And the children shall lead...

One should be wary of child stars, because the track record of happy outcomes for them is so bad.  Youtube is swarming with so-called “prodigies” who have impressive skills, or preternaturally good voices, and sometimes even winning stage presence.  It’s easy to be charmed by them.  And most of them fade away or burn out within a few years, sometimes only months, after being "discovered".

 

For this post, I picked five solo artists and one band that have made it past the worst of the danger zone.  Some have gone on to have significant, and repeated, commercial success; others have achieved seriousness by being recognized, and even invited to collaborate, by the established stars in their field.  They have other things in common: 1) Early on, they were already noticeably better than the typical “prodigy”, whether because of their sound, or the sophistication of their material, or their understanding of the art;  and 2) They have strong support systems that have not pushed them beyond their limits.

 

 

Still cutting her teeth:  Angelina Jordan

Angelina auditioned for Norway’s Got Talent just shy of her eighth birthday.  Some of the judges were brought to tears.  Words don’t do this justice, so just click and play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3gSho9yf88

 

 

How can you be a great jazz stylist at 10?

By age 10, Angelina had proven she could channel Billie Holiday, Amy Winehouse, Dinah Washington, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Elvis, among others.  Here she is singing Cole Porter’s classic, “Every Time We Say Goodbye”, channeling Ella herself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD3hZOanKrc

 

 

Angelina: Stay

Angelina Jordan recently enjoyed a big run on America’s Got Talent.  Even on that show, her performances just hint at how extraordinary she is.  This intimate little clip comes closer.  Angelina, age 12:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GSVPvCy3Yg

The Warning

This trio of siblings from Mexico posted a Metallica cover six years ago that went viral.  Since then they have released two albums which charted on Amazon; opened for Aerosmith, Def Leppard and Alice Cooper, among others; and were about to tour the US when the virus came along.  The oldest one just turned 20.    Here is that first Metallica cover, shot in their parents’ basement:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1boUYB9LFJY

Yoyoka:  Let's start with Led Zeppelin

Ten-year old Yoyoka Soma began drumming at age 2, started posting videos of herself drumming at age 7, and regularly appears in international drum festivals. She has received kudos from the likes of Robert Plant, Dave Grohl, and other prominent musicians, and has appeared on TV shows in the U.S. 

 

Here she is at age 7, doing a drum cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times, Bad Times”.  Bonzo would have been proud.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BslksgTF4X4

 

 

Yoyoka nails the shuffle roll

Here is Yoyoka doing a cover of Toto’s “Rosanna”. I wasn’t a big fan of Toto, but this drum line is a bit of genius. Even long time professional drummers have trouble with it.  I’ve gone from being amazed at Yoyoka to simply being baffled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P-tTLmuKo0

 

 

 

Genius finds Genius

What are your kids doing during the lockdown?  Here are Yoyoka and the rising young guitar phenom Lisa X (15), doing Joe Satriani’s Satch Boogie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryJr2-xENvA

Jackie Evancho:  Nessun Dorma

Nessun Dorma is one of the hardest things in the world to sing.  Compounding the challenge for a female, it was composed for tenor voice. Few women have even attempted it.  Here, Jackie Evancho, age 11, not only attempts it, she emphatically nails it.  As far as I know, the only person who ever held the third “Vincero!” longer was Pavarotti;  Evancho goes one better and adds an extra “Vincero!” at the end, for good measure.  She is 20 now, and has a successful career as a vocalist.  I’ve seen her live and she is remarkable.  But her performances as a child were beyond remarkable, they were surreal, and this may have been the most surreal moment of all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5F9VHJQ1AY#t=73.375056

 

 

“I don’t want to be called another Mozart.”--Alma Deutscher

I’ve been following Alma Deutscher for about four years. She is a composer and an accomplished violinist and pianist.  Her work has been performed all over the world, by major orchestras and opera companies.  Here is her performance, at age nine, of the third movement of her first Violin Concerto, backed by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zad7fkhGzzs

 

 

Alma does Carnegie Hall

This clip is from Alma’s Carnegie Hall debut in December 2019, just before her 15^th birthday. Here, she is off stage, listening as the orchestra performs her work. Her short speech just before the performance is part of her ongoing campaign to wrestle classical music away from what she calls “ugliness” and return it to its roots. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0xMpLXQNvM

