Before They Were Famous: Jimi Hendrix

Here's Jimi performing with Curtis Knight & The Squires in Hackensack, NJ on December 26, 1965. 

Happy Birthday Johnny Dyani

Remembering bass boss Johnny Dyani with "Elhamdulillah Marimba" from his Witchdoctor's Son collaboration with Okay Temiz. 

American Longspurs release Two Southern Cut

Phoenix country rockers American Longspurs enlisted steel ace Jon Rauhouse on their new album Two Southern Cut out now. 

Watch Catl's performance from MoonRunners Fest

Catl's 30-minute Saturday set as part of the MoonRunners Music Festival starts at 4:44:28

Watch Kurt Vile & The Sadies perform "Baby's Arms"

"Baby's Arms" was shot for Kurt Vile's (bottle back) documentary. Watch 'em both below. 

Garage rippin' Ar-Kaics boast new comp, new drummer and new single

The Ar-Kaics are releasing their new Wick label single "To Be Free" on January 8th but their new Ar-Kives comp is out now.

Here's the scoop...

The Ar-Kaics are back with a double shot of their endangered mode of recreational expression / rebellion, and doing it just for Kaics! Recorded at Daptone amid the gloom and decay of the day, “To Be Free” b/w “Easy” (Wick Records) showcase the band's primitive garage sound in two nasty flights of fancy. Wash it down with the fun punch straight from the bowl, and listen for the proto psych and outright punk nonsense a-brewing. With a new drummer in tow, free & easy is the rally cry for their new lease on psych. Communion for heads and seekers alike! 

Hear the Ar-Kaics new "To Be Free" single and pre-order a copy via Daptone right here. 

Check out The Ar-Kaics' overlooked gems "Why Should I?" and "Let Me In" from their new comp Ar-Kives, Volume One: Singles & Unreleased (Dig! Records) below.  
 

Happy Birthday Randy Newman!

Celebrating Randy Newman's birthday with his coronavirus classic "Stay Away" – seems like good advice. 

Casper Skulls vs. Françoise Hardy

 Melanie St-Pierre (right) of Toronto's Casper Skulls does a fine version of Françoise Hardy's Phil Ochs cover "Où Va la Chance"

Members of The Bats, The Clean & Tall Dwarfs form Sundae Painters

Sundae Painters are Hamish Kilgour, Kaye Woodward, Paul Kean & Alec Bathgate. Listen to "Thin Air" and "Aversion"

 

One For The Weekend: Man Purse

"My Trash Can" is off Jon Rauhouse's Man Purse album with saxophonist Jerry Donato available right here. 

Just in time for the holidays, Kelly Finnigan issues A Joyful Sound

Kelly Finnigan is joined on his soulful Christmas LP by members of the Monophonics, Dap-Kings and others.

Here's the scoop...

Kelly Finnigan's A Joyful Sound – out now on Colemine Records – is a future soul classic with all the elements of a classic R&B record, but simply with a joyful holiday lean. With an all-star supporting cast from the contemporary soul scene this record is truly a family affair with Kelly at the wheel. Featuring members of Durand Jones & The Indications, The Dap-Kings, Ghost Funk Orchestra, Monophonics, Thee Sinseers, Orgone, Ikebe Shakedown, Jason Joshua & The Beholders, The True Loves, Neal Francis, Jungle Fire, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, Ben Pirani, The Jive Turkeys, The Ironsides, The Harlem Gospel Travelers, Rudy De Anda, Alanna Royale, and more! Inspired by records like Atlantic's "Soul Christmas", Phil Spector's "A Christmas Gift For You" and Rotary Connection's "Peace" this album will be a record that will appeal not only to lovers of holiday music, but lovers of SOUL music in general! 

This is Kelly Finnigan's third full-album production in just under two years, including his debut LP "The Tales People Tell" and Monophonics' most recent effort "It's Only Us". He is rapidly establishing himself as a key producer, songwriter, and performer in the current soul scene. Listen to A Joyful Sound below and get a copy via Bandcamp right here. 

