**Music!

This thread is for anyone who wants to talk about music (jazz, classical, world music, R&R, R&B, folk, etc.), their favorite artists and recordings, and suggested audio and video recordings on the Internet (YouTube, etc.). Thanks go to deebee1 for coming up with this idea!

That's a brilliant idea! I love to get new musictips almost as much as a good readingtip:) What would life be without good literature and music? Definitely boring!

>>1 kidzdoc: I noticed that you read a book about Thelonious Monk as one of your first for the year and he just so happens to be one of my all time favorite jazz musicians! Very nice choice.

Does anyone else here listen to much Monk? How about Dizzy Gillespie or Bela Fleck?

Ooh, Bela Fleck! The Bela Fleck and the Flecktones Christmas album and "Drive" are two personal favorites of mine at the moment. Not usually my cup of tea, this type of music and I was a bit suspicious at first, especially after being told how technically excellent Fleck is (as if this was the most important thing), but there's such warmth and *joy* to the way he's/they're playing, all my suspicions melted away.

I even gave my parents the Christmas cd for Christmas. Sorry I couldn't be there to see their faces as the first notes of "Jingle Bells" came on. They haven't mentioned it since... ;)

Bela's one of my faves!

ha! Is this the result of the massive jazz thread that just took over your thread? Good move, Darryl.

Haha, whoops! Didn't mean to bring all of the jazzies over here. :P

I'll try a different tack, then. Can anyone recommend any lesser-known bands that someone who likes Pavement, Dinosaur Jr., and Sonic Youth might enjoy but may not have heard before? I'd also love to hear about modern swing bands à la The Boilermakers or The Diablo Swing Orchestra.

I have no one to blame but myself for the jazz discussion on my thread, Caroline.

I'll have to check out that Bela Fleck Christmas album.

I posted this on my thread, but I'll put it here too: a YouTube recording of "Brilliant Corners" by Monk:

Brilliant Corners

I think my favorite Dizzy Gillespie albums are the two 1957 recordings which feature Sonny Stitt and Sonny Rollins, Sonny Side Up and Duets.

Jazz...The real thing, not that mush they play on smooth/lite stations, is something I've only truly started to appreciate it in the last five years.

Tough to get good stations here on my part of the Jersey shore, but I can get WRTI.
http://www.wrti.org/

Also getting near impossible to get anything in bookstores. Barnes & Noble just doesn't seem to care anymore. The few stores I can easily reach aren't even re-stocking their music sections. Yeah, you can sample tracks in their online store, but it's just not the same unless you know exactly what you're looking for. Browsing is just not possible unless I can go throught the racks.

Borders has built two new stores within an hour's drive. The music sections are much smaller than older stores and there are no listening stations. Sad.

But the Blues...Ah the Blues. From Robert Johnson to Joe Bonnamassa. That's the stuff.

Sarge, can you get either WBGO 88.3 FM in Newark or WKCR 89.9 FM in NYC? They both have streaming audio on the Internet if you're not close enough.

Agree with you on the paucity of the music selections in the bookstores. It's a shame that Tower Records went belly up; I liked going to the Lincoln Center and Greenwich Village stores when I worked in NYC. I had meant to stop by J&R Music World in lower Manhattan, near City Hall and Pace University, when I was in the city on Monday; that has been my favorite place to buy LPs and CDs for years. Not very convenient to the Jersey shore, though...

Which blues albums would you recommend?

Clutch is easily my favorite contemporary rock band. They're local, so there shows are always something special. This is one of my favorite songs.

Not jazz, but I thought I'd share anyway.

Continuing on the rock theme, today would have been Elvis Presley's 75th birthday. NPR Music has a nice tribute, including links to favorite Elvis recordings:

Elvis Presley At 75: Songs We Love

Happy Birthday, Elvis. You're still the King to me!

On a different note, anyone heard of 'Big Bad Voodoo Daddy'? I just heard them yesterday at HMV and they had me bopping away in the store, much to the embarrassment of a couple of colleagues who were with me. Great big band sound and I challenge anyone not to get caught up in the swing of things

How timely. I was looking for a logical place to mention Elvis' birthday, and here it is. According to Priscillia, if he were alive today, he'd probably be singing gospel, and maybe even preaching a little.

#9 Sarge, you might try giving a listen to George Graham's Venerable Jazz segment on Tuesday nights on WVIA FM It's streamed live, so reception shouldn't be an issue. They also have a jazz program on Saturday nights, I believe.

For those interested in Jewish melodies in a modern setting the UK band Oi Va Voy is worth a look. I love this youtube clip of their song 'Yuri': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIkvii7Hp8k&feature=PlayList&p=83AFABF6FF...

#15: I enjoyed that Kerry. Thanks for posting the link.

>13 cameling: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is a perennial favorite at the swing club I frequent! It's almost impossible not to get up and dance when they're playing.

