Sounds of Blue
with Bob Putignano
02/25/04
My guest will be Concord recording artist and guitar ace Robben Ford who
will be at BB Kings Club in NYC on 3/2. Possessing a résumé that
includes stints with an impressively broad range of other musical
personalities—Miles Davis, George Harrison, Little Feat, and the
Yellowjackets, among many others - Robben Ford has demonstrated an uncanny
adaptability similar to that of the MG’s and the Muscle Shoals group.
The guitarist has effortlessly traversed genres without compromising his
exquisite, blues-based playing and singing. So it’s only natural that on
his latest album, Keep On Running (CCD-2187), Ford tips his hat to Muscle
Shoals and the MG’s, offering fresh takes on soul classics, in addition
to serving up several glowing originals. In his early 20s, Ford went on to
join blues luminary Jimmy Witherspoon’s band. But soon, Ford experienced
a diversion from the genre. In 1974, the guitarist was discovered by
saxophonist Tom Scott, whose progressive fusion group, L.A. Express, then
teamed up with Joni Mitchell to support her Court and Spark tour and play
on two of her albums (1974’s Miles of Isles and 1975’s The Hissing of
Summer Lawn).
Also dialing in from Louisiana will be Burton
Garr, whose new CD, "Home of the Blues" has just been released.
Louisiana contemporary blues artist Burton Gaar has released 4 CD’s to
date. Having over 450 songs in his catalog, he has written over 2000 songs
during his career. The power and sincerity of his unmistakable voice, the
meaningful lyric content of his songs, powerful groves, and clever musical
arrangements, give Gaar a genuineness of emotion and feeling all his own.
Burton Gaar was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Halloween night in 1943.
He grew up in a farming community in Rapides Parish Louisiana. In February
of 2003 Gaar began working on the latest release entitled "Home Of
The Blues". The CD was recorded in Nashville TN. at Colemine Studios.
The Home Of The Blues disc features Tim Gonzales on harmonica, Organist
Johnny Neel formerly of the Allman Brothers and Government Mule, guitarist
Shane Theriot of the Neville Brothers band, guitarist Danny Hamblin,
bassist Randy Coleman of the T Graham Brown Band, drummer Floyd Saizon
formerly of The Delta Rockets and others. The New CD, "Home of the
Blues" was released October 3,2003.
3/3/04: Author
Nadine Condon, author of: "Hot Hits, Cheap Demos"
Practical advice and
business savvy for aspiring musicians looking to make it in the music
industry
Hot Hits, Cheap Demos is
rooted in real-life music business experience, not classroom theory.
It reveals the secrets of artist development using the creative
process as the foundation for success, and provides solid direction
for you to plan and evaluate your path to success. Lauded industry
professional Nadine Condon draws on her business savvy to give
up-to-date advice on the ever-changing music world, and she bolsters
it with success stories of clients and friends alike. Regardless of
your musical persuasion, this is the one instrument that will save you
money, time, and heartache.
Hot Hits, Cheap Demos
shows you how to:
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Jumpstart your
career
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Create a press kit
and develop sure-fire marketing strategies
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Contact clubs and
alternative venues
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Produce and promote
your own shows
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Make an eye-catching
Web site
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Create a standout
song, find a producer, package a CD
And includes:
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12 tips you can't
afford to forget
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Facts and fiction
about radio airplay
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A checklist for
finding a manager, agent, and lawyer
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Secrets for getting
major label attention
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Contract options and
publishing and performing rights
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Also on
3/3/04: Dick
Waterman talking about his new photo book: "Between
Midnight & Day"
Between Midnight
and Day is the groundbreaking record of Dick Waterman's most
important photographs from his unparalleled vintage blues
archive. Beginning in 1964 with the rediscovery of legendary
Delta blues singer Son House, Dick Waterman established Avalon
Productions, the first agency devoted exclusively to managing
and promoting blues musicians. While acting as their manager
Waterman photographed blues legends like Son House, Skip
James, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Otis Rush, Booker White,
Arthur Crudup, John Hurt, Robert Pete Williams, and many more.
