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September 27 Erykah Badu sings Sweet Melissa One of my favorite vocalists sings an old song by the Allman Brothers....what a voice, I love it. August 24 Me and My HarmonicaWhen I was about 12 I was rummaging through my father's bureau and came across something in a small cardboard box -- a Hohner Marine Band harmonica. I found it very fascinating and challenging. It made different notes, both inhaling and exhaling. And there were notes missing...the scale was not obvious like the "C" scale on a piano. And it took quite a while to even get a single note to sound good. I made my most headway after buying a book from Jon Gindick called Rock n' Blues Harmonica. The book explained some very basic music theory, chord changes, blues progression, riffs, licks, and chugging. And most importantly....how to bend notes. Somehow, it all started to gel for me after this book. From then on I learned from listening to harmonica music and blues music...artists like Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Big Walter, Sonny Terry, Bob Dylan, and Junior Wells, et. al. I still carry a harmonica with me almost everywhere I go. It takes so little space, and there is often 5 minutes here and there where I find myself with nothing to do...stuck in traffic, waiting for someone, etc... and sometimes I just pull out my harmonica and play something...sometimes an old song I know, sometimes I make up a new song... This is a video I made recently. It is me on harmonica, improvisational...but trying to play like Little Walter on a song he wrote called Juke. The piano is something I made on Apple GarageBand. The images are just random images of harmonica influences and what not... August 12 TamacunHere's an awesome guitar duet by a pair called Rodrigo y Gabriela. Watch the whole thing, the rhythm guitarist does something percussive and cool at the end. Before they did this style, they were into heavy metal and Metallica...believe it or not. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodrigo_y_Gabriela August 09 Over the Waterfall A short video of me playing the banjo this morning. I mixed in a few photos of musical friends and acquaintenances, past and present. Racky ThomasI saw some live blues last night at a local club called Gilrein's. In a tough part of town, I was sort of afraid to park my car there. But once inside I was treated to some really good blues from The Racky Thomas Band. Apparently he is also known as 'Starbuck's singing barista' ...didn't know that...but holy cow...great voice, harmonica, and add in some drums, guitar, and bass...and there you go...great blues. May 06 Carla Bruni singsThe amazing Carla Bruni sings. What a talent, what a voice. Married to the French president Sarkozy. Her new album "No Promises" has the poetry of Emily Dickinson set to music. A must buy. April 10 An Acoustic Guitarist I like -- Jose GonzalezI was at spin class at Spynergy Wellesley after work one Thursday and the instructor played a song twice ...by 2 different artists ....so I had to ask after class what the name of the song and artists were. The song is "Teardrop" by Massive Attack (1998 or 1999), with the remake by a solo acoustic guitarist named Jose Gonzalez. While I liked both versions, I preferred the remake by Gonzalez...and have since been working through his material on Youtube. I am really starting to like him and I think I am going to buy a CD or 2 of his. He is so good....I wouldn't be surprised to see his star rise over the next few months or years. If you hear more about Jose Gonzelez, remember....you heard about it here first. Also of note are the beautiful lyrics....poetry. Quite an interesting love song: Love, love is a verb Check out this video of his of "Teardrop". The animation is a little weird and has me totally puzzled....but this song is probably his flagship song. March 08 Stupid For YouStupidly for me, I had become stagnant. Musically. In college I was listening to everything going backwards in time to the roots of rock n' roll as well as keeping up with new music as it came out such as new wave and punk. But after college, some of the key people who introduced me to new music -- Eric, Paul, Annie -- I contact with and among the things I lost were their musical influences. I had no one to spin new records for me and no one to drag me to local musical venues. And FM radio, playing the same stuff over and over, did not fill the void. Some time later I stumbled on some untapped musical veins of yesteryear that held interest for me. Early electric blues, particularly emanating from Chicago in the 1950s and 1960s interested me. Harmonica blues such as Junior Wells and Howlin Wolf. And then later, folk and old-timey music, sea shanteys, old-time banjo, and irish concertina music. But that was about it. Lately I feel musically rejuvenated. Technologically has given me some new musical sources to explore. It started with XM Radio....and soon the Top 20 station had me hooked on Fergie, Black Eyed Peas, Rhianna, Timbaland, Jordin Sparks. And then I found music on You Tube. I peruse the very current mostly viewed music to find gems, as well as watch some music videos in my MTV-less time cramped world. Like this gem below by Marie Digby I found on YouTube....holy mackeral what a talent...singer, songwriter, plays guitar and piano. Just listen to this gem titled "Stupid For You". I'll go so far to make the following predictions: Marie Digby will be a top 20 recording artist within the next 12 months. I'll hear her on XM Radio. And she'll sell a million+ records. So while XM Radio and YouTube are no replacements for Eric, Paul, and Annie as musical influences .... they have reopened my eyes to all the fantastic music out there. December 31 Jam session