Ahmad Jamal – Live In Paris (1971)

For five decades, American pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator Ahmad Jamal has been one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz. In 1958, he released the live album, At the Pershing: But Not for Me, which stayed on the Ten Best-selling charts for 108 weeks. Ahmad’s recording of the well known song “Poinciana” was first released on this album. Clint Eastwood featured two recordings from Ahmad’s But Not For Me album – “Music, Music, Music” and “Poinciana” – in the 1995 movie The Bridges of Madison County. Ahmad is the main mentor of jazz piano virtuosa Hiromi Uehara. On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Ahmad Jamal among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire. (by wikipedia)

Joining him is Jamil Suliemann on bass and Frank Gant on drums in this 1971 Radio France studio concert, rebroadcast in 2014 by France Musique. One of the most eloquent practitioners of America’s Classical Music – which Jamal considers Jazz to be and a sentiment I agree 1000% with, Ahmad Jamal continues at 86, performing, recording and spreading the message throughout the world. And this 1971 concert gives some indication just how strong and luxuriant that message has always been.

If you’re just getting into Jazz, discovering bits and pieces here and there, either on your own or via samples, since Jazz has been a base-coat of sounds in contemporary Hip-Hop/Trip-Hop/Trance over the years; here’s the real deal – where some of it came from. With the vast spectrum of music out there, being a sponge soaking everything up is practically a requirement – and not being familiar with the work of Ahmad Jamal really deprives you of a great experience.

Check out this concert and go exploring – all you need are ears and an open mind. (pastdaily.com)

Recorded live at the Studio 104 de la Maison de la Radio, Paris, France; June 25, 1971. Very good satellite broadcast.

Personnel:
Frank Gant (drums)
Ahmad Jamal (piano)
Jamil Sulieman Nasser (bass)

Tracklist:
01. Intro 0.26
02. Bogota (Evans) 15.25
03. Effendi (Tyner) 13.47
04. Manhattan Reflections (Jamal) 10.24
05. Extensions (Jamal) 23.51
06. Poinciana (Simon) 10:38

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Alternate frontcover:

John Mayall – Live At The BBC (2007)

On its own terms, most of this 14-track compilation of 1965-1967 recordings for BBC sessions (all but one of them dating from 1965-1967) is a worthwhile collection of supplementary work by John Mayall’s best Bluesbreakers lineups. If you’re a serious Mayall fan, however, be aware that you might have already bought this material in some form or another in the year or so previous to the release of this CD in early 2007. For the dozen 1965-1967 cuts all appear as bonus material on the 2006 U.K. expanded CD editions of the John Mayall Plays John Mayall, Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton, and A Hard Road albums, all of which also include bonus tracks from non-LP singles, studio outtakes, and the like. If for some reason you do want to zero in on the BBC material exclusively, this has some decent live performances with both the Eric Clapton and Peter Green lineups of the Bluesbreakers. (The liner notes also admit it’s likely that the three tracks from October 25, 1965 feature not only Jack Bruce on bass during his brief Bluesbreakers stint, but also guitarist Jeff Kribit (sometimes spelled Geoff Krivit in other sources), who was in the group during a brief spell when Clapton left the band to go to Greece.)

The BBC takes here of songs that also appear on Mayall’s official ’60s releases aren’t as good as the studio versions (and are sometimes very similar), but are still well done, though on the five tracks on which Clapton appears, he doesn’t seem to be playing with as much fire as he was capable of mustering. Of special interest are a few songs that Mayall didn’t put on his official ’60s recordings in any form, including a cover of Willie Dixon and Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Bye Bye Bird” and (from the October 1965 session) two decent original Mayall compositions, “Cheating Woman” and “Nowhere to Turn.” Also note that while Mayall was leading the Peter Green version of the Bluesbreakers on the four songs from a January 23, 1967 session, it’s Mayall playing alone on one of these tracks, “No More Tears,” which would appear on his The Blues Alone LP. The two songs that end the CD are from an October 21, 1975 session, and are of far less interest than the other material, dating from a time where Mayall was a few years past his creative peak and leading a much less interesting band. (by Richie Unterberger)

Personnel:
Ronnie Barron (keyboards on 13. + 14.)
Jack Bruce (bass on 04., 05., 06.
Eric Clapton (guitar on 01., 02., 03., 07., 08.
Aynsley Dunbar (drums on 10., 11. + 12.)
Hughie Flint (drums on 01. – 12.)
Peter Green (guitar on 10., 11. + 12.)
Don “Sugarcane” Harris (violin on 13. + 14.)
Jeff Kirbit (guitar on 04., 05., 06
John Mayall (vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica)
Dee McKinnie (vocals on 13. + 14.)
John McVie (bass on 01., 02., 03., 07., 08., 10., 11.
Soko Richardson (drums on 13. + 14.)
Larry Taylor (bass on 13. + 14.)
Rick Vito (guitar on 13. + 14.)

