John Lennon – Live New York City (1986)

Live in New York City is a posthumous live album by English rock musician John Lennon with the Plastic Ono Elephant’s Memory Band. It was prepared under the supervision of his widow, Yoko Ono, and released in 1986 as his second official live album, the first being Live Peace in Toronto 1969.

Recorded on 30 August 1972 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Lennon performed two shows, one in the afternoon and one in the evening, a benefit concert for the Willowbrook State School for Retarded Children in New York, at friend Geraldo Rivera’s request. Rivera introduces Lennon and Ono at the beginning of the album, and he is referenced in Lennon’s impromptu revised lyrics in the opening song, “New York City”.

The benefit concerts, billed as One to One, also featured other performers in addition to Lennon, including Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack, Melanie Safka and Sha-Na-Na, although their performances are not included on this album, nor on the simultaneous video release.

Live in New York City captures Lennon’s last full-length concert performance, coming right after the release of Some Time in New York City. Backing Lennon and Ono were Elephant’s Memory, who had served as Lennon and Ono’s backing band on Some Time in New York City. Although the material Lennon performed was largely drawn from his three most recent albums of the period (John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, Imagine and Some Time in New York City), he also included in the setlist his Beatles hit “Come Together” and paid tribute to Elvis Presley with “Hound Dog” before leading the audience in a singalong of “Give Peace a Chance”. “Come Together”, originally in the key of D minor, was performed in E minor.

Upon its early 1986 release, Ono was criticised by former members of Elephant’s Memory for using the first – and weaker – performance instead of the stronger evening show. They also took issue with the simultaneous video release of the concert, which it was alleged had been edited to show Ono as prominently as Lennon. However, on the album release, Ono’s vocal performances on such numbers as “Hound Dog” had been mixed out completely. Additionally, all of her solo performances, which included “Sisters, O Sisters”, “Born in a Prison”, “We’re All Water”, “Don’t Worry Kyoko (Mummy’s Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)”, “Move on Fast” and “Open Your Box”, were deleted from the audio edition of the concert, to create a pure Lennon album. The video release retained the Lennon complete set-list including Ono’s “Sisters, O Sisters” and “Born in a Prison”.

Portions of the evening performance later saw release on the John Lennon Anthology.

Live in New York City reached No. 55 in the UK, and surprised many with its US appeal where it peaked at No. 41 and eventually went gold.

The concerts documented on Live in New York City were Lennon’s only rehearsed and full-length live performances in his solo career, and his first – and last – formal, full-fledged live concerts since the Beatles retired from the road in 1966. Lennon never mounted a tour during his post-Beatles career. The concerts also marked the last time he performed live with Ono or with Elephant’s Memory. (by wikipedia)

John Lennon’s concert appearances during his solo years were rare and scattered about, so any live document is worth hearing. Yet this one, the fabled One to One concert at Madison Square Garden, doesn’t live up to its legend, however noble the cause (a benefit for the Willowbrook School for Children). Much of the problem, one suspects, is that Lennon concerts tended to be quick, casual one-offs; this material might have really rocked if John had broken the tunes in on the road first. Also, the Plastic Ono Elephants Memory Band is a fairly crude bunch of bashers, with Stan Bronstein’s flailing sax and surprisingly poor drumming, despite the support of Jim Keltner. So Lennon is pretty much left to his own devices. In the first few numbers he sounds distracted, not in full command, even disconnected from the band.

A core primal scream piece “Well Well Well” is given a perfunctory run-through; “Instant Karma” sounds stiff, with embarrassing drum breaks (“We’ll get it right next time,” John says); and he makes only one reference to his Beatle past with a heavy-handed “Come Together.” Things do improve later on when “Mother” and “Cold Turkey” work up a good lather, and “Hound Dog” is not bad, although the concluding “Give Peace a Chance” is limited to the brief excerpt included on Shaved Fish. Phil Spector was the original producer of the recording, and it’s one of his murkier jobs, not nearly as focused as his work on The Concert for Bangla Desh in the very same arena the year before. More from the concert, including some of Yoko’s numbers, can be found on the companion video cassette released at the same time. (by Richard S. Ginell)

Personnel:
John Lennon (vocals, guitar, keyboards)
Jim Keltner (drums)
Yoko Ono (keyboards)
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Elephant’s Memory:
Stan Bronstein (saxophone)
Richard Frank Jr. (drums)
Wayne ‘Tex’ Gabriel (guitar)
Adam Ippolito (keyboards)
Gary Van Scyoc (bass)
John Ward (bass)

Tracklist:
01. New York City (Lennon) 3.39
02. It’s So Hard (Lennon) 3.18
03. Woman Is The Nigger Of The World (Lennon/Ono) 5.30
04. Well Well Well (Lennon) 3.51
05. Instant Karma! (Lennon) 3.40
06. Mother (Lennon) 5.00
07. Come Together (Lennon/McCartney) 4.21
08. Imagine (Lennon) 3.17
09. Cold Turkey (Lennon) 5.29
10. Hound Dog (Leiber/Stoller) 3.09
11. Give Peace A Chance (Lennon) 0.59

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Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You, you may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you will join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You, you may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you will join us
And the world will live as one

Various Artists – A Coltrane Serenade (1991)

The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra is probably too big and bulky to be considered a tight unit but all the players are individually of distinction. Mainly their program is to highlight and celebrate the giants of jazz from yesteryear. They have performed and recorded music by Ellington, big band swing and numerous others.