Some things don’t have a credible explanation:  Joey Alexander

I’ve saved the most mysterious for last.  When Joey Alexander was five, and showing signs of developmental challenges, his father was advised to find activities for him that would allow him to focus on sensory integration. The father, himself an amateur musician and a jazz fan, bought him a small electric keyboard to play with.  A few days later, the father heard Joey playing a Thelonius Monk piece on his toy piano, from memory.   Here he is, at age 10, in a recording session for his first album, which was released a year later.  He is playing Coltrane’s “Giant Steps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4V_uaxBVOw

 

Where did you get those moves? (Not so) random dance videos

 

Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels

Todrick Hall knew as a child he wanted to be a performer, but had to struggle against a lot of prejudice, including from his own family.  He is the quintessential example of someone who made it largely by posting on youtube.  Now his tours sell out (or did until the plague).  A clip of this performance is featured in the promotional campaign for the venerable Uffizi Gallery in Florence.  Go figure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ04gPb4LlY

Fred Astaire dancing to "Smooth Criminal"

Michael Jackson was an innovator.  He went so far as to patent some of the shoes he designed for his dance routines.  But he also studied his predecessors.  If you wonder where he got some of his moves, here’s one possibility.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeQ39Ad9vFA

Astaire meets his match?

Yes, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are the iconic pair.  But Astaire worked for a short time with another, even more remarkable, dancer: Eleanor Powell.  When I watched this clip for the first time, I was blown away.  She’s smoother and more powerful than he is (in heels, no less), seems larger than life, and is certainly more charismatic.  Watch closely: Astaire liberally uses the little cheats, the compensating hand movements dancers use to stay centered and balanced; she doesn't need them.

 

So, what became of Eleanor Powell?  She was already a star when they made this movie.  Working with Astaire was supposed to be the crowning milestone for her.  Astaire, perhaps intimidated, refused to work with her again.  She continued to have some success in movies, but eventually faded from the scene.  Ironically, one of her last appearances was in a tribute to Astaire.  According to contemporary reports, she stole the show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37XhIuqsWVk

How to dance properly to “Get Lucky”

This is a series of video clips from the 1970’s TV show “Soul Train”, set to Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky”.  Love the outfits.  Love the moves.  Words almost fail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOPVmvqi7JY

 

 

George Harrison: What is Life?

Set in the San Francisco Presidio and the nearby national cemetery.  George Harrison’s estate picked this from thousands of submissions of videos to commemorate his life.  I can’t argue with the choice. Dancers: Emma Rubinowitz (San Francisco Ballet) and Esteban Hernandez

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiH9edd25Bc

 

 

Yes, this is real.  No special effects.

Marquese Scott started dancing as a hobby while serving in the military, working fast-food and warehouse jobs, and taking care of his folks.  He started posting dance routines on youtube, and in 2011, this one broke out and went viral.  He now teaches dance and organizes dance festivals.  His rise coincides with the emergence of a whole new range of music genres including Dubstep, which is his go-to style for dance compositions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXO-jKksQkM

 

 

Dance as performance art

World Order were formed in 2009, and specialize in formation dancing in public places.  Part of the fun is the reactions of unsuspecting passers-by.  “Machine Civilization” was their global breakout hit from 2011, a commentary on industrialized, regimented lives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-qhj3sJ5qs

 

 

Dead Inside

Muse are my favorite post-grunge minimalist rock band, but they add a little synth-pop vibe here.  The video is a real detour for them.  Beautiful performance by Kathryn McCormick and Will Wingfield...but how do you dance in all that dust without choking? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5sJhSNUkwQ

Mask, Gloves, Soap, Scrubs

Zoom dance, with janitorial supplies.  Todrick’s satire of his own “viral” hit “Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels”, adapted for the pandemic era.  Nothing really to add.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WYA6dE8QPk

 

 

 

 

 

Not the Village People: Rock and metal mix it up with traditional folk music

 

Rock music infiltrated almost every corner of the globe, and was initially considered completely separate from local, traditional music.  In fact, in many places it was greeted with hostility by the older generation, who feared contamination - some countries even tried to ban it. But the generations who grew up with rock are now merging it with their folk music, and the results can be amazing.  Folk mashed up with metal is even more exotic, because folk music and metal are fundamentally opposites:  "Folk music", by definition, is local and is rooted in tradition.  Metal is borderless, and is all about technical innovation.  It takes special inspiration to combine the two ideas successfully.  Here are some groups around the world that are doing just that. 

