bo2 Голосов: 1 Адрес блога: http://e-muzik-s.blogspot.com/ Добавлен: 2013-02-09 22:12:48 блограйдером 1234zz

CELESTIAL GROOVES: LLANS THELWELL

2013-02-09 23:34:00 (читать в оригинале)

Llans Thelwell and His Celestials: Grazin’ In the Grass
This Guy’s In Love With You
Good, Bad and Ugly
From An ETC Holiday at the Colony Hotel (Dynamic, 196?)

Caribbean hotel albums tend to be a thankless lot: poorly recorded, full of “hits” mostly meant to appeal to tourists. It’s like K-Tel LPs but with more palms and steel drums in the photos.

This Llans Thelwell and His Celestials album is an absolute exception to that rule. As it appears on Dynamic (home to many a Jamaican artist, especially Byron Lee), I suspect it was recorded in a legit studio and the production and arrangements are clearly above countless of other hotel-themed releases in the same vein. Straight up, I don’t know if I know of another tourist-aimed LP on this level, especially the overall consistency of quality.

The cover of “Grazin’ in the Grass” isn’t mind-blowing but it’s, well, really well done. Even more so is the cover of “This Guy’s In Love With You” which is a gorgeous slice of island-inflected slow jamming. All that and some groovy rocksteady in the form of “Good, Bad and Ugly”? Makes me wish I had been around in the ’60s to drop by the Colony Hotel and see these guys play live.1

1. This same album also includes covers of “Funky Broadway,” “Love Is Blue” and what I think is an original rocksteady cut, “Colony Special.” ↩

Llans Thelwell and His Celestials: Grazin’ In the Grass
This Guy’s In Love With You
Good, Bad and Ugly
From An ETC Holiday at the Colony Hotel (Dynamic, 196?)

Caribbean hotel albums tend to be a thankless lot: poorly recorded, full of “hits” mostly meant to appeal to tourists. It’s like K-Tel LPs but with more palms and steel drums in the photos.

This Llans Thelwell and His Celestials album is an absolute exception to that rule. As it appears on Dynamic (home to many a Jamaican artist, especially Byron Lee), I suspect it was recorded in a legit studio and the production and arrangements are clearly above countless of other hotel-themed releases in the same vein. Straight up, I don’t know if I know of another tourist-aimed LP on this level, especially the overall consistency of quality.

The cover of “Grazin’ in the Grass” isn’t mind-blowing but it’s, well, really well done. Even more so is the cover of “This Guy’s In Love With You” which is a gorgeous slice of island-inflected slow jamming. All that and some groovy rocksteady in the form of “Good, Bad and Ugly”? Makes me wish I had been around in the ’60s to drop by the Colony Hotel and see these guys play live.1

---

RANDOM PILE: MONTY ALEXANDER

2013-02-09 23:34:00 (читать в оригинале)

Monty Alexander: Chameleon
From Monty Strikes Again (MPS, 1976)

I was recently flipping through a bin of LPs I’ve pulled aside to sell but given that this bin has gotten rather ancient, I’ve forgotten what the deal is with some of the records therein. That includes this Monty Alexander album that I began to needle drop, only to remind myself: oh yeah, this is the one that had this quirky acoustic piano cover of Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon.”

In contrast to electric piano flips on acoustic jazz standards, this, to me, goes the other way: taking a song best known in its electronic incarnation and then recreating it acoustically.

On the funky tip, this isn’t about to take out Hancock’s clarinet or anything but I do like hearing songs in one context flipped into another.1

1. By the way, if you want this album, holler. $10 + shipping ↩

Monty Alexander: Chameleon
From Monty Strikes Again (MPS, 1976)

I was recently flipping through a bin of LPs I’ve pulled aside to sell but given that this bin has gotten rather ancient, I’ve forgotten what the deal is with some of the records therein. That includes this Monty Alexander album that I began to needle drop, only to remind myself: oh yeah, this is the one that had this quirky acoustic piano cover of Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon.”

In contrast to electric piano flips on acoustic jazz standards, this, to me, goes the other way: taking a song best known in its electronic incarnation and then recreating it acoustically.

