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Radiohead Live in Sao Paolo, Brazil {March 22, 2009}[Full Show]

2009-05-14T03:28:00.000-04:00

Mike Tyson On Charlie Rose

2009-04-23T11:23:00.002-04:00

Mike Tyson has a beautfiul mind. A troubled man. He's an amazing being.

Eartha Kitt - I Want To Be Evil (Live Kaskad 1962)

2008-12-27T06:53:00.000-05:00

Charles Mingus Eviction and Arrest

2008-11-17T09:04:00.000-05:00

Frosty Freeze Interview

2008-04-17T21:20:00.002-04:00

George Benson - Take Five 1976 Montreux 1986

2008-04-07T03:56:00.000-04:00

Nina Simone - Ain't Got No...I've Got Life

2007-11-26T17:02:00.001-05:00

Blind Painter

2007-11-06T16:10:00.000-05:00

Zeitgeist

2007-10-23T02:07:00.000-04:00

zeitgeistmovie.com

Petey Greene - How to Eat Watermelon

2007-08-22T01:04:00.000-04:00

If you haven't checked out Talk To Me starring Don Cheadle about the late radio personality and heart of Washington DC, Petey Greene go right ahead and see it. It's well worth your dollars.

Max Roach - The Third Eye

2007-08-16T18:50:00.000-04:00

Master jazz drummer Max Roach dead at 83
LARRY MCSHANE
Associated Press
August 16, 2007 at 1:58 PM EDT

NEW YORK — Max Roach, a master percussionist whose rhythmic innovations and improvisations provided the dislocated beats that defined bebop jazz, has died after a long illness. He was 83.

The self-taught musical prodigy died Wednesday night at an undisclosed hospital in Manhattan, said Cem Kurosman, spokesman for Blue Note Records, one of Roach's labels. No additional details were available, he said.

Roach received his first musical break at age 16, filling in for three nights in 1940 when Duke Ellington's drummer fell ill.

Roach's performance led him to the legendary Minton's Playhouse in Harlem, where he joined luminaries Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie in the burgeoning bebop movement. In 1944, Roach joined Gillespie and Coleman Hawkins in one of the first bebop recording sessions.

What distinguished Roach from other drummers were his fast hands and his ability to simultaneously maintain several rhythms. By layering different beats and varying the meter, Roach pushed jazz beyond the boundaries of standard 4/4 time.

Roach's innovative use of cymbals for melodic lines, and tom-toms and bass drums for accents, helped elevate the percussionist from mere timekeeper to featured performer — on a par with the trumpeter and saxophonist.

“One of the grand masters of our music,” Gillespie once observed.

In a 1988 New York Times essay, Wynton Marsalis wrote of Roach: “All great instrumentalists have a superior quality of sound, and his is one of the marvels of contemporary music. ... The roundness and nobility of sound on the drums and the clarity and precision of the cymbals distinguishes Max Roach as a peerless master.”

Throughout the jazz upheaval of the 1940s and '50s, Roach played bebop with the Charlie Parker Quintet and cool bop with the Miles Davis Capitol Orchestra. He joined trumpeter Clifford Brown in playing hard bop, a jazz form that maintained bebop's rhythmic drive while incorporating the blues and gospel.

He was survived by five children: sons Daryl and Raoul, and daughters Maxine, Ayl and Dara. Funeral arrangements were incomplete, said Kurosman.

Prince Press Conference

2007-08-02T11:03:00.000-04:00

How many artists has he inspired? Prince is one interesting being.

Lenny Bruce - Unaired TV Special

2007-06-10T04:21:00.000-04:00

Dick Gregory

2007-06-10T03:24:00.001-04:00

So Many Sleeping People...

2007-05-11T03:01:00.000-04:00

Jon Stewart

2007-04-25T06:57:00.000-04:00

Just gottah love Jon Stewart.

Dave Chappelle - What's Crazy ?

2007-04-13T02:15:00.000-04:00

A short and simple statement...

Andy Kaufman - Interview

2007-04-05T15:27:00.000-04:00

Where do you begin with Andy Kaufman. Either you loved or hated this man. He was a talented man.

Stevie Wonder Secret Life Of Plants

2007-03-23T17:14:00.000-04:00

"The Secret Life Of Plants"

I can't conceive the nucleus of all
Begins inside a tiny seed
And what we think as insignificant
Provides the purest air we breathe

But who am I to doubt or question the inevitable being
For these are but a few discoveries
We find inside the Secret Life of Plants

A species smaller than the eye can see
Or larger than most living things
And yet we take from it without consent
Our shelter, food, habiliment

But who am I to doubt or question the inevitable being
For these are but a few discoveries
We find inside the Secret Life of Plants

But far too many give them in return
A stomp, cut, drown, or burn
As is they're nothing
But if you ask yourself where would you be
Without them you will find you would not

And some believe antennas are their leaves
That spans beyond our galaxy
They've been, they are and probably will be
Who are the mediocrity

But who am I to doubt or question the inevitable being
For these are but a few discoveries
We find inside the Secret Life of Plants
For these are but a few discoveries
We find inside the Secret Life of Plants

Luther Ingram if lovin you is wrong, I don't wanna be right.

2007-03-22T02:25:00.000-04:00

Forrest Whitaker - Best Actor - Academy Awards 2007

2007-02-26T23:11:00.000-05:00

Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an Academy Award-winning American actor of film, stage and television, as well as a producer and director. In 2007, his performance as Ugandan president Idi Amin in the film The Last King of Scotland earned Whitaker a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a BAFTA for best actor and an Academy Award for Best Actor.

Early life

Whitaker was born in Longview, Texas to Forest Whitaker, Jr., an insurance man and son of novelist Forest Whitaker, Sr., and Laura Francis Smith, a teacher. He has a medical condition called strabismus, commonly known as "lazy eye" [1]. His mother put herself through college and earned two Masters degrees while raising her children (Forest has two younger brothers, Kenn and Damon, and an older sister Deborah). The family moved to the Los Angeles area when Whitaker was a toddler. Whitaker commuted from Carson to Palisades High School, where he was all-league defensive tackle on the football team quarterbacked by Jay Schroeder, a future NFL player. [2]

Whitaker attended California State Polytechnic Univ., Pomona on a football scholarship, but left due to a debilitating back injury. He was accepted to the Music Conservatory at the University of Southern California to study opera as a tenor, and was then accepted into the Drama Conservatory. He graduated from USC in 1982. He also earned a scholarship to the Berkeley, California branch of the Drama Studio London.[3]

Career

Whitaker's first onscreen role of note was in 1982's Fast Times at Ridgemont High alongside the likes of Nicolas Cage, Phoebe Cates and Sean Penn. He followed with notable roles in Platoon, Good Morning, Vietnam, and The Color of Money. In 1988, Forest played the role of musician Charlie Parker in the Clint Eastwood-directed film, Bird, for which he won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for a Golden Globe award. Whitaker was originally called upon to write and direct a live-action movie adaptation of Bill Cosby's cartoon, Fat Albert, but differences between the two led to Whitaker leaving the production.[4]

Whitaker branched out into producing and directing in the 1990s. He co-produced and co-starred in A Rage in Harlem in 1991. He executive produced the 2002 Emmy-award winning made-for-television movie, Door to Door, starring William H. Macy. He made his directorial debut with a grim film about inner-city gun violence, Strapped, for HBO in 1993. In 1995, he directed his first feature, Waiting to Exhale, and also directed co-star Whitney Houston's music video of the movie's theme song ("Shoop Shoop"). In 2004, he directed the romantic comedy, First Daughter.

In 2001, Whitaker had a small, uncredited role in the Wong Kar-wai-directed The Follow, one of five short films produced by BMW that year to promote its cars.[5] In 2002, Whitaker was the host and narrator of 44 new episodes of the Rod Serling classic, The Twilight Zone, which lasted one season on UPN.[6]

In January 2006, Whitaker joined the cast of FX's cop serial The Shield, as Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh. His performance as a tormented internal affairs cop was well-received. In the fall of 2006, Whitaker started his multi-episode story arc on ER as Curtis Ames, a man who comes into the ER with a cough, but quickly faces the long-term consequences of a paralyzing stroke. He then takes out his anger on Doctors Luka Kovac and Abby Lockhart. Also in 2006, he appeared in T.I.'s video "Live in the Sky" alongside Jamie Foxx.
Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland as Idi Amin
Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland as Idi Amin

To prepare for his role as dictator Idi Amin in the 2006 film The Last King of Scotland, Whitaker gained 50 pounds, learned to play the accordion, and immersed himself in research.[7] He read books about Amin, watched news and documentary footage, and spent time in Uganda meeting with Amin's friends, relatives, generals, and victims; he also learned Swahili and mastered Amin's East African accent. [8]

His performance earned him the 2007 Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, making him the fourth African-American male to earn that award, and the third in five years (after Denzel Washington in 2001 and Jamie Foxx in 2004). For that same role, he also received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama, the Screen Actors Guild Award, a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award, and accolades from the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the National Board of Review and the Broadcast Film Critics Association.

