Alan Lomax's Entire Folk Recordings to be Released Online.

[SOURCE]

Alan Lomax, ethnomusicologist and folklorist, who went recording folk music in various countries and was instrumental in discovering the blues of Muddy Waters and Leadbelly among others, will have his collection of over 17,000 tracks available online, and:

'In all, there are around 5,000 hours of sound recordings, 400,000 feet of film 3,000 videotapes, 5,000 photographs and countless pages of manuscripts. All of it will be available online, and much of it for free.'

Holy crap.

If you have the time then you are in for a treat!

One of his accomplishments is when Lomax toured the Southern USA in 1941 and recorded some country blues by then unknown McKinley Morganfield, Aka Muddy Waters. The rest, is history.

Here's Muddy Waters' song recorded on the cotton fields by Lomax in 1942:

Must See Movie: "My Dog Tulip"

I will be honest; I didn't actually go out looking for this animated film; it just turned up on Showtime while flipping through channels.

And I am glad I saw it.

"My Dog Tulip" is an adult-oriented animated indie film released in 2009. The movie is based on the 1956 memoirs of J. R. Ackerley, BBC editor and novelist about his fifteen-year relationship with his German Shepherd Queenie, who was named Tulip for the movie.

What I have read online is that this was the first full release animation that was used on graphic software; no paper animations were made.

The movie in it's design is very simplistic and it's mostly sketches; the narration by Christopher Plummer as J.R. Ackerley, is superb. Be warned though, it's all narrated by Plummer with minor one-liners from others; in a thick British accent and verbose tone, which might bore some people.

But the story is wonderful. It's about how Ackerley adopted Tulip and how his behavior changed through the relationship, and how Tulip acted (even discussing her bowel movements and sexuality).

All I can say was that I enjoyed the style of the animations and the stripped down minimalism, the narration style, and the heartfelt story.

Find it and watch it!

Here's the trailer:

Fancy some Analysis? Read this Thesis on Miles Davis and Modal Jazz

Myles Boothroyd of Central Michigan University wrote a thesis a few years back called "Modal Jazz and Miles Davis: George Russell's Influence and the Melodic Inspiration Behind Modal Jazz".

19 pages written by an academic of music might be hard to digest, but for you music and jazz lovers there is some great history here about how modal jazz was conceptualized, the many technical aspects of modal jazz and discussions on Miles Davis' approach and the "Kind of Blue" recording.

Knowledge is never boring!

See the PDF article [here.]

Today in 1959: Cannonball & Coltrane is Released

On February 3, 1959, the Miles Davis Sextet, minus Miles, released an album as the Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago, later reissued as Cannonball and Coltrane; interestingly, this album was recorded a month before the sessions of Davis' "Kind of Blue".

Track-list:

1. "Limehouse Blues"
2. "Stars Fell on Alabama"
3. "Wabash"
4. "Grand Central"
5. "You're a Weaver of Dreams"
6. "The Sleeper"

Personnel:

Cannonball Adderley - Alto Sax
John Coltrane - Tenor Sax
Wynton Kelly - Piano
Paul Chambers - Bass
Jimmy Cobb - Drums

It's a showcase of stylistic differences of each sax player; Cannonball as the concise heavy hitter and Coltrane as the chaotic explorer.

The sounds are moving away of the hard-bop idioms slowly and it's evident upon the release of "Kind of Blue" that there was no going back.

Here's a laid back bluesy number of the album, written by Coltrane:

Sh*t Guitarists Say.

After all those "Shit ______ Say" Youtube vids, here's the guitarist version!

John Coltrane's "Giant Steps" Solo Played by a Robot!!

This is a must see!

Although it's not 100% and it lacks human emotion, still impressive!

I HATE Plajat Street!!!

Plajat Street, one of the gateways to Gulf Street and Salmiya, is supposed to be one of the best looking streets in Kuwait. It's location on the beach is supposed to remind you of Miami (theoretically speaking).

In actuality, instead of proper development, of greenery, landscaping, we have an ugly looking beachside (which still looks the same for years), and what's worse is that there are works going on that just halt traffic, including that very annoying traffic light. This also goes for leaving the road towards Bidaa.

Yesterday during the rain, I was stuck there for almost one hour.

I do not remember the last time I saw Plajat Street empty or smoothly running. This is why I hate going to Salmiya (hey, I'm a Salwa guy).

Unfortunately I do not see a proper solution to this heavily used road; until then I will be using other roads.

Free Zone: a Parking Spot for Trucks?!

Last night, my wife and I were returning home from a wedding at the Movenpick Free Zone; upon exiting, the entire roads were filled with parked trucks. These trucks serve Shwaikh Port.

Now my question is, isn't there supposed to be a separate parking for them inside the port? Why are they using the common roads that everyone uses?

The entire Free Zone was literally filled with them!

The Eagles to Perform in Dubai on April 12!

This is huge!! Prepare to only go to hear "Hotel California"!

"The Eagles will appear in concert on April 12 at 7he Sevens Stadium in Dubai, marking the first-ever Middle Eastern performance in the band’s 40-year history"

[SOURCE]

Review: Miles Davis & John Coltrane "Live in Stockholm - 1960"

In 1959, Miles Davis released his seminal masterpiece album, Kind of Blue. Featured on that album were some of the best players at the time; John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley on sax, Bill Evans on piano (except on "Freddie Freeloader"; Wynton Kelly played on that track), bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb.

It was one of the first and most influential modal jazz albums; where chord progressions were phased out in favor of exploration of modes for wider improvisation.

John Coltrane, who was known as a great sideman, was now also becoming a legend as a solo artist and bandleader, since his release Giant Steps, recorded 2 weeks after Kind of Blue. At this point, he was learning to push the limits of the saxophone, going to a more vertical (scalar) approach, coming out with very complicated tones, which would later be called "Sheets of Sound".

By this time in 1960, the Miles Davis sextet was all but dissolved officially, but they still played together live.

This concert in 1960 showcases the styles of each soloist; Miles being the master of cool as he is, 'Trane ripping the sax apart, with the great rhythm section of Chambers, Cobb, and Kelly.

The album's setlist contains major works of Miles, with only one cover standard, "On Green Dolphin Street".

"So What" is played at a much faster rate than the original; but the same modal approach is evident. Miles is the king of NOT playing; his solos have many breathing spaces and his laid back approach shows his dedication to mood.

'Trane on the other hand, starts off with slow minor scale runs, before exploding into a series of scalar runs and the new "overblowing" technique, which he picked up obviously from Ornette Coleman, often sounding erratic and chaotic in comparison to Miles.

Tracklist:

1. So What (M. Davis) 15:19
2. On Green Dolphin Street (Washington-Kaper) 13:39
3. All Blues - Theme (M. Davis) 17:12
4. Interview with John Coltrane 6:14
5. So What (M. Davis) 10:49
6. Fran Dance (M. Davis) 7:28
7. Walkin' (R. Carpenter) - Theme 17:21

In the 'Trane interview, he is asked if he angry, as people consider his playing is showcasing his mood, where he says that he isn't, rather he is exploring the music space and he is trying everything in his head till he hears what he likes.

My favorite track has to be "Walkin", a hard-bop Miles number from the early 50's, but updated to reflect the new personalities of the players.

I really recommend this album; it's got the best of two worlds; Miles Davis and his cool, and John Coltrane with his kick in the face aggression, and it's great to hear these jazz giants compliment each other on the same record.