with JayMy friend Jay from town is moving to Germany. In fact, he's already there; but, he came back for 1 week for the holidays. He leaves tomorrow, again, so we had the Newman's over festivities and one last jam session. The Mrs. gets along with my Mrs, and we have kids the same age so it is a good fit for all. Jay and I have had a number of musical sessions....sometimes we work on a song, more often than not we just pick a key and just and go at it. Here is a folder with some of our work over the years. Tonight's recording was Cat's Cradle. I only knew a snippet of it, as did Jay....and he got into some funky modal thing ....periodically you might actually recognize the melody in this Garcia-Grisman type session ...hah! Jay on guitar....me on banjo and harmonica. July 11 Bonnie Raitt's Love Me Like A ManHere's a nice bluesey YouTube clip of Bonnie Raitt singing the blues. Check out that piano solo around the 2:45 mark too! April 17 Elton John: 'Take Me To the Pilot'Just another Elton John song I like. I don't have too much to say about it...just sharing a good clip. I really liked his old stuff better than the new stuff. Quote Elton John: 'Take Me To the Pilot' April 02 Elton John: 'Madman Across the Water'One of my favorite Elton John songs....Madman Across the Water. He is 60 now....but neither his voice or piano playing has diminshed. This song this show sounds as good...if not better than the first time I heard it. The improv is rather excellent about 2/3's the way through. Quote Elton John: 'Madman Across the Water' March 05 Hazards of HatterasInteresting new blog by co-worker Greg Bacon titled BaconWorks. Greg is a talented composer and multi-instrumentalist (fife, guitar, bohdran, whistle, probably others ) and we have had a few interesting conversations about traditional music and home recording. His blog is a collection of musical musings on traditional music, composing, music files as .mp3s, and sheet music of original compositions.
Take a look at the recent posting titledHazards of Hatterass.
My great, great uncle Stinson Davis, pictured above, was a sailor. He wasn’t just your average day sailor. He was the real deal. In fact, he was the last real deal. A captain of three, four and five masted schooner ships during the waning age of sail, he spent years of his life carrying whale oil from the West Indies, coal from Portugal and hauling lumber out of Africa. When I was fourteen I attended his hundredth birthday party. You think it is hard buying a gift for your dad’s birthday? What do you get someone turning one hundred? My father was wise and convinced me to do some research and draw him a big map of all his sailing routes. I spent weeks with colored markers and piece poster board charting his journeys. On the day of his birthday party, in some Grange hall near Five Islands, Maine I nervously presented my gift. He quietly looked it over. After a few moments, instead of a ‘thank you’, he began pointing out the routes I had missed, like the one that lead him a thousand miles up the Congo River. He began to tell me stories of his voyages, bouts of malaria, brothers lost at sea, The Maude Palmer, Cape Horn and the hazards of Cape Hatteras. I suppose I thought I was giving an old man a map to remind him of the places he’d been. Truth is, he didn’t need it. Reflecting back to that day I think it is safe to say that my real gift to him was the wide eyed curiosity of a young boy. And in a way it was he who gave me the map. I pull out that map on days when life is hard and I ask myself this: Have I really been everywhere I want to go? If the answer is ‘no’ then it is time to start charting a course for my West Indies, even if it means that I will have to face the Hazards of Hatteras.
I have taken a stab at this tune on the Anglo Concertina and can only do a miserable job on the A part. The B part is a smidgen complex for me. But even the A part is a pleasure to play, a very nice composition.
I also enjoy reading about the song inspirations. It's a reminder that the old relatives and people around us likely have fascinating stories to tell. All to often as kids we don't appreciate this, and only when it is too late. February 12 Talking about Christina Aguilera liveUnbelievable vocal talent. Love her. Britney who? Quote Christina Aguilera live February 06 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head'I always liked this song by Electric Light Orchestra. The ELO album was my brother's, and one of the first albums I listened to. So it was interesting to hear this rendition by Kylie Monogue. Quote 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' December 29 '(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman' by Mary J. BligeAnother new vocalist for me...Mary J. Blige. She's pretty popular apparently, and no wonder, she has a beautiful voice. I "found" her through Pandora, my new internet radio station, which plays music similar to music you like. So I was on my "Erykah Badu" station and when this came through my ear pods I liked it immediately. I listened and watched about a half-dozen videos by her on MSN Video....she's the real deal. I am so completely out of the popular music scene that something like Pandora is really helping me find new artists that I like. Apparently the musical attributes of Erykah Badu, according to Pandora.com, are:
Quote '(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman' by Mary J. Blige December 24 'Fergalicious' by FergieHere's a song I like.... Quote 'Fergalicious' by Fergie December 22 'Bag Lady' by Erykah BaduOne of my favorite rhythm & blues vocalists....Erykah Badu The lyrics in case you want to sing along... Bag Lady Bag lady you gone hurt your back Quote 'Bag Lady' by Erykah Badu |
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