music clip of the day

jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more

Category: guitar

2011

Monday, 9/26/11

three takes

Blues guitarists—great ones, anyway—aren’t instrumentalists; they’re singers with two voices.

“Born Under A Bad Sign” (W. Bell, B.T. Jones)

Albert King, live, Sweden, 1980

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Albert King, recording, 1967 (Stax)

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Jimi Hendrix, recorded in 1969 (Blues, 1994)

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What makes this last take effective? Part of it is the phrasing: Jimi, like Albert, doesn’t play anything that couldn’t be sung.

More Albert? Here.

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2011

Wednesday, 9/21/11

Think you can listen to these guys without moving?

Just try.

Staff Benda Bilili
Live, Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa)

“Na Lingui Yo,” c. 2007

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“Polio,” c. 2007

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Singing, playing, talking, 2011

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2011

Tuesday, 9/20/11

Life thickens as you get older, becoming more layered. The other night, for instance, listening to Mad Professor dub Bob Marley at a club on Chicago’s south side (Reggie’s, State near Cermak), I found it hard not to think of another night over thirty years ago, of another club on the other side of town (Quiet Knight, Belmont near Clark, now gone), of hearing Bob Marley not dubbed but live.

Bob Marley and the Wailers, “Trenchtown Rock”
Live, Chicago (Quiet Knight), 1975

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More? Here. And here. And here.

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2011

Friday, 9/16/11

Never heard of this guy?

You’re not alone.

But for serious mental illness, he would have been a big star.

 James Carr, singer, June 13, 1942-January 7, 2001

Live, “You Got My Mind Messed Up”

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Live, “Pouring Water on a Drowning Man”

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“The Dark End of the Street” (D. Penn & C. Moman), Goldwax, 1967

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What may be my favorite moment in this track is one that’s easy to miss; a throwaway, it comes at 1:37—the muted, fleeting “huhh.” The whole welter of emotions Carr brings to this performance—anxious, defiant, rueful, resigned—can be heard in this single syllable.

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2011

Friday, 9/9/11

two takes

“Death Letter Blues” (S. House)

Son House, live (TV broadcast), 1967

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*****

The White Stripes, live, France (Paris), 2007

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More White Stripes? Here.

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2011

Sunday, 9/4/11

The Dixie Hummingbirds (with Ira Tucker, lead vocals), “If You See My Savior” (T. Dorsey), live (TV broadcast), early 1960s

With a voice like this, who needs words?

(Listen, for instance, at :55 and 1:50.)

More? Here.

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lagniappe

listening room: (some of) what’s playing

• Theo Parrish, Sound Sculptures Vol. 1 (Sound Signature)

• Various artists, Goodbye Babylon (Dust-to-Digital)

• Sun Ra, Jazz in Silhouette (Evidence)

• Anthony Braxton, For Alto (Delmark)

• Fred Anderson, Timeless (Delmark)

• Bach, Suites for Unaccompanied Cello/Steven Isserlis (Hyperion UK [import])

• Alfred Schnittke, Piano Quintet, String Trio, etc. (Naxos)

• Morton Feldman, For Bunita Marcus, Stephane Ginsburgh, piano (Sub Rosa) (available as a download from Amazon for 89¢)

• WKCR-FM (broadcasting from Columbia University)
—Lester Young/Charlie Parker birthday marathon
—Bird Flight (Phil Schaap, jazz [Charlie Parker])
—Eastern Standard Time (Carter Van Pelt, Jamaican music)

• WFMU-FM
—Mudd Up! (DJ/Rupture, “new bass and beats”)
—Sinner’s Crossroads (Kevin Nutt, gospel)


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2011

Friday, 9/2/11

only rock ’n roll

The Dirtbombs, live, New York (Other Music), 2009

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Note: If this doesn’t play properly, make sure the “HD” option is turned on (lower righthand corner).

More? Here.

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reading table

to the west
is Buddha’s paradise . . .
withered fields

—Kobayashi Issa (trans. David G. Lanoue), 1819 

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2011

Wednesday, 8/31/11

 passings

 Jerry Lieber, songwriter, April 25, 1933-August 22, 2011

Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton, “Hound Dog” (J. Lieber & M. Stoller), live (TV broadcast; Buddy Guy, guitar; Fred Below, drums), Europe, 1965 (originally recorded 1952)

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(Originally posted 12/10/10.)

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Nick Ashford, songwriter, singer, May 4, 1941-August 22, 2011

Ashford & Simpson, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” (N. Ashford & V. Simpson), live

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David “Honeyboy” Edwards, singer, guitar player, June 28, 1915-
August 29, 2011

Live, WBEZ-FM (Chicago), 2008

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2011

Wednesday, 8/24/11

serendipity

If God wanted us only to hear what we’ve heard before, He wouldn’t have made radio.

Glasser, “Treasury of We,” Carriage House Studios (Stamford, Connecticut)
8/22/11, Mudd Up! with DJ/Rupture, WFMU-FM (Monday, 8-9 p.m. [EST])

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More? Here.

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2011

Saturday, 8/20/11

You may find it difficult to remember someone’s favorite foods or to recall their favorite movies. But their favorite music? Today’s my mother’s birthday; she’s been gone a long time. This guy she loved.

The King Cole Trio (Nat King Cole, piano & vocals; Oscar Moore, guitar; Johnny Miller, bass), “It is Better to Be by Yourself” (Breakfast in Hollywood, 1946)

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More? Here.

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lagniappe

art beat: more from Thursday’s stop at Chicago’s Art Institute

Hiroshi Yoshida, Three Little Islands (1930)

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