From his debut 1976 recording "First Course", here is the track "Wild Rice" by Lee Ritenour. It is the next to last cut on the album. The musicians who played on the record include:
Rhythm section:
Lee Ritenour: classical & electric guitar, synthesizer, vocals
Bill Dickinson: bass
Chuck Rainey: bass
Louis Johnson: bass
Ian Underwood: synthesizer programming
Ed Green: drums
Harvey Mason Sr.: drums
Jerry Steinholtz: percussion
Dave Grusin: organ, piano, synthesizer & Clavinet
Larry Nash, Jerry Peters, Michael Omartian & Patrice Rushen: keyboards, Clavinet
Horns:
Chuck Findley: trumpet
Frank Rosolino: trombone
Tom Scott: tenor saxophone
Jerome Richardson: baritone saxophone
Once again, we look at a song from the German jazz fusion band, Passport. This is the title track of their 1977 album, recorded on Atlantic Records. The band lineup is:
Wolfgang Schmid: bass
Curt Cress: drums, berimbau
Kristian Schulze: piano, electric piano, organ
Klaus Doldinger: organ, flute, tenor saxophone, & soprano saxophone
Roy Louis: guitar
Elmer Louis: percussion (including: atapaques, surdo, pandeiro, cuica, berimbau, & percussion whistles)
From the 2015 New Orleans Jazzfest, here is Widespread Panic, with guests Luther and Cody Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars, playing their version of Robert Johnson's "Me & The Devil Blues". Dig it!
More music in memory of Butch Trucks in St. Louis, as Tedeschi Trucks Band pays tribute to Derek's uncle, playing a 31 minute version of "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" with Luther Dickinson sitting in on guitar.
Paying tribute to Derek's uncle, Butch Trucks, Tedeschi Trucks Band plays "Statesboro Blues" as the show opener of their January 25th gig in St. Louis, Missouri.
We continue to remember Butch Trucks, and here, he and Dickey Betts are interviewed for the TV show Rock Influence about the early years of the Allman Brothers Band.
Yours truly is shocked and saddened writing this post this morning. One of the founding members of The Allman Brothers Band, has died. Rest In Peace, Butch Trucks. A man, who yours truly, had the pleasure to see play his thunderous style of drums, with the Allman Brothers Band, four times. He was known as "the freight train" for good reason, as his steady drumbeat was as powerful as a locomotive while his partner behind the second drum kit, Jaimoe, was a jazz driven drummer. After the Allman Brothers said farewell in 2014, Butch began his own band called The Freight Train, and like the Allman's before them, they too, were on a roll. We may never hear a drumming duo that had the power and finesse that Butch and Jaimoe did playing with the Allman Brothers, again. It was something truly unique, and along with their third percussion master, Marc Quinones, in the latter part of the bands career, this triple drummer tour de force was a sight and a sound to behold. Rest In Peace, Butch Trucks. You will be missed.
To honor Butch's legacy, and give you a taste of what he was all about, here is the drum solo from "Mountain Jam" from "Live at The Fillmore East" in 1971. Butch and Jaimoe had something as drummers that just cannot be matched. They were absolutely incredible.
Another Tabah song. This is their entry for the 2017 NPR Tiny Desk concert. The tune is called "Kuker" from their newly released record "Symmetry Somewhere". Check it out.
From the 2015 Lockn' Festival in Arrington, Virginia, here is Widespread Panic featuring Jimmy Cliff and Chuck Leavell, with Cliff's tune, "Sitting In Limbo". Check it out.
The title track from an album by jazz guitar great Grant Green by the same name. This is "Ain't It Funky Now". Yes, Grant. It sure is. The tune was written by "The Godfather of Soul", James Brown. Green's version appears on the album "Green Is Beautiful" released in 1970. The band lineup is:
Grant Green: guitar
Blue Mitchell: trumpet
Claude Bartee: tenor saxophone
Emmanuel Riggins: organ
Jimmy Lewis: electric bass
Idris Muhammad: drums
Candido Camero: conga
Richie "Pablo" Landrum: bongos
Carlos Santana's breakthrough 1970 record "Abraxas" in it's entirety. The personnel on the record includes:
Carlos Santana – lead guitar, backing vocals, producer
Gregg Rolie – keyboards, lead vocals
David Brown – bass Michael Shrieve – drums José "Chepito" Areas – percussion, conga, timbales Michael Carabello – percussion, conga Additional personnel:
Rico Reyes – percussion, backing vocals Alberto Gianquinto – piano on "Incident at Neshabur" Steven Saphore – tabla
...And the track listing:
1. Singing Winds, Crying Beasts 2. Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen 3. Oye Como Va 4. Incident At Neshabur 5. Se A Cabo 6. Mother's Daughter 7. Samba Pa Ti 8. Hope You're Feeling Better 9. El Nicoya
Happy Belated Birthday, to the great Mississippi Fred McDowell, with one of his songs that has become a part of the blues tradition, called "You Gotta Move". He was born January 12th, 1906, and would be 111 years old if he were still alive today. He passed away in 1972 at the age of 66. McDowell, came from the other musical end of Mississippi, (the Hill Country), as opposed to the Delta.
