Michael Pickett

Michael Pickett - Conversation With the Blues - 2000 - Wooden Teeth

If one is searching for some tight, well-presented blues music by an artist who has experience and talent, Michael Pickett's, Conversation With the Blues is the album to pick up. Pickett presents blues music with the finesse and charisma which comes from years of study and soulful admiration of what the genre is all about. Blues music is a genre of music which contains a small percentage of composition and a large portion of emotional improvisational expression. Michael Pickett pours himself, body and soul, into each tune on the album, sending the listener on a unique refreshing journey within his conversation with the blues. Each tune on the album, with the exception of one that is a solo effort from Pickett, finds Pickett's expressive and melodic vocals and mind-blowing harmonica complimented by Shawn Kellerman's extensive blues guitar work. "Junk Thang," a blues instrumental done in the key of E, is sure to hook many a blues fan to Pickett's magnetic harmonica playing. Shawn Kellerman and Teddy Leonard shine on "Junk Thang" with some exhilarating electric lead-guitar jamming. "Look out at the Weather" gives one the impression that Pickett has experienced the blues with the same force felt by Stevie Ray Vaughan and others who have gained the respect of blues fans worldwide. Michael Pickett is a talented musician and an amazing artist who breathes a new life into the blues by bringing it back with original energy and charisma. His style is very much his own, but one can hear and feel early influences in his music lending the comfortable quality and familiarity so often associated with true blues at it's finest. So if in search of a real blues sound, call on Michael Pickett and have a conversation with the blues as never before. © Larry Belanger © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wxfexqy0ldke

Through the 70s, 80s, and 90s Michael Pickett was already well known as an innovative, dynamic singer/songwriter/harmonica player, leading bands like Whiskey Howl, Wooden Teeth, and the Michael Pickett Band, all of which which played some great blues and funky roots music. "Conversation with the Blues" which won a Canadian Music award for Blues Album of the year, continues in the tradition of the three aforementioned bands. A B.Pulford on Michael Pickett's website made a couple of very relevant comments about Michael Pickett. He describes Michael's music as a "unique fusion of sensibilities, driven by his thumping delta guitar rhythms, muscular harmonica and gravel and chains voice which is, at once, traditional and relevant". He also says that "Never content to merely be a musical archivist, Pickett effectively deconstructs and reconstructs those seminal blues, born on the delta, to serve his own singular purpose; writing songs that are authentic both in substance and performance." Great comments which aptly describe the music on "Conversation With the Blues". The album is dedicated to two late members of the Downchild Blues Band, Richard "Hock" Walsh, and Tony Flaim. Michael's gospel influenced song "When I Lay My Burden Down", is dedicated to Blanche and Tony Flaim. The album is VHR by A.O.O.F.C. Buy Michael Pickett's great "Solo" album, and promote this great Bluesman

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1. Big Train - Shawn Kellerman/Pickett, Micheal
2. River - Michael Pickett
3. Love Don't Mean It - Michael Pickett
4. When I Lay My Burden Down - Michael Pickett
5. Look Out at the Weather - Michael Pickett
6. Conversation with the Blues - Kobrin, Slavka/Michael Pickett
7. Cecil & Spadina - Michael Pickett
8. It Don't Matter to Me - Michael Pickett/Doug Romanow
9. Bad Love - Michael Pickett/Doug Romanow
10. Junk Thang - Chadwick/David Cordrey/Leonard/Pickett
11. Mother Earth - Peter Chatman/Simpkin, Lewis
12. Night Comes - Molly Johnson/Doug Riley

MUSICIANS

Michael Pickett - Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals, Vocals (bckgr), Guitar (Resonator)
Shawn Kellerman - Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Leslie)
Steve Chadwick - Guitar, Bass (Electric), Guitar (Bass)
Kevin Breit - Guitar (Electric), Mandolin
Teddy Leonard - Guitar (Electric)
Leo Valvassori - Guitar (Bass)
Doug Riley - Piano, Fender Rhodes
Bill McCauley - Keyboards, Hammond B3, Organ (Hammond)
Doug Romanow - Keyboards
Gary Craig, Paul Brennan, Marty Cordrey - Drums
Rick Lazar - Percussion
John "Woog" Johnson - Sax (Alto), Sax (Baritone), Sax (Tenor)
Dave Dunlop - Trumpet
Gord Myers - Trombone
Richard Armin - Cello
Norman Hathaway, Lenny Solomon - Violin
Troy Adams, Louise Pickett, Jackie Richardson, Liz Tilden - Vocals (bckgr)

BIO

Michael Pickett has had a musical career that has spanned more than thirty years. He is an award-winning recording artist who has always embraced the blues. As the lead vocalist and harmonica player for two pioneering bands, Whiskey Howl and Wooden Teeth, during the '70s and '80s, Michael Pickett successfully pushed the envelope for blues roots music in the Toronto area. He formed the Michael Pickett Band in 1981, employing an ever-changing roster of some of Toronto's finest blues musicians. With Pickett as their driving force, the band developed a reputation for delivering soulful and dynamic performances of both original and classic blues material. Their 2001 inaugural tour of Germany and Austria was a major success. 1998, a banner year for Michael Pickett, was when he released his long-anticipated debut CD, Blues Money. The completely original recording was nominated for a Juno award and received a Jazz Report and Real Blues award for Blues Album of the Year. He was also presented with the coveted Maple Blues: Blues With a Feeling Award in recognition of his passion and commitment to the blues. Conversation With the Blues, released in 2000, earned him another Juno nomination and won a Canadian Indie Music award for Blues Album of the Year. The recording is an eclectic mix of ten original compositions comprised of multiple styles. His lengthy career has included extensive recording, film, radio, and television credits. He has shared the stage with John Lee Hooker, Bo Diddley, Koko Taylor, John Hammond, and Sunnyland Slim, and has opened for James Cotton, Taj Mahal, Muddy Waters, and Son Seals at venues ranging from Massey Hall to New York's Village Gate. Performing in clubs, as well as on jazz and blues festival stages across the U.S.A., Michael Pickett continues to mesmerize audiences with his vocals, harmonica, and pure musical genius. © Larry Belanger © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:k9foxqegldke~T1

Music (Buzzy Linhart)

Music (Buzzy Linhart) - Music - 1970 - Eleuthera Records

Released in 1971 around the same time as his solo Buddah release (The Time to Live Is Now), Music, on Artie Kornfeld's Eleuthera imprint distributed by Buddah, distinguished itself from the Carole King album of the same name because Music was also the title of this group led by songwriter Buzzy Linhart. Not the Music Explosion or Roxy Music or the Music or Music, Inc., the band known simply as Music feels like a cohesive unit, and the album plays with that rock band consistent groove. On "Everybody's Got (And Don't You Know)," Linhart veers off into Donovan Leitch's swimming pool; to be specific, he's vamping on the riff from Donovan's "Atlantis" inside this tune. "Mother's Red Light" is a whole other thing. Heavy with Linhart's vibes, Klingman's keyboards, and bassist Douglas Rauch playing some lead guitar, the song is psychedelic jazz, more so than Dave Grusin's acidic soundtrack to the film Candy, which came just a few years before. Produced by the band with engineer Eddie Kramer, the album is a solid effort boasting a heavier sound than Linhart's other solo efforts and a deliciously psychedelic gatefold cover. David Bromberg guest stars on dobro for the Mark Klingman composition "Kilpatrick's Defeat," while Moogy, of course, appears on piano and organ, musically supplementing the sounds of drummer John Siomos, lead guitarist Doug Rodriques, and the aforementioned bassist, Doug Rauch. Leiber & Stoller's "Searching" crawls and slinks with a rock & roll groove, the charm and band identity giving all the melodies on Music a solid spirit that comes from a group effort when everything is clicking, ending the album the way things began on "The Bag I'm In" — that Fred Neil number moving with a blues-rock earnest. Tim Hardin's "Reputation" almost goes honky tonky, a bit of a change from the Cream-meets-Stories sound of the album's first track. Stories were also on a Buddah imprint around this point in time, and the label seemed to be making a serious move into adult pop. The tragedy here is that Music didn't get to put out more...music. There's definitely something special in the grooves of this important but not very visible recording. © Joe Viglione © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0xfoxqw5ldje

Buzzy Linhart is a singer/guitarist from Cleveland who had been in the N.Y Greenwich Village music scene for years without any real success. He was around when Kama Sutra Productions was formed by Artie" Ripp, Hy Mizrahi and Phil Steinberg in 1964, and was a long standing artist with the Buddah/Kama Sutra label. Maybe thinking that a new label might aid his commercial success, he recorded an album (posted here) for Eleuthera in 1970, along with three other musicians as the group "Music", featuring Buzzy himself on vocals, guitar and vibes, Doug Rauch on bass, Doug Rodrigues on lead guitar and John Siomos on drums. This album also met with failure. He recorded for Buddah again when the Eleuthera label folded in 1971. "Music" was reissued the same year on Buddah as part of a two-LP set with "buzzy", an album he had recorded for Philips in 1969. "Music" is great early '70's psychedelic rock with jazz and funk elements. A real overlooked album, and HR by A.O.O.F.C. Listen to Buzzy Linhart's 1971 "The Time to Live Is Now" album

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

That's The Bag I'm In - Fred Neil
You Got A Reputation - Tim Hardin
Time To Go - Buzzy Linhart
Talk About A Morning - Buzzy Linhart
If You Love Me - Buzzy Linhart
Everybody's Got (And Don't You Know) - Buzzy Linhart
Mother's Red Light - Buzzy Linhart
Kilpatrick's Defeat - Michael Gayle, Mark "Moogy" Klingman
Searching - Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller

MUSICIANS

Buzzy Linhart - Guitar, Percussion, Drums, Guitar (Rhythm), Keyboards, Vocals, Vibraphone
Douglas Rodriguez - Guitar, Percussion
David Bromberg - Dobro, Guitar
Doug Rauch - Bass, Guitar, Percussion
Mark "Moogy" Klingman - Keyboards
John Siomos - Drums

