Jazz, Music Calendar

Today: The late Chet Baker was born in 1929 – 83 years ago

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Chet Baker

“People said I’d never make 35, then I’d never make 40, 45; now I’m almost 50, so Im beginning to think maybe they might be wrong.”
— Chet Baker

Chet Baker was a primary exponent of the West Coast school of cool jazz in the early and mid-’50s. As a trumpeter, he had a generally restrained, intimate playing style and he attracted attention beyond jazz for his photogenic looks and singing. But his career was marred by drug addiction.
~William Ruhlmann (allmusic.com)

Time after Time Live (Belgium 1964):

From Wikipedia:

Chesney Henry “Chet” Baker, Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.

In the 1950s, Baker earned much attention and critical praise, particularly for albums featuring his vocals, such as Chet Baker Sings. Jazz historian David Gelly described the promise of Baker’s early career as seemingly representing “James Dean, Sinatra, and Bix, rolled into one.” However, his “well-publicized drug habit” also drove his notoriety and fame, as Baker was in and out of jail for much of his life, before enjoying a career resurgence in the late 1970s and ’80s.

Chet+Baker

Almost Blue:

Honors

  • In 1987 he was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame.
  • In 1989 he was elected to Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame by that magazine’s Critics Poll.
  • In 1991 he was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame.
  • In 2005 Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry and the Oklahoma House of Representatives proclaimed July 2 as “Chet Baker Day”.

Chet+Baker (1)

My Funny Valentine:

Album of the day:

Chet Baker Sings (1956):

Chet Baker sings

As Gerald Heard’s liner notes point out, it’s difficult to decide whether Chet Baker was a trumpet player who sang or a singer who played trumpet. When the 24-year-old California-based trumpeter started his vocal career in 1954, his singing was revolutionary; as delicate and clear as his trumpet playing, with a similarly bright and vibrato-free tone, Baker simply didn’t sound like any previous jazz singer.
~Stewart Mason (allmusic.com)

Other December 23:

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List, Sound

Best albums of 2012: number 21 to 25

mumford and sons babel 21

21. Mumford & Sons – Babel

I think it’s a great story, the story of Babel. I think anyone can direct it as an analogy for a lot of different situations. ….. It’s such a human thing. As humans, we’re such a discontented species. We’re always trying to further ourselves, and you get all the way to the moon and then it’s just discontent. You want to go to Mars.
~Ted Dwane (rollingstone.com interv. – Aug. 2012)

The music is: uplifting, lively, intense, rootsy, Appalachian/bluegrass’ish… and driving rock @ heart (wild @ heart 😉

Reminds me of: The Avett Brothers, The Pogues & Bon Iver on steroids & a helluva string backing….

-Egil

Highlights:

  • Egil:  I Will Wait, Hopeless Wanderer & Babel
  • Hallgeir: Babel, Lover of the light and Broken Crown

 

Darrell Scott Long ride home 22

22. Darrell Scott – Long Ride Home

“…even Jesus couldn’t help me today”

Darrell Scott is one of the best songwriters i know of. I am relatively new to his work, and discovered him when he was nominated for a Grammy for, Hank Williams’ Ghost in 2007. He has since toured with Buddy Miller and Robert Plant, those men do not pick people (for the Band of Joy)  that doesn’t know what they’re doing, trust me Darrell Scott is the real deal.

Long Ride Home is his seventh album. This is great music and he some very special guests on this album, Rodney Crowell, Guy Clark, Patty Griffin and many more. These are his peers, he fits nicely in this company and that says something. The songs are incredibly strong and constantly interesting. The hour flies by.

This is storytelling at it’s richest and best.

Heartache, lost love and temptation.

– Hallgeir

Highlights:

  • Egil: It Must Be Sunday, Out In The Parking Lot & The Country Boy
  • Hallgeir: Someday, Candle for a Cowboy and Out in the parking lot (with Guy Clark)

 

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23. Marty Stuart -Nashville, volume 1: Tear the Woodpile down

Marty Stuart is back with this fabulous, but short, 30 minute album of traditional styled country. He runs through a fine bunch of songs with his touring band and some great guests, Hank3, Kenny Lovelace, Buck Trent and more. The Topics are hard core country themes: truck driving, love and loneliness. This is pure country but not slick Nashville, I think it is better to call it country & western music, and it is clearly a project that is close to Marty Stuart’s heart.