Happy Birthday Davy Graham

Remembering influential UK guitar great Davy Graham on his 80th birthday with a couple of amazing early recordings. 

Altin Gün preview new Yol album with "Ordunun Dereleri"

"Ordunun Dereleri" is off Altin Gün's forthcoming Yol album out February 26. Watch the video followed by a 2019 performance clip below. 

Here's the scoop...

The Amsterdam-based Altin Gün return with a masterful single - and upcoming album - that widens their critically acclaimed exploration of Anatolian rock and Turkish psychedelic folk to include dreamy 80’s synth-pop and dancefloor excursions. 

The band are a renowned live act with strings of sold-out shows on three continents, whose recordings are marked by muscular grooves and vibrant melodies. Yol, their third album in as many years - and the follow up to their GRAMMY nominated second album Gece - excitedly continues that trend; while also digging in deep to unveil a new palette of sonic surprises. 

“Ordunun Dereleri” – the debut single from their new Yol album out February 26th on Glitterbeat Records – is a reimagining of a traditional Turkish folk song, a classical love story about two doomed lovers, that showcases the band’s thrilling shift towards a synth-driven Europop sound. Mysterious and atmospheric, the track features down-tempo electro beats, majestic synths and Erdinç Ecevit's yearning vocals of unrequited love. The single comes accompanied by the band’s very first narrative video, a gorgeous clip shot in the forests of the Netherlands. 

You can get the "Ordunun Dereleri" single right here. Watch the video followed by Altin Gün's performance at the Route du Rock Festival in November 2019 below. 

Watch Angola's Belita Palma sing with N'gola Ritmos

Here's a rare clip of the late great Belita Palma performing with Angolan traditional group N'gola Ritmos.

Midweek Mixdown: La Voz del Caribe

Check out the Radio Martiko's swingin' Caribbean mix of vintage plena, biguine, compas, guaracha and merengue right here. 

Happy Birthday Nat Adderley

Remembering the late great Nat Adderley on his birthday with his Don't Look Back album from 1976.

Cary Hudson talks about his new album Hobolochitto

Blue Mountain mainman Cary Hudson's great new album Hobolochitto is out now via Bandcamp right here. Listen to his interview below.

Floyd Lee's Blues On 30th Street album gets recirculated

Produced by guitarist Elliott Sharp in 1996, Floyd Lee's enjoyably raw Blues On 30th Street album is now available on Bandcamp.

Here's the scoop from Elliott Sharp...

Floyd Lee, aka Ted Williams was born in 1933 near Clarksdale, Mississippi but raised by his aunt with Guitar Floyd in Memphis. As a child he picked cotton and was able to attend school only a few months of the year. He began playing guitar at 11 on a homemade box and was shown his first licks by Guitar Slim whom he followed along with Sonny Boy Williamson as they performed on the street, at rent parties, and in jukes. He later obtained his first guitar when it was left behind in the cellar at a rent party. After Guitar Slim taught him his first song, he was playing it on his porch and a little girl came over to him and gave him a kiss. He then decided to learn two songs. Floyd Lee moved to Cleveland during the 1940's where he attended high school and won a contest which gave him the opportunity to serve as a batboy for the Cleveland Indians. During the fifties he sometimes played second guitar for Jimmy Reed. He moved to NYC in 1973 and played with Wilson Pickett and other blues and R'nB musicians but mostly worked as a cook and doorman. After retiring he devoted himself to his music and could be found mostly performing in the Times Square and Penn subway stations where I first heard him. Wendy Oxenhorn asked me to record him and so this session came to be. As a guitarist, Floyd could play classic country blues but he loved his Strat plugged into an auto-wah and delay to provide a heavily vocalized counterpoint to his voice on electric tracks. We set up quickly one wintry day and cut some tracks, all first takes - raw and unpolished, sitting in a circle in the live room when Studio zOaR shared a recording suite in midtown. 

Drummer Walter Williams was an old-time Harlem hipster who played with Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Hot Lips Page and many others. Bassist Kenny Aaronson now holds down the bass chair in The Yardbirds with extensive credits including Bob Dylan and Billy Idol. Director of the Jazz Foundation, Wendy Oxenhorn also blows a mean harmonica on a couple of tracks. 

