Explain Myself

I realize any normal person isn't going to sit and listen to all that I've posted. However, some people in my life have REALLY appreciated me making them cd's of shit I think they'll like and probably never heard before. It's not as much as when I was younger, but like right now there are two people who have asked me to make them cd's for their birthdays over buying them something or taking them somewhere. I take it extremely seriously. I have them list a few of the songs that they jam to the most and then I listen to them a few times and start a playlist, where I'll put like 50-75 songs. Listen to the songs they've told me about again and think about what I hear them jamming to when they drive and stuff, and go thru a few cycles of deleting songs until I have about 20 tracks.

I love to share music, movies, and other types of art. I just love it. These are all songs I think are the cream of their genre. I'm always on the search for new music and when I share stuff like that, I always get exposed to new people. So I apologize if you think that annoying, but I'm operating in the mindset that you might listen to a few and end up buying a cd or downloading a certain artist. It's increasingly hard to find someone who you can play from start to end and I feel that people are backing away from music because of it. Which is sad. So here are some people who's work you can do that with from what I listed.

Jill Scott - Who is Jill Scott (multiple grammy wins)
John Mayer Trio - Continiuum
Madeleine Peyroux - Careless Love
Jolie Holland - Escandida
Queen Latifah's - Dana Owen's Album
Any Nina Simone collection
Any Astrud Gilberto collection
Any John Lee Hooker collection

I also appreciate you sharing anything with me that you really like. That is how I got into Paul Simon who I feel I cannot live without now and Jack White. For some reason I had passed them off before they were shown to me. I LOVED those Billie clips, because I had never heard them before, even though I have quite a few of her songs on my computer. Ok, I'll leave you with one more clip and then I'm done for probably a long time. By the way, if you'd like to brag about seeing BB King, I'd love to be on the receiving end of that. I feel like I've waited too long and I'm pissed that I didn't pay for the Riding With The King tickets - they were just a little too expensive for me. This is a Tori Amos studio recording of a Jazz Standard for the movie "Mona Lisa Smile" which she performed in the film in costume and it is fucking brilliant.

Current and Contemporary Jazz

Forewarning. There is a section on here that features pop artists who have crossed over into Jazz proper at least once that isn't at all what you'd expect from them. Most notably Queen Latifah who put out a cd under her real name Dana Owens.

This is an odd thing to say and seems pretty unlikely, but if you love Billie Holiday then you will love this lady. She is like the reincarnation of Billie. Her voice is strikingly similar and all her songs sound like this. I'm trying to find her version of "I wish I Could Shimmy like my Sister Kate," but am not having any luck. This is her best song as of the last time I looked into her:

Madeleine Peyroux - Don't Wait Too Long


Jill Scott - The Way
I've bought her cd about 3 times for myself due to scratching, and have given it out as a gift 5 times or so. She becomes all their favorite, but they are people I know who are into this kind of music. Great Jazz. She played Big Mama Thorton in a movie that I'm going to clip out and post soon.


Amel Larrieux - For Real
I don't know much about her. I've only got the one album, but this song as well as a few others are extremely well done.


Diana Krall - Maybe You'll Be There
Another Canadian doing Jazz. She's the one I think I tried to get a duet with Natalie Cole in the music post I did first, but couldn't find. Maybe I did? This is my favorite song (and live performance) of hers. She's like the new Tony Bennett and sings with him an awful lot too. This is a live version of the song from Paris. It spoke to me when I broke up with my ex and he moved to LA, so it might be more sentimental for me than how good it really is. You decide.


Jolie Holland - Old Fashioned Morphine


Jolie Holland - God Damned Shame


John Mayer Trio - Waiting on the World to Change
Fucking phenomenal cd.



Queen Latifiah - Simply Beautiful
Her best song here imo. Player in top right corner.



Zap Mama - Damn Your Eyes
Raw natural talent that hasn't been seen for a long time. She's from Belgium where there is a very strong and talented scene right now. This song is in english, but she sings in dutch, french, and several african languages too. There is no embedding on that video so you have to click thru. The next video is her and Jasper Steverlinck (another insanely talented Belgian) singing at a Tommy Hilfiguer festival. She's another artists I'd give my right arm to see live.

