Archives:The Music Safari revisits the Ruhr Area of Germany and InVertigo!

Originally posted at Me,Myself, Music and Mysteries –  August 1, 2012 I guess Andrew started it with his Prog-Rock playlist for Father’s Day and the morning roots remembering continued it and over the last few days I’ve been listening to a lot of Prog-Rock. I’ve already written about one of the bands Dreamscape and today I’ve been listening to another InVertigo. Over the last two days I’e been listening to both of their albums Next Stop Veritgo and their latest release Veritas and I have enjoyed them both. InVertigo is a five man band from the Ruhr area of Germany composed…

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The Safari visits Ethiopia and finds the Music of Mulatu Astatke – Sketches of Ethiopia

This afternoon the Music Safari took a little trip of the most populous landlocked country in the world Ethiopia. The reason for the trip was to explore the music of Mulatu Astatke. The genesis of the trip  was a review of the World Music Charts – Europe – where his most recent release Sketches of Ethiopia was spotted at No 4! A trip to Wikipedia revealed that Mulatu  is an Ethiopian musician and arranger best known as the father of Ethio-jazz. From Wikipedia:   Born in the western Ethiopian city of Jimma, Mulatu was musically trained in London, New York City, and Boston where he combined his jazz and Latin music interests with traditional Ethiopian…

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This Day in Music – December 11, 1938 – McCoy Tyner’s Birthday!!

Today McCoy Tyner celebrates his 75th birthday, Happy Birthday, McCoy. From his biography at Facebook, It is not an overstatement to say that modern jazz has been shaped by the music of McCoy Tyner. His blues-based piano style, replete with sophisticated chords and an explosively percussive left hand has transcended conventional styles to become one of the most identifiable sounds in improvised music. His harmonic contributions and dramatic rhythmic devices form the vocabulary of a majority of jazz pianists.  Alfred McCoy Tyner  was born on December 11, 1938 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, He wad the oldest of three children and  encouraged to study piano by…

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2013 Prog Rock – The Safari Finds German Neo-Prog Rockers – Subsignal – Paraiso!

The soundtrack for this morning’s work around the house was the latest release from Subsignal, a German Neo-Prog (there’s that sub-genre again)  band Subsignal’s latest release Paraíso. Paraiso was released back in September of this year. I listened to the deluxe edition of the album which is two discs. The first disc is Paraiso and the second disc is a collection of various live performances of songs from previous albums, which was great for me, who knew nothing about the band. After listening to this really great album I found out that Subsignal was originally a side project for  Arno Menses…

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The Music Safari Finds New Prog Rock in Chile – Rafart – the handbook of the acid rider

Tonight the Music Safari travels to the left coast of the South American continent to Santiago Chili and find a new progressive rock album The handbook of the acid rider(June 2013) from Rafart. Rafart is the solo band of Francisco Rafart, stickist and composer from Chile. Rafart studied music composition under m. Aliocha Solovera at the P. Universidad Católica de Chile. His album  The handbook of the acid rider, is dedicated to the Chapman Stick that has influences of progressive rock and electronic music. New Prog Rock Releases says simply…. An impressive work of progressive rock instrumental and avant-garde, led brilliantly…

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2013 Prog Rock from Denmark’s Royal Hunt – A Life to Die For!

The Music Safari first spotted the Danish prog rock  band Royal Hunt a while back, and listened to their 2011 release Show Me How to Live  which was the 11th studio album from the band  I enjoyed the album and have been looking forward to the release of their new album A Life to Die For, which was released on December 3rd!  Since then the album has been on the iPhone and been listening to several times!! If you don’t know….. ROYAL HUNT is a progressive metal band in the style of DREAM THEATER : symphonic heavy-metal with strong classic…

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On this Date in Music – December 8, 1928 – Organist Jimmy Smith was born!!

    On this date in 1928 the master of the Hammond B3, Jimmy Smith was born. I have been listening to Jimmy Smith’s music since he late 60s when I discovered Wes Montgomery and then Jimmy & Wes an album by the two masters that they released in 1966. I love to put on a Jimmy Smith album at work and well just let it flow!! So let’s have some morning music to start our Sunday and to honor Jimmy on his birthday. But first some background….. from AllMusic Jimmy Smith wasn’t the first organ player in jazz, but no…

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December 5th, 1899??? – A Blues Legend – Sonny Boy Williamson II is born!!

So one of those early bluesman who mightily influenced blues and rock performers in the 60s  and 70s was born on December 5th! Now the year he was born that may be in question in his review at the AllMusic Guide, Cub Koda writes: A moody, bitter, and suspicious man, no one wove such a confusing web of misinformation as Sonny Boy Williamson II. Even his birth date (stated as December 5, 1899 in most reference books, but some sources claim his birth may have been in either 1897 or 1909) and real name (Aleck or Alex or Willie “Rice” — which may…

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Today in Music – Dec 5, 1947 – Happy Birthday, Egberto Gismonti !!

Somewhere over the last several weeks I came across the name of Egberto Gismonti and even listened to his 1980 release Circense. From AllMusic guide…. This excellent release by Egberto Gismonti was conceived under the concept of a circus, an institution that has the ambivalent quality of being at the same time universal and regional; the “circense” tradition exists in almost all parts of the globe, but it is enriched by the smaller companies that keep struggling to survive in poorer setups, adding regional elements to the whole. It fits like a glove for the music of Gismonti, which also aims to…

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2013 Blues – Kim Wempe – Coalition – leads to a night with East Coast Canadian Music and Musicians!

So premiering at number 46 this week on the Roots Music Report is the new album from Kim Wempe Coalition. After giving the album the thirty-second test the fresh voice of Kim sounded like an artist that I’d like to get to know! I downloaded the album on to the iPhone and my initial assessment was correct she is a great sounding new talent!! So let’s find out a little more about Kim, From her website…… A powerful performer with smoky vocals and an undeniable stage presence, Kim Wempe has been tearing up highways and stomping her way across every stage…

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