Live Albums – Here are Sixteen of My Favorites!

So this afternoon I made a run to the library, which was closed because of the massive storm that luckily missed our area, sorry Massachusetts. . The  soundtrack for the trip was  the new live blues album from Brandon Santini, Live and Extended, which is a really great and I will probably write about it tomorrow. As I listened to the album, I started thinking about my favorite live albums. Several albums like Happy Trails from Quicksilver Messenger Service, Absolutely Live from The Doors and Ten Years After’s Undead quickly came to mind. But then I thought of several others, and then still more, until I quickly had a list of 10 plus albums! So here is a short list of my favorite all-time live albums….. Read More

Stephane Grappelli – Grandfather of Jazz Violinists”

Stephane Grappelli  – violin (January 26, 1908 -December 1, 1997)

Today is the birthday of the musician whom many people call “the grandfather of the jazz violinists”Stephane Grappelli. Grappelli was born in 1908 and passed away in  1997 at the age of 89! He had  performed  well into his 80s!  Basically, I know of Grappelli through the album Paris Encounter recorded with Gary Burton in 1969 I should now Stephane Grappelli  because he founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934! The group was one of the first all-string jazz bands! Read More

Lawrence Blatt – Emergence

Lawrence Blatt blends science and music to create the soothing Emergence

Composing music is akin to magic for me, I don’t know how it’s done nor do I care. I just enjoy the ride and the end product! With that said it is safe to say that I am in awe of Emergence the latest release from San Francisco acoustic guitarist Lawrence Blatt. Read More

Storm Front (Dresden Files Book #1) – Jim Butcher

Storm Front Book #1 of Jim Butcher‘s Dresden Files series, is the fourth book that I have read in 2015.This is the first of Jim Butcher’s books that I have read. Reading Storm Front counts as a book read for several of my 2015 Reading Challenges. First  Storm Front has been on my to be read (TBR) pile for several years now (don’t ask me why!!) so it fits into the TBR Pile Reading Challenge. It is a murder mystery so it count toward my goal for the 2015 Clock and Dagger Reading Challenge. And since Storm Front features Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, a wizard  and the series spawned a TV show on the SciFi Network it definitely belongs in the Science Fiction/Fantasy category! Read More

Don’t Talk to Strangers (Keye Street Series # 3) – Amanda Kyle Williams

So I wasn’t really sure about Amanda Kyle Williams Keye Street series after book one TheStranger You Seek, But I liked the book enough to move onto book two in the series Stranger in the Room. In that book, as Keye and Atlanta Police Detective Aaron Rauser chased the Wishbone Killer, and I became a fan of Keye Street. Now after reading Don’t Talk to Strangers Keye Street has joined Alex Kava’s Maggie O’Dell, Carol O’Connell‘s Kathleen Mallory and Tess Gerritsen‘s Jane Rizzoli, among my favorite female protagonists! Read More

Jimmy Cobb – The Original Mob

Jazz  drummer Jimmy Cobb turns 86 years young today, January 20, 2015! Cobb is best known for his time with Miles Davis, during which  he played on  Davis’ Kind of Blue (1959), which is considered by many to be “the quintessential jazz record”.  Cobb was a member of Miles’ rhythm section that included: Wynton Kelly on piano and Paul Chambers on bass.  Cobb is the last surviving player from that session. Cobb also play on other Miles Davis albums including:  Sketches of Spain,Someday My Prince Will Come, Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall, In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, Complete, and briefly on Porgy and Bess and Sorcerer.
I will always remember Jimmy Cobb,  along with Kelly and Chambers for their work with Wes Montgomery.  Cobb played on the following albums with Wes Montgomery…..
Full House (Riverside, 1962)
Boss Guitar (Riverside, 1963)
Guitar on the Go (Riverside, 1963)
The Alternative Wes Montgomery (Riverside, 1963)
Smokin’ at the Half Note (Verve, 1965)
Smokin’ Guitar (Verve, 1965)
Willow Weep for Me (Verve, 1969)
For the longest time Willow Weep for Me was my favorite Wes Montgomery album and probably still is, but after discovering Full House and Smokin’ at the Blue Note those albums aren’t far behind!!
Jimmy Cobb also played on six releases from John Coltrane and nine discs from the great Wynton Kelly. My favorite of Kelly’s is Kelly Blue, but in fairness to the other eight albums, I have not listened to any of them extensively!  Here’s some of the other jazz greats that Cobb has worked with through the years! Read More

Book-Ed – 2015 Reading Challenge Plans

Ok so I’ve never participated in an online Reading Challenge, but after looking at various blogs it looks like a pretty great idea so I’m in! Here are the Challenges I will be participating in, along with the TBR Pile Reading Challenge. Here are the Reading Challenges with the links and sign-ups, aliong with my plans for the number of books I will read. I have also included a breakdown of where the books will come from, so that I can meet the TBR Pile Reading Challenge! Read More

Unreal City – Il Paese Del Tramonto – Great Italian Prog Rock!

Last night I was checking out the New Progressive Rock releases at New Prog Releases. One of the albums of interest to me was Il Paese Del Tramonto (Country of Sunset) from an Italian Progressive Rock band Unreal City.  Their music was classified as Symphonic and since I have enjoyed other symphonic prog bands, I figured I’d like these guys. I figured right I put the album on while I was multi-tasking or as I like to call it ADDing! I was watching the football game, reading and listening! It didn’t take long to for the voices of Phil Simms and Jim Nantz to take a backseat to the keyboards Emanuele Tarasconi and Francsca Zantta’s guitar! (the decision was aided by the uncompetitive nature of the game, between the Colts and Pats! Ido believe, Unreal City would have lost out to the Packers and Seahawks!). Anyway I loved the album and today it became the soundtrack for my drive out Street Road to pick up my replacement hearing aid at Costco.  Listening to the album in greater detail only brought out the great keyboard and guitar work on the album, solidifying my opinion that this is a great album!! Read More