Three Friends Names ZZ

My father was a huge ZZ Top fan in the 1980's and I remember him playing all their hits of the 80's all the time on our record player. The ZZ Top album Eliminator would be played so much those songs are stamped on my brain. Every time I hear one of those songs I cringe. It is what made ZZ Top. Well to me that is not what I think of when I hear ZZ Top. I go all the way to almost the beginning of their career. Their early years mixed Texas Boogie with Roots and Blues music. Add those and add a bit of music you hear on a Friday or Saturday night at a local bar and you have the best of ZZ Top. The first time I heard this stuff I knew I was going to enjoy what they had to offer from their early years.

ZZ Top started back in 1970 from the best part of Texas. They grew a great reputation with the bar scene and quicky got signed to of all record labels London. London is famous for Classical and for the American distribution of the Rolling Stones before 1971. The first three album on London must have sound foreign to our ears because very little of it was heard on radio. I am sure that they had a huge following in Texas, but around the rest of the United States they were not heard. Well not until Tres Hombres came out. That album made them the stars they are today.



I was tag sailing one day and that album came across my hands. I saw that it was the London records version and I quickly picked it up. The person selling the records told me that he had the other two London editions in his house and was willing to sell those as well. I was so unfamiliar with these records I had to listen to them. When I got home I showed these to my father. I had to tell him that these ZZ Top albums were from when I was born and before. He took off the one he was playing and put on Tres Hombres. The first two songs he heard he started laughing. I had no idea why, but he then explained that the Classic Rock stations play this song all the time and now we finally know where they got the song from.

He studied all three albums. He told me how much more he liked these albums compared to the ones he had. He told me he like the raw Blues and feel like they belonged playing at the local bar. He liked the vocals and the guitar playing was out of this world. He never thought that a band he liked in the 80's sounded so much better in the early 70's. They sounded more like a bar band then and even now. Tres Hombres had three Classic Rock hits on it. It is still considered one of their classics. The whole album may be short by today's standards but in 34 minutes it packs quite a punch.



Looking for a ZZ Top album to share with your friends. This is the one. The music is raw, Bluesy and addicting fun. When you hear a lot of the old songs on the radio remember it all came from the era that we don't expect ZZ Top to come from. When I heard the stuff my father was playing I really thought they just started out but with further investigation I really think the 70's treated them well. Enjoy a classic from 1973. Rock out and Enjoy!!

Arcade's Life after Death

The first time I heard Arcade Fire I was driving home from work and I happened to tune into a radio show that I listen to once a month in the Hartford area. The show is widely known to me as the show that plays a lot of unusual music and they throw in people like Faust, Can, and odd others. This is the same program that got me into Can as a teenager and somehow it still surfaces once in a great while with the same DJ who according to my friend, this DJ has was still spinning music when my friend was a teenager. He played an Arcade Fire song that had such an impression on me that I wanted to hear it again and again. The DJ pointed out that the CD will be out in the next month or so. I really could not wait. The song was called "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)." I liked it because of it's originality and the vocal and lyrics were quite strong.

Watching them on SNL Saturday confirmed that they are a great band with a lot of growth already in their blood. The song I liked was not played on the show, but their music had a feel like no other. According to all music "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" the first of four metaphorical forays into the geography of the soul, follows a pair of young lovers who meet in the middle of the town through tunnels that connect to their bedrooms. Over a soaring piano lead that's effectively doubled by distorted guitar, they reach a Lord of the Flies-tinged utopia where they can't even remember their names or the faces of their weeping parents. It had a power like no other song that I was listening to at that time. It made a tattoo like impression that to this day still makes me cringe.



What I liked about the song and then eventually the album was the fact that each member of the band does not stick to one idea. They don't even stick with the same instrument. Sometimes the guitar player plays percussion. Even Win's wife Regine plays keyboards, violin and accordion. Very good for a band to make a impression on me. Arcade Fire's victorious soul-thumping core, is a goose bump-inducing rallying cry centered around the notion that "the power's out in the heart of man, take it from your heart and put it in your hand."(AM) They kick ass and take no names.

The original sound of Arcade Fire is what makes the band. I like the music because even though the band is small by it's standards, but the music is huge. Each song is like a mini Symphony. The words are even better. Win may get political, but that is his charm. He tells the truth and not many people do that and still get you to listen. The anticipation of hearing each song is fun with me because each is not the same as the previous. Even after the album came out I really wanted to get the next CD they put out. They have put out three and two others after their debut and each is great and wonderful as but hearing the music for the first time is quite good.


Funeral is a great album from start to finish. Arcade Fire are not bereft of whimsy. Each one of their songs that pump blood back into the heart as fast and furiously as it's draining from the sleeve on which it beats, each little piece of music is a wonderful novella and I really wish bands could write like this. If you need something beyond the typical Rock and Roll this is the album. Arcade Fire came at us like and knocked us down. The music in new and original and so fun that you really have to re listen. Have a great time with this and the last paragraph explains their music better then I can. It's from the great Pitchfork review of the album where it got a 9.7 out of 10.0. Enjoy!!!

So long as we're unable or unwilling to fully recognize the healing aspect of embracing honest emotion in popular music, we will always approach the sincerity of an album like Funeral from a clinical distance. Still, that it's so easy to embrace this album's operatic proclamation of love and redemption speaks to the scope of The Arcade Fire's vision. It's taken perhaps too long for us to reach this point where an album is at last capable of completely and successfully restoring the tainted phrase "emotional" to its true origin. Dissecting how we got here now seems unimportant. It's simply comforting to know that we finally have arrived.

Classic Duo

When my friend told me that Robert Plant and Alison Krauss are doing an album together I thought he was full of shit. I mean two interesting and dynamic musicians and vocalists. Both come from different worlds. Alison from Folk, and Bluegrass and Roots music. Robert from the biggest Rock acts in the world. I thought after talking to my friend that it might work. My first thought it was a Robert Plant solo album and she was going to do backup singing. The same vain as when she sang back up on two Phish tunes on Hoist. She did not do a lot, but you can hear her wonderful voice. I been a fan of great collaboration between two wonderful musicians. This is no exception and something if true would be a great thing to hear.

When I got this news it was early in 2007. I gave it some thought about what they would do together. I even thought it would be interesting if they both decided to do an album of Led Zeppelin songs with a new twist. A stripped down roots versions of the album. It got me excited to think of some great ideas they could do together. My curiously started when I realized that Alison Krauss was a fan of Led Zeppelin through her brothers. Her brothers were older and used to bring home the albums and crank them up. It made quite an impression on her and what she knew about Rock and Roll.



I have seen both artists in many occasions and none of them had a hint of each others musical genres. The music of Robert Plant was still Rock and Roll. The music of Alison Krauss was still Bluegrass and some Country and Folk mixed in. The only question how would they do it together. Would this be an album of all those genres together with a "Roots" type album. I really did not know what to expect or what would be done. The excitement was about to come to realization with more stories being told what they were doing. The internet flooded with information on who was on the project and who was putting the project together. When I got the phone call from my friend who told me about the project that our friend Marc Ribot was going to play guitar on it. I got really excited. I had this idea that it was a dirty Tom Waits record. Marc has played on many Tom Waits records and each album he is on makes the album perfectly rough around the edges. Other people involved were T. Bone Burnett and Buddy Miller. Once again these people do some really great things to artist that they work with. It's like a magic spell that they cast over them and bring out some great stuff that we are not used to.

During the summer of 2007 I was flipping through the radio stations when I heard Robert Plant's voice on something that was not easy to recognize. When the disc jokey mentioned it was from the forthcoming duo project of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss I was ready to get the album that day. The song was a cover of the Everly Brothers. The song was full of roots and soul and and had that Marc Ribot punch to it. This indeed was something that I know by hearing just one song I needed to pick up. The music was better then I heard in recent years. The music was stuff that just made sense for me. It was music that just was a better then what I heard on the radio at that time. I was ready for the CD to come out.



When the CD came out I quickly picked it up. I wanted to know what others songs they decided to remake. The music of Tom Waits was on it as well as Townes Van Zandt and Gene Clark and even a song Jimmy Page wrote for the album. What was even cooler was a song that The Who used to play in their early career. The album was full of surprises everywhere I listened. The guitar is nasty and distorted, and the brush touches with their metallic sheen are a nice complement to the bass drums. It doesn't rock; it struts and staggers on its way.

This is the album that you need. The music and the two great voices are just thing you need. I like this album a bit more then I really thought I would. These two voices meld together seamlessly; they will not be swallowed even when the production is bigger than the song. They don't soar, they don't roar, they simply sing songs that offer different shades of meaning as a result of this welcome collaboration. (AM) Enjoy!!

East West, Chicago & Butterfield

My first listening of Blues music came by accident when I was in High School. I was in a class one day and my friend handed me a tape of some John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers and it was a copy of the album with Eric Clapton on it. I had the Eric Clapton Box set and I wanted to hear more. Again, that 60's book recommended it, but I did not have a copy. A friend of mine went to that same record store that I normally go to and procured a copy for me. He told me with a whisper "Is that the one you wanted?" I agreed and we walked passed each other. The only problem was a teacher noticed this transaction of the tape. The teacher thought there was something in the tape case. Likely idea because in the past I am sure that is how he got his pot or something. An empty tape case is a great place to put that kind of stuff.

When I got into class I opened the tape case to see the tape and read the track listing. There were many songs I was looking forward to listen to and at that moment the teacher who saw me take the tape from my friend quickly took the tape away. "I will give you this tape at the end of class okay!" The teacher said. I thought it was unfair, but I understand where the teacher was coming from. It would have been a distraction for me to look at the tape while he was lecturing on some boring topic I more then likely will never need to learn again. I think I was just excited to have the tape in my hand and listen to it on the way home from school.



After class I went up to my teacher and asked for the cassette back. He told me he wanted to borrow it. I told him I could make him a copy, but since I just got it I wanted to hear it. He had a deal for me. He would borrow it for the night and the next day he would hand me two cassettes of more blues for me in return for the overnight borrow. I quickly agreed with his proposition. He told me he had some Chicago Blues that I should listen to. I did not know what to expect. I went home and dived through my 60's book of music and figured what he was going to give me. I looked around at work for some ideas on what I was getting and landing no clues to what he was going to give me.