Along with his photographs, Between Midnight and Day provides
an oral history of Dick Waterman's experiences with these
amazing blues musicians. His vivid accounts of musicians John
Lee Hooker, Sippie Wallace, Eric Clapton, Bobby Blue Bland,
Janis Joplin, Willie Dixon, Furry Lewis, Bob Dylan, Luther
Allison, and Fred McDowell provide compelling reading for
anyone interested in the rich legacy of the blues.
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3/10/04:
Author Scott Yanow on his book "Jazz on Record"
The complete
story of all of jazz's significant artists and their
recordings through six decades of music
In this
comprehensive volume, Scott Yanow traces the history of jazz
through its recordings. Most live performances from this rich
60-year period are lost forever, but jazz fans can experience
a rich legacy of recorded work. Sorting through and colorfully
commenting on thousands of CDs and LPs, Yanow points out which
performances are the most representative of the great
20th-century artists and which recordings are essential to
jazz fans' collections. Along the way he takes readers on a
journey through the golden ages of jazz, covering styles such
as New Orleans jazz, swing, bebop, cool jazz, Dixieland, hard
bop, soul jazz, the avant-garde, and fusion — and showing
how these forms diverge, develop, and continue to flourish.
"By the
remarkable, indefatigable Scott Yanow." —San
Francisco Examiner
Scott Yanow has
contributed to virtually every leading jazz publication since
1975, written liner notes for over 300 recordings, and
reviewed more jazz recordings than anyone in history. He is
the author of Duke Ellington, Trumpet Kings, Classic Jazz,
Swing, Bebop, and Afro-Cuban Jazz, and the editor of the 3rd
Edition of the All Music Guide to Jazz.
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Also on 3/10, NY
singer-songwriter Rosalinde Block will be coming into the
studio to perform.
Rosalinde's
Block party is a fusion/Steely Dan edge, neoclassic
soul- jazz/r&b/gospel/pop
Rosalinde is
back full-tilt with Block Party yet still sees 25-30 piano
students each week. She draws not only from her own classical
training, but also helps kids create their own compositions -
from writing and arranging to recording. Additionally, the
multi-talented Rosalinde is a commissioned artist/
illustrator. She is also the author of several books,
including KID PIE-52 Slices of Life, a "feelings"
book for preteens, which is currently being developed for a
reality TV show.
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3/17
Author Michael
Lydon, on his updated book "Ray Charles, Man and
Music"
Book
Description
The first comprehensive, definitive
biography of Ray Charles. Based on extensive interviews
with Ray Charles himself, as well as more than 150 other
sources
"Absolutely fresh and compelling. This is a book not just
about Ray Charles but about the world that nourished and
inspired him. A true revelation."-Peter Guralnick, author
of Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love
"An exhaustively researched, movingly written biography
of the man Frank Sinatra once called 'the only genius in our
business.'"-People
"Admirable...engrossing...Lydon isn't afraid to peek
under those dark glasses and present a complete picture of
this phenomenally talented but equally complicated
man."-Jeff Turrentine, Forbes
"[Ray Charles] may well be the ultimate American
story....Remarkably candid. A scrupulous and perceptive piece
of work."-Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post
"This is no quickie pop-star bio. Lydon understands that
Ray Charles is a character as complicated as any in fiction
and fully as interesting. Dostoevsky might have invented Ray
Charles, had he the inspiration."-The Newark Star-Ledger
"Lydon's richly detailed account powerfully evokes his
times and context....Essential reading for popular-music
fans."-Booklist
Also on 3/17,
the return of Tad Lathrop, on his book, "This Business of
Music, Marketing & Promotion"
The maxim in the
music industry has always been “You can’t make it on
talent alone,” and with This Business of Music Marketing
& Promotion, you don’t have to.
