All posts by Hallgeir

Jazz, Music Calendar

Today: The late Miles Davis was born in 1926 – 87 years ago

miles 3

Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.
– Miles Davis

Miles Davis is my definition of cool.
– Bob Dylan

 I discovered Miles Davis through Prince. Prince talked about Miles and they played together, they played each others songs and I got curious. My first meet with Miles Davis was in the eighties, the years that some hard-core Miles fans consider the decline or the lost years. Not for me, I love 80s Miles Davis, and what I heard made me go back in time. What a world that opened up!

I got to see him in concert, once in 1988. To a young and recent fan it was mind-blowing!

Tutu, Stuttgart 1988:

miles 2

From Allmusic:

Throughout a professional career lasting 50 years, Miles Davis played the trumpet in a lyrical, introspective, and melodic style, often employing a stemless Harmon mute to make his sound more personal and intimate. But if his approach to his instrument was constant, his approach to jazz was dazzlingly protean. To examine his career is to examine the history of jazz from the mid-’40s to the early ’90s, since he was in the thick of almost every important innovation and stylistic development in the music during that period, and he often led the way in those changes, both with his own performances and recordings and by choosing sidemen and collaborators who forged new directions. It can even be argued that jazz stopped evolving when Davis wasn’t there to push it forward.
– William Ruhlmann

The best Jazz song in music history, So What:

I have choses On The Corner (1972) as today’s album, my favorite Miles record is Kind of Blue, but I thought it would be nice to focus on one of my other favorites. It is a an album that was loathed when it was released. Miles Davis was accused of selling out (just as he was in the 80s). When listening to the album today it is hard to understand what he was selling out to…

At the time, everyone loathed Miles Davis’s On the Corner – even the people who played on it. But now, some of the coolest names in music are proud to name it as a major influence. – Paul Tingen (The Guardian)

other 26 May:

Continue reading Today: The late Miles Davis was born in 1926 – 87 years ago →

Paul Weller

Paul Weller top 12 songs – Happy Birthday

1 Comment

paul-weller

Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher gave Jon Wilde in The Guardian 60 seconds to tell them his all-time top 10.

Being given a mere 60 seconds to name one’s 10 Favourite Songs Of All Time would be a daunting enough task at the best of times. Being invited to do so by no-nonsense arbiters of taste Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller is extremely intimidating. Weller’s knowledge of music is zealously encyclopaedic. If Oasis hadn’t worked out, Gallagher could easily have carved out a career as an astute and funny music journalist.
– Jon Wilde (The Guardian, 2007)

I have used the same method on my Paul Weller list with a few differences; first, I  decided that I would include equally many songs from his different bands, and , second, I picked two more songs and gave myself two minutes to complete the task.

Two minutes to make up my mind.  Imagining Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller over my shoulders. It was fun!

Here is my Top 12 (4 solo, 4 by The Jam and 4 by  The Style Council).

I think I like his solo stuff best, but I believe the guy’s range is incredible and I wanted the list to reflect that:

You do something to me – Paul Weller:

Outtake from the Live Wood DVD

Wild Wood (live 2006) – Paul Weller:

Changing Man (Live at Abbey Road Studio) – Paul Weller:

Continue reading Paul Weller top 12 songs – Happy Birthday →

Concert films, Live, Paul Weller

Four great concerts with Paul Weller and his bands – Happy Birthday

Paul_Weller_squares

We have found four shows by The Jam (2), The Style Council and Paul Weller solo, they are all very, very good! I shouldn’t pick one of them but the greatest revelation is The Style Council’s set at the Roskilde Festival in 1985, it is just so good, they often get a bad rap but this proves that they were a great live band!

A short but sweet set from The Jam in Paris in 1981:

The Jam at Bingley Hall in 1982, an effing great show!