To celebrate John Coltrane, the “house band” of Todd Williams, Wynton Marsalis, Marcus Roberts, Christian McBride, Billy Higgins and Wes Andersen are supplemented by guests Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner and Roy Haynes.

This is a very comfortable way to get into Coltrane as the music here are among his most accessible. Dear Lord is taken at a lounge-y pace, with enough soloing to make this jazz. Coltrane’s explosive, experiential side is gently avoided. The final track Mr Symes is a sweet ballad.

Almost 40 years after his passing, John Coltrane’s best work remains A Love Supreme which hopefully any self-respecting jazz fan has in his collection. (Professor Red)

What a great celebration for Mr. John Coltrane !

Jazz At Lincoln Centre, Alice Tully Hall, New York, August 9, 1991
Excellent braodcast recording

Personnel:

Tracks 01. – 03.
Wes Andersen (saxophone)
Billy Higgins (drums)
Wynton Marsalis (trumpet)
Christian McBride (bass)
Marcus Roberts (piano)
Todd Williams (saxophone)

Tracks 04. – 05.
Christian McBride (bass)
Roy Haynes (drums)
Joe Henderson (saxophone)
Charles McPherson (saxophone)
McCoy Tyner (piano)
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Reginald Veal (bass on 05.)

Tracklist:
01. Mr. Day 8.23
02. Miles Mode 8.32
03. Tunji  8.06
04. Dear Lord  7.50
05. Mr Symes/Dahomey Dance  24.37

Music composed by John Coltrane

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The Dubliners – At It Again (Seven Deadly Sins) (1968)

Nearly three decades since they first came together during informal sessions at O’Donoghue’s Pub in Dublin, the Dubliners remain one of the most influential of Ireland’s traditional folk bands. Unlike their counterparts the Clancy Brothers, the Dubliners have never strayed from the raw looseness of the pub scene. According to Dirty Linen, “Whereas the Clancys were well-scrubbed returned Yanks from rural Tipperary, decked out in matching white Arab sweaters, the Dubliners were hard-drinking backstreet Dublin scrappers with unkempt hair and bushy beards, whose gigs seemed to happen by accident in between fist fights”.

Initially known as the Ronnie Drew Folk group, the Dubliners have gone through several personnel changes since they were formed in 1962. The original group featured Ronnie Drew on vocals and guitar, Luke Kelly on vocals and five-string banjo, Barney McKenna on tenor banjo, mandolin, melodeon, and vocals and Ciaren Bourke on vocals, guitar, tin whistle, and harmonica.The first change occurred in 1964 when Kelly left temporarily and Bobby Lynch (vocals and guitar) and John Sheahan (fiddle, tin whistle, mandolin, concertina, guitar, and vocals) were added. The following year, Kelly returned and Lynch departed.

The Dubliners’ earliest recordings included appearances on multi-artist compilations The Hoot’nanny Show and Folk Festival: Festival Folk, released in 1964. Their first break came when they met Nathan Joseph, owner of Transatlantic Records, at the Edinburgh Festival in 1963. Signing with Joseph’s label, the group released their debut full-length album, The Dubliners, later the same year.

In 1967, the Dubliners recorded their breakthrough single, “Seven Drunken Nights,” based on Child Ballad number 273. Although its risque lyrics caused it to be banned from officially sanctioned radio stations, it became a Top Five hit after being aired by pirate radio station, RTE. With the song’s success, the band began touring throughout the world. In the early ’70s, the Dubliners toured in a production of Brendan Behan’s Cork Leg. (by Craig Harris)

And here´s the album with their hit “Seven Deadly Sins”:

At It Again is a studio album by The Dubliners and was released on the Major Minor label in 1968. It featured “The Irish Navy”, a satirical song with lyrics co-written by Ronnie Drew and Luke Kelly and set to music by John Sheahan. Barney McKenna and Ciarán Bourke also feature on the album. It was re-released under the title Seven Deadly Sins. The order of the tracks varies in different re-releases. (by wikipedia)

Another pretty good album by the legends Of Irish Folk !