The next day I was handed the John Mayall back and he handed me the best of Buddy Guy and a tape called East West by Paul Butterfield and the Blues Band. He told me that he really liked Buddy Guy and some of his best stuff was on that tape and the other tape he told me I should listen to the two guitar players in the band. Elvin Bishop and Mike Bloomfield are amazing guitar players. I took the teachers word for it. Little did I know that Mike Bloomfield was going to turn up on some of Bob Dylan albums I had. He told me that tragic story of Mike Bloomfield and he almost started crying. He told me that Mike Bloomfield was his guitar hero for a while. He explained how great East West was. It was great stuff that had a great stamp on his life. The harp playing by Paul Butterfield was classic playing and I could not get that any where else. Even after his death, Paul Butterfield's music didn't receive the accolades that were so deserved. Outputting styles adopted from Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters among other blues greats, Butterfield became one of the first white singers to rekindle blues music through the course of the mid-'60s.(AM)



East West had an even greater effect on music history, paving the way for experimentation that is still being explored today. This came in the form of an extended blues-rock solo (some 13 minutes) -- a real fusion of jazz and blues inspired by the Indian raga. This groundbreaking instrumental was the first of its kind and marks the root from which the acid rock tradition emerged. (AM) The music on East West is so great I strongly recommend this album in your collection. If you don't have blues in your collection then you should. This album explains a lot in the life of 60's musical history. Have fun with this and remember that the guitar playing of Elvin Bishop and Mike Bloomfield are the big, big highlights. Mike Bloomfield is one of my favorite guitar players and you can see why after this listen. Enjoy!!

The Mind Of Ben Harper

When I was asked why I get into certain music or bands I tell them I started early in their career and followed them. Some artist I liked from the early on. I always have followed the odd and unusual path of any artist. I don't dislike their odd moments or their career shift because sometimes they are for the good and sometimes they just took the wrong choice. Once in a great while I ask for help. I ask for help on what is good out there or an artist I should listen to. Contrary to popular belief I ask for ideas and one day I asked about Ben Harper. I saw this CD in the store where my friend works and asked him about it.

My friend told me that he just got a promotional copy of Fight For Your Mind. He told me that he loved it. It was new and fresh and very original. He explained to me that he played a mean slide guitar type thing and was very political in his lyrics. He also mentioned that the band backing him was tight and had a great groove as well. In 1995 I did not know much about his music or what his message was. With only now two album under him I was hoping that he would not be too popular. The mix of Dylan, Marley and Hendrix was a great mix that some people could see. I liked his way of playing the guitar. I even loved his singing. It was too good to stay in one little corner.



Every moment of Ben Harper's music was so addicting it required more then one listen to hear the great grooves and the great lyrics of what he was saying. Take the song "Ground on Down." The song did not leave my cd player or tape deck in the car for quite a long time. It's bass heavy groove and is quite addicting still to listen to. When I saw him live he played this song for about ten minutes with the band hooked in a great feel that left you speechless.

I believe in a few things :
God, the Devil and Love,
Cause I've looked up from the bottom and I've stared down from above.
And I have faith in a few things :
Divinity,
Divinity and Grace,
But even when I'm on my knees, I know the devil prays.

And you're working your way,
From the ground on down.

I hate to say I love you,
Because it means that I will be with you forever or will sadly..., say goodbye.
And I love to say I hate you,
Because it means that I will live my life happily without you or will sadly..., live a lie.

And you're working your way,
From the ground on down,
On down.
Your way,
From the ground on down.

Life is short and if you're looking for extension,
With your time, you had best do well,
Cause there's good deeds and there is good intention,
They're as far apart as heaven and hell.

And you're steady working your way,
From the ground on down,
On down.
Your way,
From the ground.



It was all I wanted to hear at one point. The music had a great sound that very few artists were doing at that time. Ben Harper allows his trademark Weissenborn guitar to scream out to his audience. It does more then that, It adds a new person in the fight of great artists and begs you to listen again and again. I am not sure how Ben Harper got popular after this album, but he did. His music was not over played on the radio, but his shows became a hard ticket to get. I guess people liked him as much as I did.



What you got here is a great Ben Harper album. It is full of wonderful music and great guitar playing and stuff for 1995 that really new and different. Ben Harper maybe popular in some worlds, but with his early stuff it is really great to hear some awesome music from a great man. If you listen to this album like I do, it will never get old. I suggest you start you Ben Harper listening here. What better way to treat yourself to something new and just remember where it all started from. Enjoy a lost classic from my musical years.

Dismemberment Emergency!!!!

From 1993 to 2003 Dismemberment Plan ruled in some respects. Travis Morrison and the Plan didn't hold a thing back. On this, their third and penultimate album, they recklessly careened through an all-encompassing sonic landscape and nailed every possible, terrifying angle along the way: "What Do You Want Me to Say" seethes with rabid frustration. The band's album is a firecracker, showing their at once passionate and sly approach to music -- take in everything, put it back out, and give it its own particular sheen and spin -- is in no danger of letting up. Knowing fans of the quartet have spoken on how it's clear that the band members listen to everything from old soul to hip-hop and techno and back again, and there's no argument here based on the evidence of this disc.

