championing the unheralded--an ongoing thread

championing the unheralded--an ongoing thread - Printable Version

+- Music Discussion (https://www.music-discussion.com)
+-- Forum: Community (https://www.music-discussion.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=3)
+--- Forum: Off Topic Chat (https://www.music-discussion.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=8)
+--- Thread: championing the unheralded--an ongoing thread (/showthread.php?tid=10098)

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

championing the unheralded--an ongoing thread - jazzboCR - 27-08-2014

Shirley Horn I put her here rather than in jazz because she was so much more than just a superior pianist/organist and singer--she was Mother Earth to 3 generations on jazz players in Philly. She was a tireless promoter of jazz and especially live jazz in Philadelphia, and mentrix to all players. Always willing to feed them, house them (mighta been an air mattress in the basement but it was out of the weather with a shower handy), did what she could to open up venues to jazz to the extent that she'd offer to play free for some days to open up a venue to the music--the kind of thing that doesn't show up in a wiki but endears her to players and jazz audiences. For a while, married to Stanley Turrentine q.v. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Horn 45 year recording career who everybody mainstream wanted to play with. Could swing her ass off but truly exceptional on ballads. A one-of-a-kind wonderful woman and an absolute credit to jazz. Now the music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSL5AHhpi6U << near the end but hadn't lost a step
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgjDL7AkI9U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdHVw4HGAHA << Miles Davis demanded to be a sideman on this, to support an artist he loved and respected above all
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0_5xlzl1e8 << beautiful song, beautiful rendition with strings. She sure lived up to the premise here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhJ86FrfaY4 << no demands, just requests you are eager to fulfill
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnuiWJtzZSI << she does a terrif job covering Brother Ray
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTbDVqWFq1I << mid-tempo and she kills

BONUS: full concert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mgOhV5_BUM << early in her career. See uploader's note.

championing the unheralded--an ongoing thread - jazzboCR - 29-08-2014

Peter Gabriel [SIZE=2]Of all the Genesis alumni, Mr. Gabriel has had by far the most varied career and not just in music--any others win a "Man of Peace" award from the other Nobel Peace Prize winners? [/SIZE] I like his R&B/funk-based music more than that drummer guy (Phil Whosis):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnVf1ZoCJSo << call me weird but I really like this vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g93mz_eZ5N4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt87bLX7m_o << great outfit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBAl9cchQac << not bad stuff for a flautist

Wanna get in touch? www.petergabriel.com
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Gabriel

championing the unheralded--an ongoing thread - jazzboCR - 31-08-2014

Zac Harmon Mr. All-the-Western-Hemispheres-Black-music maven. He plays reggae with serious feeling; on US Blues, he's nonpareil.:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80Mscfq5vK0 << serious audience involvement--he doesn't play them, he plays with them--all the difference.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U1lj4wXxmE << great advice and tru' dat' for you younger studs--an "older woman" for me is in her late-'70's...and cuddling and feet-rubbing with lotion are the order of the day...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1JfwwXd1dA << This is how a mid-level Bluesman makes a living--no compromise for a sparse audience--brotherman and band are doing it all and honing chops... Overall, a good vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E10hsRq9kvs << wanna get close and rub up a little bit? Here's the tune for you....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGRF745L66A << solid player/performer with a rock-solid band. What's not to like?... in your town with your special one on a weekend night when all those burdens have been set aside?

Here's his bio, review of his latest 5 (years ago) and Website: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/zac-harmon-mn0000691859/biography and http://www.allmusic.com/album/from-the-root-mw0000815564
and
Feelin' real? Wanna get in touch? Invite him to your town? http://www.zacharmon.com/?section=home

championing the unheralded--an ongoing thread - SteveO - 31-08-2014

I LOVE this cool lady, so versatile and unique ...and that voice !!!!

