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The lineup Bambino and Group Inerane use today in the West African desert—two electric guitars, drums—is the one this guy used, 40 years ago, on Chicago’s south side.
Hound Dog Taylor, live, Chicago, 1971
Want more? Here.
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lagniappe
Spiritual Stars Singers
Silver Wings
Amazing Mentholiers
Chosen Wonders
Rev. R. Campbell and His Wonder Boy
Rhythmical Wright Singers
Willie Harris and the Sensational Six
Never heard of ’em? I hadn’t either. Now you can hear all of ’em in the latest installment of Sinner’s Crossroads (8/5/10), Kevin Nutt’s weekly “gospel extravaganza.” (This one’s so good I’ve already played it twice.)
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“dark dismal-dreaming night” *
Listen to the Cubs lose at four in the afternoon?
Anyone can do that.
You’ve gotta be crazy to listen to them lose at 1:00 a.m (Giants, 11th inning, 4-3).
*W. Shakespeare
Guitar, drums—that’s all it takes.
Bombino (AKA Bambino), live, Niger (Agadez), 2010
Part 1
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Part 2
Let’s lift the bandstand.
—Thelonious Monk
Woody Shaw/Johnny Griffin Quintet (Woody Shaw, trumpet; Johnny Griffin, tenor saxophone; John Hicks, piano; Reggie Johnson, bass; Alvin Queens, drums), “Night in Tunisia,” live, Germany (Koln), 1986
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lagniappe
Now there’s a great trumpet player. He [Woody Shaw] can play different from all of them.
—Miles Davis
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Anthony Braxton on playing with Woody Shaw.
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reading table
Look after the sound and the sense will take care of itself.
—Adam Phillips, London Review of Books, 7/22/10 (reviewing Christopher Ricks’ True Friendship: Geoffrey Hill, Anthony Hecht and Robert Lowell Under The Sign Of Eliot And Pound)
How quaint they seem today—the predictions made, years ago, that drum machines would make flesh-and-blood drummers obsolete.
The Black Keys, “Too Afraid To Love You”
Recording Studio (Muscle Shoals, Alabama), Brothers (2010)
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Live, New York, 2010
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lagniappe
record shopping with a Black Key
He doesn’t pummel the beat, the way so many drummers do.
He pulls it out of the air.
Jo Jones (“Papa Jo” [as distinguished from “Philly Joe“]), October 7, 1911-September 3, 1985
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lagniappe
[W]hat really distinguished the great drummers I heard growing up, what really attracted me to men such as Sonny Greer, Chick Webb, Sid Catlett, Jo Jones and Kenny Clarke was that they all thought like composers, they all had their own way of hearing a band. They were all original thinkers who identified themselves when they played. And they stood out. They played like leaders.
replay: a clip too good for just one day
Great drummers are like great basketball players—they lift everybody’s game.
Trixie Whitley with Brian Blade (drums) and Daniel Lanois, “I’d Rather Go Blind,” recording session, 2008
lagniappe
Johnny [Vidacovich, featured on 9/30/09], man . . . what an inspiration. His playing is so liquid but at the same time just the street of it is so intoxicating. Studying with him, the drumming aspect was never about fundamental things. It was never about the drums as much as it was about the music and playing with this melodic sensibility. That sticks with me even more than the thickness or the groove, which he never spoke about, really. That was like a given. If you have it inside of you, that groove, you need to lay it down. But also need to be able to sing through the drums.—Brian Blade
(Originally posted on 2/13/10.)
two takes
“I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself” (Burt Bacharach & Hal David)
Dusty Springfield, TV broadcast, 1964
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The White Stripes, live, Australia, 2006
When the groove is strong enough, even the walls seem to sway.
Group Inerane, “Ano Nagarus,” live, Niger, 2004