Tracklist:
01. Crawling Up A Hill (Mayall) 2.07
02. Crocodile Walk (Mayall)
03. Bye Bye Bird (Williamson/Dixon) 2.49
04. I´m Your Witchdoctor (Mayall) 2.11
05. Cheating Woman (Mayall) 2.03
06. Nowhere To Run (Mayall) 1.42
07. On Top Of The World (Mayall) 2.33
08. Key To Love (Mayall) 2.02
09. No More Tears (Mayall) 2.18
10. Riding On The L And N (Burley/Hampton) 2.19
11. Sitting In The Rain (Mayall) 2.53
12. Leaping Christine (Mayall) 1.55
13. So Much To Do (Mayall) 5.31
14. Taxman Blues (Mayall) 3.50

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More from John Mayall:

On the road again …

… and this time I will stay for a couple of days …

… in Rhenish Hesse or Rhine-Hesse/Germany is a region and a former government district  in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, made up of those territories west of the Upper Rhine river that from 1816 were part of the Grand Duchy of Hesse and of the People’s State of Hesse until 1945. The hilly countryside is largely devoted to vineyards, comprising the Rheinhessen wine region. (by wikipedia)

I will be back June 29 and will of course continue with this blog.

I wish all readers of the blog s very good time !

Lindisfarne – Rock Goes To College (BBC In Concert recording) (1978)

Lindisfarne are a British folk rock and progressive rock band from Newcastle upon Tyne established in 1968 (originally called Brethren). The original line-up comprised Alan Hull (vocals, guitar, piano), Ray Jackson (vocals, mandolin, harmonica), Simon Cowe (guitar, mandolin, banjo, keyboards), Rod Clements (bass guitar, violin) and Ray Laidlaw (drums). They are best known for the albums Nicely Out of Tune (1970), Fog on the Tyne (1971), which became the biggest selling UK album in 1972, Dingly Dell (1972) and Back and Fourth (1978), also for the success of songs such as “Meet Me on the Corner”, “Lady Eleanor”, “Run For Home” and “We Can Swing Together”. (by wikipedia)

And here´s a real BBC In Concert recording (excellent quality)

And this is a new version from a better source. The previous version had a lot of channel drop outs,and sounded like the tape had been chewed at times. Transferred from vinyl, the odd scratch here and there, nothing too bad. Took out about 10 clicks, added a bit reverb on the music parts. Enjoy the new version. And enjoy one of the finest groups of the British Folk-Rock scene.

Thanks to Mike C; and to tempusfugit for sharing the show at Dime.

Recorded live at the University of Essex/UK, 08 November 1978

Personnel:
Rod Clements (bass)
Simon Cowe (vocals, guitar, mandolin)
Alan Hull (vocals, guitar)
Ray Jackson (vocals, mandolin, harmonica)
Ray Laidlaw (drums)

Tracklist:
01. When It Gets The Hardest (Jackson/Harcourt) 3.57
02. Woman (Hull) 3.53
03. Marshall Riley’s Army (Hull) 3.57
04. Fog On The Tyne (Hull) 3.48
05. Court In The Act (Hull) 3.07
06. Lady Eleanor (Hull) 3.54
07. Winter Song (Hull) 5:16
08. Make Me Want To Stay (Hull) 4.24
09. Kings Cross Blues (Jackson/Harcourt) 4.04
10. Meet Me On The Corner (Clements) 2.42
11. Run For Home (Hull) 4.39
12. Brand New Day (Hull) 3.36
13. We Can Swing Together (Hull) 8.38

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James Alan Hull (20 February 1945 – 17 November 1995) was an English singer-songwriter and founding member of the Tyneside folk rock band Lindisfarne.

Hull was born at 68 Sutton’s Dwellings, Adelaide Terrace, Benwell, Newcastle Upon Tyne. He began piano lessons at the age of nine, and guitar lessons two years later. He attended Rutherford Grammar School, Newcastle after passing the eleven-plus in 1956 and was given a guitar at the age of twelve. Hull wrote his first song soon afterwards.

He became a member of the band The Chosen Few alongside keyboard player Mick Gallagher in 1962. He supported himself by working as a window cleaner, one year by working as a nurse at a mental hospital and as a driver for Newcastle Co-op TV Department while appearing as a folk singer and guitarist in local clubs before helping to form Brethren and Downtown Faction, which evolved into Lindisfarne in 1970. He also released a one-off solo single, “We Can Swing Together”, which was re-recorded with the group on their first album, Nicely Out of Tune, and became a regular favourite in their stage performances.

As the group’s most prolific songwriter and joint lead vocalist, Hull came to be regarded as its leader. In 1972, dissatisfied with the sound and critical reception of their third album Dingly Dell, he considered leaving the group but instead he and joint lead vocalist Ray “Jacka” Jackson formed a new six-piece Lindisfarne the following year, leaving the three other original members to form Jack The Lad. He also released his first solo album, Pipedream, the same year and published a book of poems, Mocking Horse.[5] Alan Hull appeared in “Squire”, an episode of the BBC’s Second City Firsts drama series.

Lindisfarne disbanded in 1973 and Hull released a second solo album, Squire, then formed the short-lived Radiator, which also included drummer Ray Laidlaw of Lindisfarne and Jack the Lad. In March 1977 the original line-up of Lindisfarne reformed after a well-received series of sold-out Christmas shows at the Newcastle City Hall in 1976 which was broadcast on local radio. Thereafter he combined his musical career as front man of the group with a solo career.