This shouldn't be in this post, but this is Jasper singing U2's In the name of love, better than U2 ever performs it.


Vivian Green - Emotional Roller Coaster
She's pretty good, but I like everyone else on this list better. Not all her songs are this good.


There there is an even larger movement in jazz regarding instrumentals which I'm only going to post one song. The technology has advanced so much that there is a ton of innovative stuff being done with instrumentals, that just couldn't be done before. It is so accessible now to people who just couldn't afford to gather a ton of musicians, and now you don't have to.

Jazz Standards

I've had to break this up a lot as I'm making these posts because Jazz is such a general term. These are some of the standards which we all pretty much know, sang by legends. Where the post before it is more original and pure. This is just more pop than Jazz in my mind.

Nina Simone - Mr. Bojangles
Ahhh... Nina Fucking Simone, "The Priestess of Soul." This is my favorite version of this song. Nina is a fucking America Queen in my book. First black woman to go to Juliard. She is an artist I actually took the time to kinda get to know more about. She probably is the person who really elevated me into a connoisseur.

She showed me what a music was really about. It's not about melody, it's not about the performer, and it's not about the money. Nina Simone taught me that Music is how we get in touch with our soul. It's a vehicle for that part that makes us who we are, what makes us living creatures. It IS the definition, and science is only starting to understand the question. In personal relationships I've only told 2 guys I've ever loved them, out of maybe 15. I love Nina Simone.




Ella Fitzgerald - Hard Hearted Hanna
I'm actually not a huge fan of Ella (blasphemy?), but this is like a great style of jazz that I can't get enough of. I can go into detail why I don't really like her if you ask. It's just not something I'm going to offer up, if no one is interested though.


Sarah Vaughan - Whatever Lola Wants


Vikki Carr - Silencer
This should have been a James Bond song. Actually, I'm not a fan of those movies, so it may be.


Dinah Washington - Since I fell for You


Eartha Kitt - Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

Jazz

Even though Chicago has nearly an equally rich Jazz history, I am A LOT less versed than I am in Blues. We have a shit ton of really bad ass Jazz rooms in Chicago. I thought I'd share a few older things that I like that are Jazz them I'm going to do a post of current artists. The thing with Jazz is that I only mostly know instrumental artists where vocals take a backseat. I like swanky trios, quartets, and quintets. Especially the live recording with participating audiences like Ramsey Lewis, who may be the artist I respect the most. He's nearly a god in my mind.

Astrud Gilberto - Samba de minha Terra
This is non existent on the internet for some reason. Maybe I have it labelled wrong, please click thru and listen to it because I just uploaded it specifically so you can hear it. If you are only going to listen to one out of all the others, please let it be this one. It actually involved a few minutes work for me.

Astrud Gilberto - Fly me to the Moon


Astrud Gilberto - Take me to Aruanda


Ramsey Lewis (Still WILDLY active in the Chicago scene, but I've never seen him) - Wade in the Water (Live Recording)

Ramsey Lewis - Hang on Sloopy (live)
Ramsey Lewis - The "In" Crowd (This is live video, but the actual live released recording is my absolute favorite Jazz song ever)


Tommy Dorsey - I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
A vinyl recording complete with lots of crackle (for Kerry). This is a song I'd use in a movie if I wrote one, but a better recording. Enoch Light has a really fantastic recording, but it is absent on the interwebs and I can only upload one audio file/day at Tumblr. This is really light jazz but VERY emotional, which is my kinda bag.


Louis Prima - I've got you under my skin
I know that everyone recognizes his voice and most people can't exactly place it. He was the Orangutang in Jungle Book. I always thought he was the inspiration for Desi in Lucy too, but that is my own speculation.

Just for Fun

I thought I'd stroll thru my iTunes and pick out a few of my favorite songs that I totally catch grief for all the time from my friends, because it's very not "normal" or "cool." Just about everyone one of my friends subscribes to a specific scene, whether it be heavy metal, gay, jam-band, or emo. I pretty much reject all that bullshit and like it all. Actually though, I tend to consider a lot of heavy metal garbage. I call it "noise" and it pisses my stoner friends off really bad.

