Back at it.  Picking up after 8 years.  Much has happened music-wise in the time since I've written this blog.  The jamband community has grown, and some great bands has sprung from that scene.  Music festivals have grown and morphed and are now consolidating and folding.  There are still some good niche festivals around the country and now only 2 large national festivals - Coachella and Bonnaroo.  More on the festival scene another time.  

Here are some new songs and shows I'm listening to this new year:

-Hard Case - Tedeschi Trucks Band - from their forthcoming albumhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngqRtT0pN2o
-The Coming of Grace - Monks Road Social feat. Dr. Robert and Stone Foundation - a remake of the Dr. Robert song (from his very good "Realms of Gold" solo album). With one of my new favorite bands, Stone Foundation, an excellent UK r&b band, whom I'll write about soon.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAnvz6OGzB8
-Big Boss Man - Mercury Rev with Hope Sandoval - excellent version of the Jimmy Reed blues standard, off the should-be-interesting forthcoming Mercury Rev album  "Bobbie Gentry's Delta Sweete Revisited"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RhTe6zfoys
-Gov't. Mule 12/31/18 - Great show from his yearly Beacon NYE run.  This year was a 'train' theme and the show had some great versions of Casey Jones, Stop That Train, Train Kept A Rollin, Two Trains, Silver Train, and more.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmlh-ERbRNs&list=PLvZn3DN5VFdcolvBbbfnGfnt51lqcbYsi&index=2
Healing Tide - The War & Treaty - great song from a new husband and wife gospel-inspired band.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6yEaovQPh4

Next entry I will list my favorite songs and shows of 2018.

Gil Scott-Heron RIP

I guess the hardcore drug use finally caught up with him.  One of the most important progenitors of rap music, Scott-Heron incorporated poetry and jazz into his music, which ran the gamut from confrontational to mellow, but was always political.  He incorporated his sociological observations and opinions about racial inequality in America into all of his music.  I got into his music late, but really liked his 1970's output.  "Pieces of a Man" and "Winter in America" (with Brian Jackson) are 2 of my favorites.  Howard Stern used Scott-Heron's "Whitey's On The Moon' for a great bit in his earlier days, and Eric Lindell did a great cover of "Lady Day and John Coltrane" (on his 2nd disc "Low on Cash, Rich in Love").  


I've read interviews and articles about Scott-Heron where he talked about his drug abuse, and said that had no interest in kicking his habit.  In recent years he made a few albums (2010's "I'm New Here" was critically lauded) after being "discovered" again by the owner of XL Recordings, who took a chance and gave Scott-Heron the opportunity to create new music.    He was a great talent, and unfortunately died way too young.  Gil Scott-Heron was only 62 years old.

Clip from Ollabelle show in West Village

Performing "Northern Star".  From 5/6/11, an amazing private acoustic show for backers of the new Ollabelle record coming out later this year.

Ollabelle needs you

Ollabelle, a great NYC based band, is trying to go the independent route for their new disc.  (Not too long ago that sentence would've meant they were recording for a small label).  The band has taken to the internet and social media to try and raise funds for their new disc, as they want to release it themselves.  Great idea and I hope they are able to raise the necessary funds (they're currently 90% of the way their goal of $10K).  I contributed to the cause, as I think they are an incredibly talented group of musicians (and if you've never heard them you really should seek out their 2 studio discs and 1 live disc).  They don't reach a wide audience, as they are a grass-roots driven band and mostly play locally.  I appreciate the fact that they are trying to make it on "their" terms, I only hope they can reach a bigger audience so they can afford to keep making music.  Their music is a true Americana-based sound, with blues, jazz, country and folk influences.  All are excellent vocalists as well as musicians and it's a shame that more people don't know about them.  Here's the link to their fundraising page and a few videos. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ollabelle/ollabelle-album