He was also a staunch Labour Party activist. For a time he was secretary of his local constituency Labour Party. He performed in Blackpool to coincide with the Labour Party conference in 1990 and played at numerous benefit concerts for striking or redundant miners and shipyard workers.

In January 1994, he recorded Back to Basics, a live all-acoustic survey of the best of his songwriting from 1970 onwards.

On the night of 17 November 1995, Hull suddenly collapsed at his home in North Shields and was pronounced dead on arrival at North Tyneside General Hospital at 11.30pm. A post-mortem held on 20 November revealed his death to be the result of a Coronary thrombosis. Hull’s funeral was held on 24 November at North Shields Crematorium. Musician Chris Rea and actor Tim Healy were among the famous names to attend. Hull’s ashes were later scattered at the mouth of the River Tyne.

On 19 July 2012, following a public campaign led by Barry McKay, Lindisfarne’s manager during the 1970s, an Alan Hull memorial plaque was unveiled on the front of Newcastle City Hall, at a ceremony attended by hundreds of fans, and broadcast and filmed by Sky and ITV Tyne Tees.

When he died, Hull was working on a new album, Statues & Liberties.

He married Patricia Sharp on 22 August 1966, and they had three daughters (by wikipedia)

Keith Tippett Group – Dedicated To You, But You Weren’t Listening (1971)

Keith Tippett (born Keith Graham Tippetts; 25 August 1947 – 14 June 2020) was a British jazz pianist and composer. According to AllMusic, Tippett’s career “..spanned jazz-rock, progressive rock, improvised and contemporary music, as well as modern jazz for more than half-a-century”. He held ” an unparalleled place in British contemporary music,” and was known for “his unique approach to improvisation”. Tippett appeared and recorded in many settings, including a duet with Stan Tracey, duets with his wife Julie Tippetts (née Driscoll), solo performances, and as a bandleader, and appeared on King Crimson albums.

Born in Southmead, Bristol, Tippett was the son of an English father who was a policeman and an Irish mother named Kitty. He wrote music dedicated to her after she died. He was the oldest of three siblings and went to Greenway Secondary Modern school in Southmead. As a child he played piano, church organ, cornet, and tenor horn.
At fourteen he formed his first band, KT Trad Lads, with school friends Richard Murch, Mike Milton, Terry Pratt, and Bob Chard, performing traditional jazz. He formed a modern jazz trio in Bristol and played regularly at the Dugout Club in Park Row, Bristol.

In 1967 Tippett moved to London to pursue a career in music, taking menial jobs while performing in jazz clubs. With a scholarship he attended the Barry Summer School Jazz Course in Wales, where he met Elton Dean, Nick Evans, and Marc Charig and with them started a band.The Keith Tippett Sextet was hired for a residency at the 100 Club in Oxford, leading to a contract with Vertigo Records, which released their first two albums, You Are There… I Am Here (1970) and Dedicated to You, but You Weren’t Listening (1971). Robert Fripp hired Tippett to play piano on the King Crimson album In the Wake of Poseidon. Evans and Charig joined Tippett on the King Crimson album Lizard. Tippett performed on the single “Cat Food” and appeared with King Crimson on Top of the Pops.

Tippett declined the offer to join King Crimson in order to continue to lead his own group, but he and Charig played on the band’s album Islands. After leaving Vertigo, Tippett formed Centipede, a 50-piece band that included his wife Julie Driscoll as well as members of King Crimson and Soft Machine, and brought together much of a generation of young British jazz and rock musicians.[2] As well as performing some concerts (limited economically by the size of the band), they recorded one double-album, Septober Energy, a Tippett composition, which was released on the RCA label in 1971. Despite substantial publicity, the album failed to sell in sufficient numbers to justify the expense of maintaining the project.

For his next album, Blueprint (1972), he used a smaller group comprising himself and Julie Tippetts with bassist Roy Babbington and drummer Frank Perry. The band then expanded slightly to become Ovary Lodge, who recorded two albums, one for RCA (produced by Robert Fripp of King Crimson) and a second for the Ogun label. Tippett and his band also recorded in the 1970s for Giorgio Gomelsky’s label, Utopia, releasing the Julie Tippetts album Sunset Glow. Tippett continued to play with various combinations of musicians through the 1970s, playing improvisational jazz and jazz-rock with such musicians as Stan Tracey, Robert Wyatt, Dudu Pukwana, Harry Miller, Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper, and Louis Moholo. From 1979, he also started to release many live albums of solo piano performances, beginning with The Unlonely Raindancer.

In the late 1980s, he, along with Paul Dunmall saxes, Paul Rogers bass, and Tony Levin drums, formed the quartet Mujician, playing purely improvised jazz. Mujician released 6 albums from 1990-2002. He also formed a trio with Julie Tippetts and Willi Kellers, and wrote film and television scores. He also wrote music for string quartets and piano, and taught at summer schools. Tippett also continued to record and to tour in Britain and Europe with various ensembles. He also worked with musicians Andy Sheppard, as well as with his frequent collaborators Elton Dean, Louis Moholo, and Howard Riley.

