I want to tell you about a new recording by a trio of NY City musicians named Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog. The CD is entitled Party Intellectuals. If you like experimental rock music with a distinct edge that challenges and entertains you in the same breath, this will be the recording to own and learn more about through each subsequent listen.

I have their CD on order awaiting a full listening to write a comprehensive review. Browse over to Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog’s record label, PiRecordings to sample the three tracks currently available, Todo es Mundo el Kitsch, When We Were Young and We Were Freaks (love that song title, Man ;), and Girlfriend.

Pi Recordings is a great collective of avant-garde artists that are making important contributions with sound and composition, breaking new ground as they flourish in their creative environment.

Marc Ribot played lead guitar on the brilliant collaboration of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Raising Sand that T Bone Burnett produced. Yes that’s Marc’s guitar featured prominently on the Grammy award hit Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)

My music attention, as it relates to rock and roll, has been pleasantly diverted back to Journey and their comeback bid with the CD entitled Revelation. I watched with great interest the segment about Journey on yesterday’s CBS Sunday Morning broadcast. Let me first of all say I like Journey alot, the band was founded by Gregg Rollie and Neal Schon in 1972 when they “got pregnant with their own vision” as Carlos Santana would say about band members leaving Santana.

Revelation is a 2 CD/1 DVD package that consists of 11 new recordings, 11 re-recorded hits and a DVD of their live Las Vegas, Nevada March 8, 2008 concert at Planet Hollywood. This concert was the first ever live U.S. appearance of the new and improved Journey band, which features the powerful vocals of Arnel Pineda, their new lead singer from the Phillipines (I love that Neal Schon discovered Arnel by conducting YouTube searches, it’s a fairy tale come true for all involved).

The only rub for me about the distribution of Revelation which begins tomorrow June 3rd is that retail purchase is exclusive with Wal*mart. (you can order the CD/DVD from Journey’s MusicToday Store, along with other merchandising options) This is the route that The Eagles took and it is what supergroups are doing these days. I have a Zune account and would love to add Revelation to my collection tomorrow, but thats not how I can order and receive it. Bands like Journey and The Eagles do have marketing clout and significant fan bases that allow them to distribute their music and art with Wal*Mart and MusicToday exclusively. I don’t blame them for simplifying and maximizing their distribution options. We as consumers begrudgingly learn how to adapt to the limited choices of how we can purchase music from artists we love and respect.

Journey kicks off a world tour beginning June 8th in Spain. The USA dates commence July 9th in Colorado. The USA dates will be a triple bill, featuring the new Journey, Heart and Cheap Trick. It appears many of the dates are sold out already.

So check out the new Journey CD Revelation and Don’t Stop Believin’.

P.S. Sam’s Club has Revelation for $10.87

The other half of Steely Dan, Walter Becker is finally satisfied with his latest studio recording, Circus Money (available June 10th).

It has been 14 years since Walter Becker’s last solo studio recording, 11 Tracks of Whack. If you have been a fan of Steely Dan, one aspect you have come to appreciate is the perfectionism that Walter Becker and Donald Fagen evidence throughout their recordings. The Steely Dan timeless classics, Aja and Gaucho literally contain no wasted notes.

Circus Money is an interesting point of departure for Walter Becker’s musical direction. He has teamed up with producer/composer/arranger Larry Klein (see my review of his handiwork with Herbie Hancock’s River: Letters to Joni which won Grammy Album of the Year 2008, elsewhere on this blog). Together they have woven a rich tapestry of sound that is heavily accented with jamaican rhythms, r&b etc. The stellar core musicianship of drummer Keith Carlock, guitarist Jon Herington and keyboard player Ted Baker makes this an infectious non-stop groove.

Listen to the Circus Money sample audio player here —>

A Miles Davis alumnus you want to experience who provides clarity of jazz vision is Bennie Maupin.

He’s making some great music of late. I am enjoying his jazz craftmanship a great deal as a multireedist. His latest work with The Bernie Maupin Quartet is entitled Early Reflections on Cryptogrampophone, an eclectic, creative jazz and world music entertainment label from Los Angeles.

