Musical Ramblings

Clint Hoover - On This Day

Because of the exploratory nature of jazz, there's often a misconception that a jazz album that doesn't push the boundaries is a failure. I'm as guilty as the next guy when I don't check myself and yet some of my favourite jazz players (Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Gene Harris, Louie Prima...) were not experimentators. They were not the guys pushing the boundaries. Sometimes it's good to get off one's high horses and enjoy a record that doesn't necessarily have the ambition to revolutionise the genre. On This Day is such a record.

On This Day was recorded in one day, maybe not even intended for release originally. It features Clint Hoover on chromatic harmonica (and one cut on diatonic) backed by a double bass player and a pianist. The go through a repertoire of jazz standards in a loose way, and with acoustic freshness. Particular highlights are the opener Cheesecake, and the more somber Lament. While I find that the pieces stretch for a little too long overall, this is still a very pleasant and relaxing listen, and who cares if it doesn't reinvent jazz?

The Legendary Marvin Pontiac

Marvin Pontiac is a famous unknown, one of those odd blues guys whose reputation is as much talent as it is mystique to the few who know of him. Pontiac was born in 1932, from a Malian father and an Amercian Jewish mother. His mother was institutionalised when he was two, and his father took him to Bamako. When he was fifteen, already a musician in Mali, Pontiac fled back to Chicago where he started the oddest of blues carreers, his music a blend of downhome blues and African rhythms and harmonies. Pontiac was a strange man: for example, he would never let anyone photograph him for fear it would rob him of his soul and was once arrested riding down a bicyle naked in Louisiana. He died in 1977, hit by a bus, and The Legendary Marvin Pontiac collects his musical legacy, from his 1952 hit I'm a Doggy to some of his early hits in Bamako like Pancakes.

In fact, Marvin Pontiac is a fictitious character designed by the addled brain of musician and performance artist John Lurie, but the fictitious thread contributes immensely to the enjoyment of this record. While Lurie didn't push versimilitude to the point of making I'm a Doggy sound like a 1952 recording (the sound quality is way too good for that) there's real enjoyment in linking the fake biography to the tunes and themes, increasingly crazy as the record moves on. Besides the opening title, which sounds like a dirty old blues full of meaningless innuendo, the genre really is a blend of blues and African music, with a little jazz and funky guitar here and there. Lurie's deep velvet voice is a real treat and the sparse afro-blues arrangements are clever and driving. Imagine Fela Kuti arrangements sung by Barrie White and you won't be too far off...

Check it out if you like musical experiences that are also artistic statements, or just for the fun of it!

Funk, inc. - Funk, Inc. & Chicken Lickin'

For the last couple of weeks I've been groovin' to this bundle of Funk, Inc.'s first two albums, Funk Inc. & Chicken Lickin'. Funk Inc. is like the illegitimate child of Jack McDuff's original quartet (with Duke, Holloway and Benson) and The Meters. It's got that laid back groove that the Meters have, but it's a lot more jazz-oriented and exploratory. And it's simply awesome. Just listen to the intro of the first track, Kool is Back and you'll be captured by that guitar hook.

OK, so maybe some of the tracks drag on for a little too long, and the instrumental version of BB King's The Thrill is Gone is really missing the lyrics (and the point), but still, it's about the best groove this side of the Greyboys Allstars, and 25 years earlier too!

Taratata Rools !

Taratata is a French music show on TV that has been gowing strong for over 15 years every week (more or less). There's a lot of pop, but Nagui, the presenter and producer of the show has a genuine love of music and will occasionally go out of his way to feature blues, jazz, folk or some weird stuff.

I recently noticed that a lot of taratata videos on Youtube had been removed, and I now know why. They opened a website www.mytaratata.com which compiles (as far as I can say) all the videos from all the shows. Or at least a ton of them.

If you don't speak French, just click on Tous les Artistes (all the artists) to access a listing of all the featured artists, and browse away! To celebrate its opening, here's one I found last night, reminds me of my misspent youth...

Jefferson Steelflex and his Neptune Society on the Tube!

Listen to this stuff !

It's stunningly cool !

This is Jefferson Steelflex and his Neptune Society, feat. amongst others, Marc Ford (of Black Crowes fame) and Bill Barrett, my favourite shit hot harp player this side of the pacific ocean (barely).

STUN-NING...

Moriarty is wacky fun !

At lunch today I spent some time in the presence of 4/5 of Moriarty, the international, trans-genre acoustic band that I praised here. They are as fun in real life as they seem to be on-stage, and I spent a good hour with them in between "proper" media interviews. I recorded the interview in the hope of producing a Moriarty podcast. I'll have to finalise the New Orleans one first, but that's not too far away, hopefully.

Anyway, thanks Moriarty !

Wondeful video on Paul deLay

I can't seem to embed it, but there's a 10mn video of Paul deLay being interviewed and playing over on OPB TV. Just click here.