Read more...]
Alaska: The Last Frontier, Jewel's Pioneer Upbringing and Her Music
Singer, songwriter and author Jewel talks about growing up on the Alaskan frontier and the changes in her life and music that influenced her new album Picking up the Pieces. Joseph Hudak writes in Rolling Stone Magazine: On Picking Up the Pieces, Jewel follows in those same footsteps. The record, her first since 2010's country effort Sweet and Wild, returns the Nineties' queen of introspection to her more folky roots, allowing her poetry-like lyrics to come to the fore. No emotion or feeling is masked, whether it's the awkward doubt of the cocktail-party exposé "Plain Jane" (in which she … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- Next Page »