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dubsdigs · 4 years ago

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Joe Strummer (1952-2002)

On his birthday and in the age of pressure on the common man increasing by what seems to be the second, I think of one of my antifascist heroes, Joe Strummer. There are so many things to say about the Clash that I’ve said 1 million times over, but one sentiment always bears repeating—Joe Strummer was an important anti-establishment figure in popular culture of modern history. As a Marxist, Strummer struck a chord in a young generation of the possibility of a world free of imperialist capitalist governments and monarchies. The Clash’s captivating discography never fails to give you the feeling of riding around in the car with your friends, ready to terrorize the establishment and fight the system. Strummer’s musical talents with his time in the Clash cultivated music that spoke to a generation of restlessness; the youth and proletariat fed up with the ever-increasing world conflict and wealth disparity through blatant call outs of the oppressors of the ruling class. He gave a big Fuck You to Generals, Politicians, Bomb Droppers, Tyrants, Pigs—the whole lot. Rising in the punk music scene alongside acts like the Sex Pistols and the Buzzcocks, Strummer’s lyrical lectures of the plight of the working class were not rare for their content, but for his delivery. Compelling lyrical content weaved into captivating, genre blending music that you can’t help but feel throughout your entire body, Strummer’s messages of change were poetically jarring and came from a voice that didn’t care what you thought it sounded like, but you’d be damned if you didn’t listen.

In the Clash’s self-titled debut album The Clash, released in 1977, track “Career Opportunities,” is Strummer’s own anthem for the working class and the struggles of entering the unrewarding cycle of capitalism. Lamenting that “Every job they offer you is to keep you out the dock,” Strummer resents capitalist governments for seeing its citizens as merely a means to capital by only offering jobs that perpetuate the existence of capitalism. Strummer’s voice pouring through your headphones paired with the bouncing, head bobbing hi-hat driven rhythm and jam-like feeling of the track “Clampdown” from the legendary 1979 album London Calling, ignites you to “Kick over the wall, cause government's to fall / How can you refuse it? / Let fury have the hour, anger can be power / D'you know that you can use it?” From the Clash’s 1980 masterpiece Sandinista!, the hypnotic groove of opening track “The Magnificent Seven” serves the dim tale of the average worker and the 7 hour workday of the capitalist cycle perfectly to your ears and memory with his poignant lyrical flow through lines like, “You can't be true, you can't be false / You'll be given the same reward,” regarding the fate of dissenters and those looking for a different way of life rid of the chains of imperialist capitalism like Martin Luther King Jr and Gandhi. Sandinista!, a title homage to the Sandinista National Liberation Front, the now democratic socialist party in Nicaragua who led the resistance against the United States occupation of Nicaragua in the 1930’s, holds songs that share themes against imperialism and against war that was ravaging the planet at the time. Opening with a US Marines’ chant, track “The Call Up,” presents Strummer rejecting the notion of answering the call to war and giving one’s own life for the sake of an imperialist monarch as he chillingly reminds us, “For he who will die / Is he who will kill.” The following track, “Washington Bullets,” details the horrors of United States’ intervention in South America and the victims of the imperialist tentacles the United States spreads throughout the world with its smuggling of weapons to facilitate cocaine trade leading to increased violence in communities, where, “The killing clowns, the blood money men / Are shooting those Washington bullets again.” Strummer antagonizes the atrocities of all imperialist interests worldwide, including the Soviet Union’s impact in Afghanistan that left thousands of Afghan rebels and Russian troops dead, carrying his view that every imperialist is to blame for the tragedies of interests in capital around the world in the curt and clear lyrical phrase, “An' if you can find a Afghan rebel / That the Moscow bullets missed / Ask him what he thinks of voting communist.” Strummer brought stories to the mainstream of injustices occurring throughout the world in a time where entire information wasn’t as readily available through the propaganda ridden Western countries.

From the classic 1982 album Combat Rock, Strummer gives a searing performance over an invigorating cacophony of perfectly blended distorted guitars, and the kind of driving punk drum beat that makes you want to break something, in opening track battle cry, “Know Your Rights.” The track is a best representation of Strummer speaking directly to his audience as a voice of social justice in his explanation of the three freedoms given to the poor and disenfranchised, and his questioning of those rights’ validity in actual life. Strummer mocks the contradiction of the power the police hold to unjustly murder civilians without consequence while murder is a serious offense if commit by anyone else. Sarcastically bringing to light the invasive verification process of applying for government assistance and the stereotypes of recipients of these systems that supposedly serve the people, Strummer jokes that the recipient should be so lucky as to receive the right to eat, while hinting that really they would be better off had they simply not needed the help in the first place. Ending with our third right, Strummer shouts out that although we have the clearest right of all, to speak freely, we would be foolish to think that we actually do have the right to test the government under their rule. That if you speak against the those who hold the power, the hand of the state will strike down.