Traditional but fresh and with tremendeous technical skill

– Hallgeir

Highlights:

  • Egil: The Lonely Kind, Tear the Woodpile Down, Sundown in Nashville
  • Hallgeir: A Matter of Time, Holding on to nothing and Truck Driver’s Blues

Bobby Womack Bravest Man in the Universe 24

24. Bobby Womack – The Bravest Man  in the Universe

Bobby Womack has given us this aptly titled album this year, it is one of his best albums, and that says a lot! He has certainly been dealt a rough hand by life and he has come out triumphantly, he is a survivor, a soul survivor.

Damon Albarn plays a big role in Womack’s resurrection, first by including him on two Gorillaz albums and now by producing (along with Richard Russel) this record. He seems to have pushed Womack in the right direction and fed his creativity more than anybody has for very many years.

This is classic Bobby Womack but with a spacious, trip-hoppy sound.

– Hallgeir

Highlights:

  • Egil: Please Forgive My Heart, Dayglo Reflection, Love Is Gonna Lift You Up
  • Hallgeir: Please forgive my heart, The Bravest Man in The Universe and Whatever happened to the times

 

Sharon-Van-Etten-Tramp-2012 25

25. Sharon Van Etten – Tramp

“I’m traveling, I’m female, I’m strong.”
~Sharon Van Etten (on why – Tramp)

The music is: Naked, raw, truthful, mesmerizing, demanding & often beautiful.

Reminds me of: early PJ Harvey, Liz Phair & even Emmylou Harris.

-Egil

Highlights:

  • Egil:  Give Out, All I Can & Magic Chords
  • Hallgeir: In Line, All I Can and Serpents

To the complete LIST

Music Calendar

Today: The late Frank Zappa was born in 1940 – 72 years ago

frank_zappa

A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it is not
open.
~Frank Zappa

My best advice to anyone who wants to raise a happy, mentally healthy child is: Keep him or her as far away from a church as you can.
~Frank Zappa

….although he led groups that could be called rock & roll bands for much of his career, he used them to create a hybrid style that bordered on jazz and complicated, modern serious music, sometimes inducing orchestras to play along. As if his music were not challenging enough, he overlay it with highly satirical and sometimes abstractly humorous lyrics and song titles that marked him as coming out of a provocative literary tradition that included Beat poets like Allen Ginsberg and edgy comedians like Lenny Bruce.
~William Ruhlmann (allmusic.com)

From January 12, 1995, Lou Reed inducts Frank Zappa into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame:

Clip from the “Baby Snakes” DVD:
(1977 Halloween concert at New York City’s Palladium Theater)

babysnakes

From Wikipedia:

Birth name Frank Vincent Zappa
Born December 21, 1940
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Died December 4, 1993 (aged 52)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres Rock, jazz, classical, experimental
Occupations Singer-songwriter, musician, conductor, producer
Instruments Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, synclavier, drums
Years active 1955–93
Labels Verve, Bizarre, Straight,DiscReet, Zappa, Barking Pumpkin
Associated acts The Mothers of Invention
Captain Beefheart
Website zappa.com

zappa

Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, singer-songwriter, guitarist, recording engineer, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. Zappa produced almost all of the more than 60 albums he released with the band The Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. While in his teens, he acquired a taste for 20th-century classical composers such as Edgard Varèse, Igor Stravinsky, and Anton Webern along with 1950s rhythm and blues music. He began writing classical music in high school, while at the same time playing drums in rhythm and blues bands; he later switched to electric guitar.

Muffin Man – Live 1977:

Zappa was a self-taught composer and performer, and his diverse musical influences led him to create music that was often difficult to categorize. His 1966 debut album with the Mothers of Invention, Freak Out!, combined songs in conventional rock and roll format with collective improvisations and studio-generated sound collages. His later albums shared this eclectic and experimental approach, irrespective of whether the fundamental format was rock, jazz or classical. His lyrics—often humorously—reflected his iconoclastic view of established social and political processes, structures and movements. He was a strident critic of mainstream education andorganized religion, and a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of speech, self-education, political participation and the abolition of censorship.