Personnel:
Ciarán Bourke (vocals, guitar, tin whistle, harmonica)
Ronnie Drew (vocals, guitar)
Luke Kelly (vocals, banjo)
Barney McKenna (irish tenor banjo, mandolin, melodeon)
John Sheahan (fiddle, mandolin, tin whistle, concertina)

Tracklist:
01. Seven Deadly Sins (McLean) 2.47
02. Net Hauling Song (MacColl) 2.14
03. Nancy Whiskey” (Traditional) 2.40
04. Many Young Men Of Twenty (Keane) 2.25
05. Instrumental Medley: Paddy’s Gone to France/Skylark (Traditional) 2.04
06. Molly Bawn (Traditional) 3.15
07. The Dundee Weaver (Traditonal) 1.29
08. The Irish Navy (Drew/Kelly) 2.27
09. Tibby Dunbar (Burns/McLean) 1.48
10. The Inniskillen Dragoons (Traditional) 3.43
11. Instrumental Medley: The Piper’s Chair, Bill Hart’s Jig, The Night of St. Patrick (Traditional) 2.00
12. I Wish I Were Back In Liverpool (Kelly/Rosselson) 4.01
13. Darby O’Leary (Traditional) 2.41
14. Go To Sea No More (Traditional) 4.11

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Frank Sinatra & Count Basie – An Historic Musical First (1963)

Sinatra–Basie: An Historic Musical First (a.k.a. Sinatra-Basie) is a 1962 studio album by Frank Sinatra, arranged by Neal Hefti.

This was the first recording that Sinatra made with the Count Basie Orchestra. In 1964, Sinatra and Basie would make a final studio recording, It Might as Well Be Swing, orchestrated by Quincy Jones, and Sinatra’s first live album, Sinatra at the Sands (1966) would feature the Basie band.

Sinatra appeared on an episode of The Dinah Shore Show that aired on December 9, 1962, the day before Sinatra-Basie was released, and performed the album’s arrangement of “Please Be Kind”.

According to Will Friedwald’s book, Sinatra! The Song Is You, “Basie didn’t play piano on several of the tracks: ‘The day before the first date, we rehearsed all day, all night’, said Bill Miller, officially serving as contractor. ‘Everybody also came in an hour before so we could go over them again.’ As Joe Bushkin has pointed out, ‘The Basie guys could read as well as any studio band’, but to help them nail the charts even tighter, Sinatra and Miller brought in ace lead trumpeter Al Porcino. Basie was a capable but not an expert reader, Miller continued, ‘and he was very slow to learn new tunes, so on a couple of the songs, he said, “You play it.”‘ Long story short, Bill Miller played piano on ‘Pennies from Heaven.'” (by wikipedia)

The long-awaited first collaboration between two icons, Count Basie and Frank Sinatra, did something unique for the reputations of both. For Basie, the Sinatra connection inaugurated a period in the ’60s where his band was more popular and better-known than it ever was, even in the big-band era. For Sinatra, Basie meant liberation, producing perhaps the loosest, rhythmically free singing of his career. Propelled by the irresistible drums of Sonny Payne, Sinatra careens up to and around the tunes, reacting jauntily to the beat and encouraging Payne to swing even harder, which was exactly the way to interact with the Basie rhythm machine — using his exquisite timing flawlessly. Also the members of the Basie band play a more prominent role than usual on a Sinatra record, with soloists like Frank Wess — in some of the finest flute work of his life — and tenors Frank Foster and Eric Dixon getting prominent solo opportunities on several of the tracks. The record was criticized by some as a letdown when it came out, probably because Neal Hefti’s charts rarely permit the band to roar, concentrating on use of subtlety and space. Yet the record’s restraint has worn very well over the long haul — it doesn’t beat you into submission — and it concludes with its best shot, a wonderfully playful treatment of “I Won’t Dance.” (by Richard S. Ginell)

Personnel:
Al Aarons (trumpet)
Count Basie (piano)
Buddy Catlett (bass)
Sonny Cohn (trumpet)
Henry Coker (trombone)
Eric Dixon (flute, saxophone)
Frank Foster (saxophone)
Charlie Fowlkes (saxophone)
Freddie Green (guitar)
Thad Jones (trumpet)
Bill Miller (piano)
Sonny Payne (drums)
Al Porcino (trumpet)
Benny Powell (trombone)
Flip Ricard (trumpet)
Marshall Royal (clarinet, saxophone)
Frank Sinatra (vocals)
Rufus Wagner (trombone)
Frank Wess (flute, saxophone)

Tracklist:
01. Pennies From Heaven (Johnston/Burke) 3.30
02. Please Be Kind (Chaplin/Cahn) 2.44
03. (Love Is) The Tender Trap (Cahn/Van Heusen) 2.37
04. Looking At The World Through Rose Colored Glasses (Steiger/Mailie) 2.32
05. My Kind Of Girl (Bricusse) 4.38
06. I Only Have Eyes For You (Warren/Dubin) 3.31
07. Nice Work If You Can Get It (G.Gershwin/I.Gershwin) 2.38
08. Learnin’ The Blues (Silvers) 4.26
09. I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter (Ahlert/Young) 2.36
10. I Won’t Dance (Kern/McHugh/Hammerstein II/Fields/Harbach) 4.08

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Pat Metheny Group – Spealing Of Now (2002)

Speaking of Now is an album by the Pat Metheny Group, released in 2002 by Warner Bros. It marks the first appearances of Group members Antonio Sánchez, who replaced Paul Wertico on drums, and multi-instrumentalist Cuong Vu. A veteran of the avant-garde jazz scene and an admirer of both Pat Metheny and the Group, Vu was approached by the bandleader to join; Metheny had been very impressed with recordings of Vu’s trumpet playing and vocal abilities.