He married singer Julie Driscoll in 1970.

In 2018, he had a heart attack and pneumonia but returned to performing in 2019.

He died on 14 June 2020 at the age of 72. (by wikipedia)

SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog Folk
4 stars With an arresting artwork, depicting a brainchild, on its cover, the KTG managed to climb up from the Phillips generalist label to the Vertigo Swirl prestigious and progressive label, and I can’t think of a better promotion. Line-up wise, Jeff Clyne shares the bass with Roy Babbington and the drums are shared between Wyatt, Brian springs and Phil Howard (who would go on to replace Wyatt in Soft Machine), but on the horns, the Dean/Charig/Evans trio remained. Please note the pun title is from Soft Machine’s “Dedicated To Hugh…”

The album opens on a conga-driven groovy track that gets its inspiration between the three horn players, but in the background, Keith’s piano is the one thing that makes this piece so rollicking. Followed up by the tough to grasp Thoughts To Geoff, a 10-mins corker that often veers dissonant and improvisational, which strangely enough becomes more fluid and melodic as it unravels. Even young Gary Boyle (out of auger’s trinity) manages to follow this difficult track, which had to faded out to be stopped. In Green & Orange Night Park, McCoy Typpett then shows with all three horns holding the Trane in the station, until Elton pulls his best solo (I would almost add ever in such a fanboy moment) while the other two are providing a descending line behind him that slowly morphs into another lead line, which had to be terminated again by a fade-out. Absolutely flabbergasting and jaw-dropping piece.

The flipside starts on the most difficult Gridal Suite, an Elton Dean improvised piece that he shares well with Phil Howard (just think of side 1 of Soft Machine’s 5 album), this track probably being the low point of the album. Five After Dawn might appear at first to be just as difficult, but it’s not quite the same nature, this one is written and impressionist track, evoking early life movement after the dead of night. After your stupor segued into surprise, it should normally give into joy and eventually glee. The short but sweet reprise of SM’s theme is only a wink, leading us to Black Horse, which is a bit the book- ending of the opening track (both tracks are written by trombonist Nick Evans, a very rhythmic groove with plenty of enthralling horn-section arrangements (a bit ala brass-rock), and it comes complete with a superb guitar solo from future Isotope Gary Boyle.

Not that this second album is that much better than their debut, but it grabbed all of the sunshine, shadowing all of the debut album, which consistently remains more difficult to find. Both are much worth the discovery and are excellent early UK jazz-rock. (by Sean Trane)

Personnel:
Marc Charig (cornet)
Elton Dean (saxophone, saxello)
Nick Evans (trombone)
Keith Tippett (piano)
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Roy Babbington (bass)
Gary Boyle (guitar)
Phil Howard (drums)
Bryan Spring (drums)
Tony Uta (percussion)
Neville Whitehead (bass)
Robert Wyatt (drums)

Tracklist:
01. This Is What Happens (Evans) 4.58
02. Thoughts To Geoff (Tippett)
03.Green And Orange Night Park (Tippett)
04. Gridal Suite (Dean)
05. Five After Dawn (Tippett)
06. Dedicated To You, But You Weren’t Listening (Dean/Hopper/Charig)
07. Black Horse (Dean)

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Keith Tippett (25 August 1947 – 14 June 2020)

The Rolling Stones – Blue & Lonesome (2016)

Blue & Lonesome is a cover album by the Rolling Stones—their 23rd British and 25th American studio album—released on 2 December 2016. It is the band’s first album to feature only cover songs, and their first studio release since 2005’s A Bigger Bang, with its eleven-year gap being the longest between two albums from the band. Despite the short time length of just around 43 minutes, the album was released as a double LP. “Just Your Fool”, a Buddy Johnson cover (though the Rolling Stones version is based on Little Walter’s arrangement) was released as the first single from the album on 6 October. The name of the album is from a song which Little Walter wrote, “Blue and Lonesome”.

Though there had been an eleven-year gap between albums, the Rolling Stones kept the same basic production and musician team as A Bigger Bang. Joining vocalist Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards as producers was Don Was, who had been working with the group for most of the prior two decades. In the studio were band members Ronnie Wood (guitar) and Charlie Watts (drums), alongside contract players Darryl Jones (bass), Chuck Leavell (keyboards) and Matt Clifford (multi-instrumentalist). Eric Clapton contributed guitar on two tracks and drummer Jim Keltner plays percussion on another.

Recorded over a marathon three-day session in December, 2015 the album was released a year later to robust sales; reaching number one on the album charts in the UK and over a dozen other countries, and number four in the US. It was certified gold or platinum in several countries. The first Stones album of the streaming media age, many of the songs from the album charted on several top-40 digital music charts, and the lead single “Just Your Fool” was a top-40 hit on several airplay and genre-specific charts. The album received high critical praise, receiving four- and five-star ratings from many top music journalism outlets, and accolades from jazz and blues publications. The album was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 2018, the band’s first Grammy in 23 years.