One of Frank’s last interviews, conducted by NBC’s Jamie Gangel for the Today Show (1993):

He was a highly productive and prolific artist and gained widespread critical acclaim. He had some commercial success, particularly in Europe, and for most of his career was able to work as an independent artist. He also remains a major influence on musicians and composers. Zappa was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. Zappa was married to Kathryn J. “Kay” Sherman from 1960 to 1964. In 1967, he married Adelaide Gail Sloatman, with whom he remained until his death from prostate cancer in 1993. They had four children: Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet Emuukha Rodan and Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen.

FZ

Album of The Day:

Hot Rats (1969):

hot rats

Other December 21:

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Blues, Music Calendar

Today: Blind Lemon Jefferson passed away in 1929 – 83 years ago

Blind Lemon

 

Country blues guitarist and vocalist Blind Lemon Jefferson is indisputably one of the main figures in country blues. He was of the highest in many regards, being one of the founders of Texas blues (along with Texas Alexander), one of the most influential country bluesmen of all time, one of the most popular bluesmen of the 1920s, and the first truly commercially successful male blues performer.
~Joslyn Layne (allmusic.com)

See That My Grave Is Kept Clean:

Well, there’s one kind of favor I’ll ask of you
Well, there’s one kind of favor I’ll ask of you
There’s just one kind of favor I’ll ask of you
You can see that my grave is kept clean

Here is Bob Dylan’s take (from his first album – “Bob Dylan” (1962)):

From Wikipedia:

Birth name Lemon Henry Jefferson
Born September 24, 1893
Origin Coutchman, Texas, United States
Died December 19, 1929 (aged 36)
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres Blues
Occupations Singer-songwriter, guitarist
Years active 1926–1929

“Blind” Lemon Jefferson (Lemon Henry Jefferson; September 24, 1893 – December 19, 1929) was an American blues singer and guitarist from Texas. He was one of the most popular blues singers of the 1920s, and has been titled “Father of the Texas Blues”.

Jefferson’s singing and self-accompaniment were distinctive as a result of his high-pitched voice and originality on the guitar. Though his recordings sold well, he was not so influential on some younger blues singers of his generation, who could not imitate him as they could other commercially successful artists. However, later blues and rock and roll musicians attempted to imitate both his songs and his musical style. His recordings would later influence such legends as B.B. King, T-Bone Walker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Son Houseand Robert Johnson.

Matchbox Blues:

Carl Perkins – Matchbox (1956):

Album of the Day:

Blind Lemon Jefferson [Milestone] (1961):

BLJ

Other December 19:

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Live, Photo, Video

Photo Special: Hank W. Rodgersons Gospel Experience live Stavanger 16 Dec 2012

1 Comment

HWRGE_Cementen_16_Dec-14

Hank W. Rodgersons Gospel Experience live Stavanger 16 Dec 2012

Me and my wife Kathrine had the pleasure of seeing this wonderful band again last sunday, it was a good concert. Last time we saw them was in a church, not so this evening. Cementen, a local, rock club/pub was the venue and it suited the band equally good. Some of the band took came over and said hello, They’re  just the nicest people!

More:  Hank W. Rodgersons Gospel Experience on Johannasvisions

HWRGE_Cementen_16_Dec-13

As I said it was a great evening and well worth the trip, I took a lot of pictures (Nikon D7000) and shot some video on my trusted Nikon compact (Nikon P7000). Enjoy, and be sure to check out the Hank W. Rodgersons Gospel Experience next time they are playing close to you. I guarantee that you’ll have a fun night out!

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My old friend Jesus (yellow tint by me to “enhance the folksy gospel feel”):

HWRGE_Cementen_16_Dec-10 HWRGE_Cementen_16_Dec-9

They’re not following you:

Continue reading Photo Special: Hank W. Rodgersons Gospel Experience live Stavanger 16 Dec 2012 →