Leslie West – Silent Night + Roadhouse Blues (2021)

Leslie West (born Leslie Weinstein on 22 October 1945; died 22 December 2020) was an American rock guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter best known as a founding member and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Mountain. He also produced two studio albums and a live release with Cream bassist Jack Bruce under the name West, Bruce and Laing. West released a number of solo albums and was highly respected for his guitar work.

West gained fame the world over during his long career as one of the most innovative and influential musicians in the history of rock music. He is most noted for his role as leader of the explosive hard rock trio, Mountain, which was named by VH-1 as one of the Top 100 Hard Rock Groups of all time. With Mountain, he climbed the heights of rock stardom on the strength of a unique, signature guitar sound and classic songs such as “Mississippi Queen”, “Never In My Life” and “Theme From An Imaginary Western”,and Nantucket Sleighride which are still staples of rock radio to this day.

West earned the admiration of a long list of famous peers. During his career, he recorded or played with a litany of rock icons including Billy Joel, Van Halen, The Who, Mick Jagger and Jimi Hendrix, to name just a few. In fact, Eddie Van Halen, Michael Schenker and Richie Sambora have all cited West as an important influence on their own music.

West’s bold, expressive and unique guitar style is really a mirror of his own personality. Spend a little time talking with this larger-than-life figure, and you’ll realize that he is as charismatic without a guitar in his hands as he is with one. Possessing a sharp sense of humor, he was at once gregarious and gruff while recounting stories from his legendary past. When discussing his music projects, he exuded an infectious enthusiasm and excitement. Such projects could take him outside his traditional roles of guitarist, singer and songwriter.

In 1986, he acted alongside Tom Hanks and Shelley Long in the hit comedy film, The Money Pit and has lent his distinctive voice to the popular animated series, Beast Wars Transformers which ran for three seasons on the WB network beginning in 1996 before going into syndication. He has also contributed the theme music to the new WB show, Mutant X.

West was a popular personality on the Howard Stern Radio Show and was Musical Director for the shock jock’s FOX series, as well as for the late comedian Sam Kinison. Most recently, he lent his production and songwriting skills to an album by Atlantic Records’ modern rock group, Clutch, and has just released his own instructional guitar DVD, Big Phat Ass Guitar. (last.fm)

And here is his contribution to Christmas, a rare single, released in 2021

Silent Night” was recorded in 2015 für the compilation album “Blues Christmas” (can find it here).

And on the B-side of thi single we hear an exciting versions from the “Roadhuse Blues” (recorded in 2014) by The Doors (featuring Brian Auger & Rod Piazza !)

Personnel:
Leslie West (guitar, vocals)
+
Brian Auger (organ on 02.)
Scott Connor (drums)
Rod Piazza (harmonica)

Tracklist:
01. A Silent Night  (West/Gruber) 2.17
02. Roadhouse Blues (Densmore/Manzarek/Krieger/Morrison) 4.13

*
**

More from Leslie West:

Pentatonix – That’s Christmas To Me (2014)

Another Christmay album Pentatonix :

Pentatonix (abbreviated PTX) is an American a cappella group from Arlington, Texas, consisting of vocalists Scott Hoying (baritone), Mitch Grassi (tenor), Kirstin Maldonado (alto), Kevin Olusola (vocal percussion and vocals), and Matt Sallee (bass). Characterized by their pop-style arrangements with vocal harmonies, basslines, riffing, percussion, and beatboxing, they produce cover versions of modern pop works or Christmas songs, sometimes in the form of medleys, along with original material. Pentatonix formed in 2011 and subsequently won the third season of NBC’s The Sing-Off, receiving $200,000 and a recording contract with Sony Music. When Sony’s Epic Records dropped the group after The Sing-Off, the group formed its YouTube channel, distributing its music through Madison Gate Records, a label owned by Sony Pictures. Their YouTube channel currently has over 19 million subscribers and 5 billion views. The group’s video tribute to Daft Punk had received more than 355 million views as of November 20, 2021. (wikipedia)

That’s Christmas to Me is the third studio album by a cappella group Pentatonix. It is their sixth release overall and their second holiday release following their 2012 EP PTXmas. It only features previously unreleased material (except “Let It Go”, a bonus track of the Japanese Edition of Vols. 1 & 2). It was released on October 21, 2014 through RCA Records, peaked at number 2 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

The album is named after the eponymous song by Pentatonix, the only original song featured on the album. By year’s end, December 31, 2014, according to Billboard, it reached a final 2014 total of 1.14 million copies sold, becoming the 4th best selling album of 2014 by any artist of any genre. The album is also the highest charting holiday album by a group since 1962. The album has sold 2,200,000 copies in the United States as of December 2016.

That’s Christmas to Me peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 in the United States.[9] and at number 4 on the Billboard Canadian Albums Chart. The album also charted moderately in other countries including Australia, New Zealand and Norway. On December 1, 2014, That’s Christmas to Me was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America and became the group’s first accredited release in the US. By year’s end (December 31, 2014), Billboard reported that the album had sold a total of 1.14 million copies, becoming only the 4th album to sell a million copies in 2014 in any genre (being surpassed only by Taylor Swift’s 1989, the Frozen soundtrack, and Sam Smith’s In the Lonely Hour) and was the Top Selling Holiday Album for 2014. Pentatonix became the first act to top both the Holiday Albums and Holiday Songs charts simultaneously since the Holiday 100 launched as a multi-metric tabulation in December 2011. The album is also the highest charting holiday album by a group since 1962. The album has sold 1,900,000 copies in the US as of December 2016. It is the only Christmas album to appear on the 2010s decade-end chart for the Billboard 200, charted at 75.

A single from the album, the group’s cover of “Mary, Did You Know?”, both debuted and peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 26, number 7 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and at number 44 on the Canadian Hot 100. The album’s title track, “That’s Christmas to Me”, also peaked at number 8 on the Adult Contemporary chart. During the holiday season, seven songs from That’s Christmas to Me charted on the Billboard Holiday Digital Songs chart: “Mary, Did You Know?” at number 1, “White Winter Hymnal” at number 2, “Silent Night” at number 5, “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” at number 8, “Sleigh Ride” at number 12, “That’s Christmas to Me” at number 16 and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” at number 17.

The album received generally favorable reviews by critics. Popdust complimented its “blistery bold arrangements,” and the group’s “truly remarkable, pinpoint precision.” Markos Papadatos from Digital Journal described it as “pure joy and one of the best projects I’ve heard this year.” FDRMX gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars, claiming the album has “a good mix of traditional holiday songs, religious ballads and originals thrown in.”[citation needed] The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel dubbed it a “Christmas miracle,” citing a “streak of beautifully sung, creative arrangements.”