Blue & Lonesome was recorded in just three days in December 2015. In April 2016, at the launch of the Rolling Stones career retrospective Exhibitionism, the band confirmed that their new album was due to be released “some time in the autumn”. Richards said the album would feature “a lot of Chicago blues”. Eric Clapton plays guitar on two tracks; he was recording his own album in the same studio as the Stones were and was asked to play on a few tracks. The album is entirely blues-based, consisting of covers of artists such as Howlin’ Wolf and Little Walter.

This is the first album since Dirty Work (1986) to not feature any guitar playing from Jagger (who instead concentrates completely on vocals and harmonica), although he is pictured in the album’s booklet playing guitar during the album’s sessions. It is also the first album since It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (1974) to not feature a lead vocal from Richards. Likewise, it is also the first album since Dirty Work to release a lead single that was not a Jagger/Richards composition with “Just Your Fool”.

On 6 October 2016, the Rolling Stones changed their “tongue and lips” logo, which first appeared on their Sticky Fingers album, from red to blue.

On 8 November 2016, the Rolling Stones released a video for “Hate to See You Go”.

On 25 November 2016, the Stones released a one-track limited edition electric blue 10″ vinyl record of “Ride ‘Em on Down” (on the UMC label) on the occasion of the Record Store Day Black Friday 2016. The track is a cover of Eddie Taylor’s “Ride ‘Em on Down” originally recorded by Taylor in Chicago on 5 December 1955 for the Vee-Jay Label (and released as VJ 185).

On 1 December 2016, they released a video for “Ride ‘Em on Down”. The video features actress Kristen Stewart driving through Los Angeles in a blue 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback.

During its first week the album moved 106,000 sales to debut at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart, the second-highest opening sales week for an album in the UK in 2016. On 3 February 2017 it was certified Platinum there, for sales over 300,000 copies. It also debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with 123,000 album-equivalent units, of which 120,000 were pure album sales. It was also the No. 2 best selling album of the week in the US. Despite strong initial sales, the album remains to this day the only Stones’ studio album without a certification in the USA. By 17 February 2017 the album had reached global sales of 2,000,000.

Blue & Lonesome was met with positive reviews from critics noted at review aggregator Metacritic. This release received a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 21 reviews. Kitty Empire from The Observer called it “a labour of love”, while Alexis Petridis of The Guardian said the Stones here are “more alive than they’ve sounded for years”. Robert Christgau was less impressed in Vice, saying the album is “a sodden thing – many old rockers have recorded sharper, spunkier, wiser music”.

The album won Album of the Year at the 2017 Jazz FM Awards. The Rolling Stones also won the Blues Artist of the Year Award at the event, held in April 2017.

On January 28, 2018, Blue & Lonesome received a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album of the Year at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. The award was the Stones’ third Grammy of their career and their first win since the 1995 show. (by wikipedia)

As Keith Richards tells it, the Rolling Stones’ first-ever all-blues album is the result of the band learning how to play in the unfamiliar surroundings of Mark Knopfler’s British Grove Studios. To ease into the new place, the Stones decided to knock out a version of Little Walter’s “Blue and Lonesome” and it sounded good enough that the band decided to cut a few more covers, winding up with a full album of Chicago blues in a few days. The Stones haven’t worked at such swift speed in decades — not since the early ’60s, when they were churning out two albums a year — and much of the appeal of Blue & Lonesome lies in its casualness: by being tossed off, the album highlights how the Stones play together as a band, blending instinct and skill. Blue & Lonesome isn’t a showcase for virtuoso playing — even Eric Clapton’s two smoldering solos are part of the tapestry — but rather a groove record, emphasizing feel and interplay while never losing sight of the song.

Such commitment to song is one of the reasons Blue & Lonesome winds up as an unexpected triumph from Mick Jagger. A blues album from the Stones always seemed like a dream project for Keith Richards, who always championed the band’s blues roots, but it’s Jagger who dominates the album, playing searing harp and singing with nuance and power. Always a guarded performer — back in 1974, he scoffed at the notion of letting his feelings flood on the page — Jagger seems freed, pouring heart into the slow burners and uptempo shuffles alike. The rest of the Stones match his commitment and that’s what makes Blue & Lonesome something remarkable. Conceptually, it’s clever — if this winds up being the last Rolling Stones album, it provides a nice bookend to their 1964 debut — but it’s artistically satisfying because it’s the Rolling Stones allowing themselves to simply lay back and play for sheer enjoyment. It’s a rare thing that will likely seem all the more valuable over the years. (by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)

Personnel:
Mick Jagger (vocals, harmonica)
Keith Richards (guitar)
Charlie Watts (drums)
Ronnie Wood (guitar)
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Eric Clapton (slide guitar on 06., guitar on 12.)
Matt Clifford (keyboards)
Darryl Jones (bass)
Jim Keltner (percussion on 09.)
Chuck Leavell (keyboards)

Tracklist:
01. Just Your Fool (Walter) 2.16
02. Commit A Crime (Burnett) 3.38
03. Blue And Lonesome (Walter) 3.07
04. All Of Your Love (Sam) 4.46
05. I Gotta Go (Walter) 3.26
06. Everybody Knows About My Good Thing (Grayson/Horton) 4.31
07. Ride ‘Em On Down (Taylor) 2.49
08. Hate To See You Go (Walter) 3.21
09. Hoo Doo Blues (Hicks/West) 2.37
10. Little Rain (Abner Jr./Reed) 3.32
11. Just Like I Treat You (Dixon) 3.24
12. I Can’t Quit You Baby (Dixon) 5.13