annual Allmans

The Allmans recently finished up their annual NYC residency, this year back at the Beacon (where they belong).  I went on Monday 3/14 and saw a great show.  This year the band focused on earlier material (mostly from their Fillmore days) as 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of the recording of the Fillmore East album.  Over the course of the run they pulled from a tight list of songs, only playing a few new covers, and very few songs from recent albums.  On the night I saw them they did play "Egypt" an instrumental Derek rips on they wrote a few years ago that they never recorded.  They didn't play 1 song from "Enlightened Rogues", which must remind them too much of Dickey Betts, although it's an excellent record.  (They still won't touch "Blue Sky" live, although Warren busted out a great version with Furthur at the Best Buy Theater during an off-night from the Allmans).  The special guests during the run were only so-so, with appearances by Dr. John, Steve Earle, Susan Tedeschi (obviously), David Hidalgo, being the better known.  I caught Bill Evans (sax) who was excellent, especially on "Dreams", and Bernie Williams, who I had (have) zero interest in hearing.  I've heard 8 or 9 shows from the run and the band sounds better than they did last year.  Jaimoe takes long breaks during the show and Gregg is still forgetting lyrics here and there, but the band soldiers on, the best live band in the world.  Derek and Warren are still phenomenal, and I hope they keep playing the Beacon forever.  Here's a video from Warren playing with Furthur doing "Blue Sky" and a clip from the Beacon.

Top Songs / 2010

Excellent year for music.  This is the 1st year in a long time I had to leave songs off my year-end disc, so any year I can find more than 35 songs I really enjoy I consider a good one (music-wise anyway).  In no particular order:

• Bodega - Eric Lindell
• You Can Dance - Bryan Ferry
• Heart of Steel - Galactic (feat. Irma Thomas)
• Moneygrabber - Fitz & The Tantrums
• Coma and Get It - Eli "Paperboy" Reed
• The Trip To Pirates Cove - Tome Petty & The Heartbreakers 
• Susanah - 30db
• Beggarman - Smoove & Turrell
• Rock Dust Light Star - Jamiroquai
• Slow - Rumer
• The Sweetest Thing - JJ Grey & Mofro
• I Learned The Hard Way - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
• Love Lives - Black Dub
• How To Become Clairvoyant - Robbie Robertson
• Soldier of Love - Sade
• All My Bridges Burning - Los Lobos
• Cold Boy Smile - The Black Crowes
• Shaky - The Duke & The King
• As We Enter - Nas, Damian Marley
• Beautiful Place - Sean Carey
• Blood Like Lemonade - Morcheeba
• I Need A Dollar - Aloe Blacc
• Stylo - Gorillaz
• The Sound of Sunshine - Michael Franti & Spearhead
• The High Road - Broken Bells
• Cotton Was King - Widespread Panic
• You Are Not Alone - Mavis Staples
• Chance - James Maddock
• Beg Steal or Borrow - Ray Lamontagne
• Do You Love Me - Guster
• Rocksteady - Big Head Todd & The Monsters
• Shaky Ground - Jackie Greene
• I Didn't See It Coming - Belle & Sebastian
• Window Seat - Erykah Badu
• F@#k You - Cee-Lo

Duke & The King

New band formed by the drummer (Simone Felice) from the Catskills-based band The Felice Brothers.  Excellent acoustic based folk-rock that actually has some soul.  Their music has influences as diverse as Neil Young and Smokey Robinson, and they are on the mellow side.  They've released 2 discs in the past 2 years ("Nothing Gold Can Stay" and the recently released "Long Live...") and both are very strong.  They were supposed to play Mountain Jam this past June but Simone had heart trouble and had to have emergency surgery.  From their Facebook page:  The Duke & The King are a soul-folk-glam ensemble from the sticks of New York founded, produced, and created by Simone Felice and Robert Bird Burke, featuring the sensational Simi Stone and Nowell" Reverend Loveday" Haskins, and like any traveling theatre troupe there's bound to be a growing cast of bewitching characters. Named for the traveling Shakespeare hustlers in 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'.
An excellent new band, look forward to seeing them live.  Here's their website:http://thedukeandtheking.co.uk.

Fitz, the Flavor of the Month

Fitz & The Tantrums is a new band from LA.  Inspired by Stax and Motown, the band sounds like a bit like the band ABC sounded to me back in the early 80's.  A caucasian approach to soul music, it relies heavily on organ and horns to provide gravitas to the songs, which are good, but not great.  The band is led by Michael Fitzpatrick who sings vocals (and has a disconcerting shock of white in his hair), and he had the good sense to hire Noelle Scaggs as the female vocalist, who's got a really great voice.  You can't get away from their song "MoneyGrabber" lately, it's even being used in a T-Mobile commercial.  I got into them after seeing them on "Live at Daryl's House", where they did an amazing set. http://www.livefromdarylshouse.com/currentep.html?ep_id=48  Their latest disc "Pickin Up The Pieces" is very good, and a nice addition to the blue-eyed soul niche.  But I've got a problem when a band suddenly comes out of nowhere and all of a sudden are everywhere.  The disc is very good, but by no means a classic.  (There are 3 or 4 very good tunes on the disc).  Maybe they could've waited until their 2nd disc to have sold out, but I also understand that there's no guarantees that a 2nd disc would materialize so "take it while you can".   Seeing them at Bowery Ballroom in a few weeks, they're supposed to be very good live.  

