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Category: Music

Today in Music – Feb 9, 1982 – Vibraphonist Behn Gillece is born in New Jersey! (with video)

Solarstalgia - Aton Five

One of the reasons that I explore the daily birthdays at All About Jazz is that it gives me names of musicians that I don’t know, like yesterday, when I discovered  Pawel Kaczmarczyk the great young Polish jazz pianist. The odds of coming across his name elsewhere are pretty low. Anyway, the first name on the birthday list is actually someone I already knew, but only because when I was checking the birthdays at All About Jazz, I  saw his latest album on the same page! That artist is  Behn Gillece and the album is Top Shelf. Read More

The Safari Explores the Music of Terrence Blanchard – Magnetic!

I’ve written it before and I am sure I will write it again during the years from 1980 to 1995 there was so much going on in my life that there was little time for musical explorations. During that period our family grew to include four children Nick (1979), Andrew (1982), Peter (1986) and Elizabeth (1990). Along the way our family lost my wife’s mother to breast cancer (1982 at the age of 48), my wife’s grandmother, and father, my father (1984) the way our sons Nick and Andrew both had medical problems, and mu wife had to miscarriages!! Anyway you get the picture, musical explorations were way down the list! I write all of this to give myself an excuse for not knowing about many of the artists that i have recently been discovering. One of those artists is trumpeter Terrence Blanchard! Today I have listened to his latest release Magnetic and throughly enjoying it!! Read More

The Safari has Adventures in Kali City with Karim Baggili

So yesterday when I visited the World Music Chart Europe and listened to the Number 1 album, I also spied an interesting mix at Number 4. The album was Kali City(featuring Trio Joubran) from Karim Baggili. The countries listed after the title and artist were Belgium and Palestine. I gave the album the thirty-second test which it passed with flying colors. I downloaded it onto the iPhone, and listened to it later in the day. After listening and enjoying the Middle East tinged music, I went to Karim’s website where I discovered, that Karim is Belgian of Jordanian and Yugoslavian descent. He is a self-taught guitarist, who started with the electric guitar and then moved onto the flamenco guitar and the Oud, which he acquired in Jordan. Read More

The Safari Explores the Mixing of a Balkan brass band and a Canadian Guitarist – Devil’s Tale!!

If, how much my feet tap while I am listening to an album is a measure of how much I like an album, then I really must love the number 1 album on the World European Charts Devil’s Tale! Because I do not think that those toes did not stop tapping through the entire length of the album!! The album is a union of a Canadian guitarist Adrian Raso and the Romanian group Fanfare Ciocărlia based on their mutual love of the music of Django Reinhardt. Ok so who are these artists and what have they created first Adrian Raso, from his website….. Read More

Today in Music – Feb 1, 1959 – Ottmar Liebert’s Birthday!!

Ottmar LiebertToday is the birthday of one of my favorite acoustic guitarists Ottmar Liebert. From Wikipedia: Ottmar..

….was born February 1, 1959 in Cologne, West Germany to a Chinese-German father and a Hungarian mother. As a child, he spent most of his time traveling throughout Europe and Asia with his family. He began playing classical guitar at 11, and flamenco guitar at 14, after he “found a Flamenco LP in the bargain bin at a local supermarket”.[1] After performing rock music in his native Germany, he moved to the United States and settled in Boston for a few years, performing in various rock clubs.[2] In 1986 Liebert settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he began looking to create a new musical sound...Read More Read More

Buddy Montgomery Wes’ baby brother -born January 30, 1930

Buddy Montgomery – Primary Instrument – Vibraphone

On January 30. 1930, Charles “Buddy” Montgomery, the youngest of the Montgomery Brothers was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. Buddy was nine years younger than Monk, the oldest of the three musical brothers and seven years younger than Wes, the most famous of th brothers. Buddy played both piano and vibes, but is primarily known for playing vibes. His career started in 1948 and in 1949 he played with Big Joe Turner followed by a stint with Slide Hampton. In 1957, after serving several  years in the Army, he joined older brother Monk, Richie Crabtree (piano) and Benny Barth (drums) in the Mastersounds over the next several years they produced ten recordings. Read More

This Day in Music – January 30, 1930 – Wes’ baby brother – Buddy Montgomery was born!

Buddy MontgomeryOn this day in 1930, Charles “Buddy” Montgomery, the youngest of the Montgomery Brothers was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. Buddy was nine years younger than Monk, the oldest of the three musical brothers and seven years younger than Wes, the most famous of th brothers. Buddy played both piano and vibes, but is primarily known for playing vibes. His career started in 1948 and in 1949 he played with Big Joe Turner followed by a stint with Slide Hampton. In 1957, after serving several  years in the Army, he joined older brother Monk, Richie Crabtree (piano) and Benny Barth (drums) in the Mastersounds over the next several years they produced ten recordings. Read More

Today in Music – Jan 29, 1968 – Noel Lorica – Jazz Guitarist and Vet is born!!

Whenever I look down the list of Jazz artists birthdays for that day, I always keep a special eye out for guitarists. Today that eye landed on the name of Noel Lorica. Noel was born on this day in 1968 in Manila in the Philippines.. As an accomplished guitarist and Latin jazz artist he has received acclaim for his playing resulting in 21 Grammy Ballot entries! Read More