One of my faves - American jazz pianist, Bob James who recently recorded his album, “Angels of Shanghai,” is here in town with a number of local Shanghai Jazz community instrumentalists. For those who don’t know - Bob James was one of the major players bringing fusion jazz to the mainstream in the 70s, and is also known as one of the most sampled jazz artists in hip hop history - sampled by RUN DMC, Missy Elliot, L.L. Cool J., Beastie Boys, and Common among others.
Click Here to DOWNLOAD/LISTEN to one of my favorite melodies: “Feel Like Making Love.” Enjoy!!
Also, soon coming to the ‘Hai are Sweden’s Jens Lekman and Brooklyn native, Jose James …
I don’t have much time to type up a whole review for this, so feel free to read Pitchfork’s for the lowdown. I WILL say though, I’m happy to be a fortunate owner of the never-released 2002’s Kamaal The Abstract… thanks to my beloved Arista Internship Days!
(Well, sorta… because the production was not the spectacular “glow in the dark” one I was hoping for, however, close enough……)
I just got in from Kanye’s concert here at the Shanghai Grand Stage, and the man had the whole stadium on their feet, rockin’ out!!! I haven’t had THAT much fun at a concert in a LONGGGGGGG TIME! Now granted, it’s also been a longgggg time since I’ve seen a “real” live act, and not to mention, options here are slim, so my standards have lowered incredibly….. so all these variables must be taken into consideration, ….. but seriously, Mr. West did it up for me big time tonight!! I NEEDED this concert as it made me feel very much back in my element; and the crowd was alive in song and dance, all the way through!!
Not nearly sold out (comprised of both local and expat attendees) and I found that “no merchandising” was odd, but I guess that’s how it floats over here. Shrug.
The stage set-up itself was typical stage middle, jumbo screens to left/right. Performance lasted a full hour with just about every song you can think of. In the beginning, I found he sped up tempo… probably in order to include as many songs as he did in his set. At this very moment, I wouldn’t be able to recall every single track, however, my personal highlights were: “Homecoming,” “Flashing Lights,” sentimental “Hey Mama,” “Good Life,” “Touch the Sky” and the Interlude sung by a back-up singer, a rendition of: “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey. Oh! and he also did up Estelle’s “American Boy” - a real big hit in tha clubs ’round this town!
And it was a bit surreal that I was going nuts whenever he shouted and/or incorporated “Shanghai” in lyrics…… Wow! I’m really here! Exhibit A Video:
I go for mine, I got to shine
Now throw your hands up Shanghai!!!!!
Ahhhhhh I’m feelin’ SKY HIGH right now….Much love to Chi-town from Hai-town!!!
I don’t mean to kick off my return from Hong Kong to the mainland on the downside, but I can not let this news pass without lending a few words, to the passing of talented jazz musician, brilliant saxophonist and founding member of The Dave Matthews Band - Mr. LeRoi Holloway Moore.
Pre-2007:
I was considered adamantly and quite stubbornly against anything of which Dave Matthews and/or his band could ever offer me, simply for the negative connotation of drunken, rowdy and obnoxious fanbase that was most often linked to the “DMB” label. (Yes, I know… very non-musically open of me, however, it just goes to show my spite to be in the presence of that type of behavior.)
November 2006:
I was told by an atypical, not-so-drunken, rowdy, obnoxious friend (…. well sometimes, thanks Phil ) that I was a “perfect candidate” to be a fan of The Dave Matthews Band music…. (I was still of course very much a skeptic, but I started to open up to the idea of giving the band a chance to be heard at least.)
January 2007:
A trip to L.A. to visit my dear friend Ana (also a serious DMB head), more than anything, very timely, enhanced my already-rooted “carpe diem” approach to life….through, of all things, a sax chord by LeRoi Moore. “#41″ - creatively titled as it was the 41st song recorded by the band, absolutely, blew my mind upon my first listen. I recall sitting in my friend’s room as it seemed that fate had called her into work for a last minute emergency, so I capitalized on the opportunity to get over my jetlag from NY and dove into her music collection. I decided to “give this dude, Dave and his band” a real chance, and popped in their 2nd studio album, Crash- figuring, at least I was somehwat familiar with their popular 1996 single, “Crash Into Me.” Four songs passed and all was so-so in an “eh that’s cool” kinda way, till close to midway through the album, “#41″ stopped me in my tracks, dropped my jaw, opened up my eyes and ears to the incredible musicianship of the band.