The band turn the indie rock stereotype on its head, avoiding aimless shambling jangle or emo's straitjacketing stereotype in favor of an unsettled mix that embraces sampling's jump-cut techniques and shifting rhythms where prominence is equally given to guitar, keyboards, and beat. It can be late-night jazzy mood-out or sudden thrash, but the quartet handles all approaches with aplomb and creative arrangements to boot. Travis Morrison's unusual vocals make a brilliant calling card for the band, high, a touch quavery, but never out of control, slipping into the mix like another instrument.



Each song has a unique character to it and that is what makes the album so great. The lyrics of Travis Morrison too are quirky and odd and most of make you think. He does this so you can try to figure out his brain. His oddness is his strong suit. The music is fresh and wonderfully new to a point of what he does makes it all the odder. His voice is a good fit to the music that he is writing and singing. The words are not poetry, but a kind of conscience thought. The music sound better with every listen. The band groove so well on what he is telling us. It's hard to explain but you should check it out for yourself. The album's lyric book reads better than half the modern volumes on my bookshelf. Modern R&B should have as much rhythm. Modern rock should have as much balls.

I lost my membership card to the human race
So don't forget the face
Because I know that I do belong here
Go down the checklist let's see:
Feelings are good
Dishonesty is bad
And keeping it inside is worse still
You want a problem well I guess we got one now
I really don't know how
There's injuns over every goddamn hill
What do you want me to say?
What do you want me to do?
To let you know that I do mean it
What do you want me to say?
What do you want me to do?
To let you know that I do mean it
What do you want me to say, yeah?
I see it coming from a million miles away
What else can I say?
The only way you know I love you
And there's no eye-to-eye just Moses on the mount



The music is fun the words are for not us to figure out, they are just a stream of great ideas of Travis Morrison. Check out Emergency and I and I am sure you will find something to like. It can be late-night jazzy mood-out or sudden thrash, but the quartet handles all approaches with aplomb and creative arrangements to boot. Drummer Joe Easley may be the band's secret weapon, able to keep the pace and swing just enough, though bassist Eric Axelson is by no means a slouch himself -- the dub-touched "Spider in the Snow" is a great showcase for both. The fact that "You Are Invited" is conceivably the world's greatest synth-pop/electro/guitar chime/post-punk song about trying to get to the right party -- and is emotional without being overwrought -- gives a sense as to this album's considerable strengths.(AM) On that note, Enjoy!!

Point To Andrew Hill

You know what's so great about classic Jazz albums? You can never get tired of them no matter how many listens you give it. You always find ways of hearing a different approach or idea. Take the album Point of Departure from Andrew Hill. At first listen I once thought it was just a Jazz album from the 1960's. I had no idea it's classic status for quite a long time. I was handed this CD when I went back to school. A friend told me that it is a must listen and a great study if your going to talk Jazz to those professors. I mean I had a few classic albums up my sleeve but this was the one to sneak in there and really let them know you understand great music.

I knew from the first listen I was going to like this album. It had three people I really do take anything they put out musically. I think Eric Dolphy and Tony Williams are geniuses and Joe Henderson has a great sound and tone that very few sax players can do. I knew I was up for this wonderful musical journey. While in College I took this album with me for great listening. I decided to study it and try to how to understand what makes an album a classic. I know how the others in Jazz make one, but for Andrew Hill it took me a bit longer to figure out. I love every part of Dolphy's playing and Williams's drumming but still coumd not figure out what it is that so damn' good.



After my first semester back in the college setting I went to see my friend who gave me the album. He asked me what I thought. I fudged it and told him how much I loved it. I did like it, but could not place the finger on what made it great. I could never figure out what it was. The interplay between everybody was wonderful and really new. I knew I had this notion with the idea that it was not Ornette, or Coltrane, but it was still great. I mean the help of Eric Dolphy made the music wonderful. After I left my friend I think I got the reason of greatness of Andrew Hill. It was Andrew Hill himself. My friend is a piano player and when he told me about the playing of Andrew Hill I realized he was right.

Every part of the Point of Departure is classic. From the extended solos by Hill to the great playing by just about everybody. It's too bad, like I said in a previous post that Eric Dolphy did not live longer because his playing is wonderful. Andrew Hill plays a great piano, but sadly gets lost in the greats of Hancock, Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner and Keith Jarrett. It's his playing all over the map that makes him a true treasure. Hill's large, open chords that flat sevenths, ninths, and even 11ths in their striding to move through the mode, into a wellspring of angular hard bop and minor-key blues. In Hill's compositional world, everything is up for grabs. It just has to be taken a piece at a time, and not by leaving your fingerprints all over everything. In "Dedication," where he takes the piano solo further out melodically than on the rest of the album combined, he does so gradually. You cannot remember his starting point, only that there has been a transformation.



This is a stellar date, essential for any representative jazz collection, and a record that, in the 21st century, still points the way to the future for jazz. After listening to this you as well will like this album as much as I do. Andrew Hill is a great piano player and hearing this proves that he should be talked about in that same breath as the others. Listen to this and you will tell your friends you found a great album that tops your list. Enjoy! People who already love Jazz will go back to this album again and again. Have fun and remember where it all came from!

