#Kenny Harmon

[readersmagnet]

Sad Papaw's Heritage by Kenny Harmon

Step back in time to Kentucky's wheat fields with Kenny Harmon and witness the early days of American baseball in "Sad Papaw's Heritage." Feel the bittersweetness of a simpler era, where the pure joys of childhood existed alongside the harsh realities of limited medical access.

Explore the joys and challenges of a time gone by. Grab a copy at www.sadpapawbooks.net.

[justforbooks]

Martial Solal

French jazz pianist who loved to improvise and wrote the score for Jean-Luc Godard’s film A Bout de Souffle

A squint through the metal fence around Martial Solal’s tree-shrouded villa, in Chatou, the suburb of Paris known as the “ville des impressionistes”, could have confirmed that the great French pianist was not the average jazz musician. Solal, who has died aged 97, was the most famous jazz musician in France from the 1950s onwards, and widely known across Europe and the US.

The breakthrough that paid for that Chatou villa came when Solal – then a little-known club pianist – wrote the score for Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 film A Bout de Souffle (Breathless). The commission came out of the blue via Godard’s jazz-loving friend and fellow director Jean-Pierre Melville, and Solal collected royalties on it for ever after. “It’s like I won the Lotto,” he said in 2010. “Because back in 1959 when I did it, I was mainly just known for being the house pianist in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés jazz club.” Godard had few ideas about the music he wanted, beyond joking to Solal that he might compose a piece for a banjo player, to save money. The pianist promptly produced a soundtrack for big band and 30 violins.

Solal went on to work on several more films, and was one of the first Europeans to perform at the Newport jazz festival in the US. Into his 80s, he could still walk the tightrope of unaccompanied improvised performance, and his compositions had a signature as personal and harmonically idiosyncratic as Thelonious Monk’s. Solal, who liked stop-start melodies and constant rhythmic changes, wrote elegant pieces that slowly coalesced out of scattered fragments. He loved peppering classic jazz material – even as sacrosanct as Duke Ellington’s – with disrespectful quotes going all the way back to his danceband days in Algiers, the city where he was born.

Solal’s mother, Sultana Abrami, an amateur opera singer, introduced him to classical piano as a child. During the second world war, under Nazi race laws, Martial was excluded from a secondary education because his father, Jacob Cohen-Solal, an accountant, was Jewish. He took jazz clarinet and piano lessons from a local bandleader, with whom he was soon performing tangos, waltzes and Benny Goodmanesque swing. Soon, Fats Waller, Erroll Garner, Art Tatum and the bebop virtuoso Bud Powell began to displace Chopin and Bach among Solal’s keyboard models.

He moved to Paris in 1950 after his military service, and teamed up with the American bebop drums pioneer Kenny Clarke in the house band at the Saint-Germain-des-Prés club. The young pianist’s nervous recording debut was in April 1953 with the jazz-guitar genius Django Reinhardt, who turned out to be playing on his last; Reinhardt died the following month. That year, Solal recorded Modern Sounds with his own trio and also recorded unaccompanied. After working with Sidney Bechet in 1957, he received the commission for the Breathless score.

The word about Solal then began to reach America – both Oscar Peterson and Ellington had been entranced by him in Paris, with Ellington pronouncing him a “soul brother”. In 1963, he played at Newport, with the bassist Teddy Kotick and the drummer Paul Motian; despite barely knowing his new partners, Solal boldly added his 11-minute tempo-shuffling Suite Pour Une Frise to the usual programme of standard songs.

Turning down an invitation to move to the US, Solal led world-class groups in the 1960s and 70s, often including the drummer Daniel Humair, the bassist Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, and even an advanced two-bass trio for piano and the double-bassists Gilbert Rovère and Jean-François Jenny-Clark. He also explored fruitful duo partnerships with the American saxophonists Lee Konitz and Phil Woods between the 70s and the 90s, and led innovative big bands, notably on the thrilling Martial Solal Big Band session (for the Gaumont label in 1981) and Plays Hodeir (1984).

An insatiable capacity for self-education helped Solal to develop a characteristically pungent harmonic language. He wrote and performed contemporary classical music and published jazz-piano pieces modelled on the Mikrokosmos educational cycles of Béla Bartók.

In 1989 the Martial Solal jazz piano competition was founded. Its winners have included the Frenchman Baptiste Trotignon and the charismatic Armenian virtuoso Tigran Hamasyan. In the 90s, Solal often worked with the Moutin twins, François and Louis, on bass and drums – both were flexible enough to follow their leader’s tendency to launch a tune without telling them what it was, change key without warning, or turn it into a different song entirely.

As he entered his 70s, Solal seemed to be playing with a revitalised and swashbuckling confidence – as if he was finally sure that he would still sound like himself whether he played within the regular rules, or broke them. In 1999, he won Denmark’s Jazzpar prize, and celebrated by writing parts for the accompanying Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra owing as much to the French impressionist classical composers as to jazz. In that decade, Solal also had an unprecedented 30-concert solo run on French national radio.

In 2000, with his 12-piece Dodecaband, he recorded Martial Solal Dodecaband Plays Ellington. During the following decade, he recorded two live albums at the Village Vanguard in New York; the brilliant unaccompanied session Solitude; the duet Rue de Seine, with the trumpeter Dave Douglas; and the Exposition Sans Tableau session for his woodwind-less, brass-packed Decaband – a typically quirky lineup featuring Solal’s talented daughter Claudia singing the roles of a missing sax section.

His final public performance was a solo concert in 2019, at the Salle Gaveau hall where he had made his Paris debut in 1961. After a masterly exposition later issued on the album Coming Yesterday, Solal’s typically elegant exit was prefaced by the words: “I don’t want to bore you. It’s better that you leave here serene.” Then he played “a nice chord like this” – a single F major – said “Voilà. Merci” and left the stage.

Solal undoubtedly loved improvisation, but he believed it needed the spur of challenging composition to stop improvisers from slipping into habits. Not everyone shared his enthusiasm for musical jokes and maybe Solal was unnecessarily diverted by whether or not jazz could satisfy what he saw as classical listeners’ expectations of “perfection”. But he was a jazz-lover to his nimble fingertips, nonetheless. Speculating that probably no more than 10% of his fellow countryfolk knew anything about jazz, Solal phelgmatically declared that “as long as we can live, and play the music we like, it’s too bad for the 90%. It’s their loss.”

Solal is survived by his wife, Anna, their son, Eric, and daughter, Claudia, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

�� Martial Saul Cohen-Solal, musician, born 23 August 1927; died 12 December 2024

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[laughterlust]

How the turns have tabled

So Victor will definitely come across Blue at some point within their timeline. He'll pick up on their desires to learn more about the multiverse, he'll take it personally that they're BFFs with his "nemeses" Kenni & Rags, aaaand he'll sense their totally shameless mad-scientist-related fantasies and will convince them to let him take them in as a test subject for a while. :3c He is the only Ler other than Rags that can intimidate them this much.

The main reason he becomes so intrigued by them is because of Dragoon: a perfect combination of Dream, Nightmare and Surreal magic. This type of power and harmonization is exactly what Victor and Vex need for their goals of uniting all realities through peoples' dreams.

That being said... Dragoon would end up being a bit much for even Victor, the end-level antagonist, to handle. Their permanent manic state and unstable brainwaves render his mind-control & neural-pathway manipulation almost useless. They'd take over every piece of tech in his lab to throw a bomb-ass rave party; and, of course, turn his many implements of tickle torture against him :3c

He's not the biggest overpowered lunatic in the room anymore and he isn't sure how to cope with it 👍

❌🔞MINORS AND NO AGE IN PROFILE DNI. This is a NSFW blog, you will be blocked on sight.🔞❌

[spenceluvsurmomsblog]

Master list!

Here’s what/who I currently write smut/fluff for!

Huge disclaimer: if you know a character is a minor then you should know I will not write smut for them. Ty loves!

