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Zé da Velha & Silvério Pontes - Só Pixinguinha (2006)
Choro is one of my favorite Brazilian music styles. The stuff I posted here before (1, 2) is all original, historical choro from the early XXth century. But the style - now over a century old - is...
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Arranger/composer special pt.1: Johnny Richards, Gigi Gryce, Quincy Jones
In the heyday of swing a lot of the bands had similar repertoire - the tunes the public wanted to hear. What made a band stand out was how they played it. It was not the star soloist that made the...
View ArticlePaul Hindemith
The reason I wasn't writing here much in the past year is that my musical interests have shifted once again, going rather beyond the scope of this website. I still want some place to write down my...
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Arranger/composer special pt.2: George Russel and Oliver Nelson
A second installment of the (jazz) arranger/composer special. The first one was about arrangers working to the strengths of a specific performer. These two are more about the composition; it's the...
View ArticleAn amusing iPod-related rant
Did you know iPods are tracking devices that government uses to control the populace? Beats an implanted skull chip, 'cause iPods can also play music!
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Cal Tjader ethno ventures
Far East / jazz hybrids were featured here before (see the far east tag), from ShiDaiQu of 40s and 50s to the modern recreations of same by John Huie under the Shanghai Jazz moniker, to the more modern...
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Nicolai Gedda sings S. Rachmaninoff and A. Tcherepnine
Songs by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexandre Tcherepnine / Сергей Рахманинов и Александр Черепнин - РомансыNicolai Gedda (tenor) with Alexis Weissenberg and Alexandre Tcherepnine (piano)High VBR, 115mb...
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Eric Satie
Listening a lot to Eric Satie lately. For some background, here's a great article: Flabby Preludes for a Dog: An Erik Satie Primer. I've heard a few interpretations and it seems his music is most...
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Os 3 do Nordeste - 20 Super Successos
Here's a respite from all the eggheadedness overflowing here lately. I posted some forro before, and the description in that album's title is still the best: "Music for maids and taxi drivers." Many...
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Dinah Washington Sings Bessie Smith (1958)
Great album. The first two songs are killer, better than the original Bessie Smith versions, IMHO. The band mostly stays in background, which is a pity. I wish they would step out a bit more -...
View ArticleArticle 12
"Google vs. everyone" - Larry Downes on information sharing and copyright law. A thoughtful and well-written article that touches on the rhetoric of online stealing and piracy.
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Brahms - Hungarian Dances (arr.Joachim)
Earlier, I posted some music by The Bollywood Brass Band, a wonderful fruit of cross-pollination between the British and Indian cultures. Here's an excellent article that traces the ebb and flow of the...
View ArticleArie antiche
As it might be apparent from this blog, I think the topic of musical authenticity is fascinating. What was authentic to the generation of our grandparents became fake for our parents and then is picked...
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New World Jazz
We've seen indo-jazz (@ and @), Caribbean jazz (@, @, and @), Ethiopian jazz (Mulatu Astatke), North African/ Arabic jazz (Salah Ragab, Ahmed Abdul-Malik, Lloyd Miller), South African/highlife jazz...
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Kronos Quartet - Winter Was Hard
I recently got me a new hard drive and went on a downloading rampage; mostly modern classical, but other stuff, as well. I'll try to go through some of it and perhaps will be posting my listening notes...
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Giacinto Scelsi: Symphony de Uma Nota So
Articles about Giacinto Scelsi tend to begin with accounts of his biography and for a good reason: he is a fascinating character, a colorful figure in the tradition of great eccentrics and lonely...
View ArticleJohn Sousa, the great aphorist
These talking machines are going to ruin the artistic development of music in this country. When I was a boy... in front of every house in the summer evenings, you would find young people together...
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Prez galore
Oh boy, check this out: The Complete Lester Young 1936-1951 Small Group Sessions, 6 CDs, both in 320kbps mp3 and lossless.
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Dear readers,At the moment I have nothing meaningful to say on the musical subjects, but want to say I appreciate having readers whether you leave comments or not, and doubly appreciate the comments...
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Black Sabbath: The Secret Musical History of Black-Jewish Relations
This would be my contribution:Black Sabbath: The Secret Musical History of Black-Jewish Relations93mb on depositfielsMy Yiddishe Momme (Billie Holiday) Utt Da Zay (Cab Calloway) That Old Black Magic...
View ArticleQotD - Sleazy on CDs
I would have thought that CDs were things that homeless people hang on their super market shopping carts to make them look less depressing but apparently some Americans still buy them for the data they...
View ArticleQotD - Hesse on recorded music
And in fact, to my indescribable astonishment and horror, the devilish tin trumpet spat out, without more ado, a mixture of bronchial slime and chewed rubber; that noise that owners of gramophones and...
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