In November 2014, Pentatonix were invited by Australian film director, producer and screenwriter Baz Luhrmann to be involved with the Holiday Window display at Barneys in New York City. Pentatonix performed at the opening night with a medley of songs from That’s Christmas to Me.

On November 27, 2014, Pentatonix participated in the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, performing “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” on the Homewood Suites float. Pentatonix also performed during NBC’s annual Christmas in Rockefeller Center special on December 3, 2014, performing “Sleigh Ride” and “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”.

Pentatonix returned to The Sing-Off, performing a medley of songs from That’s Christmas to Me during the Season 5 holiday special, which aired on December 17, 2014.

Pentatonix’s fourth studio album and second holiday-themed release, 2014’s That’s Christmas to Me, showcases more of the innovative a cappella group’s electronic dance music-influenced vocal sound. The album comes on the heels of the group’s other 2014 release, PTX, Vol. 3, and two years after the Yuletide EP PTXmas. Here, the former NBC Sing-Off season three champions perform a bevy of Christmas classics including “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” “Silent Night,” and others, as well as the newly minted title track original. (by Matt Collar)

Personnel:
Mitch Grassi (tenor vocals)
Scott Hoying (baritone vocals)
Avi Kaplan (bass, vocals)
Kirstin Maldonado (alto vocals)
Kevin Olusola (vocal percussio, vocals on and backing vocals, lead vocals on “Mary Did You Know?” and “The First Noel”
+
Tori Kelly (vocals on 04.)

Tracklist:
01. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (Wesley/Mendelssohn) 3.12
02. White Winter Hymnal (Pecknold) 2.47
03. Sleigh Ride (Parish/Anderson) 2.16
04. Winter Wonderland / Don’t Worry Be Happy (Smith/McFerrin/ Bernard) 3.27
05. That’s Christmas To Me (Hoying/Olusola) 3.02
06. Mary, Did You Know? (Lowry/Greene) 3.23
07. Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy (Tchaikovsky) 2.07
08. It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year (Pola/Wyle) 3.05
09. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (Coots/Gillespie) 2.42
10. Silent Night (Mohr/Gruber) 3.13
11. Let It Go (from Frozen) (Anderson-Lopez/Lopez) 3.26

*
**

More from Pentatonix:

The official website:

Gregg Karukas – Soul Secrets (2014)

Gregg Karukas (born 1956) is a smooth jazz pianist from Maryland who first gained notice in Washington, D.C., then moved to Los Angeles in 1983. He backed Melissa Manchester before he co-founded the Rippingtons in 1985.

He experimented with drums, guitar, trumpet, and keyboards as a child, but it was not until his teens that he pursued music professionally as a pianist, having played with the Bowie High School Starliners big band. When he was sixteen, he owned one of the first Minimoog synthesizers.

Karukas spent five years with Tim Eyermann in the band East Coast Offering. After moving to Los Angeles, he worked with Shelby Flint, David Benoit, Richard Elliot, Grant Geissman, Dave Koz, Ronnie Laws, and Melissa Manchester. He was a member of the Rippingtons when they recorded their first album, Moonlighting, in November 1985. He has worked as a sideman with Larry Carlton, Jeffrey Osborne, George Duke, Rick Braun, Brenda Russell, Craig Chaquico, Boney James, and Peter White.

Karukas has received multiple Best Keyboardist nominations at the Oasis and National Smooth Jazz Awards. He has collaborated with Brazilian composer Dori Caymmi and Ricardo Silveira. He produced, arranged, engineered, and co-wrote two albums with Omar Akram, whose Echoes of Love won the Grammy Award for Best New Age Album in 2013.[2]

He owns and distributes most of his music on his label, Nightowl Records (wikipedia)

2013 Grammy winner Gregg Karukas is back with a new collection featuring his signature piano touch, pristine production, and melodies that are both soulful and sophisticated. Organic, funky, and melodic is how the original Rippingtons keyboardist describes his latest, long awaited 12th solo project, ‘Soul Secrets’. Gregg’s elegant grand piano melodies and infectious grooves are everywhere; this time around he digs into his roots, featuring the classic Fender Rhodes, Wurlie, Minimoog and B3 keyboards quite a bit. At a generous and expansive 14 tracks and no covers, ‘Soul Secrets’ reveals Karukas as an artist who has refined his sound to be instantly recognizable while constantly exploring a wide range of styles and grooves – from old school soul-jazz, with hints of gospel, R&B and funk to the world/samba grooves he immersed himself in while touring with Brazilian legends Sergio Mendes and Dori Caymmi. The album’s debut single, ‘Elegant Nights’ is classic Karukas; it was the #1 Most Added Track in its first week on radio. The live interplay sizzles as Gregg surrounds himself with an all-star guest list that includes his friends Rick Braun, Euge Groove, guitarists Ricardo Silveira, Michael O’Neill, Adam Hawley and James Harrah; violinist Charlie Bisharat, Luis Conte, Eric Valentine, Nate Phillips; vocalists Shelby Flint and Ron Boustead and 21 year old rising sax star and occasional touring partner Vincent Ingala. (press release)

Gregg Karukas is a superb musician with an impressive track record. This album is really good and recommended. (Sven Böhlin)

I recently “discovered” this guy, and really like his music, he is an excellent keyboard player, and has some really talented guest musicians playing with him, they clearly enjoy their work – and play some very nice tight riffs. There is a good mix of moody and bouncy numbers too – I really raete him! (Richard Drake)

If you like Smooh Jazz … this album is a must !

Personnel:
Charlie Bisharat (violin on 10. + 14.)
Ron Boustead (vocals on 05.)
Rick Braun (flugelhorn on 02. + 08., trumpet, trombone on 08.)
Shelby Flint (vocals on 05.)
Euge Groove (saxophone on 03.)
James Harrah (guitar on 01.)
Adam Hawley (guitar on 12. + 13.)
Vincent Ingala (saxophone on 01., 06., 07., 09. + 11.)
Gregg Karukas (keyboards)
Michael O’Neill (guitar on 02. – 09. + 11.)
Nate Phillips (bass)
Ricardo Silveira (guitar on 05., 10. + 14.)
Eric Valentine (drums)

Tracklist:
01. Do Watcha Love 5.16
02. Soul Secrets 4.17
03. GK’s Funky Joint 5.04
04. Elegant Nights 3.50
05. Rio Drive 4.53
06. Only You (For Yvonne) 4.45
07. Snack Shack 5.10
08. Cafe Agogo 5.11
09. Secret Smile 6.24
10. Above The Clouds (For Lisa) 5.25
11. Walking On Air 5.16
12. Told You Twice 5.07
13. Randy Heads Uptown 5.10
14. Time Alone (For Ty Malo 4.58

Music composed by Gregg Karukas

*
**

The official website:

Alison Balsom – Paris (2014)

Alison Louise Balsom, Lady Mendes, OBE (born 7 October 1978) is an English trumpet soloist, arranger, producer, and music educator. Balsom was awarded Artist of the Year at the 2013 Gramophone Awards and has won three Classic BRIT Awards and three German Echo Awards, and was a soloist at the BBC Last Night of the Proms in 2009. She was the artistic director of the 2019 Cheltenham Music Festival.

