I have to admit that the first thing I thought when I saw the cover of this CD was, “I don’t like bass clarinet.” I don’t. I never have. My aversion to bass clarinet actually prevented me from listening to it for a long time. When I finally did get around to listening to it, [...]
Oran Etkin — Kelenia
I have to admit that the first thing I thought when I saw the cover of this CD was, “I don’t like bass clarinet.” I don’t. I never...
LaRue Nickelson “Dark Water”
LaRue Nickelson’s first solo CD, Dark Water, has nothing to do with the horror movie. I’ve seen the movie and listened to the...
Ablaye Cissoko and Volker Goetze “Sira”
Sira is a cross-cultural collaboration between German-born jazz trumpeter Volker Goetze and Senegalese Griot singer and kora...
Charlie Hunter “Baboon Strength”
Baboon Strength is the latest release from Charlie Hunter. He recorded it with drummer Tony Mason, and keyboardist Erik Deutsch. This...
Gilfema “Gilfema + 2″
Gilfema + 2 is the follow up to Gilfema’s self-titled debut that was released in 2005. The diversity of the trio is reflected in the music....
The Half of It “The Half of It”
The Half of It’s newly released self-titled CD has recently found its way into my CD collection. This Philadelphia based quartet’s...
Soul Cycle “Urban Organics”
I recently got a new CD and was playing it while writing one of my blogs. “What’s this?” my husband asked when he came...
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Natacha Atlas — Ana Hina
I hadn’t heard of Natacha Atlas until recently and though I don’t usually review this type of music I have to say that I like this CD a lot. Atlas is half English and half Egyptian. She focuses on her Middle Eastern heritage in her music.
The only Atlas album I’ve heard is Ana Hina. The [...]
Mark Smith — RIP
A base player my husband knows died suddenly on November 2, 2009. He wasn’t answering his phone before a gig and the other musicians he was supposed to be working with that night went to his home and found him dead. I didn’t know him, but it’s such a sad story that I felt like [...]
Other posts in Artist Bios and Performances
Mark Smith — RIP
A base player my husband knows died suddenly on November 2, 2009. He wasn’t answering his phone before a gig and the other musicians he was supposed to be working with that night went to his home and found him dead. I didn’t know him, but it’s such a sad story that I felt like [...]
Miles Davis “Tutu”
I got up this morning and decided to watch the Miles Davis interview that was featured on 60 Minutes in 1990. I remembered watching it when I was much younger and today just seemed like a Miles kind of day to me–whatever that means.
Here’s a Miles Davis performance of “Tutu” with Marcus Miller, David [...]
Recent Posts
Spotify
I love music and I love listening to music. In high school and college I used to be absolutely addicted to buying music. Than it was cassettes. Later I bought Cd’s. Than I moved on to MP3s. Purchasing music can get to be expensive, especially if you purchase the volume of music I used to.
Recently, [...]
Musical Musings
This blog has gone through many changes and still hasn’t quite found a good fit. It is out as my simple musings about music. Disheartened by poor traffic, I started writing a more focused site about jazz musicians. Then I took a long, long break.
Now I’m back, and I’ll be posting weekly. I love [...]
Mark Smith — RIP
A base player my husband knows died suddenly on November 2, 2009. He wasn’t answering his phone before a gig and the other musicians he was supposed to be working with that night went to his home and found him dead. I didn’t know him, but it’s such a sad story that I felt like [...]
Natacha Atlas — Ana Hina
I hadn’t heard of Natacha Atlas until recently and though I don’t usually review this type of music I have to say that I like this CD a lot. Atlas is half English and half Egyptian. She focuses on her Middle Eastern heritage in her music.
The only Atlas album I’ve heard is Ana Hina. The [...]
Oran Etkin — Kelenia
I have to admit that the first thing I thought when I saw the cover of this CD was, “I don’t like bass clarinet.” I don’t. I never have. My aversion to bass clarinet actually prevented me from listening to it for a long time. When I finally did get around to listening to it, [...]
Gary Husband “The Things I See”
Okay, so this is an old album, but it only came into my possession recently so it’s new to me.
Originally released in 2001, The Things I See contains Gary Husband’s interpretations of Allan Holdsworth tunes. It’s a solo piano album and it’s so good that it was re-released in 2004.
I’ve been listening to this album [...]
David “Fathead” Newman “Goldfinger”
David “Fathead” Newman was born in Corsicana, Texas on February 24, 1933. Soon after his birth his family moved to Dallas. Once he graduated from high school, he started playing with local bands. He attended Jarvis Christian College where he studied music and theology.
After two years in college, Newman started touring with Buster Smith. They [...]
Grand Pianoramax “Showdown”
I’m always interested in bringing exciting bands to your attention and this is one. Grand Pianoramax is a drum and piano duo that combines jazz, funk, and hip hop influences with spoken word. Swiss born, Leo Tardin is the mastermind behind the group. He won the first Montreux solo piano competition in 1999.
If you live [...]
Kenny Drew “St. Thomas”
Kenny Drew was born in New York City on August 28, 1928. He started studying classical piano when he was 5. He was introduced to jazz at 12. His influences include Bud Powell, Art Tatum, Fats Waller and Teddy Wilson. Drew attended the High Schools of Music and Art in New York.
Drew’s first professional job [...]
LaRue Nickelson “Dark Water”
LaRue Nickelson’s first solo CD, Dark Water, has nothing to do with the horror movie. I’ve seen the movie and listened to the CD. Trust me, they have no similarities.
Dark Water features LaRue Nickelson on guitar, Steve Davis on drums, Joe Porter on bass, Jermey Powell on sax, and Patrick Bettison on piano. Track 5, [...]
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