Bernie Worrell: One of the Worlds Most Innovative Keyboardists and Co-Founder of Parliament-Funkadelic Transitions at Age 72

His musical life began early — according to his official biography, he started studying piano at age 3, wrote his first concerto at age 8 and performed with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., at 10. The classically trained keyboardist (he studied at Juilliard and the New England Conservatory of Music) made his name — and an indelible mark on music — in the world of P-Funk. Worrell, aka "The Wizard of Woo," was an early member of Parliament-Funkadelic, George Clinton's sprawling, theatrical and wildly influential funk collective.—Camila Domonoske

Dr. George Bernard "Bernie" Worrell, Jr. (April 19, 1944 – June 24, 2016)[1] was an American keyboardist and composer best known as a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and for his work with Talking Heads. He was a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic.

From Left: Bernie Worrell, Grady Thomas, unident., Fuzzy Haskins, George Clinton, Tiki Fulwood, unident., Michael Hampton, unident., Calvin Simon of the funk band Parliament-Funkadelic.  Circa 1974.

Early life

Worrell was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, and grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey. A musical prodigy, he began formal piano lessons by age three and wrote a concerto at age eight. He went on to study at Juilliard and the New England Conservatory of Music.

One Nation Under A Groove
Full Album

 

1970s

As a college student around 1970, Worrell played with a group called Chubby & The Turnpikes (later to be known as Tavares). The drummer in that band was Joey Kramer, who left in October 1970 to be a founding member of the rock band Aerosmith. After meeting George Clinton, leader of a doo wop group called The Parliaments, Worrell, Clinton, The Parliaments and their backing band, The Funkadelics, moved to Detroit, Michigan, and became collectively known as Parliament-Funkadelic. During the 1970s the same group of musicians separately recorded under the names Parliament and Funkadelic, (among several others), but toured as P-Funk. Worrell played grand piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, Hohner Clavinet, Hammond B3 organ, ARP String Ensemble and Moog synthesizer, co-wrote, and wrote horn and rhythm arrangements on hit recordings for both groups and other associated bands under the "Parliafunkadelicment Thang" production company, and many of his most notable performances were recorded with Bootsy's Rubber Band, Parlet, The Brides of Funkenstein and The Horny Horns. Worrell recorded a 1978 solo album, All the Woo in the World, with the musical backing of P-Funk's members.

Atomic Dog

While funk musicians traditionally utilized electric keyboards, such as the Hammond organ and Fender Rhodes electric piano, Worrell was the second recipient of the Moog synthesizer created by Bob Moog. Mainly responsible for creating Parliament's futuristic sound, Worrell's use of the Minimoog bass on the Parliament song "Flash Light", on 1977's Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome, heavily influenced the sound of R&B music and served as a bridge between American R&B and the insurgence of new wave, new age and techno. He used the ARP Pro Soloist as well.[2] Worrell's synthesizer work is prominent on the majority of Parliament's most popular (and most sampled)[citation needed] songs throughout the 1970s, most notably "Mothership Connection (Star Child)" and "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)" from Mothership Connection (1975) and "Aqua Boogie" from Motor Booty Affair (1978).

1980s

When Parliament-Funkadelic took a hiatus from touring in the early 1980s, Worrell was recruited, along with other musicians from differing musical genres such as guitarist Adrian Belew, to perform and record with Talking Heads, a pioneering new wave band. Worrell's experience and feel for different arrangements enhanced the overall sound of the band. Though he never officially joined Talking Heads, he was a de facto member of the group for most of the '80s, appearing on one of their studio albums, several solo albums, and multiple tours until they officially disbanded in 1991. Worrell can be seen in the band's concert film Stop Making Sense. Worrell was invited to perform with Talking Heads at their one-off reunion as part of their 2002 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[3]

Worrell co-produced Fred Schneider's 1984 solo album Fred Schneider and the Shake Society and played keyboards and synthesizers on some of the album's tracks.
1990s–2010s

Maggot Brain
Full Album

From the late 1980s through the 2010s, Worrell recorded extensively with Bill Laswell, including Sly and Robbie's Laswell-produced Rhythm Killers and the 1985 Fela Kuti album Army Arrangement. Worrell performed with Gov't Mule. Through the beginning of the 21st century, he became a visible member of the jam band scene, performing in many large summer music festivals, sometimes billed as Bernie Worrell and the Woo Warriors. He appeared on several Jack Bruce albums, including A Question of Time, Cities of the Heart, Monkjack and More Jack than God.

Bernie Worrell performs at Moog Fest - 2016.

In 1994, Worrell appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool. The album, meant to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS epidemic in the African-American community,[4] was heralded as "Album of the Year" by TIME Magazine.[5]

Worrell joined the rock group Black Jack Johnson, with Mos Def, Will Calhoun, Doug Wimbish and Dr. Know. He appears with the band on Mos Def's 2004 release The New Danger.

Worrell joined forces with bass legend Les Claypool, guitarist Buckethead and drummer Bryan Mantia to form the group Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains.

Flash Light

Worrell's project Baby Elephant was a collaboration with Stetsasonic member/De La Soul producer Prince Paul and longtime Paul associate Don Newkirk. Released September 11, 2007, Turn My Teeth Up! featured George Clinton, Shock G, Yellowman, Reggie Watts, Nona Hendryx, David Byrne and Gabby La La. In 2009, he joined longtime Parliament-Funkadelic guitarist DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight, bassist Melvin Gibbs and drummer J.T. Lewis to form the band SociaLybrium. Their album For You/For Us/For All was released on Livewired Music in January 2010.