Cameroonian musician Richard Bona also participated in the album’s recording and tour, the latter of which particularly showcased his abilities on vocals and bass guitar.

In 2003, as part of the album’s promotion, a concert was recorded in Japan and released on DVD and the Group performed on the PBS series Austin City Limits. (by wikipedia)

Speaking of Now finds guitarist Metheny leading a retooled Pat Metheny Group; in addition to longtime core members, keyboardist Lyle Mays and bassist Steve Rodby, the Group now includes drummer Antonio Sanchez, trumpeter/vocalist Cuong Vu, and Richard Bona, who’s best known as a bassist, but who functions primarily as the Group’s percussionist/vocalist. The result is an exquisite album that features fresh new musical perspectives while losing none of the Group’s familiar wide-ranging, melodic, always accessible sound. Most of the tracks on Speaking of Now were composed by Metheny and his longtime collaborator Mays, although three tracks were composed solely by Metheny.

There’s a buoyant feel to this album that is not to be confused with lightness. This is complex, intricately detailed music that reveals additional layers with each listening. Metheny seems to delight in discovering the myriad means by which his prodigiously accomplished bandmembers can provide coloration to the compositions, both within the larger group and in solo spotlights. Sanchez’s rhythmic agility and sensitivity is featured throughout, particularly on “The Gathering Sky,” which begins as a sparkling, piano-led number and then transforms into a grooving band jam. One of the album’s many solo highlights comes during “Proof,” where Vu turns in a poignantly lyrical trumpet solo that is followed by an electrifying, steadily intensifying solo by Mays. Vocals have long been part of the Metheny Group sound, but now he is utilizing them in new ways; “Another Life” opens with Bona and Vu harmonizing on a chorale that leads into the artist’s delicate acoustic guitar work, while Bona provides sweet vocalizing over Metheny’s guitar on the beautiful, soaring “You.” Every track on Speaking of Now possesses a distinct beauty and eloquence. This is a superb offering that is not to be missed. (by Lucy Tauss)

Personnel:
Richard Bona (vocals, percussion, guitar, bass)
Lyle Mays (keyboards)
Pat Metheny (guitar, guitar synthesizer)
Steve Rodby (bass, cello)
Antonio Sánchez (drums)
Cuong Vu (trumpet, vocals)

Tracklist:
01. As It Is (Metheny/Mays) 7.40
02. Proof (Metheny/Mays) 10.13
03. Another Life (Metheny) 7.08
04. The Gathering Sky (Metheny/Mays) 9.22
05. You (Metheny) 8.24
06. On Her Way (Metheny/Mays) 6.04
07. A Place In The World (Metheny/Mays) 9.52
08. Afternoon (Metheny) 4.43
09. Wherever You Go (Metheny/Mays) 8.04

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Kingfish – Alive In `85 (1985)

Kingfish was an American rock band led by Matthew Kelly, a musician, singer, and songwriter who plays guitar and harmonica. Kelly co-founded Kingfish in 1973 with New Riders of the Purple Sage bass player Dave Torbert and fellow San Francisco Bay Area musicians Robbie Hoddinott (lead guitar), Chris Herold (drums), and Mick Ward (keyboards). Ward died in a car accident later that year, and was replaced by Barry Flast, another keyboardist from San Francisco.

In 1974, Kingfish became more well known, and signed their first record contract, after Grateful Dead guitarist and singer Bob Weir, a long-time friend of Kelly’s, joined the band.[4][5][6] (Kelly had previously been a guest musician on the Grateful Dead album Wake of the Flood.) Weir toured with Kingfish and was a band member on their first two albums, Kingfish and Live ‘n’ Kickin’. When the Dead started touring again in 1976, Weir left Kingfish, along with Hoddinott and Herold, who were then replaced by Michael O’Neill (lead guitar) and David Perper (drums). (Kelly later appeared on the Grateful Dead albums Shakedown Street and The Closing of Winterland, and on Weir’s album Bobby and the Midnites. In 1995 he became a founding member of Weir’s band Ratdog.)

The lineup of the band continued to change, with Kelly and Torbert remaining at the core. Then, in 1979 Torbert and Kelly parted ways and Torbert formed a new lineup with Danny “Rio” DeGennaro and Michael O’Neill on guitars and sharing lead vocals. Also part of that lineup were Steve Shive (drums) and Ralph Liberto (keyboards, saxophone). Dave Torbert died of a heart attack in 1982.

Starting in 1984, Kingfish would regroup from time to time and go on tour with a gradually evolving lineup of musicians led by Matthew Kelly. In 1987, Kelly also released a solo album called A Wing and a Prayer.

In 1999 Kingfish released a new studio album, Sundown on the Forest, recorded over a period of several years with different combinations of musicians, including Bob Weir and a number of other Kingfish veterans. Kelly had left RatDog the year before, and was living in Hawaii. Since then Kingfish has not performed live.

Danny DeGennaro was shot to death on December 28, 2011. Robbie Hoddinott died of liver failure on March 6, 2017, one day before his 63rd birthday (by wikipedia)

And here´s an album from their mid Eighties activities.