Black Dub / Bowery again

Very good Black Dub show last night at the Bowery Ballroom.  Here's a link to a review http://www.spinner.com/2010/11/18/daniel-lanois-black-dub-live/
I thought the band was very good, but a few of the songs, particularly "I'd Rather Go Blind" fell flat.  
And I couldn't believe it, but Lanois introduced "The Messenger" as a song off his 1st solo album "Acadie", which it is not....it's on "For The Beauty of Wynona", his 2nd disc.  I guess that motorcycle accident rattled his noggin a bit.

some new music Nov

Lots of good new music recently released.  The new Jamiroquai has a few good singles off their (his) new disc, "Rock Dust Light Star" (also the name of the album) and "White Knuckle Ride", which are the first 2 songs on the disc.  I think it's amazing that the guy is still actually making relevant music, albeit from the same acid-jazz based template he's always used, but now it's a bit more disco.  He looks a bit like Mark Wahlberg in this clip from the great Jools Holland show "Later".


The new Bryan Ferry album "Olympia" is great, his best disc since "Boys and Girls". He's got many guests on the disc, including pretty much everyone from Roxy Music (Manzanera, Mackay, etc), David Gilmour and more, but the sound is late-period Roxy Music, a la "Flesh & Blood" and "Avalon".  Languid, well-orchestrated and heavily produced, it sounds like a return to form for Ferry.  The songs are consistently good, and you'd think the record was made 20 years ago, it could be a follow-up to any of the late-period Roxy albums and early Ferry solo records.  Great stuff.

Gregory Isaacs R.I.P.

The Cool Ruler, Gregory Isaacs, one of the greatest reggae singers of all time died today at 60. (The cause was cancer of the liver that spread to his lungs).  His voice is instantly recognizable, and there's no way to underestimate his importance in the reggae world.  He was one of the originators of the classic roots reggae sound, and also the best purveyor of "lovers rock" reggae ever.  Along with Dennis Brown, they were the best voices ever to sing reggae music.  (You could add Jacob Miller, Marley and a few other to the list, but the 2 best were Isaacs and Brown).   He had way too many albums to list, but some of his best singles are collected on the "One Man Against The World" compilation.  Isaacs became huge after his "Night Nurse" album in 1982, although he was much loved and well-known prior to that release.  I got to see Isaacs perform at Reggae Sunsplash at Radio City Music Hall in 1985, and saw him walk thru the airport (dressed all in white) in Kingston, Jamaica in 1991 or so.  I started to listen to reggae in 1981, and Gregory Isaacs was one of the 1st artists I heard.  Roots reggae was the primary style I enjoyed (and was very popular then) and everyone listened to Isaacs.  He was often backed up by the Roots Radics, the best reggae studio band ever.  Another reggae giant, and one of the last, is gone.

live Rads

Saw The Radiators at Mexicali Live last night.  They are a prototypical bar band, and have been touring steadily for over 30 years.  Last night's show was typical Rads, some good covers, some well-known, some obscure.  The 2nd set was very good, with some songs from their self-titled disc from 2001, along with a good cover of "Domino".  Not a packed house...it poured last night and I think it kept some people away.  The place was less than 1/2 full for the 2nd set.  Good show nonetheless.  These guys play every type of music, and Camille (lead guitarist) is a jack-of-all-trades player.  The Rads are a true workingman's band.   (I recently bought a new ipod, which has a camera that also takes video.  I've got to learn how to actually use it...the videos I took were either sideways or upside down, and the photos were horrible.  It would be great to find a good quality compact video camera that's fairly idiot-proof.  The video below makes it look like I'm standing far way, but I'm actually about 15 feet from the band.)

MMJ / Roots

Great performance last night on Jimmy Fallon, My Morning Jacket played "Wordless Chorus" (off their disc "Z") with the Roots.  Jim James did his best James Brown impression.  MMJ plays Terminal 5 this week, playing a different album each night.  Great band.  This video will prob be pulled shortly...

Solomon Burke R.I.P.

