AKA, “Songs my mother is referring to when she calls herself a rocker.” I hesitated on this one for a long time, but since I finally gave in on Elvis, I figured it was hard to argue that “Rock Around the Clock” wasn’t influential. Even if “influential” means, “Convincing record companies that they could make money by having white people sing songs originally done by black people.”
Month: November 2015
Clark Terry
Even setting the awesome music aside, how could you not love a guy who used to do a routine as an old blues dude named Mumbles?
Chucho Valdes/Irakere
Of the many things I am thankful for, I am thankful that Marcia more or less cajoled me into seeing Chucho Valdes at SF Jazz about a year ago. I still get shivers thinking about that show. And the one this past year with Gonzalo Rubalcaba was, if anything, even more fun. Thanks, Chucho!
Chick Corea/Return to Forever
When Marcia saw Chick Corea and Gonzalo Rubalcaba recently, she said it was a lot of, “Look at how technically brilliant we are!” Compared to when we both saw Rubalcaba with Chucho Valdes, which was a lot of, “Look how much fun we’re having!”
Which pretty much explains in a nutshell why I don’t like Chick Corea. (And you already know how I feel about fusion, so … sorry, RTF.)
Chet Baker
I always think of Chet Baker as part of the “live fast, die young” school. When in fact, he lived to almost 60. Somehow, “live fast, die in late middle age” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.
Charlie Musselwhite
Things you learn as a music junkie blogger, part infinity: Blues harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite is white! Too bad there wasn’t a clue, like in his name or something …
Cassandra Wilson
After releasing one of my favorite albums of the 90s, Cassandra Wilson promptly got boring. It’s not a good sign when your most interesting song from the last 20 years is a cover of the Monkees.
Captain Beefheart
I don’t think he’s from Santa Cruz, but I’m guessing that maybe there were a few drugs involved here also.
Camper Van Beethoven
Based on the group name and song titles, I had a feeling that maybe drugs were involved. Then I found out they are from Santa Cruz, and now I’m sure there are drugs involved. (That’s not a dig. I’ve been to Santa Cruz many times, and … whoa.)
Caetano Veloso
As much as I love the Red Hot organization for having their hearts in the right place (all album proceeds going to AIDS research), the truth is that they have produced some very, very bad albums. For their “medium bad” bossa nova album, they wisely decided to release a companion album containing the original (better) versions. It was that album that introduced me to the wild, wacky Caetano Veloso. So, thanks, Red Hot guys!
Playlist of the Day 