Thursday, May 31, 2018

Fourplay (feat. David Sanborn & Ricky Peterson) "Maputo"

Another version of Bob James & David Sanborn's "Maputo" (composed by bass legend Marcus Miller), played by Fourplay, featuring as guests, Sanborn on alto saxophone and Ricky Peterson on Hammond organ, although James' piano is lead keyboard here, live at the 2008 Tokyo Jazz Festival.  The band is:

Bob James: piano
David Sanborn: alto saxophone
Ricky Peterson: Hammond B3 organ
Larry Carlton: guitar
Nathan East: bass
Harvey Mason: drums




Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Eric Clapton (feat. Susan Tedeschi & Derek Trucks) "Crossroads"


Also from Saturday's show at the Greenwich Town Party in Greenwich, Connecticut, here's Eric Clapton & His Band, featuring Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, on "Crossroads". 

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

T Bone Walker "Call Me When You Need Me"

Happy Belated Birthday, T Bone Walker.  His birthday would have been yesterday, (May 28th).  Here's a tune of his, called "Call Me When You Need Me", recorded in 1962. 




Eric Clapton "The Core"

For the first time in 40 years, playing as the headliner of a festival for residents and business owners of Greenwich, Connecticut, the Greenwich Town Party, last Saturday, May 26th, Eric Clapton & His Band played, "The Core".  This is a tune from the "Slowhand" record, Clapton had not played since 1978.  The band lineup was:

Eric Clapton & His Band

Eric Clapton - guitar / vocals
Nathan East - bass
Sonny Emory - drums
Doyle Bramhall II. - guitar/vocals
Chris Stainton - keyboards
Walt Richmond - keyboards
Sharon White - vocals
Sharlotte Gibson - vocals

Monday, May 28, 2018

In Memoriam: Reggie Lucas

Legendary guitarist Reggie Lucas, who worked with Miles Davis in the 1970s, among others, has passed away.  Rest In Peace, Reggie Lucas.  Included in the tribute on the website for Premier Guitar magazine, is the song “Slewfoot” from his 1975 solo record, “Survival Themes”.

https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/27369-reggie-lucas-19532018?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PGN%20052618&utm_term=PG%20Weekly





Sunday, May 27, 2018

One Year Later - The Legacy of Gregg Allman

A look back and a look forward.

http://www.greggallman.com/one-year-later-the-legacy-of-gregg-allman/


Joe Bonamassa “Little Girl”


Joe Bonamassa covers John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers as part of his “British Blues Explosion” concert CD and DVD, with a scintillating version of Mayall’s “Little Girl”.

Saturday, May 26, 2018

Kind of Blue: How Miles Davis Changed Jazz

With "Kind of Blue", Miles Davis' landmark 1959 recording, the world of jazz, was changed forever, thanks to Davis' use of modes, as opposed to scales.  This video, explains Davis' ideas and how "Kind of Blue" has become so revered.


Friday, May 25, 2018

Original Aereoplane Band “Holdin’ "


Another song from Original Aereoplane Band’s appearance on the David Frost Show in 1972.  The tune is called “Holdin’.”  Again, band members include Vassar Clements, John Hartford, Tut Taylor, and Norman Blake.

Thursday, May 24, 2018

Original Aereoplane Band "Vamp In The Middle"

The roots of what would become "newgrass" or "new bluegrass".  The original Aereoplane Band with "Vamp In The Middle" circa 1972.  The lineup includes Vassar Clements on fiddle, John Hartford on banjo, Tut Taylor on resonator guitar, and Norman Blake on acoustic guitar.


Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Sonny Rollins Meets Dizzy Gillespie


Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Hank Jones, Rufus Reid, Mickey Roker in a rare 1987 musical meeting of the minds.

Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States, which features songs characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumental virtuosity, and improvisation based on a combination of harmonic structure, the use of scales and occasional references to the melody. Bebop developed as the younger generation of jazz musicians expanded the creative possibilities of jazz beyond the popular, dance-oriented swing style with a new "musician's music" that was not as danceable and demanded close listening.[1] As bebop was not intended for dancing, it enabled the musicians to play at faster tempos. Bebop musicians explored advanced harmonies, complex syncopation, altered chords, extended chords, chord substitutions, asymmetrical phrasing, and intricate melodies. Bebop groups used rhythm sections in a way that expanded their role. Whereas the key ensemble of the swing era was the big band of up to fourteen pieces playing in an ensemble-based style, the classic bebop group was a small combo that consisted of saxophone (alto or tenor), trumpet, piano, double bass, and drums playing music in which the ensemble played a supportive role for soloists. Rather than play heavily arranged music, bebop musicians typically played the melody of a song (called the "head") with the accompaniment of the rhythm section, followed by a section in which each of the performers improvised a solo, then returned to the melody at the end of the song.