[video=youtube;RljtvS33w3s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RljtvS33w3s[/video]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerie_June

championing the unheralded--an ongoing thread - jazzboCR - 07-09-2014

Johnny Hartman If you want a lady's heart to warm and resolve to soften, you basically have 2 choices (Billy Eckstein is by himself on a whole 'nother planet and then there's Andy Bey...). Everyone's heard the great pipes of Nat King Cole; Mr. Hartman is more sultry, and a lot more jazz-oriented ( a full though short album with John Coltrane *). He recorded from '55 to'80; near every one's a gem. 3 generations found him tasteful and, er, useful.:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfp04S8QrAk << Tenorman Illinois Jacquet on this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5K0wsdil_I << most dapper gent this side of Duke Ellington
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBnYcxEkjoo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXREs6blGJQ << here matched with trumpeter Teramasu Hino in 1 of 2 sessions on this disc, so listed as a compilation album by AMG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMNek1OpHNw << a straight-ahead jazz piece by Bill Evans. Unk. lyricist but a nice job about a father knowing his daughter will leave their home someday...and dreading it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwqWRRgWebI << oh yeah he could swing...and have some fun too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZRSsB-rkP4 << does this song speak the truth? You tell me...

* JC & JH complete and in track order--whoever put this project together at Impulse! Records is owed an eternal debt of gratitude. That would be Mr. Bob Thiele.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9xOv8r3-XU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBeBseefyOs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT1YTkl0-NY << pal, if this doesn't get to her, put your shoes on and leave--you're toast...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ-968Fw3bA << ...and don't forget your hat--it's pouring out there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrauBz65o7w << expand the uploaders comments--you'll be rewarded
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsgQCLih118

Not on that album but certainly apropos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ7kTSjSSVA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keids7cscUo << making saccharine treacle listenable...This is where his magic lies.

I've never had this much fun putting a post together. My gift to all.

championing the unheralded--an ongoing thread - MAG2NYC - 08-09-2014

I love this Johnny Hartman list, jazzbo! It's like Sinatra with a twist! LOVE IT!! Thank you for the beautiful gift!!

championing the unheralded--an ongoing thread - jazzboCR - 21-09-2014

David Johansen Most folks know a piece of him; few know all. Let me help put that right. He's had 4 different personae in a career now in its 5th decade: leader of a seminal band at the nexus of Punk Road and Glam Boulevard (the NY Dolls), as the ultimate lounge singer (Buster Poindexter and the Banshees of Blue), as a solo rocker (David Johansen), as a truly hip musicologist (DJ and The Harry Smiths). He's also a songwriter and darned good character actor. Did I mention he's also a SiriusXM DJ ( The David Johansen Show on Ch. 30)? Never know what he'll turn his hand to next but you want to follow him to whatever it is. I think the best way to get a grip is to talk about each phase separately, even though there's some overlap.

NY Dolls AMG's got it right: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-york-dolls-mn0000866786/biography Their early recording history spans only 2 years but they've recently been revived at the behest of Morrissey. The 1st disc was produced by Todd Rundgren (as he was for '09's Cause I Sez So), the 2nd by Shadow Morton.:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udmMNr_1_64 << that 1st one complete
From this century: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6UDp0-AQRA and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk6NkiYMvcs and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXUkJIHGQds and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hxO91guwhQ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlRJYa0bovk

Buster Poindexter 10 year span with this character, ending in '97. I'm not including his 1 hit 'cuz DJ thought it was a millstone--people only thought of that song instead of all the other good stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXzYTJbaLI and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2Xsh4nkmqE and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m28adO_BWzA and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abzd3mjZRlE

David Johansen "Eclectic" doesn't begin to cover it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6g3Tf2sqdI and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1upztOulRQ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVrIRwI-f9A and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08bvSSbTk6c

DJ and the Harry Smiths Group was named for a musicologist/pack-rat of country blues * http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLtKdMi1hSM and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrAqz8MZRo0 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMFQYYia5bE and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHKhJPHqcsQ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEswtjjVNWk

* Harry Smith http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Everett_Smith