Balsom attended Tannery Drift First School in Royston, Hertfordshire, where she started taking trumpet lessons from the age of seven, followed by Greneway Middle School and Meridian School, whilst also playing in the Royston Town Band from ages eight to 15. Subsequently, she took her A-levels at Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge.

Playing in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain from ages 15 to 18, Balsom studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 2001 with first class honours and the Principal’s Prize for the highest mark. She has also studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and at the Conservatoire de Paris with Håkan Hardenberger

Balsom has been a professional solo classical trumpeter since 2001. She is a former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, during which time she performed much of the major concerto repertoire for solo trumpet and orchestra with all of the BBC Orchestras,[6] and she released her debut album with EMI Classics in 2002. In 2005, she released her second disc, Bach Works for Trumpet, as part of a contract with EMI Classics. In 2006, Balsom won ‘Young British Classical Performer’ at the Classical BRIT Awards and was awarded the ‘Classic FM Listeners’ Choice Award’ at the Classic FM Gramophone Awards. She won ‘Female Artist of the Year’ at the 2009 and 2011 Classical BRIT Awards.

Her third album (the second disc in the EMI contract), Caprice, was released in September 2006, and her Italian Concertos disc was on the list of New York Times albums of the year. Balsom was a soloist at the 2009 Last Night of the Proms, performing, among other pieces, Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and a jazz arrangement of George Gershwin’s “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” with mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly.

In collaboration with playwright Samuel Adamson, Balsom devised Gabriel, a play using the music of The Fairy-Queen and other pieces by Henry Purcell and George-Frideric Handel, which she performed with actors and The English Concert as part of the 2013 summer season at Shakespeare’s Globe.

Balsom was the principal trumpet of the London Chamber Orchestra.[8] Her main trumpet is a Bob Malone-converted Bach C trumpet.[citation needed] About her natural trumpet playing, Balsom said in 2014, “I have been playing since I was in the 3rd year at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama – so since I was 21. I just fell in love with this instrument as soon as I started learning it, as it makes total sense of the whole Baroque era in terms of phrasing, colour and the difference in keys and certain notes of the scale, which you lose on a modern instrument such as the piccolo trumpet. I play various different makes but my favourite is by Egger of Switzerland.”

She is a Visiting Professor of Trumpet at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

She gave the world premiere of Qigang Chen’s Joie éternelle for solo trumpet and orchestra at the 2014 BBC Proms, and Guy Barker’s Lanterne of Light trumpet concerto at the 2015 BBC Proms. In addition to 14 years of solo appearances at the Proms, Balsom has also appeared at the iTunes Festival, Latitude Festival, Henley Festival, Un Violon Sur le Sable, France and Wege durch das Land, Germany.

In 2014 Balsom was chosen as one of 27 artists, including Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Florence Welch, and Sam Smith, to feature in one of BBC Music’s first broadcasts, an extravagant cover of the 1966 Beach Boys classic, God Only Knows. This track marked a first-time collaboration between the Warner, Sony and Universal Music labels.

She appeared on BBC Radio 4’s long-running Desert Island Discs programme on 4 October 2015.

In 2014, she returned to BBC Young Musician of the Year as a presenter of the category finals and semi-final of the competition alongside Miloš Karadaglić. In 2016 she co-presented BBC Young Musician with Clemency Burton-Hill.

Balsom succeeded Richard Rodney Bennett as President of Deal, Kent Festival in 2015. She was artistic director of the 2019 Cheltenham Music Festival, then stepped down in July 2019 to concentrate on performing and recording.

Balsom was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to music.

She has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from the University of Leicester (2015) [20] and Anglia Ruskin University, and is an Honorary Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

She has a son with the English conductor Edward Gardner. In 2017, she married film director Sir Sam Mendes. Their daughter was born later that year. (wikipedia)

And here´s her 9th solo album:

Studying in Paris helped to define Alison Balsom’s belief of what a virtuoso trumpet soloist might achieve in the footsteps of her mentor, Maurice André. This potpourri of a recital is, though, very much of its own time, eclectically flavoured in its collaborative elements and juxtaposition of music languages, and deftly underpinned by Balsom’s considered curating.

If the opening Satie Gymnopédie represents something of a beguiling temptress, a pair of Piazzollas reveal the soloist’s inimitable capacity for shaping a melody with the seasoned tonal focus and impeccable intonation which are integral to Balsom’s admired armoury.

For all the ‘loungey’ resonances in the arrangements, there is considerably more skill here than meets the eye. One could never imagine how Michel Legrand’s La valse des lilas could morph successfully into a reimagined vision of Messaien’s ‘Le baiser de l’Enfant-Jésus’ – but it does with almost Ravelian exoticism. Purists who followed Yvonne Loriod’s Vingt regards around the world may run a mile, but the result is an ensemble piece of kaleidoscopic discrimination and invention.

Slow-tempo trumpet discs can take their toll in a single sitting, however fine the playing, but there is a pleasing overall shape here; only in the arrangement of the slow movement of the Ravel concerto does the removal of the composer’s exquisite original textures occasionally outweigh the gains, not helped by some neutral longueurs in the emotional journey. Atmospherically recorded (as if in a smoky Montmartre club), with a high proportion of excellent arrangements to match Balsom’s measured panache, the key to this project’s success lies in how she, Guy Barker and Timothy Redmond have restitched a seam of Parisian music culture and envisaged a world which has taken on a life of its own. (by Jonathan Freeman-Attwood)

Personnel:
Alison Balsom (trumpet)
+
The Guy Barker Orchestra conducted by Guy Barker / Timothy Redmond (on 05.-07. + 09.)
+
Al Cherry (guitar on 11.)
Miloš Karadaglić (guitar on 02.)

