Monday 11 December 2017

Jon Hendricks RIP



Jon Hendricks dead at 96
veteran Vocalese singer and lyricist.

Thank you for all the witty lyrics, wonderful singing and 
being a great teacher to generations of Vocalese singers!

His breakthrough came with the outstanding Trio
Lambert Hendricks and Ross Doodling Song


Lambert, Hendricks & Ross - Sing a Song of Basie (Full Album)


Joe Williams with Lambert, Hendricks and Ross - Every Day I Have the Blues
He performed his lyrics with many Jazz greats over the years:

Art Blakey with Jon Hendricks "Moanin"
Jon was a great influence on the vocal Quartet Manhattan Transfer 
and was featured on their Vocalese album:


He performed also many times live with the band:
Jon Hendricks & The Manhattan Transfer

He was teacher and mentor to Bobby McFerrin
and didn't shy away from modern Jazz
Jon Hendricks, Bobby McFerrin, Al Jarreau 
"Freddie Freeloader" (by Miles Davis)
Live on the Arsenio Hall Show

Obituaries:

In 1997, he was in a touring ensemble that performed 
Wynton Marsalis' Pulitzer Prize-winning "Blood on the Fields". 


Monday 4 December 2017

Pippi meets Renaldo!


Who would have thought this could work together:

Pippi meets Renaldo!

Pippi Longstocking, the anarchic girl, 
a hero of our childhood days
created by Astrid Lindgren
and played by Inger Nilsson
in the classic TV version 
with a soundtrack by
Renaldo & The Loaf:
Ow! Stew The Red Shoe

No wonder the author of this blog turned into an anarchistic sound freak!





Sunday 5 November 2017

Xmess upon us




Yeah it's this time of the year again, when the bells are jingling un every shopping mall:
The count down to the most beloved/hated season has started again!
Here are a few recommended Xmas blogs for both sides compiled by connoisseurs of the genre:


If you want to get in the right seasonal spirit 
check out my Christmas special podcast:

Click & listen to

Friday 3 November 2017

John Peel remembered


The day of dead has just passed (2 Nov.), so if you are feeling like listening to the legendary DJ 
broadcasting from beyond the grave again: Here are loads of John Peel shows waiting for you!
I discovered him in the 80's on British Forces Network on air in Westberlin and got hooked.
I met him personally many years later during Womex in Berlin (2000) and discovered then 
that he was a very nice and down to earth bloke as well.
Listening outside your comfort zone and keeping an open ear for things to come 
was his life long ambition:"I just wanted to hear something I haven't heard before!"
You are surely missed, John!


http://www.johnpeelcentre.com
http://www.johnpeelarchive.com/

Don Letts explores John Peel's record collection
http://www.johnpeelarchive.com/don-letts

John Peels Record Box documentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_aUFuZA9oo

John Peel's Autobahn Blues documentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-IVl-o7gZo


Monday 30 October 2017

Goodbye Fats Domino!

With Antoine "Fats" Domino death on the 24th October (my birthday) - after Chuck Berry in March -another influential founding father of  what is known now as Rock'n Roll all over the world is gone.


His song "The Fat Man" is widely considered the first rock-and-roll record to have sold more than  a million copies by 1951. Between 1955 and 1960, he had eleven Top 10 hits.Many of his songs are covered by some of the greatest rock & pop singers & musicians:

Lenny Kravitz - Whole Lotta Loving feat Maceo Parker, Rebirth Brass Band, Fred Wesley


Blueberry Hill has been covered by many artists, but my favourite far out version is from Jah Wobble from his 1st solo EP: 


Goodbye Fats! Thanks for the great tunes you gave us!