 

 

Irish Family Affair

The Corrs are four siblings who blend Irish folk music with rock into something all their own.  Here they are with guest artist Mick Fleetwood:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIi3AZe3Sik

Respect

Rock, blues and funk owe themselves mostly to African musical tropes brought to the West through the slave trade and by way of the Caribbean.  Now, African musicians are taking rock themes and instrumentation, and mixing them with their traditional melodies and rhythms.  Here’s one I really like: Malian composer, singer and instrumentalist Fatoumata Diawara. She mostly writes and sings about societal concerns like freedom, sovereignty, civil war, emigration, genocide, misogyny and race relations, but always with a sense of hope that things can be better.  She has little visibility in the U.S. but a big international following.  Bonya means "Respect".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji729K2Xuxs

 

The Who?  no, the Hu!

After being warred over by the Russians and Chinese, Mongolia regained its independence 99 years ago. Today, it is a country of 3 million, still sandwiched between Russia and China. Theirs is a precarious existence, one that requires a lot of moxie.  The Hu have that in spades. They mix traditional instruments and throat-singing with a metal vibe.  A good throat-singer can sing a low note and one or more high harmonics simultaneously, a startling effect if you haven’t heard it. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4xZUr0BEfE

 

Tuareg Santana?

Bombino taught himself guitar by watching rock videos while in exile during one of Niger’s civil wars. Music became so associated with the Tuareg rebellion that guitars were briefly banned in Niger, and some musicians were executed. This is from a documentary about him made during a lull in the fighting. He has performed with major Western artists like Robert Plant and the Black Keys, has released several albums, and was nominated for a Grammy in 2019. He still sings mainly in Tuareg.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adfb17JQYtg

 

Protecting your village from invasion for over 100 generations!

Why be confined to the present day?  These folks play human bones, animal-hide drums and other assorted prehistoric instruments reconstructed from archaeological digs. They sing in several languages, including proto-Germanic, a language reconstructed by academicians from Old Norse and other modern and archaic languages. They also wear antlers.  Since it’s basically Bronze-age music, I’d say that makes it metal.  I was 2000 years late in finding them, but better late than never!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRg_8NNPTD8

 

Lady of the Desert

Oum’s name means “Lady of the Desert”. She sings in several languages, and blends influences from Moroccan folk music and sub-Saharan rhythms to American jazz. She has amazing vocal control and agility. Not sure this is rock, but it rocks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=297klwcKKmI

 

Hijab Metal.  Believe it.

This group have received death threats for doing what they do: Being a teenaged, all-female band from a rural Muslim village in Indonesia, playing a mashup of local folk songs, metal, and rap while wearing hijab.  Their songs are political—how can they not be, when you are singing about having your own mind in a country that finds the idea subversive?  Some of the lyrics are in English, if you listen for it.  Musical nerd note: They are all solid on their instruments, but the bass player is extraordinary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aZX-C8HKJc

 

In a galaxy far, far away...

Why confine ourselves to this planet?  In 2019 the Hu were commissioned to create the opening song for the soundtrack of the new Star Wars video game.  The result will have you wanting to go out and save the galaxy.  Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJZfEh3EciU

 

Shredding on the Koto and Shamisen

Finally, my favorite in this list.  It is an ambitious interlacing of western rock instrumentation with Japanese traditional instruments, scales and harmonies.  The individual musicians are all masters at what they do.  I don't think anyone has ever played the shamisen or koto quite like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2meWkWqc-I

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                          

New Wave (2)

 

 

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Painted Bird

I didn’t learn of Siouxie and the Banshees until some of their late 80’s hits made it into airplay in the U.S.  But they had a huge impact on New Wave and experimental rock in the late ‘70’s and early ‘80s.  Siouxie was a fan of the London Punk scene when she was asked out of the blue to fill an empty slot at a local festival.  She formed a band on the spot, and they soon became underground legends.  No one wanted to sign a female-led act (sound familiar?) but after a guerilla campaign by their fans, they did get signed, and immediately hit it big.  Here is a 1982 performance of one of my favorites by them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5jmB4xgNWw

