On the Playlist 28MAR2019…

I foreshadowed this band in yesterday's post. Today I am listening to a band called Brothers Moving and their self-titled album "Brothers Moving". This street band of three brothers and one other musician from Denmark was formed in NY. They have an enigmatic style that combines folk, funk, rock, reggae and rock and roll along with street tuned smarts. They have maintained their independence as street musicians although they do play gigs and have two independently release albums. They are members of MUNY which is an artist group run by the NY MTA to give high profile to their members at key locations in the NY transportation system. Another interesting thing about this band that is honed by their street musician creed is the use of the Cajon which is a Peruvian box drum for their percussion instead of using a drum kit which would be difficult in a street location. I am enjoying their original music even more than the video of their cover of Roxanne I watched the other day and which got me interested in them. I also have their second album Autonomy cued up to play next.

Brothers Moving - Brothers Moving

On the Playlist 27MAR2019…

Debut album of The Police - "Outlandis d'Amour" playing today. This was actually precipitated by a video of a street musician band doing a cover of the song Roxanne that got me thinking about this album. In particular the song Roxanne which is one of my most favorite and also hated songs by The Police. Let me explain as there is a story about this song and my feelings about it. When I went to university I went to a 3 day weekend orientation "camp" the summer before I started. I went to the university in my hometown of Edmonton and lived at home. This camp was in the on campus residences over a long weekend. The idea was to get students used to campus life. It was run by more senior students who showed us all around the campus and explained what student life was about. It was a very wild weekend as they introduced us to the wild side of student/campus life as well. Some disclosure here needed. In Alberta at that time the drinking age was 18 so most first year students at university were legal to drink. So, on campus there were student bars etc. and at parties drinking was part of the life. I had skipped a grade in my earlier grade school education so I was only just 17 at the time. This didn't stop me though as id'ing was pretty lax. I actually went through most of my first year at university underage. Back to my story. On my floor at this weekend camp we had a senior leader who definitely knew how to party and we had a good time. He was also totally enamored with the song Roxanne and played it repeatedly and quite loudly in our area of the residence. He especially liked to sing along with it at a rather early hour of the morning. So I recall getting woken up very early to the sound of our leader singing Roxanne each morning of the camp. It is a good song don't get me wrong but I still kind of also hate it as well for that reason.

The Police - Outlandis d'Amour

On the Playlist 26MAR2019…

Straight ahead solo soprano saxophone music today with Steve Lacy and his album "Sands". There are a couple of his albums that I really love. This is jazz music not what that guy Kenny G plays on his soprano saxophone which equates more to elevator music. This album is just Steve Lacy soloing and it is truly a great album that I enjoy for its sparseness and yet cleanness in the music. Even the album cover is appropriate, simple yet elegant. Love it!

Steve Lacy - Sands

On the Playlist 25MAR2019…

Watched the movie Bohemian Rhapsody recently and enjoyed it. Although it felt a bit flat and boring. Got me thinking about some of the other band members of Queen and in particular Roger Taylor. I ended up putting his album "Fun In Space" on. This was a solo album release in 1981. I loved the playfulness of the songs on this album. You can tell that Roger had fun recording this right down to the obscure reference to the use of 157 Synthesizers on the album. All of the tracks have a playfulness to them that I enjoyed. I particularly like the first track "No Violins". Also love the cover and artwork done by Hipgnosis. A fun listen.

Roger Taylor - Fun In Space

On the Playlist 22MAR2019…

OMG! I can't believe I have been doing this for over nine months now and haven't mentioned the Beatles yet. So, was on a forum and people were talking about the newly mastered version of "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" and I got to thinking about that album and decided to put it on. I have the newly mastered version of it but honestly don't really notice the difference. I have always loved this album for two reasons, it is an album and not just a collection of catchy tunes like most of the other earlier Beatles Albums and secondly it has some strangeness on it that I enjoy. If you have been following these posts for any amount of time you know I like music that is a bit different. So is this the best Beatles album? I know there are a lot of arguments out there about this. I would say it is. Although some of my favorite Beatles songs (Michelle, Hey Jude, Eleanor Rigby) are not from this album. As someone who loves concept albums this is the original and one of the best. 

Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

On the Playlist 20MAR2019…

The Rolling Stones and "Beggars Banquet" on the playlist today. Been a while since I have heard Sympathy for the Devil so decided to put it on and crank it. My kids sort of like this song but also roll their eyes when I put it on and crank it. When they were younger, and still believed dad was cool, they used to beat box along with me on the rhythm when I played this in the car. I think this may be one of their better albums and Sympathy for the Devil is arguably one of their better songs.

Now for my Rolling Stones story... I had a colleague at work, Bill, when I was in North Carolina who had an extra ticket to their concert at Duke University. It was free but the catches were two-fold, it wasn't a great seat and I would have to “baby sit” his 14 year old son as he had better seats elsewhere. He also suggested we tail-gate beforehand so I was in since this was shortly after I moved to North Carolina and I was keen to experience tail-gating. We showed up at about 10 in the morning for the evening concert and proceeded to hang out most of the day. The party got going later in the afternoon when the BBQ showed up. Finally show time came around and we packed up the party and moved to the stadium. We got to our seats and not only were they not great they were terrible. There was a set of steps and railings directly in front of us so we couldn't see anything and furthermore there was constant traffic of people going back and forth. I was a bit bummed by it all but an afternoon of "several" beers and some good BBQ and I wasn't going to make a big deal of it. A couple minutes before the show started someone official came up to us and asked to see our tickets. Once they had verified we had tickets and were in the correct seats, they apologized for the terrible seats and asked us to follow them. We were led down onto the floor to a couple seats that were on the aisle three rows from the stage. Bill's son and I were both pretty happy with this turn of events as we had better seats than Bill and the rest of our group. We lasted about 10 seconds after the concert started and were up standing on our seats and had an amazing time at the concert with the band no more than 15 feet away from us. Main recollection other than the great time we had was how old the band members looked - very old and haggered! I guess that is what the rock and roll lifestyle will do to a person. And that is my Rolling Stones story. 

The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet

On the Playlist 19MAR2019…

Another Canadian classic in Leonard Cohen (can't believe I haven't featured him yet) and his last album "You Want It Darker." This album feels very prophetic as he died 16 days after the album was released in October 2016. This album was recorded in Cohen's living room as he had mobility issues and then tracks were e-mailed to collaborators to complete the album. Featuring Cohen's smooth but dark vocals this one seems a even more sparse that his previous albums with a very acoustic sound to it. The album feels like Cohen's final thoughts at the end of his life as all the songs are like the title implies quite dark. My connection with Cohen is from my Ph. D. Supervisor when I was at UBC. He was a childhood friend of Cohen's where he grew up in the up-scale Jewish neighborhood of Westmount in Montreal and also attended McGill University with him. I enjoyed this album but is truly is darker so be warned.

Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker

On the Playlist 18MAR2019…

A true Canadian classic here with the Downchild Blues Band later just called Downchild and their album "Bootleg". This is their first album and was the first independently produced album produced in Canada. The album was recorded in a basement in Toronto and was distributed by hand. It was welcomed by Sam Sniderman of Sam The Record Man* fame before being picked up by a major record label. The Downchild Blues Band was formed by two brothers Donnie and Richard Walsh. Donnie is still the band's frontman. The band was the inspiration for the Blues Brothers Band and their songs are prominently featured in the movie and albums by the Blues Brothers. This connection is not surprising considering Dan Akroyd played as a guest with Downchild Blues Band on occasion and had grown up listening to the Blues in a small club in Ottawa. This album really set the bands sound that is based on the Chicago style of blues that has been the band's trademark down through the years.

The Downchild Blues Band- Bootleg

*Sam The Record Man - was a Canadian record store that was at one time the largest music retailer in Canada. Their flagship store with its iconic neon signs in Toronto was the center of the Toronto music scene until it closed in 2007.

On the playlist 17/MAR/2019...

Sunday afternoon and doing some data review for a project and have some tunes on to help with the concentration. Went with a compilation series that I have several CDs of call Ethiopiques. I have volume 5 on right now. This is a series of CDs that have Ethiopian pop music from the 60s and 70s on them. Volume 5 is a collection of music all in the Tigrigna language which is from the Northern part of Ethiopia. For the linguist in the group there is lots more information on that than I am interested in. The music on the other hand is great. I can't understand a word of the vocals so it isn't disturbing me. Sounds somewhat middle Eastern in ethnicity and has a good beat to it. Apparently there are 30 releases in the series. I have a handful of them and enjoy them a lot. 