Added value BONUS: In his Buster Poindexter persona, DJ scored a weekend gig at an elegant NYC cafe. Here's a review and some tunes--originals and his take (won't be show clips though) http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/24/arts/music/buster-pointdexter-back-in-a-tux-coming-full-circle.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0vYukWDMS0 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcwyCJcEq98
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI8e2_Ymo9Q and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bemA6X9fBHE << Johnny Cash brings it home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEsv3kcFSBU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiZ8jbFhmds << Can't find his version but the original comes off a screaming-funny cult classic disc--check it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abzd3mjZRlE << he wrote this--it's not the song by those other guys.

championing the unheralded--an ongoing thread - jazzboCR - 26-09-2014

Squirrel Nut Zippers >> Hereinafter SNZ << Do you like music from the '50's and back? Then you will like this ever-changing aggregation. Their only criterion in making this music is having you maybe scout their sources, and moving your booty. As you'd expect from this kind of free-floating group, there's all manner of split-offs and side-groups and down-drafts and blow-backs...I'll cover a few. They were semi-big in the '90's and some segment toured as lately as '07-'08--not currently active but give Tom Maxwell a call--for the right money, he'd be doing that thang for you with a totally pro bunch of musos.: http://snzippers.com/ Had some killer discs that were not all the same and no real clinkers--guaranteed excellence and hang on for the ride.New album due out late next month--Lost at Sea: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/squirrel-nut-zippers-mn0000131603/discography Some tunes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLYB9pvww2M << kinda playing them stupid by presenting this first. Fun vid though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryzAex_-tms << take this to some interesting places, don't they?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbH-U2b_EsQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ti5WELyYCo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLOz3SbRcmE << a later emission, showing they aren't a stuck-in-a-time-period Swing Revivalist group...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne0fKb_HxGI ...though they kept those chops cookin'

SIDEBOPS: Filthy South: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUQf-lsJHBA and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5xAXiFmfGk << reminds me vocally of a Nebraska guy--no, not named Warren...Think "Sam Stone".
considerably-less-than-charming name but the music's there--Johnny Vomit and the Dry Heaves *: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW1vUXEpJlk and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb9wNMY1yBc
Tom Maxwell is a class act. Witness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqyLFqeuoAY << the sheer musicianship of these folks blows me away...and I'm not easy to impress. and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hracrEXlMiw << Imagine this scaled up with Ani DiFranco singing, and Mike DiNapolitano in charge. You don't have to imagine it; just check the new CD...

These are all accomplished, eclectic musicians--feel free to follow up on the names in the Wiki--no telling where that can take you...but probably not to the Billboard Hot 100.

* Never to be confused with Chester Vomit and the Dry Heaves: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g72nNLQDaqU

championing the unheralded--an ongoing thread - jazzboCR - 20-10-2014

Bela Fleck Needs his own category 'cuz no pigeonholing will do--he's made every genre he's tried his own. Here's a teaser--he and his very accomplished wife Abigail Washburn have a gorgeous new CD out--here's a taste: http://belafleck.com/
His AMG deserves a look (Know any other muso with his disparate but deep all-world influences?): http://www.allmusic.com/artist/b%C3%A9la-fleck-mn0000151290/biography From world music to Marcus Roberts, a serious jazz player, he's explored it all...and keeps on looking to the future. Makes it darn hard to pick just a few tunes to show his breadth--ah, the burden I bear joyously.

From his 1st, Crossing the Tracks--'79: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztKwwp1jCtA << well-done but utterly conventional
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z7_iEjhBpU <<...and then there's this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMhP9TKDiqk << one sweet Traditional piece

From Solo Banjo Works--'92: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WRHRG3E2fg << does Earl Scruggs real proud
From Melody of the Rhythm--'09: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3-PZvA_Jjs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI-MPQqJOUg << he doesn't "cover" Classical compositions, he transforms them
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUlR8Jb__aM << in the spirit of the upcoming season. As is made clear, Mr. Fleck has been nominated more times in more categories than any artist in Grammy history.

BONUS 1: complete concert w/ BG stuff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij3SA4HUTDo
BONUS 2: another one, in Australia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI-MPQqJOUg

Gross pandering to power here--his take on the Beatles "Oh Darling": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5698kXJQGQ