 

OMD – Joan of Arc

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark wrote two songs about Joan of Arc, one literal and one metaphorical.  They were both released in 1980.  This is a remaster of the first one. OMD are still recording and performing almost 40 years later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL7HpfVuZwc

OMD – Maid of Orleans

Here is the second OMD song with a Jeanne d’Arc theme.  Live version with full orchestra:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px6tjpOwCHk

Martha and the Muffins – Saigon

Here is one of the coolest early 80’s groups, Martha and the Muffins.  Martha Johnson and Martha Ladly formed and led this group through several lineups. Johnson is still recording and performing.  Ladly is now a professor at the University of Ontario.  This is my favorite by them—irresistible groove, great performances by the Muffins (their male bandmates), and a brooding sense of loss over something that never was.  

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4wXzDw_EWU

Alphaville – Big in Japan

Another group that helped dispel the fog of the 70’s.  There is something about early 80’s New Wave that is hard to describe—the combination of catchy, danceable grooves with a sense of dread and foreboding in the vocals and lyrics.  I can’t help but think that the artists sensed we were partying on borrowed time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjGl-pq4RxQ

 

 

Bronski Beat – Smalltown Boy

I think one of the things that gave popular music such a jolt starting around 1978-79 was the explosion of openly gay bands.  Alphaville, Bronski Beat, the Communards, Erasure, the Smiths, the Pet Shop Boys, Boy George…just a few years before, it would have been unthinkable for them to be out.  Suddenly, they were everywhere. They got wide radio play and were the mainstays of urban clubs.  It’s not clear that the college kids dancing to this stuff even knew what it was about, but it doesn’t matter.  Here’s one of my favorite songs from that time. It’s desperately sad but you probably danced to it. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88sARuFu-tc

The Communards – Don’t Leave Me This Way

Jimmy Somerville left Bronski Beat to co-found the Communards, and they had a number of hits including this 1986 cover of Thelma Houston’s Disco classic “Don’t Leave Me This Way”. Sarah Jane Morris did the tenor track, while Jimmy sang the soprano lead. If you watch closely, their band is mostly women. Everything about them was transgressive, but that didn’t stop this number from becoming perhaps the biggest party song of the ‘80s. At the end of the video, they flee the stormtroopers who have come to arrest them. A reminder of how far we still have to go until people can just live their lives safely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RHBAd5YUR8

Grace Jones – I’ve Seen That Face Before

Grace Jones was almost literally a Black Swan.  A successful fashion model at a time when Black people were all but invisible in that world, she bent all the rules with her cross-dressing, androgynous look and intimidating persona. She was already recording music in the 70’s, mixing genres and styles and refusing to stay in the lanes traditionally reserved for black musicians.  This is her breakout hit from 1981.  I love the mashup of tango, reggae and Parisian street chanson. She borrowed liberally, and in turn influenced a lot of artists, including, to my ears, Blondie and the whole New Wave movement. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIN3IE3DHqc

Grace Jones – Walking in the Rain

One summer night in 1986, I went with some friends to the reopening of a notoriously wild nightclub in San Francisco’s Mission district. In addition to the dance floor and bar, there was a new courtyard with a large fountain in the middle. At midnight, in the middle of a set of songs by Grace Jones, with the crowd fully amped, Jones herself emerged, naked, from the fountain. I have no idea how they did it. She strode regally through the crowd and disappeared into a room behind the bar. I can’t think of anyone else who could have pulled that off. This is not her biggest hit but it's my favorite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dclzdZVX978

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rock (2): Just the basics--drums, bass, and guitar: Cream, Hendrix, ZZTop, King Crimson and more

The Power Trio, from the 1960’s to now

The trio is a special configuration-it has enough voices to sound big and complex, yet still leaves the musicians completely exposed.  It is a common format in classical and jazz, where the bar to be taken seriously as a musician is extremely high to start with. It is not a common format in rock, because while basic competence is enough to get you in the game in rock, you need more than that to survive in a trio—you need extraordinarily skilled and tireless musicians. My list of great rock trios includes Cream, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, King Crimson (Red version); Rush, ZZ Top and a few others.  (Feel free to suggest any of your favorites I missed!) These groups share certain characteristics:  They have almost telepathic musical chemistry; they are all virtuosos, and their material is catchy and memorable.