Some of the most influential bebop artists, who were typically composer-performers, are: tenor sax players Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, and James Moody; alto sax player Charlie Parker; trumpeters Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, and Dizzy Gillespie; pianists Bud Powell, Mary Lou Williams, and Thelonious Monk; electric guitarist Charlie Christian, and drummers Kenny Clarke, Max Roach, and Art Blakey.

This video comes from Bret Primack, known as Jazz Video Guy.

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Ry Cooder "Vigilante Man", 1973

From 1973, Ry Cooder playing solo acoustic slide guitar with his Martin D-45, on "The Old Grey Whistle Test" and a song called "Vigilante Man".


Monday, May 21, 2018

Billy Taylor (feat. Stanley Turrentine & Gary Burton) "Yesterdays"


Check out this rendition of the Jerome Kern penned standard "Yesterdays" with Billy Taylor on piano, Stanley Turrentine on tenor saxophone, Gary Burton on vibraphone, Rufus Reid on bass, and Roger Humphries on drums.


Sunday, May 20, 2018

Otis Rush "I Can't Quit You Baby"


A live performance by one of the greats of the blues, Otis Rush, of his song "I Can't Quit You Baby".  Rush testifies it on this one, right from the first note.  Check it out. 

Saturday, May 19, 2018

Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys, 1951 (The Bob Wills Snader Transcriptions)


Check out the Bob Wills Snader Transcriptions, presented by Bear Family Records.  Remember, country music used to be called Country & Western, for a reason, and Bob Wills definitely fit the bill as far as the Western in Country & Western music.  The track listing is:

1. Yodel Mountain
2. Three Miles South Of Cash
3. Fiddlin' Man
4. Ida Red
5. Deep Water
6. Sittin' On Top Of The World
7. Blue Prelude


Friday, May 18, 2018

Mark O'Connor & The Nashville Cats "Orange Blossom Special"

Another one from Mark O'Connor & The Nashville Cats.  This is the classic fiddler's tune, "Orange Blossom Special".

The band to beat! This is a short segment of the terrific music from "The American Music Shop." (The show aired from 1990 to 1993).

Leading the band, is the Legendary Grammy Award-Winning Violinist and World-Class Fiddler: Mark O'Connor!

Song: "Orange Blossom Special" Arrangement by Mark O'Connor also included excerpts from: "Bonanza," "Meet the Flintstones," "Partita in E" (J.S. Bach) and "Nutcracker Suite" (P.I. Tchaikovsky).

The New Nashville Cats Band:

Mark O'Connor, Fiddle
Matt Rollings, Keyboards
Brent Mason, Electric Guitar
Michael Rhodes, Electric Bass
Paul Franklin, Pedal Steel
Harry Stinson, Tamborine
Terry McMillan, Harmonica
Paul Leim, Drums

Thursday, May 17, 2018

Mark O'Connor & The Nashville Cats "Pick It Apart"


Could this group of fine players be the best country music band on the planet?  Here's fiddler extraordinaire Mark O'Connor with his band The Nashville Cats, playing their instrumental "Pick It Apart."

Description from Mark O'Connor's YouTube channel. 

The band to beat! This is a short segment of the terrific music from "The American Music Shop." (The show aired from 1990 to 1993).

Leading the band is the legendary Grammy Award-winning Violinist and World-Class Fiddler: Mark O'Connor!

Song: "Pick it Apart" by Mark O'Connor

The New Nashville Cats Band:

Mark O'Connor, Fiddle
Matt Rollings, Keyboards
Brent Mason, Electric Guitar
Michael Rhodes, Electric Bass
Paul Franklin, Pedal Steel
Paul Leim, Drums
Terry McMillan, Tambourine/Percussion

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Frank Zappa "Black Napkins"


Frank Zappa performing "Black Napkins" with the Mike Douglas Orchestra, in 1976. 

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

McCoy Tyner & Freddie Hubbard "Inner Glimpse"


McCoy Tyner on piano, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Ron Carter on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums.  "The Great Quartet", playing the Playboy Jazz Festival in Hollywood on June 19th, 1982. 

Monday, May 14, 2018

Roy Buchanan "Soul Dressing"

From a 1976 episode of Austin City Limits, here is guitarist extraordinaire and "Master of the Telecaster", Roy Buchanan with "Soul Dressing".  Check it out.


