I’ve always been a fan of so-called “Afro-pop.” That label is about as generic as “world music” and yet people sort of know what you’re getting at with the description.
So is Extra Golden “Afro-pop”? Check out my story of how this music overcame technology. Or….how it helped me overcome technology. Or…something like that.
Man, last night I lost hours of productive time due to the black hole of Josh Hathaway’s B-Sides Concept Album show. Josh interviewed drummer/percussionist Barrett Martin. I was so jazzed that I had to go dig out my Tuatara albums. So much for getting writing done.
This morning, exhausted from too much late night listening, I enjoyed this fabulous CD on the way to work.
Every read one of those child prodigy stories? The kind where a kid can play the entire Mozart catalog on violin at age seven? What happens to them when they grow up? We never seem to find out.
Matt Savage has a very interesting story and his brand of jazz is great too.
One of the cool features over at jazz.com is called The Dozens, where twelve performances from a particular artist/genre are presented.
Let me tell you, it was tough to select only 12 Pat Metheny compositions. It ends up being a desert island compilation of sorts, and I kept thinking that something important was being left out. If Pat wrote only for “The Group,” then that would be one thing, but I had to ponder the jazz trios, early ECM recordings, noisy avant stuff, and film scores. Hey, I’m not complaining here as it was a load of fun to write.
So check out The Dozens: Twelve Essential Pat Metheny Performances.
Last week’s entry on musical communities got me to thinking about variations, where a fan base forms a “community of the mind.” What spurred these thoughts even more was that I finally had some time to sit down with the fabulous Springsteen fan book For You. Reading over the many stories, it’s clear that I’m not alone, not only in my appreciation of the music but how it has always been a part of me.
Every Springsteen fan should have a copy of this book. I’m not kiddin’!! Go ahead and read more thoughts on it.
The recent Rolling Stone article about the death of high fidelity got me thinking about the future of music production. Specifically, that there are plenty of upsides to the digital world.
What it all boils down to is that, despite the weakness of the major labels, there will be plenty of music to check out.
I’ll be on Josh Hathaway’s Internet radio show tonight. We’ll be yakking about all sorts of great stuff like Bruce Springsteen weirdo jazz music, new Internet happenings, and the supposed death of high fidelity.
So if you’re interested, the show starts at 10PM EST. Just click on the picture of that handsome devil over on the right.
This is really weird. I remember listening to this record a long time ago. I also remember thinking that it was a sloppy mess — and not in a good way either (I’ve described the Stones Love You Live as a sloppy mess too, and I love that record).
So they’ve finally remastered and expanded the recording and a funny thing has happened: it sounds great! This applies to the performance as well. I just don’t get it. I mean, it is the same performance. I know that.
Ah well, check out my thoughts on it anyway.