Worrell appeared in the 2004 documentary film Moog with synthesizer pioneer Bob Moog and several other Moog synthesizer musicians. In 2011, he toured with Bootsy Collins, another major figure from Parliament-Funkadelic.

From 2011 through 2015, Worrell performed with his group, the Bernie Worrell Orchestra. The band became known for the appearance of special guests at live performances, including Bootsy Collins, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, Jimmy Destri, Mike Watt, Rah Digga and Gary Lucas.

Worrell worked on the Seattle based Khu.éex' project fusing traditional Tlingit music with funk, jazz, and experimental music. The protect includes Preston Singletary, Skerik, Stanton Moore, and Randall Dunn among others.

In 2015, Worrell appeared in the movie Ricki and the Flash as the keyboard player in Meryl Streep's band. The movie reunited Worrell with director Jonathan Demme, who had directed Stop Making Sense.

Worrell was a judge for the 12th, 13th, and 14th annual Independent Music Awards.

During May 2016, the New England Conservatory of Music gave Worrell, who studied at the school until 1967, an honorary Doctor of Music degree.[6]
Personal life

In January 2016, Worrell was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer.[7] He relocated from New Jersey, his long-time home,[8] to Bellingham, Washington.[9]

A tribute and benefit concert to raise funds for Worrell's cancer treatment, produced by the Black Rock Coalition and featuring musicians with whom Worrell has worked over his career, occurred on April 4 and 5, 2016.[9][10]

On May 9, Worrell's wife Judie posted an update on his condition on his Facebook page:

As of Friday, Bernie can barely speak. Tumor has grown and Recurrent laryngeal nerve is pressing on vocal cord, paralyzing it. Treatment starts Tuesday to (hopefully) shrink tumor before it gets to other vocal cord and/or shuts down breathing. VERY difficult time for him.

I am updating y'all because many asked BUT do not consider this an invitation to bombard us with treatment ideas. Bernie is deciding what treatment he wants. I will delete any more messages that do not respect his decision(s).[11]

Judie Worrell issued a statement on Facebook on June 16 to friends and family that "I was just told that Bernie is now headed 'Home'."[12] She encouraged people close to Worrell to "visit him to say your goodbyes" and added that he is too ill to speak on the phone or text.[12] He died at the age of 72 on June 24, 2016.

SOURCE: Wikipedia

Ralph Stanley, Master of Appalachian Bluegrass — Transitions at Age 89

Ralph Edmund Stanley (February 25, 1927 – June 23, 2016), also known as Dr. Ralph Stanley, was an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing. Stanley began playing music in 1946, originally with his brother Carter as part of The Stanley Brothers, and most often as the leader of his band, The Clinch Mountain Boys.

Oh Death
From the film 'O, Brother, Where Art Thou?'

He was part of the first generation of bluegrass musicians and was inducted into both the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor and the Grand Ole Opry.

Biography

Ralph Edmond Stanley was born, grew up, and lived in rural Southwest Virginia—"in a little town called McClure at a place called Big Spraddle, just up the holler" from where he moved in 1936 and lived ever since in Dickenson County.[1] The son of Lee and Lucy Stanley, Ralph did not grow up around a lot of music in his home. As he says, his "daddy didn't play an instrument, but sometimes he would sing church music. And I'd hear him sing songs like 'Man of Constant Sorrow,' 'Pretty Polly' and 'Omie Wise.'"[1]

I got my first banjo when I was a teenager. I guess I was 15, 16 years old. My aunt had this old banjo, and Mother bought it for me ... paid $5 for it, which back then was probably like $5,000. [My parents] had a little store, and I remember my aunt took it out in groceries.[1]

He learned to play the banjo, clawhammer style, from his mother:

She had 11 brothers and sisters, and all of them could play the five-string banjo. She played gatherings around the neighborhood, like bean stringin's. She tuned it up for me and played this tune, "Shout Little Luly," and I tried to play it like she did. But I think I developed my own style of the banjo.[1]

He graduated from high school on May 2, 1945 and was inducted into the Army on May 16, serving "little more than a year." He immediately began performing when he got home:

... my daddy and Carter picked me up from the (station), and Carter was playing with another group, Roy Sykes and the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys, and they had a personal appearance that night. So I sung a song with Carter on the radio before I even got home.[2]

Clinch Mountain Boys

After considering a course in "veterinary", he decided instead to throw in with his older guitar-playing brother Carter Stanley (1925–1966) to form the Clinch Mountain Boys in 1946. Drawing heavily on the musical traditions of the area, which included the unique minor-key singing style of the Primitive Baptist Universalist church and the sweet down-home family harmonies of the Carter Family, the two Stanley brothers began playing on local radio stations. They first performed at Norton, Virginia's WNVA, but did not stay long there, moving on instead to Bristol, Virginia, and WCYB to start the show Farm and Fun Time, where they stayed "off and on for 12 years".[2]

At first they covered "a lot of Bill Monroe music" (one of the first groups to pick up the new "bluegrass" format).[3] They soon "found out that didn't pay off—we needed something of our own. So we started writing songs in 1947, 1948. I guess I wrote 20 or so banjo tunes, but Carter was a better writer than me."[2] When Columbia Records signed them as The Stanley Brothers, Bill Monroe left in protest and joined Decca. Later, Carter went back to sing for the "Father of Bluegrass", Bill Monroe.

Ralph Stanley gave his opinion on Bill Monroe's apparent change of heart: "He [Bill Monroe] knew Carter would make him a good singer. . . Bill Monroe loved our music and loved our singing."[2]

The Stanley Brothers joined King Records in the late '50s, a record company so eclectic that it included James Brown at the time. In fact, James Brown and his band were in the studio when the Stanley Brothers recorded "Finger Poppin' Time". "James and his band were poppin' their fingers on that" according to Ralph.[2] At King Records, they "went to a more 'Stanley style', the sound that people most know today."[2]

Ralph and Carter performed as The Stanley Brothers with their band, The Clinch Mountain Boys, from 1946 to 1966. Ralph kept the band name when he continued as a solo after Carter's death, from 1967 to the present.

