Today in Music – 1936 Buddy Guy is Born – 2013 He releases Rhythm & Blues!

So Buddy Guy’s latest album Rhythm and Blues has been on various music charts for about a month now, but the official release date of the album was set for today to coincide with Buddy’s 77 birthday! Yes on this date in 1936, Buddy Guy was born. For those of you non-blues fans here some background on Buddy from Wikipedia: George “Buddy” Guy (born July 30, 1936[1]) is an American blues guitarist and singer. Critically acclaimed, he is a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his…

Continue reading

Yesterday in Music – 1943 – The Birth of a Blues Guitar Great – Mike Bloomfield

So yesterday would have been the 70th birthday of one of my guitar heroes, the great Michael Bloomfield. From Wikipedia: Michael Bernard “Mike” Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American musician, guitarist, and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, since he rarely sang before 1969–70. Respected for his fluid guitar playing, Bloomfield knew and played with many of Chicago’s blues legends even before he achieved his own fame, and was one of the primary influences…

Continue reading

Afternoon Music from the Guitar of Lawson Rollins……

Full Circle - Lawson Rollins

So this morning I was in beautiful Newark NJ. Last night we went to a fund-raiser for Team Willpower, a night of bowling. It was the first time I bowled in many years. It took several throws to even be respectable, and for me the 110 I bowled was not even that! But it was for a good cause and we had a good time!One of the artists that I’ve been listening to over the last few days has been Lawson Rollins I listened to his fine guitar playing a while ago as part of the duo Young and Rollins,.and…

Continue reading

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…

Continue reading

2013 Blues – Austin Young and No Difference – Blue as Blue Can Be!

Oh, to be seventeen years old and as talented as Austin Young. The young Colorado Blues musician has a long and stellar career ahead of him if his 2013 release, Blue as Blue Can Be is any kind of indicator!! I’m not exactly sure where I came across his name, hum, it may have been last weeks, New Releases Now newsletter, but wherever I saw it I’m glad I did because the album is flat-out terrific as are Young’s guitar playing and his vocals. The self-taught Young started playing guitar at the tender age of twelve and obviously his musical ability…

Continue reading

A Jazzy Night with Music from Blue, Wynton and Hank and friends!!

So tonight I turned the sound down on the Phillies game and turned up the stereo and spent a jazzy Saturday night listening to albums from  Blue Mitchell, Wynton Kelly, and Hank Mobley. Of the three Hank Mobley is the musician I know the least about, but his album Soul Station was my favorite of the evening. The link between the three albums is the piano artistry of Wynton Kelly. I first heard Blue Mitchell’s trumpet when he played on two John Mayall albums in the early 70s. The album I listened to tonight was Blue’s Moods released in 1960….

Continue reading

Nighttime Jazz – Freddie Hubbard – Open Sesame – (1960)

So not that long ago I lied, and said that the focus of my musical listening was going to be jazz and New Age,  since then I don’t think I’ve really written about either genre! That doesn’t mean that I haven’t been listening to artists in those genres because I have, I just haven’t written about them yet. One of the albums that I’ve been listening to is the début album of Freddie Hubbard Open Sesame  which was released way back in 1960, when Freddie was 22 years old. I listened to this album because it was on a list…

Continue reading

Life’s Soundtrack – Black Sabbath’s 13!

I have never been a Black Sabbath or Ozzy Osbourne fan, so the release of 13 the first Black Sabbath album in 35 years to feature Ozzy really did nothing for me. But we were going to a picnic at the shore today, about an hour plus away, and both my son Nick and wife like Ozzy, so I went to Mog and put the album on the iPhone. Now while I am not an Ozzy fan, I did enjoy the first season or two of  The Osbournes, mostly to laugh at Ozzy’s incoherence. So I was surprised, as we…

Continue reading

Morning Blues Rock from Mile Train!!

So this yesterday the album, Folksongs of the American Longhair, by Brother Dege was listed on my Just For You on Mog. It was listed because I recently listened to US Rails. Since the cover looked interesting, mostly because brother was holding a dobro , I gave it a listen and I really liked it. After the album finished, a mix of similar artist came, as I listened I thought I like that track and that one after a few tracks I looked to see the artists. The list included bands I never heard of including: Mile Train, Devil’s Hollow…

Continue reading

Today in Music – Birthdays for James Cotton (1935) and Willie Dixon (1915)

Today we celebrate the birthdays of two of the most influential blues artists of all time, one for his artistry with his instrument and the other, while a good musician, for his influential songwriting! The first is blues harpist James Cotton born on this date in 1935 and the second the legendary Willie Dixon (July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992)! Now some of you may not remember or know Willie Dixon, but he was an unbelievably good songwriter and his compositions include: “Little Red Rooster”, “Hoochie Coochie Man”, “Spoonful”, “Back Door Man”, “I Just Want to Make Love to…

Continue reading