In language that is simple and direct, author Tad Lathrop
details promotional skills, publicity plans, royalty
guidelines, and more, all supported by real-life examples. He
shows how the Web and other technological developments have
revolutionized not only how music is made, but how it is
marketed and promoted. The old rules still apply—create a
marketing plan, know your copyrights, be familiar with the
laws of commerce—but there are a host of new ones as well,
along with new strategies on how to give your recording the
exposure it deserves.
This streamlined, reorganized, and updated edition features an
all-new chapter (“Twenty-Five Profile-Building Ideas to Use
Right Now”), which will help readers get a running start in
the recording business. They’ll also find completely updated
material about Internet sales and promotion techniques, the
latest information available on integrated marketing and
e-marketing strategies, and brand-new listings of information
resources.
-
New edition
focuses on the full integration of online sales and
promotion into the standard music marketing mix
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Expanded
coverage of new Internet marketing techniques and
opportunities
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First
edition sold over 30,000 copies
Tad Lathrop has
written and edited music and marketing materials for a host of
companies and publishers, including SonicNet and Launch. He
lives in Oakland, CA
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3/24:
Jimmy McGriff. Who will be performing MARCH 26th - 28TH
AT THE HUDSON HOUSE
TO KICK OFF THE 2004 NYACK JAZZ & FUNK FESTIVAL CONCERT
SERIES.
"They've always classified me as a Jazz organist which I
am not," states Jimmy McGriff. "I'm more of a Blues
player. That's what I really feel."
With innumerable
Top Ten albums to his credit, there is no mistaking McGriff's
status as a legend. A master of the Hammond B-3, his
renditions of Jazz and Blues classics along with his own
compositions like "All About My Girl", "Kiko",
"Vicki" and "Granny’s Lane", have made
him a Blues original.
The influence of
neighbor Richard "Groove" Holmes was dynamic though,
and he studied privately with him. Jimmy also studied organ at
Philadelphia's Combe College of Music and at Julliard. In
addition, he studied privately not only with
"Groove", but with Milt Buckner and with classical
organist Sonny Gatewood.
An A&R rep
for Sue Records heard Jimmy playing organ at a small club in
Trenton, NJ, offered him a contract and Jimmy was on his way
to becoming an international favorite.
Jimmy's
arrangement of "I Got A Woman", on the Sue label,
made it to the top five on both Billboard's R&B and Pop
charts ... and the hits have kept coming year after year.
There are close
to 100 albums with Jimmy McGriff's name at the top as leader.
He has recorded for Sue, Solid State, United Artists, Blue
Note, Groove Merchant and recently for Milestone, Headfirst
and Telarc.
In his prolific
career, Jimmy has recorded with George Benson, Kenny Burrell,
Frank Foster, JJ Johnson and even a two-organ jam affair with
the late "Groove" Holmes.
Jimmy McGriff
has performed in concert with Count Basie, Wynton Marsalis,
Dizzy Gillespie, James Moody, Lou Donaldson, and the Thad
Jones-Mel Lewis Big Band. He also toured and recorded with the
great Buddy Rich for two years in the mid 70's. .
Currently Jimmy
performs around the world with his own Quartet, carving his
own distinctive organ niche. Incorporating traditional gospel
with a spiritual feel, he often teams up with musical buddy
Hank Crawford in concert and on records.
Jimmy McGriff
has received numerous awards over the years. Whether these
accolades refer to him as a Blues master or a Jazz legend,
McGriff fans will tell you that he just reaches for your heart
and soul with his music and always comes up with a
"feel-good" gettin' down sound!
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Also on 3/24 Jeff Healey
will be calling in, and will be performing at BB Kings in Time Square
NYC, on April 4th for 2 performances.
Facts alone pay
insufficient tribute to the talents of Jeff Healey, but they at least
provide a continuing framework for the story of one of Canada's most
celebrated and accomplished musicians.
Rendered blind from eye cancer since the age of one, Healey picked up
his first guitar at three, and - by playing the instrument flat on his
lap - patented a revolutionary technique that went on to become a
trademark of his performance. By the age of six, Healey was playing
and singing in public. Once he reached his teens, the guitarist had
already played in several bands, and experimented with numerous
musical genres. At the age of fourteen, Healey had become the
principal music specialist at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation,
routinely airing vintage selections from his now 25,000-strong
collection of 78 rpm recordings for his weekly radio broadcast.