Sunday, May 13, 2018

Rory Gallagher "Tucson, Arizona"

From his 1973 "Tattoo" record, which was highlighted here, a while ago, for a Spotify Sunday, here's Rory Gallagher with "Tucson, Arizona", a song from the pen of the great guitarist, Link Wray.  Definitely a departure for Gallagher, who was known for his bluesy guitar playing and singing.  This one is a country ballad, and has an Americana sound to it, a la Gram Parsons and his work with The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers. Stay tuned.  Will also post the Link Wray original of this song.


Saturday, May 12, 2018

Casiopea Live at Montreux Jazz Festival, 1984


Japanese jazz fusion band Casiopea (from Tokyo), played the 1984 Montreux Jazz Festival.  The band lineup is:

Issei Noro: guitar
Minoru Mukaiya: keyboards
Tetsuo Sakurai: bass
Akira Jimbo: drums

The set list:

1. The Soundgraphy
2. Take Me
3. Space Road
4. Twilight Solitude
5. Mid-Manhattan
6. Drum Solo
7. Bass Solo
8. Misty Lady
9. Asayake
10. Looking Up



Friday, May 11, 2018

Big Mama Thornton "Hound Dog"/"Down Home Shakedown"


Big Mama Thornton, performing in 1965.  She is the original singer of "Hound Dog", before Elvis Presley recorded it. 

Thursday, May 10, 2018

Elvin Jones "A Night In Tunisia"


To preface this post, some ideas from Jazz Video Guy, (Bret Primack), on Elvin Jones as a drummer.

Elvin Jones - A Night in Tunisia featuring Joey DeFrancesco on organ. Elvin was a force of nature. Born in 1927 to a musical family in Pontiac, Michigan, Elvin Jones was among a handful of players who changed the definition of how a drummer is meant to function in his seismic five-year stint with the John Coltrane Quartet. An impeccable timekeeper with tremendous delicacy, Jones is best remembered for pushing Coltrane into the stratosphere with his elemental power, dispersing and displacing the beat among all four limbs. "There is nothing new about timekeeping, it's just that some people can keep better time than others," Jones told Down Beat in 1977. "Some people are more sensitive to rhythmic pulses, and the more sensitive you are, the more you can utilize the subtleties of timekeeping." The early hard-rock drummers that he influenced – Ginger Baker, Mitch Mitchell, John Bonham – would surely agree.

The video actually comes from another source, YouTube user ALEXEY0678.  The trio features Elvin Jones on drums, along with Bireli Lagrene on guitar, and Joey DeFrancesco on Hammond organ.  The concert was recorded in 1999 at Marciac Sweet. 

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Joe Bonamassa "Motherless Children"

Another tune from Joe Bonamassa's "British Blues Explosion" concert.  His take on "Motherless Children", an old traditional blues, popularized as well, by Eric Clapton on his 1974 "461 Ocean Boulevard" record.




Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Monday, May 7, 2018

Horace Silver - Umbria Jazz Festival - 1976

So good, why not invite the band back a second time.  The organizers of the Umbria Jazz Festival did exactly that, inviting pianist Horace Silver and his quintet, back to their festival, in 1976, after they'd also jammed at the festival the year before.  So, here, for your listening and viewing pleasure, is the Horace Silver Quintet, at the 1976 Umbria Jazz Festival.


Sunday, May 6, 2018

Horace Silver Quintet (feat. Bob Berg and Tom Harrell) Umbria Jazz Festival, 1975


From YouTube user Jazz Video Guy (real name, Bret Primack), here is Horace Silver's quintet performing at the 1975 Umbria Jazz Festival, and featuring soloists, Bob Berg on tenor saxophone, and Tom Harrell, on trumpet. 

Friday, May 4, 2018

Kyle Hollingsworth "Tumbling" | Kyle Hollingsworth Band 2/8/18 | Relix Studio Sessions

Another song by the Kyle Hollingsworth Band from their February 8th, 2018 appearance at Relix Studio Sessions for Relix magazine.  The tune is "Tumbling".


Thursday, May 3, 2018

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Kyle Hollingsworth "Prime"

Finding more songs from Kyle Hollingsworth's (String Cheese Incident keyboardist), new solo record.  Here is a tune called "Prime".


Tuesday, May 1, 2018

The Allman Brothers Band to Release Peach Picks: Cream of The Crop 2003 Live Compilation

Another live compilation from the archives of the Allman Brothers Band.

http://www.jambands.com/news/2018/04/23/the-allman-brothers-band-to-release-peach-picks-cream-of-the-crop-2003-live-compilation

Speaking of archives, to add to this post, from 30 years before the 2003 shows set to be released, here are the brothers, with the lineup including Dickey Betts on guitar and Chuck Leavell on Rhodes piano, playing a great live version of "Mountain Jam" from Nassau Coliseum, on this day (May 1st), back in 1973.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ok6CrJRYfE