Full / fuller house

Jesse Katsopolis

Joey Gladstone

Danny Tanner

(Older) DJ Tanner

(Older) Stephanie Tanner

(Older) Kimmy Kibbler

Matt Harmon

Heart stopper

Nick Nelson (fluff)

Charlie Spring (fluff)

Tara Jones (fluff)

Darcy (fluff)

Issac (fluff)

Tori Spring (depends on what’s requested)

Aled (fluff)

Tou Xu (fluff)

Elle (fluff)

The summer I turned pretty

Conrad Fisher (smut/fluff)

Jeremiah Fisher (smut/fluff)

Steven Conklin (smut/fluff)

Isabell Conklin (fluff)

Susannah Fisher (fluff)

Laurel Conklin (fluff)

The Black Phone

Finney Blake (fluff)

Robin Arellano (fluff)

Bruce Yamada (fluff)

Vance Hopper (fluff)

Griffin Stagg (fluff any one who requests smut is blocked)

Billy Showalter (fluff)

Metal Lords

Hunter Sylvester (smut/fluff)

Kevin (smut/fluff)

Emily (smut/fluff)

That 70s show

Steven Hyde (smut/fluff)

Eric Forman (smut/fluff)

Jackie Burkheart (smut/fluff)

Michael Kelso (smut/fluff)

Fez (probably just fluff)

Donna Pincioti (smut/fluff)

Divergent

Tris Prior (smut/fluff)

Caleb Prior (smut/fluff)

Tobias Eaton (four) (smut/fluff)

Christina (smut/fluff)

Eric (smut/fluff)

Chucky (the series)

Junior Wheeler (fluff)

Jake Wheeler (fluffy malexmale only)

Lexy Cross (fluff)

Devon Evans (fluff)

Tiffany / Jennifer Tilly (smut/fluff)

The sandlot

Benny Rodriguez (fluff)

Scott Smalls (fluff)

Michael Palledorous (fluff)

Hamilton Porter (fluff)

Alan “yeah-yeah” Mcclean (fluff)

Bertram Grover Weeks (fluff)

Wendy Peffercorn (fluff)

Kenny Denunez (fluff)

Fear Street

Simon Kalivoda (smut/fluff)

Deena (smut/fluff femalexfemale only)

Kate Schmidt (smut/fluff)

Josh (fluff)

Heather (smut/fluff)

Cindy Berman (smut/fluff)

Ziggy Berman (fluff)

Tommy Slater (smut/fluff)

Nick Goode (smut/fluff)

Descendents

Harry Hook (smut/fluff)

Mal (fluff)

Evie (fluff)

Jay (fluff)

Carlos (fluff)

Ben (fluff)

Uma (fluff)

Gil Gaston (fluff)

Jane (fluff)

Audrey (fluff)

The Breakfast Club

John Bender (smut/fluffish)

Andrew Clark (smut/fluff)

Brian Johnson (smut/fluff)

Claire Standish (smut/fluff)

Allison Reynolds (smut/fluff)

Mean Girls

Karen Smith (smut/fluff)

Gretchen Weiners (smut/fluff)

Regina George (smut/fluff)

Janis Ian (smut/fluff)

Kady Heron (smut/fluff)

The Hunger Games

Peeta Mellark (smut/fluff)

Gale Hawthorn (smut/fluff)

Finnick Odair (smut/fluff)

Cinna (smut/fluff)

Katniss Everdeen (smut/fluff)

Glimmer (smut/fluff)

Clove (fluff)

Cato (smut)

Finch (fox face) (smut/fluff)

Any others ask and I’ll tell you what I write

Shameless

Fiona Gallagher (smut/fluff)

Lip Gallagher (smut/fluff)

Ian Gallagher (smut/fluff)

Carl Gallagher (smut/fluff)

Debbie Gallagher (smut/fluff)

Mickey Milkovitch /(smut/fluff)

Mandy Milkovitch (smut /fluff)

Kevin Ball (smut/fluff)

Veronica Fisher (smut/fluff)

Scream

Billy Loomis (smut/fluff)

Stu Macher (smut/fluff)

Sydney Prescott (smut/fluff)

Tatum Riley (smut/fluff)

Randy Meeks (smut/fluff)

Dewy Riley (smut/fluff)

Gale Weathers (smut/fluff)

Charlie Walker (smut/fluff)

Jill Roberts (smut/fluff)

Amber (smut/fluff)

Chad Minks (smut/fluff)

Mindy Minks (smut/fluff)

Sam Loomis ? (smut/fluff)

Outerbanks

JJ Maybank (smut/fluff)

Pope Hayward (smut/fluff)

Sarah Cameron (smut/fluff)

Kiera (smut/fluff)

John B (smut/fluff)

Rafe Camron

Twilight

Edward Cullen (smut/fluff)

Jasper Hale (smut/fluff)

Emmet Cullen (smut/fluff)

Carlisle Cullen (smut/fluff)

Jacob Black (smut/fluff)

Seth Clearwater (fluff)

Charlie Swan (smut/fluff)

Bella Swan (smut/fluff)

Rosalie Hale (smut/fluff)

Alice Cullen (smut/fluff)

Esme Cullen (smut/fluff)

Lea Clearwater (smut/fluff)

Mauraders

Regulus Black (smut/fluff)

Sirius Black (smut/fluff)

James Potter (smut/fluff)

Lily Evans (smut/fluff)

Severus Snape (smut/fluff)

Remus Lupin (smut/fluff)

Peter Petigrew (smut/fluff)

Narcissa Black (smut/fluff)

Bellatrix Black (smut/fluff)

Pandora Lovegood (smut/fluff)

Barty Crouch JR (smut/fluff)

Evan Rosier (smut/fluff)

Marlene Mckenny (smut/fluff)

Riverdale

Cheryl Blossom (smut/fluff) femalexfemale only

Jughead Jones (smut/fluff)

Betty Cooper (smut/fluff)

Veronica Lodge (smut/fluff)

Archie Andrews (smut/fluff)

Tony Topaz (smut/fluff)

Sweet pea (smut/fluff)

Fangs Fogurty (smut/fluff)

I am not ok with this

Sydney (fluff)

Deena (fluff)

Stanley Barber (fluff)

That’s about it.

Cobra Kai

Eli Moskiwitz (hawke) (aged up smut/fluff)

Demetri (fluff)

Samatha Larusso (aged up smut/fluff)

Moon (aged up smut/fluff)

Yasmine (aged up smut/fluff)

Anthony Larusso (aged up smut/fluff)

Daniel Larusso (smut/fluff)

Johnny Lawrence (smut/fluff)

Tori (aged up smut/fluff)

Robby Keene (aged up smut/fluff)

The outsiders

Darry Curtis (smut/fluff)

Two-bit Matthews (smut/fluff)

Sodapop Curtis (smut/fluff)

Steve Randle (smut/fluff)

Dallas Winston (smut/fluff)

Johnny Cade (fluff)

Ponyboy Curtis (fluff)

Tim Shepheard (smut/fluff)

Curly Shepheard (smut/fluff)

Angela Shepheard (smut/fluff)

Criminal Minds

Aaron Hotchner (smut/fluff)

Spencer Reid (smut/fluff)

Derek Morgan (smut/fluff)

David Rossi (smut/fluff)

Emily Prentiss (smut/fluff)

Jennifer Jaroue (smut/fluff)

Elle Greenaway (smut/fluff)

Penelope Garcia (smut/fluff)

The Originals

Klaus Mikaelson (smut/fluff)

Elijah Mikaelson (smut/fluff)

Kol Mikaelson (smut/fluff)

Rebekah Mikaelson (smut/fluff)

Freya Mikaelson (smut/fluff)

Hayley Marshall (smut/fluff)

Jackson (smut/fluff)

The Vampire Diaries

Elena Gilbert (smut/fluff)

Damon Salvatore (smut/fluff)

Bonnie Bennett (smut/fluff)

Stefan Salvatore (smut/fluff)

Caroline Forbes (smut/fluff)

Enzo St.John (smut/fluff)

Vicki Donovan (smut/fluff)

Matt Donovan (smut/fluff)

Katherine Pierce (smut/fluff)

Tyler Lockwood (smut/fluff)

Anyone else requested I’ll tell you what I write for! XX

IT

Henry Bowers (smut/fluff)

Belch Huggins (smut/fluff)

Patrick Hockstetter (smut/fluff)

Victor Criss (smut/fluff)

(Older) Richie Tozier (smut/fluff)

(Older) Eddie Kaspbrak (smut/fluff)

(Older) Bill Debrough (smut/fluff)

(Older) Stanley Uris (smut/fluff)

(Older) Beverly Marsh (smut/fluff)

(Older) Ben Hanscome (smut/fluff)

(Older) Mike Hanlon (smut/fluff)

Friends

Chandler Bing (smut/fluff)

Rachel Green (smut/fluff)

Joey Tribiani (smut/fluff)

Monica Geller Bing (smut/fluff)

Ross Geller (smut/fluff)

Phoebe Buffay (smut/fluff)

Stranger Things

Steve Harrington (smut/fluff)

Eddie Munson (smut/fluff)

Jonathan Byers (smut/fluff)

Argyle (smut/fluff)

Billy Hargrove (smut/fluff)

Nancy Wheeler (smut/fluff)

Robin Buckley (smut/fluff)

Chrissy Cunningham (smut/fluff)

Anyone else will be fluff !