About #41:
“#41″ was originally written by Dave Matthews as a reply to lawsuits brought forth by Ross Hoffman, a former associate and manager of the band. Hoffman owned rights to a number of the band’s songs in the early 1990s; however, due to creative differences, he was eventually fired by the band, and the band’s present manager, Coran Capshaw, was hired. As an owner to the band’s songs, Hoffman felt he deserved a share of the profits, which later caused a legal dispute between him and the band. Matthews wrote the song based upon the broken-hearted feelings he was experiencing as he was going through legal disputes with a former mentor of his.
“Remember when I used to play for
all of the loneliness that nobody
notices now”
- lyrics excerpt, “#41″ - Dave Matthews
The emotional strain heard in the band’s South African lead vocalist, Dave Matthews, complemented by the instrumental craftmanship of bandmates: bassist Stefan Lessard, violinist Boyd Tinsley, drummer Carter Beauford and now late saxophonist LeRoi Moore… is of pure brilliance!!! While the recorded song is timed at 6:40min, the second half of the song is filled of instrumental bliss, featuring solo limelights from bandmates - the switch up from Boyd’s violin strings (really, what rock band can rock with a violinist in it??!!) to soothing wind measures, to the jazzy sax bursts…. LeRoi got me to pay attention! Moreover, the song’s outro is led by a flute bridge by LeRoi, that beautifully segues the song into another track goodie, “Say Goodbye” - a song that tells a vivid tale of good friends crossing the safety-friendship line.
After putting this track on repeat for multiple times before I decided to discover and be wow’ed by other tracks, including “Let You Down,” “Lie In Our Graves” and “Proudest Monkey” on the same album… then later… “Captain” from their 2002 album release, Busted Stuff, (an album I coincidently helped promote as an intern at BMG/RCA… I held in my hands, a Dave-signed guitar as the winning prize for an online promotional contest with Yahoo!- if ONLY I had given them a chance back then… le sigh….)… I understood why my candidacy was held with such “perfect” esteem…
I quickly learned from my own experience that…
DMB is more than “just a band.” Quite simply, they epitomize intelligent music. The multi-cultural quintet stands for what I may call, utopia: Different races, different backgrounds, all armed with musical instruments, banded together through the love for (live) performance -infusing a wide range of music types from jazz to blues to rock to everything in between, shouting the importance of truly living life to the fullest, never turning away from realizing dreams, condemning strife caused by political bullshit, encouraging social reform, and most importantly: love; spreading love amongst humanity, one neighbor at a time - after all, we’re all we’ve got.
The Power of the Five continue to rock sold-out stages year after year worldwide, irregardless of not having released a studio album since their 2005, Stand Up and most probably have banked enough to cover for a few generations down their respective family lines; Their dedication to their craft and love for music and one another is something any human being on this planet can benefit from.
Look
Here are we
On this starry night staring into space
And I must say
I feel as small as dust
Lying down here
What point could there be troubling
Head down wondering what will
become of me
Why concern we cannot see
But no reason to abandon it
Time is short but that’s all right
Maybe I’ll go in the middle of the night
Take your hands from your eyes, my love
Everything must end some time
Don’t burn the day away
- lyrics excerpt, “Pig” - Dave Matthews
It’s all still pretty crazy to me of how deeply influenced I have been since my first real listen to the band. As many of you know, I’m rather passionate about things I’m hooked on and/or are about. Today, I stand as a proud member of the Warehouse camaraderie, fortunate to have since my enhanced-enlightenment trip to LA in January 2007, seen the band live 4 times plus an intimate acoustic set featuring Dave Matthews and long time music collaborator, Tim Reynolds at Radio City Music Hall, NYC, all within a period of 18 months - not too shabby! Twice of the 4 live band shows, LeRoi graced me with #41 magnificently! Thank you, Dave, Carter, Boyd, Steffan and LeRoi - Respect and rest high above the clouds in peace, no restriction.
Here’s a shot I took from my latest show in Camden, NJ at the top of June with all members… LeRoi, standing in the typical way far right, (almost cut off) away from center stage:
I now invite you to fall in love with a band that I have fallen so hard for. Here’s a live clip of #41, featuring a sweet solo saxophone session by LeRoi as well as guest, Victor Wooten on electric bass from their 1998 show at the United Center in Chicago. Enjoy!
It would be unfair for me to ask of ya’ll to hit me with new tunes, without throwing out some good bones myself! But good thing I play a fair game, so here it is… introducing RICK LUCY!!
I got hit with this last night and have not stopped playing it!!
ABOUT:
Reclusive music maverick Rick Lucy resurfaces after a psychological collapse in the Spring of ‘08, leading him to an overwhelming sense of newfound “clarity.” Saddened that his artistic contributions have been minimal at best; he sets out to create his only self-defining work, Erasick. Destroying Beauty, in which he undergoes self-induced medical treatments to reconnect to his awakening. The producer-composer utilizes a variety of handpicked writers and vocalists to underscore the album.