I am including links to several reviews of Early Reflections to round out your knowledge and enhance your listening pleasure.

• NY Times
• All About Jazz
• The Village Voice

Yours in Jazz and Music, Edje

I want to share with you an artist who I firmly believe to be blessed with the gift of healing through her music and voice. Her name is Lisbeth Scott. I have been fortunate to become a fan and recipient of Lisbeth’s healing light for the past five years now.

I first encountered Lisbeth’s vocals as a byproduct of listening to Paul Schwartz’s State of Grace II recording. My interest about Paul’s music originated from learning that Carlos Santana had collaborated with Paul Schwartz on the track, Curacion (Sunlight On Water). A beautiful song that opens magically as a bright light flower, then carries us across the water as we float upon its petals.

The song that fortified my faith and told me that Lisbeth Scott channels the singing voice of Mother Mary is entitled Fear Not. I am moved to tears whenever I hear this song as I visualize Mary comforting her son Jesus before he was crucified on the cross to save mankind. Lisbeth is truly blessed with the holy spirit as a compassionate person. These are the reasons why I believe Lisbeth was chosen to be the vocal coach for the movie, The Passion of the Christ 

This leads us to Lisbeth Scott’s latest recording, Biomusique, the 10,000 steps which is due to be released next week on May 13th, 2008. A well crafted collaboration with Greg Ellis that will warm your psyche as it guides you along the path  of your inner pursuit.

I have been listening to the Biomusique music player solidly for more than a week now. It has brought many  waves of peace and harmony to my soul. This recording is a healing musical tapestry that slowly engulfs you with newfound depth and purpose. I urge you to give the music player on Biomusique’s web site a listen. The soothing sounds will embrace you like the essence of spring flowers as they embroider their fragrance across your heart.

Namaste’

Yours In Healing and Music, Ed 

It took me far too long to catch up with NIN, Nine Inch Nails. It had to do with time, inclination, false reservations, capacity, personal bandwidth and other aspects of the “grey matter” psyche that get in the path of great music being able to reach our hearts and ears.

The past two NIN recordings Ghosts I-IV and the latest recording, the slip are fascinating, soulful, introspective works of art that speak to the sensibility of the human spirit. I especially love the ambient sound of Ghosts I-IV.

I really appreciate Trent Reznor and NIN making the slip available for free download. Its exciting to receive their music direct and immediate, the download process is very streamlined, well managed and coordinated. I feel both trusted and privileged that NIN shares their music this way. There are various media forms of the spin available. I decided to get the Apple (M4A) Lossless edition and added it to my iTunes library on my MacBook Pro. The musical woven tapestry took residence in my psyche quickly by forming a strong connection via the unique sounds and electronics incorporated.

I like their wiki, the nine inch nails wiki

Explore the slip….

I can always count on the NY Times Music section to enlighten, inform and add to the depth of my passion for music. For those of you who have a prurient interest in the jazz form, or if you’d like to develop that interest I urge you to read this article, “Four Decades of Music That Redefined Free”. Also take a look at the article’s side bar which features a dozen vital Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) jazz works both past and present that are certain to redefine your musical horizon.

As some of you know I minored in music in college and I was fortunate enough to have some of the best music scholars from Wesleyan University expand my consciousness about jazz, blues and world music. The NY Times article by Nate Chinen highlights a note worthy achievement that my former music professors would be raving about. Its very cool that George Lewis’s book represents AACM and it’s four decades of avant-garde jazz and musical creative genius contributions.

Should you be inclined and be in the NY City area. A concert and discussion tied to the publication of “A Power Stronger Than Itself” will be held on May 9 at the Community Church of New York, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan, contact The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) New York
 for more details.

I literally stumbled upon this monumental collaboration, Miles from India.  As a lark I picked up a copy of All About Jazz - New York the newspaper yesterday and on the inside cover is a full page ad for the Miles from India concert at Town Hall, May 9, 2008. It really caught my eye thankfully for I have had my heart and mind opened to some fantastic music.