Solo

After Carter died of complications of cirrhosis in 1966, after ailing for "a year or so",[2] Ralph faced a hard decision on whether to continue performing on his own. "I was worried, I didn't know if I could do it by myself. But boy, I got letters, 3,000 of 'em, and phone calls . . . I went to Syd Nathan at King and asked him if he wanted me to go on, and he said, 'Hell yes! You might be better than both of them.'"[4]

He decided to go it alone, eventually reviving The Clinch Mountain Boys. Larry Sparks, Roy Lee Centers, and Charlie Sizemore were among those with whom he played in the revived band. He encountered Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley arriving late to his own show: "They were about 16 or 17, and they were holding the crowd 'til we got there. . . They sounded just exactly like (the Stanley Brothers)."[5] Seeing their potential, he hired them "to give 'em a chance", though that meant a seven-member band.[2] Eventually, his son, Ralph Stanley II, took over as lead singer and rhythm guitarist for The Clinch Mountain Boys.[6]

Political career

Around 1970, he ran for Clerk of Court and Commissioner of Revenue in Dickenson County only to state this:

What happened is, somebody traded me off—they used my popularity and money to elect somebody else. I was done dirty. And I'm so proud that I was done dirty, because if I had been elected ... I woulda had a job to do ... maybe woulda finally quit. So that's one time I was done dirty and I want to thank them for it now.[5]

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Stanley's work was featured in the very popular 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, in which he sings the Appalachian dirge "O Death." The soundtrack's producer was T-Bone Burnett. Stanley said the following about working with Burnett:

T-Bone Burnett had several auditions for that song. He wanted it in the Dock Boggs style. So I got my banjo and learned it the way he did it. You see, I had recorded "O Death" three times, done it with Carter. So I went down with my banjo to Nashville and I said, "T-Bone, let me sing it the way I want to sing it," and I laid my banjo down and sung it a cappella. After two or three verses, he stopped me and said, "That's it."[5]

With that song, Stanley won a 2002 Grammy Award in the category of Best Male Country Vocal Performance. "That put the icing on the cake for me," he said. "It put me in a different category."[5]
Later life and death

Known in the world of bluegrass music by the popular title, "Dr. Ralph Stanley" (after being awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music from Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee in 1976), Stanley was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1992 and in 2000, and became the first person to be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in the third millennium.

He joined producers Randall Franks and Alan Autry for the In the Heat of the Night cast CD Christmas Time's A Comin’, performing "Christmas Time's A Comin'" with the cast on the CD released on Sonlite and MGM/UA; it was one of the most popular Christmas releases of 1991 and 1992 with Southern retailers.

He was featured in the Josh Turner hit song "Me and God" released in 2006.

In 2006, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.

On November 10, 2007, Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys performed at a rally for presidential candidate John Edwards in Des Moines, Iowa, just before the Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner. Between renditions of "Man of Constant Sorrow" and "Orange Blossom Special", Stanley told the crowd that he had cast his first vote for Harry S. Truman in 1948 and would cast his next for John Edwards in 2008.

Country singer Dwight Yoakam has stated that Ralph Stanley is one of his "musical heroes."[7]

Stanley's autobiography, Man of Constant Sorrow, coauthored with the music journalist Eddie Dean, was released by Gotham Books on October 15, 2009.[8] In 2012, Stanley was featured on several tracks of the soundtrack for Nick Cave's film Lawless, with music by Cave and Warren Ellis. His solo track "White Light/White Heat" is prominent in several scenes of the movie.

Stanley maintained an active touring schedule; appearances in recent years have included the 2012 Muddy Roots Music Festival in Cookeville, TN, and the 2013 FreshGrass Festival in North Adams, MA. In June 2013, he announced a farewell tour,[9][10] scheduled to begin in Rocky Mount, NC, on October 18 and extending to December 2014. However, upon notification of being elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (awarded October 11, 2014) a statement on his own website appeared, saying that he would not be retiring.[11]

On June 23, 2016, Stanley died as a result of skin cancer.[12]

SOURCE: Wikipedia

Message To The Rappers: "Message To The Messengers" — Gil Scott Heron

James Horner, Oscar Winning Film Composer for 'Titanic' and 'Braveheart' Dies in Plane Crash: Listen To His Music

By Jon Burlingame
Composer  James Horner, who won two Oscars for the music of “Titanic” and scored such other blockbusters as “Avatar,” “Braveheart,” “Apollo 13″ and “A Beautiful Mind,” died Monday in a plane crash in Ventura County, Variety has confirmed. He was 61.

A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics - From 'A Beautiful Mind'

The two-seater single-engine S312 Tucano crashed north of Santa Barbara about 9:30 Monday morning and sparked a brush fire that was extinguished by country fire crews. Horner, a trained pilot, was alone in the plane, which was completely destroyed.

Horner was one of the most popular film composers of the past 30 years, and his “Titanic” soundtrack – with its hit Celine Dion song, “My Heart Will Go On,” written with Will Jennings – became the biggest-selling movie-score album of all time, selling an estimated 30 million units worldwide.

He scored more than 100 films in all and was often in demand for big popcorn movies. Most recent were “The Amazing Spider-Man” and “The Karate Kid” remake, but he also scored “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “The Perfect Storm,” “Clear and Present Danger,” “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” and “Aliens.”