In 1988, the band came to the attention of Arista Records in the U.S.,
and a flurry of activity followed. The band released its first album,
See The Light, featuring original songs alongside some rock staples by
John Hiatt, ZZ Top and Freddie King. it also spawned a top 10 single
in "Confidence Man", and a Billboard Hot 100 Top 5 ranking
for "Angel Eyes", leading JHB to appearances on Late Night
with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. The
album went through the roof in Canada, selling well over 300,000
copies and went Platinum (1 million) in the U.S. Healey was also
nominated for a Grammy Award alongside Santana, for Best
Instrumental" for his performance on the track
"Hideaway". Also, at the same time, a producer named Jimmy
Iovine cast the band in a Patrick Swayze film, Road House, and flew
the band to L.A. to cut the movie's soundtrack. Both the film and the
soundtrack were released in 1989.
In 2003, Healey and company have returned with a vengeance. Get Me
Some has all the raw, lurid force its title suggests. The revved-up
riffs and screaming harp of "Which One" drops off into the
slowed-down molten groove of "Hey Hey". Healey covers the
sonic palette on this album, even tempting the fates by covering the Diane
Warren penned "I Tried", to stunning effect. His
supple vocals lend songs like "I Should Have Told You" and
"Love Is The Answer" a melancholy, keening quality, traits
that have come to define Healey's incomparable style.
Also on 3/31,
Severn recording Artist Tad Robinson will be my guest, Tad has
a new CD out, "Did you ever wonder"
A potent blend of
Chicago blues and Memphis soul, Did You Ever Wonder? features five
originals written by Tad and longtime collaborator John Bean along
with six classics including the Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose gem
Too Late to Turn Back Now featuring special guest Otis Clay.
A stellar backing
group includes ALEX SHULTZ - guitar (Rod Piazza, William Clark), MARTY
BINDER - drums (Albert Collins, Junior Wells), HARLAN TERSON - bass
(Lonnie Brooks, Otis Rush), and horn charts by soul legend WILLIE
HENDERSON (Tyrone Davis, Chi-Lites).
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4/7-
Renee Austin:
With a nearly
five-octave range and stunning vocal dynamism, Reneé Austin is
poised to lead a new generation of innovative singer-songwriters who
are ushering traditional American sounds into the 21st century. One
of the newest artists to sign with Blind Pig Records, Austin offers
razor-sharp reinterpretations of the blues and brings them to life
with an arsenal of vocal twists - husky and swaggering, breathy and
vulnerable, angelic and clear-as-a-bell. A multi-instrumentalist and
prolific songwriter, she's been honing her craft since early
childhood, and has nurtured her singing voice to astounding,
operatic heights. With her debut Blind Pig release, "Sweet
Talk", Austin convincingly demonstrates that she's not simply
up-and-coming, but ready to mingle gracefully in the company of
other esteemed singer-songwriter greats.
Also on
4/7: Author of the book "Getting Signed" George
Howard will be my guest. For
unsigned musicians, it is vital to long-term success to sign a
contract with a record label. However, preparing your music,
targeting a label, and getting your demo into the hands of someone
who will listen is challenging, if you don't know where to start.
Getting Signed!, by record industry veteran George Howard, guides
you through the maze of today's music industry, and will help you
move your demo to the top of the stack. Even if you are not yet
ready for a record deal, it will help you assemble a team that will
make sure your music gets heard by as many people as possible.
"The next time an aspiring recording artist comes to us for
advice, we'll advise them to read this book first. George Howard
really knows what he's talking about."- Chris Franz and Tina
Weymouth, members of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club
4/14:
Pianist Bill Charlap will be my guest, Bill has a new Blue Note
release, "Somewhere, the songs of Leonard Bernstein".