Sam and Colby

Sam Golbach (smut/fluff)

Colby Brock (smut/fluff)

Jake Webber (smut/fluff)

Reggie Webber (smut/fluff)

Kevin Langue (smut/fluff)

MIKE (smut/fluff)

Ariya (smut/fluff)

Corey schere (smut/fluff)

Katrina Stuart (smut/fluff)

Tara Yummy (smut/fluff)

Zephyr Wolf (smut/fluff)

Devyn Lundy (smut/fluff)

Cassie (smut/fluff)

The walking dead

Glenn Rhee (smut/fluff)

Rick Grimes (smut/fluff)

Daryl Dixion (smut/fluff)

Negan Smith (smut/fluff)

Maggie Rhee (smut/fluff)

Michonne (smut/fluff)

Carl Grimes (some smut aged up ofc/fluff )

South Park (all aged up ofc)

Kenny McCormick (fluff/smut)

Stan marsh (fluff/smut)

Kyle Broflovski (smut/fluff)

Eric Cartman (ig I’ll do smut or fluff)

Michael (the goth kid) (anything)

Basically anyone as long as it’s not them as children for smut

And I’ll do anything for euphoria (minus Nate) and Harry Potter (mostly fluff) and I will do anything for the walking dead !! :))

(Please no incest, zoophilia stuff)

[newmusickarl]

5-9’s Album of the Month Podcast – latest episode out now!

The latest episode of the 5-9 Album of the Month Podcast is here and it’s a bit of a sad one as 5-9 Editor Andrew Belt was unable to join us! So this time around it’s just me and Mama Mañana Records' Kiley Larsen reviewing five high profile album releases from the past month in music, ultimately naming one as our Album of the Month at the end of the discussion.

For our June 2024 episode, it was John Grant’s synth-soaked majesty on The Art of the Lie that took home the coveted Album of the Month title. For our latest episode, we look back at five big releases from July and the albums vying for recognition this time around are:

King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2 by Denzel Curry

Django’s High by Future Utopia (Poll winner, thanks for voting!)

As Above, So Below by Highly Suspect

Harmonics by Joe Goddard

HEAVY JELLY by SOFT PLAY

If you want to listen to this or any previous episodes simply follow the links below, but also be sure to follow 5-9 Blog on Instagram, Twitter and now YouTube for more news and polls relating to the podcast.

Listen on Spotify here

Watch, like and subscribe to our YouTube channel here

Album & EP Recommendations

Wild God by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Let’s face it, Nick Cave doesn’t make bad records. However, even by his incredibly high standards across his illustrious career, his recent work has been truly exceptional, towering bodies of work. Fuelled by unimaginable tragedy, grief and loss, albums Skeleton Tree and Ghosteen rank among my favourite albums of the last decade, listening experiences that are beautiful yet emotionally devastating. His last album with just him and Warren Ellis, Carnage, was no slouch either, finishing in my Top 10 of the year back in 2021. Now both have reunited with the full Bad Seeds ensemble, and new album Wild God continues their recent hot streak.

Emerging out of the vast darkness, their eighteenth studio album is a much brighter and more joyous experience compared to its predecessors. Filled with uplifting, string-drenched arrangements, some of which include none other than Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood on bass duties, the lyrics also find Cave in a much more optimistic mindset. It all makes for another endlessly captivating listen, with Joy the real standout in the first half, as Cave’s poetic lyrics are spun across a mostly minimal, piano-led composition. However, the finest moments for me are in the back half, with the gospel cries and stomps of Conversion, the operatic and ghostly Cinnamon Horses and standout single Long Dark Night a particularly incredible trio.

Once again, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have crafted one of the finest albums I’ve listened to all year. Impactful and stunningly orchestrated, it’s another stirring collection of songs that will keep you absorbed across countless repeated listens.

Listen here

I Lay Down My Life For You by JPEGMAFIA

Another album that has quickly become one of my favourites of the year, NY-rapper JPEGMAFIA has followed up his sensational collaborative album with Danny Brown, 2023’s Scaring The Hoes, with arguably his strongest solo outing to date.

It’s a rap record but with punk rock energy, with most of the tracks here under the three-minute mark and plenty of heavy guitars powering the sonics. JPEG uses the record’s frantic pace to jump wildly between each bold idea, with the production never anything less than stellar. Collaborating with the likes of Flume and Kenny Beats on the production front, he also pulls in other current rap superstars like Vince Staples and Denzel Curry to lend a few bars too. It all makes for a thrilling wall-to-wall listen but if I’m to pick out just a couple of highlights, it’s the metal-charged SAN MIEDO and string-tinged experimentation of Exmilitary.

Colliding fast and furious bars with heavy punk, noise rock and industrial influences, all in mesmerising fashion, this is without a doubt the rap record of the year for me so far.

Listen here

No Name by Jack White

Another man who rarely disappoints, guitar maestro and all-round modern legend Jack White returned recently with a surprise new album. Initially stealth releasing on vinyl towards the end of July, the record officially released to streaming platforms and critical fanfare at the beginning of August. While I may not agree with the consensus that this is his best solo outing to date, there’s no denying that this is another fun and mightily impressive release.

You see while some critics have found White’s solo discography to be quite patchy, I’ve actually been a big fan of his output over the last 12 years. Blunderbuss and Lazaretto both boasted songs that could be dubbed as instant rock classics, Boarding House Reach was wild but always fascinating in its experimentation, and the duo of Fear of The Dawn and Entering Heaven Alive showed that White’s songwriting shone through, whether plugged or unplugged.

With No Name, for me, what we ultimately get is more of what White has already done before and proved he can do previously. That said, the lo-fi production and fuzzy rock riffs still sound terrific, especially on tracks like Old Scratch Blues, Archbishop Harold Holmes, What’s The Rumpus and Terminal Archenemy Ending. So, while it lacks anything new or revolutionary and brings with it an air of safe familiarity, there is no denying that White can still rock out. If you’re a fan of his previous work, you’ll still find plenty here to enjoy.

Listen here

Lagos Paris London EP by Yannis & The Yaw

And finally on the EPs front, Yannis Philippakis of Foals finally released his long awaited first solo project, Lagos Paris London. A dazzling, collaborative five track EP featuring the late-great Nigerian drummer Tony Allen, the EP is as vibrant and sonically adventurous as the globe-trotting title would suggest. While Yannis brings his signature guitar grooves to the table, some soaring string arrangements, jazz-like horns and Allen’s Afrobeat-style drums ensure the project always has a different feel to anything under the Foals banner.

Whilst the whole EP is well worth 20 minutes of your time, it is Rain Can’t Reach Us and Clementine that particularly stand out for me.

Listen here

Also well worth checking out:

DAYS BEFORE RODEO by Travis Scott

Imaginal Disk by Magdalena Bay

True Magic by Salute

This World Fucking Sucks by Cassyette

A Firmer Hand by Hamish Hawk

Participation Trophy by China Bears

Heartbreak Town EP by GIRLBAND!

Song Recommendations

The Emptiness Machine by LINKIN PARK

It’s been quite the month for big comebacks, hasn’t it?!

First came the colossal news that the Gallagher brothers would finally be reforming Oasis for a huge 2025 tour, before Linkin Park also made their long-awaited return, announcing new album From Zero will be dropping this November. The Emptiness Machine is the first taste of that new record and their first single to feature new vocalist, Emily Armstrong.

Emily’s arrival into the band has certainly caused controversy, with her links to Scientology already a hot topic amongst fans. While that debate will continue for the foreseeable, what is clear from this single and the band’s return livestream performance is that Emily certainly has the vocal capabilities needed to front the iconic, much-loved band. While of course no-one could fully replace the late-great Chester Bennington, I am glad to have Linkin Park back making music once again.

Listen to The Emptiness Machine here

Watch the livestream performance back here

All You Children by Jamie XX featuring The Avalanches

A late contender for song of the summer, this huge collaboration between Jamie XX and The Avalanches was on heavy repeat for me towards the end of August. Propelled by an infectious tribal beat that will just make you want to get up and dance, it’s left me hugely hyped for Jamie’s new album In Waves dropping in a few weeks’ time.

Listen here

He by Hayden Thorpe

Another album I cannot wait for dropping at the end of September, Hayden Thorpe’s adaptation of Robert Macfarlane’s book Ness will also soon be here. With book and album both inspired by Orford Ness in Suffolk, He is the ultra-groovy second single from the project. Featuring an endlessly fascinating arrangement that even includes a sackbut (a 15th century early trombone) and a spinet (a small 17th century harpsichord), Hayden's unique songcraft shines through once again.

Listen here

A Landlord’s Death by One True Pairing

And Hayden is not the only Wild Beasts alumni to be releasing new music this year. A month later in October, Tom Fleming will also be releasing his second solo album, Endless Rain. Working with acclaimed producer John ‘Spud’ Murphy, the singles so far have suggested a much more traditional and folk-inspired sound compared to his solo debut. A Landlord’s Death continues this hypothesis, featuring some stomping acoustic riffs, wild strings and a catchy chorus.

Listen here

Sick Of The Blues by Porridge Radio

Another album due for release in October, indie rockers Porridge Radio will be returning with their new opus, Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me. Sick of the Blues is the closing track for the project but also the album’s first teaser single, finding frontwoman Dana Margolin in an apathetic mood as raw rock riffs build and erupt around her.

Listen here

Straight To Heart by ALT BLK ERA

From MOBO and Heavy Music Award nominations to storming festival sets at the likes of Glastonbury and Download, there is absolutely no stopping ALT BLK ERA’s momentum right now. Now with their highly-anticipated debut album Rave Immortal due for release in January, the alternative sister duo have released the second taste of the upcoming record. The synth-soaked track highlights the continuing maturity of their songwriting, with Straight To Heart seeing Nyrobi open up and reflect on her agonising battles with chronic illness.

Listen here

Nothing Compares To Nineteen by Fiona-Lee

Another one of the UK’s most promising emerging voices, singer-songwriter Fiona-Lee has recently returned with her second-ever single. A hugely emotive track, it was written in the wake of Fiona tragically losing a lifelong friend after he took his own life. Recalling her struggles with anxiety, grief and depression, along with conversations with her father on mental health, it’s another hard-hitting single that absolutely soars.

Listen here

Split Lip by Dolores Forever

One of my other favourite new music discoveries in 2024, I’ve had the pleasure of catching indie-pop duo Dolores Forever twice over this summer’s festival season. With their debut album finally dropping at the end of September, Split Lip is one of the latest singles taken from the project and a song that really stood out in their live performances. Hugely anthemic amidst captivating vocal harmonies and shimmering synths, this upcoming record is slowly shaping up to be one of the best debuts of the year.

Listen here

One Day by Hallworth

Released at the end of August, singer-songwriter Hallworth also recently released her heartfelt new single, One Day. Inspired by the Netflix movie of the same name and written while she was in Nashville, it’s a stirring track about her struggles with a long-distance relationship. With Hallworth’s own tender vocals at the fore, it’s a gorgeously laidback love song that will have you hitting the repeat button.

Listen here

Never Meant by Iron & Wine / For Sure by Ethel Cain

And finally, this year marks the 25th anniversary of one of my favourite albums of all time and a seminal work that still inspires countless musicians today – American Football’s self-titled debut. To mark the occasion, the band are releasing a remastered version of the original record, along with a brand new covers version.

The first two of these covers have been revealed and they are both unsurprisingly stunning. Firstly, American singer-songwriter Samuel Ervin Beam transforms the iconic Never Meant into a wonderful, folky lullaby, reminiscent of Bon Iver. Then, the much beloved Ethel Cain has turned the haunting For Sure into a near 10-minute moment of beauty and ethereal transcendence.

If all the covers are to this standard, with more cuts from the likes of Manchester Orchestra and Blondshell still to come, this project could be something very special.

Listen to Never Meant by Iron & Wine here

Listen to For Sure by Ethel Cain here

Also worth checking out:

Ego by Halsey

You by Ktlyle

JACKIN’ THE SYSTEM by NOISY

Tonight, Tonight (Smashing Pumpkins Cover) by Snail Mail

Hometown Edge by Kele

Bright Lights by The Killers

HERE WE GO! by Lil Nas X

Find The Way by Peggy Gou

SO WHAT by Confidence Man

SilverCane by Corinne Bailey Rae

REMINDER: If you use Apple Music, you can also keep up-to-date with all my favourite 2024 tracks through my Best of 2024 playlist. Constantly updated throughout the year with songs I enjoy, it is then finalised into a Top 100 Songs of the Year in December.Add the Best of 2024 playlist to your library here

[sinceileftyoublog]

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Album Review: Flight b741

p(doom)

BY KEITH MILLER

Prophetic indie rockers King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard’s 26th studio album Flight b741 features the Australian sextet at their most raucous, hootin’ & hollerin’, and rambunctious yet. From take-off to landing, Flight b741 is a true-to-form blues album wherein King Gizzard has passed the mic from band member to band member to give the traditional blues pattern a switch-up.

Across its ten tracks and roughly 40-minute runtime, King Gizzard delivers an enticing album that’ll pair well with cookouts, yard work, parties at a lake house, and all around busy and sweaty times outdoors. From its harmonic vocals and borderline goofy lyrics down to the various instrumentation of clanging pianos, bumping bass beats, and uplifting guitars, my biggest complaint about Flight b741 is that it didn’t come out sooner. Grab your sunglasses and put on a pair of jorts--anyone who’s claimed to like “Dad Rock,” this album is for you.

My initial highlight from Flight b741 is the vocals. Stu Mackenzie takes lead vocals on the majority of King Gizzard albums, with Ambrose Kenny-Smith, Joey Walker, and occasionally Cook Craig, grabbing the mic and singing lead. But this time around, each band member was given the opportunity to write their own lyrics and sing a verse in as many songs as they like. Lead single “Le Risqué” features drummer Michael Cavanagh opening his verse with a hearty, borderline maniacal laugh before diving into a verse describing himself as a “pathetic forgotten steaze” with a “tiny prick.” These off-kilter moments are scattered throughout the record. The second single, “Hog Calling Contest”, features the band snorting, oinking, and squealing in the mic as they quite literally go “whole hog.”

After every play through, I find myself going right back to the start so that I can relive each song and peel them apart. The opening track “Mirage City” describes a beautiful oasis wherein its visitors can escape their problems. It’s a phenomenal opening track that sets the tone for the rest of the album. With multiple movements featuring horns, harmonica, and loud guitars, “Mirage City” is one of the album's best tracks.

When I first put on the album, I was finishing up work and had just started cleaning my kitchen. One of the earlier tracks, “Antarctica”, was playing, and it gave me a little groove. There was a pop in my step as I was wiping off counters and putting away dishes. “Antarctica” lets you bop along as the lyrics sing, “It’s gunna be a miss / I can tell we’ve got a snowballs chance in hell.” While I was moving and grooving and cleaning up my tiny kitchen, I was suddenly and completely frozen in place as Mackenzie closed out the song with vocals that sounded eerily similar to Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London.” And I loved it.

Flight b741 proudly shows its inspiration. There were multiple moments throughout the album that reminded me of Crosby, Stills & Nash, and a few others that harkened back to The Band. These moments are never too embellished. Flight b741 does a good job of keeping its listeners on their toes and giving the classic American rock sound a refreshing Australian twist.

After 12 years and 26 albums, some of us fans have to wonder, "How long can they keep this up?” King Gizzard is known for releasing a lot of music in a short time span. They’re known for leaning heavily into musical themes and gimmicks. From inventing new guitars for their microtonal explorations, to recording an entirely acoustic album, to making a jam band record that follows the classical Greek musical modes, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard know how to craft an album around a central theme or concept. Flight b741 has ten sturdy songs, three songs longer than their past four records, and if there is a gimmick, its that the band finally got to kick back and make some fun music with their friends.