On the playlist 12/MAR/2019...

Reading through some protocols right now and needed some good music to help keep my concentration. Not sure why but put on some Nina Simone and it is working wonders except of course I am taking a break to do this post. I have on the album "The Essential Nina Simone" which includes a lot of her classic songs. She was from a poor family in North Carolina and was Julliard trained but couldn't get further scholarships due to her race. She started playing in night clubs under her assumed name of Nina Simone so her family wouldn't recognize her playing the devil's music. She was active in the civil rights movement and wrote some controversial songs. As a result she was basically exiled to Europe. Only later in life returning to the US to face a warrant for unpaid taxes. She has influenced a whole generation of black women singers. Great stuff and a very interesting life. This is just the tip of the iceberg. 

On the playlist 11/MAR/2019...

Throwback Monday here with Jon and Vangelis and their album "The Friends of Mr. Cairo". This was a big hit in Canada when I was growing up but apparently only a moderate hit elsewhere. This album was released in 1981 and the title track was a throwback to the classic film noire the Maltese Falcon. Jon and Vangelis was an interesting combination of Jon Anderson from the band Yes and the Greek synthesizer musician Vangelis. Both were taking breaks from their other commitments and although the did four albums as Jon and Vangelis this album was by far their most successful. 

On the Playlist 8MAR2019…

Haha! I was in such a rush to go have a margarita that I forgot to actually post this. Here it is a bit late...

 Friday afternoon on the left coast and realized I hadn't posted for a while or listened to much music the last week or so. So, put a playlist on and the first thing that caught my eye in the library was the album El Ultimo Trago by Concha Buiko and Chucho Valdes. This album is an interesting mix of Cuban Jazz and Flamenco workings of Ranchera songs. Ranchera songs being what you hear from Mariachi bands but this album takes them up a notch into a Cuban smooth vibe. I feel like going downstairs and making myself a margarita and chilling out. In fact, I think I will. Bye! Have a great weekend!

Concha Buiko and Chucho Valdes - El Ultimo Trago

On the Playlist 7/MAR/2019...

Been a while since I posted. Haven't been listening to as much music recently. Was walking around Great Park during my daughter's tennis lesson and had my new digital audio player on. I had a random playlist on and an Adele album came on. Not even sure which one but that lady has a voice and can sing (I just checked and it was 25). I enjoyed it a lot and noticed that her songs were upbeat and not depressing compared to what I was listening to on my walk on Monday. I'll get into that in a minute on my post for 4/MAR/19 coming after this one. Sorry, for the mess up on sequence. Anyway, enjoyed listening to that album a lot. I was reminded what the hype was about her.

On the Playlist 4/MAR/2019...

I have been walking around Great park recently during my daughter's tennis lessons and also recently got a new digital audio player so started listening to music during my walks. All good. I am still getting used to my Fiio X7 Mark II player after having my Pono Player stolen a couple weeks back. Some good things about the new player but it just doesn't sound as good as the Pono player. I guess I didn't realize how good it sounded when I had it. Anyway, Great park for those of you who don't know is the old El Toro airbase here in Irvine that is being converted into a housing development and a very large park. Currently the park consists of about 30 soccer fields, 20 baseball diamonds, a soccer stadium, a couple baseball stadiums, 30 tennis courts, 4 beach volleyball courts, 10 basketball courts, a helium balloon (one of only two in the world that you can rid in), and a whole bunch of other oddities and only about 1/4 of the old airbase has been done so far. So, while my daughter has her tennis lesson rather than drive home and then come back and pick her up I stay and walk and now listen to music. Okay, so that was way more information than I am sure you care about. 

