More than Georgia on My Mind

Anthology (Ray Charles): Greatest hits from an R&B master. Sometimes I get down on Greatest Hits collections. I mean, sometimes it's unfair to present "the hits" in a package that takes everything out of context (see previous post about deep dives). That said, I own my share of Greatest Hits type discs (as will become painfully apparent when we get to "G"), though many of those have mental caveats attached to them, things like "I really should get some more of so-and-so," mostly because I feel the need to hear the tracks that came with the one that became a hit.

Anyway, I really love the funky stuff - Ray was so much more than "Georgia on My Mind" though you can't fault him for that. Many of these tracks showcase a seriously swingin' band, with killer horns. One Mint Julep is a smokin' track.

At some point, it seems there was a groundswell (perhaps one comment, endlessly amplified in the blogosphere) suggesting that we change the national anthem to America the Beautiful. Something about The Star-Spangled Banner having so many battle references or something, though the verses of America the Beautiful outside of the one everybody knows (and sings on Sundays at baseball games since 9/11) are a little weird, with all the "liberating strife" and whatnot. All I know is, if we ever do make the change, I say only Ray sings it. At the least, his version becomes the official version.

Patitucci via Deep Dive

Another World (John Patitucci): Mr. Patitucci is an excellent jazz bassist. I discovered him via a deep dive, after purchasing Chick Corea Elektric [sic] Band Eye of the Beholder. I really really enjoyed that CD, and the deep dive ended up with my purchasing additional CDs from most of the Elektric Band performers (Mr. Patitucci, Dave Weckl (drums), Eric Marienthal (sax), and Frank Gambale (guitar)). Strangely, I never dug up more of Chick's stuff.

I may be mixing metaphors here, so I'll talk a bit about deep dives. As far as I know, deep dive is a term the consulting world has repurposed. It just means to go beneath the surface, to dig into the details. Deep dives in music can be very rewarding, and there are many types. That is, if you're digging Primus, maybe you need to listen to some Rush, then some old Yes and Led Zeppelin. By finding out who the people you dig dug (Dig Dug!), you can start to see why some of their stuff sounds like it does. Another approach is to listen to a single artist in different bands or periods - for instance Clapton in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Derek and The Dominos, etc., or to listen to solo recordings of individual band members, as I've done here.

Back to this CD: the mood here is a little world-lite, with an afro-pop feel to the whole thing. Killer playing, probably accessible enough for listeners of happy jazz (and a happy upgrade for them).

Melange

Annunciation (subdudes): This band is half Colorado, half New Orleans. I discovered them upon moving to Colorado, when my brother gave me one of their CDs (not this one). New Orleans funk meets laid-back Colorado. Mean slide guitar, nice accordion fills. Nice melange, this.

Siren Song

Angels in the Crowd (Wendy Woo): Dana and I had planned on spending a fall Saturday strolling the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, hanging with the trustafarians. When we got up there, it turned out there was a Fall Fair of some sort. Sidewalk sales, more buskers than usual, live music, the works. While walking from one shop to another, I heard a voice calling to me, siren like. It turned out to be Wendy Woo. We stayed for the rest of her set, bought a CD (not this one), and caught a couple more shows.

Wendy has an incredible voice, and is a most excellent guitarist. Her songwriting isn't shabby either. She has no label, so here's Proof #2 that good music exists outside of what the big labels think we should be listening to. She's an excellent live performer, whether in a coffeehouse acoustic setting or a full-on electric bar band. Within that range, this album is pretty mellow - think glass of chardonnay, as opposed to mug of stout.

Straight-up Rock

Amorica (The Black Crowes): Straight-Up rock. Less mainstream than Shake Your Money Maker, maybe? Good, but not particularly moving. Like listening to Classic Rewind (Sirius 15, XM 49), I don't feel challenged. I'm getting further in now, and there are songs here that make me want to be a drummer (see Live). I like those songs. I like when that happens. Someday I'm going to buy drums, but I doubt I'll ever be any good. It gets better as it goes. Reminds of the Allman Brothers, when they're rocking (no country here).

Ethereal Rock

Amnesiac (Radiohead): Another recommendation by Mr. Pearce. Well, that's not 100% true. My buddy Joe C. first exposed me to Radiohead via OK Computer. When Dave saw I had this on my iPhone, he made sure I heard some more Radiohead. How do you classify this? Ethereal? Why would you want to be in this band? That said, I enjoy the spaces, places, feelings, moods, whatever, that Thom Yorke and company create, despite what Miley Cyrus thinkg. This was an excellent follow-up to American V. With arrangements alternately sparse and lush, or sparsely lush, or maybe lushly sparse, and nothing too upbeat (like Jane's Addiction on lithium?), I was brought back up to 'normal' by this record. This morning at least.

Footnote: In the interim between when this was written, and when it was posted, I've really come to be a Radiohead fan. I find it excellent post-workout (cooldown) music.

One more from the man they call Cash

American V: A Hundred Highways (Johnny Cash): Johnny died before this album was completed. Though the vocals were done, final instrumentation had not been recorded. To some controversy, Rick Rubin (producer of the entire American series) decided to complete the record after Johnny's death. Like the rest of the American series, there are originals, covers, and re-recordings on this album. Many of the songs have a haunting quality, with lyrics that seem to foreshadow the end of the Man in Black's time on this earth. In particular, Like the 309 (the last song Johnny ever wrote), deals with death very frankly.

I first heard this record while listening to KRVS (local public radio station). I don't recall the show, but they played most of the record. Coincidentally, I was sitting, with Dana, Ellie, and our Siamese cat Zydeco on the eve of his death, with Dana and I crying (Ellie was too little to understand what was happening). Zydeco had been very ill, and we had been nursing his health for a couple of years. We had finally worked up the nerve to ask the vet if putting him to sleep was an option - he replied that most wouldn't have done as much as we had done. So, it was scheduled. The next morning, I was to drop Zydeco off at the vet for the last time. I picked him up a short time after and buried him in the woods behind our backyard. To this day I have a hard time listening to American V without having tears well up. That doesn't mean I don't listen to it. It's an incredible statement from an incredible man. Dana and I got Zydeco just before we were married in 1996. He died in the summer of 2006. We haven't had another pet since.

Back to Johnny telegraphing his death - I think people know when their time is coming. Listening to this record, it's hard to argue Johnny didn't know. My grandmother knew her time was coming, as did my grandfather. When my grandfather passed, my grandmother was worried about paying bills and such, because he always did that. When she began to look into these things, she found he had paid most accounts in advance by a few months, giving her time to get settled. They were not wealthy, and paying in advance was not his custom. When my grandmother passed, she had been hospitalized briefly for pneumonia. No one thought it life-threatening, though she passed quickly. When my father and his sister went to house to collect some things, they found she had laid out all her important papers (insurance and such) on the kitchen table. People know.

This record is just plain excellent. I for one am glad it was released. There is beautiful cello work in more than one track (maybe this is a Rick Rubin thing), which we know I'm a sucker for. The record is full of Johnny's typically sparse arrangements - less is more (though, to quote Frank Lloyd Wright: Less is only more where more is no good). Though the final interpretations were Rick's and the musicians', not Johnny's, they still had his already recorded vocals to work with.