Keith Miller is a writer living in Chicago who enjoys music, film, and literature. He’s helped a few startups in the Chicagoland area with their copywriting and blog posts. He is currently eating a sandwich.

[typeosilver]

scenario ⸝⸝ it's somewhere around the time range 1980s-1990s, and the keyboardist of a band has arrived. josh silver from type o negative. given he wasn't used to the modern technology, he tries out an app his bandmates and friends have been using, ‘tumblr.’

headcanons ⸝⸝ josh is pansexual and is boyflux, meaning his gender fluctuates between non-female aligned genders, so he could be nonbinary, he could be demiboy, he could be whatever. just not female aligned. in this he's also dating peter bcz they kinda zesty.

other info & facts ⸝⸝ josh is jewish, surprisingly enough. he's somewhere around 6'2-6'3. he's also in another band called fallout, which lead to the band carnivore. despite you can't usually hear him, he does do backup vocals in type o negative, he's usually harmonized with kenny.

[dustedmagazine]

Camera Obscura — Look to the East, Look to the West (Merge)

Photo by Robert Perry

A plangent guitar, a shuffle of drums and then the voice. The crystalline clarity slightly weathered and more lovely for it. After the 2015 death of keyboard player Carey Lander, Traceyanne Campbell and Camera Obscura took an extended break before reconvening for some live shows in 2019. On Look to the East, Look to the West, their first album since 2013, Campbell’s voice and her ear for melody remain undiminished. As does her ability to write and sing lines that take your breath away, make you well up or smile, the eye for a telling detail that encapsulates everything about a person or situation. Joined by guitarist Kenny McKeeve, bassist Gavin Dunbar, drummer Lee Thomson and new keyboard player Donna Maciocia, Campbell dissects love, loss, and heartbreak with elegant candor.

That opening track “Liberty Print” tells the story of the classic bad boy now passed. The humor is gentle and self-directed playing on the band’s twee image —  “then you’ll see I like Liberty Print/Is that shallow of me?”  The song fills out and the tempo quickens as Campbell builds the narrative of regret for lost love. Her denouement is devastating in its simplicity “I had to visit your mother/You were her only son/I went to visit your mother/You were her only son.” The band eschews the perky jangle of their previous albums for a country soul feel. Guest pedal steel guitarist Tim Davidson echoes Campbell’s Patsy Cline crying notes over Thomson’s brushed snare railroad rhythm and Maciocia’s almost honky-tonk piano on “The Light Nights.” On “Big Love” McKeeve lays down a wandering Nashville riff as Campbell describes a watching a friend’s tortured relationship (“We watched you swoon/As she peacocked the room”) before switching perspective with the repeated closing line “Just let your hand slip down, imagine I’m there now” over Hammond organ and harmonizing sighs. The loveliest moments come during “Sugar Almond” in which Campbell memorializes Lander. Maciocia provides minor key accompaniment as Campbell remembers her friend -  “I was always such fan of your rabbity eyes/Sugar-coated almonds as grey as Glasgow skies”  and sings her loss with “I’ll match Bette Davis drink for drink/I’ll cry like Tiny Tears over your favorite pink/I’ve had the worst thoughts I could ever think/Won’t you sing to me, Carey”

Camera Obscura’s comeback album is a thing of real beauty. Campbell writes movingly about memory and friendship. Looking at what was rather than regretting what might have been with an honesty that goes directly to the heart of things. Look to the East, Look to the West is one of the most poignant albums of the year so far.

Andrew Forell

[frontmezzjunkies]

Shakespeare in the Park’s "Hamlet" Modernly Harmonizes

#frontmezzjunkies reviews: #Hamlet at @PublicTheaterNY's #DelacorteTheater #Shakespeare directed by #KennyLeon w/ #AtoBlanksonWood #JohnDouglasThompson #LorraineToussaint #SoleaPfeiffer #SafiyaHarris #ShakespeareInThePark #ThePublicTheater

Ato Blankson-Wood in The Public’s Free Shakespeare in the Park production of Hamlet, directed by Kenny Leon, running at The Delacorte Theater. Photo Credit: Joan Marcus. The Off-Broadway Theatre Review: Public Theater/Shakespeare in the Park’s Hamlet By Ross A quartet of mourners harmonizes gloriously, singing about a time to break down and a time to build. It’s a telling reformation,…

[musicupdates]

The Rise of K-pop in Global Music: A Cultural Phenomenon

Music has always been a collaborative art form. When artists join forces, they create magic that transcends boundaries, unites diverse fan bases, and often redefines genres. In this article, we explore iconic music collaborations, their impact on the industry, and why they resonate so deeply with listeners.

The Power of Collaboration in Music Collaborations in music are not just about merging two voices; they represent the fusion of styles, cultures, and artistic visions. These partnerships often become milestones in artists' careers, introducing them to new audiences and pushing the limits of their creativity. For instance, Chris Brown’s collaboration on "No Guidance" is a perfect example. The Chris Brown No Guidance Lyrics showcase the seamless blend of his unique R&B style with Drake's signature rap.

Chart-Topping Collaborations That Made History Collaborative tracks often dominate the charts. Many of the Top 100 English Songs owe their popularity to artist partnerships. For example, the chemistry between Bruno Mars and Gucci Mane in "Wake Up in the Sky" took the world by storm. The song, reflected in Bruno Mars Wake Up in the Sky Lyrics, is a masterpiece of vocal harmonization and stylistic diversity.

The impact of such collaborations is not confined to the charts. They create cultural moments that live on for years. Think of how "We Are the World" brought together some of the biggest names in music for a humanitarian cause. These collaborations often set new standards for future projects.

Cultural Crossovers and Global Influence Collaborations are not limited to one genre or region; they also act as cultural bridges. The rise of K-pop has introduced the world to unique collaborations involving global stars. Artists like the King of Kpop 2022 have successfully worked with Western musicians, bringing K-pop’s infectious energy to mainstream audiences. These partnerships underscore how music can break barriers and build connections worldwide.

The Role of Legendary Artists in Collaborative Works It’s impossible to discuss iconic collaborations without mentioning legends like Dolly Parton. Known for her timeless voice and heartfelt lyrics, Dolly has collaborated with a variety of artists, from Kenny Rogers to Miley Cyrus. Her influence, as evident in Dolly Parton Songs, proves that music partnerships often blend the old and the new, creating a bridge between generations.

Dolly’s duets remind us that collaboration is not just about commercial success; it’s about storytelling and emotional depth. Her partnership with Kenny Rogers in "Islands in the Stream" remains one of the most celebrated duets in music history.

Why Collaborations Resonate with Listeners At the heart of every collaboration lies a story of synergy. Fans love seeing their favorite artists come together to create something greater than the sum of its parts. It’s this excitement and unpredictability that keep listeners hooked. Whether it’s a soulful duet, an electrifying pop anthem, or a genre-blending experiment, collaborations bring a sense of novelty and freshness to music.

Conclusion Collaborations are the lifeblood of the music industry. They push boundaries, inspire innovation, and create timeless hits that remain etched in listeners' memories. From R&B to K-pop to country, the impact of collaborations spans genres and generations, leaving an indelible mark on the music world.

[readersmagnet]

Sad Papaw: The Early Years by Kenny Harmon

In "Sad Papaw: The Early Years," Kenny Harmon invites readers on a journey through his life, from humble beginnings in Oklahoma to the experiences that shaped him. This heartfelt book serves as a reminder to treasure the moments we share with our elders and the lessons they impart.

For more of Sad Papaw's Books, visit www.sadpapawbooks.net.

[loremonster]

Thinkin about a future NKS story where Trent Boyett comes back and goes back on the warpath against The Gang + Butters, which means Dee Is Not Gonna Tolorate His Bullshit, and he's used to empty posturing and goes straight for the suckerpunch and Dee deflects and counters, leading straight to a fight in the bus parking lot. Kids going nuts, having an elevated view for those who haven't disembarked yet while the general crush of kids prevents teachers from breaking it up right away 🤣

Cut to the nurse's office where Dee's bloodied and being checked over for a broken nose, and Trent has an arm in a sling from getting thrown, split lip, immobilized ankle after Dee stomped on the joint in an attempt to hobble him, and Dee is musing on the bruises they're gonna have from Trent hammering their core once he realized Dee Was Serious

Feel like Dee Is Still In Death Glare Mode like Bitch Make One Move And I Will Try To End You Again Just See If I Don't

And then his parole officer shows up and starts asking Trent what happened to determine if its a sufficent violation to send the kid back to Juvi.