Check out the original version of "Floating Bridge" by the man who wrote the song, blues legend, Sleepy John Estes. This tune, was written, in 1937. This tune, was covered by Gregg Allman on his 2011 "Low Country Blues" solo record, and also on the "Back To Macon, Georgia" CD/DVD as a bonus track. Of course, yours truly did review that one. Here, though, is the genuine article. Sleepy John Estes and "Floating Bridge". Dig it.
Today we remember Blues artist and juke joint owner, Junior Kimbrough
who passed away on this day in 1998 at the age of 67. He was born in
Hudsonville, Mississippi in 1930 and began playing guitar in his youth,
influenced heavily by Lightnin' Hopkins. By the late 1950s he began
playing in his own droning, hypnotic style which was a prime example of
North Country Hill Blues and greatly resembled artists such as John Lee
Hooker. He moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1966 and began recording,
although those recordings wouldn't be released until 2009. He did see
five albums released in his lifetime and was a long time friend and
label mate of R. L. Burnside on the Fat Possum label. Around 1992, he
opened a juke joint called Junior's Place in Chulahoma, Mississippi. It
was a great traditional juke and drew crowds from around the world,
including Keith Richards, Iggy Pop and members of the band U2. Although
his sons kept the juke open after his death, it burned to the ground on
April 6th, 2000.
The duo of Chris Potter on bass clarinet, and Kenny Werner on piano, play the standard, "September Song", released on Volume 10 of the Concord Records Duo Series, back in 1994.
Another song from the Little Feat gig. Once again, credit goes to Little Feat archivist, Chris Cafiero. This is "Let It Roll" featuring guitar work by Warren Haynes and Miles Tackett.
Live from their 2017 performance in Jamaica, here is Little Feat, featuring Warren Haynes and the Midnight Ramble Band, performing "Dixie Chicken". Recording of the video is credited to Little Feat archivist and Ardmore Musical Hall archivist, Chris Cafiero.
Sending prayers for recovery for drummer David Garibaldi and guest bassist Mark Van Wagingen from Tower of Power after they were struck by a train on the way to a scheduled gig in the band's hometown of San Francisco, California.
Prog. rock and fusion, from the band, U.K., released in 1979. This tune is called "In The Dead of Night". U.K. features some heavy hitters of the fusion scene, including Bill Bruford and Allan Holdsworth. The full quartet is:
Eddie Jobson - keyboards, backing vocals, violin
John Wetton - bass, lead and backing vocals
Bill Bruford - drums, percussion Allan Holdsworth - guitar
A little snippet of Bobby Rush and Little Milton, performing together in Memphis, Tennessee, circa 1997. The video and audio quality on this, is just OK. Had to come from a very worn VHS tape.
An instrumental recorded for a live performance on the BBC, 50 years ago, in 1967 by a jazz trio... the Danny Thompson Trio. Danny Thompson, the bandleader is the bassist (on upright), with John McLaughlin on guitar, and Tony Roberts on reed instruments including bass clarinet, flute, and tenor saxophone. This is actually a medley of a medley of tunes. "Steeleye Span", "Mysterianimoso", and "Spectrum Plectrum".
This is the post-1975 incarnation of the psychedelic jazz rock fusion band Gong, led by Pierre Moerlen. Moerlen unexpectedly passed away in 2006. May he Rest In Peace. Featured here is a tune called "Crosscurrents" from the 1979 record "Downwind". The band lineup is:
Pierre Moerlen - Drums, Synthesizer, Electric Piano
Didier Lockwood - Violin
Hansford Rowe - Bass
Ross Record - Guitar
Benoit Moerlen - Vibraphone François Causse - Marimba, Congas
Let's revisit one of Herbie Hancock's great tunes, that has been featured here before. This is "Cantaloupe Island" from a 1991 performance at Live Under The Sky. The band is the quartet of:
Herbie Hancock: piano
Wayne Shorter: soprano saxophone
Stanley Clarke: bass
Omar Hakim: drums
Experts do not believe a tape of this show done in 1970 with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra exists. But, it's possible. Someone may find it and become $500 richer. Who knows.
Check out this neat instrumental by Robben Ford, called "Freedom". Robben, has been featured on the blog before, a number of times, and is a favorite guitarist of yours truly.
Yours truly, has stumbled upon another great, but lesser known folk blues and gospel artist. Her name, is Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten. She played guitar, in open, or Vastopol tuning. There are some videos of her playing, on YouTube. Here is one. It is the full length record of songs she played called Elizabeth Cotten "Freight Train & Other North Carolina Folk Songs & Tunes". The track listing is:
1. Wilson Rag
2. Freight Train
3. Going Down The Road Feeling Bad
4. I Don't Love Nobody
5. Ain't Got No Honey Baby Now
6. Graduation March
7. Honey Babe Your Papa Cares For You
8. Vastopol
9. Medley: Here Comes My Old Rattler Here/Sent For My Fiddle Sent For My Bow/George Buck
10. Medley: Run...Run/Mama Your Son Done Gone
11. Medley: Sweet By And By/What A Friend We Have In Jesus
12. Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie
13. Spanish Flangdang
14. When I Get Home
Now, the history of her music, and the record itself.
Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten was born in Chapel Hill, North
Carolina, (around January, 1895 - June 29, 1987), one of four children.
Her parents had been raised as farmers and before her birth had moved to
the city, where her father worked as a laborer, mostly in the ore
mines, and her mother was a cook and midwife. At about the age of eight,
Elizabeth started playing her older brother's banjo and, a little
later, her brother's guitar which he thought he had hidden from her. She
would wait for him to leave, pull the guitar from under the bed and set
it flat on her lap. At first she developed her picking pattern, with
her left hand, then her chording, and finally some of the easier parts
of Wilson Rag. Occasionally, a broken string would reveal her playing to
her brother, and eventually she went to work and saved enough to buy
her own instrument. To learn a new tune she needed only to hear it
played or sung once by one of the many musicians around her town. Then
she could play it on the guitar or banjo. When she was first learning,
she played the guitar at every opportunity pausing only to eat. Both of
her brothers and her sister could also play. Sometimes she would play
music with her brothers, one playing bass (on the guitar), the other
chording, and Elizabeth leading with the melody. They would also make
and play cornstalk fiddles, paper on comb, and other such homemade
instruments. They only played around their home, strictly for themselves
and their friends. At about age 12, Elizabeth Cotten fol-lowed in her
mother's footsteps by doing housework for people in Chapel Hill. She had
done this kind of work most of her life. She married when she was
fifteen and had one daughter, Lillie. Soon after, she joined the church
and for about 25 years gave up her guitar playing except for brief
occasions in church. She remained most of this time in Chapel Hill,
except for a brief stay in New York City. Since the early 1940s she has
lived with her daughter and five grandchildren in Washington, D.C. In
the mid-forties she was working in a department store there and returned
a lost Peggy Seeger to her mother. They quickly became friends and soon
Elizabeth Cotten was working for the Seegers. After a few years,
remembering that she used to play, she took the family guitar down off
the wall and start-ed playing again, recalling one by one many of the
songs and tunes of her child-hood and youth. Some of those songs are
recorded here.
A three part series with the late, great, jazz pianist, Bill Evans. The Creative Process, and Self Teaching. Part one examines dealing with obstacles in playing music, and how to build one's musical vocabulary. The second installment revolves around Evans' own development as a musician. In the final installment, (#3), Evans shares his thoughts on teaching, and also plays excerpts from three different compositions, including "Very Early", "Time Remembered", and "My Bell".
More proof soul music lives on! Dig this tune, by Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings from South By Southwest in Austin, Texas. The tune is "I'm Not Gonna Cry". The music lives on. But, we remember the legacy of Sharon Jones, who passed away last year. May she Rest In Peace.
Led Zepelin's take (circa 1975), of "In My Time of Dying", which is a traditional gospel song, given the blues treatment, not only by Zeppelin, but by a number of other artists who recorded it. Among them, are Blind Willie Johnson, who originally recorded the tune in 1927, Charlie Patton (recording it in 1929), and Josh White, (recording it in 1933). After these subsequent recordings, Bob Dylan made a version in 1962, John Sebastian and John Fahey both recorded the tune in 1971, and before Zeppelin, a band called Shocking Blue, recorded it in 1973.
Gov't Mule's New Year's Eve 2016 at The Beacon Theater, in
New York City, paying tribute to the great musicians who we lost in 2016 such
as Prince, David Bowie, Merle Haggard, Bernie Worrell from Parliament
Funkadelic, Leon Russell, Glenn Frey, Sharon Jones, and Leonard Cohen.
"Waiting for Columbus" is the first live album by the band Little Feat. The album was recorded during seven performances in 1977.
Paul Barrere - guitar, vocals
Sam Clayton - congas, vocals
Lowell George - lead vocals, guitar
Kenny Gradney - bass guitar
Richard Hayward - drums, vocals
Bill Payne - keyboards, synthesizer, vocals
Mick Taylor - slide guitar ("A Apolitical Blues")
Michael McDonald and Patrick Simmons - backing vocals ("Red Streamliner")
1. Join The Band
2. Fat Man In The Bathtub
3. All That You Dream
4. Oh, Atlanta
5. Old Folks' Boogie
6. Dixie Chicken
7. Tripe Face Boogie
8. Rocket In My Pocket
9. Time Loves A Hero
10. Day Or Night
11. Mercenary Territory
12. Spanish Moon
13. Willin'
14. Don't Bogart That Joint
15. A Apolitical Blues
16. Sailin' Shoe
17. Feats Don't Fail Me Now