BIO

Buzzy Linhart was born March 3, 1943, in Pittsburgh PA. His mother, Agnes Linhart, was a music educator. His first musical inspiration was when he heard the crows singing in the 1941 Walt Disney animated feature Dumbo. His dad was in a Mason lodge as grand master, Linhart told AMG in a May 2002 interview: "He played some percussion and did novelty songs with an act called the Cornpoppers in their lodge so I saw this stuff when I was two and three years old. Rock & roll wasn't in yet, my parents liked to produce shows....They would do these big stage extravaganzas, a lot of music from the 1890s, they would write entire shows...including minstrel shows, so I really heard a lot of good live music when I was very young." He started taking classical drum lessons and performed in the grade-school orchestra at seven years of age. On Buzzy Linhart's first band: "When John Coltrane played it was just deeper. I've been trying to hire musicians that give you those goose bumps since I was starting my first band at age 11, the Five Diamonds. It was Dixieland, and we were reading out of the famous combo/orch books." He later formed the Bel-Aires, not the Scottish group of the same name, always having a band through junior-high and high school, sometimes under his own name. He studied classical xylophone and jazz xylophone with the mallet man for the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, Robert Matson, "I got college-level music training when I was 13 and 14, and when I went into the Navy Conservatory's college-level school of music." He drove to D.C. to join the Navy Symphony and they took him even though Linhart was 4-F. "Their plan was to use me just playing music." He caught emphysema during the Cuban Missile Crisis from fighting a fire, also "a guy was killed ten feet from me on watch," creating post-traumatic stress disorder. He was 19 when he was let out of the navy: "Took my vibes in a car with this wild guy named Goose from Jersey City who got out through the psych ward like I did and we drove straight down to Miami to my friend's house 'cause he had written me a letter about the folk scene down there." On a tour of the coffeehouses, a 1943 Jaguar pulled up and it was a 19-year-old David Crosby. Crosby drove them to a club where he played with his brother, Chip Crosby, joined on-stage by Mama Cass Elliot. Fred Neil came in the next night. Simultaneous with this, Linhart auditioned for Tennessee Williams, and Williams' office immediately called to invite Linhart to be on staff as an actor for the entire season. That same evening Linhart saw Fred Neil and Neil asked Linhart to play vibes with him. "I called Tennessee Williams' office the next day, I was young and didn't quite realize what was happening...I wanted to play with him [Fred Neil] so badly that I called Tennessee Williams' office back and said, 'Could you please tell him I'm very sorry but I can't work with him this season [laughing now at the absurdity of what he was doing] but I certainly would enjoy working with him some time in the future.'" So he joined the folk-rock scene "and started really starving." He began hanging out with Tim Hardin, Fred Neil, Dylan, "it was crazy the quality of music we were exposed to." The first record Linhart tracked in New York was Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Timeless Love" with Felix Pappalardi arranging and Linhart on vibes. Buzzy Linhart performed in a trio with Tim Hardin and Pappalardi at this time, also playing vibes for Richie Havens at the Night Owl. Record exec Lou Reizner cut demos with Linhart and courted him to sign with Mercury; but it wasn't until he was opening act for Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels in London that he re-connected and signed a deal with Reizner, resulting in the first album titled simply Buzzy in 1969. Two albums were released in 1971: Music, titled after his band of the same name, and The Time to Live Is Now. He appeared on Carly Simon's 1971 debut as did his song "The Love's Still Growing." In 1972, Kama Sutra released another album called Buzzy (The Black Album), which insiders dubbed "The Black Album" so as not to confuse it with his 1969 debut LP. 1974 saw the release of Pussycats Can Go Far on Atlantic. His legacy is rich and impressive, appearing on Cat Mother & the All Night Newsboys' 1973 disc, Last Chance Dance, as well as performing vibraphone on tapes by a producer of the Cat Mother group, his friend Jimi Hendrix. At an April 2002 event on behalf of Linhart in New York City, producer/engineer Eddie Kramer gave insight into what Jimi Hendrix wanted for his First Rays of the New Rising Sun project, and how he came to put Linhart's vibes on the original Cry Of Love album. Artists like Jake & the Family Jewels, LaBelle, Barry Manilow, John Sebastian, Mother's Finest, his friend Moogy Klingman, and many others have had "the Buzzman" songs or musicianship on their various recordings. Two excellent compilations released by Klingman give history and detail: Old Times, Good Times: A Musical History and The Buzzy/Moogy Sessions, 1983-1994. Perhaps Linhart's best-known composition is one that has graced numerous Bette Midler albums and has become something of a theme song for her, a tune he co-wrote with Mark Klingman, "Friends." His webpage lists Buzzy Linhart as head songwriter, a comedy writer, and Bill Cosby's sidekick, Buzzy, on the 1976 family-hour variety show, Cos. It also states he was the music director of The Groove Tube, and composed the score for the film Rush It, starring Tom Beringer. Linhart even wrote the music for the off-Broadway musical, The Trials of Oz. In August 1998, Linhart appeared on the debut of Fox and Friends morning news magazine on the Fox News Network. They used a clip of him singing as a music bumper for a couple years after that. He and Moogy Klingman appeared on their third-anniversary Fox and Friends show, performing "Friends" for 177 countries simultaneously. Linhart's later collaborators include rhythm guru Muruga, George Clinton, Buddy Miles, David Peel, Harvey Mandel, and the Cannabis Healers. His BuzzArt Publishing Company has 15 songs entitled BuzzArt Publishing Catalog, Vol. One. His webpage also notes that Buzzy Linhart lives in the Bay Area of Northern California. Although he is in a wheelchair due to degenerated knees, he continues to write, record, and perform to the extent he can with his current health issues. © Joe Viglione © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:j9frxqu5ldte~T1

BIO (WIKI)

Buzzy Linhart (born 3 March 1943) is an American rock performer and musician. Born William Linhart in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he began honing his craft playing percussion for symphony at the age of seven, switching to vibraphone at ten. (It is not known specifically when he actually acquired his nickname of "Buzzy.") At fourteen he entered the Cleveland Music School Settlement which was a world renowned conservatory of music. Because of this training he led bands all through school and at the age of 18 entered the U.S. Navy School of Music as a percussionist. In 1963, he moved to New York City and became friends and roommates with John Sebastian. He also became a protege to the senior guitarist and folk singer Fred Neil. One of his first bands, with fellow musicians Steve De Naut, Serge Katzen, and Max Ochs, was the Seventh Sons, who released one influential raga-rock LP for ESP Records. Buzzy eventually released a series of solo albums from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s starting with his Philips debut buzzy (the title with a small "b") in 1969. His prowess on the vibraphone found him performing as a session musician on recordings by Buffy Sainte-Marie, Richie Havens, Carly Simon, Cat Mother & the All Night Newsboys, and even Jimi Hendrix (on the Cry of Love album). Perhaps Linhart's biggest claim to fame was his joint authorship and composition of "(You Got To Have) Friends," a collaboration with Mark "Moogy" Klingman, which became singer Bette Midler's de facto theme song. This was the end of his major label career, but although he never achieved commercial success, Linhart has continued to write, record, sing and compose music to this day. He also achieved some notoriety from his appearance in the opening sequence of the cult movie The Groove Tube, as a hippie hitchhiker.

Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now - 2000 - Reprise Records

In the liner notes, co-producer Larry Klein describes the album as "a programmatic suite documenting a relationship from initial flirtation through optimistic consummation, metamorphosing into disillusionment, ironic despair, and finally resolving in the philosophical overview of acceptance and the probability of the cycle repeating itself". If anybody can translate this into the Queen's English, A.O.O.F.C would love to hear from you.

Both Sides Now [Reprise, 2000] - My favorite Joni story is that they tried to do a TV special on her and none of her old friends would pitch in. Even if it's a dumb rumor or a damned lie, it's a hell of a metaphor for someone who loves herself so much nobody else need bother, and yet another reason to scoff at her concept song cycle about the rise and fall of an affair. But after decades of pretentious pronouncements on art, jazz, and her own magnificence, this very if briefly great singer-songwriter proves herself a major interpretive singer. Lucky to write two decent songs a decade now, she instead applies her smoked contralto to a knowledgeable selection of superb material by mostly second-echelon Tin Pan Alley craftsmen (and I do mean men). Splitting the difference between pop and jazz like the Chairman himself, she doesn't transform the melodies so much as texture them, and on a few highlights--on "Comes Love" and "You've Changed," on "When love congeals/It soon reveals/The faint aroma of performing seals"--she bores so deep into the words you'd think she'd written them herself back when she had something to say. But no, that's "A Case of You" and "Both Sides Now"--both of which, you can bet the mortgage, she makes sure belong. A- © http://www.robertchristgau.com/ © http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=joni+mitchell

A great album from a lady who doesn't have to prove anything to anybody in regard to musical talent. "Both Sides Now" is HR by A.O.O.F.C. Listen to her "Travelogue", "The Hissing Of Summer Lawns", "For The Roses", "Court And Spark", and "Ladies Of The Canyon" albums for more "pretentious pronouncements on art, jazz, and her own magnificence"

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1. "You're My Thrill" (Sidney Clare, Jay Gorney) – 3:52
2. "At Last" (Mack Gordon, Harry Warren) – 4:28
3. "Comes Love" (Lew Brown, Sam H. Stept, Charles Tobias) – 4:29
4. "You've Changed" (Bill Carey, Carl Fischer) – 5:00
5. "Answer Me, My Love" (Fred Rauch, Carl Sigman, Gerhard Winkler) – 3:23
6. "A Case of You" (Joni Mitchell) – 5:52
7. "Don't Go to Strangers" (Redd Evans, Arthur Kent, Dave Mann) – 4:10
8. "Sometimes I'm Happy" (Irving Caesar, Clifford Grey, Vincent Youmans) – 3:58
9. "Don't Worry 'Bout Me" (Rube Bloom, Ted Koehler) – 3:49
10. "Stormy Weather" (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) – 3:07
11. "I Wish I Were in Love Again" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) – 3:36
12. "Both Sides Now" (Joni Mitchell) – 5:45

