Hezekiah Walker, I'll make it

I just plain flat out love this song. As any casual reader of this blog would ascertain, I love gospel music, and Hezekiah Walker is my favorite gospel musician. Video, and in particular youtube, have given us a window into a realm that we might not easily access otherwise. This ecstatic, spiritual performance is what I aspire to in my own music. If you are interested in playing this song, John Thompson has a great instructional video.

Hezekiah Walker & LFC / Jesus Is The Light

This one almost approaches Sun Ra territory. I love gospel, and Hezekiah Walker continues to wow me. Very very cool.

Hezekiah Walker - Jesus Is My Help

Some more killer gospel from the great Hezekiah Walker. Great Sunday morning music and wonderful uplifting spiritual grooves.

McCoy Tyner, Bobbie Hutcherson, Charnett Moffett, Eric Harland, African Village 2002

My friend in Japan Mark posted this, and it's mind blowing. First, Charnett Moffett is totally amazing, with slap funk bass, and distortion on his acoustic. Eric Harland is his equal on drums, totally furious. Tyner and Hutcherson are in top form. I'm pretty amazed I didn't see this one until now.

How Much We Can Bear - Hezekiah Walker & LFCC

Jaw droppingly good gospel in the spiritual jazz tradition. "Jesus knows how much we can bear" is almost Bhuddist in its collective, even ecstatic, joy in the face of suffering. Here's a very interesting video breaking down the chords and structure of the song.

Miles Davis (Live Montreux / 1973)

Ornette Coleman Sextet 1978

A rare video of an early 1978 incarnation of the Coleman electric sextet with Ronald Shannon Jackson, James Blood Ulmer, Denardo Coleman, Bern Nix, and a bassist unknown to me, Fred Williams. Challenging and wonderful music.

Nils Petter Molvaer - Baboon Moon, 43e Festival de Jazz de Francfort 2012

Great set from one of my favorite artists. Filmed yesterday, 10/27/2012 at the Frankfurt Jazz Festival.

Credits:

• Nils Petter Molvaer: Trompete / trumpet Electronics
• Stian Westerhus: Gitarre / guitar,
• Erland Dahlen Electronics: Schlagzeug / battery

The Fents, First EP, 1979 Rad Records RR001, Strive to be twisted

I entered Occidental College as a freshman in 1979, the same year as Barack Obama. I never met Obama, which is surprising since Oxy isn't that large a school, but I did get to meet Adam Holzman and Ted Hall of the Fents who were also at Oxy at the same time. They played at Oxy a few times, but the highlight for me was seeing them burn up the stage at a local club with Kittyhawk. This is their first recording that I'm aware of and my favorite. A very nice fusion recording, with a little bit of Canterbury influence. One of the best of the era.

Talking Heads: LIVE IN ROME FULL CONCERT

Wonderful! Great 1980 footage of the Talking Heads Afro Funk period. Solid grooves, it just gets funkier and funkier.

Eivind Aarset Trio - Electromagnetic

Very nice video of Eivind Aarset from "Oslo Jazzed Out." Wonderful shot of the bassists daughter in the studio at the end.

Herbie Hancock Headhunters 1974

Nice set, well recorded, and as one poster said "Tight, Tight, Tight!"

Tony WIliiams 1979 Wild Life

A nice Tony Williams song from my favorite period of his work. You have to get past the poor white guy fashion sense of the late seventies and give the track some time to develop, but you'll be rewarded.
Tony Williams Group in France 1979 "Wild Life"
Tony Williams
Bunny Brunel
Tom Grant
Bob Harris
Todd Carver

Bobby Hutcherson, Harold Land & Joe Chambers 1969 Molde Norway

Just a wonderful video of Harold Land, Bobby Hutcherson  and Joe Chambers I happened to stumble on youtube. Stanley Cowell on piano, Reggie Johnson on bass. Two songs, first is "Theme from Blow-Up" and next is Sonny Rollins' "Oleo." The intensity of Harold Land's facial expressions really struck me.

Stevie Wonder Beat Club Germany 1974

I stumbled onto this video on the MyFunk website. It's a mind blower as the first two numbers are completely original improvisations and unfamiliar (to me at least). The first is a wonderful gospel tinged piece, and then it gets crazy with a very European sounding jazz fusion blow out. At other times it's hilarious, like at 11:38 when the Les Paul wielding guitarist who looks like a hybrid Slash/goth/glam rocker pulls out the maracas for "Don't you worry about a thing." Awesome grooves, and a good way to spend 30 minutes.

Milton Berle introducing Ornette Coleman

Watching this episode of Saturday Night Live as a teenager in Wichita Kansas blew my mind, and changed me forever. It's a weird, wonderful world we live in.

Pure i-20 iPod dock & dac

I was thrilled when I discovered the $100 Pure i-20 iPod dock and dac. I had been using a Wadia 170i itransport to get a pure digital signal out of my iPod. The Wadia cost me nearly $400, so it was the single most expensive piece of hifi equipment I owned. It also needed an external digital to analog converter ("dac"). The Pure i-20 sounds just as great, costs a fraction of the price and has a great sounding internal dac. It also has both coaxial and toslink outputs if you want to pair it with an external dac (the Wadia only has a coaxial output). The Pure i-20 also has a much smaller footprint, so it pairs up really nicely with a small amp like my Qinpu A-3 or a T-amp to create an inexpensive and minimal audiophile system. I couldn't be happier. This really makes listening to digital music easy and satisfying. An enthusiastic thumbs up!

John Abercrombie, Arcade (ECM 1978)

A nice OOP John Abercrombie recording. Solid playing all around with some of John's signature electric mandolin. While I realize Abercrombie has a large number of ECM recordings, I'm surprised this one remains out of print.
Tracks:

1. Arcade Abercrombie 9:36
   
2. Nightlake Beirach 5:31
   
3. Paramour Abercrombie 5:06
   
4. Neptune Beirach 7:30
   
5. Alchemy Beirach 11:31

Odean Pope, Out for a Walk (Moers 1990)

Most sites list this disc as a 1990 release, but Odean Pope's official website lists it as a 1980 recording, two years before Almost Like Me. Regardless, Out for a Walk starts where Almost Like Me leaves off. The two discs could easily have been recorded at the same session. It's the same line up, with Gerald Veasley on bass and Cornell Rochester on drums stretching out and playing some serious modern music. There's nothing else out there quite like this, funky modern Philly jazz with some amazingly serious bass. Not to be missed.

Odean Pope, Almost Like Me (Moers 1982)

Here's Odean Pope's outstanding and very hard to find first release as leader. Some hard-core funky slap bass Philly modern jazz, with Cornell Rochester on drums and Gerald Veasley on bass playing some of their best work. This is the album Jamaaladeen Tacuma should always have recorded. Don't miss track 7, the deeply funky and African influenced "Mwalimu." Highly recommended.

Track Listings
1. Elixir
2. Almost Like Me
3. Multiphonics
4. Scorpio Twins
5. No Air
6. Kyle's Theme
7. Mwalimu
8. Good Question