 

Cream

It is hard to overstate the importance of Cream in rock history.  The first great power trio.  The first supergroup. The first to meld blues, psychedelic and hard rock.  The first proto-metal band.  They were together for only two years, but in terms of impact per day, in my opinion there is no group, even the Beatles, that rivals them.  It started when Ginger Baker recruited a young, rising star named Eric Clapton, based on his blues work with John Mayall.  They brought Jack Bruce, a jazz-influenced bassist, on board, and things ignited.  Cream, along with Jimi Hendrix, rewrote the rulebook for rock, setting standards for intensity, virtuosity, and creativity that are still the bar for rock bands today.  And, if you appreciate heavy metal at all, you know that Cream (and Hendrix) essentially laid the groundwork for the entire genre. 

 

Cream reunited for special performances a couple of times, including this set at Royal Albert Hall in 2005.  Clapton is 60 in this video; Ginger Baker (drums) is 66; and Jack Bruce (bass, vocals), 63.  They turn in a seismic performance.  I could go on and on about the little details, but I won’t. Consider it a statement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyftaay-pFA

 

 

 

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

This could easily have been posted under “guitar heroes”, given that Hendrix was obviously the center of attention.  But they were a legitimate power trio, and, like Cream, they obliterated conventional wisdom, weaving together psychedelia, extreme distortion, and complex rhythms and timings. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLV4_xaYynY

 

 

ZZ Top

Founded in 1969, they are still at it.  They experimented with a wide range of styles, but are best known for straight-ahead bad-boy rock (lots of cars, women and un-PC lyrics) and an outlandish image.  They never took themselves seriously, which probably helps explain why they have lasted 50+ years.  But make no mistake, these guys know their way around their instruments.  It is said that Dusty Hill and Billy Gibbons’ beards have been willed to the Smithsonian.  The drummer, Frank Beard, doesn’t have a beard.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG2JtdUEMJU

 

King Crimson:  Red

Robert Fripp could never stay in one place for long.  His band, King Crimson, has gone through dozens of lineups, put out some 30 albums, and co-invented several genres of music.  For me, “Red” (1974) is one of the 10 best albums ever, in any genre.  They morphed from big prog-rock ensemble with string arrangements, grandiose lyrics and liberal use of the mellotron, to a brutally stripped down power trio, playing complex time signatures and jarring tritonic chord progressions influenced by Bartok and Stravinsky. Bill Bruford, previously with Yes, turns in a mesmerizing, epic performance on drums.  The whole thing is weirdly beautiful. Here is the title track. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_pDwv3tpug

 

 

 

Rush:  YYZ (In memory of the recently departed Neil Peart) 

Very few groups sound as good live as they do in the studio—Rush was one of them.  They made a lot of albums, won some Grammys, but were first and foremost a touring band.  Here is their live performance in Rio de Janeiro:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eSlvoO3Vw8

 

 

 

The Police

They’re a bit of an oddball here because much of their work was light and airy, infused with reggae, jazz and ska.  They didn’t hit you with a wall of sound, but still somehow filled the space around you.  Started in 1977, they became part of the New Wave movement of the 1980s, but they did a much wider variety of things than most New Wave bands.  One thing that always stood out was their spare arrangements, which rest on the perfect execution by all three members.  I picked this piece because it has more of a driving beat than some of their other hits, and shows off their talents as musicians.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v2GDbEmjGE

 

 

 

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble

SRV and Double Trouble started off barnstorming Texas, then broke out nationally, and eventually globally. I think it’s not exaggerated to say these guys saved the blues in the U.S.  They used their platform and fame to bring attention back to the previous generation of blues musicians, whose obscurity in their home country is a shameful indictment of our music industry and culture.  I saw them live, twice, and they were incendiary.  Since SRV’s death in a helicopter crash, Double Trouble remain in high demand as session musicians with other big names.  Here is one of their live performances, doing a cover of Hendrix’ Voodoo Child:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe3G7p1Z-xU

 

 

 