MUSICIANS

Vocals - Joni Mitchell
Piano - Dave Arch , Herbie Hancock
Drums - Peter Erskine
Bass - Chris Laurence , Chuck Berghofer , Mary Scully , Mike Brittain
Bass, Clarinet - Anthony Pike
Cello - Anthony Pleeth , Dave Daniels , Frank Schaefer , Helen Liebmann , Martin Loveday , Paul Kegg , Tony Lewis
Percussion - Frank Ricotti
Saxophone [Alto] - Jamie Talbot
Saxophone [Soprano], Saxophone [Tenor] - Wayne Shorter
Horns - Hugh Seenan , John Pigneguy , Mike Thompson , Nigel Black , Paul Gardham , Philip Eastop , Richard Watkins
Trombone - Neil Sidwell , Pete Beachill , Peter Davies , Richard Edwards
Trombone [Bass] - David Stewart, Richard Henry
Trumpet - Andy Crowley , Derek Watkins , Gerard Presencer , John Barclay , Mark Isham , Steve Sidwell
Tuba - Owen Slade
Bassoon - Gavin McNaughton , Julie Andrews
Contrabassoon - Richard Skinner
Oboe - John Anderson
Oboe, English Horn [Cor Anglais] - Sue Bohling
Clarinet, Clarinet [Bass] - Iain Dixon
Clarinet - Nicholas Bucknall
Viola - Bill Benham , Bruce White , Catherine Bradshaw , Don McVay, Ivo Van Der Werff , Katie Wilkinson , Peter Lale , Rachel Bolt
Violin - Antonia Fuchs , Ben Cruft , Buguslav Kotecki, Cathy Thompson , Chris Tombling , Dave Woodcock , Dermot Crehan , Everton Nelson , Godfrey Salmon , Jackie Shave , Jim McLeod , Jonathan Strange , Julian Leaper , Kathy Shave, Maciej Rakowski , Matthew Scrivener , Michael McMenemy , Patrick Kiernan , Perry Montague-Mason , Peter Oxer , Rebecca Hirsch , Rita Manning , Roger Garland , Simon Fischer , Vaughn Armon , Warren Zielinski , Wilf Gibson
Concertmaster, Violin - Gavyn Wright
Flute - Andy Findon , Helen Keen
Flute, Clarinet - Jamie Talbot , Stan Sulzman
Flute, Clarinet, Flute [Alto] - Phil Todd
Harp - Skaila Kanga

BIO

When the dust settles, Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century. Uncompromising and iconoclastic, Mitchell confounded expectations at every turn; restlessly innovative, her music evolved from deeply personal folk stylings into pop, jazz, avant-garde, and even world music, presaging the multicultural experimentation of the 1980s and 1990s by over a decade. Fiercely independent, her work steadfastly resisted the whims of both mainstream audiences and the male-dominated recording industry. While Mitchell's records never sold in the same numbers enjoyed by contemporaries like Carole King, Janis Joplin, or Aretha Franklin, none experimented so recklessly with their artistic identities or so bravely explored territory outside of the accepted confines of pop music, resulting in a creative legacy which paved the way for performers ranging from Patti Smith and Chrissie Hynde to Madonna and Courtney Love. Born Roberta Joan Anderson in Fort McLeod, Alberta, Canada, on November 7, 1943, she was stricken with polio at the age of nine; while recovering in a children's hospital, she began her performing career by singing to the other patients. After later teaching herself to play guitar with the aid of a Pete Seeger instruction book, she went off to art college, and became a fixture on the folk music scene around Alberta. After relocating to Toronto, she married folksinger Chuck Mitchell in 1965, and began performing under the name Joni Mitchell. A year later the couple moved to Detroit, MI, but separated soon after; Joni remained in the Motor City, however, and won significant press acclaim for her burgeoning songwriting skills and smoky, distinctive vocals, leading to a string of high-profile performances in New York City. There she became a cause célèbre among the media and other performers; after she signed to Reprise in 1967, David Crosby offered to produce her debut record, a self-titled acoustic effort that appeared the following year. Her songs also found great success with other singers: in 1968, Judy Collins scored a major hit with the Mitchell-penned "Both Sides Now," while Fairport Convention covered "Eastern Rain" and Tom Rush recorded "The Circle Game." Thanks to all of the outside exposure, Mitchell began to earn a strong cult following; her 1969 sophomore effort, Clouds, reached the Top 40, while 1970's Ladies of the Canyon sold even better on the strength of the single "Big Yellow Taxi." It also included her anthemic composition "Woodstock," a major hit for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Still, the commercial and critical approval awarded her landmark 1971 record Blue was unprecedented: a luminous, starkly confessional set written primarily during a European vacation, the album firmly established Mitchell as one of pop music's most remarkable and insightful talents. Predictably, she turned away from Blue's incandescent folk with 1972's For the Roses, the first of the many major stylistic turns she would take over the course of her daring career. Backed by rock-jazz performer Tom Scott, Mitchell's music began moving into more pop-oriented territory, a change typified by the single "You Turn Me On (I'm a Radio)," her first significant hit. The follow-up, 1974's classic Court and Spark, was her most commercially successful outing: a sparkling, jazz-accented set, it reached the number two spot on the U.S. album charts and launched three hit singles -- "Help Me," "Free Man in Paris," and "Raised on Robbery." After the 1974 live collection Miles of Aisles, Mitchell emerged in 1975 with The Hissing of Summer Lawns, a bold, almost avant-garde record that housed her increasingly complex songs in experimental, jazz-inspired settings; "The Jungle Line" introduced the rhythms of African Burundi drums, placing her far ahead of the pop world's mid-'80s fascination with world music. 1976's Hejira, recorded with Weather Report bassist Jaco Pastorius, smoothed out the music's more difficult edges while employing minimalist techniques; Mitchell later performed the album's first single, "Coyote," at the Band's Last Waltz concert that Thanksgiving. Her next effort, 1977's two-record set Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, was another ambitious move, a collection of long, largely improvisational pieces recorded with jazz players Larry Carlton and Wayne Shorter, Chaka Khan, and a battery of Latin percussionists. Shortly after the record's release, Mitchell was contacted by the legendary jazz bassist Charles Mingus, who invited her to work with him on a musical interpretation of T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets. Mingus, who was suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease, sketched out a series of melodies to which Mitchell added lyrics; however, Mingus died on January 5, 1979, before the record was completed. After Mitchell finished their collaboration on her own, she recorded the songs under the title Mingus, which was released the summer after the jazz titan's passing. Following her second live collection, 1980's Shadows and Light, Mitchell returned to pop territory for 1982's Wild Things Run Fast; the first single, a cover of the Elvis Presley hit "(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care," became her first chart single in eight years. Shortly after the album's release, she married bassist/sound engineer Larry Klein, who became a frequent collaborator on much of her subsequent material, including 1985's synth-driven Dog Eat Dog, co-produced by Thomas Dolby. Mitchell's move into electronics continued with 1988's Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm, featuring guests Peter Gabriel, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, and Billy Idol. Mitchell returned to her roots with 1991's Night Ride Home, a spare, stripped-down collection spotlighting little more than her voice and acoustic guitar. Prior to recording 1994's Turbulent Indigo, she and Klein separated, although he still co-produced the record, which was her most acclaimed work in years. In 1996, she compiled a pair of anthologies, Hits and Misses, which collected her chart successes as well as underappreciated favorites. A new studio album, Taming the Tiger, followed in 1998. Both Sides Now, a collection of standards, followed in early 2000. Two years later, Mitchell resurfaced with the double-disc release Travelogue. She announced in October 2002 that this would be her last album ever, for she'd grown tired of the industry. She told W magazine that she intended to retire. She also claimed she would never sign another corporate label deal and in Rolling Stone blasted the recording industry for being "a cesspool." By the time Travelogue appeared a month later, Mitchell had simmered down and her plans to call it quits had been axed. Numerous compilations and remasters appeared between 2002 and 2006, culminating in the release of the independent Shine in 2007. © Jason Ankeny © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3ifexqe5ldte~T1

Dana Gillespie

Dana Gillespie - Experienced - 2000 - Ace

"...Places [her] in the boudoir blues tradition of other salty mamas such as Bessie Smith, Etta James and Koko Taylor....Dana deserves nothing less." - Mojo (Publisher) (7/00, p.121)

Despite having released over 60 albums, and written hundreds of songs, the multi-talented Dana Gillespie remains very much an overlooked vocalist. "Experienced" is a great collection of songs with blues, blues rock, soul blues, jazz, and R&B elements. Very much in the style of the early Elkie Brooks, Dana's powerful, gritty voice, some great songs, and artists including Matt Schofield, Ian Siegal, and Sam Mitchell on guitar, and Nick Hogarth on keys make "Experienced" a great album. Listen to Dana's "Box of Surprises", and "Staying Power" albums

TRACKS

1 Experienced
2 Tough Love
3 One Kiss X 108
4 Something Coming
5 Break Down the Door
6 Ten Ton Blocks
7 Crying for the Moon
8 There Will Always Be a New Tomorrow
9 Try Me
10 Happy Birthday Blues
11 Me Without You
12 Take It Like a Man

All songs composed by Dana Gillespie except Track 8, by Frankie Miller, Track 11 by Dana Gillespie & Dino Baptiste, and Track 12 by Dana Gillespie, Nick Hogarth, and David Malin

MUSICIANS

Dana Gillespie - vocals, background vocals
Matt Schofield, Todd Sharpville - Guitar
Ian Siegal - Rhythm Guitar, Slide Guitar, Backing Vocals
Sam Mitchell - bottleneck guitar
Javier Garcia - bass
Dino Baptiste - piano, organ, harmonica, backing vocals
Nick Hogarth - keyboards
Evan Jenkins - drums
Big Mart Winning, Nick Payn - saxophone
Mike Paice - alto saxophone solo
Sid Gauld, Martin Drover - trumpet
David Malin - tambourine, percussion, backing vocals
Rolf Harris - wobbleboard
Shining Bear - didgerydoo
Laura Pallas, Ricky P.Washington, Corinna Greyson - Backing Vocals