Kids, my ears are feenin to hear some fresh tunes… But with certain restrictions here, I’ve finally settled in and figured out a good hosting portal for sharing files that actually works for me in deliverance and acceptance….., MEDIAFIRE! It is FRESH, FAST AND FREEEEEE!! So load up and bring it! Sincere thanks in advance!
To ring in the 1st day of a great summer season ahead, here’s one of my little steamy faves - “Summer Son” from album The Hush by Scotland-native rock band, Texas, with female lead Sharleen Spiteri. Enjoy!
“Summer Son”
“When We Are Together”
Live performance of “Say What You Want” remix ft. Method Man
“In Our Lifetime” from album, The Hush by Texas (05.18.99)
I woke up this morning, still revved up with what my boys had done last night! They had trailed by as many as 24 points, looking REALLY dicey in the first half (yeah, I was cussin’ n cursin’), but the Celtics staged an epic rally - in the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history - to win Game 4, 97-91…. now on the brink of their 17th NBA Championship as they lead the NBA Finals 3-1!!
Andddd now I think it is appropriate to include some throwback clips from Spike Lee’s 1998 film, He Got Game, starring Ray Allen and another guy named Denzel Washington, Enjoy!!!
He Got Game - Movie Trailer
He Got Game - Title track by Public Enemy music video:
“He Got Game” by Public Enemy from soundtrack, He Got Game (04.28.98)
I was initially motivated to start this blog with the intent of establishing a mode of communication between family and friends for my time living abroad. After writing a few posts, I realized this platform meant more to me than just a means of keeping in touch, but rather providing a great way to document my life’s musings in the form of a memoir (so who cares if one or ten or twenty or 100 people read my daily ramblings.) Since then, my casual approach has offered me an opportunity to make note of whatever I was inspired/motivated by, thought, felt, saw, heard, did in the day and/or wish to inspire, motivate, plan to see, hear, do etc. It has become such a sixth sense for me to keep up with, I oftentimes forget what I have blogged and always get a good shock when a friend references something that has happened to me, and the convo goes a little something like this:
Me: “Hey! How did you know that? Have we talked about this before?”
Friend: “I read it on your blog.”
Me: “Ahhhhh! Score! You’re alright in my book!”
So thankfully, I have enough folks who find my random musings, entertaining enough to keep them coming back for more. (ps. It truly is a great compliment to hear folks are actually interested in what I have to say/am doing. LOL)
But this particular entry has a rather heavier undertone because it has been brought forth by a couple of recent not-so-celebratory events. See, while much of my material are of the happy-ending type because, well, I’m one to always (at least try to) make it a point to look beyond and find the light at the end of the tunnel no matter what situation I find myself in. (And trust, things are not always peachy on my end; I have my down times; I’m only human after all.) Nonetheless, I was recently stopped in my tracks with news of a death in the family of a friend in addition to another friend’s struggle with depression. Two pretty harsh realities if you ask me with the former being the #1 mystery to this thing called “life.”
Two isolated incidents, yet somewhat connected, in that those left to deal with the respective realities share similar distressed, and sometimes, volatile states of mind. You can imagine I was tongue tied upon receiving news of both instances because a) death is never going to be easy to deal with, for what you say/do will not revert the end result and b) cheering up someone who is chronically suffering is not as easy as simply cracking a knock-knock joke.
However, what I was reminded of in both cases is the value of humanity and compassion. While I’m busy-ing around and stressing out over my upcoming move, I reached out to both of my friends. Irregardless of lack in power to change what is done and/or erase suffering, my simple phone call (if I were in the same city, of course I would’ve just showed up in flesh, arms wide open) was genuinely well-received and at that point, it didn’t matter what it was that I had to say, but the fact that I thought and cared enough to reach out, spoke volumes on my behalf.
So, as my friend who is struggling with depression asked me to include a piece in my blog to “let people know if they know someone who is depressed, reach out to them, because we are unable to reach out on our own a lot of the time…” – There ya’ll are! Please keep those words in mind in your own circle of family and friends. Life is unpredictable and not a guarantee, as indicated with the passing of my other friend’s family member. Love, Care, Value those you have in your life, and remember, together,
from the dark side we can see a glow of something bright
. . don’t burn the day . .
“In Our Lifetime” from album, The Hush by Texas (05.18.99)
“Everyday” from album, Everyday by Dave Matthews Band (02.27.01)