The cross collaboration of combining world class musicians from India with members of various Miles Davis bands over the years is an exciting project that really works. The 12 recordings cover the electric and be-bop phases of Miles Davis’s career.

I downloaded Miles from India from Zune and have been playing it avidly ever since. The musicians you will hear and groove along with are just phenomenal.  I am taken with the musicianship of Pete Cosey, Mike Stern, Benny Rietveld, Lenny White and John McLaughlin for starters. The musicians from India are impressing the heck out of me. Ravi Chary on sitar, plays such a transformational style on the track All Blues. 

I’m including a video from YouTube that Benny Rietveld mentioned to me. It gives you a sense of the joy and improvisation this recording generated.

Here is a review of Miles from India from Pop Matters.

Expand your consciousness with Miles from India, you won’t regret a single note

Live Your Light, Edje

I have always wanted to see Eric Burdon perform. His music with the Animals, then later on with Sky Pilot, War, Spill the Wine and his latest recording Soul of a Man are amongst my favorite musical memories.

The past few years the Meriden Daffodil Festival has become a treasure trove of live music from the 60s. I have seen The Turtles, John Sebastian play there. Its a great place to get close to the artists.

Eric Burdon and the Animals set was a lively chorus of music. Eric’s voice was in top form.

He is an exciting bluesman. The Animals hits went over well with the crowd as we sang and danced along, Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, We Gotta Get Out of This Place, It’s My Life and the perennial classic House of the Rising Sun (1964).

What I really liked about Eric Burdon’s live performance were the songs from the Soul of a Man CD.

The song, Kingsize Jones took on a strong, immediate presence. The title track epitomized what Eric Burdon emotes the best, how a man’s soul feels and expresses. Soul of a Man is a great expression. 

I really loved when Eric switched into blues mode with Boom, Boom by John Lee Hooker and the song he did about his early memories of seeing Memphis Slim at 17.

The band is very tight, professional, Red Young on keyboards, Paula O’Rourke on bass and several other excellent musicians.

All in all a great afternoon of music.

For those who enjoy the jazz fusion sounds of John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Return to Forever and such notable jazz side musicians in their own right, as Christian McBride (bass), Kenny Garrett (sax) and Vinnie Colaiuta (drums), the harvest of music you will reap in 2008 will be very abundant. Allow me to lay out the vines of this tree so you can pluck the fruits you desire.

The first artist I’d like to mention is John McLaughlin, a prominent electric guitarist and world musician, a leader in the genre of jazz-world-fusion. John is releasing a pair of recordings interrelated , Floating Point on CD  

and a video of the 5 day recording session itself, entitled, Meeting of the Minds on DVD.

John McLaughlin’s point of intersection with Chick Corea is a band that he and the side musicians mentioned above will be playing together in for Peace, probably later on this year (fall/winter 08 anticipated due to each person’s existing schedules and committments), Five Peace Band. An exciting collaboration to put it mildly.

Chick Corea is also part of the reformed and touring Return to Forever ensemble. They are embarking upon a world tour that will reintroduce this jazz fusion engine to a new audience of listeners.

So all and all an exciting time for jazz fusion in 2008. Keep an eye and ear out for these artists as their tour and recording plans gel. We will all benefit from their synergy and direction.

 Herbie Hancock

River: The Joni Letters

Verve B0009791-02

Produced and arranged by Larry Klein and Herbie Hancock (Piano), with Wayne Shorter (Soprano and Tenor Saxophone), Dave Holland (Bass), Vinnie Colaiuta (Drums), Lionel Loueke (Guitar)

Herbie Hancock continues with the tradition of classic collaborations that he orchestrated with Possibilities (2005) and Gershwin’s World (199 . This time out Herbie’s effort is titled River: The Joni Letters. River is a choreographed tribute to Joni Mitchell’s songs as letters of rich jazz visual montages.