The reason I chose to end with this song and dissect it the furthest (I’ll include a track list of my favorite antifascist Strummer songs below) is not only because of its straightforward simplicity, but as I was listening to my Combat Rock record again this morning it hit me that it has been 40 years since this song came out, unlike how I had ever considered before. 40 years to me is a stretch of time I have yet to experience, 40 years ago I wasn’t even a distant thought to either of my parents. And yet, as Strummer encourages me through my speakers, I can feel the same venom coursing through my veins in my opposition to the rise of fascism in my own country as if I’m listening to this same album in a different living room in 1980. It rocked me to connect so deeply to a different time in history through lyrics and music, as if I had been transported through time. Therein, to me, lies the power of Joe Strummer’s lyrical talent. His messages still ring true today and his legacy lives on in fueling the fire beneath a young generation aching for change. RIP

Know Your Rights

Straight to Hell

Ghetto Defendant

The Magnificent Seven

The Call Up

Washington Bullets

Police On My Back

Clampdown

The Guns of Brixton

Complete Control

I’m So Bored with the USA

Tommy Gun

Career Opportunities

White Riot

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businessliveme · 5 years ago

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IPO Bankers Face Headwinds From Silicon Valley to Saudi Arabia

(Bloomberg) –From Silicon Valley to Saudi Arabia, it’s been a tough year for IPO bankers. Wall Street kicked off the year excited about money it would make bringing to market some of the world’s most iconic companies. A crop of startup unicorns from Uber Technologies Inc. to WeWork were preparing to sell shares. Then the world’s most profitable company, Saudi Aramco, started gearing up for its own initial public offering.

Fast forward and these deals have become emblematic of how things can go wrong. Uber’s shares have tumbled and WeWork scrapped its offering, causing other tech giants to reconsider their listing plans. Most of Aramco’s arrangers made almost no profit even after it became the world’s biggest-ever IPO.

The top global banks’ fees from equity capital markets transactions are set to fall as much as 15% this year, according to research firm Coalition. The trend could worsen in 2020 as more companies like Airbnb Inc. shun the traditional IPO process to pursue listings with less involvement from Wall Street.

“This year has been a challenging one for ECM,” said James Roe, a partner at London-based law firm Allen & Overy LLP. “There are global headwinds beyond Brexit — global trade wars, China’s economic growth, the current situation in Hong Kong, and economic conditions in Europe — all of which have had an impact on IPO activity.”

Lagging Behind

IPOs globally this year have raised $229 billion, down 1.4% from the same period in 2018, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Fundraising in the U.S. is up 7.7% to $69.6 billion, though performance has been weak.

The average new listing in the U.S. has gained just 11% since the start of trading. That makes offerings look less attractive in a year when the benchmark S&P 500 Index is up 29%. Tech IPOs in the U.S. have done even worse, with the average deal now trading 3% below its offer price, the data show.

Mixed Bag

The U.S.-China trade war and political issues in Washington hurt the overall market environment, leading to increased volatility and making it “very difficult” to price deals properly, said Maegen Morrison, a partner at the law firm Hogan Lovells.

“Going into the beginning of this year, everyone was hoping for a healthy global IPO pipeline,” Morrison said. “But IPOs tend to be affected by market volatility, confidence and overall economic conditions.”

Lessons Learned

Aramco was one of the biggest disappointments for bankers. Some spent years wooing the Gulf energy giant to get a role on the deal, promising Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman the company would be worth $2 trillion.

Then they failed to drum up interest from overseas investors at that valuation. The Western banks were sidelined when the deal became a domestic affair, leaving the lion’s share of fees for the local arrangers who took control of the process. The top foreign underwriters on the deal are set to only make $3.5 million apiece, Bloomberg News has reported.

And then there’s the fall from grace of WeWork, the office-sharing company co-founded by flamboyant entrepreneur Adam Neumann. WeWork went from being one of the most-anticipated IPOs of the year to scrapping its listing and accepting a rescue package at a fraction of its previous valuation.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said in November that companies heading toward IPOs should study WeWork’s case and admitted that he learned a few lessons himself. Palantir Technologies Inc., the data-mining firm backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, has decided to keep raising funds in the private markets instead of a near-term IPO, people with knowledge of the matter said in September.