Alive in Eighty Five — also known as Alive in ’85 — is an album by the rock band Kingfish. It was recorded at Sweetwater in Mill Valley, California in 1985, and released by Relix Records as a vinyl LP later that year. It was released on CD in 1991.

It is unclear whether or not Alive in Eighty Five was recorded live in concert. Although Sweetwater was a live music venue, the album sounds like a studio recording. (by wikipedia)

One might have thought that Kingfish was effectively ended by the death of founder Dave Torbert in 1982, but this live album features a version of the band led by harmonica player Matthew Kelly and featuring original guitarist Robbie Hoddinott, plus drummer David Perper, who was on the 1978 Trident album. The band is filled out by singer/pianist Barry Flast, guitarist Garth Webber, and bassist Steve Evans. Kingfish remains a competent bar band ensemble on this outing, said to have been recorded at the Sweetwater in Mill Valley, California (though it sounds like a studio set); the kind of band you wouldn’t mind seeing over a few beers if you didn’t have to go too far out of your way. But their renditions of “Big Boss Man,” “Dancing In The Streets,” and other standards aren’t going to make anybody forget the better known versions. (by William Ruhlmann)

Okay, this a sort of party album (it´s very blues orientated album), full of classic songs from the rock and  history (including a nice version of “Statesboro Blues”) and that means fun, fun and fun only !

Personnel:
Steve Evans (bass)
Barry Flast (vocals, piano)
Robbie Hoddinott (guitar)
Matthew Kelly (vocals, guitar, harp, national steel slide guitar)
David Perper (drums)
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Garth Webber (guitar on 02., 04., 07. + 08.)

Tracklist:
01. Big Boss Man (Dixon/Smith) 3.36
02. Dancing In The Streets (Gaye/Hunter/Stevenson) 4.33
03. Rip It Up (Blackwell/Marascalco) 2.43
04. Holy Cow (Toussaint) 3.25
05. Rumor At The Honky Tonk (Flast) 3.57
06. Money Honey (Stone) 3.44
07. Statesboro Blues (McTell) 3.51
08. 40 Days And 40 Nights (Roth) 5.43

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Roger McGuinn – Same (1973)

Roger McGuinn was Roger McGuinn’s first full-length solo album, released in 1973.

This album was released after The Byrds’ 1973 reunion album, on which all five founding members of the group participated in the sessions. McGuinn himself has stated that any outtakes left over from those sessions appeared here, but this was later proven to be false with the discovery of several alternate takes and at least one outtake in late 2009. The majority of the songs on the album were co-written with Jacques Levy, who collaborated with McGuinn on the abandoned country-rock musical Gene Tryp in 1968-1969 (most of the resulting songs appeared on The Byrds’ (Untitled) and Byrdmaniax albums) and remained his principal lyricist until 1977.

Two songs (David Wiffen’s “Lost My Drivin’ Wheel” and “Bag Full Of Money”) were originally recorded by the Clarence White-era Byrds in 1972 but remained unreleased re-release of Farther Along on CD in 2000. Additionally, three other songs (“I’m So Restless”, “Hanoi Hannah” and “The Water Is Wide”) were performed by The Byrds at least once; the former two were premiered at a concert in Brookville, New York in early 1971, while the latter was played at a later date in August 1972. An outtake from this album, Jackson Browne’s “Jamaica, Say You Will”, had also been performed by The Byrds throughout 1971, though Clarence White handled the lead vocal and McGuinn sang the high harmony. McGuinn sings lead on this iteration, which was left off the original album before being released as a bonus track on the 2004 reissue. (by wikipedia)

Roger McGuinn’s 1973 self-titled solo debut was in most respects a breath of fresh air after the final days of the Byrds, in which the group was floundering in directionless mediocrity. In a sense, it’s a back-to-basics album that emphasizes much of what McGuinn does so well: his forceful reedy vocals, his guitar playing, and his skills at both writing earnest folk-rock material (usually with future Bob Dylan collaborator Jacques Levy here) and interpreting unusual traditional and contemporary songs. Never was it folkier than on the acoustic “I’m So Restless,” which benefited from harmonica by Dylan himself (about whom the song was partially about). All four of the other original Byrds play on “My New Woman,” which is virtually a reunion of the original quintet, with the addition of saxophone by jazzman Charles Lloyd; David Crosby makes unobtrusive cameos on some other tracks. As likable as it is, however, the album isn’t an unqualified triumph. Some of the songs aren’t so hot, some of the Moog synthesizer (by McGuinn) is unnecessary, his vocals sometimes seem to have been recorded with too much brittleness, and none of this is as good as the best of the Byrds. Unexpected influences make themselves heard in the Beach Boys harmonies of “Draggin'” (with Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys on piano and backup harmonies), the Vietnam blues of “Hanoi Hannah,” and the gospel-rock of “Stone.” (by Richie Unterberger)

Personnel:
Hal Blaine (percussion)
Michael Clarke (drums)
Jerry Cole (guitar)
David Crosby (guitar, vocals)
Bob Dylan (harmonica)
Buddy Emmons (pedal steel guitar)
Chris Ethridge (bass)
Jim Gordon (drums)
John Guerin (drums)
Chris Hillman (bass)
Bruce Johnston (piano, vocals)
Charles Lloyd (saxophone)
Roger McGuinn (vocals, guitar, banjo, synthesizer, harmonica)
Graham Nash (guitar, vocals)
Spooner Oldham (keyboards)
Leland Sklar (bass)
David Vaught (bass)
+
background vocals:
Gene Clark – Spanky McFarlane
+
Jimmy Joyce Children’s Chorus (vocals on 08.)

