Musical Ramblings

MMM#6 - Oscar Peterson

Oscar Peterson was one of the first jazz pianists whose music I truly fell in love with, back in 1993. I guess I was impressed by his virtuosity at first (the version of Caravan on Live! used to leave me gobsmacked) but soon the dual side of his talent took over: on the one side, the emotion, his incredible capacity to make you weep with one chord (as on the opening section of Hymn to Freedom); on the other side, his amazing swing, the way his playing can simply make you want to jump up and dance (listen to Cakewalk on Nigerian Marketplace...)

While I was away in the mountains with no access to the web, Oscar Peterson passed away, aged 82. Faithful reader Jim sent me an email with the news, which is how I learned of his passing. As sad as it must be for his friends and family, I can't help but think that he had a long and rich life (see the detailed Allmusic biography.)

In 1997, I saw Oscar Peterson live at the Marciac Jazz Festival. He was very diminished by his stroke, and his left hand playing was very limited, but he had managed to reinvent his playing focusing more on the right and and more on the romantic aspects of his playing. It wasn't necessarily the Oscar Peterson I had come to see and hear, but it was a very moving concert. I will always remember the long minutes of encore at the end of the concert, and how he came out three times  to salute, wheel-chaired, grey-faced and exhausted, as if to say "I'm sorry, I simply cannot play any more for you, much as I would like to..." But the crowd (and, I must sadly confess, myself) was relentless. After twenty minutes, he came back for one last tune. It was as if we were all sensing that we may never see him again. Audiences can be cruel...

I've already featured Hymn to Freedom on the very first Rambling Podcast (the Original Show), but this piece is such a pinnacle of what Oscar Peterson's music is to me that I don't know of any other tune that would be as good a homage. I found a different version, but it's the same, beautiful, Hymn to Freedom. If you like this, you will like Night Train, his bluesiest record in my opinion. I've been listening to it non stop for the last couple of days...

Rest in Peace, Oscar.

Down The Road

I discovered Bob Brozman on a French TV show back in 97. It was a concert at the New Morning in Paris and the guy had it all: virtuosity, humour, musicality, all you could want in a musician. I was hooked. Yet Brozman is often criticised by blues lovers for not taking the blues idiom seriously enough. I think that's the stupidest thing I ever heard. Just because you love a musical idiom doesn't mean you should enshrine it. Brozman plays with the form but his deep love of the original musics he is inspired by is evident if you listen open-mindedly.

Over the last few years, Brozman's repertoire has expanded widely to all kinds of world music, although he tends to prefer music from the disenfranchised and the creative uses of the guitar brought by conquering white men to colonised islands and countries around the world. The following piece, originally from Trinidad is called Down the Road and is probably my favourite Bob Brozman tune ever. I love the chord structure, the lopsided groove, the way Brozman slaps his guitar for rhythmic accompaniment...

Down the Road was originally released on the sadly out of print Slide a Go-Go, but it's a styaple of Brozman's live performances, so you can still find various versions on other releases. My recommended version if from the otherwise stunning Live in Germany.

MMM#5 - Paul Lassey

This is an unusual MMM, mostly because it's an unusual Monday. It's Christmas Eve and I was looking for something appropriately festive, and failing so far. But fellow harmonica player Paul Lassey just sent me an mp3 equivalent of a Best Wishes card that I simply have to share with you. It's all home made, so you'll have to forgive the drum machine and occasional synth sounds (but they're not too bad, honestly). The harmonica playing though is way cool. Imagine every single possible Chrismas Carol crammed into three minutes of bluesy harmonica boogie and you'll be close to what Paul has just done.

Waaaaaaaaaay cool!

And a great occasion for me to wish you all merry festivities. I will see you in the new year, with some potentially big changes as soon as I can find the time to implement them. But I guess that''ll be the content of a New Year's address!

400 Podcasts with just Covers!

One of the Rambling Podcast's listener pointed me to Coverville, a podcast that does only covers and has produced 400 podcasts so far!!!

Check it out!

