The story behind their new album is a sweet one.
Elton John & Leon Russell
Making The Union (2010)
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Live (TV broadcast [Good Morning America], with Marc Ribot, guitar), New York (Beacon Theatre), 10/20/10
Part 1 (music begins at 4:10), “If It Wasn’t For Bad”
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Part 2, “Hearts Have Turned To Stone,” “Tiny Dancer”
Your 16-year-old daughter dies, suddenly, in a car accident.
What do you do?
If you’re pianist/composer Kenny Werner, what you do is create music.
Kenny Werner, No Beginning No End (featuring Joe Lovano, tenor saxophone), recording session, New York (NYU), 2009
Today, celebrating our 400th post, we revisit a few favorites.
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street music
Whatever it is, this guy’s got it.
(Originally posted on 8/25/10.)
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take two (or is it one?)
Following up on Vijay Iyer’s take (6/30/10), here’s the original.
M.I.A., “Galang” (2005)
One of the things I love about M.I.A. is that she doesn’t let any of the usual stuff get in her way. Take her dancing, for instance: she’s, uh, not real good at it—at least not by the usual standards. Does that stop her? Nah.
(Originally posted on 7/2/10.)
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Guitar, drums—that’s all it takes.
Bambino (AKA Bombino), live, Niger (Agadez), 2010
Part 1
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Part 2
(Originally posted on 8/9/10.)
Anyone can make English sound like English.
Tom Waits, live, California (Mountain View), 1999
Part 1
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Part 2
Want more? Here.
three takes
You don’t need no baggage, you just get on board.
“People Get Ready”
Curtis Mayfield, live, England (London), 1988
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The Impressions (featuring Curtis Mayfield), 1965
More Curtis Mayfield? Here. Here. Here.
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Al Green, live, Washington, D.C., 1983 (Gospel According to Al Green, 1984)
More Al Green? Here. Here. Here.
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lagniappe
radio gems: gospel
Gospel Memories
WLUW-FM
Chicago, Illinois
Saturday, 10-11 a.m. (CST) (archived shows)
The other night I saw these two bands—both are from Africa—at Chicago’s Logan Square Auditorium.
Kenge, Kenge (Kenya), live, Denmark (Roskilde), 2008
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Khaira Arby (Mali), live, Mali (Festival of the Desert), 2010
“Haidara”
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“Sourgou”
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Scribblings from the show (habit picked up reviewing live jazz for the Chicago Reader):
Kenge Kenge’s bass player at the start of their set: “We’ve been in America for the last three months. This is our last show. And we want to have some fun.”
Drum is king.
As much as I appreciate the musical experiences available via the ’net, they’re no substitute for live music. Among the casualties of the technological filtering are bass and drums—this music’s heartbeat.
This stage isn’t a dividing line. It’s porous, readily penetrable in both directions. Those onstage come down and dance; those offstage go up and dance. When everybody’s dancing—onstage, offstage—the performer/audience line dissolves.
African music, live, is a full-body experience: you listen not just with your ears but with your hips, your feet.
If folks aren’t dancing, this music ain’t happening.
Kinetic elegance.
At times the dancers look as if they’re in a trance.
Lightness, buoyancy, drive: this is music that takes you in its arms, lifts you up, carries you away.
Mali—one of the poorest countries economically, one of the richest musically.
Amadou & Mariam
Live, Mali (Festival of the Desert), 2010
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“Dimanche A Bamako,” live (with David Gilmour, guitar), England (Islington), 2009
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“Welcome To Mali,” “Africa,” live, South Africa (Johannesburg), 2010
Want more? Here.
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I saw Amadou & Mariam, like Orchestra Baobob, with my son Alex—last year at Chicago’s Park West.
How far away does Africa seem to Alex?
About as far, I think, as South Carolina seemed to me at 23.
From a small orchestra in Germany to one in Senegal.
Orchestra Baobab, “Utru horas,” live
Here’s a big (23rd) birthday shout-out to my son Alex—with whom I saw these guys a few years ago at Chicago’s (much missed) HotHouse.
Today we move north and west: the music of Mali.
Salif Keita, live, Spain (Cartagena), 7/10/10
Want more Malian music?
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lagniappe
mail
An attentive reader/listener—someone I’ve listened to music with for over fifty years (which reduces the pool of possible correspondents to, uh, one)—wrote yesterday to tell me about an amazing bargain: a recording of Morton Feldman’s For Bunita Marcus (last mentioned here, previously featured here) that’s available, in MP3 format, for 89¢.
music clip of the day 