Lyle Lovett

Have not made a post in awhile.

I am not much for country unless it has a good touch of songwriting and folk in the artist.  One such artist is Lyle Lovett.  He chooses his material well and plays either with a small sparse band or a large mini-bi band.  I have most of his albums and like them all to varying degrees.  My favorite is Joshua Judges Ruth.  That one should be in everyone's music library.  Every song is good.  It could be retitled Ballads and Blues.  Two songs, Baltimore and North Dakota are excellent.  He is excellent live, if you ever get a chance to see him, go.  I saw him twice as an opening act for Sting and than Bonnie Raitt.  He had his large band with him and for an opening act, his sets were a bit long but entertaining.  The players in his band are very good.  One other album, I would recommend is Step Inside This House.  It is a tribute, all covers, to Texas Singer Songwriters such as Townes Van Zandt and many others.  It is very nice and introspective to listen to.  I got it as a download for 5$ from Amazon.  It is a short double album (21 songs) so this price is a good deal.  Check it out and you will not be sorry!  The man has such a great voice for the ballads.  Most of his songs have a way of getting in your head and sticking there.  A very good country-folk artist!!  A good classification for him is LBACSS, laid back alternative country singer songwriter!!

That is all for this entry.  I have been busy with my music.  I am trying to unload some of my cassettes and albums.  It is not easy.  It seems cassettes are a thing of the past and no one wants or plays them anymore.  Vinyl is making a slight comeback but mostly for the popular stuff and not jazz or classical. I have some great jazz and classical and I hate to just throw them out.

I may buy a program for converting them to Digital.  Golden Records is one and I have tried it and it seems to work well.  Has anyone out there any opinions on this subject.  One issue is this approach is very time consuming as the transfer is in real time.

MOG is a great streaming service and I have tried it out about one month now and I like it a lot. You can download the songs you like on your IPOD or IPHONE.  It has lots of choices and the streaming is high quality.  However, on a IPAD it is hard to tell the difference.  It is a much better service than PANDORA.

That is all.  Hope all of you followers (if any) are having a nice summer.

Uncle Joe

Duke Ellington

I love the old and some of the modern big band jazz.  The master is the Duke.  He wrote such great tunes for his soloists: Johnny Hodges, Ben Webster, and many more.  His band ran from the late 20s all the way to when he died in the 70s and his son carried it on for a while longer.

I have lots of Duke Ellington on CD and some vinyl.  Two of my favorites are And His Mother Called Him Bill (a tribute to Billy Stayhorn) and The Far East Suite.  Both are from the 60s and represent some of his more modern recordings.  The album he did with Coltrane is also one of my favorites.  And the one with Armstrong.  The one with Coltrane is small band combo and the one with Louis is with a little larger group.

He has a touch of classical in his music, good arrangements etc.  Anyways, if you do not have some than download one of the above and sit back and listen to American Classical Music.

Also, NAXOS has  a new recording called Black, Brown, and Beige recorded by the Buffalo Philharmonic. It consists of nothing but Duke Ellington tunes recorded by an orchestra.  I am sure the Buffalo orch. is not a major one but the disc received good reviews and high ratings.  I am going to download a copy.  It is only $5.99 on AMAZON and I have sampled it.  Sounds great.

That is, remember It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing!

One more comment,

Other great big bands: Count Basie, Lew Tabackin and Toshiko Akiyoshi Big Band, and the Thad Jones and Mel Lewis Big Band.  One old, one from the 60s-70s, and one more modern with a Eastern touch to much on the music.  All great stuff.

Uncle Joe!!

Rod Stewart

I was calling him the Barry Manilow of today's music or of my generation.

Well, he finally released a new CD that is a throw back to the early days when he was making Maggie May(Every Picture Tells A Story) and Gasoline Alley.  Two great albums from the 70s that helped define him.  He did record some good albums with the Faces that were a little more hard rocking.  In the 80s he tried disco and some of it sucked (like most music from that time).  In the 90s,  I guess he took a break because he never went into alternative.  Than we had that awful streak of him dong standards in the style of Barry Manilow!!  Singing really old tunes from the 40s and 50s with orchestra.

Well, I am glad to see him come back into the fold and I will have to check his new CD out.  I always liked his voice and the way it fit his music.  He had good musicians around him and usually chose some great tunes from other songwriters plus wrote some good ones himself.  Hope he is back to stay.

Uncle Joe!!

I have been real busy so I have not made any new posts for awhile.