Obituaries:
http://patrickmurfin.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/fats-domino-will-tickle-ivory-on.html



Sunday 10 September 2017

Holger Czukay RIP (1938 - 2017)

Holger Czukay, sonic pioneer, bass player  and founding member of the German band Can and in his later years more sound producer then traditional musician left this planet on 5. September 2017 to Jam in the Ether with his deceased Can bandmates Jaki Liebezeit (22.Jan.2017) and Michael Karoli (17 November 2001).
Here are some of my personal favourites from Holger's hugely influential post Can catalog:

Holger Czukay "Good Morning Story"


Holger Czukay, Jah Wobble, Jaki Liebezeit 
- Where's the money (from "Full Circle")

Holger Czukay, Jah Wobble,The Edge 
(from Snake Charmer) - Hold On To Your Dreams


JAH WOBBLE / JAKI LIEBEZEIT / HOLGER CZUKAY 
- How Much Are They?



Holger Czukay - Der Osten Ist Rot (the east is red)

Perfect World (live 1986)



At the age of 43 Holger Czukay was working on a message for his fans. 


Here is his audio trip through his musical universe. He kept it unreleased for 30 years.
To finish of this tribute  here are 2 mixes of some of the finest HC tracks from the excellent  


  

Bye, bye forever Holger!

More on Holger Czukay:

https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/holger-czukays-best-moments-in-can-and-beyond/
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/sep/06/holger-czukay-obituary
http://www.bluefat.com/1409/Holger_Czukay.htm
https://dereksmusicblog.com/2015/05/20/holger-czukay-eleven-years-innerspace/
http://andrewdarlington.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/can-holger-czukay-how-to-recognise.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm8MjLDbQ2o
Can official website: https://www.spoonrecords.com/

Sunday 3 September 2017

John Abercrombie RIP

John Abercrombie RIP, another innovative and influential musician gone!


John Abercrombie playing his newest McCurdy guitar



John Abercrombie - Days of Wine and Roses



John Abercrombie Dave Holland Jack DeJohnette - Homecoming

Obituaries:



Walter Becker RIP


Just heard the sad news on the Beeb that Walter Becker is no longer around.
His distinctive sound will surely be missed by his many fans & Donal Fagan!
Long live Steely Dan!
 Walter Becker RIP





Steely Dan (with lyrics): "... and die behind the wheel"
at least he didn't!

Obituaries:


Monday 3 July 2017

Goodbye Geri Allen!


Sad new for her admirers and family
Geri Allen passed away on 27th June 2017

 Geri Allen with Ron Carter & Lenny White 

Geri Allen, Terri Lyne Carrington, Esperanza Spalding
Links for Obituaries:

New York Times

JazzTimes

IDEPENDENT

guardian

Bardentreffen in Nuremberg

World • Music • Festival

free of charge since 1976!

Topic 2017: "Headwind"

The Bardentreffen in Nuremberg, Germany is a World Music Festival like WOMAD,
but free of charge, which is happening on stages and in the streets all over the old town.
See you there from the 28th to the 30th of April!
more info @
https://bardentreffen.nuernberg.de/en/

Friday 30 June 2017

Kittens & record players


Team scratch dropping some heavy tunes!
Remember that some said once to me that kittens and records don't mix very well.
Can' t say that of this two. Let's hope it's an old Ted Nugent LP:


After a good scratch session this LP could be recycled for household use:

Thursday 29 June 2017

FRED WESLEY & THE NEW JB’S in London



FRED WESLEY & THE NEW JB’S are in town for a funky House Party!

Fred Wesley is the trombonist, composer, arranger, bandleader and author known worldwide as one of the architects of funk music. Fred’s work with the Godfather of Soul, Mr. James Brown in the 1970s established him as the world’s funkiest trombonist. He is also known for his work with George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Parliament, Funkadelic, Ray Charles, Van Morrison, Cameo & many others.
On Saturday night the audience started to groove while some serious funky classics where tackled by his band of leaders in there own right" as Fred announced them after the first track and the lively crowd at the well filled venue danced right from the first tune through the whole 2hrs set. 
As a treat Fred's J.B. band mate Pee Wee Ellis was on stage for a couple of their classics.
"Breaking Bread with your Mama" and "Pass the Peas" & "Funk for your ass"
He was rewarded for his solos with an extensive "Pee Wee, ..." chant by the frenzied crowd which led to a cheering "Fred, Fred, ..." chorus.