Anyhow, I figured Kerry may take a sick day and who knows you guys may enjoy it. Also, I responded with what I consider the best of specific artists Kerry commented on, just incase you were interested in more. I'm not trying to push it on you. I swear. Here we go.

Edith Piaf - Non, Je Net Regrette Rien (with English Subtitles laced with 3 or 4 original live performance videos of Edith in the
50's. This song is so powerful and even if you don't know what it means, she still gets the emotion across to you. It means "No, I don't have any regrets" I believe and like I said, it is subtitled in English. The author of the video disable embedding. I'm trying to sell this to you, because I think anyone would appreciate it even if it wasn't their cup of tea. It literally legendary. They just made an Oscar winning movie about her.


Tony Bennett & K.D. Lang - Dream a Little Dream of Me Player is in the top right corner.

Natalie Cole & Diana Krall - Better than Anything I would pay 1,000 dollars to see Diana Krall live. Just saying.

Bessie Smith - Muddy Water


Oscar Brown - Brother Where Are You


Big Mama Thorton and Buddy Guy (who I'm actually an aquantience of) - Hound Dog


Big Mama Thorton - They call me Big Mama (Just know that I love the shit out of Mama Thorton and I won't post anymore)


John Lee Hooker - This is hip


**!!!**Etta James & B.B. King - There is Something on Your Mind


Susan Tedeschi - Hurt So Bad


Baby Washington - Breakfast in Bed


Lightnin' Hopkins - Lonesome Road


And of course a list like this wouldn't be complete without Robert Johnson.

Grizzly Bear

This video and song have a strong affect on me. I thought it is something y'all might like too. It has that sweet 60 rock progression that everyone loves and they're not afraid to do harmonies.

Yes, Another One...

I'm working my way thru Andrew Bird's catalog and I just found this song which may be my second favorite studio recording he's done. The lyrics are spot on the pulse of American society in this political culture and the whole piece (equal parts to music and lyrics) is just soooo incredibly poignant. He has heavy asian influence with his violin on this song and it is almost infectious. I'm going to post the lyrics beneath the video that just features audio, no video.



Born host to a tongue
So sing a song about it
Held a breath for too long
Till we're half sick about it
Tell us what we did wrong
Then you can blame us for it
Turn the clamp on a phone
So we're down about it
And tell us all about it
We're so in doubt about it
How about some credit now
Where credit is due
For the damage that was done
We have wrought upon ourselves and others
With this blow, ambitious gun
And all the pratfalls can be fun
Encores can be fatal
And then I hear you say,
Thank God it's fatal. Thank God it's fatal.

The rest of the lyrics can be found on the other side of this link if you want to read with the video. I have more than a suspicion that these music posts are annoying. I just can't help it regarding Andrew Bird. I really think his talent is a once in a generation or every other generational occurrence.

Andrew Bird on NPR

I've mentioned Andrew Bird several times and posted his videos on this site as well because I think he is the most important working musician. I've been finding out that I am not alone. His fan base is relatively small but they are the most dedicated I've ever come across. They don't idolize him as a figure - by that I mean they look at him as a regular guy who just happens to be a musical genius and there is no obsession in the Hollywood kind of way.

I found a piece that NPR did with him that is long, but it was an hour long segment featuring never before released (at the time) songs and its laced with an interview. There was also a live chat which you can find at NPR. I haven't listened to it yet, but I plan on it when I'm in the mood for good music. I think I'm going to get moderately high and sip a bottle of wine with my head phones on. Here it is, incase you are interested too.

Music on the Brain

I've been bad with posts lately because I've been reading a lot lately and this economic depression is starting to really hit me right now. I have run across a lot of really cool articles lately and I've been feeling a little guilty that I haven't been posting them. The link on this post is about 7 ways music affects your body.

I can speak from experience about music and its affect on your memory. When I go to sleep I listen to a playlist I've made of songs that are slow and that I really love. Most of it is lyrically kind of advanced and features an orchestra along with a few Mozart pieces (my favorite composer). When I'm lying in the dark with my headphones on for an hour I swear my nerves start to twitch in a funny way through out my body, my breathing gets heavy, and I start to recall memories that had been forgotten. If I fall asleep before I pull my headphones off I have really vivid dreams too. I don't doubt any of these things at all.

Too bad the medical industry is set up the way it is, because if they can't make a profit off of it they won't study it much. I would also link to the Musical Therapy documentary I uploaded on YouTube too, but it was taken down by the BBC or PBS. If you can find it, it is about the latest book from the guy who wrote and inspired "Awakenings" with Robin Williams. I'm not sure if we've talked about this already or not. Anyhow, if you're interested in this subject, then you'll likely appreciate this link. Do you have any stories to share about music in this sense? I'd love to here them.

http://www.cracked.com/article_18405_7-insane-ways-music-affects-body-according-to-science.html

"Free" Downloads

I run a fan club on Yahoo Music Groups and network on Ning. Because of this I like to keep as much up-to-date on Barry Manilow's career as possible. My main source of information is Manilow.com of course, but I also use Google Alerts.
Normally I have it set to just search his name, but since he has a new cd, The Greatest Love Songs of All Time, out this week, I changed the search parameters to include the title of cd last week. What surprised me was the number of alerts I received, starting last week, that included blogs and websites that offered free downloads of the new cd even before its street release, which was yesterday.
I'm going to make a confession. i once had a blog, quite awhile back, where I did the same thing. Offered downloads of my favorite cds. But that was before I educated myself and understood the ramifications of what I was doing. Once I did, I deleted the blog.
Ever since then, whenever I see something like that, it tends to piss me off.
Here's an idea of what happens: You download music from one of these sites. The artist loses money, the record label loses money, they need to make it up somewhere so they increase the price of cds and charge more from radio stations and television networks for pay-for-play of their artists, radio stations run short of funds to stay on the air so they stop playing the more expensive of the artists, change their formats so it's cheaper, or go off the air altogether which leaves an audience with a demand not being met and because cds have become so expensive... you got it... they look for free downloads. It's a vicious circle.
Oh, and never mind the fact that, sometimes, some asshole thinks it's funny to set it up so that when you think your getting music from one of your favorite artists, what you really get when you open that zip folder... what you really get is a nasty virus on your computer.
The truth is... nothing is free. We all pay... one way or another.
So when you see that "free download" link for your favorite artist... do all of us a favor, including the artist. Pass up the link, go down to your local Wal-Mart or favorite music store and buy that cd.

Shakira Intro

This is hard because there are like 10 songs I want to put up on here, but I'm not going to do that. I'll limit myself to 3 videos. I'm not a super fan or anything so I couldn't write a biography or tell you what city she is in right now or anything. I can tell you that she is an artist who has happen to become a pop star, but I really think she only does it to make money to fund her humanitarian work. She is a Goodwill Ambassador for the U.N. and has her own charity called the Barefoot Foundation that does a lot of stuff.

She was on CNN talking about how she is personally going to have schools built in Haiti, like she has had done all over central america. She has written an article for the Economist within the last few months as well as other legitimate humanitarian work. I say legitimate, because she doesn't just write the checks and phone it in. She's been this active year after year. When was the last time you heard about Madonna writing a piece for the Economist? I love her music and the rest is just stuff I've learned about her since. I kind of hate the fact that I met so many famous celebrities in Miami, most of which have condos there. Shakira lived there when I did and I never ran into her. She has since bought an Island off Miami.

Shakira's Unplugged CD rivals Nirvana's. I'm so tempted to post all of the songs, but here is Octavo Dia. I never heard back if Kerry understood Spanish or not, so I've found one that has translation but the video is off synch. If you're reading the lyrics, then you won't notice anyway. This song is political, so you will want to read the lyrics.


This is probably my favorite song of hers: Ciega Sordomuda and this version she sings with a mariachi, but the album is different. Thank god this version has the lyrics because it is my favorite. If you are a sucker for good lyrics about love then this your girl and this is your song. The title doesn't translate into english right, but it means a person who is incapable of speaking and hearing. It almost means deaf and dumb. Also, if you were to put this on your ipod and you don't speak spanish, you would know the chorus word for word.


Here is her covering Dude Looks Like a Lady for Aerosmith.

