In 2008, our band The Lounging Criminals submitted a few original songs to compete for the Shamal Battle of the Bands. The winning band would open the 2008 Dubai Desert Rock Festival, that year being headlined by Muse and Korn.
We got the call that we were chosen to compete.
It was a great trip with the guys (Aziz, Fawaz, Yousef, and myself), rented a villa, did all kinds of crazy stuff; and most importantly, on March 6, we rocked the house with our original music.
At the end of the day, we didn't pull off the win (we got 3rd place, out of 11 regional bands), but we did get to see Velvet Revolver and attend the show.
Here are a few pics of that night, and of course I was repping the Blues!
JLP, a local act from Lebanon, are currently on a roll.
Dozens of gigs later, JLP has become a dominating force, performing cover songs from across the musical spectrum in their style.
The band is composed of my AUB buddies Ramzi, Ziad, Boudy, Ghassan, and Joe (who I played alongside with at the 2008 Dubai Battle of the Bands, but that's a different story).
They won "Best Local Cover Act" at Timeout Beirut's Nightlife Awards 2012; the Readers Choice.
What's is purely awesome is that they made a VH1 styled documentary which was beautifully made; check out the over 25 (!) minute video below; these guys are hard working and are the real deal.
If you are ever in Beirut you should definitely check them out; they are performing weekly in several pubs mostly in the Hamra area.
The man who singlehandedly revolutionized the future of rock and roll, the Voodoo Child Jimi Hendrix was born on this day in 1942.
I mean... I could go on and on about Jimi; about his passion for music, to his guitar experimentation, the whole guitar burning ritual in the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, Woodstock... the Band of Gypsies... the list goes on and on.
He took the roots of the blues to a whole new level, and with that changed music forever. He is repeatedly voted the best guitarist of all time, and among the most popular musicians ever.
He did it all while he was still young, and unfortunately died at the age of 27...
I will let the music speak for itself... the everlasting "Purple Haze"... now excuse me while I kiss the sky.
Today in 1945, the first ever bebop song was recorded, according to popular opinion.
See, during this time, there was a ban on union musicians to record for the labels due to royalty issues; so not many records were released, and due to this it has lead this song, "Ko-Ko" to be perceived as such.
Of course, Bird, real name Charlie Parker, would create massive waves with this song, which features trumpeter extraordinaire Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet (and piano) and himself on alto sax.
This new sound, of fast solos, complex rhythm work and improv, would soon lead to other forms of jazz, including hard-bop and modal jazz.
It's interesting to disbelieve this song is actually from 1945; it still sounds fresh today, and is easily understood how this genre of jazz was the framework for the future. Interesting tid-bit; it seems Miles Davis was supposed to play the trumpet on this track but was not available, so Dizzy stepped in!
Now sponsored by Emirates Airlines, the 2013 Dubai Jazz Festival has been announced, with so far only one act headlining: classic rockers Deep Purple.
Aging rockers headlining a jazz festival... it's too ironic and sad to be honest. Trying to showhorn non-jazz acts just to increase ticket sales is pretty low.
I mean, last year they got James Blunt (see my 2012 Dubai Jazz Fest post [here])... they had Celine Dion open the Jamaican Jazz & Blues Fest...
It's a shame really. Even in the blues they add reggae and other styles just to broaden the audience.
I might be too idealistic but I feel it just convolutes the music.
See the official Dubai Jazz Fest site [here] and stay tuned for updates; they just might surprise us with the other acts.
The Dallas Observer has published an article of the 10 most influential Texas blues guitarists. It's a great list (except for Dimebag Darrell... this is out of place and shouldn't be listed... he's a metal guitarist for gods sake) and there's a lot of information and videos!
The list is as follows:
10 - Albert Collins
9 - T-Bone Walker
8 - Lightnin' Hopkins
7 - Blind Lemon Jefferson
6 - Eric Johnson
5 - Billy Gibbons (of ZZ Top)
4 - Dimebag Darrell
3 - Freddie King
2 - WC Clark
and at number one... you guessed it:
STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN
So to celebrate this here's a kickass version of Tightrope. Check out the list in detail [here].
After a long career that lasted from the 40's, Muddy Waters recorded his last album in 1981, with the title "King Bee", after a song written by Slim Harpo, which is also the first track. This would be the third studio album recorded under the Blue Sky/Sony label with guitarist Johnny Winter (the first being Hard Againand the second I'm Ready).
However, not everything was rosy as previous albums. By this time, Muddy's health was beginning to deteriorate and due to this, less live performances were made. This didn't fare well with his bandmates (including Bob Margolin, a great guitarist in his own right), because they needed the gigs to make money. The sessions were filled with tension, and to this, not many new songs were recorded. Instead, unused material from Hard Again were used alongside the couple of songs that were made.
This reflects the overall quality of the music, even though it sounds superb, but the rawness found in the first two seems absent. This one feels more somber... especially on songs like "Sad, Sad Day" which features an amazing guitar solo by Johnny Winter.
There's an acoustic "throwback" number as well, on "Feel Like Going Home" with Winter playing on a National Steel resonator guitar; the final result is not as tight as "Can't be Satisfied" from Hard Again. (This song was used from those sessions).
One of the new standout tracks is "Champagne and Reefer", which Muddy wrote to please the younger crowds (See the video below).
On 2004 Deluxe Edition, 2 more tracks are added being: "I Won't Go On" and "Clouds in my Heart" which add more value.
I wouldn't recommend to start your collection from here, but it's still got some great blues.
No, it's not a Shaolin shadowboxing faceoff (all though that would be awesome).
Flickr user Logan Mills (aka advantagelogan) has made an awesome reinterpretation of the Wu Tang Clan (my favorite hip hop group) cover albums with the styling of jazz label Blue Note Records, whose albums such as John Coltrane's Blue Train (see below) have become an iconic style on their own.
Blue Train's cover inspired the "blue" era of Blue Note Records.
Here are a couple below, of RZA, GZA, and Raekwon, and you see the full 21 photos at his Flickr site [here].
Clapton and his band will visit more than a dozen cities across the U.S. beginning March 14, 2013 (see itinerary below). The tour will end with the two-night Festival where Clapton will gather the past, present and future of guitar music onto one stage for an unparalleled musical event I expect there will be a huge roster of awesome musicians, who in the past include BB King, Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan, Robert Randoph, Jeff Beck, Vince Gill, ZZ Top, John Mayer etc. The official website of the Crossroads Fest has opened; check it out [here]: I have the 2004 and the 2007 on DVD; while I enjoyed the 2004 concert, the 2007 however felt stale. Here's "Sweet Home Chicago" being played by Clapton, Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan, Robert Cray, and Hubert Sumlin from the 2004 festival:
