gvopedz

Massive modernization of the Massey Hall: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/massey-hall-renovation-reopening-1.6243825

My copy arrived to my hands this morning when I walked into a CD store, sanitized my hands with the store's hand sanitizer, and then bought the CD with dirty-looking cash.

Sounds like an episode of Candid Camera.

A few people still believe that the cover of John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band album is identical to the cover of Yoko Ono's Plastic Ono Band album. Take another look at the two covers side by side.

For those who have not seen this video:

pp. 167-169 of Benson's autobiography: Tommy Lipuma suggested to Benson the song "Breezin" - "a composition that was cowritten by soul singer Bobby Womack and Tommy's old friend Gabor Szabo". Benson heard the song and writes: "The guitar line was melodic, soulful, and simple, and the medium-tempo, churning groove would allow me the opportunity to play some hot double-time licks, some Wes Montgomery octaves, and a whole bunch of pretty stuff". Bobby Womack subsequently told them "the story" behind "Breezin": "Believe it or not, we just threw it together at the end of the recording session. It was like a jam tune. But Gabor was good at that stuff, you know, what with his folksy style, simple but jazzy. He didn't think the song was going to be anything because it was so simple - to him, it was just do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do, so he took his name off of it". Per Benson, Womack said, "there was something I wanted to do on the track, but it never made it onto the record"...And then he [Womack] sang me the opening lick, and man, what a lick it was...I mentally patted myself on the back for coming up with the idea to bring Bobby into Capitol Records Studios."

It was a memorable evening: Louis Armstrong, his wife and a diplomat from the US embassy were out for dinner in a restaurant in what was still Léopoldville, capital of the newly independent Congo…. What Armstrong did not know was that his host that night in November 1960 was not the political attaché as described, but the head of the CIA in Congo. He was also totally unaware of how his fame had allowed the spy who was making small talk across the starters to gain crucial information that would facilitate some of the most controversial operations of the entire cold war. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/sep/12/louis-armstrong-and-the-spy-how-the-cia-used-him-as-a-trojan-horse-in-congo

I suggest installing a security camera on all nearby dumpsters.

Has anyone had a chance to listen to or go through the Marian Anderson 15-CD set Beyond the Music? https://www.amazon.com/Marian-Anderson-Beyond-Music-Anderson/dp/B0954JTNKP

I saw a lady ask Paco de Lucia for his autograph - he gave her his autograph and immediately asked her for a kiss. She gave him a kiss.

Did Joe Strummer ever walk into a grocery store and hear "Rock the Casbah" being played as part of the store's background music?

I believe the Lena and Lennie title is a reference to Lena Horne and her husband Lennie Hayton

I would be happy to buy a 16-CD set of 1970-1975 Santana

Greek tragedy meets American ingenuity in Iphigenia, the long-awaited opera by Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding. A mythical work in progress for the last several years, it has now reached a developmental stage foreign to most other operatic productions: a crowdfunding campaign. https://www.wbgo.org/music/2021-03-15/wayne-shorter-and-esperanza-spalding-make-an-appeal-to-get-their-opera-to-a-premiere

Finally got a copy of the Giuffre 3 Live at Graz 1961 CD - excellent album.

The Beatles: Get Back - A Sneak Peek from Peter Jackson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UocEGvQ10OE

Well, speaking of silence in a record, there is also the "Two Minutes Silence" in the John Lennon/Yoko One album Unfinished Music No. 2: Life With the Lions.

Has anyone heard this boxset: https://thevinylfactory.com/news/john-cage-433-mute-box-set/

Waterloo Records in Austin is letting people make 30-minute private shopping appointments. i might show up with disposable gloves. You can check out the records and CDs without an appointment at the Half-Price bookstore (as long as the store is not already "full").

Let's hope more people discover (or discover) Monk and that there is an increase in the sales of Monk CDs.

For those who have not seen this 34 minute film:

Helen Jones Woods, who played trombone with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, a history-making all-female big band that toured widely during World War II, died of COVID-19 on July 25 in Sarasota, Fla. She was 96… After the Sweethearts disbanded in 1949, Woods joined the Omaha Symphony, only to be fired after her first performance. Her father, who had a darker complexion, came to pick her up, which prompted symphony management to realize she was Black… https://www.wbgo.org/post/helen-jones-woods-groundbreaking-female-trombonist-has-died-covid-19#stream/0

Many years ago, I obtained a copy of Keith Jarrett’s The Köln Concert because I heard a critic say, “The chicks dig it.” And yes, the critic was correct.

“Erik Satie's Vexations — an enigmatic work that exists on a single printed page but devours many hours in performance — isn’t going back into hibernation after pianist Igor Levit’s recent highly-publicized streaming marathon. Only a minute-or-two long, but repeated 840 times, Vexations is alternately called minimalist, Dada-ist, or Outsider Art when it resurfaces every few years… “ https://www.wqxr.org/story/saties-vexations-visionary-creation-or-musical-stalker/

Frank Zappa did release the Piquantique CD and, according to its notes, the recording has at least part of the 21 August 1973 Stockholm concert (including at least part of “Dupree’s Paradise”). Zappa experts can probably provide more details about Piquantique. The CD was part of Zappa's “Beat the Boots” effort: "Beat the Boots is a collection of bootleg recordings of performances by Frank Zappa which were originally distributed illegally but were released officially by Rhino Entertainment in 1991 as part of Zappa's campaign to dissuade his fans from buying illegal recordings of his concerts. The recordings were available as individual CDs and as an CDs, LPs or cassette box set." Some details are here: https://www.discogs.com/Frank-Zappa-Mothers-Piquantique-Stockholm-1973/release/1180047