BIO

Vocalist Dana Gillespie's first album was released when she was only 15. Over the next four decades, as a strong presence in the world of music, she was part of the recording of around 40 albums. In the beginning of her career in the '60s, she sang folk tunes. At some point in the '70s, she moved on to rock. By the '80s she turned her attention fully to something that was one of her first loves: the blues. In between all of that recording, Gillespie the actress stayed in the spotlight on the theater stage in shows like Jesus Christ Superstar, and in films like The Hound of the Baskervilles. A young Dana Gillespie began performing folk music at festivals where she had large and diverse audiences to please. It gave her the perfect chance to polish her skills and learn to entertain, as well as to simply perform. During those first few years, Gillespie recorded a number of singles and two albums on the Decca and Pye labels. By 1973, she had moved on to the major label RCA and found herself working with David Bowie, who stood in as producer on a number of her recordings. The '70s saw her release such albums as Weren't Born a Man and Ain't Gonna Play No Second Fiddle. When not performing behind the microphone, Gillespie was working behind the camera in films like Sink or Swim, Mahler, and the cult classic, The People That Time Forgot, which was a sequel to The Land That Time Forgot. In the '80s, Gillespie maintained a hectic professional schedule, leading a double life, and maybe a triple one at times. She kept at her music, touring through the United States, Europe, and other countries. She also went back into the studio to complete several albums, including I'm a Woman, Blue Job, Move Your Body Close to Me, Below the Belt, Hot News, and Sweet Meat. She continued to show off her acting abilities, and her beauty, in movies like Parker, Scrubbers, Bad Timing, and Strapless. In between the rest, she fit in numerous television appearances. No one could accuse Gillespie of slowing down in the '90s — not with the more than a dozen albums she released that decade. She entered the new millennium much the same way. By these later years, she had come full force into the blues, her voice reaching that edge, her life experiences varied enough to feel and understand the songs she both sings and writes. Some of the tunes fans will find on albums from this Gillespie period are "Who's Got the Blues to Blame," "Give Me Your Best Shot," "The Sky Will Still Be Blue," "Guardian Blue Angel," "You Make Me Feel So Good," "Who Blew the Blues Away," and "Turning Over a Blue Leaf." She has stayed a strong part of the music scene by organising The Mustique Blues Festival every year and through her radio show called "Globetrotting" With Gillespie, which airs on Blue Danube Radio in Vienna and focuses on African and Indian music with a bit of blues too. In 2003 Gillespie released a new record for Ace called Staying Power which celebrated her 40th year in the music industry and showed her to be as strong a vocalist as ever. © Charlotte Dillon © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:d9fyxqy5ldfe~T1

MORE ABOUT DANA GILLESPIE

"I believe the blues should be sung by an older person because it's about emotions and experience. I couldn't do justice to it when I was younger because my voice didn't have the edge it needed to convey the emotion, nor did I have the first hand experience to sing about blue themes convincingly." But after 45 years in music and over 60 albums Dana Gillespie is well qualified to sing the blues. A career that combined radio, theatre, film and sport (she was once British junior water-skiing champion) with music, Dana has been in the public eye since recording her first album at the age of 15. Her music has evolved from folk in the 60s through 70s Bowie-esque glam-rock to the raunchy in-your-face blues she performs today. Dana Gillespie has been dedicated to the blues from an early age: "I discovered the blues when I went to the American Folk Blues Festival in 1962 and also to see the Yardbirds at the Marquee Club. I was in my early teens and hadn't heard anything like it before - blues wasn't easily available in the UK back then". Bessie Smith especially inspired her because of her combination of sly, funny and bawdy lyrics. "Blues was my first musical love because it's earthy, spiritual and honest." In 1964 she recorded for Pye, with Donovan on guitar and became a regular on the folk circuit. She recalls: "[at that age] I was doing folk because I couldn't afford a band and I hadn't found my musical niche".In those early years Dana got to know many of the top bands and people in the music business. Most shared her love of blues, and played their own version of it. Bob Dylan who was an old friend of Dana from the 60s showed interest in her music in 1997, when he invited her to support him on his UK tour, which included a sell-out show at Wembley. After a swathe of singles on Pye and two LPs for Decca, she moved to RCA and made WEREN'T BORN A MAN in 1973, some titles being produced by David Bowie, whose management, Mainman, also took care of her career. While her career in music was simmering away, she became better known for her appearances in London's West End theatres, in shows such as the first run of Jesus Christ Superstar (playing Mary Magdalene), The Who's "Tommy" (playing the Acid Queen) and the rock Othello, "Catch My Soul". She also appeared with Dudley Moore in the film version of "The Hound Of The Baskervilles" and starred in Ken Russell's "Mahler" among other movies. Her second RCA LP, AIN'T GONNA PLAY NO SECOND FIDDLE was just beginning to take off when her management company decided she should move to the USA, where she played and toured extensively for two years. Dana hosted a radio blues show in New York at the same time, which gave her the opportunity to learn more about the roots of the music. She has continued her interest in radio in Austria where she recently completed a 11-year stint hosting a weekly, international world music show on Blue Danube Radio called "Globe Trotting With Gillespie". In the 80s, Dana toured Europe several times with the "Stars Of Boogie Woogie" tour, singing either with the Mojo Blues Band or with Axel Zwingenberger. Her time with the Mojo Blues Band, a purist outfit that backed all the American blues musicians visiting Europe, lasted three years. "I lived, slept and breathed blues, because that was all they did. It was a great experience." She also developed her interest in Indian and Arabic music, recording the single "Move Your Body Close To Me", an Indian-influenced song with synthesiser backing. It shot to #1 in Europe. Dana has already released six blues albums through Ace. BLUE JOB, was recorded in 1982, a collection of blues songs with a humorous risqué twist. The second LP, BELOW THE BELT drew on the same source, and was produced by Mike Vernon (who also produced Dana's Pye album in the 60s, BOX OF SURPRISES). The third LP, SWEET MEAT concentrated on "fat" and "thin" numbers - another raunchy set of songs. The combined three LPs are now available on two CDs BLUES IT UP and HOT STUFF. Her release STAYING POWER, displays an empathy with the blues which can be traced back to her first exposure to the art form in the early 1960s. Her latest CD on Ace is recorded and called 'Live with the London Blues Band'. In 2002 Dana was invited to take her road band, The London Blues Band, on the first ever major tour by a western band of India. She filled stadiums from Mumbai to Calcutta and yet again demonstrated her infalible ability to take her music to a seemingly unlikely audience. Her songwriting is without doubt a major asset. Bob Dylan has said how much he likes her songs... her self penned catalogue is phenomenal and sets her apart as a truly unique talent. India has always played a major part in Dana's life and she recorded 3 albums in Sanskrit, under the pseudonym THIRD MAN before reverting to Dana Gillespie. Her touring schedule has been consistently packed, taking her to all the European blues festivals. In recognition of her talent, she was voted 'Top British Female Blues Vocalist' by the British Blues Connection and Blueprint Magazine between 1992 and 1996 and has now been elevated into their Hall Of Fame. In the last week of January, for over 15 years, the Caribbean Island of MUSTIQUE has been the destination for a charity blues festival, founded and organised by Dana and Basil Charles. The festival started as a small event but as Mustique has grown in popularity, as a tourist destination and as a playground for the wealthy, so has the festival. The funds collected are used to pay for scholarships for children's schooling in the neighbouring island of St. Vincent. Dana maintains that the event will continue to be a free festival, raising money through the sale of the Mustique Blues Festival LIVE CD produced every year. Blues musicians from all over the world, such as Big Jay McNeeley, Larry Garner, Joe Louis Walker, Mick Jagger and Ian Siegal. All Rights Reserved © 2007 www.dana-gillespie.com. Last Updated 01-01-2007 http://www.dana-gillespie.com/biog.html

Dr.Feelgood

Dr.Feelgood - A Case Of The Shakes - 1980 - United Artists Records

"A Case Of The Shakes" is a great album of straight up, no messin' Rock'N'Roll/Blues/R&B. The music is in the same style of most Dr. Feelgood albums. The band has retained the same winning formula in their approach to good old fashioned Rock'N'Roll, and "A Case Of The Shakes" doesn't deviate from the norm. The album is typically short, but great stuff! Listen to Dr.F's great "Stupidity" album and search this blog for other Dr.Feelgood releases

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 JUMPING FROM LOVE TO LOVE (Fasterley/Brilleaux/Sparks/Martin/Mayo)
2 GOING SOME PLACE ELSE (Larry Wallis)
3 BEST IN THE WORLD (Nick Lowe)
4 PUNCH DRUNK (Larry Wallis/Brilleaux/Sparks/Martin/Mayo)
5 KING FOR A DAY (Wallis/Brilleaux/Sparks/Martin/Mayo)
6 VIOLENT LOVE (Otis Rush)
7 NO MO DO YAKAMO (Krekel)
8 LOVE HOUND (Linde/Rush)
9 COMING TO YOU (Lee Brilleaux/Gypie Mayo)
10 WHO'S WINNING (Lowe/Brilleaux/Sparks/Martin/Mayo)
11 DRIVES ME WILD (Fasterley/Brilleaux/Sparks/Martin/Mayo)
12 CASE OF THE SHAKES (Fasterley/Brilleaux/Mayo)

BAND

Lee Brilleaux RIP - (Guitar), (Harmonica), (Vocals)
John "Gypie" Mayo - (Guitar)
John B. Sparks - (Bass)
John Martin aka Figure Martin aka The Big Figure - (Drums), (Vocals)