Tracklist:
01. Gymnopedie No. 3 (Satie) 2.28
02. Cafe 1930 (Piazolla) 7.06
03. Oblivion (Piazolla) 4.07
04. La Valse Des Lilas (Legrand/Marnay/Barclay) 3.28
05. Le Baiser De L’Enfants Jesus Tres Lent, Calme (Messiaen) 5.46
06. Le Baiser De L’Enfants Jesus, Modere (Messiaen) 4.55
07. Piece En Forme De Habanera (Ravel) 2.43
08. Piano Concerto In G – Adagio Assai (Ravel) 8.18
09. Gnossienne No. 3 (Satie) 3.20
10. Les Feuilles Mortes (Autumn Leaves) (Kosman) 4.58
11. Nuages (Reinhardt) 4.13

*
**

The official website:

Paul Roland – Professor Moriarty’s Jukebox (2014)

Paul Roland (born 6 September 1959 in Kent, England), is a singer-songwriter, author, journalist and paranormal researcher.

Since the release of his first (shared) single “Oscar Automobile” in 1979, Roland has been spinning his tales against a backdrop of gothic rock, psychedelic pop, folk and, occasionally, baroque strings. His character creations include a Regency magistrate, various 19th Century murderers, a retired executioner, an opium addict, and an entire court of medieval grotesques.

Paul has been called “the male Kate Bush” by one-time label-mate Robyn Hitchcock, and “The Lord Byron of Rock” by the French music magazine Les Inrockuptibles.

“Paul Roland has remained a cherished figure on the gothic rock and psychedelic pop periphery for 30 years…a treasury of detail and eloquence…Roland’s impeccable narratives (and) formal, baroque instrumentation…creates the antiquated yet timeless ambience his songs deserve” (Marco Rossi, Record Collector, May 2010).

Joshua Pfeiffer of Vernian Process is quoted as saying “As for Paul Roland, if anyone deserves credit for spearheading steampunk music, it is him. He was one of the inspirations I had in starting my project. He was writing songs about the first attempt at manned flight, and an Edwardian airship raid in the mid-80s long before almost anyone else….”[1]

“Paul Roland writes nice melodies and has a very particular personality but he is too intellectual for me!” (Frank Zappa, 1988). (wikipedia)

A few years back Paul Roland released ‘In Memoriam 1980-2010’ a superb collection highlighting the range of great tracks Paul has produced over 30 years. In his latest release ‘Professor Moriarty’s Jukebox’ Paul has revisited his back catalogue again but this time through a previously unreleased session recorded last year. Like the best sessions and live material these recordings retain the spark that made them so fondly regarded but they are arranged or played differently (sometimes subtlety) so you can listen with fresh ears.

As with all of Paul’s material there’s a distinctly gothic edge to these new versions: from (one of my favourites) 2007’s rock edged ‘Re-animator’ to 1989’s acoustic macabre fan-favourite ‘Nosferatu’. Special mentions must go to ‘Aleister Crowley’ (originally on 1997’s ‘Gargoyles’ album) which as infectious a track as it was almost 20 years ago; and a rougher take on ‘The Puppet Master’ from the previous decade’s ‘Burnt Orchids’ long player.

There’s also an extra 9 tracks of outtakes, remixes and rarities, expanding the set considerably. One gem is his excellent version of The Kinks ‘I’m Not Like Everyone Else’, starting baroquely and cutting loose with fiddle. The track is particularly apt for Paul’s ghoulish tales giving the lyric new meaning. Whilst there’s plenty of Roland originals in these curios, equally as good as the earlier 10 session tracks, I must finish mentioning Paul’s version of Joy Division’s ‘Day of the Lords’. It’s an outstanding gothic remake of this seminal number.

So if you like Paul Roland you’ll love this release, and if you haven’t heard Paul’s work ‘Professor Moriarty’s Jukebox’ it’s another great place to start. (Jason Barnard)

And we hear fantastic violin melodies played by Veronique Rocka

Personnel:
Mick Crossley (guitar, background vocals)
Patryk Korzybski (drums)
Veronique Rocka (violin)
Joshua Roland (bass)
Paul Roland (vocals, guitar, percussion)
+
Derek Heffernan (guitar on 11.)
Simon Jeffrey (drums on 11., percussion on 12.)
John Tracey (bass on 11.)
Geoffrey Richardson (violin on 12. + 18.)
Nico Steckelberg (piano on 15.)

Tracklist:
01. Re-Animator (Roland) 3.48
02. The Crimes Of Dr Cream (Roland) 3.02
03. Cairo (Roland) 2.59
04. I Was A Teenage Zombie (Roland) 3.11
05. Captain Nemo (Roland) 4.35
06. Aleistair Crowley (Roland) 2.40
07. The Puppet Master (Roland) 3.33
08. Tortured By The Daughter Of Fu Manchu (Roland) 3.38
09. The Hanging Judge (Roland) 2.05
10. Nosferatu (Roland) 4.57
11 Meadows Of The Sea (unreleased re-recording 2007) (Bolan) 4.36
12. I’m Not Like Everybody Else (unreleased acoustic version 2007) (R.Davies) 4.29
13. Faeries (unreleased version) (Roland) 2.51
14.  Eight Little Whores (unreleased version) (Roland) 3.35
15. Kali (unreleased acoustic radio session) (Roland) 4.08
16. Bates Motel (unreleased acoustic radio session) (Roland) 5.11
17. I Dared The Devil (remixed from ‘The Devil in Love’ album) (Roland) 4.36
18. Death Of A Clown (outtake from ‘Sarabande’ sessions) (D.Davies) 3.55
19. Day Of The Lords (from ‘Shadowplay’, the Joy Division tribute album) (Curtis/Hook) 4.37

*
**

Professor James Moriarty – as you might imagine him to be:

Various Artists – Midnight Rider (A Tribute To The Allman Brothers Band) (2014)

The Allman Brothers Band were an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969[3] by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guitar, vocals, songwriting), Berry Oakley (bass guitar), Butch Trucks (drums), and Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson (drums). Subsequently, based in Macon, Georgia, the band incorporated elements of blues, jazz, and country music, and their live shows featured jam band-style improvisation and instrumentals.

The group’s first two studio releases, The Allman Brothers Band (1969) and Idlewild South (1970) (both released by Capricorn Records), stalled commercially, but their 1971 live release, At Fillmore East, represented an artistic and commercial breakthrough. The album features extended renderings of their songs “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” and “Whipping Post”, and is considered among the best live albums ever made.

