Soulfunksticat
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I just listened to this for the first time. How I've gone 27 years without it, I'll never know, but damn. Damn.
Dear Mog,
It's been a while since I've posted. Actually, it's been a while since I've successfully posted, because over the last few months I've made some attempts to add a new post, but when I go to publish my epic return, the internet wheels just spin and nothing happens. So this time I'm cutting the crap, writing in a separate text editor so I don't lose any moments of brilliance, and I'll keep it relatively short.
How has my life changed since we last talked? Well for one, I've discovered Little Walter, arguably the greatest blues harmonica player in the Universe (which happens to be a program on the History channel which makes a strong case for the possibility of other planets with better harmonica players. Sort of...). Listen to the first 12 bars of "Just Your Fool" and tell me I'm wrong. I dare you.
You may already be familiar with Marion Walter Jacobs mouth organ acrobatics if you are a fan of Muddy Waters, who hired Walter for his band in 1948. They recorded on the Chess label, where they eventually recorded "Juke" and released it as a single under Little Walter's name. That eventually led to Walter's solo career (he was replaced in Waters' band by Junior Wells), which produced more than a handful of hits in the '50s. Alcoholism corroded his career in the '60s, and at the age of 37, he died in a street brawl.
Anyway, not only have I been listening to a boatload of blues harp recently, but I've been learning to play as well. It's taken about 20 years for me to pick up a second instrument (the first being guitar... scroll down for a post on my latest album, LIFE IS LOUD... ahem...) and it's opened up some new musical windows in my brain. For starters, I've never had to rely on breathing to play music. With the guitar, as long as you're breathing every so often, which I've trained myself to do without thinking, you'll maintain a flow of oxygen to your lungs which in turn sustains life. But with blues harmonica you've got to suck air through a tiny metal casing with a pearwood comb, and do all this stuff with your mouth, throat, and tongue just to get one note to sound right. Luckily, there are some great videos on YouTube by Adam Gussow, which teaches you the subtleties of playing blues harmonica. I highly recommend anyone that plays or is interested in playing to check him out. You'll learn something.
And with that, I conclude my triumphant return to MOG. Now let's see if this puppy will post...
Cheers!
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As a general rule of thumb, I hate Christmas music. There are a select few albums I'll allow to be played in my house, like A Charlie Brown Christmas (as long as you skip the kids singing) and Ella's album rarely gets old. Same with Jimmy Smith or Kenny Burrell, both who turned out some pretty solid jazz efforts that happened to be Christmas repertoire. Even James Brown's xmas recordings are fun to listen to every now and again. But I still like to look for something new, which led me to this album by Montgomery Bruce, "Bossa Noel: A Chilled Out Christmas" (can I get some wine with that cheese?).
The music isn't necessarily all that intriguing, but the arrangements throw you some twists and turns that at a casual listen might slip past you. For example, the melodies have a lot more room to breathe between phrases, and most everything is reharmonized with more complex jazz voicings on the guitar. But beyond that, nothing will be over your head. It's basically the most interesting background music you'll find this Christmas. There's a certain beauty in such a thing. The whole album just has this stripped down feeling, as if you were at a rehearsal for some Creed Taylor session in the mid '60s but the orchestra hadn't shown up yet.
It may not be for everybody, but it's my recommendation for the season. Enjoy!
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Uh oh, I have another Christmas music genre to consider. Thank you for bringing Montgomery Bruce to my attention. (And saying that James Brown'd take on Christmas music is Fun!) I've been bringing local (Hawaii) musician's takes on Christmas music, from Traditional to way-past-the-speed-limit Rock, so the "Christmas Samba" is something to look into. Thank you very much.
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Wonderful Tune. Donny Hathaway was obviously a deeply tortured man, as his suicide shows, but this was him at his most inspired.
Herman Chin-Loy did a rather interesting dub cut of it in Jamaica a couple of years later, by the way
I still havent really sat down and went through his catalogue, although I know I should
nice selection!