mick’s blog

Flamenco Fridays with Camarón

November 5, 2021

Siguiriyas (Spanish pronunciation: [seɣiˈɾiʝas]; also seguiriyas, siguerillas, siguirillas, seguidilla gitana, etc.) are a form of flamenco music in the cante jondo category. This deep, expressive style is among the most important in flamenco. Unlike other palos of flamenco, siguiriyas stands out for being purely Romani (Calé) in origin.Siguiriyas are normally played in the key of A Phrygian with each measure (the compás) consisting of 12 counts with emphasis on the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 8th and 11th beats.

The lyrics of siguiriyas deal with tragic themes such as imprisonment (e.g., Calabosito Oscuro sung by Juanito Valderrama) the death of a loved one and death in general (e.g., Si Acaso Muero sung by Camarón De La Isla), love, and religious ideas. The oldest forms of siguiriyas were performed without musical accompaniment, akin to tonás. The more modern forms are accompanied by the guitar, where the nuances of the cante make it one of the most difficult styles to accompany and interpret. Traditionally, the verses of siguiriyas are constructed of two short 6 syllable lines, followed by a longer 11 syllable line, then ending with another 6 syllable line, the rhythm being provided by the syllables of the words.

 

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Daily Roots with Vivian Jackson & The Defenders

November 5, 2021

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Happy Diwali 2021

November 4, 2021

Diwali is a festival of lights and one of the major festivals celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists, notably Newar Buddhists. One of the most popular festivals of Hinduism, Diwali symbolizes the spiritual “victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance”

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The Cozmos with NGC 147/185

November 4, 2021

Dwarf galaxies NGC 147 (left) and NGC 185 stand side by side in this sharp telescopic portrait. The two are not-often-imaged satellites of M31, the great spiral Andromeda Galaxy, some 2.5 million light-years away. Their separation on the sky, less than one degree across a pretty field of view, translates to only about 35 thousand light-years at Andromeda’s distance, but Andromeda itself is found well outside this frame. Brighter and more famous satellite galaxies of Andromeda, M32 and M110, are seen closer to the great spiral. NGC 147 and NGC 185 have been identified as binary galaxies, forming a gravitationally stable binary system. But recently discovered faint dwarf galaxy Cassiopeia II also seems to be part of their system, forming a gravitationally bound group within Andromeda’s intriguing population of small satellite galaxies.

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Jeff Lorber

November 4, 2021

Jeffrey H. Lorber (born November 4, 1952) is an American keyboardist, composer, and record producer. After six previous nominations, Lorber won his first Grammy Award on January 28, 2018 for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for Prototype by his band The Jeff Lorber Fusion.

Many of his songs have appeared on The Weather Channel‘s Local on the 8s segments and on the channel’s compilation albums, The Weather Channel Presents: The Best of Smooth Jazz and The Weather Channel Presents: Smooth Jazz II. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for his album He Had a Hat (Blue Note, 2007)

Lorber was born to a Jewish family in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, the same suburb as Michael and Randy Brecker, with whom he would later play.He started to play the piano when he was four years old. After playing in a number of R&B bands as a teen, he attended Berklee College of Music, where he developed his love for jazz. At Berklee he met and played alongside guitarist John Scofield. He moved to Vancouver, Washington in 1972. For several years he studied chemistry at Boston University.

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Larry Bunker

November 4, 2021

Lawrence Benjamin Bunker (November 4, 1928 – March 8, 2005) was an American jazz drummer, vibraphonist, and percussionist. A member of the Bill Evans Trio in the mid-1960s, he also played timpani with the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra.

Born in Long Beach, California, Bunker was a central figure on the West Coast jazz scene, one of the relatively few who actually were from the region. In the 1950s and 1960s he appeared at Howard Rumsey‘s Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, and performed with Shorty Rogers and His Giants and others. At first he played primarily drums, but increasingly he focused on vibraphone and was later highly regarded for his playing of timpani and various percussion instruments.

A dependable and in-demand studio drummer and vibist, Bunker achieved particular distinction by recording with Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Diana Krall, and many other jazz greats. In 1952, he was the drummer in one of Art Pepper‘s first groups. In 1953 and 1954, Bunker played drums in some of the earliest of Gerry Mulligan‘s groups. From 1963 to 1965, he was, intermittently, the drummer in the Bill Evans trio. His work in movie soundtracks spanned over fifty years, from Stalag 17 (1953) and Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) to The Incredibles (2004), and included soundtracks by John Williams, Henry Mancini, Quincy Jones, Miklós Rózsa, Jerry Goldsmith, Johnny Mandel, Lalo Schifrin and many other composers. Bunker died of complications of a stroke in Los Angeles at age 76

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Carlos Patato Valdés

November 4, 2021

Carlos Valdés Galán (November 4, 1926 – December 4, 2007), better known as Patato, was a Cuban conga player. In 1954, he emigrated from La Habana to New York City where he continued his prolific career as a sideman for several jazz and Latin music ensembles, and occasionally as a bandleader. He contributed to the development of the tunable conga drum which revolutionized the use of the instrument in the US. His experimental descarga albums recorded for Latin Percussion are considered the counterpart to the commercial salsa boom of the 1970s. Tito Puente once called him “the greatest conguero alive today”.