He was born Aug. 14, 1953, in Los Angeles, the son of production designer Harry Horner. He spent his formative years in London, attending the Royal College of Music, but he returned to L.A. and earned his bachelor’s degree in music at the USC and did post-graduate work at UCLA.

Horner began his career with AFI shorts and low-budget Roger Corman films including “The Lady in Red” and “Battle Beyond the Stars,” quickly graduating to major studio films including “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” and “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.” His 1980s output demonstrated his versatility, including scores for “48 Hrs.,” “Cocoon,” “Willow” and “Field of Dreams.”

In the 1990s he added “The Rocketeer,” “Sneakers,” “Patriot Games,” “Legends of the Fall” and “Ransom” to his resume before hitting the jackpot, both financially and awards-wise, with “Titanic.” In addition to his two Oscars, he won song and score Golden Globes for the James Cameron film.

He received eight other Oscar nominations, including seven for the scores of “Aliens,” “Field of Dreams,” “Apollo 13,” “Braveheart,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “House of Sand and Fog” and “Avatar.”

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Legendary Blues Man B.B. King Transitions at Age 89 — Listen To His Music

By Tim Weiner
B. B. King, whose world-weary voice and wailing guitar lifted him from the cotton fields of Mississippi to a global stage and the apex of American blues, died on Thursday at his home in Las Vegas. He was 89.

________________

"The Thrill Is Gone"


"Why I Sing The Blues"



"Live" Guitar Solo

________________

His death was reported on his website, which said he died in his sleep. Mr. King, who was in hospice care, had been performing until October 2014, when he canceled a tour, citing dehydration and exhaustion stemming from diabetes.

Mr. King married country blues to big-city rhythms and created a sound instantly recognizable to millions: a stinging guitar with a shimmering vibrato, notes that coiled and leapt like an animal, and a voice that groaned and bent with the weight of lust, longing and lost love.

“I wanted to connect my guitar to human emotions,” Mr. King said in his autobiography, “Blues All Around Me” (1996), written with David Ritz.

In performances, his singing and his solos flowed into each other as he wrung notes from the neck of his guitar, vibrating his hand as if it were wounded, his face a mask of suffering. Many of the songs he sang — like his biggest hit, “The Thrill Is Gone” (“I’ll still live on/But so lonely I’ll be”) — were poems of pain and perseverance.

The music historian Peter Guralnick once noted that Mr. King helped expand the audience for the blues through “the urbanity of his playing, the absorption of a multiplicity of influences, not simply from the blues, along with a graciousness of manner and willingness to adapt to new audiences and give them something they were able to respond to.”

B. B. stood for Blues Boy, a name he took with his first taste of fame in the 1940s. His peers were bluesmen like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, whose nicknames fit their hard-bitten lives. But he was born a King, albeit in a sharecropper’s shack surrounded by dirt-poor laborers and wealthy landowners.

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Ben E King: R&B Legend Transitions at Age 76 — Listen To His Music - "Spanish Harlem" - "Stand By My"

"Stand By My"

__________

"Spanish Harlem"

__________

"There Goes My Baby"

By BBC
King started his career in the late 1950s with The Drifters, singing hits including There Goes My Baby and Save The Last Dance For Me.

After going solo, he hit the US top five with Stand By Me in 1961.

It returned to the charts in the 1980s, including a three-week spell at number one in the UK following its use in the film of the same name and a TV advert.

King's other hits included Spanish Harlem, Amor, Don't Play That Song (You Lied) and Supernatural Thing - Part I.

The singer died on Thursday, his publicist Phil Brown told BBC News.

Fellow musician Gary US Bonds wrote on Facebook that King was "one of the sweetest, gentlest and gifted souls that I have had the privilege of knowing and calling my friend for more than 50 years".

He wrote: "I can tell you that Ben E will be missed more than words can say. Our sincere condolences go out to Betty and the entire family.

"Thank you Ben E for your friendship and the wonderful legacy you leave behind."

BBC Radio 2 DJ Bob Harris said on Twitter: "So sad to hear that Ben E King has passed away. More than almost anyone, he fired and inspired my love of music. #StandByMe #ThereGoesMyBaby."

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Latinos In Hip-Hop: Tracing The Link

Born in Peru, Immortal Technique has become one of hip-hop’s most important voices.

By Marjua Estevez
From popping and locking on fractured blocks to rapping on bludgeoned street corners to tagging up abandoned buildings, Hip-Hop’s pioneers were as diverse as these stylistic elements. It was a vibrant culture that was birthed from the marginalized sector of society and served as a voice for the voiceless.

LISTEN: A Latino History of Hip-Hop Part I

Yet despite the fundamental role that Puerto Ricans and other Afro-Caribbean people played in the genre’s creation, Latinos are more often than not left out of the dialogue that explores the very origin of rap music. VIBE sat down with key producer Daisy Rosario from NPR’s Latino USA to talk more about a new two-part podcast episode that chronicles the influence of Latinos in Hip-Hop—from its humble beginning as a collaboration between African-Americans and Hispanic communities in the Bronx to its evolution as a popular genre across the U.S


VIBE: There is so much that Latino USA is bringing up in conversation, from immigration to the prison landscape. What has now inspired you to talk about Hip-Hop?

Daisy Rosario: With the show, we cover lots of different issues. But the Latino experience in the United States in and of itself is wildly diverse. You can see that reflected at our office and even gather where our musical influences come from. For example, I’m the resident Nuyorican and for me, Hip-Hop is something I love so much.

People will hear in the episode that my own mother was one of those b-girls, battling in the streets when she was younger. Those are the stories I grew up with. Which is very different than, say, my coworker who is of Mexican descent and from Texas. You can just feel the diversification and we just want to show how diverse that experience is.