On February 10, 2007, Whitaker hosted Saturday Night Live. His singing talent was featured in several sketches.

Hall & Oates on Friday Night Videos

2007-01-23T10:35:00.000-05:00

This is a great interview. It's interesting to hear an artist speaking on the effect of video back when videos really first got started. A realization of changes in an art form and the acceptance of those changes in order for the music to progess.

Dynamic Duos - Sam Cooke & Ali; Kendricks & Ruffin

2007-01-22T09:09:00.000-05:00

An EWI solo by Mr. Brecker

2007-01-18T09:33:00.000-05:00

LiveDaily.com had this to say about Becker:

“An active studio musician, Brecker appeared on more than 900 recordings in his career, with artists ranging from Frank Sinatra to Frank Zappa. He began his career in the late ’60s with the fusion group Dreams, then joined with his brother, trumpeter Randy Brecker, to become The Brecker Brothers for much of the ’70s.”

“Brecker’s commercial breakthrough came in 1972, when the tenor-sax virtuoso performed a solo on James Taylor’s hit ‘Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight.’ Throughout the decade that followed, Brecker found himself in demand by pop artists.”

“Surprisingly, Brecker didn’t release an album under his own name until 1987. The self-titled disc won jazz album of the year awards in many publications.”

“Brecker went on to release several more solo albums, including his most recent, 2003’s ‘Wide Angles,’ on which the saxophonist leads a 15-piece ensemble in performing his own compositions. The album took home Grammy Awards the following year for Best Large Jazz Ensemble and Best Instrumental Arrangement.”

You may read more over at the Michael Brecker official website.

Ray "The Greatest" Charles

2007-01-04T03:48:00.000-05:00

When I was a kid three years old, I was already trying -- whenever I heard a note -- I was already trying to involve myself with it. There was this wonderful man named Wylie Pitman who was one of the first people to encourage me.

As a youngster I would jump in the chair next to him and start banging on the piano keys while he was trying to practice. And he would say, "Oh no, son, you don't play like that; you don't hit the keys with all your fingers at one time. I'm going to show you how to play a little melody with one finger." He could have easily said, "Hey kid, don't you see I'm practicing? Get away, don't bother me." But instead he took the time to say, "No, you don't do it that way." When Mr. Pitman started playing, whatever I was doing I'd stop to go in and sit on that little stool chair he had there.

Things started changing fast shortly after that. I guess the first major tragedy in my life was seeing my younger brother drown when I was about five years old. He was about a year younger, and a very smart kid. I remember that well; he was very bright. He could add and subtract numbers when he was three-and-a-half years old. The older people in the neighborhood, they used to say about him, "That boy is too smart. He's probably not going to be very long on this earth." You know old folks, the superstitions they have.

Anyway, we were out in the backyard one day while my mom was in the house ironing some clothes. We were playing by a huge metal washtub full of water. And we were having fun the way boys do, pushing and jostling each other around. Now, I never did know just how it happened, but my brother somehow tilted over the rim of this tub and fell down, slid down into the water and slipped under. At first I thought he was still playing, but it finally dawned on me that he wasn't moving, he wasn't reacting. I tried to pull him out of the water, but by that time his clothes had gotten soaked through with water and he was just too heavy for me. So I ran in and got my mom, and she raced out back and snatched him out of the tub. She shook him, and breathed into his mouth, and pumped his little stomach, but it was too late.

It was quite a trauma for me, and after that I started to lose my sight. I remember one of the things they tried to save my sight for as long as they could was to have my mama keep me away from too much light. It took me about two years to completely lose all sight, but by the time I was seven, I was completely blind. That's when I went to St. Augustine's school for the blind.

Strangely enough, losing my sight wasn't quite as bad as you'd think, because my mom conditioned me for the day that I would be totally blind. When the doctors told her that I was gradually losing my sight, and that I wasn't going to get any better, she started helping me deal with it by showing me how to get around, how to find things. That made it a little bit easier to deal with. My mother was awful smart, even though she'd only gotten to fourth grade. She had knowledge all her own; knowledge of human nature, plus plenty of common sense

As long as I can remember, music has always been something extraordinary in my life. It's always been something that completely captured my attention -- from the time I was three, when Mr. Pitman was showing me these little melodies. My first love was the music I heard in the community: blues, church gospel music, and country and western. That's why I love country and western today, because I heard a lot of it when I was a kid. My mom would let me stay up to listen to the Grand Old Opry on Saturday night. That's the only time I got to stay up late. I heard the blues played by Muddy Waters and Blind Boy Phillips and Tampa Red and Big Boy Crudup. And of course every night if you listened to the right station, you might pick up a little Duke Ellington or Count Basie. But the bulk of what I heard of blues in those days was called "race music," which became rhythm and blues, and rhythm and blues later was called soul music.

When I got to school I couldn't get into the piano class because it was full. That's when I took up the clarinet. I was a great fan of Artie Shaw, so I started playing a reed instrument. Later I was able to get into the piano class. Music teachers in those days were a lot different from teachers today; it was a different thing all together. When I came up, you didn't have jazz appreciation like you have today; you studied classical music. With blind kids, as opposed to sighted kids, when you study music you must read the music with your fingers. I'd read three or four bars of music with my fingers, and then play it. You can't just sit there and play as you're reading the music. You have to first learn the bars of music, practice it, and then play it and memorize it.

The name of the game was to know your lesson when it was due and I studied like everybody else. Even in my other classes, I always felt that it was important to know what you were supposed to do and have your lessons down, or at least have a working relationship with the music. I was just an ordinary student; I was not exceptional like some students. The only problem I had with my teachers was that when I was supposedly practicing my lesson, a lot of times I'd be playing jazz. Of course, the teacher would catch me, and that didn't go over too well. She'd say, "What the hell are you doing boy; what's the matter with you; you lost your mind? Get to your lessons." Classical music to me was a means to an end. In other words, I wanted to learn how to arrange and I wanted to know how to write music, and in order to do that I had to study classical music. But I wanted to play jazz, and I wanted to play blues -- that was my heart.

As a student, I was always playing music that somebody else wrote, and I got the idea in my mind that I would like to write music myself. The first time I wrote an arrangement and heard it played back to me, you can't imagine how excited I was. I mean, to write something and then have musicians play it back to you, and you hear it and you hear your ideas, your thoughts -- that was the most exciting thing to me. I was 12 years old when I first had that feeling and I've never forgotten that. It was at the St. Augustine's. We had a small orchestra, you understand. Keep in mind, this was a small school for the deaf and the blind, so you had maybe nine or 12 people in the band, something like that.

I wasn't quite 15 when my mama died. That was the most devastating thing in my whole experience -- bar nothing, period. It happened while I was away at school, and they didn't want to tell me about it. They just called me in to the principal's office and said that I needed to go home right away. When I got there I found out from Miss Mary Jane, a lady that helped my mom raise me and take care of me; she gave me the news. From that moment on, I was completely in another world. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep -- I was totally out of it. There's no way to describe how I actually felt. I was truly a lost child.

The big problem was I couldn't cry; I couldn't get the sorrow out of my system, and that made things worse. Now, there was an old lady in town we called Ma Beck. She was the kind of lady that --well, everybody in town used to say that if there was a heaven, she was certainly going to be there when she passed. Anyway, this elderly woman saw the trauma I was going through. So she took me aside one day and said, "Son, you know that I knew your mama. And I know how she tried to raise you. And I know she always taught you to carry on. I also know she told you she wanted you to know how to get around and be independent. Because she knew she wasn't always gonna be with you. Didn't she tell you that?"

I said, "Yes ma'am'" and started to tear up. And Ma Beck kept after me. "Well, then, you also know that your mamma didn't want you going around just doing nothing and feeling sorry for yourself, 'cause that's not the way she brought you up. Isn't that right?" I said, "Yes, ma'am," and more tears came out. Now this elderly lady, she knew everything about me, including my sorrow over my brother's death. She made me realize that it wasn't my fault, and told me that I couldn't go through life blaming myself.

That episode with Ma Beck shook me out of my depression. It really started me on my way. After that I told myself that I must do what my mom would have expected me to do. And so the two greatest tragedies in my life -- losing my brother and then my mom -- were, strangely enough, extraordinarily positive for me. What I've accomplished since then, really, grows out of my coming to terms with those events.