River: The Joni Letters is ten smartly chosen tracks, six vocal tracks with stellar vocalists and four instrumental interludes. Interspersing instrumentals with the six main vocal tracks is a stroke of genius. It’s like eating your way through to the rich layers of creamy filling found in a multilayered cake. The first two instrumentals are “Both Sides Now” and “Sweet Bird”; done as new improvisations. We are also treated to two classic jazz numbers, “Solitude” (Edgar De Lange-Duke Ellington-Irving Mills) and “Nefertiti” Miles Davis (Wayne Shorter).

“Nefertiti”is written and performed by premier saxophonist Wayne Shorter. Shorter’s saxophone accents takes the recording to a higher plane. When I was researching the significance of including the composition “Nefertiti”, I learned it was originally performed by the second and last Miles Davis Quintet. “Nefertiti” had a significant influence on Joni Mitchell’s Hejira album which clearly established her jazz singer\songwriter potential. Therein lies the intersection point.

Norah Jones opens the River recording with the tune, “Court and Spark” riding in on the wings of Herbie Hancock’s piano accompaniment. Norah Jones is ideally suited to begin this musical journey with her present state leadership role in contemporary jazz. Ms. Jones swirls soft, eloquent vocals like clouds in a scenic painting as Herbie’s playing moves her along the sky. The duo is sweetly accented by Wayne Shorter’s signature phrasing on tenor saxophone. His saxophone ignites the spark for Norah and Herbie’s whimsical jazzy courtship.

Tina Turner greets us with her sultry voice accenting the song “Edith and the Kingpin”, from Joni Mitchell’s The Hissing of Summer Lawns. The listener is immediately drawn into a cinematic tale of romantic intrigue. One can visualize the coat draped over the shoulders of the big man as he enters the club. Immediately we intermingle with this underworld societies’ captivation with a powerful man and his women. Tina’s warm and soothing sisterly vocals narrate the sensual dance as it weaves the story in front of our very eyes.

One by one they bring

His renegade stories to her

His crimes and his glories to her

In challenge they look on

Women he has taken grow old too soon

He tilts their tired faces

Gently to the spoon

“River” the title track is performed by Corrine Bailey Rae as her voice possesses the sound of soft snow falling outside your window. One would swear that Corrine Bailey Rae and the musicians playing along have done this song many evenings together in a posh nightclub for regular clientele. They fit together harmoniously with a relaxed, familiar sound.

Joni Mitchell, appears next as if on cue, with the saga, “Tea Leaf Prophecy” from Chalk Mark in a Rainstorm. Here we have a song about the World War II era replete with the self-reflective consciousness of a woman who states repeatedly, “she says she’s leaving but she don’t go”. How many of us in this life have made that same claim about wanting to escape from our own meager existences?

Bossa Nova starlet Luciana Souza performs “Amelia” a song about Amelia Earhart. Her vocal stylizing is hip, which embellishes this song with a warmth, color and ambience. http://jonimitchell.com/musician/song.cfm?id=Amelia

Leonard Cohen folk music, poet laureate, (I’m reading his book of poems and essays, Book of Longing right now) ends the recording with his reading of “The Jungle Line”. His gravely narrative voice resonates throughout this song in a unique bohemia like poetic reading. I find it very appropriate that Herbie Hancock and Leonard Cohen chose this song about Henri Rousseau, the French painter. http://jonimitchell.com/research/g_entry.cfm?id=35

Joni Mitchell is a painter first, a musician second. Her rich tapestries of artistic song enrapture us completely as Herbie Hancock accents Joni’s jazz letters perfectly.

I have posted updates to the Concerts and New Santana Band pages. Enjoy!

Dabbling in the downbeat vibe of their album ‘Raising Sand’ was an upbeat experience for the singers, so much so that they want to prolong the experience next year with a tour.

read more | digg story

Sometimes you turn over a rock in the back yard and discover a gemstone you’ve been hoping to find to illuminate your senses.  The discovery becomes a prism that takes you on a journey of thought, wonderment and mirth. The prism refracts and reveals the acid-folk music universe where Devendra Banhart is standing at it’s center. Devendra Banhart is a psych folk cultural icon, a natural mystic who is shaping, defining and adding art/dimension/intrigue to an unfolding multi-layered music genre.