December 2007 Podcast: The Covers Show

The December Rambling Podcast is the Covers Show. The setlist is:

1. John Butler Trio - Get up, Stand up (03:20-06:25)
2. Galactic - Saturday Night Special (07:35-11:50)
3. Robert Randolph - Billie Jean (13:20-19:05)
4. Hayseed Dixie - War Pigs (20:40-24:45)
5. The Bad Plus - Smells Like Teen Spirit (26:00-31:45)
6. The Toy Dolls - James Bond Lives Down Our Street (33:20-37:10)
7. The Rhythm Junks - Moskow Diskow (38:40-41:50)
8. The Derek Trucks Band - My Favourite Things (44:45-58:15)
9. Musica Nuda - Come Together (01:00:05-01:03:50)
10. JJ Milteau & Band - Chain of Fools (01:04:50-01:09:25)

For more info on this podcast in general, check out the generic Rambling Podcast post.

The detailed setlist is as follows:

• The John Butler Trio - Get Up, Stand Up: I've already featured the JBT several times in the podcast, so I won't present them again. As far as I know, their cover of Get Up Stand Up has not been released in any official record. The Bob Marley and the Wailers' original though is available on the album it was first released on the 1973 Burnin' and on various compilations including the excellent Legend. (Source: March 2nd, 2007 - Paris)

• Galactic - Saturday Night Special: Galactic is a funk-jazz band from New Orleans, modern incarnation of the Meters and similar Big Easy funk. Originally I wanted to feature Galactic's cover of Black Sabbath's Sweet Leaf (available on We Love 'em Tonight (Live at Tipitina's) but the band's management didn't answer my request and I couldn't find a bootleg version. Fortunately, Galactic does a lot of funkified rock covers, so I chose a boot of Saturday Night Special. Again, no official release as far as I know. The Lynyrd Skynyrd original was released on the 1975 album Nuthin' Fancy which is as good an introduction as any to Lynyrd Skynyrd's brand of no-nonsense southern rock. (Source: June 11th, 2005 - Bonnaroo, USA)

• Robert Randolph and the Family Band - Billie Jean: I first heard Robert Randolph on the amazing Live at the Wetlands. He's released a couple of albums since then, neither of which feature their cover of Billie Jean. The original, of course, is to be found on Michael Jackson's Thriller. (Source: January 21st, 2004 - Köln, Germany)

• Hayseed Dixie - War Pigs:  Hayseed Dixie may have started as an AC/DC bluegrass cover band but they soon branched out to cover all kinds of heavy metal bands and even write their own stuff. War Pigs is featured on their 4th album A Hot Piece of Grass.  Of course, the original is from what is probably Black Sabbath's greatest album, the 1971 Paranoid. (Source: July 5th, 2007 - Rudolstadt, Germany)

• The Bad Plus - Smells Like Teen Spirit: New York avant-garde jazz trio The Bad Plus has also been featured on the Rambling Podcast before . Their cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit is probably what drew me into their musical landscape in the first place. It's featured on their album These are the Vistas. Throughout their discography, you'll find covers of Every Breath You Take, Iron Man, Everybody Wants to Rule the World and others. The original Smells Like Teen Spirit was of course a huge hit featured on the album that defined grunge rock as a genre, Nirvana's Nevermind. (Source: March 19th, 2007 - Richmond, USA)

• The Toy Dolls - James Bond lives down our street: The Toy Dolls are undeniably in the top ten of the craziest bands ever, but they are also increadibly funny and damn fine musicians, which makes their humoristic punk rock all the more endearing. James Bond lives down our street was originally released as a single in 1985, and therefore does not appear on any of their official albums. It has since been re-released on various compilations though, including the near definitive We're Mad. The original James Bond Theme was composed by Monty Norman and orchestrated by John Barry. It can be found on numerous James Bond and/or movie themes anthologies, including  Best of Bond. (Source: 1985, UK)

• The Rhythm Junks - Moskow Diskow: I'm a huge fan of The Rhythm Junks and indeed I have already reviewed the album on which they covered Moskow Diskow, Pop Off (the review can be found here).  The original 1978 version of Moskow Diskow was in French, although Telex later released an English version that has been the basis of many remixes. The original was on Telex's no longer available Looking for St. Tropez. (Source: The Rhythm Junks - Pop Off)

• The Derek Trucks Band - My Favourite Things: Again, the DTB is one of my favourite bands and it's the third time it's been featured on the Rambling Podcast. Their version of My Favourite Things is currently played often at their concerts, but it has not been released on record.  John Coltrane's interpretation though, their main inspiration source, was released as a studio recording on the album My Favourite Things. There are also many live versions on various Coltrane concerts. The original from The Sound of Music as sung by Julie Andrews is available on the Sound of Music soundtrack. (Source: October 25th, 2007 - Frankfurt, Germany)