Get a copy of Floyd Lee's Blues On 30th Street via Bandcamp right here. Listen to "Bright Lights, Big City" below. 

Grammy-nominee Don Bryant performs a Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

Here's Memphis soul great Don Bryant singing a couple of songs at home with his socially-distanced Bo-Keys pals. 

Congrats to Don Bryant on his Grammy nomination for his latest album, You Make Me Feel on Fat Possum available right here.

Happy Birthday Anatoly Vapirov!

Celebrating the birthday of Berdiansk-born saxophonist/composer Anatoly Vapirov with his intriguing avant jazz gem from 1976.

Happy Birthday R.L. Burnside

Remembering blues great R.L. Burnside on his birthday with the 2002 documentary You See Me Laughin' 

Corey Ledet carries on family zydeco tradition

Zydeco torchbearer Corey Ledet swings hard on his latest album, Corey Ledet Zydeco out January 15.

Here's the scoop...

Corey Ledet's latest album, Corey Ledet Zydeco is the Houston-born zydeco star's 14th album since releasing his full-length debut 3 Years 2 Late in 2004. Corey Ledet Zydeco is being released by Arnaudville, Louisiana’s Nouveau Electric Records on CD, digital download and via streaming platforms January 15. Fans of authentic French Creole "La La" style zydeco should note that Nouveau Electric also released Goldman Thibodeaux & The Lawtell Playboys fantastic Mark Bingham-produced album La Danse à St. Ann’s feat. Lost Bayou Ramblers fiddler Louis Michot back in May which you can get via Bandcamp right here.  

Corey Ledet Zydeco was produced by Ledet and Louis Michot, recorded at Dockside Studios, Maurice, Louisiana, June 2019 with Justin Tocket engineering and mixing. It was mastered by Mark Bingham at Nina Hwy Studio, nearby in Henderson. Corey is featured on lead, harmony and background vocals, accordion, drums and washboard. He was joined in the studio by Cecil Green on Hammond B3 organ, bassist Lee Allen Zeno, harmonica player Grant Dermody, Julian Primeaux on rhythm and lead guitar and backing vocals, and Gerard Delafose on drums and washboard.

Corey Ledet Zydeco pays homage to Ledet’s family and musical heritage which are inextricably combined. His great-grandfather, Gabriel Ledet, played professionally with the colourful early jazz legend Bunk Johnson as an upright bassist. Grandfather, Buchanan played drums with Clifton Chenier and Rockin’ Dopsie, as zydeco’s first drummer and invented the twice-pumped bass drumming pattern called “double clutching” that’s been an integral part of the genre ever since. Numerous members of this extended French speaking Creole family followed in their footsteps, playing professionally and non-professionally in the decades that followed. Corey’s rise to zydeco royalty in the 21st century was a fait accompli.

Working towards promoting the cultural heritage of his family’s hometown of Parks, Louisiana, he studied and incorporated Kouri-Vini, a regional dialect spoken by family members into songs on this album. 

Ledet always studied a broad range of different musical genres owing to the love for all music deep in his soul. When he started to research his family’s genealogical roots, he found out that their musical roots dated back to late 1800s. They performed in a variety of the outfits that played ragtime, early jazz, bebop, zydeco and blues. Learning this brought Corey a deep connection with his ancestors; and he realized that his interest in such a wide variety of music had hallowed precedent. 

Corey Ledet was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and spent his Summers with relatives in small-town Parks, where he was exposed to their Kouri-Veni language and Creole traditions. This molded and shaped Corey’s world in a profound way. This culture has its roots in Louisiana, but eventually spread across the country, including into neighboring Texas. When he returned home after summer, Corey was able to remain immersed in the Creole culture he learned to love.

He learned everything he could about Creole culture – the traditions, the food, and most importantly, the music -- so that he could incorporate it into all aspects of his life.