Since I have seen him last time in 1998 he has aged a bit, but he was still Blowing his head off in some great solos and singing lead on some of the classic songs.

Sunday 28 May 2017

Voodoo Funk Grooves from Africa

Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou

is on tour to promote their new record: Madjafalao




Classic Poly Rythmo

Saw them at a great live gig at 229theVenue in London last year!
Still one of the best live bands to come out of Africa! Check out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyydyRjF3PM

Check out my google collection for live music updates, discoveries & more ...
https://plus.google.com/+AlexanderSchmidt1962/posts/VL4Ydbus9uP

Monday 20 February 2017

My Vinyl Plays 'til My Final Days


My Vinyl Plays 'til My Final Days


Weird Vinyl Editions
Somewhat debunking the myth that we all buy vinyl because the music just sounds better when pressed into virgin black wax, recently a dramatic increase in the number of records being pressed with basically anything that’s to hand – blood, piss, hair, string, leaves, ashes – you name it, if you can mix it into a vat of wax pellets someone’s tried to press it into a record.
Liquid filled records, interactive designs and more unusual vinyl designs:


String:
  
For Record Store Day, Liars dropped a special version of Mess On A Mission, embedding the clear vinyl with string to match the artwork. Liars’ Angus Andrew on string theory: “To us it seemed like such a unique and interesting way to extend the visual language of Mess right inside the music…We talked about the idea for days but weren’t at all sure it could physically be done. After all, pressing bits of coloured string into the actual vinyl was nothing we’d ever heard of before. ”

BLOOD:


In 2012 Erykah Badu, Chris Martin, and Ke$ha rolled their sleeves up and counted to ten while Wayne Coyne took a sample of the red stuff for Flaming Lips’ ‘Heady Fwends’. But while that was bottled to swill around the record as it spins, Perfect Pussy’s Meredith Graves’ actually had her menstrual blood pressed into the wax itself. Just as well there were only 300 copies made of  Say Yes To Love (Captured Tracks).

HAIR & PISS:


There’s no brushing this one off – these guys have literally soaked their vinyl in piss and then for some reason felt the need to make it even more bodily by filling the clear yellow wax with hair. Nice touch guys. No surprise “this unique item lends itself to surface noise and no two singles look or sound alike”.

Marshmallow Smell:

Ghostbusters (30th anniversary ed.) (Legacy) 
For the 30th anniversary edition of the Ghostbusters soundtrack, Legacy got so excited by the Marshmallow Man they packaged the release in a puffy sleeve that exhales wafts of sugary synthesis every time you go near it. Great, as long as you don’t mind your record collection smelling like ratty Halloween leftovers.

Holograms & other gimmicks: 


Jack White Lazaretto (Third Man Records)
The so called Ultra LP, may not have anything actually physically pressed into the wax itself, but its bells and whistles are so extensive we thought we’d throw it in here anyway. Although not pressed into the wax, the idea of a hologram shimmering on the surface of the run out groove is pretty beguiling never mind all the other gimmicks: 
- Side A plays from the inside out
- 2 vinyl-only hidden tracks hidden beneath the center labels
- 1 hidden track plays at 78 RPM, one plays at 45 RPM, making this a 3-speed record 
- Dual-groove technology: plays an electric or acoustic intro for “Just One Drink”      
   depending on where needle is dropped. The grooves meet for the body of the song.
- Matte finish on Side B, giving the appearance of an un-played 78 RPM record
- Vinyl pressed in seldom-used flat-edged format 
- Both sides end with locked grooves
- Dead wax area on Side A contains a hand-etched hologram by Tristan Duke of Infinity 
   Light Science, the first of its kind on a vinyl record

Augmented Reality: 


This smart-phone friendly gimmick from messres Eno & Hyde, where by owners of the album app would be able to witness “outsider architecture metropolises” take shape on their vinyl as it plays, like pixelated petri dishes blossoming with aggressive bacteria. It’s a pretty ambitious coming together of the analogue and the digital. 