I was on the way home yesterday and heard the title track of ESP, from Mile Davis. This is the 1st studio lp from his great 60's Quintet!
Great album: "Something Else" by Cannonball Adderly. Miles on the title track: Heaven!
Allama- I'm also a huge Pavement & Sonic Youth fan! Have you heard Spoon, TV on the Radio or The Decemberists?

Thanks, kidzdoc! I like that you separated your music thread from your books read. I have trouble enough keeping up with all the books you read in one year! ;-) Have fun over here, all you jazz fans!

#18: Somethin' Else is one of my all time favorite albums, definitely one I'd want to have on a desert island. I would need more than one LP or CD, as I would wear out the original copy!

Oddly enough, I don't think I have any of Miles' albums from the 1965-68 Quintet. However, I'm about to rectify that gap; True Blue Music, which is affiliated with Mosaic Records, is selling a 6-CD boxed set entitled Miles Davis: Complete Studio Recordings Of The Quintet, 1965-68, which I'll order after I finish this message. Thanks for the reminder!

I'll submit a couple of jazz album reviews later today, for two of my favorite Thelonious Monk recordings: Monk's Dream (1962), which is probably my favorite Monk album and another desert island disc, and Monk Alone: The Complete Columbia Solo Studio Recordings: 1962-1968, which is a fabulous 2-CD set of Monk's solo piano recordings.

ETA: Mosaic Records is having a free shipping promotion on orders of $100 or more. So, I ordered the Miles Davis set, along with "Atomic Basie" by the Count Basie Orchestra, and two Cecil Taylor albums I've wanted for awhile, "Unit Structures" and "Looking Ahead!". This promotion ends on January 18th.

kidzdoc

Here's what I've been listening to lately and what I would recommend.

Jazz:
Charles Mingus- Mingus Ah Um
Jack Teagarden- Mis'ry And The Blues
The Dave Brubeck Quartet- Time Out
John Coltrane- A Love Supreme
Miles Davis- Birth Of The Cool
Oscar Peterson- Time And Again (Part of the Quiet Now compilation series by Verve records)

As for the blues I tend towards guitar based.
Luther Allison- Bad News Is Coming (One of my favorite albums, whenever someone asks what is the blues, I play this for them)
Charlie Musselwhite- Delta Hardware
The Homemade Jamz Blues Band- I Got Blues For You (Interesting new group, they're two brothers and sister who are all just teenagers)
Lil' Ed and The Blues Imperials- Full Tilt
Hound Dog Taylor- (He released four albums with The Houserockers, I can't pick a favorite)
Robben Ford- Handful Of Blues, Truth
Joe Bonamassa- Sloe Gin (I played this album to death in Iraq), You & Me, The Ballad of John Henry (I've played this to death since coming home)

There's just something about the blues. It's music that speaks to life. Pure raw emotion.

Check out the blues-
Alligator Records: http://www.alligatorrecords.com/
Blind Pig Records: http://www.blindpigrecords.com/
Ruf Records: http://www.rufrecords.de/

Thanks, Sarge. The Mingus, Brubeck, Coltrane and Davis albums are among my favorites. I'll have to check out Teagarden, who I'm completely unfamiliar with, and the Peterson compilation. (BTW, I saw him perform at the Blue Note in NYC, probably in 1990, which was one of the best live concerts I've seen). I'll check out the blues recommendations later tonight, after the Packers-Cardinals track meet ends.

JacK Teagarden: http://www.jackteagarden.com/

Possibly this is the Oscar Peterson show you saw?
http://www.amazon.com/Legendary-Oscar-Peterson-Trio-Live/dp/B000003D33/ref=sr_1_...

That's it! However my girlfriend & I weren't there that night. I think the recording of that CD occurred on Friday night, and we were there Saturday night...or vice versa. We had a tiny table near the front of the stage, and we were both mesmerized and practically speechless when we left. I'm not sure, but I think all three musicians have passed on, unfortunately.

Thanks for the Teagarden link. For some reason I thought he was a singer. Did he perform on the famous 1959 (or was it 1958?) CBS television recording with Billie Holliday et al.?

I forgot to post this album review here; I put it on my thread this morning.

Album review: Monk's Dream by the Thelonious Monk Quartet (1962)



My rating:

This is probably my favorite recording by Thelonious Monk, as the music is the most joyous and bright of any of his preceding or subsequent albums. All of the musicians, which include Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), John Ore (bass), and Frankie Dunlop (drums), are in top form. More importantly, they perform as a tightly cohesive unit, with superb solos by Rouse and Monk that are enhanced by a supportive but not obtrusive rhythm section. Practically every song is outstanding, but my favorites are the title track, "Bye-Ya", "Blues Five Spot" and "Sweet and Lovely". I would recommend this album as a starting point for the listener who is new to Monk, as it is the most accessible and lyrical of all of his recordings, IMO.