I have been listening a lot to cello music.  My favorite cellist is Rostropovich.  I have a lot of Yo Yo Ma but the master is Rostropovich.  His recordings of the Dvorak cello concerto are beautiful.  Try the one with the London Symphony Orchestra.  His Bach Cello suites are the best also.  Almost any recording by him will be great.  He was the master of the CELLO!!  The Dvorak is the greatest cello concerto in classical music and the Bach cello suites are the best solo music for cello.

I also recently downloaded a recording of the Boccherini cello concertos, vol. 4 on Naxos on Amazon.  It is extremely pleasant and relaxing to listen to.  Boccherini is an underrated Baroque composer and all of his music is quite delightful.

I like the cello because of its sound and how it can demand attention and drown out other instruments.  It can be extremely melodic as well.  I am not a musician but I think it would be a very difficult instrument to play.

The other deals I found recently on Amazon are recordings of the complete String symphonies and solo concertos by Mendelssohn.  They were only 8-9$ each and both downloads have over 4 hours of music.  They are from the BIS label which make extremely good sounding classical music.  Anyways, a real bargain of a boat load of music.  Mendelssohn is quite pleasant and reminds me of Mozart.  His really good stuff was written when he was in his teens!!  So many great bargains of classical music on Amazon!!  I will try to post some more stuff over the next few days.  Have a nice and relaxing weekend!!

Joe P.

NEIL YOUNG

Neil is my favorite singer songwriter.  Not a great voice but it grows on you and it fits his music.  He does what he wants.  He goes from Crazy Horse to acoustic ballads to reworks of folk tunes.  His guitar playing is unique.  Acoustic, he can hold his own with anyone.  Electric, again an acquired taste but some of his long  solos are fantastic.  Cortez the Killer is his best!  Shades of Hendrix!

And the songs.  So many great ones: Old Man, Heart of Gold, Rockin' In The Free World, Out of The Blue, etc.

I have most of his CDs.  My favorites are Harvest, After the Gold Rush, Harvest Moon, Tonight's The Night, and Everybody Knows This is Nowhere.  2012 was a prolific year for Neil.  He released two CDs and wrote a book.  What wouldn't Neil Say or Do?

One of latest CDs is called LeNoise (2011).  It is only Neil solo but mostly with an electric guitar.  A somewhat different approach.  It was produced by Daniel Lanois who has produced some very good albums for Dylan and others.  It is a little short for a CD but most of the songs are good to excellent.  Favorite songs from the CD are Love and War, Peaceful Valley Boulevard, Rumblin', and Walk With Me.  Not one of Neil's best but a solid album and a good listen every now and than.  Worthy to go on my IPOD. I would rate it 4 1/2 stars.

There is a ton of bootleg Neil on the net if you do some searchin'.  If you can find them, most of them are from soundboards and they sound quite good.  He did a great solo tour in the late 90s and if you can find some from that era, they are great.  I did go to see him once in the early 90s at the Richfield Coll.  With Crazy Horse, it was a great and loud concert.  No acoustic stuff that night.

Also, Neil has done some very good DVDs.  His personal story is quite touching if you read up on him.

So, that is all and everything I want to say about NY for now.  Long live Neil and RUST NEVER SLEEPS.

Joe P. April 1, 2013

Jazz today.  BLUE NOTE RECORDS

I love blue note as a jazz record company.  Most of the music was made in the 50s and 60s.  However the company is still around today.  The best stuff was in the 60s and most of it was hard bop with trumpet, sax, bass, drums, and piano.  There are lots of great jazz artists who made their best music on Blue Note.  Thelonious Monk, Lee Morgan, Horace Silver, Grant Green, and many more.  The latter are two of my favorites.

Grant Green made at least two dozen of his own albums plus guested on many others.  He plays the electric guitar. His solos are beautiful.  Check out an album called Idle Moments.  Definitely five stars.  I have most of his music on CDs.  Horace Silver was and still is an incredible funky piano player.  He is still alive.  His best album is a classic, Song For My Father.  Lots of his tunes have a Carribean sound.  I think his father was born in the Virgin Islands.  You will recognize the opening bars of the title song.  Steely Dan borrowed it for Riki, don't lose that number.  Anyways, another five stars for this album.

Also, on the above albums, Joe Henderson plays the tenor sax.  Joe was great and most of his solos will blow you away.  He also recorded many lps on blue note, on his own, some with Kenny Dorham, and often as a sideman.  Try Basra by Pete LaRocca.  An album that got re-released not too long ago.  Another classic.

There is a good Blue Note app. for your Ipads.  Subscription is only 2$ a month and you can play many of these classic albums with high quality streaming.  It has articles about the music, some playlists, and some very cool photos and links to you tube videos of the music and musicians.