Group leader Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident later that year – on October 29, 1971 – and the band dedicated Eat a Peach (1972) to his memory, a dual studio/live album that cemented the band’s popularity and featured Gregg Allman’s “Melissa” and Dickey Betts’s “Blue Sky”. Following the motorcycling death of bassist Berry Oakley one year and 13 days later on November 11, 1972, the group recruited keyboardist Chuck Leavell and bassist Lamar Williams for 1973’s Brothers and Sisters. This album included Betts’s hit single “Ramblin’ Man” and instrumental “Jessica”. These tunes went on to become classic rock radio staples, and placed the group at the forefront of 1970s rock music. Internal turmoil overtook them soon after; the group dissolved in 1976, reformed briefly at the end of the decade with additional personnel changes, and dissolved again in 1982.

The band reformed once more in 1989, releasing a string of new albums and touring heavily. A series of personnel changes in the late 1990s was capped by the departure of Betts. The group found stability during the 2000s with bassist Oteil Burbridge and guitarists Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks (the nephew of their original drummer) and became renowned for their month-long string of shows at New York City’s Beacon Theatre each spring. The band retired for good in October 2014 after their final show at the Beacon Theatre.

Butch Trucks died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on January 24, 2017, in West Palm Beach, Florida, at the age of 69. Gregg Allman died from complications arising from liver cancer on May 27, 2017, at his home in Georgia, also at the age of 69. The band has been awarded seven gold and four platinum albums,[4] and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. Rolling Stone ranked them 52nd on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004. (wikipedia)

And here´s a fine “tribute album”:

This 12-song collection, helmed and herded by Florida guitarist John Wesley, features new performances of some of the band’s classic songs, including “Midnight Rider,” “Statesboro Blues,” “Ramblin’ Man,” and “Whippin’ Post” done by a host of guitarists and singers, Ronnie Earl, Debbie Davies, Eli Cook, Eric Gales, Pat Travers, among them. It’s fine as a tribute, but only underscores how influential and unique the Allman Brothers Band always was. Nothing tops the ABB versions of these songs, which really should come as no big surprise to anybody. (allmusicguide.com)

Tracklist:
01. Pat Travers: Midnight Rider (Allman) 3.20
02. The Oak Ridge Boys, Tinsley Ellis, Kevin McKendree: Ramblin` Man (Betts) 4.54
03. Molly Hatchet: Melissa (Allman) 4.39
04. Artimus Pyle Band: Blue Sky (Betts) 4.25
05. Jimmy Hall & Steve Morse: Whipping Post (Allman) 5.21
06. Jim Eshelman, Roy Rogers & John Wesley: Jessica (Betts) 7.30
07. Robben Ford & Martin Gerschwitz: One Way Out (Sehorn/James) 4.46
08. Debbie Davis & Melvin Seals: Soulshine (Haynes) 6.42
09. Eli Cook: Statesboro Blues (McTell) 3.40
10. Eric Gales: In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed (Betts) 7.01
11. Commander Cody & Sonny Landreth: Southbound (Betts) 5.13
12. Ronnie Earl, Leon Russell & Reese Wynans: I’m No Angel (Allman) 3.42

*
**

More from The Allman Brothers Band:

Passenger – Whispers I (2014)

Michael David Rosenberg (born 17 May 1984), better known by his stage name Passenger, is an English singer-songwriter and musician.

Previously the main vocalist and songwriter of Passenger, Rosenberg opted to keep the band’s name for his solo work after the band dissolved in 2009.

In 2012, he released the song “Let Her Go” which topped the charts in 16 countries. In 2014, the song was nominated for the Brit Award for British Single of the Year, and he received the British Academy’s Ivor Novello Award for Most Performed Work.

Whispers is the fifth studio album from British singer-songwriter Passenger. It was released between 6 and 10 June 2014 in different countries, through Black Crow Records and Nettwerk. The album includes the singles “Scare Away the Dark” and “Heart’s on Fire”.

On 26 March 2014 Passenger announced details of his fifth studio album, confirming the UK release date as 9 June 2014. When speaking to Digital Spy about the album he said, “This is easily the most ‘up’ album I’ve ever made, it’s quite cinematic. There are lots of big stories and big ideas. There are also some sombre moments about loneliness and death but hey, it wouldn’t be a Passenger album without those.” He released “Heart’s on Fire” as the lead single from the album on 14 April 2014.

“Heart’s on Fire” was released as the lead single from the album on 14 April 2014. Talking to Digital Spy about the song he said, “Heart’s on Fire’ is a nostalgic song. It’s about when the timing with someone isn’t right, even though the person might be. And although you’re not with that person at the time, there may be a moment in the future where the relationship makes more sense.”

The album debuted at No. 12 on Billboard 200, No. 5 on Top Rock Albums, selling 18,000 copies in the first week. The album has sold 71,000 copies in the United States as of August 2016.

“Whispers” received a 2015 Grammy nomination  for Best Recording Package. The art director, Sarah Larnach, was also the artist and designer on the album and credits Mike Rosenberg with creating the concept. “Whispers” is the third Passenger album cover created by Sarah Larnach. (wikipedia)

British singer/songwriter Mike Rosenberg, otherwise known as Passenger, continues exploring the broader sonic palette he developed on 2012’s All the Little Lights with his sixth studio album, 2014’s Whispers. As he did last time, Rosenberg once again teamed up with All the Little Lights producer Chris Vallejo. Together, they deliver a batch of evocative acoustic folk and indie pop songs that are often expanded with orchestral flourishes. That said, Rosenberg’s main instrument of choice here is still the acoustic guitar, and all the songs on Whispers retain the Brighton-based artist’s core intimacy. Influenced by both traditional British folk and more modern singer/songwriters,

Rosenberg’s work here falls somewhere between the earnest classicism of Mumford & Sons and the contemporary pop of Ed Sheeran. Vocally, he has a distinctively poignant chirp of a voice that sounds something akin to an elf who stayed up all night smoking, drinking, and sharing stories with friends. Which isn’t to say he sounds wizened, just world-weary and steeped in a kind of twee ennui. Whether he’s singing about growing older (“27”) or delving into a poetic allegory about loneliness (“Bullets”), Rosenberg has a knack for intimate revelations that still read as universal. He also has a gift for melody, and cuts like the melancholy “Heart’s on Fire” and the similarly hushed “Rolling Stone,” with its Van Morrison-esque woodwind backgrounds, are pleasantly enjoyable songs, perfect for introspective listening on warm summer afternoons. Ultimately, with Whispers, Rosenberg has crafted an album of sweet, hummable anthems for tender-hearted troubadours everywhere. (by Matt Collar)

Great, listen a new generation of singer/songwriters !