Like most Cuban musicians, Carlos Valdés had several nicknames throughout his artistic career. Early on he was known as “El Toro” (The Bull) as a young dancer and boxer. In school he was known as “Patato” (Potato) due to his short stature; more disrespectfully he was known as “Remache” and “Tampón de bañera” around his neighbourhood. While playing alongside Armando Peraza in Havana’s Zombie Club, he was known as “El Zombie”, “Zombito” or “Pequeño Zombie” (Little Zombie). Due to his dancing style he was known as “Pingüino” (Penguin). Nonetheless, “Patato” was the name that stuck and he carried this pseudonym to the US, where he was often miscredited as “Potato Valdez”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFM7uPz18Qc

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World Music with Rokia Koné

November 4, 2021

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Daily Roots with the Gladiators

November 4, 2021

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Pat Martino Memorial

November 3, 2021

Pat Martino, a jazz guitarist revered for the fluid precision and blistering speed of his playing — both before and after he was forced to relearn the instrument following a mid-career brain aneurysm — died on Monday. He was 77 years old.

His death was announced on Facebook by his longtime manager, Joseph Donofrio. Martino, born Patrick Azzara, died after a long illness in the South Philadelphia row home formerly owned by his parents, where he moved in 1980 after undergoing neurosurgery that saved his life — at the near-total cost of his memory. The guitarist had been suffering from a chronic respiratory disorder since 2018, breathing with oxygen support and unable to play since a tour of Italy that November. He is survived by his wife, Ayako.

Martino’s career spanned six decades and a variety of styles, from his formative years performing in organ groups to the Wes Montgomery-influenced hard bop of his early recordings, spiritual explorations in the late 60s ceding to the blazing, virtuosic fusion of 1970s classics like Joyous Lake.

Regardless of the setting, Martino played the guitar with an intensity of focus and impeccable clarity at even the most dizzying pace. Always retaining the soul and buoyant groove that he honed at the side of master jazz organists like Charles Earland, Don Patterson and Jack McDuff, Martino melded that profound feel with a rock-fueled ferocity born of a questing spirit rather than aggression.

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The Cozmos with IC 434

November 3, 2021

The Horsehead Nebula is one of the most famous nebulae on the sky. It is visible as the dark indentation to the orange emission nebula at the far right of the featured picture. The horse-head feature is dark because it is really an opaque dust cloud that lies in front of the bright emission nebula. Like clouds in Earth’s atmosphere, this cosmic cloud has assumed a recognizable shape by chance. After many thousands of years, the internal motions of the cloud will surely alter its appearance. The emission nebula‘s orange color is caused by electrons recombining with protons to form hydrogen atoms. Toward the lower left of the image is the Flame Nebula, an orange-tinged nebula that also contains intricate filaments of dark dust. Two prominent reflection nebulas are visible: round IC 432 on the far left, and blue NGC 2023 just to the lower left of the Horsehead nebula. Each glows primarily by reflecting the light of their central star.

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Bert Jansch

November 3, 2021

Herbert Jansch (3 November 1943 – 5 October 2011) was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s as an acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter. He recorded at least 25 albums and toured extensively from the 1960s to the 21st century.

Jansch was a leading figure in the 1960s British folk revival, touring folk clubs and recording several solo albums, as well as collaborating with other musicians such as John Renbourn and Anne Briggs. In 1968, he co-founded the band Pentangle, touring and recording with them until their break-up in 1972. He then took a few years’ break from music, returning in the late 1970s to work on a series of projects with other musicians. He joined a reformed Pentangle in the early 1980s and remained with them as they evolved through various changes of personnel until 1995. Until his death, Jansch continued to work as a solo artist.

Jansch’s work influenced many artists, especially Jimmy Page, Mike Oldfield, Paul Simon, Pete Hawkes, Nick Drake, Donovan, and Neil Young.

Jansch received two Lifetime Achievement Awards at the BBC Folk Awards: one, in 2001, for his solo achievements and the other, in 2007, as a member of Pentangle.

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Joe McPhee

November 3, 2021

Joe McPhee (born November 3, 1939) is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist born in Miami, Florida, a player of tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, the trumpet, flugelhorn and valve trombone. McPhee grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, and is most notable for his free jazz work done from the late 1960s to the present day.

McPhee was born in Miami, Florida, on November 3, 1939. He began playing trumpet when he was eight, before learning other instruments. He played in various high school and then military bands before starting his recording career. His first recording came in 1967, when he appeared on the Clifford Thornton album entitled Freedom and Unity. McPhee taught himself saxophone at the age of 32 after experiencing the music of John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and Ornette Coleman. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, McPhee lectured on jazz music at Vassar College.