His love for Creole zydeco music was instant and hard to ignore. Ledet studied the originators of the music like Clifton Chenier, John Delafose, and Boozoo Chavis. His studies branched out to include any (and all) Zydeco artists. At the age of 10, Corey started picking up shows as drummer for Houston’s Wilbert Thibodeaux and the Zydeco Rascals and slowly learned his way around the main instrument of the style – accordion. He came to truly love every type of accordion: the single-note, triple-note and piano key … as well as still more exotic species! He worked at building his skills and coming to know knew each one intimately.

By the time he graduated from high school, Ledet was certain that music would be the focus of his future. Eventually, he moved to Louisiana to be fully immersed in his beloved Creole culture.

To this day, Corey Ledet remains true to his family and cultural roots and looks for ways to incorporate them in his musical work and style of living. He’s created his own unique style out of the diverse influences of the many musicians he’s studied, blending old and new styles of zydeco, and more!

Check out Corey Ledet's livestream shot in Lafayette, Louisiana back in May below.

Watch Jon Spencer & The HITmakers play "Just Wanna Die" in France

Check out Jon Spencer, Bob Bert, Sam Coomes and M. Sord rippin' at La Rodia last November in Besançon, France.

Teenage Fanclub previews new Endless Arcade album with "Home"

Watch the video for "Home" off Teenage Fanclub's forthcoming Endless Arcade album out March 5 via Merge Records. 

Rare Afro-funk album by IPA-Boogie reissued by Acid Jazz Records

The re-release of IPA-Boogie's sought-after 1978 debut album is part of the Acid Jazz's roll out of the Albarika Store treasures.

Here's the scoop...

The Acid Jazz label's exclusive licensing agreement with Albarika Store – the legendary record label that defined the sound of Benin and influenced the entire region of West Africa and beyond – begins an exhaustive look at the archive which will present the label in a way that ensures its historical importance is recognized. 

The first releases will be a series of super-rare and in-demand original albums to be reissued on vinyl. Transferred from the original tapes and mastered by Frank Merritt at The Carvery, they are presented with beautiful artwork and packaging to match the sonics. This is the music as it should be heard. 

IPA-Boogie – is a super rare LP from 1978 that almost never surfaces in good shape. Today even average condition copies can command £500 to £1,000 on the collector's market and for good reason. These are the only known recordings by this obscure band and present the listener with some of the finest Afro-boogie, Afro funk the extensive catalogue has on offer. Get a copy of the IPA-Boogie reissue via Bandcamp right here. Check out "Get The Music Now" and "Jesus Kese Me" below.  

That time Noel Gallagher took the Hot Ones challenge

Noel offers his take on American football, Oasis fans, Brexit, Kanye West and more while downing some very spicy chicken wings.

Al Bloch advises "You Gotta Have A Plan"

Al Bloch's new album Protest Songs is out now on Green Monkey. Check out "You Gotta Have A Plan" below. 

Here's what Al Bloch has to say...

Hello, Al Bloch here. This album, Protest Songs was recorded in September and October of this year, with me recording my parts remotely in Roanoke, VA and Kurt Bloch producing and recording his parts at Strictly Vintage in Seattle. I wrote all the songs after the recording of my other 2020 album, It Was All Once Bright Jewels, and while I thought the songs would be profoundly influenced by the coronavirus pandemic, they turned out with nary a mention of it. Which probably is better for the listener, because really . . . who wants to keep being reminded of the events of this horrible year? So, ultimately the songs ended up being about zombies, pirates, cavemen, and other topics important to me, but not at all relevant to the year 2020. They came out of me, nonetheless. I thought the songs were good enough to present to my brother Kurt, and see if he would be up for working his magic and bringing them to life. He accepted, and arrangements were created and recording ensued. The songs were laid down very quickly, and that was pretty much that, as they say. The Bloch Brothers don’t mess around. Tom Dyer, from Green Monkey Records, jumped onboard and agreed to release Protest Songs. (happily -td) 