One of the last of the greats passed away this weekend, Solomon Burke.  There's just too much great music he produced over the course of his career...to try and encapsulate it in a few paragraphs could never do it justice.  I was fortunate to have seen him perform live in September 1992 at Tramps in NYC.  He was still performing standing up, he wasn't on the throne full-time yet.  It was an amazing show, very close in spirit to the 1989 live disc "Soul Alive".  I remember him pulling Chaka Khan out of the audience to sing a song.  Burke was never on a par (hit-wise) with Sam Cooke, Otis Redding or some of the other early soul singers, but he was still a fantastic singer, rooted in gospel and r&b.  He had a career resurgence in 2002 and released a string of excellent albums this decade that ended this year with "Nothing's Impossible", which was the last record produced by Willie Mitchell (he died last year).   Another great talent gone....very few of the great soul singers left.

Early this morning, Sunday, October 10, 2010, the legendary King of Rock & Soul, Solomon Burke, our father, passed away due to natural causes.

Solomon had just arrived at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands for a sold out show at Paradiso with Dutch band, De Dijk.  He was on his way to spread his message of love as he loved to do. 

This is a time of great sorrow for our entire family.  We truly appreciate all of the support and well wishes from his friends and fans.  Although our hearts and lives will never be the same, his love, life and music will continue to live within us forever.  As our family grieves during this time of mourning, thank you for respecting our privacy.

Family of Solomon Burke

R&R HOF nominees (!!!)

It must be getting to the bottom-of-the-barrel-dreg-time for the Rock Hall of Fame.  This year's nominees were just announced and Bon Jovi was actually listed as a nominated act (supposedly) worthy of inclusion in the bastion of rock legends.  If they even get close it would absolutely make the Hall a farce and completely take away any imprimatur of legitimacy it holds.  Just because a band can sell tickets to a mass audience doesn't mean it has any musical value whatsoever.  Most of the time the inverse is true.  If you're reaching that many people, generally speaking, it means that what you're dishing out watered-down product.  (Or in Bon Jovi's case, rinsing out).  Also listed as nominees were Chic, Donovan, Dr. John, J. Geils Band, LL Cool J, Darlene Love, Laura Nyro, Donna Summer, Joe Tex, Tom Waits and Chuck Willis.  
Laura Nyro should be  a shoo-in, as should Chic, for their production and influence alone.  Tom Waits will most likely be inducted, although I could never acquire a taste for him, despite the fact that he's written some brilliant songs.  (I like them when they're sung by people other than Tom Waits).  


The fact that a "band" such as Bon Jovi is being nominated while classic acts such as Richard Thompson, The Spinners, Roxy Music, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Moody Blues, Yes, and more aren't in is a joke.  Music is different than sports...you can't quantify greatness sometimes.  It ain't just the amount of records you sell.  

Ollabelle

Love these guys....great band, and unless you live in NYC it's doubtful you've heard of them.  They're a collective of supremely talented musicians and vocalists that live in NYC/Brooklyn.  They all play in other bands or have solo projects as well, as I'm sure the financial realities of being in a band today dictate.  I first discovered them the first time I attended Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble in Winter 2006.  They were unbelievably good, and I've seen them about 8 times since then - pretty much every time they play in the area.  I'll write more about them in another post (they've got a new album coming out soon), I just found this video of them performing the Nina Simone song "See Line Woman" in Banjo Jim's, a tiny bar on the Lower East Side.  I think I might've been at this show too....it was just before Amy Helm (lead vocals) had her baby.  In any event, this place is really small, and the band is crammed into a corner, but obviously like it, as it's their "home" bar and base in NYC.  

Nostalgia....

Here's a great clip I came across....from 1973, it's a clip of The Stories performing "Brother Louie".  Jose Feliciano introduces the clip, and he couldn't be more wrong when he says "I think we're gonna hear a few more Stories from them in the next few months to come".  A classic 1-hit wonder, the band was formed by the guy that founded Left Banke (and also wrote "Walk Away Renee), but he left the band, and of course, they then had their only hit, "Brother Louie", which was huge in 73.  I remember hearing this in the summer on Top 40 radio constantly, and I still have the 45.  This was a time when music like this co-existed with drek like Tony Orlando.  Here's a list of the top 5 songs in the US in 1973, at the time that The Stories reached number 1 (8/25/73):
1) Brother Louie
2) Live and Let Die (Wings)
3) Touch Me In The Morning (Diana Ross)
4) Let's Get It On (Marvin Gaye)
5) The Morning After (Maureen McGovern)
After the band broke up shortly after this, the lead singer (Ian Lloyd) had a brief solo career, and at one of his recording sessions, the future leaders of Foreigner met (Ian MacDonald and Mick Jones) and then plotted future world domination of the pop charts.
Ian Lloyd currently lives in NYC and I guess still performs....the description on his website is classic..."with one of the most distinctive and powerful voices in the history(!!) of Rock music..."  Well he did, for 15 minutes.

