TagsTagsHere's an open thread to hang out and watch the Grammy Awards. There's a live video feed here: GRAMMY Live.
Rest in peace, Whitney Houston. A beautiful woman with a truly huge gift for singing, but a sad, sad life. Whitney Houston via Shutterstock I was in a recording studio doing a session when I first heard Whitney Houston sing -- we were on a break, watching TV, and her first MTV ...
I just discovered this gem at YouTube, while searching for videos with Todd Rundgren -- the entire legendary 1981 Utopia concert from the Royal Oak in Detroit, just under an hour long. The band really kicked ass this night, and Todd's voice has never sounded better. I set this embedded video ...
The latest musicians to get upset at Republicans for appropriating a song without permission: the band Survivor, whose song "Eye of the Tiger" has been used by Newt Gingrich for years. The federal lawsuit, filed Monday in Chicago by Rude Music Inc., contends Gingrich has used the song since 2009 ...
I just discovered that the insanely great music show Austin City Limits has a channel on Vimeo, and among the treasures they've uploaded is this 1978 performance by Tom Waits. I've only seen this in grainy low-res YouTube uploads; it's riveting in good quality. The song is from Blue Valentine. ...
If you'd rather watch something interesting instead of NFL playoff commercials, here's our insanity break of the day.
This wild piece by Ewan Dobson goes through a million changes, with an almost metronomic precision. And I want to congratulate him for losing the weird masks and psychedelic background effects. Much better without, dude. (If you've seen his other videos you know what I mean.)
Today's insanity break is Bon Iver's video for their terrific song "Michicant," from one of my albums of the year, Bon Iver.
Extraordinary Swedish musician Nils Landgren may be most famous as a trombonist, but as you can hear from this video he's also a gifted singer. With the great Michael Brecker on saxophone, here's a gorgeous performance of James Taylor's classic tune, "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight." (h/t: Randall Gross.) If you ...
The most telepathic jazz trio in history reverently performs the classic Oscar Levant ballad "Blame It On My Youth," with their usual sensitivity and grace. Listen to the sound of Gary Peacock's double bass at the 1:00 mark; sheer beauty.
I've been wrong, I had plans so big But the Devil's in the details, I left out one thing No one to love me, no one to love me No one to love me, no one to love Hey, hey, for the want of a nail, the world was lost For the want of ...
Tonight's insanity break is a beautifully done video for a track from the Japanese electronica group Go-qualia, produced by World's End Girlfriend.
Music, Video, Go-qualia, World's End Girlfriend, Japan, Electronica
Today's insanity break features some very creative use of tuning pegs by acoustic guitarist Trevor Gordon Hall. Related: Trevor Gordon Hall - Kalimbatar
The Keith Jarrett Trio burns through Dizzy Gillespie's "Woody'n You," twisting and bending the chord structure and rhythm until it seems like it's falling apart, but somehow remaining coherent and swinging like mad. An inspired performance from the early days of the group.
Video, Vimeo, Music, Electronic, Surreal
Here's an ultra-tight performance by the band Laszlo, a track titled "Bohemian Groove."
I just have one thing to say about this performance, a warning: the lick at 1:37 may cause face-melting.
Swedish wunderkind Jimmy Walhsteen has a new album out, and here's a great track titled "Halifaxation." Some beautiful tones in this one, from Jimmy's slotted Larrivée guitar. More samples from this excellent album: [Video]
The best jazz trio in history, from their out-of-print DVD "Standards II - Live in Tokyo," recorded in 1986. All the solos in this one are simply masterpieces, and don't miss the ending. UPDATE at 11/12/11 3:16:34 pm Just discovered that this DVD is actually still available at Amazon, but not on ...
OK now, stop fighting about Occupy Wall Street for a few minutes and enjoy this creatively silly music video from Hollerado.
This is why I still love NPR -- great interviews like this one from Fresh Air, with Tom Waits talking about his new album Bad As Me. Video Also see: Tom Waits | Bad As Me
Here's some Saturday music, a spectacular performance of the jazz classic "Nardis" by pianists Kenny Barron and Brad Mehldau, two very different stylists who work very well together.