The album could very well have been credited to both Al Bloch and Kurt Bloch, as Kurt’s contributions were monumental and breathed life into my songs and really made them crackle. AND, because Kurt has much clout in the music world, he was even able to get the band BAD SCENE to join us for a cover of the great 1975 UFO song, “This Kid’s.” That song ends this album, but before that you get ten new Al Bloch songs that are pretty great, if I do say so myself. All songs were written on a Taylor acoustic guitar in a small room in my house, dedicated to my musical pursuits. In this room, which I keep very dark, I'm free to visit those places in my brain where I think those deep, rambling, non-linear thoughts that I try to coax outside with the sound of a pretty guitar chord. Sometimes I succeed and I have something that I call a song, a designation many would find debatable. These songs make me happy, and I’m glad I was able to record them with my brother Kurt, who is awesome. Also awesome is my daughter, the very talented Olivia Bloch, who sings with me on “A Pirate Melody.” Sort of a family affair, you could say. Which is just fine with me. I hope you, the listener, enjoy this album. And don’t get too comfortable, I hope to have another album out in mid-2021 that you might like even better. Thank you! 

Get a copy of Al Bloch's new album Protest Songs via Bandcamp right here. 

Kelley Stoltz releases new album Ah! (etc)

Kelley is joined by Bunnymen guitarist Will Sergeant, Allyson Baker and Karina Deniké formerly of Dance Hall Crashers. 

Here's the scoop...

'I was guzzling wine at my favorite bar in San Francisco, the Rite Spot, and the entertainment that night was some local opera singers singing along with a big video screen showing a collage of various operatic moments with subtitles. One particular subtitle, 'Ah! (etc)' made me laugh, I thought it was a perfect description of life -- the joy of existence against the etcetera of it all, the struggle. With a heavy head of rosé it seemed like ecstatic poetry! I scribbled it on a napkin and thought it might make a good title for something" And so the mystery behind the title of Kelley Stoltz's new record is solved. Less of a mystery is the quality contained therein: after twelve releases and a several more under pseudonyms, Stoltz is the word for "one-man-band-home-recording-pop-songs of idiosyncratic character.' A quick follow up to his more power pop and pub rock LP only Hard Feelings offering in the summer, Ah! (etc) finds Stoltz returning to his sweet spot, writing songs that never were, but should have been in the '60s and '80s. As with other releases, Stoltz makes virtually every noise on the album which was written and recorded in 2019 at his Electric Duck Studio in San Francisco. A few friends popped in to play along: Stoltz former bandmate, Echo & the Bunnymen's Will Sergeant adds electric guitar to 'The Quiet Ones' a sort of Scott Walker lyrical take on strangers and neighbors. Karina Deniké formerly of Dance Hall Crashers adds gorgeous vocals on the bossanova groover 'Moon Shy', where Sergeant pops up again in a spoken word role on the outro. Allyson Baker of SF's Dirty Ghosts sings on 'She Likes Noise', a song Stoltz wrote for her in celebration of her love of seeing live bands." 

Get the new Kelley Stoltz album Ah! (etc) via Bandcamp right here. Listen to "She Likes Noise," "Moon Shy" and "The Quiet Ones" below.

Happy Birthday Dr. John!

Remembering Dr. John on his birthday with "Revolution" off his prescient Locked Down album from 2012. 

One For The Weekend: Mia Doi Todd

L.A. singer/songwriter Mia Doi Todd previews her Music Life album with the title track feat. Money Mark & Jeff Parker.

Whaddya mean you don't know Bill Stone

Maine singer/songwriter's overlooked folk/psych gem Stone is being reissued by Drag City in February. Listen to Charlotte's Town.

Pre-order a limited-run vinyl repress of Bill Stone's rare Stone album via Bandcamp right here. 

Happy Birthday Don Cherry!

Remembering jazz trumpeter/composer Don Cherry on his birthday with 1978 documentary & Antibes show from 1980. 

Listen to Nick Lowe chat with Gary Kemp & Guy Pratt

Hear Nick Lowe discuss Tennessee Ernie Ford, his Bay City Rollers salute and being underwhelmed by Chrissie Hynde's songs.

Happy Birthday Robert Drasnin

Remembering composer/arranger Robert Drasnin on his birthday with a couple of early exotica gems. 