So, the other day I was listening to a random selection of music when Roger Waters and his album "Amused to Death" came on. I am big fan of Pink Floyd and anything associated with them so recognized his voice instantly when it came on but was also surprised at just how depressing his music was. This is a guy who has a serious chip on his shoulder about the world and life and it shows big time in his music. The music was fine but damn the content was depressing and negative. It was like he had packaged all his bitterness in one album. On a positive note I did listen to it as an album and it reminded me why I miss the concept album as a concept as this fit well as a album and body or work. Despite the current world's fascination with streaming of disjointed singles I am still a big fan of listening to albums as a body of work. Good music but more of the same only more concentrated from Roger Waters. 

On The Playlist 22/FEB/2019...

A new band discovered today called Digawolf and their newly released album called "Yellowstone". This band from Yellowknife in Northern Canada and the leader, Diga, sing in both English and Tlicho, the native language of the area around Yellowknife. This band sounds like a cross between Leonard Cohen, Neil Young and Jimi Hendrix. The songs and lyrics are all infused with native life in Northern Canada. This is native rock at its best.

On the Playlist 21/FEB/2019...

Listening to some hard rock today in the form of a band called Weed and their album "Running Back". This band hails from Vancouver and comes out of the skate punk grunge scene of the Pacific Northwest but instead of being just a revival of that scene they feel like they are driving it forward This album is loud with lots of over driven amps but at the same time the vocals aren't drowned out. Something a bit more upbeat for a Thursday afternoon.

On the Playlist 20/FEB/2019...

I can't believe I haven't played this band yet since I started these posts! Penguin Cafe Orchestra and today am listening to their album "Broadcasting From Home". I was initially introduced to this group by my first business partner Richard Close. After looking at each other's taste for music he recommended this group and he was right as I really like their music. Founded by Simon Jeffes who was a classically trained guitarist after he became disillusioned with both rock and classical music the group had success with several albums before Simon passed away from an inoperable brain tumor. Many of their songs have been used in various places that you would certainly recognize them. On this album the track "Music For A Found Harmonium" is a track that I would bet most of you would recognize from hearing it somewhere. What I like about their music is that they start with some sort of cyclical theme and then build on it in a syncopated way so it repeats but also doesn't repeat. I think this relates to the music I listened to in Africa growing up as there is very much a repeating structure to that music with changes thrown in to develop a theme.

On the Playlist 19/FEB/2019...

Went for a long walk last night during my daughter's tennis lesson. Seemed ridiculous to drive back and forth 20 minutes for her lesson so I decided to just stay and go for a nice walk around the Great Park here in Irvine. So for an hour I walked around the park and eked out 3 miles. Thinking ahead I brought a long a set of earphones and put on some music to listen to. Went back to a recent find I mentioned over Christmas - Ill Considered. But this time instead of their Christmas album I was listening to their album with the imaginative title of "6". Guess what, it is their sixth album they have released. It was lovely music to listen to while walking at sunset and contemplating life the universe and everything. Love those album covers! Liking this group more and more as I listen to them.

On the Playlist 18/FEB/2019...

Was reading this evening and put on a great CD from my favorite avante garde jazz musician. This one is a very interesting collaboration between three musicians; Amir Koushkani, who is from Iran and plays the Tar, Sal Ferreras from Puerto Rico and is a percussionist and finally Francois Houle on clarinet from Quebec. The album called "Alight" and the group is called Safa. The music has a distinctly Persian sound with an improvised jazz sound that makes it sound like it was an obvious combination despite how strange the combination may seem. The version I have is from an SACD and the sound is amazing. I think this is some of Francois' best clarinet playing as the tone comes through so clearly in this ensemble and is absolutely amazing. I hadn't played this for a while and I had forgotten just how good it is.

On the playlist last week...

Didn't post last week but was on a Monty Alexander kick after getting a couple of his albums. So last week I was listening to his albums "Trio", "Overseas Special" and "Montreux Alexander: Live!" Monty Alexander was born in Jamaica and then moved to Miami and then New York. He plays piano and melodica (whatever that is!). He ha splayed with a lot of jazz greats and has a discography that is very long. These albums were recommended as being particularly good. I enjoyed them as straight up jazz. 

Drove up to SF for a meeting later in the week but didn't listen to any music. A couple weeks ago my briefcase was stolen along with my Pono Player that I take with me on trips. I have another player on order but it is back-ordered currently. Looking forward to getting it and then will be back in tunes on the road again as I missed it on this trip.