Music Archives - Page 20 of 41 - Renaissance Granddad's Explorations.....

Archive by category "Music" (Page 20)

This Day in Music – May 24, 1941 – Jazz Organist Charles Earland was born in Philly!!

I browse the daily listing of jazz birthdays each day not only for whose birthday it is that particular day, but also to discover new music. Many times I select who I read about by the instrument they play. Other times I select someone with a foreign sounding name, figuring that will lead me to explorations of jazz music beyond America’s shores. Tunisian born Wajdi Cherif is a perfect example of this type of choice. I read about, and spent time listening to Charles Earland’s music this morning, based on the instrument he plays – Hammond B3 organ!! Read More

This Day in Music – May 20, 1975 – Tunisian Jazz Pianist Wajdi Cherif was born. Happy Belated Birthday, Wajdi!

So May 20th was a holiday in several nations including, Cambodia, East Timor and Cameroon. It was also the birthday of a Tunisian jazz piano player, Wajdi Cherif!! Knowing nothing about his music, other than that he played piano, I went to Spotify and listened to his 2009 release Fuzzy Colours and I didn’t have to listen long to become intrigued by and enjoy his music. Returning to All About Jazz, I discovered that at five years of age Wajdi was learning to play tunes he heard on the radio in his homeland of Tunisia on his little piano. Wajdi never lost his love for music and along his life’s journey, he earned his BA in English Literature, but more importantly he discovered jazz!! At the American cultural center in Tunis, he watched live performance videos of pianists Chick Corea, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans. He soon decided to make jazz music his career, and set out exploring it on his own. He made his professional debut in 1998. In 2003, he released his first album Phrygian Istikhbar in Paris. Accompanying Wajdi on the album were Diego Imbert on acoustic bass, Jeff Boudreau on drums and Habib Samandi on Arabic percussion. The album went on to become a finalist in the Indie Acoustic Awards in the USA in 2004!! From All About Jazz: Read More

New Jazz from NJ Saxophonist Tom Tallitsch – Ride!! (Video)

So this morning I loaded up two new jazz albums on the iPhone to serve as the soundtrack for my trip to Trader Joe’s, and then proceeded to listen to neither of the albums!! What I did listen to on the way over was Ride the great new release from New Jersey resident Tom Tallitsch!! The album has been on the iPhone for a week or more now and the more I listen to it, the more I like it!! Read More

Yesterday in Music – May 10, 1935 – Julius Wechter leader of the Baja Marimba Band was born!!

How about a little musical analogy ——

The Rolling Stones are to The Beatles as

______________ are to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass!

If you said The Baja Marimba Band!! You would be correct and probably old!! On this date in 1935 the leader of the Band Julius Wechter was born!! To explain the analogy The Beatles we re the clean-cut good guys and the Stones the bad boys. And Jules says this about the Baja Marimba Band’s relationship to Herb and the Brass! They were…. Read More

This Day in Music – May 3rd – Happy Birthday Jazz Flutist Andrea Brachfeld!! (Video)

On this day May 3rd in the year ??? (Hum, we don’t really need to know that) flutist Andrea Brachfeld was born! From All About Jazz….

Flutist Andrea Brachfeld, is a graduate of The High School of Music and Art and Manhattan School of Music. Over these past 20 years she has recorded more than a dozen CD’s with many artists including, Africando, Noel Pointer, and Timbalaye. Her breakthrough performance as the flutist for the popular Latin band Charanga ’76, catapulted her into Salsa history and fame as the first female flutist to play this music in the United States. While in high school she received the “Louis Armstrong Award for Outstanding Student” from Jazz Interactions. Study with Hubert Laws, Jimmy Heath, and Mike Longo helped her develop her own style. Downbeat magazine referred to Andrea as “one of the finest jazz flutists around.” She has twice been the recipient of the Latin New York Music Award as a flutist. Read More

This Day in Music – May 1, 1982 – Jazz Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire was born (Video)

On this day May 1st in 1982 Ambrose Akinmusire (ah-kin-MOO-sir-ee) was born in Oakland California. His latest release The Imagined Savior is Far Easier to Paint has been in my listening rotation and I have enjoyed it! This was not my first meeting with Mr. Akinmusire, winner of the 2007 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition, two of the most prestigious jazz competitions in the world. No, I first listened to his trumpet back in August of last year when I spent A Night of Exploration – Contemporary Jazz Trumpeters! Since then I have listened to his second album on Blue Note records,When the Heart Emerges Glistening and I like it more and more with each listen. The New Yorker calls Ambrose: “a thrilling young trumpeter and astute bandleader [with a] unique spark in his playing” Ambrose’s musical journey started when Steve Coleman asked the then 19-year old Ankinmusire Manhattan School of Music student to join a European tour with his Coleman’s Five Elements. After the tour Akinmusire returned to the West Coast and received his Master’s Degree from the University of Southern California. In 2007 he attended the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, and studied with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Terence Blanchard. the imagined savior is far easier to paint is Ambrose’s second release on Blue Note Records and the second with a title that is pretty long. On his website he says….. Read More

Life’s Soundtrack – Another Good Run this time with Lisa Mann’s New Album – Move On (video)

So back on September 4th of last year I ran the same course that I ran tonight. Back then I was coming off a couple of months of inactivity (June and July too hot!) and starting to get back into shape. On that night I there was improvement, as I ran the third and fourth miles faster than I had run them. Now tonight while I’ve run a few times in April – January, February and March were too snowy and cold for me to run much – my old body likes the fair weather! Anyway tonight is like the fourth run in April and my first four-miler and while I thought I struggled my overall time was faster than it was back in September and both my third and fourth miles were faster!! So how come?? I think that the answer may lie in the amount of yoga that I have done over the winter this year!! Overall, my weight is lower than it was and I feel better!! Read More

Life’s Soundtrack – The Safari’s Workday flows better with the Music of R Carlos Nakai and Peter Kater

Sometime in the late 90s, I discovered the music of Native American flute master R Carlos Nakai. Since that time many of his albums have made their way into my music library. Carlos flute, along with the vibes of Gary Burton keep me sane! Many times when I am stressed or worried at work, I say that it is TIME for some R Carlos Nakai and within minutes of the music’s start I am headed back to sanity!! Nakai has some wonderful musicians who work with him to create the music that I love and often need, including William Eaton on a variety of stringed instruments and Will Clipman on various percussion instruments. I particularly like the albums that Nakai has made with pianist Peter Kater. Their 1994 release Honorable Sky is one of my favorites. Read More

The Safari finds another gem – Tenor Saxophonist Javon Jackson! Did I hear an It’s about time!

Yesterday and today I was back to work at my regular job. Because I spent the day performing soil borings, logging the borings and collecting soil samples for permeability testing,(sounds like fun doesn’t it!) the work did not lend itself to music listening. Today’s work the laboratory permeability testing was suited for music listening. The best music for that type of work is jazz or New Age. So I started off with the album that was # 5 on the JazzWeek Chart- Expression by Javon Jackson. Dare I say, that I do not know Javon Jackson? Oops, I guess I just did! A quick read of Javon’s biography at his website reveals that he is a tenor saxophone player who rose to prominence as a member of the last version of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. In addition to his work with that group Jackson has also appeared 125 recordings and toured with Elvin Jones, Freddie Hubbard, Betty Carter, Cedar Walton, Ron Carter, Donald Byrd, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Richard Davis, Bobby Hutcherson, Curtis Fuller and Stanley Turrentine. That’s some pretty good company – don’t you think! Read More

Category: Music