Beyond Meat’s Surge

Airbnb and unprofitable food-delivery company DoorDash Inc. are both considering direct listings next year, which would allow them to become publicly traded without raising funds. Bankers predict at least five such deals in 2020.

“Some IPOs materially disappointed this year, which colored perception of the product generally and, at times, impacted investor willingness to participate in deals,” said Taylor Wright, co-head of U.S. equity capital markets at Barclays Plc.

It hasn’t been all bad: jeans brand Levi Strauss & Co. and cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. both jumped on their U.S. trading debuts. One of the best performers has been Beyond Meat Inc., the maker of plant-based meat alternatives, which has more than tripled since its May IPO in New York.

Another recent bright spot has been Asia Pacific, which is closing out its best quarter for new listings in nearly a decade. First-time share sales in the region have raised $43.6 billion since the start of October, led by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s $12.9 billion Hong Kong offering.

That’s helped reshape the league tables, bumping up both China International Capital Corp. and Citic Securities Co. The moves mean the 10 most active IPO arrangers globally now include two Chinese firms for the first time since 2009. HSBC Holdings Plc, one of the lead banks on the Aramco IPO, moved up 14 spots to join the top ranks for the first time in four years.

Top Global IPO Arrangers Rising valuations in the public markets could encourage more companies to list next year instead of raising money through private funding rounds, according to Francois-Olivier Mercier, UBS Group AG’s head of ECM syndicate for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

There are plenty of listing hopefuls lining up for 2020. Reynolds Consumer Products Inc., maker of Hefty trash bags, and J. Crew Group Inc.’s Madewell denim brand are among firms planning IPOs. Internet startups such as online mattress seller Casper Sleep Inc. and resale marketplace Poshmark Inc., are also preparing offerings, people familiar have said. In software, Jfrog Inc., a technology company that makes tools for developers, as well as cybersecurity firm McAfee Inc. have both hired underwriters.

“The market is still very selective around IPOs,” said Daniel Burton-Morgan, Bank of America Corp.’s head of U.K. ECM. “But companies are starting to perform a bit better, so activity will resume.”

Companies may hurry to sell shares in the beginning of 2020 before an expected rise in market volatility in the final months leading up to November’s U.S. presidential election.

“The perception is positive for the first part of the year, driven by the belief that President Trump will do everything he can to stimulate consumer spending ahead of the election,” said Kristin DeClark, co-head of the U.S. ECM practice at Barclays.

–With assistance from Dinesh Nair, Dimitri Quemard, Kasper Viita, Michael Hytha and Crystal Tse.

The post IPO Bankers Face Headwinds From Silicon Valley to Saudi Arabia appeared first on Businessliveme.com.

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keithdcourtney · 7 years ago

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Top 25 Contemporary Acoustic Blues Guitarists

Modern Acoustic Blues finds contemporary artists reviving the older, more country-derived styles of blues in its myriad strains. The form places a great deal of emphasis on instrumental expertise, providing the genre with some astounding players who do more than merely replicate older styles.

So how do I propose to rank the best 25 Acoustic Blues Guitarists in the world? Well, I’m going to dodge the issue a bit.

I’m going to put down 25 guitarists that have dominated the field. But I will refrain from ranking them #1, #2, #3, etc. I think that’s as close as I can get. I’m sure you’ll discover some great inspiration for both listening and learning from.

Add other worthy players to the comments below so that the list is truly complete. Thanks!

Here We Go…

Keb’ Mo’

Guitarist/vocalist Keb’ Mo’ draws heavily on the old-fashioned country blues style of Robert Johnson while keeping his sound contemporary with touches of soul and folksy storytelling. A skilled frontman as well as an accomplished sideman, he writes much of his own material and has applied his acoustic, electric, and slide guitar skills to jazz- and rock-oriented bands.

There’s a lot of material to choose from when listening to Russ, but a popular song to start with is “Everybody Be Yoself”.

More info on Keb’ Mo’.

Seasick Steve

Steven Gene Wold, commonly known as Seasick Steve, is an American blues musician. He plays mostly personalized guitars and sings, usually about his early life doing casual work. Like T-Model Ford, Seasick Steve began recording his own music much later in life than other musicians. In the 1960s, Wold started touring and performing with fellow blues musicians, and had friends in the music scene including Joni Mitchell. He spent time living in San Francisco. Since then, he has worked, on and off, as a session musician and studio engineer.

To get a sense of his style, listen to

“Summertime Boy”.More info on Seasick Steve.