• Musica Nuda - Come Together: Musica Nuda do a lot of covers. In fact, most of their repertoire is covers, but the sparseness of their line-up often gives them an unusual twist Come Together was released on their second album called Musica Nuda 2. The Beatles' original version was released on their last album Abbey Road. (Source: June 1st, 2007 - Paris, France)

• Jean-Jacques Milteau - Chain of Fools: Jean-Jacques Milteau's version of Chain of Fools with the inimitable Demi Evans on vocals is a studio bonus track from their self-produced live release Pacific Blue, which is - sadly - only for sale at JJ's non-French concerts. Aretha Franklin's Chain of Fools was originally released on Lady Soul, which also features many of the songs she's famous for.  (Source: JJ Milteau - Pacific Blue)

And that's it for the covers! Many thanks to Steven de Bruyn and Jean-Jacques Milteau from allowing me to use tracks from their official releases. Additional thanks to Bill Barrett for the one jingle in this show. Yet more thanks to artist Saki for the superb Beatles meet Musica Nuda banner. And finally, a last round of thanks to Greg Szlapczynski for letting me use his Ternaire Madness as the new theme song for the show.

Please leave comments !!!

XB-40 Madness

For the first time, I see and hear someone playing the hell out of an XB-40 and it's both pretty, professional and cool. Way to go, James Conway!

Rocket 88 has departed for good...

Just found out that blues legend and father of rock n' roll Ike Turner passed away. Unsurprisingly, articles here and there mention his history as Tina Turner's violent husband more than they mention his musical legacy. I don't want to let you think that I diminish the gravity of his misdeeds, I don't, but it would bug me a little to see his musical genius totally disregarded.

Ike Turner is often considered the inventor of Rock n' Roll (although that title is and probably will forever stay contested) with the celebreated and much covered 1958 tune Rocket 88. Ike was also behind the early carreer of Howling Wolf, BB King and others.

The AllMusic Guide says it better than I do, and I really like their article, so I suggest you check it out, and more importantly, check out his music..

Total Eclipse...

I'm in the final finalisation finalities of the Covers show, just need to find some time to type up all the blurb that 40% of you read religiously, 40% skim through, 10% don't bother reading and 10% don't know about. Yes, that blurb.

Meanwhile, to help you wait, here's a hilarious cover. Whoever thought that a washing machine could do such a convincing bass drum sound...

MMM#4 - Eric Legnini Trio

I haven't posted any jazz so far on the MMM, so it was time for a little bit of that.

The classic trio formation (piano, doublebass, drums) is one of my favourite jazz set-ups, capable of both great dynamism and great sparseness. Eric Legnini is a jazz pianist from Belgium who has been on the scene for a good while as sideman but only released his first album under his name a couple of years back. This album, titled Miss Soul features a very accessible yet exhilarating brand of jazz where the groove is king. Legnini cites Phineas Newborn and Les McCann as inspiration, and indeed the tune featured here is a composition in homage to Phineas Newborn.

The Memphis Dude, which opens Miss Soul is a fast paced tune with an intricate and ornemented melody, a deep bass line and busy drumming to keep it swinging. Legnini's playing is very melodic, mostly "in", but it sounds really gorgeous. I love the way this tune combines a level of intricacy and harmonic exploration with a driving groove that makes me want to tap my feet. Rosario Bonnacorso's bass playing is strong and mean here, a key building block in the drive this tune conveys.

Miss Soul really is one of the best albums I bought in 2007 (even though it was released in 2005) and I strongly recommend it. If you liked this bootleg, you can't fail to like the whole thing!

(Not so) disinterested holiday message

It's the holiday season, and if you're like me, you use online purchasing a lot to fill these red and white stockings. It's a good time for me to remind you that, as an amazon affiliate, Harmonica Ramblings earns a fractional amount of any order you put through an Amazon link from Harmonica Ramblings.

If you do plan to use amazon.com for your christmas shopping, think about us and help us offset the hosting bills for the blog and the podcast! Pardon me for this blatantly commercial message, every little bit helps!