I know I’m late to the party here but there’s still a slice of cake to indulge upon. I first discovered Devendra Banhart as a new folk artist featured in the Vanity Fair, November 2007, Folk Music Explosion portfolio.

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/video/2007/folkportfolio_video200711

Next thing I know I start seeing more references about him on the front cover of music magazines. Uncut Magazine features Devendra Banhart personal compilation of artists he likes, which was stuck as a CD sampler to the front cover titled, Love Above All, 11 tracks Inside the Mind of the Acid-Folk King. The CD is extremely listenable (unlike other samplers which are disjointed) abundant in vivid, colorful, influences that yield to discovery and personal enjoyment. The artists include Papercuts singing Unavailable, Kyle Tomzo’s Bicycle and Hecuba’s Peace and Money. Several of the artists featured on this CD sampler don’t have record contracts. Several are from Gnomonsong Recordings, an adventurous, fun, how it used to be way back when in San Francisco psychedlic days, record label.

Devendra Banhart is featured on the cover of Harp Magazine this month. He’s hit the trifecta in magazines appearances folks. You should definitely check him and this music idiom out for your listening pleasure. Acid-folk music is a tribute to and a furtherance of such 60’s artists as Pentangle, The Incredible String Band and the mystic flower child Donovan.

As I learn about this subculture music and art scene, I’ll try to write additional updates here.

Note: This is a new kind of online protest that uses blogs to spread a petition globally. To participate, just add your blog by following the instructions in this blog post.

This not an issue of partisan politics, this is an issue of basic human rights and democracy. Please help to prevent a human tragedy in Burma by adding your blog and asking others to do the same.

By passing this meme on through the blogosphere hopefully we can generate more awareness and avert a serious tragedy. As concerned world-citizens this something we bloggers can do to help.

How to participate:

1. Copy this entire post to your blog, including this special number: 1081081081234

2. After a few days, you can search Google for the number 1081081081234 to find all blogs that are participating in this protest and petition. Note: Google indexes blogs at different rates, so it could take longer for your blog to show up in the results. Also note — if you want an accurate count of the number of blogs that joined this petition, make sure you scroll to the bottom of the Google results and click to view results that were omitted because they were similar.

3. If you know how to add tags to your blog posts, add the Technorati tag 1081081081234 to your post as well. This will make your post findable sooner in Technorati.

THE SITUATION IN BURMA AND WHY IT MATTERS TO ALL OF US

There is no press freedom in Burma and the government has started turning off the Internet and other means of communication, so it is difficult to get news out. Individuals on the ground have been sending their day-by-day reports to the BBC, and they are heartbreaking. I encourage you to read these accounts to see for yourself what is really going on in Burma. Please include this link in your own blog post.

The situation in Burma is increasingly dangerous. Hundreds of thousands of unarmed peaceful protesters, including monks and nuns, are risking their lives to march for democracy against an unpopular but well-armed military dictatorship that will stop at nothing to continue its repressive rule. While the generals in power and their families are literally dripping in gold and diamonds, the people of Burma are impoverished, deprived of basic human rights, cut off from the rest of the world, and increasingly under threat of violence.

This week the people of Burma have risen up collectively in the largest public demonstrations against the ruling Junta in decades. It’s an amazing show of bravery, decency, and democracy in action. But although these protests are peaceful, the military rulers are starting to crack down with violence. Already there have been at least several reported deaths, and hundreds of critical injuries from soldiers beating unarmed civilians to the point of death.

The actual fatalities and injuries are probably far worse, but the only news we have is coming from individuals who are sneaking reports past the authorities. Unfortunately it looks like a large-scale blood-bath may ensue — and the victims will be mostly women, children, the elderly and unarmed monks and nuns.

Contrary to what the Burmese, Chinese and Russian governments have stated, this is not merely a local internal political issue, it is an issue of global importance and it affects the global community. As concerned citizens, we cannot allow any government anywhere in the world to use its military to attack and kill peacefully demonstrating, unarmed citizens.