And Dee speaks up to make the Parole officer believe it was a false alarm, that the teachers exaggerated a big misunderatanding and slippery ice in the bus lot.

And Trent Is Past The Point Of Rage or Fear Distraction so he's probably immune to Dee's harmonic mind control, so to him this kid just Jedi Mind Tricked both the nurse and his Parol Officer and got him off the hook for a fight he 100% started

And then Kenny has to deal with Trent wanting to hang out with Dee cause they're both brawlers who flat out Enjoy Throwing Hands and having to contend with jealousy that Dee Has Another Sparring Partner but with a lot of Relationship Language showing its romantic insecurity he's contending with, goes to vent to Butters, maybe they go have a date to themselves while Butters reminds Kenny that Dee is Loyal To A Fault and wouldn't fly the coop for a ruggedly handsome face with a tragic backstory.

He don't like it either, but figures its like when Dee first met the Gang-- referencing that after Stick Of Truth Kenny and Dee threw hands ( and Dee yeeted him ) before they became friends and started hanging out. Dee's just making friends they way they usually do; trading blows 🤣

[theloniousbach]

TRIOS BACK TO BACK AT MEZZROW’S, 13 SEPTEMBER 2024

GLENN ZALESKI with Dezron Douglas and Adam Aruda, 9 pm set

CAELAN CARDELLO with Graham Kozar and Mike Piolet, 10:30 pm set

I tried to catch GLENN ZALESKI’s earlier set in real time, but it wasn’t coming up. I watched Miki Yamanaka with tenor Anthony Orji, Pablo Menares, and, as usual, Jimmy Macbride and there will be a forthcoming souvenir. This way I have the illusion of just sticking around at MEZZROW’s.

GLENN ZALESKI has a deserved two night run, but Dezron Douglas was only along Friday night. So I wanted to see him as he is now only occasionally playing here. He was into all sorts of supportive mischief, including just casually hitting overtones as he walked his bass lines but always finding ways to enhance the harmonies. And Zaleski’s harmonic approach is rich. He made me think of Brad Mehldau just a bit and not just for how he leaned into his head sideways to the keyboard. He was subtle and patient while still digging in big. He celebrated Kenny Kirkland (Yamanaka did too earlier in the week interestingly) and James Williams, tipping his hat to those lesser known heroes. The opener was a standard I should have recognized but I’m In The Mood for Love was definitely there. They caressed them as they deserved. The originals were a very sweet one for the pianist’s son and an earlier tune that had some finger twisting intricacy and drive. I think the rhythm section the last time I saw Zaleski was Bill Charlap’s team of Peter Washington and Kenny Washington. He deserves to play with them and Douglas and Adam Aruda.

CAELAN CARDELLO came to my attention through a duo date with Rufus Reid which led to finding a quartet date on YouTube from a New Jersey public library’s music series. He also accompanied singer April Varner on an in studio performance for WGTE’s Jazz Spectrum. I was not prepared for but pleasantly surprised by just how hard he cooked in this trio setting. He opened with a big modal rumble that turned riffy in a Horace Silver/Cedar Walton way. He honored Billy Taylor with his quieter blues Easy Walker, Phineas Newborn Jr honoring Count Basie (Mike Piolet and then Cardello had shots at being the whole big band, and his mentor Harold Mabern with another modal rumble. Autumn in New York was gentle amid all the role.

Cardello has some sideman gigs coming up, so I’ll keep watching him. But with Zaleski too, these trio sets will start getting priority.

[sheetmusiclibrarypdf]

You Don't Know What Love Is (Live) Charlie Haden's Solo analysis

You Don't Know What Love Is (Live in 1966-released in 1998) Charlie Haden & Kenny BarronFrom the album Night And The City (Charlie Haden & Kenny Barron)Charlie Haden's Solo analysisBest Sheet Music download from our Library.Please, subscribe to our Library. Thank you!

You Don't Know What Love Is (Live in 1966-released in 1998) Charlie Haden & Kenny Barron

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQngQ-uMY74 From the album Night And The City (Charlie Haden & Kenny Barron)

Charlie Haden's Solo analysis

This solo starts with an 11th or 4th resolving to a 5th in the first bar, a suspension at the very beginning. In bar 2, Charlie Haden plays a little motif that keeps being revisited during the solo over different chords. In this context, it is part of a five note phrase spelling out the scale sound of the G7B5. The first three notes get repeated further in: Db, C and Bb. Here they are a flat 5th, perfect 4th (or 11th) and minor 3rd, descending and with a slide between the first two notes and a hammer-off between the second and third notes. Also, the five note phrase seems to part of a mini sequence in this bar, spelling out the sound of the G-7b5 going to C7 with the inclusion of an E natural - an F harmonic minor rather than a G lorian. The motif gets used again in bar 4, this time in a different key, but still the same tone relationship and also the same slide and hammer-off placement. We see it again at bar 5, this time weighted toward the C7b9 side of the bar, but it’s the same notes and slide and hammer-off. At bar 6, he uses the 5th of each chord to descend from F to Db, the 5th being a sound he particularly enjoys, using it in bar 1, and again at bar 9. Diatonically, there are no big surprises in the bars that follow; the motif appears again at the end of bar 11, in slightly different guise, and again at the end of bar 13, although strictly speaking it’s only two of the three notes - one tends to hear the third note here anyway as the pattern has been well established in the listener’s consciousness! Again at bar 14, this time with the slide and hammer-off intact, and a chromatic passing tone in the form of an A natural as the last note of the bar going to an Ab, or 5th in the key of Db. The 5lh is used again at bar 16 - a C note over the F. The major 7th is also used at the end of this bar to resolve the phrase before going on to the bridge at bar 17. At the bridge, Charlie Haden goes up an Eb major scale, but coming down, he puts in a color note in the form of an E natural or flat 9th as the last note before landing on Eb or the 5th of Ab. The next note, Gb, is also a color note, implying the passing F7 has a flat 9th. Next we see the motif again at bar 19, quickly followed by a bebop phrase, with the 5th featuring as a leading note at the beginning of beats 3 and 4 and again beats 1 and 3 in bar 20. D lorian at bar 21, a notable trill or embellishment, and then the 5th again at bar 22. Bar 23 sees the use of a very low G over (or under!) the Db7+11 then Ab under a C7 at bar 24. These two bars sound very stem indeed. The last eight bars start with Charlie Haden playing a low G or 9th turning on the low F and coming back up the F- scale to the 5th, then on the last note of the bar, a chromatic passing tone to the tonic of the next chord at bar 26, a D natural to a Db. The same Db is used in the second ha of that bar as a B9 over (under) C7, thereby becoming a tension device that has a delayed resolution in bar 27 to the 5lh again. Bar 28 is interesting as much as Charlie Haden continues the tonic Gb from the second ha of the previous bar into the next using it as a passing tone that resolves up to G, or the #11, instead of down to F, or the 3rd, a more normal course of events. A brief but satisfying sequence in the second ha of bar 30, over Eb- to Ab7 takes him to the 5th at bar 31, where the same notes used in the motif are employed to end the solo, this time without and slides or hammer off. Rhythm: It becomes very clear early on in this solo that Charlie Haden is used to subdividing the beat and then subdividing it again, and then even further. He starts with a quarter note triplet figure with the second two notes tied, so that it sounds only as two notes, then follows it in the same bar with an eighth note triplet, then follows that with a sixteenth note triplet in the bar. It’s not long before we make it to dotted thirty-second notes (bar 4). He implies a double time swing feel to those 32nd notes but pulls in the reins with the last two eighth notes of that bar. There is no ambiguity about that bar, anyway. Charlie Haden is playful at bar 6, playing after the front note of each beat in answer to a descending chord movement played by Kenny Barron. The solo continues gathering momentum at bar 13, going to a very complex grouping at bar 14 - a quarter note, an eighth, a 16th note triplet or part thereof, a group of straight 16ths with a dotted 32nd skip beat, then another 16th note triplet and a solitary eighth note. There’s a displaced or delayed note right on beat 2 in bar 16 before he ends the second A section with a kind of musical punctuation mark (a full stop), a 16th note followed by a dotted 8th on the last beat. At bar 17, we are at the bridge or B section of the tune. Charlie Haden waits for the downbeat of the bar before playing a 16th note run. There are no surprises here or the next bar, but at bar 19 he starts with a sliding blues motif before launching into a bebop phrase of 32nd notes that become 16th note triplets, continue across the bar line into bar 20 where he not only slows things up dramatically with the dotted 8lh, 16th and quarter note at the end of that bar but also clears up any ambiguity as to where the pulse might be after such a flurry of notes. This is a very good example of what to the listener could sound like a freely placed ‘a tempo’ phrase, but is in actual fact an extremely subdivided, within the pulse, run of notes and therefore quite the opposite. There’s another in ease then de ease in rhythmic phrasing in the next two bars, then two bars of 8th notes, dotted 8ths and 16ths, and 8th note triplets to end the bridge section. Describing it thus does not do it justice, because with the register he plays these notes in, and the actual notes themselves, this is a powerful statement that sounds very much to me like the drums that accompany a man on his way to the gallows! In this case, the gallows of love. These two bars also fall at the golden mean mark, and as such could be considered the high point or climax of the solo. This is an antihero of a climax then, because the notes are all very low on the bass, and quite deliberate, with audible finger clicks on each one. It seems, too, as if the major statement was there, because - rhythmically, anyway - the last eight bars pass very uneventfully. Modes of Expression: This song has a blues influence and so on could expect some slides and other blues oriented expressions, and Charlie Haden does not disappoint. He plays a blues-like motif that incorporates a slide and a hammer-off, at the beginning of bar 2, then again at bars 4, 5, 14, and 19. He also plays a slide at bar 13, but this time without the hammer-off. Furthermore, he uses emphasized notes, mostly tenuto, at bars 1, 2, 3, 5, 6,7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 26, 27, 30, 31 and 32. At bar 21, the emphasized notes are just before a trill, a difficult maneuver on a double bass! Other points of expression of interest are found at bars 1,12, 28 and 31 in the form of vibrato. The most interesting thing however occurs at bars 23 and 24 with every single note (and four notes in the next bar) emphasized with a finger click. That’s 21 in a row. Read the full article