My mama had a friend that lived in Jacksonville, Florida, and after she died I went there to see this lady, whose name was Lena May Thompson, and her husband. They weren't any kin to me; they were just friends of my mama and when she passed they just took me in like I was their own child. They were wonderful people. I stayed in Jacksonville for a year or so working in little bands for musicians like Henry Washington. Whenever he would get a job, and if he could use me, I would work for four dollars a night. Later I went to Orlando, and it was the same thing. I would get jobs with a fellow named Joe Anderson, who had a band there. I stayed about a year before going to Tampa to work with a couple of bands there. I played for two fellows, Charley Brantley and Manzi Harris, and I even worked with a hillbilly band called The Florida Playboys. I learned how to yodel when I was with them.

During those years I was totally in love with Nat King Cole's music. I ate, slept, and drank everything Nat King Cole. I wanted to be like him because he played the piano and sang and put all those tasty little things behind his singing. That's what I wanted to do, so he became my idol. I practiced day and night to sound like Nat Cole, and I got pretty proficient at it, too. One morning I woke up and, still laying in bed, something said to me, "Where is Ray Charles? Who knows your name? Nobody ever calls you, they just say, 'Hey, kid, you sound like Nat Cole,' but they don't even know your name." I knew right then I was going to have to stop singing like Nat, but I was scared to because I could get jobs sounding like him. I finally told myself, "Ray, you have got to take a chance and sound like yourself -- period."

Work was very sparse. I might work a couple of nights and then no more for two weeks or three weeks -- whenever something came along. Hit and miss, really, that's what it was. I was very lucky in the sense that when I was going through those hard times, I was fortunate to run into some people like the Thompsons. Even in Tampa, I ran into two sisters name the Spencers. One of them, the oldest, was a music teacher and she just took a liking to me. I don't know; I guess she saw that I was out there struggling and blind. They took me into their home, fed and sheltered me, and gave me a few dollars to spend. Although I wasn't making any money, I didn't completely starve to death. I had a lot of days when I ate sardines and dried beans and bread to survive.

I was playing dance halls in different little cities like De Land, Florida, or St. Petersburg. It wasn't concerts in those days. These were dances you worked from 9:00 at night until 1:00 in the morning; four hours at least. You've got to realize, now, there was no such thing as nightclubs -- like Cheerios and the Blue Note. These were small places with one door, that means one way in and one way out. They might have had two or three windows. In one corner they might have been frying fish and selling beer and soda and stuff like that. The people were out there on the dance floor dancing, and the band was stuck back in the corner somewhere. We were usually in the back, so if any trouble broke out, we would make sure there was a window to climb out. These places were not nightclubs like you think of them where people come in and sit down, and they've got on their furs and have a drink. You came in, you came to dance and to drink your liquor, you ate your fish or chicken or whatever they were selling in there and that was it.

I was not the star, mind you; in those days, I was always with somebody else's band. If I was working in Charlie Brantley's band, he was the star. As a matter of fact, in Charlie Brantley's band I wasn't even the vocalist. Of course, they let me sing one or two songs before the show was over, but Charlie had his own singer, Clarence Jolly. Otherwise, I was just his piano player, and I was happy to do that because I needed the money. If he needed me to sing, I'd sing; if he wanted me to play the piano, that's what I did; if he wanted me to write an arrangement, I'd write an arrangement. Whatever it took to make a dollar. And, of course, I wrote some music during this period as well. For example, Joe Ellison's band played some of my music when I was with them.

Eventually, I got tired of Florida. I was working with these different bands and I had worked with The Florida Playboys, when I got the feeling one day -- just an impulse -- and I said to myself, I'm going to leave here because I'm not going anywhere, I'm not doing anything. I was too scared to go to a big city like New York or Chicago, but I wanted to go to a city that was a nice size and where I thought I wouldn't get swallowed up. So I said to a friend, Gosady McGee, "I want to go to a city. . .what would be the furthest city I could get to from Florida that's still a city." And that's how I wound up in Seattle. I saved what little money I could -- about $500 -- and finally took a bus from Tampa, Florida, to Seattle, Washington. The trip took me 5 days.

I wanted to form my own group; that was my whole thing back then. See, after my mama passed, I always worked with somebody, or rather for somebody. I'm not saying that was a bad thing, but I kept thinking that I just wasn't going anywhere. I was just getting a job here, getting a job there, and I got paid. Sometimes, I wouldn't even get paid. I wanted to have something of my own. I thought I wanted to have my own little trio.

When I first got to Seattle, I went down to where they were having a talent show. I was really too young, but I begged this guy to let me perform. He felt sorry for me and let me in. On this talent night, I sang my little song, which was heard by representatives of a place called the Elk's Club. See, on talent night you would have various club owners or club representatives come and see what the talent was. Anyway, the Elk's Club hired me for the weekend and they asked if I could get a trio together. Hell, I didn't know what I was talking about. I didn't even know anybody. I just felt that I could find somebody to play well.

As it turned out, I got my friend Gosady McGee and I found Milt Jarret, and we started practicing and I went to work in the Elk's Club. I worked there every weekend. The guitar player's name was McGee, and mine was Robinson, so we called it The McSon Trio. We had a nice little trio and that was the first thing I had that I could honestly say was mine. Every weekend we knew we would make something, and after I had worked there for five weekends or so, the guy at the Rocking Chair, which was a much nicer club, decided they wanted to hire us.

In those days, I lived on 20th Avenue. I had a little house, nothing fancy. We had an oil heater and I remember we went out to get kerosene to put in the damn heater. While I was living there, I bought the first little electric piano that came out -- that shows you how far back it goes. I didn't have much money, but I had the things I needed. I had a radio, but not a TV. It was a big radio with a record player in it.

During my time in Seattle, I met and worked with some musicians who later made names for themselves. There was a fellow named Bumps Blackwell who had a band. As I recall, he hired me to play a gig one night with him. There was a young guy named Quincy Jones in the band. I think we may have first met in a club -- maybe the 908 or the Black and Tan or the Elk's Club. It probably sounds like I'm making our meeting insignificant, but musicians just meet; it ain't no big deal. Quincy and I became very good friends because I could write music and he wanted to learn how to write. He would come over to my house in the morning, wake me up, and sit at the piano while I would show him how to do little things. That's how we became very close. I have always loved him and he's the same way now as he was as a kid -- just as sweet and nice.

I first met Jack Lauderdale of Swingtime Records when we were at the Rocking Chair. There was a private club upstairs -- that's where they would gamble at -- and downstairs was where we were working. Jack was there one night and he came downstairs and heard us playing. He said, "I'd like to sign you guys up to a contract. What would you think about that?" Oh, Man, I was so excited! "Wow! We're gonna get a record contract!" There was nothing about any advance or money up front. All the man said to me was the he was gonna record me, and we'd have a hit. I didn't even ask about the terms. All I knew was that I wanted to make a record; this was a big thing to me at that time. Jack was the first person I signed with, and I have to give him credit. I don't know what he heard, but he must have heard something -- because he recorded me in Seattle and then flew us down to record in L.A.

After arriving in Los Angeles around 1950, I made a record called "Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand." It started making a little noise -- in the black community, of course -- and Swingtime thought it would be a good idea if Lowell Fulson and I went out on the road together as a package, 'cause Lowell had "Everyday I Had the Blues" and I had "Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand." And so that's what we did.

When Lowell and I were on the road, we played the same kinds of dance halls, that I worked in down in Florida. We were working everyday on this tour, which was okay. Of course, in those days we put up with "the usual things." I didn't go into the Hilton Hotel, I didn't go into the Sheraton, I had to stay in rooming houses. I had to make sure I stopped at the right gas station, where they had restrooms for colored, and if I was hungry I couldn't stop at just any restaurant to eat, so if I was long distance between places and I saw a restaurant, I had to go around to the back door and let them hand me out sandwiches.

"Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand," was my first big hit on the radio, but I had heard myself before, singing my first record, "I Love You, I Love You" and "Confession Blues." To tell the truth, hearing my songs on the radio was no where near as exciting as making a record. I really wasn't that excited about hearing myself; I was more excited about making music. I did make some records for Swingtime where I sound like myself, where I wasn't trying to sound like Nat Cole. One of them was "Going to the River and Drown Myself," another was "Kiss Me, Baby." I was testing the waters then, just before I went to Atlantic. Even when I started recording for them, I made two or three records sounding like Nat Cole. After that, I finally told myself, "Stop this Nat Cole imitation...sink, swim, or die." Next I did "I Got a Woman" and it was a smash.