BIO

Dr. Feelgood was the ultimate working band. From their formation in 1971 to lead vocalist Lee Brilleaux's untimely death in 1994, the band never left the road, playing hundreds of gigs every year. Throughout their entire career, Dr. Feelgood never left simple, hard-driving rock & roll behind, and their devotion to the blues and R&B earned them a devoted fan base. That following first emerged in the mid-'70s, when Dr. Feelgood became the leader of the second wave of pub-rockers. Unlike Brinsley Schwarz, the laidback leaders of the pub-rock scene, Dr. Feelgood was devoted to edgy, Stonesy rock & roll, and their sweaty live shows -- powered by Brilleaux's intense singing and guitarist Wilko Johnson's muscular leads -- became legendary. While the group's stripped-down, energetic sound paved the way for English punk rock in the late '70s, their back-to-basics style was overshadowed by the dominance of punk and new wave, and the group had retreated to cult status by the early '80s. Brilleaux (vocals, harmonica), Johnson (guitar) and John B. Sparks (bass) had all played in several blues-based bar bands around Canvey Island, England before forming Dr. Feelgood in 1971. Taking their name from a Johnny Kidd & the Pirates song, the group was dedicated to playing old-fashioned R&B and rock & roll, including both covers and originals by Johnson. John Martin (drums), a former member of Finian's Rainbow, was added to the lineup, and the group began playing the pub-rock circuit. By the end of 1973, Dr. Feelgood's dynamic live act had made them the most popular group on the pub-rock circuit, and several labels were interested in signing them. They settled for United Artists, and they released their debut album, Down by the Jetty, in 1974. According to legend, Down By the Jetty was recorded in mono and consisted almost entirely of first takes. While it was in fact recorded in stereo, the rumor added significantly to Dr. Feelgood's purist image, and the album became a cult hit. The following year, the group released Malpractice -- also their first U.S. release -- which climbed into the U.K. Top 20 on the strength of the band's live performances and positive reviews. In 1976, the band released the live album Stupidity, which became a smash hit in Britain, topping the album charts. Despite its thriving British success, Dr. Feelgood was unable to find an audience in the States. One other American album, Sneakin' Suspicion, followed in 1977 before the band gave up on the States; they never released another record in the U.S. Sneakin' Suspicion didn't replicate the success of Stupidity, partially because of its slick production, but mainly because the flourishing punk rock movement overshadowed Dr. Feelgood's edgy roots-rock. Wilko Johnson left the band at the end of 1977 to form the Solid Senders; he later joined Ian Dury's Blockheads. Henry McCullough played on Feelgood's '77 tour before John "Gypie" Mayo became the group's full-time lead guitarist. Nick Lowe produced 1978's Be Seeing You, Mayo's full-length debut with Dr. Feelgood. The album generated the 1979 Top Ten hit "Milk and Alcohol," as well as the Top 40 hit "As Long As The Price Is Right." Two albums, As It Happens and Let It Roll, followed in 1979, and Mayo left the band in 1980. He was replaced by Johnny Guitar in 1980, who debuted on A Case of the Shakes, which was also produced by Nick Lowe. During their first decade together, Dr. Feelgood never left the road, which was part of the reason founding members John Martin and John Sparks left the band in 1982. Lee Brilleaux replaced them with Buzz Barwell and Pat McMullen, and continued touring. Throughout the '80s, Brilleaux continued to lead various incarnations of Dr. Feelgood, settling on the rhythm section of bassist Phil Mitchell and drummer Kevin Morris in the mid-'80s. The band occasionally made records -- including Brilleaux, one of the last albums on Stiff Records, in 1976 -- but concentrated primarily on live performances. Dr. Feelgood continued to perform to large audiences into the early '90s, when Brilleaux was struck by cancer. He died in April of 1994, three months after he recorded the band's final album, Down at the Doctor's. The remaining members of Dr. Feelgood hired vocalist Pete Gage and continued to tour under the band's name. Former Feelgoods Gypie Mayo, John Sparks and John Martin formed the Practice in the mid-'80s, and they occasionally performed under the name Dr. Feelgood's Practice. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Brian Auger's Oblivion Express

Brian Auger's Oblivion Express - Keys To The Heart - 1987 - Disconforme

Brian Auger's musical achievements have resulted in some of the most innovative sounds and landmark albums of the past 5 decades. Similar in many ways to the late, great Ian Carr of Nucleus, Brian Auger brought jazz sensibilities to rock, British rock to Memphis soul, Motown to jazz, and more. He was able to fuse elements of jazz, rhythm-and-blues, and rock'n'roll into a hybrid sound that expanded music's frontiers beyond the 1960s and 1970s. "Keys To The Heart" is just one example of Brian Augur's unique jazz rock/fusion sound. Check out Brian Auger's Oblivion Express' "Reinforcements" album. His "Voices of Other Times" album can be found on this blog

TRACKS

Pacific Coast Highway
Sundown
Blue Note Shuffle
Pools *
Stork
Mary Bings Boogie
Forget Me Not

All tracks composed by Brian Auger except * by Don Grolnick

BAND

Brian Auger (Organ), (Synthesizer), (Piano), (Organ Hammond), (Vocals)
Rick Hannah (Guitar)
Steve Evans (Guitar Bass)
Larry Vann (Percussion), (Drums)
Dick Morrissey (Sax Soprano), (Sax Tenor)
Steve Dawson (Trumpet)

BRIAN AUGER BIO

Brian Auger was raised in London, where he took up the keyboards as a child and began to hear jazz by way of the American Armed Forces Network and an older brother's record collection. By his teens, he was playing piano in clubs, and by 1962 he had formed the Brian Auger Trio with bass player Rick Laird and drummer Phil Knorra. In 1964, he won first place in the categories of "New Star" and "Jazz Piano" in a reader's poll in the Melody Maker music paper, but the same year he abandoned jazz for a more R&B-oriented approach and expanded his group to include John McLaughlin (guitar) and Glen Hughes (baritone saxophone) as the Brian Auger Trinity. This group split up at the end of 1964, and Auger moved over to Hammond B-3 organ, teaming with bass player Rick Brown and drummer Mickey Waller. After a few singles, he recorded his first LP on a session organized to spotlight blues singer Sonny Boy Williamson that featured his group, saxophonists Joe Harriott and Alan Skidmore, and guitarist Jimmy Page; it was Don't Send Me No Flowers, released in 1968. By mid-1965, Auger's band had grown to include guitarist Vic Briggs and vocalists Long John Baldry, Rod Stewart, and Julie Driscoll, and was renamed Steampacket. More a loosely organized musical revue than a group, Steampacket lasted a year before Stewart and Baldry left and the band split. Auger retained Driscoll and brought in bass player Dave Ambrose and drummer Clive Thacker to form a unit that was billed as Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the Trinity. Their first album, Open, was released in 1967 on Marmalade Records (owned by Auger's manager, Giorgio Gomelsky), but they didn't attract attention on record until the release of their single, "This Wheel's on Fire," (music and lyrics by Bob Dylan and Rick Danko) in the spring of 1968, which preceded the appearance of the song on the Band's Music from Big Pink album. The disc hit the top five in the U.K., after which Open belatedly reached the British charts. Auger and the Trinity recorded the instrumental album Definitely What! (1968) without Driscoll, then brought her back for the double-LP, Streetnoise (1968), which reached the U.S. charts on Atco Records shortly after a singles compilation, Jools & Brian, gave them their American debut on Capitol in 1969. Driscoll quit during a U.S. tour, but the Trinity stayed together long enough to record Befour (1970), which charted in the U.S. on RCA Records, before disbanding in July 1970. Auger put together a new band to play less commercial jazz-rock and facetiously called it the Oblivion Express, since he didn't think it would last; instead, it became his perennial band name. The initial unit was a quartet filled out by guitarist Jim Mullen, bass player Barry Dean, and drummer Robbie McIntosh. Their initial LP, Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, was released in 1971, followed later the same year by A Better Land, but their first U.S. chart LP was Second Wind in June 1972, the album that marked the debut of singer Alex Ligertwood with the band. Personnel changes occurred frequently, but the Oblivion Express continued to figure in the U.S. charts consistently over the next several years with Closer to It! (August 1973), Straight Ahead (March 1974), Live Oblivion, Vol. 1 (December 1974), Reinforcements (October 1975), and Live Oblivion, Vol. 2 (March 1976). Meanwhile, Auger had moved to the U.S. in 1975, eventually settling in the San Francisco Bay area. In the face of declining sales, he switched to Warner Bros. Records for Happiness Heartaches, which charted in February 1977. Encore, released in April 1978, was a live reunion with Julie Tippetts (née Driscoll) that marked the end of Auger's association with major record labels, after which he dissolved the Oblivion Express and recorded less often. In 1990, he teamed up with former Animals singer Eric Burdon, and the two toured together during the next four years, releasing Access All Areas together in 1993. In 1995, Auger put together a new Oblivion Express. As of 2000, the lineup consisted of his daughter, Savannah, on vocals, Chris Clermont on guitar, Dan Lutz on bass, and his son Karma on drums. This group issued the album Voices of Other Times on Miramar Records one week before Auger's 61st birthday. © William Ruhlmann © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:fpfrxqr5ldhe~T1

Brian Auger's Oblivion Express

Brian Auger's Oblivion Express - Voices Of Other Times - 2000 - Miramar Productions

Released a week before his 61st birthday, Brian Auger's return to recording under the aegis of the Oblivion Express marks both a look back at his heyday and a continuance of his style of music. That style is a species of soul-jazz familiar from the 1960s and leading into the funky jazz-rock fusion of the early '70s. Indeed, four of the album's ten selections are remakes of songs drawn from Auger's back catalog: "Isola Natale" from his debut album Open (1967); "Indian Rope Man" from Streetnoise (1968); "Voices of Other Times" from Closer to It! (1973); and "Never Gonna Come Down" from Happiness Heartaches (1977). Whether originals or covers, the new recordings testify to Auger's jazz influences, often overtly -- the Latin-styled piano/organ excursion "Victor's Delight" is dedicated to Victor Feldman, while Marcus Miller's "Splatch" is borrowed from Miles Davis' Tutu album. The all-new edition of the Oblivon Express heard on the album is a family affair, with Auger's son Karma playing drums and producing and daughter Savannah singing on eight tracks, augmented by guitarist Chris Clermont and bass player Dan Lutz. Nearly 40 years into Auger's career, they make for what is virtually a repertory band devoted to a musical style that old fans will recall fondly, so that they can play this album alongside the CD reissues of the keyboard player's vintage recordings. © William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