Here's a YouTube audio recording of "Bye-Ya" from the album:

Bye-Ya

>18 msf59: I love all three of the bands you mentioned! The Decemberists put on a really good live show, though the last time I saw them was in early 2007, not long after Crane Wife came out. I've not had the pleasure of going to see Spoon or TV on the Radio. Have you?

Jack Teagarden was a singer in addition to playing the trombone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHR3KNak-Ic

Not having any luck finding a performance of him with Billie Holliday.

For your listening pleasure, some of the Blues artists I mentioned above. And some I didn't.

Lil' Ed and The Blues Imperials
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RktwieZPo4I&feature=related

Corey Stevens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HenFnEVYg2I&feature=related

Robben Ford
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61jK5BjYBz4

Indigenous
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3yVTyEJkf4

Luther Allison
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAb8ZusfZxc

Hound Dog Taylor & The Houserockers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjHcREbUogE

Albert Collins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lg9VPEQQ60

Thanks for all the links, Sarge. I do not know much about blues music, but I am willing to learn.

A few of my favorites that I missed earlier.

Shemekia Copeland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGD01ZYnZLw

Koko Taylor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn88mwiRAeU

Charlie Musselwhite
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkJWTQpvADU

Saffire: The Uppity Blues Women
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igu2GHbgA8s

There is a great radio station in Philadelphia, WXPN, that has a blues show you would love. I've heard them play Shemekia Copeland and The Uppity Blues Women during their normal airtime, too.

I believe they stream it online so you can listen anywhere.

Excellent, thank you.

There was an interesting review of Mulatu Astatke's latest album in my local Sunday paper. I'd never heard of him before but he was the first African student to get into Berklee School of music back in the 1960s. He pioneered Ethio-jazz. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5Do8BWjjxo
edit: add this article from Haaretz newspaper

>25 Allama:: Allama- Sorry I just saw your post! I don't know how I missed it but yes, I've seen Spoon & TV on the Radio live, both very good and believe it or not Pavement is reuniting this summer and I will be seeing them in Chicago at the Pitchfork festival. What a major treat!!

>33 msf59: I'm trying to get to one of Pavement's shows this summer, too! It kills me that they were over before I ever got to see them live. Definitely enjoy Pitchfork, it's a great festival from what I hear!

I have just found my 3 dvd set of Latin dance/music films by Carlos Saura which has been missing for 2 years since I loaned it to my son. Absolutely stunning, I can't recommend these highly enough and I'll be watching all three over the weekend.
Carmen (1983)
Flamenco (1995)
Tango (1998)

For anyone who's interested, there was a very interesting "Start the Week" (BBC Radio 4) episode this morning (or what I heard of it on my way to work anyway) - the common theme being music and film.

Radio 4 description of the program:

"Andrew Marr discusses films, soundtracks and the idea of LA with composer John Adams, as he prepares for the UK premiere of City Noir, which brings the grime and glamour of 1940s films to orchestral life. Science writer Philip Ball talks about how our relationship with music proves that we're human and why and how music affects us. The filmmaker Julien Temple talks about his latest documentary, Requiem for Detroit, a moving elegy for the death of a city. And filmmaker Sangeeta Datta talks about the long history and exciting present of British-Asian cinema."

More info and the "play it again" link (available for the next 7 days) can be found here

When I listen to the radio it's usually 89.3 The Current in Twin Cities area, but they stream online here: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/the_current/

Lately, I've been stuck on 100 Monkeys. I'm not positive how to describe them, but they're a bit of a mix of alt music, blues, and satiric lyrics. Here's a link to one of their upbeat, closer to alt music, Orson Brawl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0Z3ldARK_Q And here's one of their slower songs, Poison Oak: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW6YzG1Tc58

I've also been pretty stuck on The Bravery, since their new album. . . last year maybe? One of their songs has a lot of references to Brave New World, called I Have Seen the Future, you can listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33k5pshS_p4

Otherwise, I've been on an older music (for me, as in middle school/early high school stuff) and a British kick. . . Muse (falls under both), Tool, A Perfect Circle, Trust Company, Hot Chip, Arctic Monkeys, Black Ghosts, Dandy Warhols

I just came across a fantastic new-for-me-band called The Creaking Tree String Quartet. They're fiddle, mandolin, guitar and string bass playing bluegrassy, jazzy instrumentals. I wish I had a tenth of these guys' ability...

http://www.creakingtree.com/

A couple of blogs:

http://voodoofunk.blogspot.com/
A European DJ goes to West Africa in search of lost funk/soul/disco records. His mp3 mixes are fire. I'm really interested in the legacy of USA soul music (JB, Marvin Gaye, Stevie, etc.) in other countries, and I think this blog is great.

http://loronix.blogspot.com/
This is my favorite website. This generous individual has burnt hundreds, perhaps thousands of Brazilian LPs into MP3 format. He's keeping these musicians alive through the generations by putting their work out there to a world of people who would otherwise have limited access to the incredible music of Brazil. Unfortunately, he hasn't updated in 9 months or so...I've learned an awful lot about Brazilian music through this blog.