The Bridge to Robin Trower

The first time I heard Robin Trower was when I was high school. I was on my way to study hall and I had my Walkman on a popular classic radio station and they were playing great stuff all through the time I was in that study hall. I did not get much homework done, but I did have a neat list of music I should be looking for next time I went to the record store. The list was pretty long and I needed to find most of it because it was all good stuff. A friend of mine told me that some of this he could make a copy for me because his father had it on record. The other stuff I had to find on my own.

One of the big things that caught my interest in listening was Robin Trower. I knew a bit about him because he was in Procol Harum. The music I heard was actually less like Procol Harum and more like Jimi Hendrix and good old blues. The stuff was really good, but I did not have any of that stuff in my collection. I really did not know where to start with his extensive solo collection. Around the same time I was part of one of the record clubs and I saw a deal in the little flier I used to get. "Buy three cassettes and half price and get one free." I went through the flier and picked out things I did not have anything of that artist. In the searching I found a Essential Robin Trower. Hey for little more then $5.00 I picked it up. If I did not like it and I knew I would I would just put it with my cassettes and leave it alone. The album did have the song I liked, so it could not be all bad.



I picked a few other cassettes and I waited for the music to come to my house. In the time it took to get here I went to a few tag sales in the coming weeks. I went to one where this guy had a very good collection of 70's rock. There was the Bob Seger's and the Peter Frampton and the Fleetwood Mac albums. I picked a few of those up, but in his collection there was two Robin Trower albums. One had the song on it that I liked and the other had stuff that was on that cassette tape I was going to get in the mail. I was excited to pay the person for these and go home. He told me that I will really enjoy the music that Robin Trower plays. I was excited to get his music on my turntable.

When I got home I showed my father what I found and at the same time he was cleaning his car the same song I heard on the radio at school was on. I pointed to my dad that this guy is responsible for that song. He told me to wait till he was done washing the car so we can listen to some of his music. It was a great chance to hear what else he did. When he got in the house he told me to put the album on the turntable. Bridge of Sighs was the album. From start to finish this album rocked more then most of my collection of the time. My father told me that it sounded like a white Jimi Hendrix. He really liked it as much as I did. Every song was a winner. The trio sounded great, loud and kicked a lot of ass.



After it was all said and done, I really liked this album. I know it might be the go to album by Trower, but it is very good and full of great guitar licks that anyone could enjoy. The music is classic 70's, but it is also unique because some the music from that time was not exactly great. This is and more. Robin Trower made a lot of albums in the 70's, but this is the one that got him to his guitar status. Add this to your collection, and you will be glad you did. Enjoy a great gem from 1974 and you will love it every time you play it. He is even better live. Classic!! Enjoy!

Giuffre's Fusion and Thesis

The first time I heard Jimmy Giuffre was in a Jazz History class in my community college years. We were talking about small group Jazz and we were going to watch a film about Jazz at Newport. This film talks about the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. It changed my life on what music was and taught me about some really great classic artist such as Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Louis Armstrong and countless others. The opening music was one that stuck with me for quite a while. The music was different, sure it was Jazz, but it was not what I thought Jazz was. Before watching this segment (which is at the end of this post) I thought Jazz needed Bass and drums to keep the music going. I did not realize that it trombone and guitar could drive music in a direction like no other. It was "swinging without the use of what I thought it needed to swing with.

The music was quite extraordinary and just added a new kind of perspective for me. Each person was making a complex piece into a larger piece of a really great puzzle. In retrospect it showed how hip things were at that time. Rock and Roll was about to get launched and the world of hip and cool Beatnik time was around at the same time and of course just to be hip was part of the world view. It seemed carefree and fun and all "the hip cats" were into it. It was cool to be cool as it were. The music of Jimmy Giuffre was just unique.



I really did not know much about him but I really thought I could ask my teacher. I was surprised by his response and attitude about him and his music. He told me one day after class that he did not care for his music because it was not cool or popular. I did not understand that coming from a teachers mouth. It was in a way narrow minded and not rational thought. Why would the teacher dismiss the musical (of what I thought) genius of Jimmy Giuffre. Since I did not like the answer that he gave I decided to go ask someone who was actually around at that time. The person I asked was a teacher who I had in High School. He went to college in Boston and he told me he was part of a lot unique Jazz experiences.

When I came up to him and asked him about Jimmy Giuffre he gave this wide gaze. He asked me how I stumbled upon his musical genius. Finally someone who really understood this greatness. When I asked this teacher he told me he loved the way Jimmy Giuffre played in many drummerless groups. Not only was there a group of guitar and trombone, but there was a group of piano and upright bass. He told me that was the ones that were really unique. Both groups had a interesting world to them. He also told me that the bass and piano ones were the ones to seek out. The two people that I should listen to were Paul Bley and Steve Swallow. They are the ones that put out some of the best Jimmy Giuffre's trios.