Tracklist:
01. I’m So Restless (McGuinn/Levy) – 3:05
02. My New Woman (McGuinn/Levy)  – 3:10
03. Lost My Drivin’ Wheel (Wiffen) – 3:27
04. Draggin’ (McGuinn/Levy) – 3:36
05. Time Cube (McGuinn/Hippard) – 3:15
06. Bag Full Of Money (McGuinn/Levy) – 3:19
07. Hanoi Hannah (McGuinn/Levy) – 2:50
08. Stone (Oldham/Penn) – 2:59
09. Heave Away (Traditional) – 3:03
10. M’ Linda (McGuinn/Levy) – 2:42
11. The Water Is Wide (Traditional) – 3:05

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Ferrante & Teicher – Heavenly Sounds in Hi-Fi (1957)

Ferrante & Teicher were a duo of American piano players, known for their light arrangements of familiar classical pieces, movie soundtracks, and show tunes, as well as their signature style of florid, intricate and fast paced piano playing performances.

Arthur Ferrante (September 7, 1921, New York City – September 19, 2009), and Louis Easyronounced as TIE-cher) (August 24, 1924, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania – August 3, 2008) met while studying at the Juilliard School of Music in New York in 1930. Musical prodigies, they began performing as a piano duo while still in school. After graduating, they both joined the Juilliard faculty.

In 1947, they launched a full-time concert career, at first playing nightclubs, then quickly moving up to playing classical music with orchestral backing. Steven Tyler of Aerosmith relates the story that in the 1950s the two students practiced in the home of his grandmother Constance Neidhart Tallarico. Between 1950 and 1980, they were a major American “easy listening” act, and scored four big U.S. hits: “Theme From The Apartment” (Pop #10), “Theme From Exodus” (Pop #2), “Tonight” (Pop #8), and “Midnight Cowboy” (Pop #10). They performed and recorded regularly with pops orchestras popular standards by George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and others. In 1973, they did the Hollywood Radio Theater theme for the Rod Serling radio drama series, The Zero Hour.

The duo also experimented with prepared pianos, adding paper, sticks, rubber, wood blocks, metal bars, chains, glass, mallets, and other found objects to piano string beds. In this way they were able to produce a variety of bizarre sounds that sometimes resembled percussion instruments, and at other times resulted in special effects that sounded as if they were electronically synthesized.

Both men were initiated as honorary members of Tau Kappa Epsilon at Central State University (now University of Central Oklahoma) while on tour.

Ferrante and Teicher ceased performing in 1989 and retired to Longboat Key and Siesta Key, respectively, close to each other on the west coast of Florida. They continued to play together occasionally at a local piano store.

CDs of their music, some of it not previously released, have continued to appear.

Louis Teicher died of a heart attack in August 2008, three weeks before his 84th birthday. Arthur Ferrante died of natural causes on September 19, 2009, twelve days after his 88th birthday (he had once said he wanted to live one year for each piano key). Arthur is survived by his wife, Jena; his daughter, Brenda Eberhardt; and two granddaughters. (by wikipedia)

There is little doubt that high fidelity addicts, especially, will relish this newest offering of Arthur Ferrante and Louis Teicher, as they have all the duo’s previous albums. With their explorations into new vistas of sound and new stereophonic theories, the result is an altogether unique application of typical F. & T. experimentations, brought to the fullest measure of appreciation for you. For instance, have you ever wondered about the limitations of the eighty-eight assigned tones of the piano keyboard, and contemplated on the possibility of expanding the range an octave or so? Or two octaves—one to stretch an octave higher than the present top, and another eight sonic tones to range an octave lower than the present low? Cease your wondering, gentle music-lover… for Ferrante and Teicher have gone far beyond this aural panorama, extending (by means of their engineering ingenuity) the range of the keyboard by another four octaves—two octaves above and two octaves below the present range.

With your musical appetite thus awakened, we should take note of those who may be brand-new Ferrante and Teicher initiates and advise them that every sound heard in any F. & T. collection is made with naught save the piano—with but a few assists from the celeste in this set. No special piano, either, but (two) standard Concert D Steinways. To be quote factual about it, however, the assorted pianistics of these two pioneers of sound are the results of years of painstaking research and a consuming curiosity to explore the hidden realms of the pianoforte.