After achieving major success in Britain in the '60s, Brian Auger formed Oblivion Express and from 1971 to 1977 released a string of seven seminal jazz-rock albums plus two live albums that set a new standard for keyboard jazz with blues & rock leanings and a signature sound defined by the mixture of Hammond B-3 organ and electric piano. With various members and singers, these albums contained great original songs by Auger combined with well-chosen covers of jazz classics, and represented a career high water mark. In the '80s and '90s, Auger releases became sporadic and although his career never regained the momentum of the Oblivion Express period, his talent kept happily resurfacing. In 2000, Oblivion Express was reborn with a new lineup and a new recording, Voices of Other Times, which features Brian with two of his children and two of their musician friends who together have crafted what may be the best Oblivion Express album yet. The trademark sound is not only intact, but sounds better than ever, thanks in part to fantastic production by drummer and son, Karma, and vocals by daughter Savannah. It's Oblivion Express -- the next generation. The first track, "It Burns Me Up," starts with a funky Marcus Miller-style bass line that literally screams "hey -- this isn't the '70s anymore," together with Hammond organ, topical lyrics and overall amazing sound. Imagine the Express in its prime, only updated, fresh and current. There's a classic Auger organ solo, pumping bass and drums, and also some nice solo guitar. "Isola Natale" is a remake of a song from Brian's first album (Open from 1967 with Julie Driscoll and the Trinity) and features a Latin style rhythm with more nice guitar and bass work, all anchored by the Hammond organ which works tremendously well in combination with Savannah's voice; this sounds so current you'd never know it was written over three decades ago. The title track is an update of the great song from the classic Oblivion Express album Closer To It (1973), with excellent vocal, band performance and arrangement, if anything exceeding the original. This song has a perfect combination of rhythm and organ with a superb melody, plus an organ solo to boot. This is all too cool; I just can't get over the fact that although the trademark sound is intact, almost 30 years on it sounds totally new. Track four is the Marcus Miller composition "Splatch," which Auger says he first heard on Miles Davis' Tutu album. Bassist Dan Lutz also seems to have a high appreciation for Miller that is obvious from his playing. The song starts with another classic Miller bass line, then theHammond organ, then more nice guitar soloing and great drumming by Karma; the organ riffs sound positively exuberant. "Indian Rope Man," written by Richie Havens, is another redo from the Auger catalogue; the original dates back to the Streetnoise album (1969), updated here with a great version. "Victor's Delight," is dedicated by Brian in the liner notes to pianist Victor Feldman "whose inspirational playing has left a lasting impression on me." "Circles," is a great sounding original, written by guitarist Chris Clermont with lyrics by Savannah. "Never Gonna Come Down" is another nice update of a classic tune from the Happiness Heartaches album, which was the last release from the original run of the Express in 1977. The four updates on this record sound so fresh and current next to the new material that you would never know they were old songs unless you were familiar with them (or looked them up). "Jam Side Down" closes the album with an instrumental workout composed by the band. Every track on this disc gets such a great groove going that you won't want any of them to end. Whatever it takes, please seek out Voices of Other Times. Listeners unfamiliar with Auger or his history who pick up this disc are in for a huge treat, with the added bonus of being able to go back to those classic Oblivion Express albums from the '70s and discover them for the first time. Auger fans hearing this new disc for the first time will be both shocked and amazed that after all these years there is a new Oblivion Express that not only sounds right but is even better than before. It's like reconnecting with a long lost friend. © Rambles, written by William Kates published 9 August 2003 http://www.rambles.net/auger_voices00.html

This is a very strong CD. Excellent musicianship from Brian, his talented offspring and two young lions on guitar and bass. Very well produced by his son (also very tasty on drums). I recently saw a quote saying Brian is the "Grandfather of Acid Jazz." Listening to this CD gives real credence to the argument (along with remembering all his excellent 70s recordings). Brian's sound has modernized very well--nothing dated here. The remake of "Isola Natale" is smooth with just the right amount of grease. On "Soul Glow", Brian's daugher turns in an excellent vocal performance, with one tricky passage deftly sung that really makes it hard to believe how young she is. Auger has never gotten the credit or notariety he deserves, and it sure would be nice if this one took off. © 2007-2010 AllCDCovers

"Brian Auger is one of the best B-3 artists I have ever heard in my life. His technique is awesome and the amount of energy he generates is unparalleled and relentless. He is a tremendous talent with a wonderfully warm and compassionate personality, a combination that is hard to beat. He deserves all the accolades."- Herbie Hancock: "My Favorite rock artists are Van Morrison, Bonnie Raitt, Brian Auger and Loudon Wainwright."- Mose Allison: "Voices Of Other Times" is a great contemporary soul jazz rock album. The music is full of great probing grooves, and is reminiscent of Brian Auger's innovative jazz-rock from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Listen to Julie Driscoll/Brian Auger & The Trinity's "Streetnoise" album, Brian Auger's Oblivion Express' "Reinforcements" album, and Karma Auger's great "Blue Groove" album. N.B: A little note for Steely Dan fans. Some of the music on "Voices Of Other Times" is very much in the jazz rock style of Walter Becker. One of Brian Auger's favourite musicians is the late English multi-instrumentalist, Victor Feldman, who played on at least five Steely Dan albums, and one of Brian Auger's favourite albums is Steely Dan's "Aja".

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

It Burns Me Up - Brian Auger
Isola Natale - Brian Auger
Voices of Other Times - Brian Auger, Barry Dea
Splatch - Marcus Miller
Indian Rope Man - Richie Havens, Joe Price, Mark Roth
Soul Glow - Brian Auger, Karma
Victor's Delight - Brian Auger
Circles - Brian Auger, Chris Clermont
Never Gonna Come Down - Clive Chaman, Chris Clermont
Jam Side Down - Brian Auger, Chris Clermont, Karma Auger, Dan Lutz

BAND

Brian Auger (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Hammond B3 organ, Korg SG keyboard)
Chris Clermont (guitar)
Dan Lutz (bass)
Karma D. Auger (drums, percussion)
Long John Oliva (conga)
Savannah Auger (vocals)

BRIAN AUGER BIO

Brian Auger was raised in London, where he took up the keyboards as a child and began to hear jazz by way of the American Armed Forces Network and an older brother's record collection. By his teens, he was playing piano in clubs, and by 1962 he had formed the Brian Auger Trio with bass player Rick Laird and drummer Phil Knorra. In 1964, he won first place in the categories of "New Star" and "Jazz Piano" in a reader's poll in the Melody Maker music paper, but the same year he abandoned jazz for a more R&B-oriented approach and expanded his group to include John McLaughlin (guitar) and Glen Hughes (baritone saxophone) as the Brian Auger Trinity. This group split up at the end of 1964, and Auger moved over to Hammond B-3 organ, teaming with bass player Rick Brown and drummer Mickey Waller. After a few singles, he recorded his first LP on a session organized to spotlight blues singer Sonny Boy Williamson that featured his group, saxophonists Joe Harriott and Alan Skidmore, and guitarist Jimmy Page; it was Don't Send Me No Flowers, released in 1968. By mid-1965, Auger's band had grown to include guitarist Vic Briggs and vocalists Long John Baldry, Rod Stewart, and Julie Driscoll, and was renamed Steampacket. More a loosely organized musical revue than a group, Steampacket lasted a year before Stewart and Baldry left and the band split. Auger retained Driscoll and brought in bass player Dave Ambrose and drummer Clive Thacker to form a unit that was billed as Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the Trinity. Their first album, Open, was released in 1967 on Marmalade Records (owned by Auger's manager, Giorgio Gomelsky), but they didn't attract attention on record until the release of their single, "This Wheel's on Fire," (music and lyrics by Bob Dylan and Rick Danko) in the spring of 1968, which preceded the appearance of the song on the Band's Music from Big Pink album. The disc hit the top five in the U.K., after which Open belatedly reached the British charts. Auger and the Trinity recorded the instrumental album Definitely What! (1968) without Driscoll, then brought her back for the double-LP, Streetnoise (1968), which reached the U.S. charts on Atco Records shortly after a singles compilation, Jools & Brian, gave them their American debut on Capitol in 1969. Driscoll quit during a U.S. tour, but the Trinity stayed together long enough to record Befour (1970), which charted in the U.S. on RCA Records, before disbanding in July 1970. Auger put together a new band to play less commercial jazz-rock and facetiously called it the Oblivion Express, since he didn't think it would last; instead, it became his perennial band name. The initial unit was a quartet filled out by guitarist Jim Mullen, bass player Barry Dean, and drummer Robbie McIntosh. Their initial LP, Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, was released in 1971, followed later the same year by A Better Land, but their first U.S. chart LP was Second Wind in June 1972, the album that marked the debut of singer Alex Ligertwood with the band. Personnel changes occurred frequently, but the Oblivion Express continued to figure in the U.S. charts consistently over the next several years with Closer to It! (August 1973), Straight Ahead (March 1974), Live Oblivion, Vol. 1 (December 1974), Reinforcements (October 1975), and Live Oblivion, Vol. 2 (March 1976). Meanwhile, Auger had moved to the U.S. in 1975, eventually settling in the San Francisco Bay area. In the face of declining sales, he switched to Warner Bros. Records for Happiness Heartaches, which charted in February 1977. Encore, released in April 1978, was a live reunion with Julie Tippetts (née Driscoll) that marked the end of Auger's association with major record labels, after which he dissolved the Oblivion Express and recorded less often. In 1990, he teamed up with former Animals singer Eric Burdon, and the two toured together during the next four years, releasing Access All Areas together in 1993. In 1995, Auger put together a new Oblivion Express. As of 2000, the lineup consisted of his daughter, Savannah, on vocals, Chris Clermont on guitar, Dan Lutz on bass, and his son Karma on drums. This group issued the album Voices of Other Times on Miramar Records one week before Auger's 61st birthday. © William Ruhlmann © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:fpfrxqr5ldhe~T1

Sherman Robertson & BluesMove

Sherman Robertson & BluesMove - Guitar Man Live - 2005 - Movinmusic

Recorded live at the Kwadendamme Blues Festival, Holland on May 14th, 2005, "Guitar Man Live" is a great album of soulful Texas blues with Sherman's "Loutex", a potent gumbo derived from Louisiana and a kick ass Texas blues groove. Sherman Robertson is a superb guitarist. Support the guy and buy his great "I'm The Man" album

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1. Out of Sight Out of Mind - Chris Youlden
2. Long Way from Home - Sherman Robertson
3. Guitar Man - Sherman Robertson
4. Dust My Broom (Voodoo Dust) - Robert Johnson
5. Home of the Blues - Colin James, David R.Steen
6. Linda Lou - Ray Sharpe
7. Make it Rain - Rusty Russell, Tim Wagoner
8. Tin Pin Alley - Curtis Jones

BAND

Sherman Robertson - Guitar, Vocals
John Moloney - Bass, Vocals
Julian Grudgings - Keyboards, Vocals
Mike Hellier - Drums