Muse:  Supermassive Black Hole

With the deconstruction of rock in the West, the emphasis has been on minimalist arrangements without a lot of technical finesse.  This (English) band is not in the same mold as a classic power trio, but it’s the contemporary equivalent, and it’s currently my favorite alt-rock band.  They do a deceptively minimalist mash-up of different styles, with falsetto vocals layered on top.  This video has deliberately, almost absurdly low production values, which have spawned a whole genre of humor in the wake of the recent announcement of actual telescopic images of a black hole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsp3_a-PMTw

Here is the picture of the black hole:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/10/world/black-hole-photo-scn/index.html

 

 

 

Asterism:  Rising Moon

Here is my pick for the next great power trio. Despite being only 18, 16 and 15 at the time of this recording, they are already technically better than many of the preceding groups. Their sound is a throwback to Cream and Rush, with the intricate drum and bass work.  The guitarist is on another level altogether; she also writes most of their material.  Now they just need to produce a few years of interesting work to be considered among the greats.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfxMi0Bx4x0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your Recommendations (1)

 

One of the rewards of putting in the time on this blog, is getting suggestions from you.  You’ve showed me new things I had never heard, and reacquainted me with music I had not thought about in a long time.  I’ve also enjoyed the discussions and debates over what makes great music.  I’ve been collecting your suggestions, so here are a few of them.  I will keep doing these as long as you keep sharing your favorite ideas with me!

 

 

Eva Cassidy:  Over the Rainbow

A lot of you responded to my Eva Cassidy post, and why not?  Her voice is a wonder.  Most people who discover her have the same reaction I did:  I want more!  …And then we find out she died long ago at the age of 33.  It’s weird to fall in love with someone only to discover they’re already gone.  Here is her most famous track—thank you Ed W. for suggesting it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rd8VktT8xY

 

 

Marc Almond:  Tears Run Rings

Marc Almond was involved in a lot of early 80’s synth-pop and new wave acts, including Soft Cell.  I was posting some of those groups, and Mitch R. suggested this one.  When I played it, I realized I had heard it in dance clubs (in the day), but always wondered who did it.  So thank you Mitch for solving that one for me, all these years later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAGyH_EYXeQ

 

 

Allman Brothers:  Blue Sky

The Allman Brothers were part of my college soundtrack.  They were virtuoso musicians, and in Duane Allman and Dickey Betts, they had the rare luxury of two true virtuoso lead guitarists.  This song was written by Betts; it’s one of the last things recorded by Duane Allman before his death in a traffic accident.  Thanks to Alan Y. for the recommendation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwyXQn9g40I

 

 

Theme from “A Man and a Woman”

After posting the theme from “Once Upon a Time in the West”, by Ennio Morricone, I got a lot of suggestions for movie themes and soundtracks.  Here is one you have heard before, whether or not you ever saw the movie—it even appears in the background in other movies.  Thanks Ed W.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J00jr868okc

 

 

Love Theme from Cinema Paradiso

Turns out everyone is an Ennio Morricone fan.  It also turns out that a lot of people love “Cinema Paradiso”.  It’s certainly on my list of top-ten films of all time, and I seem to have company.  Think of it as a “chick flick” that guys love too. Thank you Karon M. and Jodi W. for recommending this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSkyoyyvnAY

 

 

Esperanza Spalding:  Wild is the Wind

As I said in my original post on her, Esperanza Spalding may be the coolest person alive.  She is multi-talented to an extreme, writes catchy but edgy music, and does things in live performance that seem impossible.  This was one I had not heard before, so thank you Bob F. for the suggestion!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IqcmhkfJRE

 

 

Steve Winwood: John Barleycorn Must Die

Steve Winwood was another ubiquitous presence in our college soundtrack.  He was a songwriting genius and member of several short-lived but impactful bands, the two best known being Traffic and Blind Faith.  Here, he does an unplugged solo performance of one of Traffic’s biggest hits.  I was not aware of this version of the song until Russ S. suggested it.  Thank you Russ.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8878chOvfI

 

 

David Sanborn:  The Dream

David Sanborn has had a long career as a session musician with many of the top rock, blues, funk, jazz and pop artists of the past four decades.  His first break came when he played with the Brecker Brothers, where he picked up on their hard-driving mix of jazz and funk. He only put out a few albums under his own name but among musicians he is considered top-drawer.  Thank Alan Y. for recommending this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWh9V36gVv4