Having met at the famed Juilliard School of Music when each was but six years of age (!), Arthur Ferrante and Louis Teicher have long been in the vanguard of stalwart classical artisans who have bridged the not-so-wide gap to what is loosely termed “popular” music. According to them, the line of demarcation is so slight as to be almost indiscernible, since “pop” music is representative of the great American contribution to the art. No theoretical “longhair” snobs, these two!

Ferrante, a native of New York City, and Teicher, hailing from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, studied under the noted pedagogue, Carl Friedberg, and pursued a well-rounded course in the affiliated subjects of composition, orchestration, conducting, etc. Upon graduation, both gentlemen were immediately appointed to the Juilliard faculty to foist their knowledge upon other gifted progenies. At this point, they discovered a new delight by playing with dance bands on weekends, supplementing their incomes and—more important—gleaning a thorough understanding and appreciation of what they consider to be a “distinct part of the American way of life.” It is their mutual contention, supported by many other classicists, that the works of such as Gershwin, Kern, Rodgers, Porter, Berlin, etc., have contributed as much to the lore of great musical repertoire as the compositions of the standard “greats.”

Their teaching duties at Juilliard also offered the team the opportunity to begin enlarging their already-extensive two-piano repertoire. They had done much in the matter of studying just about everything that had been written for duo-piano work, and had also experimented in the arrangements for the unusual styling which their subsequent teamwork has since developed so markedly well. It wasn’t until they had begun working on Ravel’s Bolero, however, that they suddenly devised their first new sound. Seeking a surcease from the repeated G on the piano, the team hunted desperately for a sound which would closely resemble the unsnared drum sound as employed in the orchestral version. The result was their answer to the violin mute, a rubber wedge, which fit their purpose perfectly. From that first devisation, Ferrante and Teicher went on to greater experimentation, research and invention, until their startling innovations have become wholly identifiable as The Ferrante and Teicher Sound. They still continue their experiments, of course, and the team finds itself constantly bemused and amazed by the multitude of new sounds which they have coaxed from the piano—all parts of it—and have succeeded in passing far beyond the sound barriers which the instrument offered heretofore.

With this newest batch of sonic skill and perfection of performance, you are certain to gain a new insight and novel appreciation of the piano. Aside from the vivid Ferrante and Teicher interpretations, you will experience moments of sheer, unbounded delight at one time, then gasp in awe in the next moment to realize that the sounds you do emanate from a piano—or, specifically, two pianos (and that smattering of a celeste).

Here, then, are FERRANTE and TEICHER, musicians to the nth degree, scientists of a sort, virtuosi without peers. In this rocket age, the missile era, the atomic period, it seems only fitting that music should be represented by an epochal compilation of its own. To that end, we humbly present this group by Ferrante and Teicher—their HEAVENLY SOUNDS IN HI-FI. (Natt Hale) (taken from the original liner-notes)

Enjoy this very special musical universum !

Personnel:
Arthur Ferrante (piano & much more)
Louis Teicher (piano & much more)
+
unknown percussion and other sounds

Tracklist:
01. The Moon Was Yellow (Leslie/Ahlert) 2.29
02. Stella By Starlight (Washington/Young) 2.07
03. Stardust (Carmichael/Parish) 2.45
04. Stars In My Eyes (Fields/Kreisler) 2.37
05. The Moon Is Low (Brown/Freed) 2.13
06. Over The Rainbow (Harburg/Arlen) 3.21
07. Out Of This World (Arlen/Mercer) 2.56
08. Out Of Nowhere (Heyman/Green) 2.40
09. Beyond The Moon (Ferrante/Weiss/Teicher) 3.54
10. I’ve Told Every Little Star (Hammerstein II/Kern) 3.19
11. East Of The Sun (Bowman) 2.54
12. Serenade To A Star (Ferrante/Weiss/Teicher) 2.25

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Pete Haycock´s Climax – The Soft Spot (1986)

After the split of the Climax Blues Band in 1984, the bandmembers went their separate ways, and Haycock went on to record several solo projects, the first of which was the album Total Climax (1986) recorded with his new band, Pete Haycock’s Climax. Pete Haycock’s Climax toured extensively in Europe, including Communist East Germany, as well as a well-received tour in Australia, also releasing The Soft Spot (1987).

I guess Pete Hacock tried to find a new direction and so we can hear him in his more pop-rock orientated phase.

But even in this phase is the guitar player unique and brilliant. Listen carefully and you will hear many guitar solos, that are extraordinary and remarkable. Listen so songs like “Love’s Just (A Part Of The Blues)” or “The Hurt Stays Home”.

Rare single from Germany

This album was onyl releaded in Germany so it´s one of these rare albums by Pete Haycock-

And if you like the guitar of Mark Knopfler … than you have to listen to the one and only Pete Hayock, a real master in his time !