Matthew Halsall releases Salute To The Sun November 20

UK jazz trumpeter Matthew Halsall debuts his new Manchester band on his forthcoming double album, Salute To The Sun.

Here's the scoop...

Composer, trumpeter, producer, DJ and founder of Gondwana Records, Matthew Halsall remains first and foremost an artist and a musician. A trumpeter whose unflashy, soulful playing radiates a thoughtful beauty and a composer and band-leader who has created his own rich sound world. A sound that draws on the heritage of British jazz, the spiritual jazz of Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, as well as world music and electronica influences, and even modern art and architecture, to create something uniquely his own. A music that is rooted in Northern England but draws on global inspirations. 

Salute to the Sun is his first album as a leader since Into Forever (2015) and marks the debut of his new band. A hand-picked ensemble featuring some of Manchester’s finest young musicians: Matt Cliffe flute & saxophone, Maddie Herbert harp, Liviu Gheorghe piano, Alan Taylor drums and Jack McCarthy percussion as well as long-time Halsall collaborator, bassist, Gavin Barras who has been at the heart of Halsall’s bands for over a decade. For Matthew it was important to have a band based locally and able, pre-Covid, to meet and play each week, and who also performed a sold-out monthly basement session at Yes in Manchester. The album draws energy from these sessions and inspiration from themes and ideas that have inspired Halsall through the years – as with his previous albums Oneness, Fletcher Moss Park and When the World Was One – such as the ecology, the environment and harmony with nature. 

“I feel Salute to the Sun is a positive earthy album," says Halsall. "I wanted to create something playful but also quite primitive, earthy and organic that connected to the sounds in nature. I was listening to lush ambient field recordings of tropical environments such as jungles and rainforests and found myself drawn to percussive atmospheric sounds which replicated what I was hearing (bells / shakers / chimes / rain sticks) and I started to experiment with more wooden percussive instruments such as kalimba and marimba.”

Salute to the Sun features lush wholly improvised tunes inspired by ambient rainforest and jungle field recordings, deeply soulful tunes built around hypnotic harp and kalimba patterns, deep Strata-East inspired spiritual jazz grooves and some of Halsall’s most beautiful playing and inspiring healing melodies yet recorded. 

The album was recorded at the band’s weekly sessions, using Halsall’s own recording set-up, giving the recordings a relaxed vibe and unforced energy that really lets the music breath. The album is also very much a family affair as Halsall’s brother Daniel Halsall, artistic director of Gondwana Records, was an important presence at the sessions and co-produced the album. It is also his memorable artwork that adorns the cover of Salute to the Sun, an album beautifully designed by legendary designer Ian Anderson of The Designers Republic, who also created the covers for the recent archival releases Oneness, Sending My Love and Colour Yes and is one of Halsall’s favourite designers. Together Daniel Halsall and Ian Anderson have designed all of Matthew’s seven albums to date, so it felt extra-special to bring them together for, Salute to the Sun, an album that Halsall was determined to present in the very best way possible. The album was mixed with another long-time collaborator, George Atkins at 80 Hertz in Manchester, who works tirelessly with Halsall to perfect the sound and was mastered by noted engineer Peter Beckmann who brings an added depth to the sound specially around the bass notes as well as Halsall’s trumpet. The magnificent double vinyl was cut as a Half Speed master by Barry Grint at Alchemy Mastering for the best possible analogue experience. 

Matthew Halsall's Salute To The Sun album is available November 20 but you can pre-order it right here. Watch the preview clip followed by a performance of "Joyful Spirits Of The Universe" below. 

 

Happy Birthday Hubert Sumlin!

Remembering blues guitar great Hubert Sumlin with an interview clip and a stellar performance backing Howlin' Wolf in 1970. 

Gwenifer Raymond returns with Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain

Guitarist Gwenifer Raymond's fierce finger-picking style is well showcased on her latest exploration of her Welsh roots. 

Here's the scoop from Gwenifer...