I will save Thelonious Monk for another day.  He deserves a discussion all by himself.  Can you say 'Round Midnight.   However his best song for me is Ruby, My Dear.

Joe P. April 30, 2013

Creedence Clearwater Revival or should I say John Fogerty and band

What a great singer and songwriter.   I still follow him but his days as the leader for CCR are his best moments.  Favorite album is Bayou Country.  Most played song is Proud Mary.  Along with Brown Eyed Girl by VM, it has to be the most played song at weddings and on the radio. I did get to him see once at a free concert up in Cleveland outside of the RR museum.  It was around 1997 or so and it was a great concert.  Man sounds live like he does on his records.  Just a short comment today on Mr.  Fogerty.  I am rebuilding my IPOD and all of his albums are going in it.  Did anyone else write better 3 minute singles? Maybe the Beatles. I have all of the remasters of the CCR albums except for the last one.

Joe P.

Lyric challenge was If I had a ROCKET LAUNCHER, by Bruce Cockburn.  Great song and a singer songwriter who is still around and has made some great music.  Best LP is Dancing in The Dragon's Jaws with Wondering where the lions are, Incandescent blue, and other great songs.

Let's talk guitar players.  My favorite five are Rory Gallager, Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, Mark Knopfleur, and Peter Green.  Mostly old school and blues oriented.

Rory is number one for me.  This man is from Ireland and was vastly talented and underrated.  He did get some popularity in the 70s and 80s.  He died in the mid 90s from complications of needing a liver transplant that he never got.  He played electric and acoustic guitar, saxophone, harmonica, and sung.  He wrote most of his own music except for a few blues cover.  Check him out on youtube sometime.  There are plenty of concert uploads of songs there.  His best albums are  Blueprint, Tattoo, and The Irish Tour.  The last one is also available on DVD.  My favorite is probably Blueprint but I like or love all of his albums.  My favorite song by him is A Million Miles Away.  Slo Blues at it's best!  The man plays great solos!!  He has a supple  blues voice as well.

Plenty about RORY on the net with several web sites dedicated to him.  He still has tribute bands playing his tunes and giving concerts all over Europe and in Ireland.  His grave has a huge electric guitar on it in. Also, I heard one of the airports was going to be name the RORY GALLAGHER AIRPORT.  I signed the petition but I will have to check it out if they actually did that.  (Not yet, see below). The most comprehensive web site is rorygallagher.com.  Several good tribute ones also like roryon.com.  I signed up for something from his fans on Facebook and I get feeds almost every other day on videos of him playing his heart out. The site for the Cork airport petition follows: http://www.rorygallagherairport.com/

His first band was called Taste, a power rock trio like Cream.  That was in the late 60s.  After that he led groups under his own name but they were mostly guitar, bass, drums, and some piano.  See picture below from his gravesite.  Here is a link for a youtube of him live.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RxiEMpcI83E

The above is from the film of the Irish Tour and it is great film to pick up on DVD.  Rory LIVES!!

Today, the topic is jazz and two new special features that may get your attention.

1) Lyric challenge!!  No googling.  If I had a ___________ ___________, I'd blow the sonofabitch away!
Fill in the missing words and guess the artist.  He is from Canada and a long time singer songwriter (NNY).

2) Good cheap download from Amazon  BIG MOZART BOX.  Only 99 cents and it is over 100 songs.  They are full works and not just movements.  Some are older and quality is not always great but all seem to be well played.  It is in my Icloud.  What do you want for only 99 cents, it is a bargain!!

Today's genre is jazz.

TOM  HARRELL

I love jazz both old and new.  The only type I do not care a lot for is fusion.  One of my favorite artist is Tom Harrell.  He plays the trumpet and composes.  His tone is sort of like a cross between early Miles and Chet Baker.  He plays the flugelhorn alot.  He composes most of his music and plays with usually a quintet.  All of his albums are good to great.  He had done some cross classical stuff also.  His melodies stay in your mind and the quality of the musicians that play with him is very good.

Two recommendations, both *****

1) PARADISE  This is one is quintet plus strings on some of the songs.  (2001)  I  have the CD.

2) THE ART OF RHYTHM  This one has lots of brazilian music and instruments that blend with the sound well.  Lots of musicians are on it but the ensembles are usually less than 7-8.  Romero Lubambo is on some songs and he is a very accomplished Brazilian guitar player.  This is my favorite Tom Harrell CD that I come back and replay from time to time.  (1997).  I also  have the CD.  It is very soothing music and makes good background music for reading or working.