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More from The Rolling Stones:

Harvey Mandel – Live At Broadway Studios 2001 (2018)

Harvey Mandel (born March 11, 1945, in Detroit, Michigan, United States) is an American guitarist known for his innovative approach to electric guitar playing. A professional at twenty, he played with Charlie Musselwhite, Canned Heat, the Rolling Stones, and John Mayall as well as starting a solo career. Mandel is one of the first rock guitarists to use two-handed fretboard tapping. (by wikipedia)

Always the innovator, always in demand and a pioneer of electric blues, few guitarists can claim to have played with John Mayall, Canned Heat and the Rolling Stones, performed at Woodstock and at the Grammy Awards with Bob Dylan.

Harvey The Snake Mandel’s career has spanned over 50 years, bridging the gap between the blues, jazz and rock with his two handed fretboard tapping and his creative use of sustain and controlled feedback. Mandel was a major influence on the styles of legendary artists Stanley Jordan, Eddie Van Halen and Steve Vai, among others.

Born in Michigan but raised in Chicago, he played with other Second City blues and rock greats like Charlie Musselwhite, Howlin’ Wolf, Mike Bloomfield, Steve Miller, Muddy Waters and Barry Goldberg before moving to San Francisco after being invited to play at the Fillmore by Bill Graham. And the Snake (so named by Barry Goldberg) continues to perform at a high level as hen tours with the Chicago Blues Reunion and the Snake Crew. (Press release)

BLUES GUITARIST? ROCK GUITARIST? JAZZ GUITARIST? HIS OWN MAN ON THE GUITAR.

Mandel has long been known to fans as a “player’s player” when it came to the electric guitar. I first heard him on the “Stand Back!” album (which I still own) by Charlie (Charley) Musselwhite in ’66, and then on a pre-release of Mandel’s first solo album “Cristo Redentor” in ’68. He has released a number of albums under his own name which have been collected into a box set (with an unissued live set from the Matrix Club) which is now pretty expensive.

This (78 + minutes) album, recorded in 2001 in front of a live studio audience, can sit alongside his other albums as another good example of his guitar playing. The band is Mandel-guitar, John Ulen-drums, Joe Devito-bass, and Dave Scott-keyboards. The sound is very immediate, clean, and open, taken from digital soundboard sources, but has a couple of slight, very short sound level problems–but these are of no real concern.

This instrumental set includes versions of well known Mandel tunes like “Before Six”, “Christo Redentor”, and “Wade In The Water”, plus “The Snake”, “Blues Shuffle”, “Experimental Song”, “Midnight Sun” and a couple of others. This album is a showcase for Mandel in a straight quartet setting which accentuates his guitar playing. But his band too are no slouches on their respective instruments–especially Devito’s bass–which is almost a second lead instrument. The majority of the songs are in the 6 + to 8 + minutes range giving Mandel and the band room to expand the music in this stripped down setting playing for a live audience. “Wade In The Water” is 14 minutes long, giving the band a chance to really explore this tune. Included on this set are genres like the blues, rock, jazz, and a nice swinging shuffle, all of which show Mandel’s overall abilities exploring the sonic capabilities on his guitar.

Fans of Mandel will want to give this a close listen. On”Christo Redentor” Mandel uses his guitar in place of the wordless vocals on the original album version. “Blues” is just that–a scorching example of Mandel’s blues chops–in his own inimitable style. But every tune has something that makes it well worth hearing for Mandel fans or fans of the electric guitar. There’s no fancy, intricate or cluttered arrangements–just Mandel in front of a basic band of sympathetic players which is perfect for hearing Mandel do his thing. And he does it.

There’s no booklet–just a single cover sheet with a short essay on the back. Too bad there’s spelling and grammatical errors–someone wasn’t paying attention. But in the end it’s the music that’s important–and this live set delivers on all counts. This is another example of what Mandel fans have known for some time–with all the albums he’s released–that he’s perhaps the best living relatively still unknown electric guitarist today. Just listen to “Midnight Sun”, with it’s distorted tone full of sustain and controlled feedback and fret board tapping. Ahh…yes. (Stuart Jefferson)

Recorded before an enthusiastic audience at Broadway Studios in San Francisco,
on June 21, 2001.

Personnel:
Joe Devito (bass)
Harvey Mandel (guitar)
Dave Scott (keyboards)
John Ulen (drums)

Alternate frontcovers:

Tracklist:
01. Before Six (Fraiser) 8.46
02. Blues Shuffle (unknown) 7.31
03. Blues (unknown) 8.32
04. Christo Redentor (Pearson) 7.51
05. Emerald Triangle (Mandel) 5.34
06. Experimental Song (Mandel) 4.59
07. Midnight Sun (Mandel) 7.31
08. The Bad Monster (Mandel) 6.13
09. The Snake (Mandel/Taylor) 7.17
10. Wade In The Water (Traditional) 14.00

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More from Harvey Mandel:

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René Aubry – Play Time (2008)

René Aubry is a French composer born in 1956. He is a multi-instrumentalist known for blending classical harmonies with modern instrumentation. Aubry has composed for choreographers such as Carolyn Carlson, Pina Bausch and Philippe Genty. He has also scored for films and released many of his own albums.