Personnel:
Stu Hunter (keyboards, glockenspiel on 07.)
Peter Marin (drums)
Michael David Rosenberg (vocals, guitar)
Cameron Undy (bass)
+
Scott Aplin (piano on 10. + 11.)
Tony Azzopardi (percussion)
Alex Boneham (bass on 05.. 09. – 11.)
Jess Ciampa (percussion)
Nick Garbett (trumpet)
James Greening (trombone)
Glen Hannah (guitar on 08. + 10.)
Tim Hart (mandolin on 03.)
Matthew Keegan (saxophone, clarinet)
+
Enigma String Quartet:
Marianne Broadfoot (violin)
Rowena Macneish (cello)
Kerry Martin (violin)
Shelley Soerensen (viola)
+
background vocals:
Georgia Mooney – Stu Larsen – The Once – Andrew Dale – Geraldine Hollett – Phillip Churchill

Tracklist:
01. Coins !n A Fountain 3.04
02. 27 3.18
03. Heart’s On Fire 4.13
04. Bullets 3.24
05. Golden Leaves 4.04
06. Thunder 2.25
07. Rolling Stone 3.22
08. Start A Fire 4.18
09. Whispers 4.00
10. Riding To New York 5.01
11. Scare Away The Dark 4.35

All songs are written by Mike Rosenberg.

*
**

Akiko (Tsuruga) – Commencement (2014)

Akiko Tsuruga is a jazz composer, Hammond B-3 organist and pianist from Osaka, Japan.

She was born in Osaka. Her parents bought her a small organ when she was three and she started learning to play standards. At high school, she listened to Hammond B3 players including Jimmy Smith, then Charles Earland, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff and Dr. Lonnie Smith.

A graduate of the Osaka College of Music, she has resided in New York City since 2001. After moving to the US, she had lessons from Lonnie Smith.

In addition to her solo work, she plays as a sideman in various groups in New York. She has accompanied Lou Donaldson since 2007. (wikipedia)

You know, it’s been ten years since Akiko Tsuruga have released her brilliant debut recording, and since then this Queen Of The Organ have made absolutely tremendous progress in her magnificent music career that have resulted in many world tours and seven highly acclaimed albums under her belt including this one. Released in 2014 to glowing reviews, Commencement is another time-honoured addition to the great jazz organist’s ever growing prolific music career as it again showcases a masterful performance as she is gracefully joined by ace drummer Hamilton and John Hart on guitar, in which they create a magical and captivating masterpiece.

By starting off on the opening track Blues For Bandit, the fantastic track set proceed with supercharged skill on ‘new’ original compositions, such as like Funky Girl, Don’t Misunderstood and the title track, as well as another round of direct takes on classic standards like The Bee Gees’ How Deep Is Your Love, Give Me The Simple Life, It’s Easy To Remember and Nat King Cole’s romantic ballad L-O-V-E, which Akiko and the trio performs gracefully with preppy results. So with Commencement, Akiko have again displayed her world class artistry on the Hammond B-3 Organ where she uses her powerhouse B-3 organ stylings to significant effect that results in stellar performing, great taste and an impeccable sense of swing, which gives an extra amount of ears to remind ourselves of just how far this great master of the jazz organ had come and to everything we have come to love about the jazz organ tradition, which makes this a timeless classic. (by RH)

Personnel:
Jeff Hamilton (drums)
John Hart (guitar)
Akiko Tsuruga (organ)

Tracklist:
01. Blues For Bandit (Tsuruga) 5.16
02. Funky Girl (Tsuruga) 5.06
03. When Johnny Comes Marching Home (Gilmore) 5.11
04. How Deep is Your Love (B.Gibb/R.Gibb) 5.54
05. Give Me The Simple Life (Bloom) 5.08
06. Spanish Flea (Wechter) 4.38
07. It’s Easy To Remember (Rodgers) 6.12
08. L-O-V-E (Kaempfert) 6.08
09. Don’t Misunderstand (Parks) 6.09
10. Commencement (Tsuruga) 6.47

*
**

Royal Scottish National Orchestra – The Man In Half Moon Street (Great Film Music By Miklos Rozsa (2014)

Miklós Rózsa (18 April 1907 – 27 July 1995) was a Hungarian-American composer trained in Germany (1925–1931) and active in France (1931–1935), the United Kingdom (1935–1940) and the United States (1940–1995), with extensive sojourns in Italy from 1953 onward. Best known for his nearly one hundred film scores, he nevertheless maintained a steadfast allegiance to absolute concert music throughout what he called his “double life”.

Rózsa achieved early success in Europe with his orchestral Theme, Variations, and Finale (Op. 13) of 1933, and became prominent in the film industry from such early scores as The Four Feathers (1939) and The Thief of Bagdad (1940). The latter project brought him to America when production was transferred from wartime Britain, and Rózsa remained in the United States, becoming an American citizen in 1946.

His notable Hollywood career earned him considerable fame, earning 17 Oscar nominations including three successes for Spellbound (1945), A Double Life (1947), and Ben-Hur (1959), while his concert works were championed by such major artists as Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky, and János Starker. (wikipedia)

In the 1970s, Miklós Rózsa recorded three compilation albums of his film music with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for Polydor Records, including a mix of his well-known classics with a few slightly more obscure works. Despite being very popular at the time, for some reason the recordings have never made their way onto CD, which is a great shame. This new CD from Intrada is a spiritual successor to that series, featuring music from five of the composer’s scores, including one suite that was specifically prepared for a fourth volume of the series which never materialised.

Intrada has made several outstanding re-recordings of Rózsa’s music in the past – I love in particular their Ivanhoe and Julius Caesar recordings conducted by Bruce Broughton. This album is performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra – used by Varèse Sarabande for many film music re-recordings in the 1990s and early 2000s – conducted by Allan Wilson. The album opens with a suite from the 1954 romantic adventure Valley of the Kings, which is exotic and exciting and very much a product of film music’s Golden Age. The suite only lasts for five minutes but finds time to move with pace from the dashing main theme through to its romantic conclusion. It’s only a little flavour of the score, but it’s a very fine way to start the album.

The main event follows next – seven tracks from The Man in Half Moon Street, which take up almost half of the album. The 1945 film is little-remembered today; it is about a man who has prolonged his life – and preserved his youthful appearance – by having a surgeon transplant organs to him from medical students every decade. Unfortunately, with the surgeon now ageing rapidly himself, the man (played by Nils Asther) needs to find another one willing to undertake the procedure for him. Rózsa worked on the film shortly before one of his best-known works, Double Indemnity, and the music is identifiably from that period in his career – tense and atmospheric, at times tortured and always complex, it is a compelling musical portrait of both love and anguish. The swirling main theme is hypnotic; and in stark contrast is the ravishing love theme (I particularly love the solo piano arrangement, played beautifully by Mike Lang). There’s an opulent waltz too but perhaps most impressive of all is the almost overpowering drama of “Transformation”.