They put out three well know albums that made everything sound perfect according to my old teachers words. My teacher told me that Jimmy Giuffre is quoted as saying that the inspiration for his late 50s drummerless trio was Claude Debussy's diaphanous SONATA FOR FLUTE, VIOLA & HARP. This is the music that really has it's place for understanding what he wanted to in the Jazz world. The albums I should pick up were two classic in Jimmy Giuffre's cannon. They were called Fusion and Thesis. Both albums are not your typical albums, but they were sure going to turn your head.

It took me a few years to find them on one two CD set that ECM put out in 1992. My teacher was right. The music is great. It's not like Jazz you ever heard, but it's a study on smart and creative music that does not force or keep your toe tapping. It is the ultimate brain music for Jazz fans. It is really well done and if you can find a copy, get it and really see what is so great about music without a drummer or a beat for that matter. Enjoy and get your notes out on this one, there might be a quiz. Enjoy!!!!

Stuck With GBV

In April of 2004 I went to see Guided By Voices for the third time. The other two times I went I don't remember much because besides the band being a mess, I was as well. I was young and stupid and more them likely a bit drunk to remember or appreciate how good they were. This time I went with a friend who actually never went to a concert in his life. I also went with a few friends who were bigger Guided By Voices fans then myself. They breathed GBV air all the time. I am glad I went to this gig. As I tell friends about shows I do exaggerate on how many songs I heard, but I will tell you that they actually played 44 songs. These songs were great from start to end. These songs kicked ass, and these songs are really well done. GBV is a band that I wish I started following more closely when I was younger. I will tell you this, after the show I was converted into a huge fan.

GBV is a band that has more then likely over a 1000 songs to their credit. The music maybe short, but they make a great point on each and every one of them. They are great rockers and they are the songs that hit you really hard. They tell a story weather simple or complex, but they will make you sing along as well. I know about two dozen by heart and they are songs that transform you into a better place. The music is rockin' and takes no prisoners. It is a band that has more energy then any band I have seen. Those 44 songs lasted about three and half to four hours that night and I loved every moment of it. They are like a great local bar band that is on steroids.



GBV is a band that I would want to be in. Every night must be a new adventure. Even better is to hear the wit and wisdom of Robert Pollard. He writes so much. His albums are not simple twelve songs and that is it. He has albums with fifteen or sometimes twenty songs. That is a good writer. His songs are about everything. When I saw them in 2004 I realized this was a show for the ages. This was a show that you tell your kids about when they are going to their first show. I have been to some memorable shows in my life. I was at the five hour Dylan show at Toad's Place in New Haven. I was at a memorable show in New York City that included three great bands; Rollins Band, Helmet and Primus. I went to a Roger Waters show where it was the smallest played date on his 1996 tour. I went to see Richard Thompson and Henry Kaiser in San Francisco (they never played together before or since) I was even at the Rush show that was the first for their return after a lengthy absence because of the personal issues with Neil Peart. The GBV show was that kind of show.



The music of GBV is not complex, but it's fun. The music is good enough to keep you smiling. Each song has some kind of riff that keeps you in the spirit of good old fashion Rock and Roll. From the funky bass riff and drums at the beginning of "Best of Jill Hives" to the odd use of harmonica on "Dirty Water." Each of their songs has something for everybody. Robert Pollard's singing is not top notch, but it's known for some of the best out there. Everything is fun about this band, how can you not like them.

Paid up weathered and type-o,
Clad in gladstone watch him go,
Swimming beneath the microscope.
Hello lonely bless the nation.
Mr. skip to all or none,
Wooden soldiers fall upon,
Try to find what makes her tick,
While their finding out what makes them sick.

I don't know where you find your nerve,
I don't know how you choose your words,
Speak the ones that suit you worse,
Keep you grounded, sad and cursed,
Circle the ones that come alive,
Save them for the best of Jill Hives.

Been around and left you flat,
Tragically decided that,
Every child of god's a brat,
And she's dying to escape them.
But do we really need to see,
All her punchdrunk history,
And which of it might hold the key
For the exit to her destiny.

I don't know where you find your nerve,
I don't know how you choose your words,
Speak the ones that suit you worse,
Keep you grounded, sad and cursed,
Circle the ones that come alive,
Save them for the best of Jill Hives.
Number one in all our souls,
Trifle in the crystal bowl,
Fill it up with 9 to 5,
Save them for the best of Jill Hives.



I get friends who ask me about them. I tell them in one word, "Awesome." They are that and I also tell them what a show they put on. The music is fresh and fun and top notch. If I suggest a starting point then I would tell you that Earthquake Glue is one of their best. The fifteen songs have something for everyone. They keep you on your toes, they run circles around bands that are at their prime and they are a band that you talk about at parties on how awesome they are. The people you talk to might not know what your talking about, but if you put the music on they will afterwords. I am proud to be a GBV fan and really enjoy every moment. If you don't get this album then I suggest their retrospective album called Human Amusements at Hourly Rates. It has thirty one songs, imagine a single CD having that many great songs. Not a bad one in the bunch. Try Earthquake Glue and I am sure you too will enjoy GBV like me. Enjoy!!