Why do you think Latinos are often left out of the conversation when discussing the origins of Hip Hop?

I think it’s a complicated conversation and we try to get into that in the show itself. If you don’t know what it was like growing up in New York, particularly during that era, how much neighborhoods and people are just on top of each other – you know, if you’re coming from a place where people are more spread out – you might not get how much Latinos really were part of it. Especially as rap music became more popular and part of this larger culture where there are fewer MCs that were Latino. But if you factor in the other parts of the Hip-Hop culture, if you factor in the dancing, the graffiti etc. etc., you’ll learn Latinos were very much present. You might not truly understand it if you don’t have that context of New York.

I noticed that even with being a New Yorker and living in L.A. for a while, people would be surprised that I loved Hip-Hop as much as I did. But this was my normal. The music that a lot of Latinos based there grew up listening to was stuff that I didn’t even know as much, because there wasn’t even Salsa out there. In New York, it’s Salsa we’re listening to. So it really varies from place to place, but people need to simplify narratives to be able to tell them.

DJ Charlie Chase once expressed feeling unwelcome by the Hip-Hop community. He was told that is was a Black thing and that Hispanics were not accepted in rap. Considering that being Black and Latino are not mutually exclusive, how does that statement make you feel?

You know, he did bring that up. It’s one of those things where I believe it happened, but it doesn’t change my understanding of some of what’s going on. He goes into it a little bit more of what was meant by that in the first episode. One of the things he mentioned was that it wasn’t just coming from one side. On one end, the younger Black people he knew were like “oh, what are you doing this for?” and on the other end, his older family members were like “well, that’s not Salsa.” So he describes it as something that came from both ends and from different age groups.

We talk more about that in the show and, yes, mention that being Black and Latino are not mutually exclusive. And that it is a complicated situation, because I think once you get into the larger mainstream conversation, there is a very U.S. tendency to just think black or white.

So how much of a role does race play in this particular conversation?

It can get very confusing when you try and get into the complexity of what all that really means. We had less than an hour when you factor in the breaks, so what I tried to do was find a mix of people who were on the ground, whose names were familiar and not so familiar and let them tell their own stories. One thing that happens a lot, especially when you’re talking about whether it’s Black culture or Latino culture, is that other people are always eager to tell the stories for us. And even as somebody who identifies as a Hip-Hop head and a Nuyrorican and all those things, I don’t want to try and tell someone else’s story. I want to give them the opportunity to tell their story themselves. You hear that in this episode; different people’s perspectives from different aspects of the culture.

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Pakistani Musicians Captivate Audiences at SXSW in Austin (Video)

Khumariyaan performing at the Pakistan Showcase at SXSW, March 19, 2015. Photo by author Henna Tayyeb.
Used with permission.

By Henna Tayyeb
More than a hundred people packed the historic Driskill Hotel in downtown Austin, full of anticipation for Pakistani traditional, exotic and indie beats on the night of March 19.

The performers had flown thousands of miles for the first ever Pakistani Showcase at SXSW, one of the largest and most eclectic music conferences in the world. The night was organized in conjunction with the Foundation for Arts, Culture and Education (FACE), a non-profit based out of Islamabad, Pakistan.

The showcase kicked off with the energetic, booming sounds of the Sain Tanveer Brothers. The duo, originally from a small town near Sialkot, are the best known dhol players in Pakistan.

Their performance started in the middle of busy 6th street as bystanders gathered. And the pulsing sounds of their drums lead the crowd to the Victorian Room in a dancing procession.

The audience was awestruck as Sain Tanveer hung four dhols around his neck and continued to play, while spinning as fast as possible. The performance ended to thunderous applause.

Mai Dhai performing. Photo by author Henna Tayyeb. Used
with permission.

Next, the audience was treated to the melodic and soulful folk sounds of Mai Dhai. Hailing from the Thar desert, Mai Dhai is a traditional Manganiyar singer with influences of song reaching as far back as Sufi mystics and the Mughals of Rajasthan. No one in the room could have ever guessed that the small, fragile woman sitting center stage with her dhol would have a larger than life voice with the power to transform space and time. Accompanied by the tabla, dholak and harmonium, Mai Dhai truly made the audience feel the emotion behind every word as they swayed to her rhythmic beats.

But the rockstars of the night, the ones who stole the audience’s hearts, were Pakhtun musical quartet Khumariyaan.

Khumariyaan, as lead guitarist Sparlay Rawail explained, means “intoxicators.” And the fast and furious sounds of the group were nothing less than intoxicating. Perhaps the secret of Khumariyaan, other than an exuding stage presence, is their use of traditional instruments such as the rubab and the zerbaghali. The rubab almost sounds like a sharper toned banjo, with strings that are plucked to deliver various melodies. The zerbaghali is a goblet-shaped hand drum which provides percussion at various sounds and speeds.

From the moment they started with Bela to the end of their hour-long set, Khumariyaan had the audience on their feet. At one point, lead rubab player Farhan Borga, even led the audience through a demonstration of a traditional Pakhtun dance to much laughter and excitement.

After the show, Rawail shared that he was not sure if anyone back home in Pakistan could truly understand the magnitude and size of SXSW. But for him, there is no difference between the United States and Pakistan because what really matters is the music. Rawail felt proud to know that Khumariyaan’s music had the ability to create influence, regardless of country.

An audience member Sandhya Vadrevu said she decided to attend the event due to her keen interest in South Asian music. She had limited opportunities to experience Pakistani music firsthand in America, and did not want to pass up the chance to see these musicians in her hometown. As an aspiring musician herself Sandhya felt encouraged to know that South Asian music is not only limited to Bollywood films.

“Exposure to artists such as the ones performing tonight sends the message that our music is diverse, multi-faceted and unique,” she shared. “I feel inspired just being here tonight.”

Other highlights of the showcase included the socially conscious indie-rock sounds of Poor Rich Boy (and the toothless winos) and all newly-released songs by former pop idol and reinvented cultural instigator responsible for the “Burka Avenger,” Haroon. Mekaal Hasan Band, with influences of rock, jazz and soul music, paired with Sufi inspired lyrics was the perfect ending to the night.

Mehnaz Parveen, Project Coordinator for FACE, was extremely proud of all the Pakistani artists who made the journey to Austin, Texas for the showcase. She has been traveling with the group since their departure from Islambad on March 12. Parveen was a part of FACE when initial talks to collaborate started with SXSW senior music producer Todd Puckhaber. The senior music producer spoke at Pakistan’s first “Music Mela,” a three-day festival organized by FACE and funded by the US Embassy in Islamabad.

Puckhaber specifically handpicked the six acts that performed as a part of this year’s showcase, according to Parveen. “Music is a connecting bridge between Pakistan and the US and these artists are our cultural ambassadors,” Parveen shared. “We hope by collaborating with SXSW we can share our viewpoints and ideology to break some of the negative stereotypes of Pakistan.”

Both FACE and SXSW organizers hope this showcase becomes an annual part of the music conference.

Besides the Pakistani Showcase, FACE also hosted a Rooftop Pakistani Day Party on March 18 at popular Austin venue The Speakeasy. Mai Dhai performed at the International Day Stage in the Austin Convention Center on Thursday afternoon and Poor Rich Boy, Mekaal Hasan Band and Khumariyaan performed at the Russian House.

Reprinted with permission from Global Voices.

Winter Wonderland - Silver and Clove Lakes Park after a Winter Snow Storm

A video by Ronald David Jackson for lovers of nature and cycling. A tour
of Clove and Silver Lake Parks after a winter snow storm featuring
music by Herbie Hancock, Marc Dorsey, Yes, and others.

The trip was also recorded via Google GPS - which provides
aerial views of the parks during Summer.



(To watch the full-resolution HD version, go HERE
- Best viewed with Firefox or Chrome)

(In some segments the camera shake is dizzying - Due to riding on ice and snow)

Robin Thicke Is Guilty of Even Worse Plagiarism: 'Million Dollar Baby' — Is a Straight Ripoff of Marvin Gaye's 'Trouble Man'

By Ronald David Jackson
Robin Thicke attempted to stave off the pending lawsuit over "his" Blurred Lines song by launching a preemptive lawsuit against Marvin Gaye's family.  The legal maneuver failed terribly when the Gaye family was awarded $7.4 million by a jury for ripping of the Marvin Gaye hit, Got To Give Up. The Gaye family has an even better case against Thicke's Million Dollar Baby, which is a direct ripoff of Marvin Gaye's Trouble Man.  Thicke and his producers seem to have an obsession with Marvin Gaye.  They would have been better off simply sampling Gaye's music and paying for the rights up front.

_____________

If Million Dollar Baby is not a full scale jacking of Marvin Gaye's Trouble Man,

then there is no such thing as plagiarism
Listen for Yourself


Million Dollar Baby




Trouble Man

Master Jazz Pianist and Composer Horace Silver Transitions at age 85: He Took the Jazz Genre From Hard Bop to Jazz-Soul

Horace Silver (born Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva, September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist and composer.

Silver is known for his distinctively humorous and funky playing style and for his pioneering compositional contributions to hard bop. He was influenced by a wide range of musical styles, notably gospel music, African music, and Latin American music and sometimes ventured into the soul jazz genre.

"Song For My Father"
Music by Horace Silver, Vocals by Leon Thomas

Early life and career

Silver was born on September 2, 1928, in Norwalk, Connecticut, United States. His father, John Tavares Silva, was from the island of Maio in Cape Verde while his mother was born in New Canaan, Connecticut, and was of Irish-African descent. His father taught him the folk music of Cape Verde.

Silver began his career as a tenor saxophonist but later switched to piano. His tenor saxophone playing was highly influenced by Lester Young, and his piano style by Bud Powell. Silver's big break came in 1950 backing saxophonist Stan Getz at The Sundown Club in Hartford, Connecticut. Getz liked Silver's band and took them on the road, eventually recording three of Silver's compositions. It was with Getz that Silver made his recording debut. His first recording was for the 1950 Stan Getz Quartet album, which featured Getz and Silver with Joe Calloway on bass and Walter Bolden on drums.

Silver moved to New York City in 1951, where he worked at the jazz club Birdland on Monday nights, when different musicians would come together and informally jam. During that year he met the executives of the label Blue Note while working as a sideman. He eventually signed with them, remaining there until 1980. In New York, he formed the Jazz Messengers, a cooperatively-run group with Art Blakey.

Señor Blues

In 1952 and 1953 Silver recorded three sessions with his own trio, featuring Blakey on drums and Gene Ramey, Curly Russell and Percy Heath on bass. The drummer-pianist team lasted for four years; during this time, Silver and Blakey recorded at Birdland (A Night at Birdland Vol. 1) with Russell, Clifford Brown and Lou Donaldson; at the Bohemia with Kenny Dorham and Hank Mobley; and also in the recording studio. Silver was also a member of the Miles Davis All Stars, recording the Walkin' album in 1954.

The album Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers was recorded on November 13, 1954 and issued in 1955. It was regarded as a milestone in the development of hard bop. It featured the mid-tempo blues "Doodlin" and Silver's first hit "The Preacher". During his time with Blakey, Silver rarely recorded as a leader, but after splitting with him in 1956, he formed his own hard bop quintet at first featuring the same line-up as Blakey's Jazz Messengers with 18-year-old Louis Hayes replacing Blakey.

Blue Note years

From 1956 onwards, Silver recorded exclusively for Blue Note, eventually becoming close to label boss Alfred Lion, who allowed him greater input on aspects of album production than was usual at the time. During his years with Blue Note, Silver helped to create the rhythmically forceful branch of jazz known as "hard bop", which combined elements of rhythm-and-blues and gospel music with jazz. Gospel elements are particularly prominent on one of his biggest hits, "The Preacher", which Lion thought corny, but which Silver persuaded him to record.

While Silver's compositions at this time featured surprising tempo shifts and a range of melodic ideas, they caught the attention of a wide audience. His own piano playing easily shifted from aggressively percussive to lushly romantic within just a few bars. At the same time, his sharp use of repetition was funky even before that word could be used in polite company. Along with Silver's own work, his bands often featured such rising jazz stars as saxophonists Junior Cook and Hank Mobley, trumpeter Blue Mitchell, and drummer Louis Hayes. Silver's key albums from this period include Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers (1955), 6 Pieces of Silver (1956) and Blowin' the Blues Away (1959), which includes his famous "Sister Sadie". He also combined jazz with a sassy take on pop through the hit "Filthy McNasty" (1961).

In 1963 Silver created a new group featuring Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone and Carmell Jones on trumpet; this quintet recorded most of Silver's best-known album Song for My Father. When Jones left to settle in Europe, the trumpet chair was filled by a young Woody Shaw and Tyrone Washington replaced Henderson.

As social and cultural upheavals shook the nation during the late 1960s and early 1970s, Silver responded to these changes through music. He commented directly on the new scene through a trio of records much later collected together under the title The United States of Mind (1970–72) that featured the spirited vocals of Andy Bey. The composer got deeper into cosmic philosophy as his group, Silver 'N Strings, recorded Silver 'N Strings Play The Music of the Spheres (1979).

Later years

After Silver's long tenure with Blue Note ended, he continued to create vital music. The 1985 album Continuity of Spirit (Silveto) features his unique orchestral collaborations. In the 1990s, he directly answered the urban popular music that had been largely built from his influence on It's Got To Be Funky (Columbia, 1993). Living surrounded by a devoted family in California, Silver received much of the recognition due a venerable jazz icon. In 2005, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) gave him its President's Merit Award. The SFJAZZ Collective focused on Silver's music for their 2010 season.

Silver died of natural causes in New Rochelle, New York, on June 18, 2014. He was 85.

Influences and legacy

Silver tended not to play up that he was proficient in Portuguese, nor draw directly on his rich Lusophone musical upbringing. His 1965 hit, "Cape Verdean Blues", is the only clear rhythmic reference to his childhood home where his father and friends jammed, with traditional Capeverdean morna and coladeira as the main fare. In the interview for the liner notes to 1964's Song for My Father (Cantiga Para Meu Pai), however, Silver remarked of the title track, "This tune is an original of mine, but it has a flavor of it that makes me think of my childhood days. Some of the family, including my father and my uncle, used to have musical parties with three or four stringed instruments; my father played violin and guitar. Those were happy, informal sessions." Silver melded additional Lusophone influences into his music directly after his February 1964 tour of Brazil. Referring to "Song for My Father", Silver said, "I was very much impressed by the authentic bossa nova beat. Not just the monotonous tick-tick-tick, tick-tick, the way it's usually done, but the real bossa nova feeling, which I've tried to incorporate into this number."

His early influences included the styles of boogie-woogie and the blues. It includes but is not limited to Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, Nat "King" Cole, and Thelonious Monk. He liked to quote other musicians within his own work and would often recreate famous solos in his original pieces as something of a tribute to the greats who influenced him.

Silver's compositions, catchy and very strong harmonically, gained popularity while his band gradually switched to funk and soul. This change of style was not readily accepted by many long-time fans. The quality of several albums of this era, such as the The United States of Mind sequence (on which Silver himself provided vocals on several tracks), is to this day contested by critics. Silver's spirituality displayed on these albums also has a mixed reputation. Silver was the last musician to be signed to Blue Note in the 1970s before it went into temporary hiatus. In 1981 he formed his own short-lived labels, Silveto and Emerald.

Silver's music influenced such pianists as Bobby Timmons, Les McCann, and Ramsey Lewis. Silver's talent didn't go unnoticed among rock musicians who bore jazz influences: Steely Dan sent Silver into the Top 40 in the early 1970s when they crafted their biggest hit single, "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", off the bass riff that opens "Song for My Father".

SOURCE: Wikipedia

Jazz Master 'Little' Jimmy Scott—The Man With the Haunting Contralto Voice—Transitions at Age 88

James Victor "Jimmy" Scott (July 17, 1925 – June 12, 2014), also known as "Little" Jimmy Scott, was an American jazz vocalist famous for his unusually high contralto voice, which was due to Kallmann's syndrome, a very rare genetic condition. The condition stunted his growth at four feet eleven inches until, at the age of 37, he grew another 8 inches to the height of five feet seven inches. The condition prevented him from reaching puberty, leaving him with a high, undeveloped voice.
Early life and career

Scott was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Authur and Justine Stanard Scott, the third in a family of ten. As a child Jimmy got his first singing experience by his mother's side at the family piano, and later, in church choir. At thirteen, he was orphaned when his mother was killed by a drunk driver.

When Did You Leave Heaven

He first rose to prominence as "Little Jimmy Scott" in the Lionel Hampton Band when he sang lead on the late 1940s hit "Everybody's Somebody's Fool", recorded in December 1949, and which became a top ten R&B hit in 1950. Credit on the label, however, went to "Lionel Hampton and vocalists", so the singer's name did not appear on any of the songs. This omission of credit was not only a slight to Scott's talent but a big blow to his career. A similar professional insult occurred several years later when his vocal on "Embraceable You" with Charlie Parker, on the album One Night in Birdland, was credited to female vocalist Chubby Newsome.

Lionel Hampton gave him the stage name of "Little Jimmy Scott" because he looked so young, and was short and of slight build. However, it was his extraordinary phrasing and romantic feeling that made him a favorite singer of fellow artists such as Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Frankie Valli, Dinah Washington and Nancy Wilson.

In 1963, it looked as though Scott's luck had changed: he signed to Ray Charles' Tangerine Records label, under the supervision of Charles himself, creating what is considered by many to be one of the great jazz vocal albums of all time, Falling in Love is Wonderful.

Owing to obligations on a earlier contract that Scott had signed with Herman Lubinsky, the record was withdrawn in a matter of days, while Scott was on honeymoon. The album was not re-released for forty years. Scott disputes the "lifetime" contract; Lubinsky loaned Jimmy out to Syd Nathan at King Records for 45 recordings in 1957–58. Another album, The Source (1969), was not released until 2001.

Scott's career faded by the late 1960s and he returned to his native Cleveland to work as a hospital orderly, shipping clerk and as an elevator operator in a hotel.
Comeback and later work

Scott eventually resurfaced in 1991 when he sang at the funeral of his long-time friend Doc Pomus, an event that single-handedly sparked his career renaissance. Afterwards Lou Reed recruited him to sing back-up on the track "Power and Glory" from his 1992 album Magic and Loss, which was inspired, to an extent, by Pomus's death. Scott was seen on the series finale of David Lynch's television series Twin Peaks, singing "Sycamore Trees", a song with lyrics by Lynch and music by Angelo Badalamenti. Scott was featured on the soundtrack of the follow-up film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.

Also in attendance at Pomus's funeral was Seymour Stein, founder and operator of Sire Records, who released Scott's 1992 album All The Way, produced by Tommy Lipuma and featuring artists such as Kenny Barron, Ron Carter, and David "Fathead" Newman. Scott was nominated for a Grammy Award for this album.

He followed this up with the album Dream in 1994 and the jazz-gospel album Heaven in 1996. His next work, a critically acclaimed album of pop and rock interpretations entitled Holding Back The Years was produced by Gerry McCarthy and Dale Ashley. Released in the US on Artists Only Records in October 1998, it peaked at #14 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. In Japan, it won the prestigious Swing Journal Award for Best Jazz Album Of The Year (2000). The title track marked the first time in his career that Scott overdubbed his own harmony vocal tracks. Holding Back The Years features cover art by Mark Kostabi, liner notes by Lou Reed, and includes critically acclaimed versions of "Nothing Compares 2 U" (written by Prince), "Jealous Guy" (John Lennon), "Almost Blue" (Elvis Costello) and "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" (Elton John & Bernie Taupin).

In 1999, Scott's early recordings on the Decca label were re-released on CD, as were all of his recordings with the Savoy Label between 1952 and 1975 in a three-disc box set. In 2000, Scott signed to the Milestone jazz label, and recorded four critically acclaimed albums, each produced by Todd Barkan, and featuring a variety of jazz artists, including Wynton Marsalis, Renee Rosnes, Bob Kindred, Eric Alexander, Lew Soloff, George Mraz, Lewis Nash, as well as Jimmy's own touring and recording band "The Jazz Expressions". He also released two live albums, both recorded in Japan, featuring the Jazz Expressions.

In 2012, he joined the 11th annual Independent Music Awards judging panel to assist independent musicians' careers.

He died on June 12, 2014, aged 88. He died in his sleep at his home in Las Vegas, of cardiac arrest.
Legacy

Scott's career spanned sixty-five years. He performed with Charlie Parker, Sarah Vaughan, Lester Young, Lionel Hampton, Charles Mingus, Fats Navarro, Quincy Jones, Bud Powell, Ray Charles, Wynton Marsalis, and Peter Cincotti. He also performed with a host of musicians from other genres of music, such as David Byrne, Lou Reed, Flea, Michael Stipe, and Antony & The Johnsons.

Scott performed at President Dwight Eisenhower's (1953) and President Bill Clinton's (1993) inaugurations, where he sang the same song, "Why Was I Born?". Later, Scott appeared in live performances with Pink Martini, and continued to perform
internationally at music festivals and at his own concerts until shortly before his death.

In 2007, Scott received the 2007 NEA Jazz Master Award. He also received the Kennedy Center's "Jazz In Our Time" Living Legend Award, and N.A.B.O.B.'s Pioneer Award in 2007, the "Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jazz Foundation of America" in 2010, the R & B Hall of Fame Induction Award in 2013. In September 2008 he did a "two-day video interview" at his Vegas home with the "Smithsonian Institute for the National Archives". Scott and his wife Jeanie lived in Las Vegas, Nevada after 2007, having previously living in Euclid, Ohio, for 10 years.

Little Jimmy Scott's "If I Ever Lost You" can be heard in the opening credits of the HBO movie Lackawanna Blues. He was also mentioned on The Cosby Show, when Clair and Cliff Huxtable bet on the year in which "An Evening In Paradise" was recorded. On August 17, 2013, at Cleveland State University in his hometown, Cleveland, Ohio, he was inducted into inaugural 2013 of the R&B Music Hall of Fame.

SOURCE: Wikipedia