In this modern day and age violence against unarmed civilians is unacceptable and if it is allowed to happen, without serious consequences for the perpetrators, it creates a precedent for it to happen again somewhere else. If we want a more peaceful world, it is up to each of us to make a personal stand on these fundamental issues whenever they arise.

Please join me in calling on the Burmese government to negotiate peacefully with its citizens, and on China to intervene to prevent further violence. And please help to raise awareness of the developing situation in Burma so that hopefully we can avert a large-scale human disaster there.

I discovered Sam Beam just yesterday on the corner edge of my radar screen. I saw his picture on the cover of Paste Magazine’s October issue. I thought I’d share his art and music with you. You know as much as I do about him now.

http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article/5121/feature/music/iron_wine

He’s quite soulful and eclectic. His looks are deceptive, but his music will find that place in you that has been like a sweet tooth in search of a chocolate bar. So peel back the candy wrapper, take a bite and give him a listen.

Iron & Wine ~ Home

 The Shepherd’s Dog - Iron and Wine Reviewed

Carlos Santana always speaks with respect and admiration about how we can lovingly spread peace to each other through music in the form of a spiritual virus. He should know for Carlos is truly one of the great healing musicians in our time.

I was browsing Carlos’s What’s On Carlos’s Mind? web page on the Official Carlos Santana Web Site where I noticed Carlos has been listening to Kenny Garrett a lot lately. I recalled I had seen Kenny Garrett play at the Santana All That I Am CD launch party at the Hammerstein Ballroom.(You can watch that Webcast from 11/1/2005 here, Rhapsody Santana All That I Am Webcast  or listen to the track here, Evil Ways/A Love Supreme). When Carlos introduced Kenny Garrett, he said triumphantly “Also joining us the real Kenny G, Mr. Kenny Garrett”. Kenny G. played a knock you out and then some version of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme as he improvised masterfully on the alto saxophone for us live.

Well I must tell you, Mr. Kenny Garrett spreads a great spiritual virus with his recording Beyond The Wall. I picked this CD up yesterday and have been playing it non-stop ever since. The tracks are each a brilliant awakening. You are taken on a spiritual journey beyond the great wall of China, directly into a culture that Kenny leads you to .

Check out Kenny Garrett’s Beyond The Wall you won’t be disappointed!

Jimi Hendrix, made believe he set the world on fire, yeah!

If you wanna find the truth in life, don’t pass music by
And you know I would not lie no, I would not lie down in Monterey
Monterey by Eric Burdon & The Animals(Burdon, Weider, Jenkins, McCulloch, Briggs)

Today is the 40^th Anniversary of the Monterey International Pop Festival, considered by many to be the apex of the Summer of Love 1967. It was the first major rock festival in the world. As someone who has attended over 225 concerts in 38 years I have a very special place in my heart for Monterey Pop and the Summer of Love. Being a true hippie at heart, this festival to epitomizes live rock music, flower power and the love generation all in one.

D.A. Pennebaker had the foresight and vision to film this historic event and its available as a box set from Criterion Films. There are some great essays about Monterey Pop on this web page. The one I liked reading was the two part essay by esteemed music critic Robert Christgau.

Tonight on VH-1 there will be a special show rock Docs Monterey 40. This show will highlight the Monterey Pop Festival as a pivotal moment in the burgeoning counterculture. From the perspective of musicians, organizers, audience members and visual documentarians, it will tell the story of this historic event in words, pictures and music from conception to event to aftermath to historical impact.

A two CD recording from Razor & Tie, Monterey International Pop Festival has been released. It has highlight recordings from the various artists who created history those three days. It also has some unique liner notes by Andrew Loog Oldham. I especially liked the black and white photos from those California days and nights. I was very much in synch with the tribute on the back of the liner notes. “Dedicated to Ralph J. Gleason and Bill Graham, who helped bring the San Francisco and Los Angeles music communities together. Without their vision and forbearance, Monterey Pop would never have happened.”

