A View of Jazz since the 1980s: Death, Rebirth & New Revolution

A great article has been posted on All About Jazz, written by Ian Patterson, called Death, Rebirth & New Revolution: A Personal View of Jazz since the 1980s.

I highly recommend reading this article as it sheds light on the ongoing jazz debate: IS jazz dead, or has it moved somewhere else?

Make sure you have time because it's pretty lengthy.

Happy Birthday Jimmy Yancey!

On this day in 1894, blues and boogie-woogie pianist James "Jimmy" Yancey was born.

He became very popular in the 40's, composing many songs and firing up the boogie-woogie piano style, mostly instrumentals. He had his wife Estelle record vocals with him on many tracks.

He died in 1951, but his musical legacy earned him a spot in the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

Here's an instrumental number called "The Mellow Blues'; happy birthday Jimmy!

The Mojolaters Blues Band on Watan TV

In 2011, The Mojolaters Blues Band (comprised of me, Aziz, and Toufic) were interviewed on Al-Watan TV. The video was available on their website as part of the entire show, but I found a video of just our segment on YouTube; so here's a flashback, in preparation of an upcoming announcement.

Hope you enjoy!

Blue Valentine's

Today again marks the happy (or not) occaision of Valentine's Day; the day millions of people profess their love for one another.

It is also a day where other millions resent being alone on this day, despite it being a shallow tradition.

And as always, it's a great day for Capitalism.

So to you lovers and loners out there, I dedicate Tom Wait's "Blue Valentine" to you:

Happy Birthday Pink Anderson, the 'Pink' in Pink Floyd.

On this day in 1900, or 113 years ago, bluesman Pink Anderson was born in South Carolina.

His country blues and music was considered highly influential, to the point that legendary rock band Pink Floyd used his first name (and Floyd Council's first name) to create the name of the band.

While this legacy will remain forever, he was a great musician in his own right, having resurfaced in the 60's during the folk/blues revival.

Here's one of his older tracks called "Thousand Woman Blues":

The Winners of the Blues and Jazz Grammy Awards

Yesterday the 55th Grammy Awards took place. While it is a farcical ceremony that only cares for the multi-million dollar selling artists and the companies that push them, and the ever decreasing amount of care for non-pop genres of music, nonetheless below are the blues and jazz winners of the night; you can see the nominees [here].

47. BEST BLUES ALBUM

WINNER

Locked Down

Dr. John

Label: Nonesuch

31. BEST IMPROVISED JAZZ SOLO

WINNER

Hot House

Gary Burton & Chick Corea, soloists

Track from: Hot House

Label: Concord Jazz

32. BEST JAZZ VOCAL ALBUM

WINNER

Radio Music Society

Esperanza Spalding

Label: Heads Up International

33. BEST JAZZ INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM

WINNER

Unity Band

Pat Metheny Unity Band

Label: Nonesuch

34. BEST LARGE JAZZ ENSEMBLE ALBUM

WINNER

Dear Diz (Every Day I Think Of You)

Arturo Sandoval

Label: Concord Jazz

35. BEST LATIN JAZZ ALBUM

WINNER

¡Ritmo!

The Clare Fischer Latin Jazz Big Band

Label: Clare Fischer Productions/Clavo Records

Jack White to Release Obscure Blues Records on His Label

[SOURCE]


We all know that Jack White (formerly of The White Stripes) has a lot of blues influences, and that is evident on many of his songs.

Now, he has announced that he will release up to 25,000 songs that are owned by a Scottish blues label called Document Records, and they will all be remastered and released on vinyl.

White says:

"At one point in Detroit a whole Blues collection was dropped off at this vintage record store, so that's when I first bought a whole batch of Document records - Tommy Johnson, Ishman Bracey, Roosevelt Sykes… I'd never seen those records on vinyl before."

Not only that, but he will be releasing it for no profit at all, as he says: "At Third Man Records, we don't really care. We just want to create things that we want to see exist and if it breaks even, we're lucky - if not, it doesn't really matter."

I guess I'll need to purchase a vinyl player.

Rare Third Photo of Robert Johnson Discovered

via The Guardian

Delta bluesman and legendary guitarist Robert Johnson was known for having only two known photographs of him, adding to his blues mystique.

Until now.

A third photograph has surfaced, and after forensic investigation, it has been confirmed that the man in the photo is really Robert Johnson.

According to The Guardian:

Forensic work on the photograph began in 2007, when Lois Gibson, who works with the Houston police department, analysed the features of the long-fingered figure holding the guitar. Gibson, who found the identity of the sailor kissing the nurse in the Life magazine photo of Times Square on VJ day the second world war ended, has ruled that "it appears the individual is Robert Johnson. All the features are consistent, if not identical." The only differences, she added, were due to the angle of the camera or the lighting.

This is truly a magnificent find, as this sheds more light on this fascinating figure, who was the main influence on many artists, from Muddy Waters to Eric Clapton and almost every musician really.

Read the full story [here] , and below is a Robert Johnson song called "Me and the Devil Blues", which is the basis of the legend of him selling his soul to the devil in exchange for becoming a great musician.

Remembering Gary Moore Two Years Later

Today marks the 2nd year anniversary of the death of guitar great Gary Moore, who died in 2011 on this day in Spain.

Gary Moore is mostly remembered for being in the guitarist with Thin Lizzy, and later on a blues master in his own right.

He performed with many major artists including BB King, The Beach Boys, Albert King and many others.

His soulful blues sound on his Les Paul made him a very popular artist of our day, and his album discography is wide ranging, from rock to blues and everything in between.

We remember Gary with this song, possibly his most popular, called "Still Got the Blues". RIP Gary!!

How to Have Fun With the Word 'Jazz'