Shakira @ Rehearsal

I just stumbled on the recording of Shakira's rehearsal for the Haiti Benefit and they didn't use the filter that they had on the live audio. I like this much better. In case you didn't know I'm a huge Shaki fan. Beyond the stuff that we hear on the radio her music is excellent. Anyhow, I thought you may enjoy it. This is Stand By You and she isn't done up at all and her hair is kinda ratty (but cute), I just think she nailed it at rehearsal. I'm not a fan of filtering or auto-tunes and they had a stronger echo filter on her live. The band is The Roots, but they didn't have lights on them here. Anyhow, enjoy. From what I hear she was the best performance of the night.

Barry Manilow

I just watched the second to last Conan show (the internet uploads are a day behind) and Barry Manilow was on. I've never heard this guy before, but I think he is like a legend. I was stunned. He was really really good. I wanted to share it with you. He's a real class act. What are like 2 or 3 of his best songs? He went over some of the jingles he wrote and I know them ALL, but I'm not about to download them.

Bowie

I thought I would share my favorite Bowie song. It is a live cover, I don't think it made it onto a studio album. I'm only doing this because I have nothing to post and Lisa liked the last song. Does everyone knwo this song? It is the best song to get high and drive on old country windy (like you wind a jack in the box) road.

Personal/About the Blog/Open Thread

For my friends in the west, I urge you to take a look at the moon after the sun has set (assuming your skies are clear somewhat). I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to the moon's orbit and phases, but if you see what I saw tonight, you should be pleasantly amused. The moon is giant here and it is only just a sliver. It might even been an eclipse? It is beautiful though. Is the moon supposed to be capitalized? Is it proper? It is just a moon, not the Moon, right?

I wanted to share 2 songs with you guys. I don't know how to embed audio so it will have to be YouTubed. They are like light rock, but the lyrics and performance is amazing. The band is called Imogen Heap. It is only one girl who also puts stuff out under the name Frou Frou. She is a musician's musician and a ton of her stuff is featured in soundtracks to films, tv, and commercials. So you may recognize her. The only things I can think of off hand is a song she did for Shrek. She redid Holding Out for a Hero, and it was amazing.

About the blog, I am very pleased with what is happening. I'm sure other people will contribute over time, but the more we personally grow with it, the better it will get. We had great posts this week. Then I muddied it up with the videos. I won't do that again unless I have the correct code to put the rest beyond the fold. If you ever come across that code, please shoot me an email. I feel guilty enough for posting these two videos, but they are well worth it. I tend to drift away from politics on the weekends. I'm sorry if that may have rubbed you the wrong way. I just wanted to share those videos with you guys and really, we need a break from politics every once and a while.

As for me, I am working on writing a substantial post on Swine Flu. You may have seen the draft sitting in our account. I've been working on obtainting a video which describes how viruses work (the H's and N's), comparing now with what happened with the last swine flu outbreak, a little avian flu, and the events of 1918. I am also concerned about the politics of the situation and will discus Tamiflu. I want everyone to be as informed as possible before it is time to consider the vaccine. In a perfect world I'd like to run my post by Rita (since she is an RN) before posting it. What do you think, honey? --Is that sexist by the way? I say hun a lot too. I don't have a sexist bone in my body, so please don't take offense at all. I'm just gay. --

What is going on with everyone? Please listen to these songs all the way thru. I almost guarantee you will LOVE them. You will at least love Hide and Seek, no question.



Ok, there is annoying screaming as an intro to this next song. Skip to 12 seconds and beauty will ensue.


I don't want to post another video. If you want to see Hide and Seek performed live click here.

Who?

The Guess Who played at the Nooksack River Amphitheater in Deming, WA last night to a small but appreciative crowd. The venue was incredibly beautiful and alone worth the experience. It is surrounded by tree covered hills that lit up as the sun went down. This is a test post so please forgive the lack of pictures or anything else. This website has a photo and info of future "Concerts On The Green" should anyone who lives in Washington state be interested (thinking of you HelenRainier).
http://www.nooksackcasinos.com/
The one thing that was very strange was that the band was not announced. They just walked on stage and started playing. Didn't even start with one of their hits and it took a few songs for us to figure out who the hell they were (are they the opening band?).
Going to click on Publish Post....here goes......
Kerry