"My new album, Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain (available from Tompkins Square Records right here), has eight songs in it. All were recorded in a basement flat in central Brighton, locked-down amidst a global pandemic. I recorded them myself and neither I, nor any of the songs saw said outbreak coming. Coronavirus may have dictated the circumstance under which the album was recorded but it did not otherwise inform any of the compositions that run through it; like I said, we didn't see it coming.

"Growing up in Wales was not a theme strongly present in my first record (perhaps not too surprising in an album of 'American Primitive'), but I feel as though my memories of that time have started to insinuate themselves in the tunes here. In my opinion, landscape does a lot to shape a community's folk music; from my childhood I recall tall, spooky trees, black against the grey sky, breath misting in cold air, and I have tried to take something of Welsh folk horror to make my own 'Welsh Primitive'. 

"Whilst this isn't the only theme present in the album, childhood memories do form the background for a couple of tracks: coal trains steaming along the foot of our garden, rattling the glasses on the kitchen table; and the titular 'Strange Lights...' dancing above the peak of the mountain which loomed over the house where I grew up. Dead men also feature prominently, as well as personal tragedies and the madness of touring. 

"It's possible this album is leaning more into the left-field than the first - the songs are longer and more 'compositional' for lack of a better word, rather than deriving so heavily from the folk and blues traditions, though, they're still there - all of those dead men are hard to shake. Some parts go fast and others go slow. Sometimes I play more aggressively than I intend to and other times I play exactly as aggressively as I intend to. I still say it's punk music and I have no idea what key the last tune is in." – Gwenifer Raymond

Listen to “Gwaed Am Gwaed,” “Eulogy for Dead French Composers” and “Hell For Certain” below.

Happy Birthday Jerome Richardson

Remembering the late great Jerome Richardson on his birthday with "No Problem" from Going To The Movies. 

Jason Palma salutes Candido on his Higher Ground show

Listen to Jason Palma's sweet selection of Candido's recordings in honour of the late great Cuban conguero right here.

Celebrating the life and music of Candido

Duke Ellington “Madam Zajj” (Columbia)

Kenny Burrell “Rhythmorama” (Blue Note)

Candido “Ghana Spice (Part 1)” (Blue Note)

Dizzy Gillespie “Caravan” (Norgran)

Candido “Toccata” (Roulette)

Candido “Candido Cocktail” (ABC Paramount)

Candido “Candi’s Funk” (Salsoul)

Candido “Soulwanco” (Polydor)

Candido “Tic Tac Toe” (Blue Note)

Buddy Rich “Countin Them Long White Lines” (RCA)

Xiomara Alfaro “Nana Burucu” (Zambia)

Candido “Dancin’ & Prancin’” (Salsoul)

David Amram “Para Los Papines” (Flying Fish)

Ellen Mcilwaine “Wings Of A Horse” (Polydor)

Randy Weston “Introduction: Uhuru Kwanzaa” (Roulette)

Art Blakey “Cubano Chant” (Columbia)

Wynton Kelly “Escapade” (Verve)

Candido “Conga Soul” (Roulette)

Dizzy Gillespie “A Night In Tunisia” (Norgran)

Sonny Rollins “Jungoso” (RCA)

Bobby Hutcherson “Slow Change” (Blue Note)

The Billy Taylor Trio with Candido “Mambo Inn” (Prestige)

Candido “Thousand Finger Man” (Salsoul)

Candido “Jingo” (Salsoul)

Wes Montgomery “Bumpin” (Verve)

Happy 50th Birthday Brendan Benson!

Celebrating Brendan's birthday with clips of his Dear Life album launch which he'll reprise with a full band livestream tonight.

 

Watch Brendan's full-band performance of his Dear Life album livestreamed from The 5 Spot tonight at 5:20 pm Eastern. 

Listen to Badge Époque Ensemble's "Just Space For Light"

"Just Space For Light" (feat. Jennifer Castle) is off Badge Époque Ensemble's forthcoming Self Help LP out Nov. 20th. Get it here.

Here's the scoop....