Day One With Fripp and Sylvian

The first time I heard David Sylvian was actually this album. Since I was a King Crimson fan I really wanted to hear this artist that Robert Fripp had with him. I knew very little, but I wished to hear more. With only seven songs this album is damn good for anyone who likes great guitar work and also wonderful vocals. I remember bringing it home wondering what this would sound like. I read the notes when I got home and realized that in some way I got excited to think there might be a King Crimson reunion soon. All these musicians I almost never heard of so maybe to me it was a new version of King Crimson. It turned out that two members of this project would be in the new King Crimson.

When I put the music on I realized the great voice of David Sylvian. He has a crisp and really beautiful tone to his voice. Something you don't get with many vocalist. His wonderful sound and the music the band was playing was a perfect match. There were great Fripp moments as well. His guitar stood in front with David's vocals and each worked off each other very well. The fun part was that the songs had great length to them and you did not have to worry about losing focus with them. They kept your attention all the way through.



Each track practically groove and breathe on his own. Fripp keeps our attention with an album full of funk, and electronica. The album is not boring or repetitive. And each song has a great unique spin on what their intent is. The musician's excitement and energy easily being felt from each song to the other. There is not a bad song in the bunch. Their is only seven songs, but that is all it needs. It's not overpowering with filler that tries to keep your attention. Fripp and Sylvian work well together. It was not the only time they did, but this is the first that they both took center stage. I never had the pleasure to see this tour, but I bet it would have been a great show. They really could have formed a super group on what they do together and with the great band backing them.



Want an album that works well then most? This is the album you have to listen to. So there is seven songs, but at a little over an hour, it works. It makes you play it a few times and you realize how great they are together. The signature Fripp licks are there and the music feels like a King Crimson album. It just does not have Adrian Belew singing and acting in his crazy way. The music is fresh, new and a must own. Try it today. I am sure you will like it. Enjoy!

Blue Tribute

In 1993 I saw Henry Kaiser at a rare record store show in New York City. A friend of mine who owns this store told me that It was something I strongly encouraged to go see. I had a friend who was older then I was who jumped at the chance to go to this show and went with me. I had no idea what to expect, he did not know either. He had a ton of his albums and he could play any number of them. As of this post he has over 100 albums out their where he either plays on or put out himself. He only has one career retrospective called Playola where it was sent to radio stations and to other places. I happened to get it on Ebay for a cheap price of $10.00. It now sells for way over that and is still hard to find. I have been offered a ton of money for by people who love his music like I do.

Henry's a musician with great taste in whatever he does. I never saw a musician with great skill on guitar. He appreciated his musical background and where the music needed to go. When I heard other albums that he put out I could see that his direction was unique. The music was wonderful and great and made me get more and more interested in his music. What I did not know was that his guitar playing started later then most. He started when he was about twenty. He picked up the instrument pretty easy.



My friend who went to the show was a huge fan of Henry Kaiser and on the way down he explained that Henry could change the dynamic of any album he was on. He could learn a style or genre and put a fun and unique idea to the artist he was working with. His great gift of understanding the music of world or even people like Capt. Beefheart or Derek Bailey. He could pick up on any sort of musical flavor. He even picked up on musical sounds from different parts of the world and added them to his guitar playing. Henry Kaiser's restless creativity unearthed many new and unconventional electric guitar techniques during these years, and he combined these innovations with a strong sense of logic and concise development, often aided by sophisticated sound-processing devices.

In the 80's he was fascinated with the music of the Grateful Dead. The music there was always something he wanted to explore. The free improving style became his trademark. There is even two albums he works with some impressive musicians as Fred Frith(Henry Cow), John French (Capt. Beefheart) and Richard Thompson (Fairport Convention). They made two albums together and those are wonderful and unique to listen to because they mix all types of styles and genres.



In the 90's he decided to explore the electric side of Miles Davis and more Grateful Dead. With the death of Jerry Garcia he realized that a major important figure was gone. He, as he mentioned in an interview did not want to capitalize on a tribute, but more as an appreciation of Jerry's legacy. Henry pointed out even more was the fact that Jerry sometimes gets lost as a great song writer. The Grateful Dead image tarnished that idea.

In the album I selected Eternity Blue the music of the Grateful Dead takes a new and wonderful spin. The music is fresh and fun and has some really cool guest people such as Tom Constanten and Bob Bralove and also a wonderful piano player in Marilyn Crispell. The music of the Dead and Jerry Garcia are here in great force. The even 30 minute "Blues For Allah" is unique and wonderful. There is even wonderful Bob Bralove and Kaiser tribute to Jerry. The music here is great and fun and you too should check it out. Enjoy!!

Van Der Graaf's Pawn Heart

When I first heard Van Der Graaf Generator I was about twenty years old. I was listening to this new radio show I found on the other side of the dial. It was better then the two Classic Rock Stations I been listening to. I was just getting into Jazz, which this station had, and it had a really neat Progressive Rock type show on Sunday nights. Each Sunday night was great because I could hear music that I never heard before. I mentioned this show in previous blog posts, but in case you forgot here is a quick recap. This show one night opened it's show with Jeff Beck's Beck's Bolero. The song is quite interesting and really ahead of it's time. Other nights it opened up with maybe a King Crimson song or even a really odd song by Yes. Once in a while he would throw the Progressive Rock out and open with Neil Young's "Last Trip To Tulsa." Neil's nine minute piece was quite interesting to say the least. A person young as myself was at a loss for words.