The long-forgotten 1942 jungle adventure Jacaré is represented by its “Prelude”, a colourful theme of pace and passion. Perhaps my favourite music on the album is the fabulous eleven-minute suite from The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, a 1946 film noir starring Barbara Stanwyck, married to but not in love with Kirk Douglas (in his first ever role). The music is vintage Rózsa in every way – bold and dramatic of course and featuring one of his best love themes, a sumptuous melody blessed with a beautiful passage for solo violin, completely stunning. The composer is rightly lauded for his spectacular action/adventure themes and his game-changing dark dramatic scores of the 1940s (of which this is one) but perhaps isn’t given quite the attention he deserves for his exquisite love themes, several of which are quite heart-wrenchingly beautiful.

The album ends as it began, with a suite from an action/adventure, this time the Humphrey Bogart picture Sahara, a WWII movie set in Libya and released while the war was still raging (in 1943). The flavoursome music, including a kind of patriotic orchestral hymn alongside some pulse-pounding action music, is a thrilling way to round off proceedings. Intrada’s album is a spectacular overview of, mostly, some lesser-known music by one of the greatest of all film composers. Stirring and emotional as well as brilliantly clever, Miklós Rózsa’s music is always so entertaining and works beautifully well in this kind of suites-and-themes form, allowing well-rounded glimpses into five of his scores that are completely musically satisfying in themselves. The performance from the RSNO is very fine, the recording by Phil Rowlands and production by Kevin Kaska to be commended. Frank K. DeWald’s liner notes are authoritative and informative. This is a brilliant album. (James Southall)

Personnel:
Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Allan Wilson
+
Mike Lang (piano on 05.)

Tracklist:

Valley Of The Kings (1954):
01. Overture 4.56

The Man In Half Moon Street (1945):
02. Prelude And Ghostly Prologue 3.27
03. Laboratory 4.22
04. Transition I And Body Is Found 2.51
05. Waltz 2.21
06. Love Theme 3.02
07. Transformation 3.17
08. Finale 2.17

Jacaré (1942):
09. Prelude 3.05

The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers (1946):
10. Prelude / Love Part 1 / Love Part 2 10.44

Sahara (1943):
11. Suite 7.21

 

*
**

Miklós Rózsa (18 April 1907 – 27 July 1995)

The Allman Brothers Band – The Final Show (2014)

The only note of sentiment during the Allman Brothers Band’s October 28th concert at New York’s Beacon Theatre – their last at that venue and anywhere else, at least for the foreseeable future – came after more than four hours of music: three sets and an inevitable encore, “Whipping Post.” The seven members of the group – the surviving trio of founders, singer-organist Gregg Allman and drummers Butch Trucks and Jaimoe; the long-serving guitar team of Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks; and often overlooked veterans Oteil Burbridge on bass and percussionist Marc Quinones – lined up onstage and took a bow: a first at any Allmans-Beacon show I’d ever attended.
Then Gregg, pressed forward by the others, gave a short speech, another first, recalling the day 45 years ago that he first sang with the original Allmans lineup – led by his late brother, guitarist Duane Allman, and including guitarist Dickey Betts and the late bassist Berry Oakley – at a jam session in Jacksonville, Florida. Gregg cited the precise date, March, 26th, 1969, then said, in a low, worn voice, “Never did I have any idea it could come to this.” He gazed gratefully at the crowd, still on its feet, clapping and cheering, at nearly 1:30 a.m. “Now,” Gregg added, “We’re gonna do the first song we ever played.”
The Allmans got back in position and tore into “Trouble No More,” the Muddy Waters rumble from Side One of the group’s 1969 debut album, The Allman Brothers Band. It sounded nothing like goodbye: tight and gnarly, Derek and Haynes riding the triple-drum-kit surf with avenging poise. But it was.

Until that late acknowledgement of the occasion, the show was most remarkable for what didnt’t happen. There were no special guests – a signature feature of the Alllmans’ Beacon shows over the last decade – and the group did not throw in any of the extended-family covers (the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Dr.John, Derek and the Dominos) that came, often in medleys without warning, during the Allmans’ annual spring runs at the Beacon. The closest they got to the latter: an elegaic swerve, at the end of the first set, through King Curtis’s “Soul Serenade” in “You Don’t Love Me,” quoting a segue I’ve got on an August, 1971 live-radio bootleg; and the chase-scene extension of “Black Hearted Woman” in the second set, when the rhythm section switched accents and Derek and Haynes hit the chattering riff of the Grateful Dead’s “The Other One.”

Otherwise, the Allmans – who announced their retirement from touring after Derek and Haynes issued a statement earlier this year that they were leaving to concentrate on their own careers – made sure they performed as much of their classic catalog, from the five albums made between that ’69 bow and 1973’s Brothers and Sisters, as could be fit in one night. The end of the road actually began with a poetic rewind of Duane-time flashbacks: An introductory flourish of the guitarist’s last composition, the acoustic “Little Martha” played by Derek and Haynes in electric harmony, quickly broke into “Mountain Jam,” the guitarists citing Donovan’s source melody, “There Is a Mountain,” in languid, treble sighs. It was a literal replication of the closing sequence, on Sides Three and Four, of 1972’s Eat a Peach, the album the Allmans were making when Duane died the previous October. That coupling erupted into another: the one-two punch of the Spencer Davis Group’s “Don’t Want You No More” and Gregg’s eerily prophetic blues “It’s Not My Cross to Bear” at the beginning of The Allman Brothers Band.

The Allmans’ recurring cycles of ascension, tragedy, crash, recovery and determined performing triumph, in every era, were directly addressed in a first-set reading of “The High Cost of Low Living,” from 2003’s Hittin’ the Note, the only Allmans studio album to feature Derek and Haynes. The third set was a loosely narrative charge through pilgrimage and celebration – “Revival,” “Southbound” and more “Mountain Jam.” The last gently dissolved into the Carter Family hymn “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” sung by Gregg as ragged pleading with Haynes riding shotgun, in decisively sunny harmony. But the finish extended the circle, taking everyone back to psychedelic church with another flash of “Mountain Jam” at “The Other One” velocity.