Ralph J. Gleason was a music journalist who wrote the most insightful music articles I ever read. He had a tremendous influence on me as a reader of Rolling Stone Magazine and my musical tastes He very muched helped form and shape. His ear was uncanny and he was very instinctual with the music, the artists and the scene.

Bill Graham is the Father of the Rock Music Concert. I am forever indebted to Bill Graham for making rock music an art form. He nurtured live music, cultivated music artists, and dedicated his life to performance art. He is the promoter of promoters.

Check out the special Summer of Love exhibit at the Whitney Museum of American Art on view May 24-September 16, 2007. Summer of Love: Art of the Psychedelic Era

Hymns for Peace: Live at Montreux 2004 to be released on DVD

On July 15, 2004 Montreux Jazz Festival Director Claude Nobs introduced Carlos Santana and his Hymns For Peace Concert as “the highlight in the thirty-eight year history of the festival”. Indeed, this was the very highest praise from the most impeccable source. Carlos Santana and his band of music makers and spirit shakers went out the at night and exceeded every expectation. We are all so very fortunate that virtually every minute of this event -even the rehearsals - was captured on video.

Performed by: The Santana Band with Guest Artists: Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Steve Winwood, Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, Nile Rodgers, Angelique Kidjo, Patti Austin, Barbara Morrison, Idrissa Diop, Omar Hakim and more…

Two-disc set recorded in High Definition

I witnessed this article/video about punk poetess Patti Smith on msn Music. I am sharing that link embedded in this picture.

I was very moved by Patti Smith’s acceptance speech and performance at this years Rock and Roll Hall Fame awards. I love her frankness as she builds an immediacy with her audience. Patti comes across as genuine and honest in her interpretation of life, politics and art.

I have been a long time fan of Patti Smith ever since my college FM radio days when I played Patti Smith’s Horses and Easter albums extensively on the air.

Here is The New York Magazine web column about Patti Smith’s concert appearance at Carnegie Hall to help U.S. Tibet House. Again she proves how mesmerizing her artistry is live. Her psychic connection with the late Allen Ginsberg tells me how they are truly the soul of the poet. This is the cosmic poem, Witchita Vortex Sutra by Allen Ginsberg that Patti read in loving tribute that night accompanied by genius composer Philip Glass.

Tune in to the new dozen cover songs of other artists performed by Patti Smith. Her new SONY CD is titled Twelve. I love her interpretations, I believe you will dig them too

1. “Are You Experienced?” (Jimi Hendrix)
2. “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” (Tears for Fears)
3. “Helpless” (Neil Young)
4. “Gimme Shelter” (Rolling Stones)
5. “Within You Without You” (The Beatles)
6. “White Rabbit” (Jefferson Airplane)
7. “Changing Of The Guards” (Bob Dylan)
8. “The Boy In The Bubble” (Paul Simon)
9. “Soul Kitchen” (The Doors)
10. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (Nirvana)
11. “Midnight Rider” (The Allman Brothers Band)
12. “Pastime Paradise” (Stevie Wonder)

Take a look at Patti Smith’s Rolling Stone Magazine interview here:

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2007/04/30/talking-with-punk-poet-laureate-patti-smith/

“If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem” - Kathleen Cleaver, widow of Eldridge Cleaver

Global Warming is everyone’s problem to solve.

Be there with us on one of 7 continents, 7/07/07. U.S.A. Live Earth is being held at Giants Stadium in New Jersey.

I am anticipating a few more artists will be added to the concert lineup.

The Music Of Our Heart will be there covering this historic live music event and celebration.

I want to thank Al Gore’s team for the Ticketmaster passcode!

If you live in the Northeast section of the United States and plan to attend a music festival in the summer of 2007 this will be THE FESTIVAL to attend! The Gathering of the Vibes XII will be held at Seaside Park in Bridgeport, CT from Thursday August 9th through Sunday August 12th. What better way to spend the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love than at a live music festival!

Surf over to their web site (link is in the image below) and learn more about this music event. I fully expect that even more music artists will be announced by Ken and the Tarrapin Family.