new JJ Grey album

Is the right terminology "album" or "disc"?  JJ Grey has recently released a new collection of songs called "Georgia Warhorse", which is a moniker for a type of grasshopper that is apparently prevalent in the South.  This is Grey's 5th disc (his 3rd as "JJ Grey and Mofro") and his best and most consistent cd so far.  All of his discs are very good, and if you're not familiar with him you should check him out, he's an original.  His music sounds like a mix of greasy swampy southern rock, blues, and soul.   The lead single "The Sweetest Thing" is a great duet with Toots Hibbert, a feel-good tune that's got all the hallmarks of a classic single - you can sing along almost instantly and can't get it out of your head for days.  (It's this records' equivalent to "Orange Blossoms" off the record of the same name). Fortunately, there are other excellent songs here, my favorites being the opening cut "Diyo Dayo", "Hide and Seek", "King Hummingbird", and the excellent "Beautiful World", which could also be a single.  But the difference with this disc as compared to the rest of Grey's output is the consistency.  Whereas in the past there'd be 1 or 2 really good songs and maybe a good ballad, on this disc there are really no bad songs, all of them are listenable.  He's also a very good live act and is playing the Brooklyn Bowl in November.

great new Mavis tune

Just released on the disc she did with Jeff Tweedy, this is the single (and only new song) - "You Are Not Alone".  Written by Tweedy, it's a great soul song and (sort of) evokes the Staple Singers in tone.

new music Sep

Some excellent new discs released recently...


Richard Thompson "Dream Attic" - another good disc from one of the masters of the guitar.  The new disc was recorded live in front of an audience (you can hear them on a few tracks).  They're all new songs, typical Richard Thompson, which means excellent writing and instrumentation, and Thompson's singular vocals.  As always there are some rockers and some mellow Celtic tracks, but no RT classics here.  If you're already a fan you'll like this very much, if not there won't be anything to convert you.  He's put out some consistently good, sometimes great, but always interesting albums over the course of his career (24 albums plus some live ones).  Too bad not enough people know about him.  Going to see him live at the Wellmont in a few weeks, he's just an amazing guitar player, can't wait.


Robert Plant "Band of Joy" - not really being a big fan of his last record (Raising Sand) I found it to be a slick overproduced "adult" record", not what I want from Plant.  This new disc is much better.  He covers a wide range of songs, from Los Lobos and Richard Thompson to traditional ballads.  The playing is much looser, and although there is a prominent female vocal (Patty Griffin..who is way too skinny btw) this is more of a vehicle for Plant to play with a true band (as opposed to strictly session players).  By no means is this "rock" music, but it does show how good a singer Plant is, and if you enjoyed Raising Sand you'll probably like this as well.  I find it a bit more rough around the edges than Raising Sand, which I like.  (Between this disc, Zeppelin, The Honeydrippers, and his solo work, all he has to do now is a rap record and he will have covered almost every genre except polka).  


Los Lobos "Tin Can Trust" - They play all types of music well, and their original music is an amalgamation of rock, Tex-Mex, country, blues, jazz and folk.  Every disc they produce has a particular focus or theme (usually involving East LA), and this excellent collection of songs talks about working class people scraping their way to make ends meet and survive.  There are some outstanding songs on this disc - "On Main Street", "Tin Can Trust", and "All My Bridges Burning" (written with Robert Hunter) among the best.  There are of course the obligatory traditional Spanish/Mexican songs, which are very good, if you like that sort of thing.  They also do a spot-on cover of the Dead's "West LA Fadeaway", (which fits perfectly with their "Bertha" cover from the 1991 Grateful Dead tribute disc "Deadicated").  The band is on a good run, as their last disc, 2006's "The Town and the City" was also excellent.  I can't understand why these guys aren't bigger.  They consistently produce excellent albums, and are a great live band.  One of the all-time great American bands.