 Glitter: 


Dads - Pretty Good (6131 Records)
On to its fourth pressing, this Dads release on 6131 has pretty much tested out every colour of vinyl – clear green, opaque pink marble, red with random splatters, pink, you name it. The latest release takes it to the next level, pinching rainbow glitter from the craft store and stuffing it in a clear 7”. Only 100 copies were pressed, but they also dropped 900 in yellow marble to keep the coloured vinyl variations going.

Liquid:

Worthless - Greener Grass (BBiB Records)
Apart from cleaning products, liquids and records are normally a losing combination, but what about liquid IN your records? In what we concede must have been an impressive engineering feat, Beyond Beyond is Beyond have done the unthinkable, mixing liquids and vinyl. We’d be interested to hear how they sound, but only 15 were released and apparently only around half were actually offered for sale although rumours are floating around that a new batch is on the horizon.

Astroid Dust: 

About as otherworldly as a record gets, the ‘COSMOS’ edition of An Island Called Earth features a run of 100 green/yellow/orange records, containing sprinkled fragments of an asteroid that crashed into earth during the 16th century. Quite literally a piece of history, and indeed interspace geology, in your wax. We give Alcopop! full marks for effort on this one.

Autumn Leaves:

I love it when form pays a little bit of attention to content, and no more so than on Barren Harvest’s Subtle Cruelties, so neatly embossed with russet leaves that shimmer like one of those novelty toilet seats behind crystal clear vinyl. The record’s novelty ‘nature’ is not lost on Thrill Jockeys who issued a manfully honest disclaimer with the release: “be advised that there are noises and irregularities in the audio that differ from record to record”. That’s the beauty of nature, right?
And at last here is the ultimate sacrifice to vinylism:

Ashes: 

Pressed in peace; 
Cremation company offers to have your ashes memorialised in vinyl
Join your own record collection with And Vinyly’s bespoke funeral service.
Not for cheap, so better start saving now!

http://www.andvinyly.com/





Wednesday 1 February 2017

Jazz Rock Funk from West & East Germany



Listen here to the German Jazz Funk show

"GROOVIN' AROUNDis broadcast on:

ambushradio.gr


I recommend the following records as source of the tracks I played 
as well as for further discoveries:


The Dave Pike Set 
- Live 1969
- Masterpieces (Compilation)
- Got The Feelin'-1969 US


Infectious Rare Grooves & Krauty Schlager Wonders 1969-1978

Female Beat Groove Disco Funk in Germany (1968-1978)

20 Instrumental Dancefloor Killers from the 60s and 70s


- Hip Shaking Grooves Made In Germany 1966-1974 (2005)

some more rare Jazz, Funk & Soul Instrumentals From West Germany 60s & 70s.
Listen:


Listen to the latest episode of my radio show "GROOVIN' AROUND" : Jazz Rock Funk from West & East Germany

Listen to the latest episode of my radio show 
"GROOVIN' AROUND" 
dedicated to an historical review of Jazz Rock Funk in 
West & East Germany
for the next two weekends from Friday to Sunday 
16.00-18.00 GR Time/ 15.00-17.00 Central European Time (CET)/ 14.00-16.00 GMT Time
You will hear some rare grooves ripped from Vinyl and 
funkified "Schlager" (hit songs sung in German), 
as well as some cuts of extremely rare Amiga 45s. 

The extraordinary life and music of Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou

This post is in reference to the meditative, calming, minimal, but nevertheless very beautiful music of the almost a century old so called &...