Blues from Britain’s Matt Schofield!!

  Yesterday I listened to Matt Schofield’s new album Far As I Can See and if you’re like me and enjoy blues with some great guitar and some Hammond B3 added to the mix, then you’ll like the album – now I will write more about the album later, but now I have to go watch and episode of The BlackList so that I can catch up to where the season is by next Monday night, so here is the post I wrote back when I first discovered Matt’s music……. So the other night I was reading the album reviews…

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Life’s Soundtrack – The Safari’s Workday flows better with the Music of R Carlos Nakai and Peter Kater

Sometime in the late 90s, I discovered the music of Native American flute master R Carlos Nakai. Since that time many of his albums have made their way into my music library. Carlos flute, along with the vibes of Gary Burton keep me sane! Many times when I am stressed or worried at work, I say that it is TIME for some R Carlos Nakai and within minutes of the music’s start I am headed back to sanity!! Nakai has some wonderful musicians who work with him to create the music that I love and often need, including William Eaton…

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The Safari finds another gem – Tenor Saxophonist Javon Jackson! Did I hear an It’s about time!

Yesterday and today I was back to work at my regular job. Because I spent the day performing soil borings, logging the borings and collecting soil samples for permeability testing,(sounds like fun doesn’t it!) the work did not lend itself to music listening.  Today’s work the laboratory permeability testing was suited for music listening. The best music for that type of work is jazz  or New Age. So I started off with the album that was # 5 on the JazzWeek Chart- Expression by Javon Jackson. Dare I say, that I do not know Javon Jackson? Oops, I guess I just did! A…

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No Herbie Hancock – What was I thinking?? Happy Belated Birthday – Herbie!!

So last Saturday April 12th Herbie Hancock celebrated his 74th birthday, when I read that it was his birthday I started to think about his status in the jazz community and I asked myself – why haven’t you listened to more of his music through the years?? I think I’ve asked that question a dozen time, don’t you think?? And as usual my first response was – “Beats Me” But as I thought about it the only explanation that I can come up with is that when the roots of my music listening were being planted (1970 – 1975) Herbie…

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It’s Monday – Here’s a Blues Playlist to Ease Us into the Week!!

So welcome to Monday it’s that day of the week that we all dread, the day that it’s back to work and the whole wonderful week lays before us! It’s enough to give anyone the blues. So here’s a lunch or anytime blues hour that I put together this morning!! It features some of my favorites! Tab Benoit kicks it off with that “Night Train” rollin’ 500 miles….. “Albert’s Shuffle” comes next with some great guitar by Mike Bloomfield and equally great organ from Al Kooper. They did some great stuff together, didn’t they…Gary Moore’s “Still Go the Blues” don’t…

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It’s Monday – Here’s a Blues Playlist to Ease Us into the Week!!

So welcome to Monday it’s that day of the week that we all dread, the day that it’s back to work and the whole wonderful week lays before us! It’s enough to give anyone the blues. So here’s a lunch or anytime blues hour that I put together this morning!! It features some of my favorites! Tab Benoit kicks it off with that “Night Train” rollin’ 500 miles….. “Albert’s Shuffle” comes next with some great guitar by Mike Bloomfield and equally great organ from Al Kooper. They did some great stuff together, didn’t they…Gary Moore’s “Still Go the Blues” don’t…

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Neo Prog from the UK – Gandalf’s Fist- A Day in the Life of (..Ivan -Not! …) a Univeral Wanderer

When I first heard of the band Gandalf’s Fist…… ….. I discovered two guys who over the last few years have become good friends and have formed a band with a name that arose from an attempt by a mutual friend to impress a geeky girl. The band name that their friend created and the two friends have stolen is Gandalf’s Fist!  The two friends are  multi-instrumentalist Dean Marsh and lyricist/vocalist Luke Severn.  Their music is steeped in the British Prog rock scene of the 1970s….Continue Reading Sometime last week I saw that I had missed last  fall their latest release…

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Morning Music from Soprano Saxophonist – Jane Ira Bloom – Sixteen Sunsets….

Yesterday, I spent some time listening to the latest release from soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom Sixteen Sunsets and after the first few of tracks I knew that I was listening to a VERY special jazz musician. From her webpage biography…. Soprano saxophonist/composer Jane Ira Bloom has been steadfastly developing her unique voice on the soprano saxophone for over 30 years. She is a pioneer in the use of live electronics and movement in jazz, as well as the possessor of “one of the most gorgeous tones and hauntingly lyrical ballad conceptions of any soprano saxophonist – Pulse.” Her continuing…

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A Birthday for Gerry Mulligan (April 6) leads the Safari to his Music!!

So last Sunday April 6th was the day in 1927 that saxophonist Gerry Mulligan was born. Mulligan is another in what is becoming a long line of jazz musicians whose name I am familiar with, but whose music I never really listened to.  As I try to figure our why, the only explanation that I have is that I’ve always associated Mulligan with Dave Brubeck and since I really don’t care that much for Brubeck, I have never explored the music of Mulligan.- Mistake! So I in my usual style I started my exploration of Gerry Mulligan at Wikipedia where…

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Life’s Blues Soundtrack (a few days late) – Albert Castiglia’s Solid Ground (Video)

So last Thursday was the first day that I ran since back in January. It was a good run and you can read more about it here. The soundtrack for the run was the new release from Albert Castiglia Solid Ground. Solid Ground is seventh release from Castiglia (pronounced ka-steel-ya) and his first on Ruf Records. I caught up with Castiglia’s career back in 2010 when I started this blog.In that year he released Keepin’ On. While writing the post, I listened to not only that album but also his 2008 release  These are the Days, which earned him a Blues Music Award nomination for…

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