One night he opened up with a song called "Darkness 11/11." I had no idea who or what they were but the music was quite interesting. The song was seven minutes long, but the vocals were wonderful and the music that just sounded way out there. The organ, drums and Saxophones were an interesting mix. The bass was supplied by the organs pedals and once in a while you would hear a guitar. The music was really intense. He did not play just one of this stuff but he played a song that was about twenty-three minutes long. He got on the microphone and told us about one his favorite bands Van Der Graaf Generator. I wrote this down and went to see my friend the next day. I think my friend knew because he looked at me and told me he thought the opening of the radio show was great. He handed me a few tapes of Van Der Graaf. He made me a two 90 minute cassette of their music. He told me to listen carefully. The music is quite intense.



I agreed and put them in my car. The music was quite interesting and was full of audio theatrics and with different tempo and changes. It was really not any other Progressive I heard. I think what stood out was the music was long and had very few short songs to each piece that he gave me. I think the shortest was like seven minutes. Each part of the music was wonderful and full of emotion that I never heard before. The signature Van der Graaf Generator sound in the 1970s was a combination of Peter Hammill's distinctive and dynamic voice and David Jackson's electronically-treated saxophones, generally playing over thick chordal keyboard parts. The band explored the complete range of phonaesthetics from euphony to cacophony, often within the same song. Van der Graaf Generator albums tended to be darker in atmosphere than many of their prog-rock peers.

My friend told me that one album along had just three songs on it. To me that was quite amazing. I never heard music being played for for that long. I mean I heard it in a Jazz setting with Ornette Coleman or Tim Berne, but not in a rock setting. The music of Van Der Graaf Generator was great for it's time. There was moments of greatness that would have made other Progressive Rock bands get a little nervous. I liked the vocals a lot because Peter Hammill he was quite distinct in his approach.



The one album with three songs on it was the one I chose for this post. The music is innovative and fun. The music makes you really pay attention to what the hell is going on. I always thought they were interesting. Pawn Hearts is an album at least to get you in the right direction. The magic that was created was like no other and should be really listened with great interest. I got a wish granted and saw them live in 2009 and they were great, only wish I saw them in the height of their popularity. I was once told they did open for King Crimson in 1970 and 1971. I think it was at Fripp's request because he played on Pawn Hearts. The Music here is new and for most people fresh. Try it out and listen for yourself and enjoy! Have fun with this and tell me what you think. Let me know what you think of it. Rock On!!!!!

Attention Baby!!!

I will be the first to admit I am not the biggest u2 fan in the world. I have seen them six times looking for that moment that the fans around me go crazy for. It might be something simple or it might be just because they are crazy anyway. My first U2 show was in 1985. I thought they were good, but at that age of twelve I thought they were very good. Then again I saw them during the Joshua Tree tour and Achtung Baby Tour and I saw them two more times after that. It was a good show don't get me wrong, but the I really cannot place what makes people go crazy over them. The musicianship is pretty good. Edge's guitar playing is pretty good, but not enough to right home about. Bono's vocals are pretty good. I am really not sure if I missed something.

I have most of their music waiting for that thing to click. It might because their hits are pretty good and catchy. The hooks are great and I think what is even better is the fact that they use Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno as producers to change their sound. Both Daniel and Brian are very good at what they do. Daniel makes music sound really interesting and Brian is an icon who knows what is good. He does it well and if you don't believe me you should listen to either his music or the music he produced with the Talking Heads. What they do to U2 is quite amazing and fun. They put both their heads together and really make a band do something. My like for u2 is just that a like. I am sure the use of Brian and Daniel make me like u2 a bit more.



When trying to figure out what u2 album to choose it became a bit difficult. To choose a u2 album and only one is hard because being a casual fan and yes, I do like some singles from other albums. My choice was difficult. I could go with the album that got them the popularity in the first place or I could chose an album that changed their direction. I am not sure how much it left fans out in the cold, but the music is something I actually can listen to again and again. I don't jump for joy like other people do when they hear a song, but I do like the way each of these songs are crafted. Achtung Baby is actually pretty good. It's an album that has some very good qualities to it. The music sounds futuristic and that is why Wim Wenders used the title of a U2 song for a title of a movie. Wim Wenders loves that kind of stuff.

I think what I also like about this album is the fact that three songs on the album are some of the u2 songs I could listen to again and again. "Until The End Of The World" is a very good song. Also in that group of songs "Mysterious Ways" and "Zoo Station" are wonderful crafted songs. They were really ahead of their times for music. Full of percussion and great guitar playing without getting that early 90's guitar solos in music. When I did research for this album I heard they recorded most of it in Berlin. I really could see that, there is a mix of European music and stuff that we never heard of on this album.



As always I do put albums on this blog to tell you what to listen to. This album is a great starter of people that just casually listen to U2. Give it a listen and I am sure that it give u some ideas of what U2 were like in the early 90's. This I think is their most creative period in music. There is stuff on this album that I am still wondering where they got the ideas from. The music is wonderful and the fresh and most of all you will like it. Enjoy!!