I made a big change professionally when Atlantic bought my contract from Swingtime. Originally, I didn't know anything about it. By the time I found out, Atlantic had already bought the rights from Jack. Naturally, buying my contract didn't mean anything if I didn't agree to go along, but Atlantic had the contract from Jack and, of course, it was all right with me. I didn't see anything wrong with it. Atlantic was very good to me. They didn't interfere with my music. they would say to me, "Okay, we want you to come in and record." Then they would send me different demos of music, and if I didn't like them I'd write something and record that instead. It just turned out that most of the things I wrote were successful, and Atlantic would just come in and pay the bill. It was unusual, really, because record companies in those days picked the music and the artist sang it and that's the ways it was done. I was lucky in the sense that even when I was starting out I went to companies that didn't interfere with what I wanted to record, even Swingtime would just say, "Well, kid, what do you got for us?" And that was it. For an artist, there are few things more rewarding than the freedom to do the things you want to do the way you want to do them.

I was with Atlantic from 1952 to 1959. I had control of what I was recording, so if I made any bad recordings or bad decisions I have to say it was strictly my own fault. Most of what we were doing in those days were singles; they were more popular than albums. I only did two albums on Atlantic. The first album was a jazz album I did with Quincy Jones, which had songs like "Doodlin'." The second album, The Genius of Ray Charles, Quincy wrote with Ralph Burns.

About that time -- still with my smaller band -- I was thinkin' I really wanted to introduce a girl sound to my music. Don't forget, I was raised in a Baptist church and I wanted my music to have a certain kind of feelin'. One night in 1957, I was in Philadelphia and there was a band playin' -- I forget who was playin' -- but I went to catch the band and on this show they had a second band performing called The Cookies. Well, The Cookies sounded pretty good to me. So the following week, we recorded together in New York, I think we did Swany River Rock. And it sounded so good, I asked them to work with me all the time. That's when The Cookies -- Margie Hendrix, Ethel (Darlene) McCrae and Pat Lyles -- became The Raelettes.

By 1959, my career was on the fast track. Although I didn't know it when I signed with ABC, things were about to start happening for me at a much faster pace then I ever thought possible when I was a kid back at the St. Augustine's school. But that's another story, for another time.

Jean Michel Basquiat

2007-01-02T03:56:00.000-05:00

Jean-Michel Basquiat was born on December 22, 1960 in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Gerard Basquiat was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and his mother, Matilde was born in Brooklyn of Puerto Rican parents. Early on, Basquiat displayed a proficiency in art which was encouraged by his mother. In 1977, Basquiat, along with friend Al Diaz begins spray painting cryptic aphorisms on subway trains and around lower Manhattan and signing them with the name SAMO© (Same Old Shit). "SAMO© as an end to mindwash religion, nowhere politics, and bogus philosophy," "SAMO© saves idiots," "Plush safe he think; SAMO© ."

In 1978 Basquiat left home for good and quit school just one year before graduating form high school. He lived with friends and began selling hand painted postcards and T-shirts. In June of 1980, Basquiat's art was publicly exhibited for the first time in a show sponsored by Colab (Collaborative Projects Incorporated) along with the work of Jenny Holzer, Lee Quinones, Kenny Scharf, Kiki Smith, Robin Winters, John Ahearn, Jane Dickson, Mike Glier, Mimi Gross, and David Hammons. Basquiat continued to exhibit his work around New York City and in Europe, participating in shows along with the likes of Keith Haring, Barbara Kruger.

In December of 1981, poet and artist Rene Ricard published the first major article on Basquiat entitled "The Radiant Child" in Artforum. In 1982, Basquiat was featured in the group show "Transavanguardia: Italia/America" along with Neo-Expressionists Sandro Chia, Francesco Clemente, Enzu Cucchi, David Deutsch, David Salle, and Julian Schnabel (who will go on to direct the biographical film Basquiat in 1996). In 1983 Basquiat had one-artist exhibitions at the galleries of Annina Nosei and Larry Gagosian and was also included in the "1983 Biennial Exhibition" at the Whitney Museum of American Art. It was also in 1983 that Basquiat was befriended by Andy Warhol, a relationship which sparked discussion concerning white patronization of black art, a conflict which remains, to this day, at the center of most discussions of Basquiat's life and work. Basquiat and Warhol collaborated on a number of paintings, none of which are are critically acclaimed. Their relationship continued, despite this, until Warhol's death in 1987.

By 1984, many of Basquiat's friends had become quite concerned about his excessive drug use, often finding him unkempt and in a state of paranoia. Basquiat's paranoia was also fueled by the very real threat of people stealing work from his apartment and of art dealers taking unfinished work from his studio. On February 10, 1985, Basquiat appeared on the cover of The New York Times Magazine, posing for the Cathleen McGuigan article "New Art, New Money: The Marketing of an American Artist." In March , Basquiat had his second one-artist show at the Mary Boone Gallery. In the exhibition catalogue, Robert Farris Thompson spoke of Basquiat's work in terms of an Afro-Atlantic tradition, a context in which this art had never been discussed.

In 1986, Basquiat travelled to Africa for the first time and his work was shown in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. In November, a large exhibition of more than sixty paintings and drawings opened at the Kestner-Gesellschaft in Hannover; at twenty-five Basquiat was the youngest artist ever given an exhibition there. In 1988, Basquiat had shows in both Paris and New York; the New York show was praised by some critics, an encouraging development. Basquiat attempted to kick his heroin addiction by leaving the temptations of New York for his ranch in Hawaii. He returned to New York in June claiming to be drug-free. On August 12 , Basquiat died as the result of a heroin overdose. He was 27.

Primary source for biography:
Sirmans, M. Franklin. "Chronology." Jean-Michel Basquiat. Ed. Richard Marshall. New York: Whitney/Abrams, 1992. 233-250.

Jazz Bass Lesson - Milt Hinton

2007-01-01T20:12:00.000-05:00

Widely regarded as “the dean of jazz bass players,” Hinton was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1910 and moved to Chicago with his family at the age of 11. He began studying the violin when he was 13, and played the bass horn, tuba, cello and bass violin while attending Wendell Phillips High School.

During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Hinton worked as a freelance musician in Chicago, performing with many of the era’s jazz greats, including Erskine Tate and Art Tatum. His earliest recordings date back to this time and his first steady job was with a band led by Tiny Parham. In 1936, Hinton joined Cab Calloway’s renowned band and played with them for the next 15 years, with musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, Doc Cheatham and Ben Webster. Hilton’s numerous recordings from this time have become jazz classics.

After leaving the Cab Calloway Orchestra in the early 1950s, Hinton began working as a studio freelancer in New York City. With the help of his friend actor/entertainer Jackie Gleason, he became one of the first black musicians to work in the predominantly white studio recording industry. For two decades he played on thousands of jazz and popular records, on hundreds of jingles and film soundtracks, and on dozens of radio and television programs, touring extensively with Louis Armstrong, Pearl Bailey and Bing Crosby. Hinton has accompanied countless jazz and popular artists, including Count Basie, Charles Mingus, Bette Midler, Duke Ellington, Barry Manilow, John Coltrane and Paul McCartney.

In addition to his career in music, Hinton gained recognition as a photographer. He began snapping pictures of his friends in the 1930s and over the next six decades, his collection grew to include more than 60,000 images. His extraordinary photographs have been featured in numerous exhibitions around the world. In 1988, Bass Line: The Stories and Photographs of Milt Hinton, was published by Temple University Press and was selected Book of the Year by Jazz Times. A second book, OverTime: The Jazz Photographs of Milt Hinton, was published by Pomegranate Art Books in 1991. For Hinton’s 80th birthday in 1990, WRTI-FM in Philadelphia produced a series of 28 short radio programs in which he chronicled his life. Aired nationally by more than 150 public radio stations, the series received a Gabriel Award for Best National Short Feature.

Hinton received eight honorary doctorates as well as countless prestigious national and international awards. He and Mona Hinton were together for 61 years and raised a daughter Charlotte. Their lifelong involvement in their Queens, New York community, their strong commitment to family and their contribution to music and photography made them role models and an inspiration to younger generations.

Learn more about Milt Hinton’s music >>

View an album of Hinton’s photographs >>

Sun Ra : Brother From Another Planet

2006-12-29T04:20:00.000-05:00

James Brown...

2006-12-29T04:13:00.000-05:00

Sum Majere "Lotus" (Ode To Ninja Scroll)

2006-12-29T03:57:00.000-05:00

Sum Majere is a talented soul... Check out his ode to the Ninja Scroll...

Sheer Genius! Do you know, do you know, do you know...?

2006-12-27T23:19:00.000-05:00

Classic commercial featuring Spike Lee & Michael Jordon. One of the most interesting collaborative efforts put together this series of priceless Nike spots.

