Category: Review
I can love that tune on the very first chord ~ Donny Hathaway
And some stuff you just love from the very first chord … timbre, qualities of its attack, sustain and decay, the authority with which it’s played, the key it’s played in, the instrumentation and even their arrangement, the way all these elements come together in that brief moment when sound establishes itself as music. You…
Don’t Drink The Water ~ A troubadour of the first order.
Matthews is a hell of a showman. I have a number of live versions of this song done fully-kitted out with a full complement of musicians. He and his band let it all hang out on stage and, as they say, the crowd goes wild. Which makes the essential power of this live rendition, featuring…
Jethro Tull’s Journeyman ~ Kick back and enjoy the ride
I’m not sure a more fascinating and inventive song — both lyrically and musically — has ever been created about the simple act of commuting home on the train. What I really love most about Jethro Tull’s Journeyman (Heavy Horses, 1978), is the way the bass drives both the melody and cadence, right from the…
Fusion for the jazzily inclined :: Shakti, Brand-X, Return to Forever & Pat Metheny
OK. With not one but two false starts at identifying some jazz fusion music most folks can enjoy, here are a few examples from the genre I really hope you will like … maybe even love. Remember Shakti :: Lotus Feet One of my favourite pieces of music in any genre: Lotus Feet. Remember Shakti…
Bringing Latin passion to fusion and the future ~ Al Di Meola’s Elegant Gypsy
A couple weeks ago I offered up three old fave songs from the German jazz fusion group, Passport, then asked for comments. The silence was deafening. <grin> But, after a while, there was one comment. Essentially: “boring.” OK. Fair enough. A followup comment illuminated some issues with the music which I happen to share, but…
Grace on my mind, and in my heart ~ Dave Matthews
Dave Matthews, prodigiously talented and prolific, a true minstrel of our times writing soulful, often doleful songs of our everyday experiences. Transcendant, luminescent, playful. His live performances bring together extraordinary musicians with nary a glorious note misplayed or misplaced. And at the center mic, leaving no doubt as to the driving force of the band’s…
Neil Young: He came dancing across the water
I can remember the first time I heard this album, Zuma. I was all of 20 years old, ski bumming in Whistler, BC, and gathered with a bunch of friends after the bars had closed. I can’t remember her name. She was skinny and not very attractive in any traditional sense, but there was something…
Language is a Virus ~ Laurie Anderson
I’ve had a life-long fascination with progressive rock and the avante garde movement in music. Bands like Genesis, Pink Floyd, Talking Heads and Jethro Tull for sure, but also some more obscure folks you weren’t likely to hear on the radio. People like Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, John Cage and this fine example of the…
Tijuana Cartel takes a Holiday in Baghdad, but I’m wishing I was in Freo
Tijuana Cartel plays with verve and an infectious rhythm that brings a crowd gleefully to their feet. Paul George’s virtuoso flamenco guitar challenges the dance club keys of Carey O’Sullivan and the whole marvellous fusion gets thrummed into a frenzy by latin percussionist Daniel Gonzales. Frequent guest player Shannon van Horn blows into the frenzy…