He also composed the music for the 2009 animated film The Gruffalo and its 2011 sequel The Gruffalo’s Child, as well as 2012’s Room on the Broom.

In addition, his music was often heard in a Greek comic-satirical TV series Οι Στάβλοι της Εριέτας Ζαΐμη (by wikipedia)

And this is a 2008 collection of tracks from the great composer, featuring new versions of his own songs that have remained very close to his heart. With music composed for shows by Carolyn Carlson, Pina Bausch and Philippe Genty, soundtracks for films, and 15 albums to his name, René Aubry is a popular, prolific and discreet composer. This native son of Epinal is self-taught and has traced his own career as a composer of “songs without words”. (by Hopi Mesa)

This is an audiophile’s dream album. I have a very high-end audio system and this is one of my ‘demo’ discs that I use to show off the sound quality of my system. GREAT stuff and very nice music to listen to. (Mr. Big)

This production music is wonderful because it uses rhythms and percussion, created by a skilled composer, who know to use, with great skill, emotional voice, knowledge of the tools, all in sync. (by Ceolin)

Oh, such a unique album … I´m so excited !

Personnel:
René Aubry (guitar, mandolin, banjo, bouzouki)
Antoine Banville (percussion)
Daniel Beaussier (clarinet, oboe, saxophone)
Marc Buronfosse (cello)
Stefano Genovese (keyboards)
Jean-Marc Ladet (violin, viola, mandolin)
Marco Quesada (guitar)

Tracklist:
01. Sirtaki A Helsinki 3.40
02. Prima Donna 3.03
03. Dare-Dard 2.50
04. Chaloupée 3.45
05. Steppe 4.13
06. Rose 3:39
07. Facéties 2.22
08. Après La Pluie 3.07
09. Blue Lady 3.59
10. Quintette 2.28
11. Mémoires 5.08
12. Night Run 3.54
13. Demi-Lune 4.11
14. La Danse Des Trois Chapeaux 2.53
15. Ne M’oublie Pas 4.09
16. L’abîme 3.30
17. Zig-Zag 3.13
18. Les Sept Erreurs 2.25

Music composed by René Aubry

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REO Speedwagon – Ridin´ the Storm Out (1973)

REO Speedwagon (originally stylized as R.E.O. Speedwagon) is an American rock band from Champaign, Illinois. Formed in 1967, the band cultivated a following during the 1970s and achieved significant commercial success throughout the 1980s. The group’s best-selling album, Hi Infidelity (1980), contained four US Top 40 hits and sold more than 10 million copies.

Over the course of its career, the band has sold more than 40 million records and has charted 13 Top 40 hits, including the number ones “Keep On Loving You” and “Can’t Fight This Feeling”. REO Speedwagon’s mainstream popularity waned in the late 1980s, but the band remains a popular live act.

Ridin’ the Storm Out is the third studio album by REO Speedwagon, released in 1973. It peaked at number 171 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1981, and reaching platinum status in 1989. It was the first album to feature Mike Murphy on vocals. The sessions started out with Kevin Cronin, but he left the band before the album was finished, due to creative differences. The title track would later become a hit for the band on their live album, after Cronin had returned to the band. The song refers to the band being stuck in a harsh winter blizzard after a show in Boulder, Colorado, at a bar named Tulagi’s (now closed).

The album includes a new composition by Stephen Stills, “Open Up”, which was never recorded by Stills himself or any of his bands, though “Know You Got to Run” from Stephen Stills 2 is essentially an embryonic version of the song. “Know You Got to Run” consists of only verses and uses a sombre acoustic folk arrangement, while “Open Up” includes a chorus and uses an up-tempo rock arrangement. (by wikipedia)

REO Speedwagon began to come into its own with its third album, Ridin’ the Storm Out. Over the years, the record became a platinum-seller, due to the strength of their series of opening shows for more successful rock acts, but it originally charted at number 171. While the group still had elements of their bar band boogie, they began to streamline their approach on this album. Although it only resulted in one minor hit, with the title track scraping the bottom of the singles charts, the record was one of their most consistent efforts. by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)

Personnel:
Neal Doughty (keyboards)
Alan Gratzer (drums)
Mike Murphy (vocals)
Gregg Philbin (bass)
Gary Richrath (guitar, vocals on 04.)
+
Gene Estes (percussion)
Guille Garcia (percussion)
Joe Walsh (slide guitar on 02., 05. + 08.)
+
background vocals:
Gloria Jones – Carolyn Willis – Oma Drake

Tracklist:
01. Ridin’ The Storm Out (Richrath) 4.13
02. Whiskey Night (Richrath) 4.44
03. Oh Woman (Richrath) 2.48
04. Find My Fortune (Richrath) 2.54
05. Open Up (Stills) 3.32
06. Movin’ (Cronin 3.22
07. Son Of A Poor Man (Richrath) 3.45
08. Start A New Life (Richrath) 3.50
09. It’s Everywhere (Cronin) 3.26
10. Without Expression (Don’t Be The Man) (Reid) 3.53

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More from REO Speedwagon:

Jan Garbarek – I Took Up The Runes (1990)

Jan Garbarek (born 4 March 1947) is a Norwegian jazz saxophonist, who is also active in classical music and world music.