Sessions: Conscious ft. God's Chocolate

2006-12-22T22:20:00.000-05:00

Interview with Hiphop Journalist Adam Bernard - Monday, May 29, 2006

Renaissance man. It’s a phrase that isn’t used very often in 2006, but how else could one possibly describe Conscious, a man who’s an MC, producer, painter, poet, actor, Jask clothing model and internet entrepreneur? Very few people can say they’ve performed poetry for those incarcerated in our prison system and rocked shows with the likes of Hank Shocklee and Immortal Technique. Conscious, however, is that man, which is why I caught up with him this week to feature him as my Artist Of The Week.

Adam Bernard: You have been dubbed Hip-Hop's renaissance man. What does this mean to you and how do you go about living up to such a title?
Conscious: I think it's a responsibility to show and prove through my movements, but it’s one I am capable of. I basically analyze what my abilities are and try to exercise them thoroughly through the arts. I enjoy finding new ways to entertain, educate and empower individuals through all that I do.

Adam Bernard: What do you feel you gain by coming from so many angles?
Conscious: I can reach a much larger mass of people through being able to navigate various circles. Each circle will have its own communities with folks that don't cross over much into the adjacent ones, so by being in more of those communities I can not only reach additional folks but at times get portions of them to look into things that they didn't previously involve themselves with. Another reason is I do a lot because it opens up multiple streams of income. I have better sense than to sit around and think I'm going to be a millionaire over the summer by selling CD's hand to hand. I'm a multifaceted person, why not do what I'm capable of? One of the largest reasons why I do so many things to begin with is to show people that they can, too. It's unfortunate that some folks’ progress can be stifled by individuals that convince them that they shouldn't try to do more then one thing. Life is meant to be lived, enjoyed and experienced to its fullest extent. I'm not about to allow naysayers that have nothing to do with their own lives suggest anything to me about what I should do with mine.

Adam Bernard: Let’s talk music for a minute. You live in New York, a city that's flooded with MC’s and producers, how are you making sure you stand out from the crowd?
Conscious: I think for one I stand out for the fact that I truly am different, when it comes to my music I really don't sound like anyone else. I also have taken my business and research seriously where I'm doing things with a calculated, purposeful, approach. I've spent a fair amount of time assessing what tools this technological age has given us to market and network with and at the same time I realize my organic approach with people is just as important. I think my balance of those two elements gives me a great advantage. Sociability is also important. I also find that after getting to know people they tell me that they're not used to people that follow through with things, or people that call or email them up randomly just to see what's going on. I pride myself in not approaching people with an attitude of what can you do for me. I try to embrace people and offer whatever service I have available. The reciprocation factor is out there and these actions balance themselves out.

Adam Bernard: You have launched a number of websites. Why is it important to you to have such a presence on the web, and what can artists gain from having such a presence?
Adam Bernard: Quite simply maximizing, and offering different looks at interesting things that people may enjoy. From a business perspective it’s also testing the water to see what actually works. Similarly with pushing the envelope with art and entertainment, you want to offer quality and hopefully offer a lot of it. The bigger the presence the better the odds are of increasing your visibility.

Adam Bernard: Finally, what do you feel is the "next level" for you?
Conscious: I’m completing a few projects I have on the low and taking businesses that I have started from the 'self employed' stage to the 'business owned' stage. There's a vast difference. Also, creating situations that will enable me to employ folks. Aside from the business aspect of what I'm involved with I want to try my hand at theatre and a little stand up, two things that I'm actually nervous about. I know that I'm capable, but I think the responsibilities are much larger then with the other performance methods I've been involved with. I think doing stand up is even more scary then doing a stage play. At least with a play you’re sharing the stage and interacting with others, which takes some of the edge off. Sounds like I have a lotta nerve but I'm gutless huh?

Websites: iareconscious.com, FreeHipHopNow.com & Conscious Bootleggers

Blogs: ConsciousMe, Relax Star Vibe School & Growing Money Trees

Ringtones: Zingy.com & DecentX

MySpace Pages: myspace.com/conscious

De La Soul - De La Speaks

2006-12-21T04:44:00.000-05:00

1989 interview with De La Soul. Behind the scenes view of the group and their producer Prince Paul. Bonus footage of their album release party.

At the time of its 1989 release, De La Soul's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, was hailed as the future of hip-hop. With its colorful, neo-psychedelic collage of samples and styles, plus the Long Island trio's low-key, clever rhymes and goofy humor, the album sounded like nothing else in hip-hop. Where most of their contemporaries drew directly from old-school rap, funk, or Public Enemy's dense sonic barrage, De La Soul were gentler and more eclectic, taking in not only funk and soul, but also pop, jazz, reggae, and psychedelia. Though their style initially earned both critical raves and strong sales, De La Soul found it hard to sustain their commercial momentum in the '90s as their alternative rap was sidetracked by the popularity of considerably harder-edged gangsta rap.

De La Soul formed while the trio -- Posdnuos (born Kelvin Mercer, August 17, 1969), Trugoy the Dove (born David Jude Jolicoeur, September 21, 1968), and Pasemaster Mase (born Vincent Mason, March 27, 1970) -- were attending high school in the late '80s. The stage names of all of the members derived from in-jokes: Posdnuos was an inversion of Mercer's DJ name, Sound-Sop; Trugoy was an inversion of Jolicoeur's favorite food, yogurt. De La Soul's demo tape, "Plug Tunin'," came to the attention of Prince Paul, the leader and producer of the New York rap outfit Stetsasonic. Prince Paul played the tape to several colleagues and helped the trio land a contract with Tommy Boy Records.

Prince Paul produced De La Soul's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, which was released in the spring of 1989. Several critics and observers labeled the group as a neo-hippie band because the record praised peace and love as well as proclaiming the dawning of "the D.A.I.S.Y. age" (Da Inner Sound, Y'all). Though the trio was uncomfortable with the hippie label, there was no denying that the humor and eclecticism presented an alternative to the hardcore rap that dominated hip-hop. De La Soul quickly were perceived as the leaders of a contingent of New York-based alternative rappers which also included A Tribe Called Quest, Queen Latifah, the Jungle Brothers, and Monie Love; all of these artists dubbed themselves the Native Tongues posse.

For a while, it looked as if De La Soul and the Native Tongues posse would eclipse hardcore hip-hop in terms of popularity. "Me, Myself and I" became a Top 40 pop hit in the U.S. (number one R&B), while the album reached number 24 (number one R&B) and went gold. At the end of the year, 3 Feet High and Rising topped many best-of-the-year lists, including The Village Voice's. With all of the acclaim came some unwanted attention, most notably in the form of a lawsuit by the Turtles. De La Soul had sampled the Turtles' "You Showed Me" and layered it with a French lesson on a track on 3 Feet High called "Transmitting Live From Mars," without getting the permission of the '60s pop group. The Turtles won the case, and the decision not only had substantial impact on De La Soul, but on rap in general. Following the suit, all samples had to be legally cleared before an album could be released. Not only did this have the end result of rap reverting back to instrumentation, thereby altering how the artists worked, it also meant that several albums in the pipeline had to be delayed in order for samples to clear. One of those was De La Soul's second album, De La Soul Is Dead.

When De La Soul Is Dead was finally released in the spring of 1991, it received decidedly mixed reviews, and its darker, more introspective tone didn't attract as big an audience as its lighter predecessor. The album peaked at number 26 pop on the U.S. charts, number 24 R&B, and spawned only one minor hit, the number 22 R&B single "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)." De La Soul worked hard on their third album, finally releasing the record in late 1993. The result, entitled Buhloone Mindstate, was harder and funkier than either of its predecessors, yet it didn't succumb to gangsta rap. Though it received strong reviews, the album quickly fell off the charts after peaking at number 40, and only "Breakadawn" broke the R&B Top 40. The same fate greeted the trio's fourth album, Stakes Is High. Released in the summer of 1996, the record was well reviewed, yet it didn't find a large audience and quickly disappeared from the charts.

Four years later, De La Soul initiated what promised to be a three-album series with the release of Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump; though reviews were mixed, it was greeted warmly by record buyers, debuting in the Top Ten. The second title in the series, AOI: Bionix, even featured a video hit with "Baby Phat," but Tommy Boy and the trio decided to end their relationship soon after. De La Soul subsequently signed their AOI label to Sanctuary Urban (run by Beyoncé's father, Mathew Knowles) and released The Grind Date in October 2004. Two years later the group issued Impossible Mission: TV Series, Pt. 1, a collection of new and some previously unreleased material.