In 1975, Werner Uehlinger started the Swiss label Hathut Records with the specific intent of showcasing McPhee’s music. In the 1980s, McPhee met Pauline Oliveros, began studying her musical theories, and worked with her Deep Listening Band. He has not yet signed with any major label in his native United States, and was possibly better known throughout Europe than his native country until the 1990s. His 1996 album As Serious As Your Life, which takes its title from the jazz book by Val Wilmer, is “arguably the finest of his solo recordings”, according to the AllMusic review.

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Henry Grimes

November 3, 2021

Henry Grimes (November 3, 1935 – April 15, 2020) was an American jazz double bassist and violinist.

After more than a decade of activity and performance, notably as a leading bassist in free jazz, Grimes completely disappeared from the music scene by 1970. Grimes was often presumed to have died, but he was discovered in 2002 and returned to performing.

Henry Alonzo Grimes was born in Philadelphia, to parents who both had been musicians in their youth. He took up the violin at the age of 12, then began playing tuba, English horn, percussion, finally switching to the double bass at Mastbaum Technical High School. He furthered his musical studies at Juilliard and established a reputation as a versatile bassist by the mid-1950s. He recorded or performed with saxophonists Gerry Mulligan, Sonny Rollins, pianist Thelonious Monk, singer Anita O’Day, clarinetist Benny Goodman and many others.

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Billy Mitchell

November 3, 2021

William Melvin Mitchell (November 3, 1926 – April 18, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.

Mitchell was born in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. He and his family moved to Detroit, where he received early music education at Cass Tech. He was known for his close association with trumpeter Thad Jones, who was also from Detroit, and worked in several big bands, including Woody Herman‘s when he replaced Gene Ammons. In 1949, Mitchell recorded with the Milt Bucknerband, as well as making several recordings with Thad Jones.

From 1951 to 1954, Mitchell led the house band at the Blue Bird Inn in Detroit. The band operated in different configurations, including with drummer Oliver Jackson and his bassist brother Ali; as a quartet with Terry Pollard, Beans Richardson, and Elvin Jones; as a quintet including Thad Jones; and, for several months in 1953, with Miles Davis as a guest soloist.

From 1956 to 1957, he played with Dizzy Gillespie in his big band. From 1957 until 1961, and from 1966 to 1967, Mitchell played with Count Basie. In the early 1960s, he co-led a group with Al Grey, The Al Grey Billy Mitchell Sextet, which won the Down Beat magazine new band award in 1962. Mitchell performed and recorded with the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band in Europe in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was musical director for Stevie Wonder for a short time during this period. He died in Rockville Centre, New York, in 2001.

He died in Rockville Centre of lung cancer at the age of 74.

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Ruma Guha Thakurta

November 3, 2021

Ruma Guha Thakurta (3 November 1934 – 3 June 2019) was an Indian actress and singer primarily associated with Bengali language films. She founded Calcutta Youth Choir in 1958.

Guha Thakurta was born on 3 November 1934 to Satyen Ghosh (Monty Ghosh) and singer Sati Devi. Guha Thakurta’s family was culturally inclined to Brahmo Samaj, a societal component of Brahmoism. Sati was a trained vocalist and elder sister to Bijoya Ray, wife of Satyajit Ray. Guha Thakurta began as a dancer. Later, she went to Almora Academy of Uday Shankar at Lahore to study dance. She started training in music at Swarabitan in Kolkata, which had been established by her parents. In later years, she studied under Abdul Rehman Khan of Patiala gharana, the Ustad of Nirmla Devi and Lakshmi Shankar in Bombay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSgNwiL98y4

 

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World Music with Cheng Yu and Dennis Kwong Thye Lee

November 3, 2021

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Daily Roots with Linval Thompson

November 3, 2021

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Ralph Berlovitz Memorial

November 2, 2021

I will honor Ralph today performing with The Mayday Community Band @ 11am at United Hebrew Brotherhood Cemetery Chapel. I remember Ralph at many a Mayday rehearsal. Ralph was a saxophonist and always had a calm, relaxed demeanor and would bring a positive light to our creative process.

Ralph Stanley Berlovitz, 74, a warm, generous, and passionate soul, passed away on Sunday, October 24. He was a loving son, brother, uncle, and friend to many. Preceded in death by parents Sol and Jennie and brother Elliot. A photographer extraordinaire, avid sailor, saxophonist, and world traveler, he is survived by sisters Barbra and Sonya, nephews Benjamin (Annick), and Gabriel, niece Marie, and sister-in-law Cindy. He was loved and cherished by all. Funeral services will be held at 11 am Tuesday, November 2, 2021, at United Hebrew Brotherhood Cemetery Chapel, 2605 W. 70 ½ St, Richfield, MN 55423. Mask are required. Service will also be available on zoom. Email [email protected] for the link.

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All Souls Day 2021

November 2, 2021

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Interviews