The great pianist-arranger-composer
Clare Fischer has died. Besides being a mean pianist who even Herbie Hancock called a huge influence, very few could claim the achievements of this man, who worked with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie, the Hi-Los and other jazzmen to Prince, Rufus and Chaka Khan, Paul McCartney, Prince, and so many more.
posted by Seekerofsplendor
on Jan 28, 2012 -
9 comments
New Year's Eve is fast approaching, and for lots of folks that means... drinking. Plenty of drinking. And since there's no shortage of singers and songwriters who've had a little something to say about that particular topic, maybe some of the following tunes can serve as an appropriate soundtrack to your own joyous (or not?) imbibing of spirits. For example, there's... Jimmy Liggins with his succinct rendition of
Drunk, and there's...
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Dec 30, 2011 -
67 comments
A decade on, the Coen brothers' woefully underrated
O Brother, Where Art Thou? [alt] is remembered for
a lot of things: its sun-drenched, sepia-rich
cinematography (a pioneer of
digital color grading), its
whimsical humor,
fluid vernacular, and
many subtle references to Homer's
Odyssey. But one part of its legacy truly stands out:
the music.
Assembled by
T-Bone Burnett, the soundtrack is a cornucopia of American folk music, exhibiting everything from
cheery ballads and
angelic hymns to
wistful blues and
chain-gang anthems. Woven into the plot of the film through radio and live performances, the songs lent the story a
heartfelt, homespun feel that echoed its cultural heritage,
a paean and uchronia of the Old South.
Though the multiplatinum album was recently
reissued, the movie's medley is best heard via famed documentarian
D. A. Pennebaker's
Down from the Mountain, an
extraordinary yet
intimate concert film focused on a night of live music by the soundtrack's stars (among them
Gillian Welch,
Emmylou Harris,
Chris Thomas King, bluegrass legend
Dr. Ralph Stanley) and wryly hosted by
John Hartford, an accomplished
fiddler,
riverboat captain, and
raconteur whose struggle with terminal cancer made this his last major performance. The film is free in its entirety on
Hulu and
YouTube -- click inside for individual clips, song links, and breakdowns of
the set list's fascinating history.
[more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Dec 22, 2011 -
107 comments
If you enjoy instrumental jazz and Christmas music, you might enjoy
The Best Jazz Christmas Record You've Never Heard. "
"Christmas With The Believers" turned out to be the best jazz Christmas music I had ever heard, and that's still the case today. I'll take the imaginative arrangements, chops, tight playing, and sense of swing on this recording over anything I've heard by the legends in this field." It's
presented here as a cassette recording from Fall '86, with Donny Schwekendiek on piano, Neal Heidler on the bass and Narry Puhlovski on the drums.
posted by filthy light thief
on Dec 21, 2011 -
26 comments
Always an enigma,
John Zorn, winner of a
MacArthur Fellowship, founder of avant garde record label
Tzadik proponent of
radical Jewish culture, leader of the hard core group
Naked City, creator of the
Masada songbook, and
hundreds of
other things, has, with the likes of Mark Ribot, Cyro Baptista and Mike Pattoon, released a
heart-breakingly lovely Christmas record, A Dreamer's Christmas. [more inside]
posted by Lutoslawski
on Dec 12, 2011 -
19 comments
"
Art Tatum was [one of the two] dominant piano players of the 1930s, astounding everyone with his technique, most especially other piano players, who were convinced he was playing the impossible" -- Chick Corea, hosting a segment on the largely overlooked
Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. If that display of skill and improvisation has you interested, here are a few documentaries about the mostly blind piano man who made other pianists question their instrument choice, yet often left the public at large overwhelmed (or unimpressed):
Toledo Stories: The Tatum Legacy (YouTube, 28 minutes) ::
Art Tatum - The Art Of Jazz Piano (YT, 52 min.) ::
Art Tatum: A Talent Never to Be Duplicated (NPR, audio only, 11 min.) ::
Art Tatum, 'The Musician's Musician' (NPR audio, 54 min.)
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Oct 25, 2011 -
33 comments
Taksim Trio is a super-group from Istanbul composed of Hüsnü Senlendirici, one of the greatest clarinet players alive, Aytac Dogan on qanun (zither) and Ismail Tuncbilek on saz (long necked lute). More of their music that can be found on
Youtube. A glowing
Album review & some background. Their
Myspace.
posted by growabrain
on Oct 15, 2011 -
6 comments
One of America's most idiosyncratic musical geniuses was, of course, the great Thelonious Monk (
Wiki), and what better way to celebrate his birthday today than viewing (in its entirety!) an excellent documentary on the man and his music?
Straight, No Chaser
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Oct 10, 2011 -
25 comments
Movie trivia: If someone were to ask you the name of a 1966 mystery/thriller that was shot in London, included a Redgrave sister in the cast, and had a soundtrack composed by a jazz giant, you would have
two choices for an answer.
[more inside]
posted by perhapses
on Sep 28, 2011 -
16 comments
Oh, my. These
cows are ready to do the Charleston (with some practice, perhaps). These
curious cows are only mildly skittish and love to exercise.
Some light fun for a Saturday afternoon.
posted by glaucon
on Sep 17, 2011 -
15 comments
"I decided I wanted to buy the Dorsey Brothers’ mambo record. However, I did not have the required 39 cents." Over at
The Comics Journal, cartoonist
Kim Deitch (previously), son of animator Gene Deitch
(previously), has been posting a wonderful, rambling memoir about the music in his life.
Part 1: The Dorseys and Beyond "Watch for Russ Columbo playing some hot violin in
this one."
Part 2: An Early Education - Jazz, folk and the ’40s - Alan Lomax, Jelly Roll Morton and jazz fandom
Part 3: Our hero stumbles on the birth of television, specifically,
music on televisionPart 4: Rock ‘n Roll - "
For a lot of Americans it was like the whole damn African jungle had landed in the middle of Ed Sullivan’s stage"
Part 5: Rocking Forward [more inside]
posted by mediareport
on Aug 7, 2011 -
3 comments
July 17th 1959: "Billie Holiday died in a New York City hospital from cirrhosis of the liver after years of alcohol abuse, aged 43 (while under arrest for heroin possession, with police officers stationed at the door to her room). In the final years of her life, she had been progressively swindled out of her earnings, and she died with $0.70 in the bank." Still, the world remembers her for her music, her voice that changed lives. Some of her best:
Nice Work If You Can Get It,
Fine and Mellow,
Strange Fruit,
I'll Be Seeing You,
Good Morning Heartache,
Summertime,
I'm A Fool to Want You,
As Time Goes By,
Solitude,
Come Rain or Come Shine and
The Man I Love.
[more inside]
posted by pleasebekind
on Jul 17, 2011 -
30 comments
All Things Emily celebrates the life and work of American jazz guitarist Emily Remler. Influenced by Herb Ellis and Wes Montgomery in her early albums, her music was taking new directions before her untimely death, at just 32, while on tour in Australia in May 1990.
[more inside]
posted by joannemullen
on May 3, 2011 -
9 comments