By the way, Tom H.  has had a life long battle with mental illness and music is how he communicates best with the world.  Go on youtube sometime and watch him perform.  He is one great trumpet player and jazz composer.  He has 2 new records coming out soon.  One will be a classical crossover with strings and his working quintet.  The other will be another one with his current quintet.  He has one hell of a tenor player with him by the name of Wayne Esscoffery.  Wayne has also made some very good CDs and is probably the best new tenor player in jazz today.

One last closing comment, it is frustrating that you can not go out and buy CDs easily anymore.  You can get places to order but you can do better yourself by ordering online.  Record stores are disappearing and the chain stores do not carry much jazz and classical.

Joe Pfeiffer
March 16, 2013

p.s. if you are reading let me know what you like and suggest any other topics or artists for  discussion.  I wish music had something like good reads.  That would be really cool!

Mieczyslaw Weinberg 

Okay for a change of pace. Classical Music.  M. Weinberg is a Polish/Russian composer from the 20th century.  He fled from Nazi Germany and ended up in Moscow and Shostakovich took him underneath his wing.  He wrote many symphonies, chamber music, operas, etc.  His music is just now being discovered and he has been called the 3rd great Russian composer of the 20th century. 
His music is somewhat akin to Shostakovich but he does have his own style and synthesis. 

I have downloaded much of his music from Itunes and Amazon.  Chandos has put out some excellent recordings of his symphonies.  Naxos has recently put out a recording of his 8th symphony which is choral plus orchestral.  It is a modern story of Poland taken with prose from a famous Polish poem and poet.  It is beautiful and you should check it out.  I am not much for opera but this is excellent and different.  The orchestra blends well with the voices and the whole effect is beautiful and mesmerizing.  

The man lost his whole family to the concentration camps and somehow survived.  He did become semi-famous in Russia and Poland but died fairly broke and undiscovered. Pay homage to him and either get one of the CDs of his music or download a piece of work. 

Joe P.

Webpage for the symphony 8 is below.  

http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.572873

By the way naxos.com is an excellent site for reading about recordings and the composers.  Many of the CDs are cheap from this company but they are nearly always high in quality.  The catalogue has a page about each recording with reviews and downloads of the back cover and notes about the recordings.  It is a good site for classical music information.  I have not tried the  subscription service to their radio station but it might be worth the charge.  

My 5 favorite rock/singer songwriters are Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Richard Thompson, Van Morrison, and Joni Mitchell.

Richard Thompson is probably the least known in the list.  He started with a group called Fairpoint convention in the late 60s.  He then married Linda Thompson in the 70s and recorded a series of albums with her and most of them are folk or folk rock music.  The best is their last before they got a divorce and it is called Shoot Out the Lights.  Since the early 80s he has recorded many albums on his own.  His music is a hybrid of rock and english folk music.  A master guitarist and song writer.  His new album is called Electric.

Review, Electric, March 2013.  Four stars.  Quite good.  Mostly electric plus a few really nice acoustic songs as well.  No real long RT guitar cut.  I need to listen to it a few times more before I pick a favorite song or two.  The songs do tend to sound similar upon first hearing except for the folk tunes.  You can get it as a bonus CD with an extra CD with 6 more songs which are quite good also.  Maybe not a classic RT recording but a decent effort.

Joe P.

p.s.  I have seen him live twice and he gives one hell of a solo acoustic performance.  A few of his live recordings are available from Amazon or Itunes for very cheap pricing and they sound great.  One called Live Warrior is only $6.99 from Amazon and it is very good.  Small band and electric guitar.  I think it was recorded in early 2008 after the release of the Warrior album.

Just an introduction.  I thought I would try to post some of my music thoughts and reviews of some classic albums, downloads, etc.  Just a tool to stimulate to discussion and spread the good news about music.

I will discuss all of the genres but mainly classical, jazz, rock, and folk.  I have a huge record collection spanning vinyl, cassettes, CDs, and now downloads.  I plan on writing reviews of great recordings and discussion about composers and artists.

Music can greatly enrich your life!  Try putting some on your stereo or tune your radio to your local NPR classical station.  The internet has great sites that I will point to you for more information.  I will try to post once a week for discussions.  Please reply if you have any interest in this type of blog.

Joe Pfeiffer
March 9, 2013

Just listened to some Brahms violin sonatas while exercising this morning.  I got the whole download from Amazon for only 5$ and it has all of his chamber music.  I think it must be 5-6 cds worth.  What a bargain and it all sounds great and the artists play well.  I love chamber music and Brahms has some of the best.