BIO

Guitarist, singer, and songwriter Sherman Robertson is a product of the region of the country that he grew up in: he's one part zydeco, one part swamp blues, one part electric blues, and one part classic rhythm & blues. His guitar playing style is extremely rhythm-based, but at the same time, he plays some extraordinary slide guitar, and in the course of one of his typical three-hour shows, he'll play a lot of great solos. Robertson's rhythmic playing is no doubt an outgrowth of his several years on the road in the '80s with the king of zydeco, Clifton Chenier. He also served tenures with Rockin' Dopsie and Terrance Simien & the Mallet Playboys before deciding he wanted to venture out with his own high-energy blues style several years ago. Fortunately for Robertson, some folks at a major label, Atlantic/Code Blue, took notice. Robertson recorded two albums for Atlantic/Code Blue, a label that shut down operations in 1996. Robertson's albums include his stunning debut, I'm the Man (1994) and Here & Now (1995). "I focus on the good time, upbeat blues," says Robertson, born in Breaux Bridge, LA but raised across the border in nearby Houston. "Playing with zydeco bands all that time, everybody was always dancing. The guys I learned from were all playing dance music. When zydeco blues comes to town, you can't sit still. Yet people have this concept of blues as depressing. I say,'Forget your problems, I play dance music.' ''Robertson drew his first inspiration from a TV performance by Hank Williams, the country singer known in bayou country for his composition, "Jambalaya.'' He was 13 when he first saw Williams perform and that experience changed his life. Robertson heard the blues coming out of the country legend, and his interest in playing guitar was piqued. Robertson's father bought him an old Stella guitar for $12 and the younger Robertson began playing the songs of Freddie King and Floyd London, often playing until his hands bled and often falling asleep with the instrument nestled beside him. Growing up in Houston, just down the street from Don Robey's famed Duke/Peacock Records studios, Robertson had the chance to befriend many of the great musicians who stopped in there to make records. By 17, he was honing his craft with a local blues band and playing in the bars in his Fifth Ward neighborhood in Houston. In 1982, when Robertson's band was playing at the Crosstown Blues Festival, zydeco legend Chenier heard him play. Chenier told his bus driver to "get that guitar player," and a long alliance with Chenier's band was forged. Robertson moved to Louisiana with Chenier's band and learned a lot from the accordionist about how to read an audience. Later, Robertson worked with singer/songwriter Paul Simon during recording sessions for his Graceland album, and also had the chance to sit in with all of his heroes, Albert Collins, B.B. King, and Lightnin' Hopkins among them. In 1987 and 1988, after Chenier's passing, Robertson hooked up with accordionist Terrance Simien, and furthered his musical education, particularly with the overseas dates that band performed in Egypt and Africa. After all those years of playing zydeco, Robertson yearned to get back to more basic forms of blues, and in the early '90s, after two-and-a-half years with the Mallet Playboys, he assembled his own band that would later take much of the blues festival circuit by storm. A few years and hundreds of shows later, critics were saying Robertson would inherit the seats left open by people like Albert King and Albert Collins. Robertson's I'm the Man was the first release via Atlantic Record's alliance with Code Blue, and they couldn't have picked a stronger album. Every track is radio-ready and a winner. Robertson's follow-up, Here & Now, includes his cover of the Tracy Nelson song, the title track of the album. He described his second release as his blues opera. The rest of the '90s will show this to be the case, since there are few other musicians who combine great songs, fluid guitar playing, and strong, powerful vocals so well. Robertson hasn't let the record company troubles bother him in the least, and he'll no doubt find a new home at a significant independent record company and continue to do what he's been doing so well. © Richard Skelly © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:09frxq8gldje~T1

Jeff Beck Group

Jeff Beck Group - Got The Feelin' (Live) - 1993 - SRS Records (Spain)

Supposedly recorded in London in 1971. Can anybody pinpoint the exact venue/s for these tracks. Were some of these tracks recorded at the Paris Theater, London, England on 29th June 1972? Any info appreciated. Regardless, this is a good live album from the guitar maestro, and a terrific back-up band. Sound quality is only fair.

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1. Got The Feelin' (Beck) 5:46
2. Ice Cream Cake (Beck-Tench) 6:42
3. Pork Pie Hat (Mingus) 4:15
4. Definitely Maybe (Beck) 7:28
5. Ain't No Sunshine (Beck-Tench) 4:30
6. New Ways (Beck) 7:26
7. Out Of A Book (Beck-Middleton) 4:15
8. She's A Woman (Lennon-McCartney) 3:45
9. Let Me Love You (Beck) 6:13

BAND

Jeff Beck - Guitar
Bob Tench - Guitar, Vocals
Clive Chaman - Bass
Max Middleton - Keyboards
Cozy Powell - Drums

Willie D. Warren & Mystery Train

Willie D. Warren & Mystery Train - Live - 1997 - No Cover Productions

Before his death in December 2000, Detroit blues icon Willie D. Warren was a stalwart on the local scene following his 1975 move from Arkansas via Chicago to the Motor City. He was woefully under-recorded, but on this live recording with the backing band Mystery Train featuring electric guitarist Jim McCarty (ex-Mitch Ryder, Cactus, the Rockets, and Detroit Blues Band member), Warren shines in the spotlight. His experienced, enjoyable voice and spare guitar signify this music — cool and cooler, refined and authentic. McCarty is joined by three exceptional blues cats: keyboardist/bassist Rick Stel, harmonicist Kenny Welk, and drummer Will Leonard. Stel and Welk are particularly sensitive and substantive additions to the real blues mix of this club date. Of the nine cuts done live at the Firehouse (there is some afterthought overdubbing), every other one is a slow, low-down number. Charles Brown's "Driftin' & Driftin'" and James B. Oden's "I've Had My Fun" pulse with organ, the latter for a long ten minutes with lengthy guitar musings from Warren and McCarty. The Willie Dixon classic "Hoochie Coochie Man" stands up with patient fervor, while the highlight, Lowell Fulson's "Reconsider Baby," is downhearted as can be, with Welk's harp talking back to Willie D.'s vocal, which is quite reminiscent of Paul Butterfield. The more uptempo numbers include Warren doing "Hello Detroit," talking about leaving the South for the North over the melody of Jimmy Smith's "Back at the Chicken Shack." A mojo boogie take of Sir Mack Rice and Albert King's classic "Cadillac Assembly Line" is the neatest twist to an old standard, and a loping version of "Kansas City" features Warren's soulful, almost crooning voice with Stel's piano urging him on. The easy swing of "Baby Likes to Boogie," with a meaty but thinly sliced solo from McCarty and great piano fervor from Stel, and the closer, Little Milton's "The Blues Is Alright," both show how this music is directly jazz-related, and vice versa. As much of a firebrand as McCarty is capable of being, he lays low for this performance, letting Warren do the driving. It was a good move, for Willie D. could more than handle the job. There is a low-level buzz throughout, but it does not detract from this high-level set by one of the Midwest's true blues treasures. Recommended. © Michael G. Nastos © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0bfwxz9gldfe

If you say you know about Detroit blues but you don’t know about Willie D. Warren, then it’s time for you to re-evaluate what you claim to know. Of all the old-time Detroit bluesmen still around today, Warren is the one most deserving of the national recognition that he should have but never did receive. Warren has played in bands with the likes of acknowledged blues greats Otis Rush and Freddie King. It was Warren who taught Guitar Slim how to play guitar more than 50 years ago. Despite the impressive credentials, Warren has never released a CD under his own name until now. Big credit for this release goes to No Cover Productions head Mike Boulan, who recorded this project live at the Firehouse. Equal credit goes to Jimmy McCarty who, along with Boulan, figured a Willie D. Warren CD was long overdue and decided to do something about it. The resulting effort captures the depth and deceptive simplicity that marks Warren’s classic blues style. An essential CD for Detroit blues lovers. By & © Keith A. Owens © 2010 Metro Times http://www.metrotimes.com/music/review.asp?rid=7227

Willie has come out with his only full-length release, recorded at the Firehouse, a blues club in Metro-Detroit. This CD is arguably the deepest blues Detroit has ever offered, and Willie was one of the deepest blues musicians in the City of Detroit's history. The backing band, Mystery Train, is first-rate, featuring rock and blues legend, Jim McCarty. © http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/williedw#

Recorded at the Firehouse blues club in Metro-Detroit, on October 1st, 1996, this is a rare recording of the late Mississippian bluesman, Willie D. Warren in action. JoAnn Korczynska of Big City Blues says,"Willie is a must for every blue's collector." Mark Cole of Blues Review says,"These are the real deal blues, hot juke joint music that everyone will enjoy!" Check out Mystery Train's "Love Lost" album

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

Hello Detroit - Willie D. Warren
Driftin' & Driftin' - Brown, Moore, Williams
Cadillac Assembly Line - Sir Mac Rice
Reconsider Baby - Lowell Fulson
Kansas City - Lieber & Stoller
I've Had My Fun - James B. Oden
Baby Likes to Boogie - Willie D. Warren
Hoochie Coochie Man - Willie Dixon
The Blues Is Alright - Milton Campbell

MUSICIANS

Willie D. Warren - Guitar, Vocals
Jim McCarty - Guitar
Rick Stel - Bass, Piano, Hammond B-3
Will Leonard - Drums
Kenny Welk - Harmonica
Marvin Conrad - Spiritual Guidance

BIO

It has been said that Warren, back in the 1950s, while playing in the Otis Rush band, invented the first electric bass by tuning down the three low strings on his guitar. Then the first Fender basses appeared on the scene and very soon every band was using them. Willie D. Warren was born in Stamps, AR. At 13 years old, his family moved to Lake Village, AR, in the heart of the Mississippi Delta. Caleb King taught the youngster to play the guitar and soon he was playing on the streets of Lake Village and eventually led his own bands around the Delta. He taught the basics of guitar to his band singer, Eddie Jones, who went on to become Guitar Slim. In the late '40s, Warren and Jones traveled across Louisiana playing the blues. By the 1950s, Warren had followed the great migration of southern African-Americans to Chicago. It was there that he found work with the bands of Freddie King and Otis Rush. He also played gigs with Jimmy Reed and recorded for Chess Records backing Morris Pejoe. In 1959, he went back home to Arkansas and put together a band called the House Rockers. In 1975, Warren moved to Detroit to work and record with Bobo Jenkins. Through Jenkins, he started playing with another Detroit bluesman, Baby Boy Warren. Backed by the Progressive Blues Band, they took the Motor City by storm until the passing of Baby Boy Warren in 1977. Willie D. then took over as the main frontman for the band. In 1977, Warren recorded his first record as leader for Bobo Jenkins' Big Star label. He wrote the lyrics to two songs that appeared on Detroit All Purpose Blues. They were "Door Lock Blues" and "Detroit Jump." He also recorded for Blues Factory, Way/Sac and Blue Suit labels, on various compilations. His first full-length CD came out on the Detroit-based No Cover label; a live session with his friend Jimmy McCarty. In the late '90s he recorded a CD for the Bluetrack label, out of England, which was not been released before his death on December 30, 2000. © Fred Reif © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:ajfyxqljldje~T1