~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine,
All Music Guide

The Doors - Interview 1969

2006-12-20T22:01:00.000-05:00

Sly Stone Interview

2006-12-20T21:51:00.000-05:00

Sly Stone Biography

James Brown may have invented funk, but Sly Stone perfected it; his alchemical fusion of soul, rock, gospel, and psychedelia rejected stylistic boundaries as much as his explosive backing band the Family Stone ignored racial and gender restrictions, creating a series of euphoric yet politically charged records that proved a massive influence on artists of all musical and cultural backgrounds. Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart was born March 15, 1943, in Denton, TX, and raised primarily in Vallejo, CA, where he sang with his family's gospel group. After singing lead with a doo-wop group called the Viscaynes, at 16 he recorded the local hit "Long Time Gone," concurrently spinning records for Bay Area radio station KSOL. After studying trumpet, composition, and theory at Vallejo Junior College, in 1964 Stewart signed to local label Autumn Records, where he cut a series of solo singles in addition to serving as a house producer; there he helmed Bobby Freeman's national chart smash "C'mon and Swim" as well as sessions by the Beau Brummels, the Mojo Men, and the Great Society.

In 1966, Stewart formed the group Sly the Stoners, while his younger brother Freddie led his own band, Freddie the Stone Souls; soon the siblings merged the two acts, and with bassist Larry Graham, trumpeter Cynthia Robinson, saxophonist Jerry Martini, and drummer Greg Errico, Sly the Family Stone were born. After issuing their debut single, "I Ain't Got Nobody," on the local Loadstone imprint, the group signed to Epic to release their 1967 debut LP, A Whole New Thing; Dance to the Music followed in 1968, and generated a Top Ten hit with the title cut. Later that year, Sly the Family Stone topped both the pop and RB charts with the two-sided smash "Everyday People" b/w "Sing a Simple Song"; and with the classic Stand!, the band's music became increasingly politicized on standouts like the hit title track and "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey." As the group's chief vocalist, songwriter, and producer, Stone pushed the envelope further with each successive release; and with the 1970 chart-topper "Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin," he essentially created the sonic blueprint for the funk and disco that dominated the decade to follow via a percussive groove propelled by Graham's pop-and-slap bassline.

However, as the utopian ideals of the 1960s gave way to the paranoia and corruption of the 1970s, the celebratory sound that once epitomized Sly the Family Stone gave way to the bleakly unsettling There's a Riot Goin' On, a dark, militant masterpiece that yielded the hits "Family Affair" and "Running Away." Stone's grim world-view was due in no small part to his increasing narcotics problem, and he became notorious for arriving late to live gigs or missing shows altogether. Released in 1973, Fresh was Sly the Family Stone's last truly great album, and after issuing Small Talk the band unraveled, with 1975's High on You credited to Stone alone. As his drug problems and legal battles became public knowledge, efforts like 1976's Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back and 1979's Back on the Right Track attracted little interest, as did a subsequent tour with George Clinton the P-Funk All-Stars and a 1983 comeback effort, Ain't But the One Way. After a 1987 single, "Eek-a-Bo-Static," failed to even chart, Stone instead made headlines for a cocaine bust that led to his incarceration. Despite Sly the Family Stone being inducted into the Rock Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, Stone failed to make a substantial comeback in the '90s.
- Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

Chuck D on YouTube Late Nite

2006-12-20T21:44:00.000-05:00

Chuck D of Public Enemy was in Houston for a lecture at the University. We were lucky enough to catch up with him afterwards for a quick interview on Charles Snider Show.
late nite tv talk show airs in Houston on Channel 17 csshow@gmail.com for more information. www.myspace.com/chucksnider

As the founder of Public Enemy, Chuck D. is one of the most colossal figures in the history of hip-hop, not to mention its most respected intellectual. He redefined hip-hop as music with a message, and his strident radicalism ushered in an era when rap was closely scrutinized for its content; although rap's primary concerns have changed over the years, its status as America's most controversial art form has only gotten stronger since Public Enemy hit the scene. Chuck D. was born Carlton Douglas Ridenhour in Roosevelt, Long Island, on August 1, 1960. His parents were both political activists, and he was a highly intelligent student, turning down an architecture scholarship to study graphic design at Long Island's Adelphi University. While in school, he put his talents to use making promotional flyers for hip-hop events, and went on to co-host a hip-hop mix show on the campus radio station with two future Public Enemy cohorts, Bill Stephney and Hank Shocklee. Under the name Chuckie D, he rapped on Shocklee's demo recording, "Public Enemy No. 1," which caught the interest of Rick Rubin at Def Jam. In response, the now simply named Chuck D. assembled Public Enemy, a group designed to support the force of his rhetoric with noisy, nearly avant-garde soundscapes.

Public Enemy debuted in 1987 with Yo! Bum Rush the Show, a dry run for one of the greatest three-album spans in hip-hop history. Released in 1988, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back was acclaimed by many critics as the greatest hip-hop album of all time, and was instrumental in breaking rap music to white, alternative rock audiences. Fear of a Black Planet (1990) and its follow-up, Apocalypse '91...The Enemy Strikes Black, consolidated Public Enemy's position as the most important rap group of its time. There were storms of controversy along the way, most notably Chuck D.'s endorsement of the polarizing Muslim minister Louis Farrakhan, and group member Professor Griff's highly publicized anti-Semitic slurs. But on the whole, Public Enemy's groundbreaking body of work established Chuck D. as one of the most intelligent, articulate spokesmen for the black community. He became an in-demand speaker on the college lecture circuit (much like his peer KRS-One), and was frequently invited to provide commentary on TV news programs.

Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age (1994) found the group's status slipping, and the following year Chuck put PE on hiatus while planning its next move. In the meantime, he released his first solo album, The Autobiography of Mistachuck, in 1996, and published the book version of his autobiography the following year. He reconvened Public Enemy for the soundtrack to Spike Lee's 1998 film, He Got Game, and the following year left Def Jam over the label's refusal to allow him to distribute Public Enemy music via free Internet downloads. Signing with the web-based Atomic Pop label, Chuck became an outspoken advocate of MP3 technology, and made 1999's There's a Poison Goin' On... the first full-length album by a major artist to be made available over the Internet (it was later released on CD as well). He continued his lecturing into the new millennium and made regular appearances on the Fox News Channel as a commentator. Even if Public Enemy never recaptures the popularity or vitality of its glory years, Chuck D.'s legacy is secure enough to keep him a respected voice on the American cultural landscape. Steve Huey, All Music Guide

John Coltrane Live Playing 'Naima': 1965

2006-12-20T18:16:00.000-05:00

Coltrane: Biographies
September 23, 1926 - July 17, 1967

John William Coltrane was born on September 23, 1926 in Hamlet, North Carolina. At the age of three his family moved to High Point, NC, where young Coltrane spent his early years. His father, John Robert Coltrane, died in 1939, leaving twelve year-old John and his mother on their own. His mother, Alice Blair Coltrane, moved to New Jersey to work as a domestic while John completed high school. John played first the clarinet, then alto saxophone in his high school band. His first musical influence was the tenor saxophonist Lester Young of Count Basie's band. In June of 1943, after graduation, Coltrane moved to Philadelphia to be closer to his mother.

After a yearlong stint in the Navy (1945-46), Coltrane began playing gigs in and around Philadelphia. During this time he became involved in drug and alcohol use, vices that would follow him throughout his career and ultimately lead to his death. In late 1949 Coltrane was invited to play alto sax with Dizzy Gillespie's band; the first recording session was on November 21 of that year. When the big band broke up in May of 1950 Coltrane moved to the tenor saxophone and played with Gillespie's small band until May of the next year. Coltrane played with Earl Bostic's group in 1952, switching to the band of his early idol Johnny Hodges in 1953. Problems with drug and alcohol abuse, however, forced Coltrane out of the group in 1954.

Miles Davis called upon Coltrane in the summer of 1955 to join a group he was forming. The Miles Davis quintet's first recording was made in October of 1955, the same month in which Coltrane was married to Naima Grubbs. The quintet was comprised of Davis on trumpet, Coltrane on tenor sax, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on the drums. It was in his years with this quintet that Coltrane's abilities were truly recognized and appreciated. In April 1957, though, Coltrane was again forced to take a break from playing to deal with his substance abuse problems; Davis replaced him with Sonny Rollins. He played briefly with Thelonious Monk in late 1957 before rejoining the Miles Davis quintet in January 1958. Coltrane played with this group until April 1960, when he set out to form his own group.