Jimbo Mathus

Jim “Jimbo” Mathus first gained fame as the co-founder of the retro-swing outfit the Squirrel Nut Zippers. But after the group’s messy breakup, he went on to a prolific career as a guitarist, songwriter, and producer, defining his own brand of revved-up blues and roots music. Using a variety of stage names, including James Mathus, Jas Mathus, Jimbo “Hambone” Mathus, and Jimbo Mathus, he first began stepping out on his own as a sideman with one-time Zippers’ violinist Andrew Bird.

Check him out playing

“Shine Like a Diamond”.More info on Jimbo Mathus.

Taj Mahal

Henry Saint Clair Fredericks (born May 17, 1942), who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American blues musician. He often incorporates elements of world music into his works. A self-taught singer-songwriter and film composer who plays the guitar, piano, banjo and harmonica (among many other instruments), Mahal has done much to reshape the definition and scope of blues music over the course of his almost 50-year career by fusing it with nontraditional forms, including sounds from the Caribbean, Africa and the South Pacific.

One of my favorite is his

“Fishin’ Blues”.More info on Taj Mahal.

Kelly Joe Phelps

Vancouver, Washington-based guitarist, singer, and songwriter Kelly Joe Phelps continues to expand the parameters of modern blues through his strong commitment to literary songs and his expressive yet simple guitar stylings. While casual listeners may call Phelps a bluesman, his playing is so fluid, dexterous, and improvised he obviously has the soul of a jazz musician. Kelly Joe Phelps grew up in Sumner, Washington, a blue-collar farming town. He learned country and folk songs, as well as drums and piano, from his father. He began playing guitar at age twelve.

Check out this tune “I’ve Been Converted” by Kelly Joe Phelps.

More info on Kelly Joe Phelps.

Corey Harris

Corey Harris has earned substantial critical acclaim as one of the few contemporary bluesmen able to channel the raw, direct emotion of acoustic Delta blues without coming off as an authenticity-obsessed historian. Although he is well versed in the early history of blues guitar, he’s no well-mannered preservationist, mixing a considerable variety of influences — from New Orleans to the Caribbean to Africa — into his richly expressive music.

“Catfish Blues”is one of his super creation which I like so much.

More info on Corey Harris.

Cephas & Wiggins

The duo of acoustic guitarist John Cephas and harpist Phil Wiggins enjoyed a partnership spanning several decades, during which time they emerged among contemporary music’s most visible exponents of the Piedmont blues tradition. Their music, rooted in the rural African-American dance music of Virginia and North Carolina, showed the influence of Blind Boy Fuller, Gary Davis, and Sonny Terry, with a broad repertoire consisting of Piedmont blues standards as well as an eclectic sampling of Delta stylings, R&B, ballads, ragtime, gospel, and country & western; onward from their 1984 debut, Sweet Bitter Blues, Cephas & Wiggins’ sound applied sophisticated traditional instrumentation and modern gospel-edged vocals to both traditional standards and their own hard-hitting compositions, offering a soulful acoustic option to electric blues.

Check out their tune “Richmond Blues” and you’ll sense the scope of their playing.

More info on Cephas & Wiggins.

Ted Hawkins

Overseas, he was a genuine hero, performing for thousands. But on his L.A. home turf, sand-blown Venice Beach served as Ted Hawkins’ makeshift stage. He’d deliver his magnificent melange of soul, blues, folk, gospel, and a touch of country all by his lonesome, with only an acoustic guitar for company. Passersby would pause to marvel at Hawkins’ melismatic vocals, dropping a few coins or a greenback into his tip jar.

He created many good tunes. One of my favorite is his

“Sorry You’re Sick”.More info on Ted Hawkins.

Chris Smither

William Christopher Smither is an American folk/blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter. His music draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, and modern poets and philosophers. By 1969, after living in several places around Cambridge, Smither moved to Garfield Street in Cambridge and often visited Dick Waterman’s house where Fred McDowell, Son House and other blues musicians were known to congregate. It was there that Smither first performed his song “Love You Like a Man” for Waterman’s friend, Bonnie Raitt.

Check out his

“Link Of Chain”.More info on Chris Smither.

Preacher Boy

Christopher Watkins, a twenty-something rocker from the San Francisco Bay area, is turning a whole new generation of teenage and twenty-something alternative rock fans on to the eternal hipness of the blues. Watkins, who uses the stage name Preacher Boy, is backed on his club shows around the Bay area and other parts of the West Coast by his band Natural Blues.

One of his great creation is

“Setting Sun”.More info on Preacher Boy.