[jpbjazz]

LÉGENDES DU JAZZ

LUCKY THOMPSON, LE SAXOPHONISTE QUI N’AVAIT PAS VRAIMENT MÉRITÉ SON SURNOM

"Lucky had that same thing that Paul Gonsalves had, that melodic smoothness. He wasn't rough like Ben Webster, and he didn't play in the Lester Young style. He was a beautiful balladeer. But he played with all the modernists."

- Johnny Griffin

Né le 16 juin 1924 à Columbia, en Caroline du Sud, Eli ‘’Lucky’’ Thompson était le fils d’un emballeur de viande. Thompson a déménagé à Detroit avec sa famille durant son enfance. Élevé par son père après la mort de sa mère, Thompson devait son surnom de ‘’Lucky’’ à un chandail qu’il avait l’habitude de porter sur lequel figurait cette inscription.

Thompson avait commencé à s’intéresser à la musique après avoir entendu Coleman Hawkins à la radio.

Thompson étant issu d’un milieu pauvre, il s’était entraîné à jouer du saxophone sur un manche à balai jusqu’à ce qu’il ait les moyens de s’acheter son propre instrument à l’âge de quinze ans. Comme son fils Daryl l’avait expliqué plus tard:  "His father got fed up seeing this kid fingering this piece of wood and bought him a cheap, pawnshop kind of saxophone."

Parmi les principales influences de Thompson à l’époque, on retrouvait le saxophoniste ténor Don Byas.

Travailleur acharné, Thompson pratiquait huit heures par jour. Devenu suffisamment habile, il s’était finalement joint au King's Aces Big Band, un groupe notamment composé du vibraphoniste Milt Jackson qui était devenu plus tard un de ses plus précieux collaborateurs.

Après avoir obtenu son diplôme du Cass High School en 1942, Thompson s’était joint à Ted Buckner, l’ancien saxophoniste alto de Jimmie Lunceford, au Club 666, dans le quartier noir de Detroit, et aux Bama State Collegians d’Erskine Hawkins. L’année suivante, il était entré dans le big band de Lionel Hampton.

DÉBUTS DE CARRIÈRE

En août 1943, Thompson avait quitté New York pour participer à une tournée de quatre mois avec Hampton. Après avoir passé six mois avec Hampton, Thompson s’était joint à l’éphémère big band de Billy Eckstine, ce qui lui avait permis de jouer aux côtés de Dizzy Gillespie et Charlie Parker. Après avoir travaillé avec Don Redman, Lucky Millinder et Sid Catlett, Thompson avait connu une véritable consécration lorsqu’il était entré dans l’orchestre de Count Basie en 1944 comme successeur de son idole Don Byas. Même s’il jouait aux côtés de géants comme Lester Young dans le groupe de Basie, Thompson était déterminé à ne pas se laisser intimider. Comme l’écrivait le saxophoniste et chercheur Loren Schoenberg:  "When it was Thompson's turn in that same chair, he went out of his way to assert his preference for a more macho approach."

Après quitté l’orchestre de Basie et avoir joué dans des groupes de Rhythm & Blues, Thompson avait entrepris une une carrière de musicien de bebop et de hard bop, collaborant notamment avec des musiciens établis comme Kenny Clarke, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie et son compatriote de Detroit Milt Jackson. Comme l’écrivait le critique Ben Ratliff, Thompson avait fait le lien entre l’époque swing et le style plus cérébral et complexe du bebop. Ratliff avait ajouté: ‘’His sophisticated, harmonically abstract approach to the tenor saxophone built off that of Don Byas and Coleman Hawkins; he played with beboppers, but resisted Charlie Parker's pervasive influence." 

Dès le début de sa carrière, Thompson avait démontré une approche très originale de l’improvisation. Sa tonalité, qui rappelait énormément le style de Ben Webster, plus particulièrement dans les passages plus ‘’rugueux’’ et sensuels, avait aussi été très influencée par les premiers enregistrements de son maître à penser Don Byas.

Thompson a fait ses débuts sur disque en mars 1944 avec le trompettiste Oran ‘’Hot Lips’’ Page.

Après avoir quitté l’orchestre de Basie en octobre 1945, Thompson s’était installé à Los Angeles où il avait enregistré, et probablement écrit des arrangements, pour la maison de disques Exclusive, notamment pour l’ancien chanteur de Duke Ellington, Herb Jeffries. Lorsque le sextet de Charlie Parker et Dizzy Gillespie avait fait un séjour à Los Angeles pour jouer au club de Billy Berg, Thompson avait été recruté par le trompettiste afin de servir de remplaçant éventuel à Parker dont les problèmes de dépendance étaient devenus incontrôlables. Après avoir entendu le groupe jouer pour la première fois, Thompson avait déclaré: "This is crazy music." Une semaine plus tard, Thompson avait fait sa première apparition sur scène avec le groupe. À Los Angeles, Thompson s’était produit avec les plus importants musiciens bebop du moment, dont le contrebassiste Charles Mingus, le pianiste Michael ‘’Dodo’’ Marmarosa et le saxophoniste Boyd Raeburn. Thompson avait passé deux ans à Los Angeles, où il avait participé à plus de cent sessions d’enregistrement avec des artistes aussi diversifiés que Dinah Washington et Boyd Raeburn. Devenu une grande vedette, Thompson avait également été élu meilleur artiste de la relève par le magazine Esquire en 1947.

De retour à New York, Thompson avait participé à une des sessions les plus célèbres de Parker et Gillespie pour les disques Dial, le 28 mars 1946. À la fin des années 1940, Thompson avait aussi enregistré avec son épouse, la chanteuse Thelma Lowe (qui était surnommée Thelma Love à l’époque). En 1947, Thompson avait également fait une apparition dans le film "New Orleans" aux côtés de Billie Holiday et Louis Armstrong.