Greg Meckes Band

Greg Meckes Band - Mission - 1995 - Meatshake Music

The Greg Meckes Band 1995 fusion release is entitled "Mission", and is a refreshing contrast to the dynamite hard rock sound found on Meckes' solo album "Square One". "Mission" showcases Meckes' versatility, as clean jazz chords and Scott Henderson / Tony Scozzaro style solong keep the fusion white-hot. A writer with Notes On Call has stated, "Meckes is a scary player who places most importance on the ensemble. His band plays with incredible abandon. A couple of tracks remind you of a thoroughbred coming into the backstrech. Greg's sound is very much his own; he's integrated his influences superbly. He may not be trying, but he's a natural in the spotlight." "Mission" is a superb release featuring a commitment to full-band compositions and an attention to nuance. © 1996-2008 Guitar Nine Records All Rights Reserved http://www.guitar9.com/mission.html

An outstanding jazz fusion album by the great jazz rock guitarist Greg Meckes, from Buffalo, NY, and HR by A.O.O.F.C. Buy Greg's great "Square One" album, and promote this talented guitarist and his band. For music in the same genre, check out albums by Steve Morse, Scott Henderson, and Wayne Krantz

TRACKS

1 - Wheat Dust (5:36)
2 - Fingerpaint (5:22)
3 - Step It Up (4:50)
4 - Speak To Me (6:44)
5 - Yard Woman (5:18)
6 - Nitpick Blues (7:40)
7 - Freeloader (5:24)
8 - Northeastern Lights (5:38)

Tracks 1-7 composed by Greg Meckes & Pat Georger: Track 8 composed by Greg Meckes, Pat Georger, & Jack Kulp

BAND

Greg Meckes - Guitar
Pat Georger - Keyboards
Jim Linsner - Drums
Jack Kulp - Bass

REVIEWS

This 1995 recording is Greg Meckes' second solo cd. This time recording as the Greg Meckes Band. I must say, that after hearing is first cd, Square One his style of playing and writing made enough of an impression on me. But not once did I get an inkling of what I would be expecting on this cd. Here on Mission, Greg has stepped completely out of the rock instrumental mode, and firmly into the heavy, progressive fusion realm. And for my tastes, this hits my ears in just the right way. Backed by some outstanding musicians, none of which I have heard before, Greg Meckes has created a fantastic cd of dazzling musicianship displayed in the context of intriguing writing concepts. Tight, funky, technical, and addictive, are a few terms I can apply freely to describe his music. I cannot stress enough to fusion readers that this is the very music that they are looking for. It has everything that best defines the essence of what makes fusion music what it's fan like best about the genre. First, the songs are always in flux, building themes upon themes, engaging the musicians in a very disciplined approach to musical creativity. Secondly, the melodic accompaniment to these very themes provides imagery, and memorable familiarity, something that very few artists are able to convey in this style of music. Thirdly, and of equal importance, is the high level of musicianship, this a key ingredient to any fusion fans delight, hearing a team of masterful players constructing art from a palette of staffs, notes, and rests. I find it hard to believe that I have not had the pleasure of hearing Gregs music earlier, he certainly merits the attention of the fusion audiences at large, it is my hope that people will check his page out at the Guitar Nine site, and check for yourself, this cd is a winner, and I hope to hear more from Greg Meckes soon. It is my understanding that he has a 2003 release of flatpicking, instrumental acoustic music, this I would certainly like the hear, he also has a recording with drummer Todd Mazurek called Mazurek's Maze, which if it happens to be anything like this, should also prove to be a must have. On this cd, I am reminded that there are some great musicians that need to get more exposure, and music fans that need to find the very music that they enjoy, which has been a large part of my intentions since the beginning of the Prognosis project. Greg Meckes has delivered a very nice package full of great music, here is a musician that is poised to greatness as a writer that also happens to be a great guitarist as well. His music is very original sounding, as is his approach to playing, yes he shows many influences in his music, but they are all culminated into what can only be described as his own thing. Recommended! © MJ Brady Proggnosis 2003, Published on: 27 Jun 2003 © http://www.proggnosis.com/PGRelease.asp?RID=8144#RI 2000 - 2010 - Progressive Rock & Fusion

When I first listened to this fusionistic album by the Greg Meckes Band, I thought to myself "hmmm, this is pretty good." After listening to Mission a few more times, I thought to myself "hmmm, nope, I was wrong... this is really good!" After listening to Mission for a while longer, I am now thinking that this album is simply awesome. This is because it embraces everything I want to hear when I listen to progressive instrumental music. My excitement for learning of an artist that I was unaware was only compromised by the disappointment I felt when I discovered that this album has been looming in existence without my awareness since 1995, thereby depriving me of the enjoyment of listening to it for eight long years. And, I now think out loud how typical this is of the music industry that musicians of this caliber commonly go unrecognized, how listeners such as myself are forced to search for great musicians like those in the Greg Meckes Band, and sometimes miss out on great music because of this situation. But, now I am here to set the record straight. This CD by the GMB, Mission, is a daunting technical effort with superb musical vision and flawless execution. But, where to start in describing what it sounds like? It just has it all: the aggressive, speedy fretwork; the soulful, accessible themes and melodies; the involved, complex yet coherent arrangements; the awesome balance of tones and instrumentation; and the crystaline production. The style strikes a balance that moves between the aggressive fusion styles of Greg Howe and Alessandro Benvenuti, and the melodic intensive styles of Frank Gambale and Steve Morse. Fans of these disciplines of instrumental music will baste in the savory stylisms and the impressive instrumental proficiency of Greg Meckes, et al. And, et al in this case is not to be overlooked because this effort is solid through and through. The guitar work, keyboards of Pat Georger, bass by Jack Kulp, and percussionry of Jim Linsner are all impressive, each in their own right, making this an extremely well-rounded effort. These boys can play! The range of musical styles that the music covers is very pleasing, including blues, jazz, fusion, aggressive fusion, and progressive rock stylisms. And, Meckes maturation from his earlier, progressive rock effort, Square One, demonstrates impressive growth and versatility. Of the many CDs that I receive to review, there are few that I listen that are of this caliber. In terms of musicality, this effort is approaching world class caliber. Fans of aggressive guitar and instrumentally intensive music should check out this album from GMB. This CD is highly entertaining and offers the audience a good, enjoyable listen. This CD comes to you highly recommended. © Chris Ruel- EER-MUSIC.COM - March 2003 http://eer-music.com/EER_MUSIC_REVIEWS_03/Greg_Meckes.html

BIO

Greg Meckes was born in Buffalo, NY in 1968 and actually started his musical endeavors on drums. Being influenced by a musical family, he was exposed to a variety of music growing up including Frank Zappa, King Crimson, and Buddy Rich. However, after hearing Dixie Dregs, his taste changed to guitar thanks to Steve Morse. "I was overwhelmed by him. Not only his playing, but his compositions. I immediately recognized the importance of being a composer over being a player." While looking up to several players along the way including Scott Henderson and Michael Hedges, Greg never really tried to analyze or play any of their music. "I always respected them tremendously. Whenever I would try to learn some of their material, I couldn't do it justice even if I could play it. But they all seeped into my playing in other ways." First taking lessons with guitar transcriber Dave Whitehill at age 16, and then with other teachers including Tony Scozzaro, Greg made the most of his direction and influences. Having a musical family, it was easy to find an unattended guitar around the house. Right from the beginning, Greg was concerned about composing music. "I was always trying to write music as I still do. I think being able to write good music is more important than being a good player. It's always been easier for me to think of it as playing music instead of playing the guitar." Greg was featured in "Guitar for the Practicing Musician" magazine in August of 1993. Editor in chief John Stix wrote . . . "Call him Mr. Melody." He also won an "Outstanding Guitarist of the Year" award at the Buffalo Music Awards that same year - the same year he released his first CD Square One. "That was quite a year. I recorded some songs that I wrote a few years earlier, played with great musicians, and had tremendous feedback about my first release Square One. It was much more than I hoped for. I wanted to record an album for years but never had the money." With the warm local reception both from musicians and media in Buffalo, Greg played as many shows with the band as he could. From there, he recorded another instrumental rock fusion album with Mazureks Maze and drummer Todd Mazurek in 1995. "That was fun. I got to work with Jim Wynne (bassist) again. Todd was nice enough to let me offer input in the production." Shortly after that he spawned his second release: Mission. Teaming up with keyboardist Pat Georger, the music took a new direction. "I wanted to collaborate with Pat on this recording. The music had more of jazz-funk element. Although, we still tried to keep it rocking". Mission achieved a more mature and cleaner sound than Square One. Even though the first two recordings were guitar driven instrumentals, there were songs that revealed a different musical side. With songs like 'Missing You" and "Falcon's Flight", it was an example of the diversity in his music. "I've always written songs that were quite a bit different than most of my other material. I would always try to find a home for them and sometimes get lucky with it." It's no surprise that with Greg's third release: Moments of Clarity - Part I, that he decided to go all acoustic and provide a home for his other musical directions. Moments of Clarity is a solo fingerstyle acoustic CD, and features pieces that have various influences. "It's actually a demo..." he laughs. "I have a large number of songs that I've recorded at home over the years - mostly to keep the ideas archived. But when I played some of the songs for some friends and family, they inspired me to release them. I left the songs alone - even though I wanted to 'fix' them. But I thought it might be a better view of the music in a raw form." Moments of Clarity - Part I is part of a series of projects to come says Greg. "It's actually Part One of Four. I have so many songs, and they all fit into the concept of the title. I hope to release them over the next 2 years". With a new direction and finding a home for his new music, Greg truly demonstrates a gifted diversity and melodic simplicity. Greg still composes music and plays whenever he can around the Buffalo area. [In partnership with CDbaby & © 2004 - 2010 Tradebit Inc http://www.tradebit.com/filedetail.php/5793098-greg-meckes]