Exploring the Music of Joe Zawinul on His Birthday – July 7th

Joe Zawinul (July 7, 1932 – September 11, 2007) – Keyboards – Composer

Last week, when I wrote about the jazz fusion sub-genre, the name Joe Zawinul came up as a major force in the sub-genre. Today I have a reason to write about and listen to Joe’s music,  because on this date in 1932, Joe was born. Joe was born, raised, and classically trained on the piano in Austria. Around 1959 he knew that to grow in the jazz genre, he needed to come to the US, so he applied for a scholarship to Berklee School of Music through Down Beat Magazine. He won a $200 scholarship , came to America.And like they say the rest is history and that’s what his career was historic. You can read the full story here. Read More

Exploring the Music of Spain’s Kant, Freud, Kafka – No Tengas Miedo – Symphonic or Not!

KantFreudKafkaAfter my run last night, I was pretty much physically drained, I took a shower, ate and then wrote a post at Me, Myself, Music and Mysteries. After that, I was going to write about my run and its soundtrack, which was the new album from The Royal Southern Brotherhood. While I was getting ready to write that post, I went to look up something about a prog band that I listened to earlier in the day Rite of Passage. wasn’t having much luck finding information, so I went to progstreaming, where I first saw their album. While I was browsing for the Rite of Passage album, I noticed another album No Tengas Miedo from Kant Freud Kafka. I went to Spotify found the album and gave it a listen and really liked the music. I set out to find more out about the band, off to ProgArchives. I ended up at the ProgArchives forum where there was a discussion among the leaders of the various sub-genre groups, whether or not, the band belonged in the Symphonic sub-genre. As I was listening, I was agreeing that the band was not symphonic, but more fusion/jazz oriented, but definitely prog and definitely good! Here is what I learned at New Prog Rock Releases….. Read More

Evening thoughts : “Navajo Rug” – Grandson Oliver and his Great-Grandparents Clarke!

So I just finished a four mile run, when actually maybe a one mile jog to almost fast walk, I hate the hot weather! Anyway, after I  was finished, I collapsed in my chair here in front of the computer and almost fell asleep, I did manage to get up and take a shower. As I was getting out of the shower I was trying to think of what to eat, something maybe quick and light and  decided on a fried egg sandwich. That  means two eggs on toast….., which in turn leads my mind to “Well, it’s two eggs up on whiskey toast……” and Jerry Jeff …. Read More

2014 Jazz Organ – from Jared Gold – JG3+3 = a great jazz sextet and album!

JG 3+3Somewhere a while back I became aware of jazz organist Jared Gold. I think I first saw Jared’s name when I was searching for Dave Stryker’s album 8-Track (which I still have not found). Anyway, over the last couple of months, I’ve watched Gold’s latest release JG3+3 climb the JazzWeek Charts and have gone to Spotify to check the album out and come away empty. This week I did the same thing and this time the album was available and it has been in my jazz rotation this week and I have a new jazz organist favorite to add to my  ever-growing collection. Read More

Exploring the Music of Ahmad Jamal on his birthday (July 2nd) Happy 84th Birthday, Ahmad!

Ahmad JAmalOn this date July 2nd in 1930  jazz, composer, pianist and educator Ahmad Jamal was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Now, while I have seen his name on the JazzWeek charts over the last several months when his latest release Saturday Morning (No 29 on the 2013 Jazz Week Year End Chart)  was on the charts. His name sounded sort of familiar, but I admit I didn’t know much about the man and his music. So when I read at Wikipedia today, that American music critic Stanley Crouch places him second in importance in the development of jazz after 1945 I was surprised. As I read on, I read…. Read More

Explorations of Jazz Fusion – Jazz Rock and Finding Connections to My Vinyl Collection

Bitches BrewSo a few days ago in my post about the sub-genres of jazz, I wrote that I still had some sub-genres to add to the mix. One of those sub-genres is Jazz Fusion/Jazz-Rock, which  rose in the late 60s, kinda’ peaked in the 1970s, but managed to extend into the 1980s and 90s and many musician’s music still  fit into sub-genre today!  This is probably the  sub-genre that I have least explored at least as far as jazz bands go. From Wikipedia….. Read More

Today in Music – July 1, 1915 – Blues Icon Willie Dixon was born!!

Willie DixonToday is the 99th anniversary of the birth of Willie Dixon(July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992) and I bet somewhere on almost every night of the year someone is

playing one of the 500 songs that he wrote! It could be a jazz, blues or rock artist because Willie’s songs appeal to lovers of  many genres. He was one of the two artists, the other Muddy Waters, that were the most influential in shaping the sound of Chicago blues in the post World War II years, as well as, rock and roll in the 50s and 60s. I think that my first introduction to the blues of Dixon was Cream’s cover of “Spoonful”, wait maybe it was The Doors “Back Door Man” or maybe Led Zeppelin “I Can’t Quit You” but it was probably Johnnie Rivers covering “Seventh Son” and I didn’t even know it!! Well, you get the picture. Here’s a link to a list songs of Willie Dixon, along with the artists who cover them!! From Wikipedia some of the songs….. Read More

Fredric Wertham and the Comic Code Authority Making Comic Books Safe for Kids!!

One of the books that I am reading is Harold Schecter’s The Mad Sculptor: the maniac, the model and the murder that shook the nation. The Mad Sculptor is Robert Irwin, prior to committing the murder (I haven’t gotten that far yet) Irwin is committed to Bellevue hospital, after an attempt at a little self-emasculation (he stopped because of the pain). While he was there one of the psychiatrists who saw him was Fredric Wertham. Read More