The John Coltrane quartet first formed in April of 1960 with Coltrane playing tenor saxophone, McCoy Tyler on piano, Elvin Jones on drums, and Jimmy Harrison on bass. It was during the first years of this group that Coltrane graduated from an above-average tenor saxophonist to an elite bandleader, composer, and improvisor. "My Favorite Things", the epic album featuring "Every Time We Say Goodbye", "Summertime", "But Not For Me", and the title track, was recorded in 1960. This was undoubtedly Coltrane's most successful and popular album, and granted him the commercial success that had eluded him thus far in his career. Perhaps due to this success, Coltrane's approach to his music began to shift during 1961-62, moving towards a more experimental, improvisational style. This "free-jazz" alienated many of the fans Coltrane had collected after "My Favorite Things", but at the same time expanded the horizons and definition of jazz. Among the more popular recordings of the quartet in the following years were "Africa Brass" (1961), "Ballads" (1962), "A Love Supreme" (1964), and "Meditations" (1965), as well as concerts recorded at The Village Vanguard (NYC) in 1961 and at Birdland, also in New York, in 1963. Coltrane's continuing desire to break new boundaries with his music, though, led to the end of the group in January 1966.

During the mid-1960's the turmoil in Coltrane's professional life was mirrored by disruptions in his personal life. In the summer of 1963 he moved out of the house he shared with his wife, Naima, and moved in with Alice McLeod. Coltrane had met Alice, a pianist, in 1960, and they had been friends since then. A son, John Coltrane Jr., was born to Coltrane and Alice on August 8, 1964; this was followed on August 6, 1965 by a second son, Ravi. A year later Coltrane divorced Naima and married Alice. A final son, Oran, was born to Coltrane and Alice on March 19, 1967. On July 17, 1967, John Coltrane died due to complications arising from his years of alcohol and drug abuse.

Other Biographies
Blue Note Biography
Oxford University Press

Giant Steps : In Flash Animation Form

2006-12-20T18:07:00.000-05:00

This creative interpretation of John Coltrane's Giant Steps by new media artist Michal Levy is too cool each time I view it.

About the Project: Giant Steps

Graduation Project, Visual Communication Department, "The academy of Arts and Design,Bezalel".

When I listen to music I see colors and shapes and when I watch visual art I hear sounds.I wanted to express my sensing of shapes colors and music in this short movie.

I have chosen a short Jazz piece, which I have known for many years of my playing the saxophone: "Giant Steps" by John Coltraine. Coltrane made a major break through with his album "Giant Steps" in the year 1959. It was the first time in the history of Jazz music that someone based his music on symmetrical patterns, which stemmed from a mathematical division of the musical scale.

The structural approach of John Coltraineto music is associated with architectural thinking. The musical theme defines a space and the musical improvisation is like someone drifting in that imaginary space.

"Architecture is crystallized music". Goethe.

Duration of film: 2:15 minutes

Rahzel Beatboxing Short Documentary

2006-12-19T23:22:00.000-05:00

Miles Davis Interview, 1982

2006-12-19T23:02:00.000-05:00

Miles Davis is more than a jazz musician: he is a cultural icon, known even to people who can't tell bebop from fusion. That may seem strange considering that Davis made a career of defying the expectations of critics and audience alike, but it is just one more paradox associated with this mercurial artist.

Miles was born in Alton, Illinois on May 26, 1926. He grew up in East St. Louis in a middle class family, playing in his high school band as well as with several local R&B groups. He quickly became enamored of jazz, particularly the new sounds being created by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Davis' father sent him to Juliard to study music, but Miles didn't spend much time there, dropping out to play with Parker's quintet from 1946 to 1948. That proved to be a humbling experience at first, since Miles didn't yethave the chops to keep up with Parker's breakneck tempos and chord substitutions. He learned quickly, though, and grew immensely as a musician during his tenure with Bird.

Next, Miles hooked up with a group of musicians who were doing something completely different. This group included J.J. Johnson, Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, John Lewis, and Max Roach. While all were excellent bop players, they were developing a style that was less volatile and more relaxed, which suited Davis' temperement. The arrangements crafted by Lewis, Mulligan, John Carisi, and Gil Evans added more uniqueness to the nine-piece group's sound. Davis became the group's ad-hoc leader, and the classic Birth of the Cool was the result.

The early 50s were an erratic time for Davis, mostly due to his heroin addiction, and he was a disappointing performer during this time. By the middle of the decade, however, he had cleaned up and formed his first quintet, comprised of Davis, John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. This group became very popular and recorded several essential albums for the Prestige label: Cookin', Steamin', Workin', and Relaxin'. When the quintet broke up, Davis spent time collaborating again with arranger Gil Evans, resulting in great albums like Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain. He finished the decade out by recording one of the best known jazz albums of all time, Kind of Blue, with a sextet that included Coltrane, Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones.

In the 1960s Davis put together a second quintet, this time utilizing Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, and Ron Carter. The music of this group was more complex, moving through post-bop modal experimentation and eventually into some of the group improvisation and open forms of free jazz. Some of Davis' fans were mystified by the group's music, but it was uniformly applauded by critics, other musicians, and avid music fans eager for new sounds. The group's output has recently been collected in the 6-disc set The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings, 1965-'68.

As the 1970s beckoned, Miles realized that rock had replaced jazz as the music of choice for the younger generation. In order not to get left behind, he began to perform with an electronic band: electric guitar, electric bass, banks of electronic keyboards, and even an amplified trumpet. The sound was bubbling, dark, and dense, and it further alienated some jazz fans and many critics as well. There was no denying the power of the music Davis was producing, however: upon its release in 1970, Bitches Brew sold 400,000 copies, making it the best-selling jazz album of all time. The group included Chick Corea, Hancock, John McLaughlin, and others who went on to become mainstays of the jazz fusion movement.

Davis continued to perform and record throughout the 1970s and 1980s, continuing to perform with primarily electronic groups, often playing organ instead of his trumpet, and playing with his back to the audience. Some of the minimalist experiements he performed at the close of the 70s foreshadowed the ambient and electronic music that would become common in the 80s and 90s. Miles died on September 28, 1991, but his music, style, and collaborators all continue to influence not only jazz music, but popular culture as well.

Jimi Hendrix... Interesting Exchanges...

2006-12-19T22:36:00.000-05:00

In his brief four-year reign as a superstar, Jimi Hendrix expanded the vocabulary of the electric rock guitar more than anyone before or since. Hendrix was a master at coaxing all manner of unforeseen sonics from his instrument, often with innovative amplification experiments that produced astral-quality feedback and roaring distortion. His frequent hurricane blasts of noise and dazzling showmanship -- he could and would play behind his back and with his teeth and set his guitar on fire -- has sometimes obscured his considerable gifts as a songwriter, singer, and master of a gamut of blues, R&B, and rock styles.

When Hendrix became an international superstar in 1967, it seemed as if he'd dropped out of a Martian spaceship, but in fact he'd served his apprenticeship the long, mundane way in numerous R&B acts on the chitlin circuit. During the early and mid-'60s, he worked with such R&B/soul greats as Little Richard, the Isley Brothers, and King Curtis as a backup guitarist. Occasionally he recorded as a session man (the Isley Brothers' 1964 single "Testify" is the only one of these early tracks that offers even a glimpse of his future genius). But the stars didn't appreciate his show-stealing showmanship, and Hendrix was straight-jacketed by sideman roles that didn't allow him to develop as a soloist. The logical step was for Hendrix to go out on his own, which he did in New York in the mid-'60s, playing with various musicians in local clubs, and joining white blues-rock singer John Hammond, Jr.'s band for a while.

It was in a New York club that Hendrix was spotted by Animals bassist Chas Chandler. The first lineup of the Animals was about to split, and Chandler, looking to move into management, convinced Hendrix to move to London and record as a solo act in England. There a group was built around Jimi, also featuring Mitch Mitchell on drums and Noel Redding on bass, that was dubbed the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The trio became stars with astonishing speed in the U.K., where "Hey Joe," "Purple Haze," and "The Wind Cries Mary" all made the Top Ten in the first half of 1967. These tracks were also featured on their debut album, Are You Experienced?, a psychedelic meisterwerk that became a huge hit in the U.S. after Hendrix created a sensation at the Monterey Pop Festival in June of 1967.

Are You Experienced? was an astonishing debut, particularly from a young R&B veteran who had rarely sung, and apparently never written his own material, before the Experience formed. What caught most people's attention at first was his virtuosic guitar playing, which employed an arsenal of devices, including wah-wah pedals, buzzing feedback solos, crunching distorted riffs, and lightning, liquid runs up and down the scales. But Hendrix was also a first-rate songwriter, melding cosmic imagery with some surprisingly pop-savvy hooks and tender sentiments. He was also an excellent blues interpreter and passionate, engaging singer (although his gruff, throaty vocal pipes were not nearly as great assets as his instrumental skills). Are You Experienced? was psychedelia at its most eclectic, synthesizing mod pop, soul, R&B, Dylan, and the electric guitar innovations of British pioneers like Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, and Eric Clapton.

