music clip of the day

jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more

Category: R&B

2012

Tuesday, 5/8/12

passings

Michael Burks, singer, guitar player, songwriter
July 30, 1957-May 6, 2012

Here’s what I wrote when I first posted this clip (2/28/11):

When something is this lyrical, this convincing, there’s only one thing I want to do when it ends—hear it again.

“Empty Promises”
Live, Falls Church, Virginia, 8/21/09

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Michael came to Alligator Records long after I left. But a few years ago I did some legal work for him and got to know him. Soft-spoken, gentle, warm: these are the words that come to mind. He collapsed at the Atlanta airport after returning from a European tour—heart attack.

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“Fire and Water”
Live, Denmark (Frederikshavn), 2010

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“Since I’ve Been Loving You”
Live, Jacksonville Beach, Florida, 2010

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“House of the Rising Sun”
Live, Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise, 2008

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2012

Wednesday, 4/25/12

two takes 

“Run Joe” (L. Jordan, et al.)

Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers, live
Capital Centre, Landover, Md., 1987

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Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, recording, 1948

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lagniappe

random thoughts

Last night, sitting at Wrigley Field with my brother Don (something we’ve been doing together for over 50 years), I thought of a line my younger son Luke, who turns 21 next month, wrote in elementary school in response to a prompt: “When I am 100 I will not be able to play baseball with my brother.” (P.S. Cubs 3, Cards 2—their second straight walk-off victory.)

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2012

Friday, 4/13/12

two takes

This is a woman’s world . . .

Neneh Cherry, “Woman”
Live, c. late 1990s (?)

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This is a man’s world . . .

James Brown, “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World”
Live, Paris, 1966

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2012

Monday, 4/9/12

Shabazz Palaces, live (studio performance, KEXP-FM), 2011

These guys—their mix of drums, mbira, electronics—call to mind the AACM’s* tagline: ancient to the future.

*Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (Art Ensemble of Chicago, Anthony Braxton, Fred Anderson, Leroy Jenkins, et al.).

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2012

Saturday, 3/31/12

 passings

Jerry McCain, singer, songwriter, harmonica player
June 18, 1930-March 28, 2012

These tracks were recorded, in the mid-1950s, as demos in Jerry’s living room in Gadsden, Alabama, using a single microphone and a one-track home tape recorder.

“Geronimo Rock ’n’ Roll”

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“Rock ’n’ Roll Ball”

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“A Cutie Named Judy”

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“Bell In My Heart”

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2012

Monday, 3/19/12

Here, to start off the week, is a thought experiment: imagine what American popular music would sound like without gospel.

The O’Jays, “Love Train”

TV Show (David Letterman), 2006

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Recording & Video, 1973

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2012

Sunday, 3/18/12

In the right hands, anything can be gospel.

Stevie Wonder with Eddie Levert (O’Jays), “All I Do”
Memorial Service for singer Gerald Levert (Eddie’s son), 2006

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2012

Wednesday, 2/29/12

keep on dancing

Moodymann, “The Day We Lost The Soul”/ “Tribute! (To The Soul We Lost),” 1995

*****

Theo Parrish, “The Love I Lost” (Re-edit of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes), 2003

More Theo? Here. And here. And here. And here.

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lagniappe

musical thoughts

Dance music holds out the hope, as the beat goes on, and on, and on, that nothing will be lost. Ever. But then it, too, ends.

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2012

Tuesday, 2/28/12

basement jukebox*

Lee Moses, singer & guitarist, 1941-1997

“Bad Girl” (1967)

Part 1

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Part 2

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“Diana (From N.Y.C.)” (1971)

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*When I was little, a big bright jukebox lit up our basement. Daily it granted our every wish, communicated with just the touch of a finger. “Wake Up Little Susie” (Everly Brothers). “The Battle of New Orleans” (Johnny Horton). “(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance” (Gene Pitney). It taught me something I never forgot—music is magic.

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2012

Thursday, 2/23/12

street music

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, New York, 2007

#1 (“Ballicki Bone”)

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#2

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#3

The horn players—all eight of them—are sons of Sun Ra Arkestra trumpeter and AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) cofounder Phil Cohran.

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