The Style Council – Live Roskilde Festival 1985:

From Paul Weller’s solo career we have chosen a great set from 2010 in Sidney were he mixes old Jam/Style Council stuff with his solo material:

– Hallgeir

Music Calendar, Paul Weller

Today: Paul Weller is 55 – Happy Birthday to The Modfather

Paul Weller green yellow

Paul Weller was born 25 May 1958.  Starting with the Punk/New Wave band The Jam (1972–1982), later Weller went on to branch out musically to a more soulful “cool” style with The Style Council (1983–1989). In 1991 he established himself as a successful solo artist, and continues to remain a respected singer, lyricist and guitarist.

Paul Weller grey

Despite widespread critical recognition, Weller has remained a national rather than an international star, and much of his songwriting is rooted in English culture. That said, he has a devout following in the rest of Europe and abroad. He is also the principal figure of the 1970s and 80s mod revival and is sometimes and respectfully referred to as the Modfather.

 

Here is a great documentary telling the story of Paul Weller’s musical career, Into tomorrow (BBC):

My favorite Paul Weller album is Stanley Road and it is today’s chosen album:

Other May-25:

Continue reading Today: Paul Weller is 55 – Happy Birthday to The Modfather →

Bob Dylan, Bob Dylans's best songs, List, Sound

Today: Bob Dylan is 72 years old – top 25 Bob Dylan songs by Hallgeir

15 Comments

Dylan 72

Happy birthday, Bob Dylan!

Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) has been an influential figure in popular music and culture for more than five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly reluctant figurehead of social unrest. A number of Dylan’s early songs, such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are a-Changin'”, became anthems for the US civil rights and anti-war movements. Leaving his first base in the culture of folk music behind, Dylan’s six-minute single “Like a Rolling Stone” radically altered the parameters of popular music in 1965. His recordings employing electric instruments attracted denunciation and criticism from others in the folk movement.

bob-dylan 72

Dylan’s lyrics have incorporated a variety of political, social, philosophical, and literary influences. They defied existing pop music conventions and appealed hugely to the then burgeoning counterculture. Initially inspired by the performance style of Little Richard, and the songwriting of Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, and Hank Williams, Dylan has both amplified and personalized musical genres. His recording career, spanning fifty years, has explored many of the traditions in American song—from folk, blues, and country to gospel, rock and roll, and rockabilly to English, Scottish, and Irish folk music, embracing even jazz and swing. Dylan performs with guitar, keyboards, and harmonica. Backed by a changing line-up of musicians, he has toured steadily since the late 1980s on what has been dubbed the Never Ending Tour. His accomplishments as a recording artist and performer have been central to his career, but his greatest contribution is generally considered to be his songwriting. (wikipedia)

dylan double

Since it is his birthday and all, I have forced myself to pick 25 songs to celebrate Bob Dylan. It was extremely hard to leave so many good songs out of the list…

These are my top 25 Bob Dylan songs:

1. Blind Willie McTell
2. Like a Rolling Stone
3. Tangled Up In Blue
4. Ballad Of A Thin Man
5. Every Grain Of Sand
6. Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
7. It’s All Right Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
8. Visions Of Johanna
9. Brownsville Girl
10. The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
11. It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
12. I Shall Be Released
13. Simple Twist Of Fate
14. Knocking On Heaven’s Door
15. Just Like A Woman
16. Masters Of War
17. Mississippi
18. Idiot Wind
19. Isis
20. Cross The Green Mountain
21. High Water (for Charley Patton) (the live 2003 version on bootleg s. vol. 8)
22. Highway 51 Blues
23. Oh, Sister (Hard Rain version)
24. Shelter From The Storm (Hard Rain version)
25. You’re A Big Girl Now

bob silhouette

Check out Egil’s list of his favorite Bob Dylan songs (an ongoing top 200 list)

– Hallgeir

Bob Dylan cover versions @ Johannasvisions
Bob Dylan albums @ Johannasvisions
Bob Dylan videos @ Johannasvisions
Bob Dylan concerts @ Johannasvisions
Bob Dylan recording sessions @ Johannasvisions

Other 24 May:
Continue reading Today: Bob Dylan is 72 years old – top 25 Bob Dylan songs by Hallgeir →