Amazingly, Hendrix would only record three fully conceived studio albums in his lifetime. Axis: Bold as Love and the double-LP Electric Ladyland were more diffuse and experimental than Are You Experienced? On Electric Ladyland in particular, Hendrix pioneered the use of the studio itself as a recording instrument, manipulating electronics and devising overdub techniques (with the help of engineer Eddie Kramer in particular) to plot uncharted sonic territory. Not that these albums were perfect, as impressive as they were; the instrumental breaks could meander, and Hendrix's songwriting was occasionally half-baked, never matching the consistency of Are You Experienced? (although he exercised greater creative control over the later albums).

The final two years of Hendrix's life were turbulent ones musically, financially, and personally. He was embroiled in enough complicated management and record company disputes (some dating from ill-advised contracts he'd signed before the Experience formed) to keep the lawyers busy for years. He disbanded the Experience in 1969, forming the Band of Gypsies with drummer Buddy Miles and bassist Billy Cox to pursue funkier directions. He closed Woodstock with a sprawling, shaky set, redeemed by his famous machine-gun interpretation of "The Star Spangled Banner." The rhythm section of Mitchell and Redding were underrated keys to Jimi's best work, and the Band of Gypsies ultimately couldn't measure up to the same standard, although Hendrix did record an erratic live album with them. In early 1970, the Experience re-formed again -- and disbanded again shortly afterward. At the same time, Hendrix felt torn in many directions by various fellow musicians, record-company expectations, and management pressures, all of whom had their own ideas of what Hendrix should be doing. Coming up on two years after Electric Ladyland, a new studio album had yet to appear, although Hendrix was recording constantly during the period.

While outside parties did contribute to bogging down Hendrix's studio work, it also seems likely that Jimi himself was partly responsible for the stalemate, unable to form a permanent lineup of musicians, unable to decide what musical direction to pursue, unable to bring himself to complete another album despite jamming endlessly. A few months into 1970, Mitchell -- Hendrix's most valuable musical collaborator -- came back into the fold, replacing Miles in the drum chair, although Cox stayed in place. It was this trio that toured the world during Hendrix's final months.

It's extremely difficult to separate the facts of Hendrix's life from rumors and speculation. Everyone who knew him well, or claimed to know him well, has different versions of his state of mind in 1970. Critics have variously mused that he was going to go into jazz, that he was going to get deeper into the blues, that he was going to continue doing what he was doing, or that he was too confused to know what he was doing at all. The same confusion holds true for his death: contradictory versions of his final days have been given by his closest acquaintances of the time. He'd been working intermittently on a new album, tentatively titled First Ray of the New Rising Sun, when he died in London on September 18, 1970, from drug-related complications.

Hendrix recorded a massive amount of unreleased studio material during his lifetime. Much of this (as well as entire live concerts) was issued posthumously; several of the live concerts were excellent, but the studio tapes have been the focus of enormous controversy for over 20 years. These initially came out in haphazard drabs and drubs (the first, The Cry of Love, was easily the most outstanding of the lot). In the mid-'70s, producer Alan Douglas took control of these projects, posthumously overdubbing many of Hendrix's tapes with additional parts by studio musicians. In the eyes of many Hendrix fans, this was sacrilege, destroying the integrity of the work of a musician known to exercise meticulous care over the final production of his studio recordings. Even as late as 1995, Douglas was having ex-Knack drummer Bruce Gary record new parts for the typically misbegotten compilation Voodoo Soup. After a lengthy legal dispute, the rights to Hendrix's estate, including all of his recordings, returned to Al Hendrix, the guitarist's father, in July of 1995.

With the help of Jimi's step-sister Janie, Al set up Experience Hendrix to begin to get Jimi's legacy in order. They began by hiring John McDermott and Jimi's original engineer, Eddie Kramer to oversee the remastering process. They were able to find all the original master tapes, which had never been used for previous CD releases, and in April of 1997, Hendrix's first three albums were reissued with drastically improved sound. Accompanying those reissues was a posthumous compilation album (based on Jimi's handwritten track listings) called First Rays of the New Rising Sun, made up of tracks from the Cry of Love, Rainbow Bridge and War Heroes.

Later in 1997, another compilation called South Saturn Delta showed up, collecting more tracks from posthumous LPs like Crash Landing, War Heroes, and Rainbow Bridge (without the terrible '70s overdubs), along with a handful of never-before-heard material that Chas Chandler had withheld from Alan Douglas for all those years.

More archival material followed; Radio One was basically expanded to the two-disc BBC Sessions (released in 1998), and 1999 saw the release of the full show from Woodstock as well as additional concert recordings from the Band of Gypsies shows entitled Live at the Fillmore East. 2000 saw the release of the Jimi Hendrix Experience four-disc box set, which compiled remaining tracks from In the West, Crash Landing and Rainbow Bridge along with more rarities and alternates from the Chandler cache.

The family also launched Dagger Records, essentially an authorized bootleg label to supply harcore Hendrix fans with material that would be of limited commercial appeal. Dagger Records has released several live concerts (of shows in Oakland, Ottawa and Clark University in Massachusetts) and a collection of studio jams and demos called Morning Symphony Ideas. ~ Richie Unterberger & Sean Westergaard, All Music Guide

Written by Richie Unterberger

Bjork: All Is Full Of Love

2006-12-19T22:27:00.000-05:00

Looks like this is going to start off the Bjorkfest...! This blog loves Bjork! So get used to it !

The Deleted Intro: The Secret

2006-12-19T19:50:00.000-05:00

This sequence was deleted from the original version of the film 'The Secret'.

Gil Scott-Heron Interview

2006-12-19T15:38:00.000-05:00

In 2001, Gil appeared on a "Charlie Rose meets Bill O'Reilly" style BBC TV interview show called HARDtalk. Fascinating stuff as Gil gets asked point blank about his drug issues. Fascinating also in how brilliant a man Gil is no matter his state of mind, body, and voice.

Bio
Gil Scott-Heron stands as a towering figure of black popular music. With a masters in creative writing from Johns Hopkins, the writer, poet, composer, pianist, and modern-day griot is a true artist in an industry lacking true artistry.

Scott-Heron emerged in the early 1970s with albums such as What’s Going On and There’s A Riot Goin’ On. By 1970, there was a profound shift in the struggle for equality as the fight for civil rights gave way to the demand for Black Power. The Civil Rights Movement had lost its focus, being ripped apart by differing interest groups and ignored by a wartime US government. The voices of its leaders were silenced by jail or bullets.

Black popular music reflected this change. The voices on the radio stopped preaching brotherhood and togetherness and started reporting the facts, and the music got more aggressive. Leading the new attack was a new voice: articulate, uncompromising, and enraged. The voice held the light up to the country’s missteps and shook up an apathetic audience. The voice was Gil Scott-Heron’s. Scott-Heron was born in Chicago in 1949. He grew up in Lincoln, Tennessee and later the Chelsea neighborhood of the Bronx.

As a student, he admired the poetry of Langston Hughes and followed his footsteps by enrolling in Lincoln University. By age 20, he completed the novel The Vulture and the book of poetry, Small Talk At 125th & Lenox. The Vulture was an auspicious beginning, heralded by Essence as "a strong start for a writer with important things to say." In the 1970’s, Scott-Heron hooked up with Flying Dutchman records to produce several important albums including Pieces of Man and Free Will.

During the 1980s, for Arista label, Scott-Heron released twelve albums. Then, after a twelve-year break, he signed with TVT Records and released Spirits in 1993. The first cut of this album, "Message To The Messenger," is a warning to today’s rappers, urging them to take responsibility in their art and in their communities. Since then, he has played to sell-out crowds all over the world, performing at major festivals in England and the United States, including New York’s Central Park.

Beatbox Battling Santas!

2006-12-19T11:16:00.000-05:00

If this doesn't at least make you smirk, check yah pulse. Beatboxing Santas. From the minds of Beatboxer Entertainment members, Kidlucky & Shockwave. this is what viral video is made for!

Mr. Heatmiser Music Video

2006-12-18T21:13:00.000-05:00

The Big Bad Voodoo Daddy cover of Mr. Heatmiser from the Rankin and Bass classic "The Year Without A Santa Claus" set to the ripped video.

Snow Miser Song Year Without A Santa Claus

2006-12-18T21:10:00.000-05:00

Heat Miser Song Year Without A Santa Claus

2006-12-18T21:07:00.000-05:00

How the Grinch Stole Christmas - 1966

2006-12-18T21:00:00.000-05:00

Little Man

2006-12-18T20:50:00.000-05:00

The Blue Planet - Deep Sea

2006-12-18T20:34:00.000-05:00

Part 1

Part 2

Hello...

2006-12-18T19:22:00.000-05:00

And we begin a new journey.