WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO NOW?

[bigredbass]

I cut my teeth on Blue-Eyed Soul and what R&B was in my day, NOT what it is now.  Produced by Chips Moman at Ardent in Memphis with studio giants like Reggie Young on guitar and the remarkable Tommy Cogbill on bass.  The Box Tops would fold and Alex Chilton would go on to form Big Star, one of the great shoulda-made-it Southern bands.  If you cut me, I bleed stuff like this.

[bigredbass]

I just love 80's Bluegrass.

[cozmik_cowboy]

I cut my teeth on Blue-Eyed Soul and what R&B was in my day, NOT what it is now.

The last band I worked for full-time was a classic Chicago R&B band; I am amazed how much time time I spend explaining what that means: "No, not Seal or Boyz2Men, it means a blues band with plumbing!"


Here they are: 

Peter (who is aware he posted this one before - but likes the band a lot!)

[edwardofhuncote]

I just love 80's Bluegrass.

Those guys are great! AND, with a 'burst-top HD-28! I'll see your Cleverlys, and raise you a Love Canon. We opened for these guys at Floyd Co. High School once, and a couple of them joined us onstage at FloydFest later that year. Good guys, fun hang.

[David Houck]

John Barleycorn Must Die - Duke Levine w/ guest Darol Anger

[cozmik_cowboy]

My 9-year-old grandson's first school-band concert on his new clarinet.  Apparently none of them are taking private lessons outside class.  It was every bit as good as that makes it sound.....

And I loved it.

Peter

[DistillaMatto]

John Barleycorn Must Die - Duke Levine w/ guest Darol Anger

Nice rebuild of a classic.

[cozmik_cowboy]

Norah Jones:

Peter

[jazzyvee]

Rocket 88, sung by Bernard Allison.

[pauldo]

My 9-year-old grandson's first school-band concert on his new clarinet.  Apparently none of them are taking private lessons outside class.  It was every bit as good as that makes it sound.....

And I loved it.

Peter

😀

[edwardofhuncote]

Trying to reimagine Mayer's "Queen Of California" into a bluegrass tune while woodshedding this winter.

The fingerstyle roll and signature hook to the tune make it work pretty well, instrumentally. The ten-minute envelope filter solo out, not as much, but there's more that one way to bake that cake.

[edwardofhuncote]

Alison has a little fun with band intros after Paper Airplane here... 

I'm thinking this was about the last we saw of Union Station.

[bigredbass]

From 2001, The Buena Vista Social Club Orchestra at The North Sea Jazz Festival, fronted by the great Omara Portuando.  My only regret that while I lived in Miami Vice days Florida in the 80's, I never lived in South Florida where I could have begun to absorb this kind of Latin music, and more from the Carribean (not to mention all the Cubanos and Cuban coffee I missed out on!).  This stuff fascinates me in that all the backing rhythms seem almost contrapuntal, and the improvisation on top bends the pitches AND the time against the core of the tunes.  I love this stuff.  Plus, bands with kit drummers and who knows how many percussion players. Timbales, Si ! ! !

[bigredbass]

Lang Lang with the Dresden Symphony (help, my German translation skill is nada), Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue'.  You will NEVER hear a better performance of this than this performance.  IN-spired.

[bigredbass]

I was born too late to be in the Blue-Eyed, Matching Suits w/Steps Bands like this right here:  Booker T and the MG's with the Mar-Keys out front.  This is one of those cases where you take seemingly simple parts, synch the whole band up as tight as new piston rings, and let them cook.  I . . . . am a dinosaur.