New York pianist Bill Charlap is comfortable straddling musical
fences. He comes from the pianistic legacy of Tommy Flanagan and
Hank Jones, yet he's comfortable mixing it up with likes of Steely
Dan. Here, with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny
Washington (arguably the best rhythm section happening in jazz
today), Charlap explores the Broadway tunes of classical
composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein. Charlap's piano lines glide
over the keyboard with vocal-like fluidity, especially on the finger
snapped bounce of 'Cool,' the Cuban cadences of 'America,' and the
brush-stroked 'Glitter to Be Gay.' Charlap's reading of 'Some Other
Time' reveals the harmonic DNA of Bill Evans' 'Peace Piece' and
'Flamenco Sketches' from Kind of Blue. 'Big Stuff' rocks in rhythm
with a stridish, Count Basie-type intro, which morphs into an Ahmad
Jamal-like motif. Charlap's solo performance of 'Somewhere' shows
that Bernstein was the intersection of the classics, American
popular song, and jazz. --Eugene Holley, Jr
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4/21 - Delbert
McClinton: The
venerable Delbert McClinton is a legend among Texas roots music
aficionados, not only for his amazing longevity, but for his ability
to combine country, blues, soul, and rock & roll as if there
were no distinctions between any of them in the best time-honored
Texas tradition. A formidable harmonica player long before he
recorded as a singer, McClinton's career began in the late '50s, yet
it took him nearly two decades to evolve into a bona fide solo
artist. A critics' darling and favorite of his peers, McClinton
never really became a household name, but his resurgence in the '90s
helped him earn more widespread respect from both the public at
large and the Grammy committee. In 2001 on the Austin,
TX-based New West imprint with another acclaimed effort,
"Nothing Personal". It proved to be one of the most
popular recordings of his career, gaining substantial airplay on
Americana radio and ending up one of the year's biggest hits on
Billboard's blues chart; it also won him another Grammy for Best
Contemporary Blues Album. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
4/28:
Author Doug Hinman will be talking about his new book, "The
Kinks".
With the help of
band members the author has reconstructed the Kinks' meteoric rise
to fame in the early '60s through its dissolution and revival in the
'70s, stadium success in the '80s, and final breakdown in the late
'90s. The book also profiles Ray Davies, one of the most gifted
songwriters in popular music. The book's day-by-day format details
their entire concert history, all known recording sessions, their
broadcast history, and all records issued in the U.S. and the U.K.
Doug Hinman is the
author of You Really Got Me, the award-winning, definitive
discography of the Kinks.
4/28:
Singer/songwriter, Peach. L .A.-based contemporary
blues artist Peach is joined on her newest release The Real Thing by
a group of players that reads like the Who’s Who of American rock
and roll. On her latest album, set to debut at radio February 16,
Peach collaborates with greats like Taj Mahal, Garth Hudson (The
Band), Paul Barrere (Little Feat), James Gadson, Lee Thornburg, Amos
Garrett and Reggie McBride. This compilation of soulful original
blues and jazzy ballads was produced by Marty Grebb, former music
director for Bonnie Raitt. .A.-based contemporary blues artist Peach
is joined on her newest release The Real Thing by a group of players
that reads like the Who’s Who of American rock and roll.
5/5 Terry
Silverlight: Will be in the studio, Terry's new CD
"Wild" features Hiram Bullock, Paul Schaffer, Will Lee,
and Edgar Winter. Her is what Will Lee had to say about
Terry's playing:
"Terry
is one of the most inspired songwriters and drummers ever. No one
can do what he does. His new CD is Wild! He and I produced it. He's
amazing!
"
5/5
Burton Gaar: Soul
drenched with emotion, powerful grooves and truth.
Check out Burton Gaar and Sound Venture Records latest CD
'Home of the Blues' which contains 12 new tracks written and
performed by Burton and his All-Star lineup!
“I
am a hard man to please and I like every song on this cd.”
-Larry Garner
“Every
song is an A side”
-Charlie Musselwhit e
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