On the funky tip, this isn’t about to take out Hancock’s clarinet or anything but I do like hearing songs in one context flipped into another.1

---

DONALD BYRD: RIP

2013-02-09 23:34:00 (читать в оригинале)

I decided, in late 2012, I really didn’t want to write RIP pieces anymore. I meant, absolutely, no disrespect to the likes of Marva Whitney or Inez Andrews or Fontella Bass or Ravi Shankar, et. al. But it is depressing when your site begins to resemble a roll call of the dead and as I’ve said in the past, for people like me, in love with music of the 1960s and ’70s, we are definitely entering into a time when a lot of our heroes and heroines will be passing away.

This all said, I can’t not acknowledge the passing of Donald Byrd, who (according to his nephew), died on Monday at age 80. There will certainly be tributes from the jazz community given Byrd’s stature and longevity but for hip-hop dudes like me, our relationship to Byrd is different, couched more in his ’70s Blue Note recordings, especially when he hooked up with the Mizell Brothers on the production trip. Not to play compare/contrast but the only other artists who were comparable to him in the world of soul-jazz would probably have been Lou Donaldson, maybe Grant Green.

Here’s just a few of my favorites from Byrd:

All soul-jazz era songs acknowledged…I don’t think if there’s a Donald Byrd song more sublime than his version of “Cristo Redentor.” 1

1. Louis CK used this in one of the best episodes of Season 3 of his show, on the rooftop where he and Parker Posie are sitting, looking over the skyline. It’s incredible. ↩

I decided, in late 2012, I really didn’t want to write RIP pieces anymore. I meant, absolutely, no disrespect to the likes of Marva Whitney or Inez Andrews or Fontella Bass or Ravi Shankar, et. al. But it is depressing when your site begins to resemble a roll call of the dead and as I’ve said in the past, for people like me, in love with music of the 1960s and ’70s, we are definitely entering into a time when a lot of our heroes and heroines will be passing away.

This all said, I can’t not acknowledge the passing of Donald Byrd, who (according to his nephew), died on Monday at age 80. There will certainly be tributes from the jazz community given Byrd’s stature and longevity but for hip-hop dudes like me, our relationship to Byrd is different, couched more in his ’70s Blue Note recordings, especially when he hooked up with the Mizell Brothers on the production trip. Not to play compare/contrast but the only other artists who were comparable to him in the world of soul-jazz would probably have been Lou Donaldson, maybe Grant Green.

Here’s just a few of my favorites from Byrd:

All soul-jazz era songs acknowledged…I don’t think if there’s a Donald Byrd song more sublime than his version of “Cristo Redentor.” 1

---

Let Go Of The Wheel And Let God Steer

2013-02-09 22:58:00 (читать в оригинале)



Sometimes the wrong choices bring us to the right places, if we just allow ourselves to let go of the wheel at some point and let God steer us.
We are a result of our choices, and the places we are in life aren't always explainable by human logic. Did you know that God has a plan for your life? Did you know that even though sometimes we may be making the worst of choices, that we may still end up in the right place, if we just allow ourselves to let go of the wheel at some point and let God steer us.

Sometimes the wrong choices will bring us to the right places, and these right places may be just enough to change our lives. For example, many criminals are put in jail and get put in the right situation to change their lives, while others are put in jail and just continue to rot there for most of their lifetime. For some, jail, for a few wrong choices is the right place to change their life, and for others, it simply may not be. When we become more proactive versus being so reactive to stimuli in life, we can make the best out of almost any situation.

---

A Smile Takes But A Moment, But The Memory Of It Lasts Forever

2013-02-09 22:58:00 (читать в оригинале)



A smile takes but a moment, but the memory of it lasts forever.
A smile is so small in actual space and time, yet smiles are so huge because they can last in our memories for a lifetime. Smiles are what brighten up the world, and though a smile may be a curve, it is a minute part of life that seems to at times set the world straight. As we go through each day we have to remember that our attitudes, and our physiology is infectious. The way that we project ourselves on the outside is going to be a good gauge of how we are feeling on the inside.

A person who is more apt to frown or go from day to day expressionless for the most part, is a person missing out on a major part of life, a great part of life.

Smiling can bring sadness out of you, and smiling can make a dark day bright. Smiles enrich lives, and don't take anything to give. So, give a smile today. Let the world know that good people still do exist!