I plan to be at Gathering of the Vibes every day and serve as your onsite music journalist. I will be blogging from the event live (predicated on a wireless hot spot being available).

I look forward to seeing and grooving with you in Bridgeport in August.

Music of Our Heart

The Music of Our Heart Artist of the Month for April 2007 is Umphrey’s McGee.

Sci Fidelity Records will release Umphrey’s McGee ’s 4th studio recording The Bottom Half as a double disk on Tuesday, April 3^rd. Umphrey’s McGee is a superlative Jamband with a intensely loyal following. The Bottom Half is an eclectic set of songs that transfer readily to your psyche and rest royally within your soul. You can sample two of the songs from The Bottom Half at Umphrey’s McGee’s MySpace.

The Bottom Half is Storm Thorgerson’s second compelling artwork design for Umphrey’s McGee. Safety in Numbers was their first collaboration. 

Carmine Appice continues to be a significant driving force in rock, flourishing at the age of 60 . Carmine’s musical heritage as a drummer includes such luminary bands as Vanilla Fudge, Cactus (who are also on the comeback trail after 35 years), Beck, Bogert & Appice, Rod Stewart and Ozzy Osborne. (A trivia note, Carmine Appice co-wrote with Rod Stewart, the song, Do You Think I’m Sexy.)

Vanilla Fudge is still active and will be celebrating their 40^th anniversary this year. The group will mark that landmark occasion with two new recordings. The first CD is due out shortly, Out Through the In Door a Led Zeppelin tribute. I saw Vanilla Fudge feature several of these songs live at Toads Place in New Haven last year. I was impressed with the interpretation intermixed with Vanilla Fudge’s classic signature rock sound.  The Led Zeppelin songs obtain new textures as the evolution is sewn with new thread. Led Zeppelin was once the opening act for Vanilla Fudge way back when it all began. Carmine Appice took John Bonham under his wing and helped him shape his sound. We all know the monster drummer Bonzo became, due in large part to Appice’s mentoring.   

Rhino Records will release a four-CD retrospective box set to celebrate in fine style, Vanilla Fudge’s 40^th anniversary as a recording group.

If you are a Cactus fan there is plenty of new music for you to assimilate. Cactus released a studio recording last year, Cactus V that’s a real barn burner. Cactus consists of Carmine Appice, Tim Bogert (Always a commanding, melodic bass guitarist), Jim McCarthy, lead guitar and Jimmy Kunes on vocals. If you missed their reunion sets live last year not to fret. Cactus will be releasing a two-CD live set of their performances on Rhino Records sometime this year.

Please stay tuned to the MusicOfOurHeart blog as I plan to review both the Vanilla Fudge 2007 releases and the live Cactus recording.

I encourage you to pick up the April 2007 edition of Modern Drummer magazine. Carmine Appice is the feature artist for this issue. The feature article by Robyn Flans was my inspiration for this music blog post. You can read a portion of Robyn’s article here: http://www.moderndrummer.com/updatefull/200001549

Rock On!

On Tuesday March 13, Jorma Kaukonen and Red House Records will release Jorma’s latest acoustical gem, Stars in My Crown. Jorma cultivates a time honored set of personal spiritual tunes that are each uniquely reflective and reverent. His guitar mastery fosters a renewed interpretation of old time blues classics as well as leads us to new songs and revelations. I loved when Jorma crafted a tribute to American country blues heritage on his previous recording, Blue Country Heart. The tradition is furthered happily with Stars in My Crown. We are gifted to Jorma’s keen jeweler’s eye as each track becomes a fine cut diamond. Jorma carves out for the listener an instinctual sound that enlists our trust and builds a mutual affinity.

Jorma’s maturity as an artist combines intuitive depth with a focused simplicity. There are several new enchanting songs that will engage you such as Late Breaking News and Heart Temporary. I have yearned to hear Jorma Kaukonen to record more Reverend Gary Davis songs. He appeases that need handily by including two of Davis’s songs on this CD, There’s a Table Sitting in Heaven and Will There Be Any Stars in My Crown.