a night with the beatles

Posted by: mikeeschman on 24 March 2009

occasionally in my pursuit of classical music, the well seems to run dry. my mind rebels, screaming "too much, take a break from this!"

last night was such a night.

i pulled out sgt. pepper's lonely heart club band and abbey road.

it was a blast, and a great ride in the way-back machine.

the textures and tonal colors in sgt. pepper's work a continuous treat on the ear. and the songs on abby road are beautiful.

it's an authentic experience, hearing four guys sing their own songs.

tonight i think i will pull stevie wonder's songs in the key of life. that's always been a favorite.

and i think johnny adams of new orleans fame deserves a little air time, along with eddie bo who just died (one of the geat new orleans pianist).

beethoven can hold for a while. if he hasn't gone stale in these hundreds of years, a few weeks away won't make any difference.
Posted on: 25 March 2009 by mikeeschman
spent last night with clifford brown and billy joel. clifford brown memorial was nice (it's all clifford brown, in spite of the memorial designation) but the paris sessions with a big band are disappointing because the band is not very good, i.e. not "tight", i.e. sloppy.

the billy joel was a revelation, so bad. evidently i was tone deaf in the 80s. i pulled all the billy joel to give to the local parish for a fund raiser - 5 lps and 3 cds.

anyone remember kid creole and the coconuts? they were a big item for my family in the 80s, when we were living in florida near the beach. i'll give that a try tonight. even if it blows, it won't go, because of my daughters.
Posted on: 25 March 2009 by garyi
Its hard to tell if you are taking the mick. If not I recommend Phil Collins Face Value, another terrible record you will find in any charity shop bin along the lines of Billy Joel, etc Winker
Posted on: 25 March 2009 by mikeeschman
quote:
Originally posted by garyi:
Its hard to tell if you are taking the mick. If not I recommend Phil Collins Face Value, another terrible record you will find in any charity shop bin along the lines of Billy Joel, etc Winker


what is taking the mick?
Posted on: 25 March 2009 by m0omo0
quote:
Originally posted by mikeeschman:
anyone remember kid creole and the coconuts?

Smile I like a bit of August Darnell sometimes, be it Dr Buzzard or Kid Creole. While you're at it, look for other releases from Ze Records. Some artists are forgettable, but some are real gems. For me it's the late Lizzy Mercier Descloux.

Cheers
Maurice
Posted on: 25 March 2009 by Lontano
quote:
Originally posted by mikeeschman:
quote:
Originally posted by garyi:
Its hard to tell if you are taking the mick. If not I recommend Phil Collins Face Value, another terrible record you will find in any charity shop bin along the lines of Billy Joel, etc Winker


what is taking the mick?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taking_the_piss
Posted on: 26 March 2009 by mikeeschman
no, i'm not taking a leak :-) i'm doing what i call a rinse cycle. i will get on a jag and really pound some specific music literally until it makes me sick. at that point, i go in a totally different direction, to rinse away the repulsion brought on by the object of my attention.

i have been hammering beethoven for weeks.
suddenly none of it was making sense.

to do the rinse cycle i started pulling pop, rock and jazz that i haven't listened to in a long time.

last night i pulled down cds by arturo sandoval & dizzy gillespie, and a bert backarac(sp?) does broadway compilation.

sandoval and dizzy were great, the broadway less so - they murdered the tunes with typical broadway arrangements that miss the heart of the song.

who can say what tonight will bring?
Posted on: 26 March 2009 by Jet Johnson
quote:
Originally posted by m0omo0:
quote:
Originally posted by mikeeschman:
anyone remember kid creole and the coconuts?

Smile I like a bit of August Darnell sometimes, be it Dr Buzzard or Kid Creole. While you're at it, look for other releases from Ze Records. Some artists are forgettable, but some are real gems. For me it's the late Lizzy Mercier Descloux.

Cheers
Maurice



As far as Ze Records are concerned don't forget the excellent Was Not Was .....who still ocasionally tour and release uniformally excellent albums!