Parading to remember and celebrate. The Allen Toussaint Funeral Procession will be remembered as a befitting memorial to an American musical hero. It’s an old New Orleans tradition – and it’s never been done better. Allen Toussaint, one of the giants of New … Continue reading
From the confines of his own living room at his home in Chicago at the intersection of Dante and 41st Street for Steve and Ronnog Seaburg in 1965, J. B. Lenoir conjures up the roll of thunder and a spark … Continue reading
November 16th, 1968 : Jimi Hendrix – Electric Ladyland #1 The Jimi Hendrix Experience went to No.1 on the US album chart with Electric Ladyland. The double album included Crosstown Traffic, Voodoo Chile and All Along the Watchtower and featured guest … Continue reading
I’ve posted about the tragedy of Glen Campbell before. The recently released story of the Rhinestone Cowboy, Glen Campbell, entitled I’ll Be Me is a difficult view. I hadn’t seen it previously, and was somewhat nervous to see it, as I … Continue reading
Mike Mainieri and his New Steps Ahead group from 2005. Brilliant! The first line-up of the group originally known as Steps in the period 1979-1981, as can be read on the live album Smokin’ in the Pit, consisted of Michael … Continue reading
Allen Toussaint is one of the most influential songwriters/musicians in American music. Toussaint grew up in a shotgun house in the New Orleans neighborhood of Gert Town, where his mother, Naomi Neville (whose name he later adopted pseudonymously for some … Continue reading
Jazz/Funk pioneer Mike Stern talks about his favorite techniques playing over chord changes. The Half-Whole Diminished Scale is particularly useful for using dissonance over dominant 7th chords. Stern’s own words about his style and his journey as a guitarist: I’m … Continue reading
Mike Stern/Bob Berg Band defines Jazz/Rock Fusion. When saxophonist Bob Berg was tragically killed in December, 2002 at the age of 51, he’d just recorded two projects that would demonstrate just how passionate and far-reaching a contemporary post bop player … Continue reading
It’s not as if Albert King hadn’t tasted success in his first decade and a half as a performer, but his late-’60s/early-’70s recordings for Stax did win him a substantially larger audience. Though 1972’s I’ll Play the Blues For You followed … Continue reading