As if I weren't spending too much of my life at this keyboard already, I've been surfing the web for music I remember from my younger, hipper, hotter days; music that reminds me of New Orleans (for which I still mourn); music I've never heard before - I have got to get a life beyond this hard drive, monitor and keyboard, but not right this minute.
There is a piece of music by Duke Ellington, king of the suites, that I couldn't find on the 'net: from his New Orleans Suite (1970), "Portrait of Mahalia Jackson," that makes me weep every time I hear it. I found this other one, though, that I'd never heard before, titled "Newport Jazz Festival Suite." It's about 10 minutes long.
This next musician is totally unknown to me, but I like his work (the pieces I listened to, anyway). Maybe some of you know about him - Django Reinhardt, a jazz/swing guitarist.
These guys are legendary blues men, who influenced a whole lot of other artists, including the Beatles, the Stones, Clapton, you name a rock and roll group from the 60s on up: John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson.
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Other favorites, from different decades in my life:
Edith (I didn't understand a word she was singing, but it did not matter - she had me hooked.)
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The list goes on and on, but I have to quit and get some sleep.
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Yes, those are the give-away earphones that came with the t-shirt.
(c) 2009 Martha McLemore
15 comments:
I'm in alien waters (which could be muddy) here and must step carefully. I take it Edith is Piaf, and Nina is Simone - both A1 with me. Wanna learn French? As an Anglo-Saxon you'll have trouble with the r. So play "Non, je ne regrette rien." over and over, it's all rs. Sounds like a mincer, a hand-driven kitchen device replaced by the food processor.
Alas, many of the names you list here (and the genres listed in the previous blog) are outside my bailiwick. But not Ellington, the coolest dude of them all. For me, as a failing trumpet player, big band Duke was a continuing inspiration: Cat Anderson, Ray Nance, Cootie Williams. If I thought I was going to heaven (If I thought there was a heaven) they'd be there to play me in. One dark night many years ago I got on my motorbike, rode over the Pennines to industrial Manchester and sat in a lousy seat behind the band to be regaled by the Royal Duke. The seat was lousy but it did allow me to watch Ray Nance on the back row, languidly applying himself to those pyrotechnic choruses, holding his trumpet with one hand while his other diddled around his cup mute (shaped like a Derby hat) on the floor beside him. And then the cold, cold ride back home having received the Ellington benison: "We love you all - madly." If you ever get that MP3 player, Crow, I could let you have a few scratchy tracks that form part of my musical DNA.
You had to remind me of New Orleans. There was a band there called At Fault. I don't think they exist anymore, and all I have left is this one CD and several evenings of fine memories. Can't even find the web site now.
Django Reinhardt was a Gypsy guitarist in Europe, one of the great members of Quintette du Hot Club of France along with violinist Stephane Grapelli. A good find.
BB: I like 'musical DNA,' so apt a description of how and which music affects us, stays with us throughout our lives.
My taste in music is eclectic, spans the globe and the genres. I am most affected by driving drum beats; love beyond words indigenous/folk music played on make-shift instruments. I like listening to songs in unknown languages because I listen to the emotions of the voice and music and let my imagination fill in the blanks.
The fact that music is mathematical, progressive, repetitios patterns, and my brain fires on all cylinders.
What's not to love?
:)
Jim: when were they active? I left N.O. in 1969 to join the Navy, and, for a long time, was out of touch with what was happening there.
I cut my jazz and delta blues teeth while living in New Orleans. Great memories.
Hello, Cat: maybe it is the Gypsy undertones in his music that I find so appealing. Don't know, but it is cool.
:)
oooh Otis was my man. I remember where I was when I heard that he had died...just like Kennedy!
Many of your choices are my favourites too, but some I dont know. I'm off for a listen...
Hello, Rosie:
How nice to see you here.
I hope you enjoy the selections.
:)
Django R had only two fingers on his fingering hand, don't you know. Apparently he was terribly ornery and quite illiterate, and used to pretend he was reading his recording contracts very carefully and now and then jab his finger at some part at random and shout 'Non non non!'
He and Grapelli were a match made in heaven though...
Hello, Lucy:
No, I didn't know anything at all about him, didn't even Google his name yet. I stumbled across him on YouTube when I was looking for some other music video, and was enchanted by the sounds he made.
That's a neat story you told about him; adds to my enjoyment of his music.
:)
There are a couple of discs where Grapelli teams up with Yehudi Menuhin, normally a fairly stern critic of modern pop.
Good morning, BB:
As you might have guessed, I Googled Yehudi's name, found a video of him and Grapelli playing "Jealousy" and have lost my heart all over again.
I am now listening to Grapelli playing one of my all-time favorite tunes, "As Time Goes By." It is good that this is my day off, for I probably wouldn't get any work done at the office today.
Like an old hound dog, I'm going to follow my nose -- my ears, actually -- and find more of both artists' work. What better way to spen an hour this morning? Housework can wait!
Thanks for the pointer, BB. Your comment has fueled another cultural exploration.
:)
A veritable kaleidoscope of great music. I agree with you that you don’t have to always know the words to appreciate the emotions behind the lyrics when listening to Edith Piaf
Best wishes
That's one thing I have never done; surfed the web for music.
Strange really but when I want to acquire some more music I still like to go to a shop and 'rummage'.
Old fashioned? Maybe. It's not that I'm uncomforable with the web; far from it.
But I don't associate sitting in front of a computer with music; it's for writing in my eyes.
My tastes; eclectic. Old stuff like Led Zep; The Who. Saw them when I was young. Newer people too; The Killers and I have a soft spot for Natalie Imbruglia.
And we always eat our Sunday Lunch to some Classical; normally one of the Romantics like Mendelsohn. I imagine eating food to Beethoven to be a little messy.
The internet is a helluva distraction, but it sure can feed diverse interests. And there's always something new to investigate. Best to not forget the tangible world, though.
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