Recorded live in the months before lockdown, Badge Époque Ensemble's new Self Help album on Telephone Explosion Records is an exploratory record that dances across time and genre, guided by fidgety miniatures and jazz inflected collage. While constructed from the inspiration of soul, funk and film music, BÉE mediate those influences having first digested them through the productions of Madlib and the RZA. Throughout, the band pool together their instrumental chops, moving from fluid and serpentine R&B to meditative, minimalistic piano, evoking a contrast of virtuosity and self-surrender.

BÉE – Self Help

A sticker on the sleeve tells us Self Help “combines jazz-funk and mysticism,” a signpost to where its musical and spiritual concerns align. The jazz-funk component translates to arresting hooks in sideways song forms: echoes of Gainsbourg spooled through Azymuth-style Brazilian jazz and punctuated by the whip and snap of Steely Dan. “The Sound Where My Head Was”, the instrumental centrepiece, exemplifies present-wave jazz but also ancient sounds, giving off the mothballed air of a Hiroshi Yoshimura record in a library-music archive.

Self Help’s mysticism emerges in broad and specific ways, denoting not only a search beyond cliché and intellect but also an inquiry into the beat, the spirit, the one will. This isn’t new territory for them: Turnbull – the artist formerly known as Slim Twig, who writes and performs with U.S. Girls and various other Toronto concerns – named the group’s Nature, Man & Woman EP after the Alan Watts book. Building these songs from his drafts over three weekends at Toronto’s Palace Sound studio, the ensemble was free to tap out of the city and into some other place, taking up residence in a collective mind maze.

The album produces, in equal measure, familiar surprises and the surprisingly familiar. Intoxicated jazz riffs swerve left at phantom intersections. Rhythms cut loose and tie you in knots. But wired into each song is a sense of gentle accumulation, making every featherlight flourish weigh a ton.

The soul shimmer of “Unity (It’s Up to You)” lets the players pool their R&B chops into something fluid and serpentine while, on guest vocals, the musical performance artist James Baley issues urgent declaratives: “Water must pool, as a rule, before tasted/Or else the water is wasted.” The words throughout the record complement the ensemble music while riffing on the precarious nature of unity itself. Then, closer “Extinct Commune” finds Turnbull deserted at the piano, playing phrases of meditative minimalism taking after the composer Joanna Brouk. For all the record’s reach, it is these contrasting quiet moments that bring Self Help’s communal spirit into focus.

A note on personnel: Badge Époque Ensemble now has a seventh member in Karen Ng, the saxophonist and sometime collaborator of Do Make Say Think, Feist, and others. In BÉE, Ng joins Chris Bezant and Giosuè Rosati, her bandmates in the Andy Shauf live band, as well as U.S. Girls co-conspirators Turnbull and Ed Squires, and other Torontonian cross-pollinators listed below. Guest vocalists across Self Help include Meg Remy, who sings with Dorothea Paas on the opener, James Baley, and Toronto singer-songwriter Jennifer Castle on the remarkable “Just Space for Light”. – Jazz Monroe

Badge Époque Ensemble is: Jay Anderson: Drum Kit / Chris Bezant: Guitar / Karen Ng: Saxophone / Alia O’Brien: Flute / Ed Squires: Conga, percussion / Giosuè Rosati: Bass / Maximilian ‘Twig’ Turnbull: Fender Rhodes, clavinet, synthesizers. 

Listen to "Just Space For Light" below. 

 

One For The Weekend: Patti Smith & Fred Smith

Here's Fred & Patti Smith performing an acoustic version of "People Have The Power" back in March, 1990. 

 

T.O.'s Horseshoe Tavern stars in Gord Downie's "No Solace" video

"No Solace" is off Gord Downie's album Away Is Mine recorded in July, 2017. Watch Tim Thompson's video below. 

Tim Thompson’s Director’s Statement:

"There you are..."

The legend of the Horseshoe.

The site of so many nights of good fortune. 

“I can imagine us now…"

This song is like a dream on repeat.

Gord continues to help from the sweet hereafter.

If the walls could talk, and the nights they'd speak of.

Music, memories and ghosts.

Forever...

xo,

T