Today in Music – Feb 1, 1959 – Ottmar Liebert’s Birthday!!

Today is the birthday of one of my favorite acoustic guitarists Ottmar Liebert. From Wikipedia: Ottmar.. ….was born February 1, 1959 in Cologne, West Germany to a Chinese-German father and a Hungarian mother. As a child, he spent most of his time traveling throughout Europe and Asia with his family. He began playing classical guitar at 11, and flamenco guitar at 14, after he “found a Flamenco LP in the bargain bin at a local supermarket”.[1] After performing rock music in his native Germany, he moved to the United States and settled in Boston for a few years, performing in various rock clubs.[2] In 1986…

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Yesteday in Music – Jan 30, 1957 Happy Birthday, Janiva Magness!!

Yesterday Janiva Magness celebrated her 57th birthday. If you do not Janiva is a blues superstar. She was named the Blues Foundation’s B.B. King Entertainer of the Year in 2009, becoming only the second woman, after Koko Taylor, to be so honored. She was also named the Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year in that same year! She had won that award in both 2006 and 2007. In 2012 she was nominated for that award again. All ototal since 2006, she has had 22 similar nominations! This year she won the 2013 Blues music Award: for Contemporary Artist of…

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The Safari Rediscovers Serenity from Austria and visits Death & Legacy!!

Back in October I came across the band Serenity, I listened to and really like their current release War of Ages. Yesterday I thought about the band and went back in time and listened to their 2011 release Death & Legacy and  I liked that album just as much as War of Ages, maybe more!! As I am writing this I just put on their 2008 release Fallen Angel.…. sounds just as good. Hard driving metal, good vocals, good guitar, etc… Like I do always when I’m listening to a band like this, I went to Prog Archives to see…

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The Safari finds Progressive Metal? in France from Spheric Universe Experience – Mental Torments!

One of the albums that has been on the iPhone for a while now is Spheric Universe Experience‘s 2005 debut album Mental Torments. I had started my explorations of the band’s music with their 2012 release New Ere  and after the fist listen I wasn’t quite sold on the band. So I went back and listened to Mental Torments, which was their highest rated album at the  Prog Archives. I liked that album a lot more. Now I need to explore the two albums released in between number one and number four to know if I’m completely sold on the…

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This Day in Music – January 30, 1930 – Wes’ baby brother – Buddy Montgomery was born!

On this day in 1930, Charles “Buddy” Montgomery, the youngest of the Montgomery Brothers was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. Buddy was nine years younger than Monk, the oldest of the three musical brothers and seven years younger than Wes, the most famous of th brothers. Buddy played both piano and vibes, but is primarily known for playing vibes. His career started in 1948 and in 1949 he played with Big Joe Turner followed by a stint with Slide Hampton. In 1957, after serving several  years in the Army, he joined older brother Monk, Richie Crabtree (piano) and Benny Barth (drums)…

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The Safari Re-Explores Re-explores Progressive Metal from the UK’s Maschine – Rubidium!

Tonight, I re-explored the album Rubidium from Maschine. I say re-explored because I had listened to the album for the first time several months ago and really enjoyed it. The band hails from the United Kingdom and is labeled at Prog Archives as progressive metal. Personally, I don’t think that they are as heavy as many of the progressive metal bands I’ve listened to. The band’s name seems to have been derived from the founder of the band vocalist and guitarist Luke Machin. Machin who had played with both Tangent and It Bits formed the band in  at the Brighton Institute…

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Today in Music – Jan 29, 1968 – Noel Lorica – Jazz Guitarist and Vet is born!!

Whenever I look down the list of Jazz artists birthdays for that day, I always keep a special eye out for guitarists. Today that eye landed on the name of Noel Lorica. Noel was born on this day in 1968 in Manila in the Philippines.. As an accomplished guitarist and Latin jazz artist he has received acclaim for his playing resulting in 21 Grammy Ballot entries! From his Biography at All About Jazz….. ….Born in Manila, Noel played in a rock band as a teenager, though his mother urged him to take piano lessons. But his love was always the…

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The Safari – meets Philadelphian, Chicagoan, New Yorker, pianist, organist Ben Paterson!!

So on Sunday while I was exploring the music and legacy of Lester Young, I also listened to the music of a new musician, Ben Paterson. His Trio’s new album Essential Elements is currently,number 4 on the Roots Music Reports Jazz Chart. On Sunday I put the album on while I was reading and I really didn’t notice the album as the first two songs went by, but then the songs and Paterson’s piano playing got stronger and stronger and by the end of the album I was a fan! I listened to the album again tonight and was more…

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The Safari Explores the Music of Lester Young – better late than never!

  Lester Young died when I was 7 years old. His last performance was in Paris, at the tail end of an abbreviated European Tour in March of 1959 with drummer Kenny Clarke. During that tour, Young ate next to nothing and virtually drank himself to death. He died on March 15th, only hours after arriving back in New York. He was 49 years old!!. Yesterday, Lester’s name came up, as I surfed the web looking for music. When I saw the name, I said you know I really don’t know much about Lester other than he played the saxophone.When…

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Archives:A Good Music Day ends in Knight Area from the Netherlands!

Originally posted: May 23, 2o13 at Me, Myself,Music and Mysteries Friday night on my way to work at Target, I had the iPod  on random shuffle and Knght Area came on today would be a good morning to re-explore the day I first listen to their music!! Yesterday was a Blues and Prog Rock day I. started the day listening to the new album Seesaw from Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa. This was my first listen to the album and. I liked what I heard!  Beth Hart’s strong blues voice and Joe’s powerful guitar are a perfect match! This album…

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