Thompson avait continué de démontrer ses habiletés d’accompagnateur dans le cadre de plusieurs albums enregistrés au milieu des années 1950, notamment sur le disque ‘’Cuban Fire!’’ de Stan Kenton et d’autres albums enregistrés sous son propre nom. En 1954, Thompson a également participé à l’enregistrement de l’album ‘’Walkin’’’ de Miles Davis . Considéré comme un des albums marquants de Davis, le disque mettait également en vedette le pianiste Horace Silver, le joueur de trombone J.J. Johnson et le batteur Kenny Clarke. Le solo de Thompson sur le standard "Blue 'n' Boogie" est d’ailleurs considéré comme un des faits saillants de l’album.

Thompson a également enregistré comme leader pour les disques Vogue (à Paris), ABC Paramount et Prestige, ainsi que comme accompagnateur pour les disques Savoy avec Milt Jackson.

Au début des années 1950, Thompson avait dirigé l’orchestre-maison du club Savoy de New York. Après s’être produit au Festival de jazz de Nice et avoir enregistré avec Thelonious Monk, Thompson s’était joint à l'orchestre de Stan Kenton en 1956.

Plutôt amer envers l’industrie de la musique, Thompson avait éventuellement décrit les promoteurs, les producteurs, les éditeurs de musique et les compagnies de disques comme des ‘’parasites’’ et des ‘’vautours.’’ Les opinions tranchées de Thompson sur les agissements des magnats de l’industrie du disque l’avaientt éventuellement empêché de devenir une grande vedette du jazz au même titre que des saxophonistes comme Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster et Lester Young.

Malgré sa personnalité controversée, Thompson avait enregistré plusieurs albums comme leader, dont "Tricotism" en 1956 (avec son groupe Lucky Seven) et "Lucky Strikes" en 1964. Il avait aussi accompagné plusieurs sommités du jazz comme Dinah Washington (1945), Thelonious Monk (1952), Miles Davis (album "Walkin"', 1954), Oscar Pettiford et Stan Kenton (1956).

En 1958, à la suite d’un conflit avec le gérant de Louis Armstrong, Joe Glaser (apparemment au sujet de l’ordre dans lequel les deux musiciens devaient descendre de l’avion), Thompson avait décidé de s’acheter une petite ferme dans le Michigan et de s’y installer avec sa famille. Toujours généreux envers ses collaborateurs, Thompson n’en avait jamais voulu personnellement à Armstrong, et l’avait toujours désigné respectueusement sous le terme de ‘’M. Armstrong.’’

Après avoir tenté en vain de devenir éditeur de musique, Thompson avait aussi fait de fréquents aller-retour en France, où il avait vécu et enregistré de 1957 à 1962, collaborant avec des artistes comme Martial Solal, Henri Renaud ou Guy Laffite. En 1962, il s’était également produit au célèbre club de Ronnie Scott à Londres. Durant cette période, Thompson avait aussi commencé à jouer du saxophone soprano, devenant ainsi un des premiers membres de sa génération à adopter cet instrument. Même si John Coltrane est souvent reconnu pour avoir sorti le saxophone soprano de l’ombre au début des années 1960, Thompson et Steve Lacy avaient adopté cet instrument bien avant Coltrane. Thompson avait également profité de son séjour en Europe pour perfectionner ses solos.

De retour à New York en 1962, Thompson avait signé un contrat avec les disques Prestige avec qui il avait enregistré les albums ‘’Happy Days Are Here Again”, “Plays Jerome Kern and No More” et “Lucky Strikes” en 1964. Après avoir enregistré avec d’autres maisons de disques en 1965, Thompson avait participé à l’enregistrement de l’album “Lucky Meets Tommy” avec le pianiste Tommy Flanagan.

Après avoir vécu à New York durant quelques années, Thompson s’est établi à Lausanne, en Suisse, où il a résidé de 1968 à 1970 et où il a enregistré plusieurs albums dont ‘’A Lucky Songbook in Europe’’ (1969).

Thompson avait brièvement enseigné au Dartmouth College et à l’Université Yale en 1973-74, mais découragé par l’approche de la musique préconisée dans les universités, il avait finalement décidé d’abandonner définitivement sa carrière musicale. Thompson avait enregistré ses derniers albums pour la petite étiquette Groove Merchant sous le titre de “Goodbye Yesterday” (1972) et “I Offer You” (1973).

DERNIÈRES ANNÉES

Si on sait très peu de choses sur les activités de Thompson à partir du milieu des années 1970, on croit généralement qu’il avait vécu brièvement sur l’île Manitoulin, en Ontario, et dans différentes villes des États-Unis comme Atlanta, Savannah, en Georgie, ou Denver, au Colorado. Thompson a passé les dernières années de sa vie à Seattle, dans l’État de Washington.

Après avoir occupé divers petits emplois, Thompson serait devenu sans-abri au début des années 1990. Il vivait comme un ermite dans les bois, dans son automobile ou dans des abris fournis par certains de ses amis. Certaines rumeurs avaient même laissé entendre que Thompson s’était construit une cabane de bois rond au Canada et qu’il avait été réduit à se nourrir de racines pour survivre. À l’époque, Thompson était si démuni financièrement qu’il aurait même vendu son saxophone pour payer ses soins dentaires. À une occasion, il avait même été sauvagement battu à Atlanta. C’est alors qu’il avait été recueilli par des étrangers qui avaient été informés de son triste sort. Mais il était déjà trop tard. Souffrant de démence et de paranoïa, Thompson avait fait plusieurs séjours dans les hôpitaux à partir de 1994.

Atteint de la maladie d’Alzheimer, Lucky Thompson est décédé à Seattle le 30 juillet 2005. Il était âgé de 81 ans. Thompson laissait dans le deuil son fils Daryl, sa fille Jade Thompson-Fredericks ainsi que deux petits-enfants. Depuis une dizaine d’années, Thompson vivait au Washington Center for Comprehensive Rehabilitation de Seattle. C’est là qu’il s’était éteint en 2005.

Thompson avait épousé la chanteuse Thelma Lowe. Le couple avait eu un fils, le futur guitariste Daryl Thompson. Ce dernier avait joué avec les artistes reggae Peter Tosh et Black Uhuru avant de se lancer dans une carrière de musicien de jazz à la fin des années 1980. Lorsque Thelma était morte d’un anévrisme en 1963, sa belle-famille ne l’avait jamais pardonné à Thompson et lui avait presque fait perdre la garde de ses enfants après l’avoir poursuivi en justice. Ébranlé par la mort successive à la fin des années 1960 du guitariste Wes Montgomery, du compositeur Billy Strayhorn et de Martin Luther King Jr., Thompson avait finalement décidé d’envoyer ses enfants en Suisse où il avait décidé de relancer sa carrière.

Considéré comme l’un des meilleurs saxophonistes ténor de l'histoire du jazz aux côtés de Coleman Hawkins et Lester Young, Thompson était caractérisé par un phrasé très doux et très précis. Excellent improvisateur, Thompson était particulièrement reconnu pour son jeu sophistiqué et pour son talent pour les balades. Doté d’un style très personnel, Thompson avait influencé plusieurs musiciens de jazz, dont le saxophoniste Johnny Griffin, qui avait déclaré à son sujet: "Lucky had that same thing that Paul Gonsalves had, that melodic smoothness. He wasn't rough like Ben Webster, and he didn't play in the Lester Young style. He was a beautiful balladeer. But he played with all the modernists." Même si Thompson n’était pas vraiment considéré comme un innovateur, il avait toujours su démontrer une grande dextérité et une énorme capacité d’adaptation au cours de sa carrière. Son jeu voluptueux et sensuel était particulièrement mis en évidence sur la pièce "Just One More Chance" enregistrée en 1947.

La vie de Lucky Thompson était d’autant plus mystérieuse qu’on l’avait vu rarement en public à la fin de sa vie. Même ses plus proches amis avaient parfois de la difficulté à le trouver. Le batteur Kenny Washington se rappelait avoir vu Thompson assister à un de ses concerts avec le groupe de Johnny Griffin au club Jazz Alley de Seattle en 1993. Après avoir assisté au spectacle, Thompson avait brièvement discuté avec les musiciens avant de repartir à pied vers son lieu de résidence de l’époque dans le quartier de Beacon Hill, à un peu plus de trois miles de distance.

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