Garbarek was born in Mysen, Norway, the only child of a former Polish prisoner of war, Czesław Garbarek, and a Norwegian farmer’s daughter. He grew up in Oslo, stateless until the age of seven, as there was no automatic grant of citizenship in Norway at the time. When he was 21, he married Vigdis. He is the father of musician and composer Anja Garbarek.

Garbarek’s sound is one of the hallmarks of the ECM Records label, which has released virtually all of his recordings. His style incorporates a sharp-edged tone, long, keening, sustained notes, and generous use of silence. He began his recording career in the late 1960s, notably featuring on recordings by the American jazz composer George Russell (such as Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature). By 1973 he had turned his back on the harsh dissonances of avant-garde jazz, retaining only his tone from his previous approach. Garbarek gained wider recognition through his work with pianist Keith Jarrett’s European Quartet which released the albums Belonging (1974), My Song (1977) and the live recordings Personal Mountains (1979), and Nude Ants (1979). He was also a featured soloist on Jarrett’s orchestral works Luminessence (1974) and Arbour Zena (1975).

As a composer, Garbarek tends to draw heavily from Scandinavian folk melodies, a legacy of his Ayler influence. He is also a pioneer of ambient jazz composition, most notably on his 1976 album Dis a collaboration with guitarist Ralph Towner, that featured the distinctive sound of a wind harp on several tracks. This textural approach, which rejects traditional notions of thematic improvisation (best exemplified by Sonny Rollins) in favour of a style described by critics Richard Cook and Brian Morton as “sculptural in its impact”, has been critically divisive. Garbarek’s more meandering recordings are often labeled as new-age music, or spiritual ancestors thereof. Other experiments have included setting a collection of poems of Olav H. Hauge to music, with a single saxophone complementing a full mixed choir; this has led to notable performances with Grex Vocalis. In the 1980s, Garbarek’s music began to incorporate synthesizers and elements of world music. He has collaborated with Indian and Pakistani musicians such as Trilok Gurtu, Zakir Hussain, Hariprasad Chaurasia, and Bade Fateh Ali Khan. Garbarek is credited for composing original music for the 2000 film Kippur.

In 1994, during heightened popularity of Gregorian chant, his album Officium, a collaboration with early music vocal performers the Hilliard Ensemble, became one of ECM’s biggest-selling albums of all time, reaching the pop charts in several European countries and was followed by a sequel, Mnemosyne, in 1999. Officium Novum, another sequel album, was released in September 2010. In 2005, his album In Praise of Dreams was nominated for a Grammy Award. Garbarek’s first live album Dresden was released in 2009.

I Took Up the Runes is an album by Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek released on the ECM label and performed by Garbarek, Rainer Brüninghaus, Eberhard Weber, Nana Vasconcelos, Manu Katché, and Bugge Wesseltoft with Ingor Ánte Áilo Gaup contributing vocals.

In a contemporaneous review, Jim Aikin described the album as a “hauntingly evocative Euro-jazz session” and identified the “Gula Gula” track as “especially memorable”. (wikipedia)

A more eclectic release than his preceding releases, Jan Garbarek’s I Took Up the Runes satisfies listeners who had been more or less impatient for something with some meat and some muscle. Opening with a jazzy cover of Mari Persen’s “Gula Gula,” made fuller with bass guitar accompaniment that modifies the chord structure of the whole tune, the album next features the five-part “Molde Canticle,” which spans from a dreamy esoteric sound to African folk music. Garbarek really wails in places, and it is a welcome surprise — he should wail more than he does. Synthesizer sounds are starting to become less prominent as well. There is excellent piano work by Rainer Brüninghaus and excellent vocalizing by guest artist Ingor Ántte Áilu Gaup. A sign of good things to come. (by Mark Allender)

Personnel:
Rainer Brüninghaus (piano)
Jan Garbarek (saxophone)
Ingor Ánte Áilo Gaup (voice)
Manu Katché (drums)
Nana Vasconcelos (percussion)
Eberhard Weber (bass)
Bugge Wesseltoft (synthesizer)

Tracklist:
01. Gula Gula (Mari Persen) (Garbarek) 5.56
02. Molde Canticle: Part 1 (Garbarek) 5.12
03. Molde Canticle: Part 2 (Garbarek) 5.44
04. Molde Canticle: Part 3 (Garbarek) 9.54
05. Molde Canticle: Part 4 (Garbarek) 5.11
06. Molde Canticle: part 5 (Garbarek) 6.08
07. His Eyes Were Suns (Traditional) 6.05
08. I Took Up The Runes (Garbarek) 5.25
09. Buena Hora, Buenos Vientos (Garbarek) 9.01
10. Rahkki Sruvvis (Gaup) 2.23

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More Jan Garbarek: