Life’s Soundtrack – Anders Osborne helps keep my Pace Up and the Effort Down with Peace!!

Well I proved tonight that Tuesday’s run was not just a result of having four days off!! I went into tonight’s run not expecting or really wanting to run as hard as I did on Tuesday! I had convinced myself that all I wanted to do was have a nice easy run. As I set out with those that thought in mind head and the music of Anders Osborne in my ears, I found myself holding a steady pace that was just under 10 minutes/mile and at times going down to 9:30 /mile. So I said ok let’s just let…

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Today in Music – 1921 – Monk was Born!

So on this date “Monk” was born. Yes, William “Monk” Montgomery the older brother of Wes, was born on October 10,1921. What’s that I hear, you say, you thought I meant the other Monk – yeah, Thelonious Monk was born on this date, too, only a few years earlier in 1917! Anyway, here’s some background on Monk Montgomery! From Wikipedia: William Howard “Monk” Montgomery (October 10, 1921 – May 20, 1982) was an American jazz bassist…..   Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Montgomery was the older brother of guitarist Wes Montgomery; younger brother, Buddy Montgomery played vibraphone and piano. The brothers released a number of albums together as the Montgomery Brothers.[1] He also had an…

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Today in Music – 1940 – Jazz Organist Larry Young was born!

On this day in 1940 jazz organist Larry Young was born. I was unfamiliar with Young’s music until recently. That may have been a result of his early passing. Young died in 1978, after entering the hospital with stomach pains, he died from untreated pneumonia However, after reading some of the information below I did hear his music back in the day, when he played on Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew and also playing  in Tony Williams’ Lifetime .  From Wikipedia: Larry Young (also known as Khalid Yasin (Abdul Aziz) (October 7, 1940 in Newark, New Jersey—March 30, 1978 in New York City) was an American jazz organist…

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Today in Music – 1917 – Buddy Rich was born!!

Through the years very few of the jazz artists that I followed were drummers. I have a couple of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers albums in my library. Today we can celebrate the drummer, who most folks feel is the best drummer of all-time. Bernard “Buddy” Rich was born on September 30, 1917 in Manhattan, New York, to Jewish vaudevillians Bess (Skolnik) and Robert Rich. Rich was billed as “the world’s greatest drummer”! He was known for his virtuoso technique, power, groove, and speed. According to Wikipedia: Rich first played jazz with a major group in 1937 with Joe Marsala…

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Today in Music – 1924 – Jazz Pianist Bud Powell was born!

  On this date in 1924 “Bud” Powell was born. I wrote the other day about pianist Benny Green whose style has been compared to Bud Powell, but I don’t know that much about Bud. I image that the reason is because he died 1966. Additionally, he spent the years between 1958 and 1963 in Paris. In 1963, he returned to the US, and on July 31, 1966, he died of tuberculosis, malnutrition, and alcoholism. Some background from Wikipedia: Earl Rudolph “Bud” Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966) was a jazz pianist who was born and raised in Harlem, New…

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Life’s Soundtrack – Another encouraging run aided by Thought Chamber’s Angular Perceptions

So I am considering a new rule that all run soundtracks should be progressive rock albums! Well maybe not each run, but at least the tempo runs! I was going to run last night, but I spent most of the day trudging around farm fields and woods in Mansfield Township looking for wetland flags and when I came home I just didn’t feel up to it. I went back to the same site today and finished up, but I was able to move the truck a little closer to where I needed to locate the wetland flags and as a…

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Today in Music – 1930 – “Saxophone Colossus” Sonny Rollins is born!!

  So while today is a sad day for the rock world, losing Keith Moon, it is a happy day for the jazz world, because on this day in 1930 Sonny Rollins, the “Saxophone Colossus” was born! From his biography page at his website: Theodore Walter Rollins was born on September 7, 1930 in New York City. He grew up in Harlem not far from the Savoy Ballroom, the Apollo Theatre, and the doorstep of his idol, Coleman Hawkins. After early discovery of Fats Waller and Louis Armstrong, he started out on alto saxophone, inspired by Louis Jordan. At the…

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Life’s Soundtrack A Good Slow Run with Katatonia!

So I ran again last night. I was going to go Sunday but the temperature topped out close to 90 degrees. The forecast for Monday had the high at 81, which is more in my comfort zone,so I waited. Before I ran I created a new loop course that was around four miles and took of with Runmeter marking the miles and Katatonia, a progressive metal band in my ears. Overall the first three miles weren’t too bad then my heart rate. started going up, so I cut my pace back to keep it under 170! While the run seemed…

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Today in Music – Happy 80th Birthday, Wayne Shorter (Aug 25, 1933)

So you can probably count on you fingers how many musicians are still performing beyond the age of 80. Two that I can think of off the top of my head are  B.B. King and Tony Bennett, and when Wayne Shorter, plays the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday of this week, he will have join that group! Wayne was born in Newark, New Jersey on August 25,1933. For some unknown reason, I know Wayne’s name, but have not really listened to any of his best albums. I know I have heard his sax before, I have some Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers,…

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Today in Music – 1967 – John Coltrane passed away (not)…. and the jazz world still mourns..

According to About.com/Oldies Music, on this date in 1967, the jazz world lost a legendary figure when John Coltrane died from liver cancer at the age of forty. (The actual date of his death is July 17th) Coltrane was and still is one of the most influential jazz musician, ever. I have never been a big fan of the sax, most of my jazz listening revolves around guitar, organ and vibes, but every time I hear Coltrane’s music I love it. From Wikipedia: John William Coltrane, also known as “Trane” (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967[1]), was an American…

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