Home Articles posted by ekkarn (Page 133)

This Date in Music – Dec 23, 1929 – Chet Baker was born!!

Murder Creek - Murray Kinsley & Wicked Grin

Early this year May 13th marked  the 25th anniversary of the death of Chet Baker, today we celebrate his life, because on this date in 1929 Chesney Henry “Chet” Baker, Jr. Well,  back in the day I was not a Chet Baker fan. But through the years I would be listening to jazz radio and one would come this great trumpet or flugelhorn and I usually know that I was listening to the horn of Chet Baker. As I started to collect more and more jazz over the last ten years more of Chet’s music has made its way into my library. Looking over his discography at AllMusic, I realize that I haven’t even scratched the surface of HIS music from a career  that ran from 1952 to his death in 1988.  During his career he released well over 100 albums on nine major labels plus many smaller labels predominately in Europe. The main reason that he recorded so many albums according to AllMusic.com  was that …. Read More

Today in Music – Dec 23, 1940 – Happy 73rd Birthday – Jorma Kaukonen

Jorma KaukonenSo today is the birthday of one of my favorite guitar players Jorma Kaukonen! Jorma was born on this day in 1940 in Washington, D.C., the son of Beatrice Love (née Levine) and Jorma Ludwig Kaukonen, Jorma Kaukonen had Finnish paternal grandparents and Russian Jewish ancestry on his mother’s side. I am a fan of both sides of Jorma’s music. The rock side which he of course displayed as a member of the Jefferson Airplane, and his acoustic side, which he has displayed in his solo releases. Then there is Hot Tuna, where sometimes he’s acoustic and sometimes electric. My favorite album of Jorma’s is Blue Country Heart, which was widely acclaimed by critics as one of the definitive examples of American “Depression Era ” music and features Kaukonen backed by an all-star Nashville bluegrass band. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award. Here’s some information from Wikipedia about Jorma incredible guitar playing…. Read More

Crossover Prog from Argentina’s Vanished from Earth!

So one of the things that I like about prog rock are the album covers. The majority of them are very artsy and very interesting and the one to the left of me is no exception! It was one of the reasons that the band and album Vanished from Earth caught my eye this more at progstreaming.com. Of course it was the music that ultimately sealed the deal and made resulted in the album becoming the soundtrack while doing some chores this afternoon. Read More

The Safari finds Crossover Prog from Argentina’s Vanished from Earth!

So one of the things that I like about prog rock are the album covers. The majority of them are very artsy and very interesting and the one to the left of me is no exception! It was one of the reasons that the band and album Vanished from Earth caught my eye this more at progstreaming.com. Of course it was the music that ultimately sealed the deal and made resulted in the album becoming the soundtrack while doing some chores this afternoon. Read More

Archives: Life’s Soundtracks:The run was a struggle but the music from Day Six was great!

Day sixSo some days you really look forward to your run, you start, you feel good and the run goes very smoothly. Then there are other days, well, they don’t go as well. Saturdays area often a slow day for me. I work all day at Lippincott and then at Target not getting done until 11:15 plus! Yesterday the day went from 7:15 to 11:15, so overall today this 61 year-old body was moving kind of slow! So this afternoon when I just felt like taking a nap I did some kundalini yoga trying to wake me up, and it worked so I got motivated enough to run, went out and discovered that it was a lot colder and windy than I thought it was, anyway, I put on another layer of clothes and set out. I had created a new four mile course and the start looped around a little, so that, after just a little bit a left turn would have led me back home, which was where I really wanted to go or a right turn would set me on my way into the fourteen mile an hour wind and the first leg of my four mile run. Now the only thing good about heading into the wind on the first two miles of a run is that the wind is at your back on the way back!! That’s what happened and really the only reason that I was able to finish the run! The other thing that got me through the run was the music, as always! The music was from a prog rock band Day Six and their album The Grand Design. So with the wind at my back for half of the run, I made it through with an overall pace of about 10:05 per mile, so overall it was not a bad run! Read More

The Safari discovers Neo-Prog in Chile – Aisles – 4:45 AM!

So this morning I visited progstreaming.com and listened to snippets of several albums before I settled on the one that I thought I’d like the most. The band that I chose was Aisles and their latest release 4:45 AM. I loaded it up on the iPhone and gave it a listen and thoroughly enjoyed the album. It has some great music on it. Of course, when I was finished, I asked that proverbial questions – who are these guys and where are they from. The answer to the first question, i.e who makes up Aisles is…… Read More

The Safari goes up the NJ Turnpike to find Jazz Guitarist – Bob DeVos’ – Shadow Box

So this week on the JazzWeek Radio Chart ar No 30 is Bob DeVos and his current release Shadow Box. As usual the Safari asks the questions – Who is this Bob Devos, What does he play?? Where is he from??  Turns out the answer to the last question is, just northeast of me in Patterson, New Jersey! What and Who is Bob?  Bob is as the title of his website reads a “Jazz Guitarist. His biography at Wikipedia says that his playing style is similar to the playing of Kenny Burrell and Wes Montgomery-( DeVos  moves the ball to the 40 yard line) – and he is most noted for his work with organist Richard “Groove” Homes -( he’s over mid field and into the red zone)!!!  In his biography below I read  “Mr. DeVos has headed his own modern, powerhouse Bob DeVos Organ Trio with Dan Kostelnik on Hammond B3 organ and Steve Johns on drums.” Read More

The Safari Goes “into the morning” with Jim Alfredson’s Dirty Fingers: A Tribute to Big John Patton

So yesterday when I was reviewing this weeks JazzWeek Chart the band at number 23 caught my eye. The band was Jim Alfredson’s Dirty Fingers and their album is A Tribute to Big John Patton. Jim Alfredson, name is familiar, I know  now – Organissimo!! Love their music!! I listened to their latest album Dedicated back in April of this year. Great stuff!! Read More

Archives: The Music Safari met – Italy’s Elvenking – ERA

So now that I’ve listened to many prog-rock, metal albums on MOG, several albums usually appear on the list of albums “just for me”. So there right next to folk and blues albums are these prog rock albums. Well yesterday, I listened to one of the albums ERA by Elvenking and I really liked it! I’ve written before that it amazes me that prog-rock/metal music is such a world-wide music phenomena and Elvenking reflects that geographical diversity. The band hails from  Sacile, which is located in the northeast corner of Italy. From their biography at Allmusic: Read More