Personnel:
Livingston Brown (bass)
Geoff Castle (keyboards)
Pete Haycock (guitar, vocals, harmonica)
Pete Thompson (drums)
+
Chris Gumbley (synthesizer)
+
background vocals:
The Dangerous Sisters – Warren Shaw

Tracklist:
01. The Soft Spot (Haycock) 2.58
02. Voodoo Lady (Haycock) 4.46
03. Big Fish (Haycock) 2.26
04. (Give Me Back My) Honey (Haycock) 2.02
05. Tell Me That You Want Me (Bond) 3.35
06. Love’s Just (A Part Of The Blues) (Haycock) 3.34
07. A Matter Of Timing (Haycock) 4.47
08. The Hurt Stays Home (Haycock) 4.54
09. Communication (Haycock) 3.53

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Pete Haycock (4 March 1951 – 30 October 2013)

 

Hazmat Modine – Bahamut (2006)

Bahamut is the debut album by American blues/folk/world music/jazz band Hazmat Modine. The album was released on August 26, 2006 by Barbès Records. Most tracks were composed by lead singer Wade Schuman; the album also includes arrangements of traditional songs. Tuvan folk band Huun-Huur-Tu feature on three tracks with their characteristic throat singing.

Pitchfork Media reviewer Joe Tangari gave the album’s track “Everybody Loves You,” a collaboration with Huun-Huur-Tu, a four-star review. Characterizing it as “generalized roots music that takes from pretty much any roots it sees fit,” he praised it as “true world music, weird and wonderful to the last note.”

Bahamut peaked at #12 on Billboard’s “Top Blues Albums” chart.(by wikipedia)

It’s a fairly good bet you won’t hear another record like Bahamut any time soon — because there isn’t one. Hazmat Modine tap into the deepest veins of raw, unpolluted prewar blues and ancient jazz, then whip them up in a blender, tossing in strains of Caribbean calypso and ska, Eastern European klezmer and Balkan brass, Middle Eastern mystery, and more than a few unidentifiable elements that just somehow fit.

The result is music that sounds at once ageless and primeval, authentically indigenous and inexplicably otherworldly, familiar and unlike anything else. Hazmat Modine revolve around the vision of Wade Schuman, a virtuoso on the diatonic and chromatic harmonicas and a variety of guitars who then mixes and matches his machines to a variety of other instruments till he arrives at that place his head has been visiting. Those instruments include the commonplace (drums, trumpets), the unexpected (Hawaiian steel guitar, lots of tubas), and those you’re just not going to find down at the local music shop (cimbalom, zamponia, claviola). With that arsenal and sympathetic players at hand, Schuman invents. Sometimes, as in “Lost Fox Train,” he’s on his own, unreeling a thrilling solo harmonica piece that nudges the instrument out past the town limits. Alone again on “Ugly Rug,” it’s just Schuman and his lute guitar.

For “It Calls Me” (on which Schuman’s usually rough-hewn vocals slide up the scale and recall the late Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson of Canned Heat), “Everybody Loves You,” and “Man Trouble,” he brings in the legendary Tuvan throat singers Huun-Huur-Tu, whose amphibian warblings may or may not have met up with tuba and Hawaiian steel guitar before, but probably never within the same song. If all of this sounds a bit deliberate and precious, the relieving news is that it’s not. Hazmat Modine are unconventional in every sense, but theirs is listener-friendly music, nothing that requires a degree in ethnomusicology to enjoy. Many other bands, from Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks to the Cheap Suit Serenaders, and from the Jim Kweskin Jug Band to Squirrel Nut Zippers, have mined forgotten caves of Americana before, but Hazmat Modine’s widened the playing field here, taking the resurrection international on this stunning debut. (by Jeff Tamarkin)

Personnel:
Henry Bogdan (hawaiian guitar)
Josh Camp (claviola)
Joseph Daley (tuba)
Steve Elson (saxophone)
Alexander Fedoriouk (cimbalom)
Michael Gomez (guitar)
Daniel Hovey (guitar)
Richard Huntley (drums)
Wade Schuman (guitar, harmonica, lute, vocals)
Jon Sholle (guitar)
Pete Smith (guitar)
Scott Veenstra (drums)
Randy Weinstein (guitar, vocals)
+
Huun-Huur-Tu (Tuvan throat singers):
Sayan Bapa – Anatoli Kuular

Tracklist:
01. Yesterday Morning (Schuman) 5.08
02. It Calls Me” (Featuring Huun-Huur-Tu) (Schuman) 3.10
03. Bahamut (Schuman) 6.03
04. Fred Of Ballaroy (Schuman) 1.28
05. Broke My Baby’s Heart (unknown) 7.20
06. Almost Gone (Schuman) 3.25
07. Steady Roll (Barbour/Traditional) 5.34
08. Everybody Loves You” (Featuring Huun-Huur-Tu) (Schuman) 6.16
09. Lost Fox Train (For Joe) (Schuman) 3.39
10. Dry Spell (Schuman) 4.44
11. Ugly Rug (Schuman) 1.24
12. Who Walks in When I Walk Out? (unknown) 4.47
13. Grade-A Gray Day (Schuman) 3.36
14. Man Trouble (Featuring Huun-Huur-Tu) (Coleman/Traditional) 11.11
15. Ticket #14-9140 (Schuman) 0.15

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Little Fish – a Rachelle Garniez song performed by Hazmat Modine with guests from the Alps, recorded in Austria/Innsbruck