The talk in the balcony, before the show and during the breaks, was of Betts, who was fired in 2000: Was there a chance he would come out and play, completing one more circle on the last possible night? He didn’t but was present in the songs – “Blue Sky,” “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” – and in Derek and Haynes’ ties, through their harmonies and soloing, to the standards of fraternal lock and empathic dialogue set by Duane, with Betts, right out of the gate, in 1969. As he did on other nights in this October run, Derek played Duane’s own gold-top Les Paul – in the first set during Elmore James’ “One Way Out” and Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl.”
But there was a lot of blues-power Dickey cutting through the Duane in both Derek’s raga-panic breaks and Haynes’ modal skids during “Elizabeth Reed” and in that “Whipping Post.” The younger men both played with Betts at different times in the Allmans, then together in the band for nearly fifteen years, five times longer than Betts and Duane did. There was never a suggestion – when Derek joined in 1999 and Haynes came back after Betts’ dismissal – that either player had replaced the elders. The lightning, frenzy and swan dives in “Hot ‘Lanta,” “Statesboro Blues” And “Dreams,” tonight as at every other Beacon show I saw, were acts of acknowledgement and summation, charged with pursuit of the unfinished.

That work, it seems, will stay undone. During the intermissions, a curious message appeared on the large video screen behind the band: “The road indeed goes on forever. So stay calm, eat a peach and carry on . . .” The individual members of the Allmans will certainly continue to play in some form and combinations. There may even be reunions. As for the guitarists, Derek’s R&B juggernaut with his wife Susan Tedeschi, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, recently played a transcendant Beacon run in September, and Haynes’ group Gov’t Mule will make their traditional holiday stop at that stage on December 30th and 31st. I went to the former; I don’t want to miss the latter.
But it will take more than a peach to get me through next March. It was never spring, I always said, until I saw the Allmans peakin’ at the Beacon. Tonight was a generous, continually thrilling farewell. It will make the leaving that much harder to bear. (Rolling Stone on Facebook, 2014)

The Allman Brothers Band could have wrapped up their farewell concert with any number of songs. They could have gone with an epic, jammed-out “Whipping Post,” which they did for the second last song at New York’s Beacon Theater on October 28th, 2014. They could have gone with a classic like “Mountain Jam,” “Midnight Rider” or “Melissa,” but they did those earlier in the night during the four hour blowout. Instead, they went with Muddy Waters’ “Trouble No More,” from their first side of their 1969 debut LP. An emotional Gregg Allman told the crowd that night it was the first song played at the group’s first rehearsal. “This was at about 3:30 in the afternoon, on March 26th, 1969,” he said. “Never did I have any idea it would come to this.”

It came to this after 45 amazing years that saw more tragedy and heartbreak than just about any group in rock history. They endured the deaths of guitarist Duane Allman and bassist Berry Oakley in separate motorcycle accidents just a few years after the group began, two breakups, a bitter split with founding guitarist Dickey Betts after years of acrimony and numerous health problems for Gregg Allman that threatened their existence time and time again. Throughout it all they kept gigging, helped in no small part by the addition of guitarists Warren Haynes in 1989 and guitarist Derek Trucks (nephew of drummer Butch Trucks) a decade later.

When the time came to call it quits in 2014 there was no other place to end it than the Beacon Theater. They first played a residency at the Upper West Side theater in 1989 and three years later they turned it into an annual tradition. Fans from around the country descended on New York City every March for a chance to catch the shows, which featured a steady stream of surprise guest stars, amazing covers and unforgettable nights.

Demand for tickets was never higher than the October 28th, 2014 show. Days after it ended, Derek Trucks told Rolling Stone they ended at the right time. “If we’d gone on much longer, we wouldn’t have been able to summon that [last] show,” he said. “Almost any other time there’s a huge send-off, it’s a star-studded thing. This was just the band showing up and playing, the way they always did. There’s something honest and proud, dignified and beautiful about the way it ended.”

From nearly the minute it ended rumors began spreading that the band was going to reform. “I would never rule anything out,” Haynes told Rolling Stone in 2015. “There’s no talk of that, but you know, I think the door’s always open.” That door began closing in January when Butch Trucks committed suicide, and it permanently closed on May 27th when Gregg Allman died after a long battle with liver cancer. Thankfully, the group had the opportunity to meticulously plan their final show and go out on an incredibly high note. (by Rolling Stone, May 30, 2017)

And the last song of this fanstastic show, was the first song, The Allman Brothers Band ever played  back in summer of 69 in Jacksonville, Forida.

Personnel:
Gregg Allman (keyboards, vocals, guitar)
Oteil Burbridge (bass, vocals)
Warren Haynes (guitar, slide guitar)
Jaimoe (drums, percussion)
Marc Quinones (percussion, vocals)
Butch Trucks (drums, percussion)
Derek Trucks (guitar, slide guitar)

Tracklist:

CD 1:
01. Little Martha (D.Allman) 0.51
02. Mountain Jam (Leitch/D.Allman/Betts/Oakley/Johansen/Trucks/G.Allman) 4.01
03. Don’t Want You No More (Davis/Hardin) 2.35
04. It’s Not My Cross To Bear (G.Allman) 5.04
05. One Way Out (Sehorn/James) 6.25
06. Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl (Williamson) 10.54
07. Midnight Rider (G.Allman) 3.35
08. The High Cost Of Low Living (Allman/Haynes/Anders/Burgin) 8.39
09. Hot ‘Lanta (D.Allman/Betts/Oakley/Johansen/Trucks/G.Allman) 5.38
10. Blue Sky (Betts) 9.55
11. You Don’t Love Me (Cobbs) 13.30

CD 2:
01. Statesboro Blues (McTell) 4.52
02. Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More (G.Allman) 7.43
03. Black Hearted Woman (G.Allman) 13.08
04. The Sky Is Crying (James) 9.10
05. Dreams (G.Allman) 11.41
06. Don’t Keep Me Wondering (G.Allman) 4.16
07. Stage banter 1 0.18
08. In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed (Betts) 15.28
09. JaMaBuBu (Trucks/Jaimoe) 10.27
10. In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed (Betts) 2.34

CD 3:
01. Melissa (G.Allman) 5.39
02. Revival (Betts) 4.18
03. Stage banter 2 0.13
04. Southbound (Betts) 5.20
05. Mountain Jam (Leitch/D.Allman/Betts/Oakley/Johansen/Trucks/G.Allman) 8.06
06. Will The Circle Be Unbroken (Gabriel/Habershon) 10.51
07. Mountain Jam (reprise) (Leitch/D.Allman/Betts/Oakley/Johansen/Trucks/G.Allman) 3.07
08. Crowd noise 1 4.10
09. Whipping Post (G.Allman) 14.30
10. Crowd noise 2 1.48
11. Farewell
12. Trouble No More (Morganfield/Estes) 4.29

*
**