East River String Band

Eden and John’s East River String Band are a New York City-based duo who play country blues from the 1920s and 1930s. The members are John Heneghan (guitar, mandolin and vocals) and Eden Brower (ukulele and vocals).The duo often have other musicians sit in with them, including Dom Flemons (formerly of Carolina Chocolate Drops), Pat Conte (of the Canebreak Rattlers and Otis Brothers) and Robert Crumb (of the Cheap Suit Serenaders).

Check out their “Rolling Log Blues”.

View more on East River String Band.

Eric Clapton

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist and separately as a member of the Yardbirds and Cream.

Check out this tune of “Wonderful Tonight”.

View more on Eric Clapton.

David Allen Slater

David Allen Slater is a multi-talented singer/songwriter, composer and graphic artist who successfully released his self-produced debut CD, Influenced, on August 15, 2009. Gaining exposure for his music through the web, David was asked to participate in the Windows 7 collaboration with ReverbNation just 2 months after the release of his first album. His song, Run Away, was distributed through this collaboration on Playlist7 and branded with the Windows 7 logo.

Check out his “Swim”.

View more on “David Allen Slater”.

Chris Thomas King

Chris Thomas King (born October 14, 1962 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) is an American blues musician and actor. He is the son of blues musician Tabby Thomas. In the 2000 movie O’ Brother, Where Art Thou?, he played legendary bluesman Tommy Johnson. On the “O Brother…” soundtrack he plays Skip James’ “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues”. In the 2004 movie Ray, he played bandleader Lowell Fulson. He has also appeared in several documentaries about the blues and about music.

I’ve been listening his many songs, but my my personal favorite is “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues”.

View more on Chris Thomas King.

Guy Davis

Guy Davis (born May 12, 1952) is an American blues guitarist and banjo player, and actor. He is the eldest child and the only son of the late actors Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis. Davis says his blues music is inspired by the southern speech of his grandmother. Though raised in the New York City area, he grew up hearing accounts of life in the rural south from his parents and especially his grandparents, and they made their way into his own stories and songs. Davis taught himself the guitar (never having the patience to take formal lessons) and learned by listening to and watching other musicians.

I love to listen his tune of

“Matchbox Blues”.View more on Guy Davis.

Bjørn Berge

Bjørn Berge takes the Blues and Rock to the next level! He performs with and without band. You wouldn’t notice the difference. The man is a band on his own. Maybe thats why ‘they’ call him the ‘string-machine’. Even the drumming is taken care off in a ‘sole-man-performance’. Just a kick of a heavy, worn out boot on a wooden box for basedrum for example. His fingers play like he sold his soul to ,…. (Fill it in yourself) His voice speaks for itself. Blues to the utmost ground.

Check him playing

“Mad Fingers Ball”.View more on Bjørn Berge.

Woody Mann

Woody Mann is an American Blues Guitar player, using a picking style. Woody was first taught to play the blues by the Rev Gary Davis. Woody still plays many of his songs in tribute and has expanded his range over many styles including Jazz, and syncopated guitar picking. Woody has collaborated with many names in the Jazz and Blues industry from the British White Blues singer Jo-Ann Kelly, Son House and Dori Previn.

Check out him playing

“We’ll Be Alright”.View more on Woody Mann.

Watermelon Slim and the Workers

Bill Homans, professionally known as “Watermelon Slim”, is an American blues musician. He plays both guitar and harmonica. He is currently signed to NorthernBlues Music, based out of Toronto, Ontario. Homans has been performing since the 1970s and has been linked to several notable blues musicians, including John Lee Hooker, Robert Cray, Champion Jack Dupree, Bonnie Raitt, “Country” Joe McDonald, and Henry Vestine of Canned Heat.

Watch them playing

“I’m a King Bee”.View more on Watermelon Slim and the Workers.

Robert Plant

Robert Anthony Plant CBE (born 20 August 1948, West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England) is a British rock singer-songwriter famous for being the lead vocalist of one of the most influential bands of all time: Led Zeppelin. He is known for his powerful style and wide vocal range. After Led Zeppelin’s breakup following the sudden death of drummer John Bonham in 1980, Plant pursued a successful solo career.

Check out this tune as a start

“Big Log”.View more on Robert Plant.

Rory Gallagher (1948-1995)

William Rory Gallagher was an Irish blues and rock multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and bandleader. Born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, and brought up in Cork, Gallagher recorded solo albums throughout the 1970s and 1980s, after forming the band Taste during the late 1960s. His albums have sold over 30 million copies worldwide. Gallagher received a liver transplant in 1995, but died of complications later that year in London at the age of 47.

I love his track

“Tattoo’d Lady”.View more on Rory Gallagher.

John Mayer

John Clayton Mayer is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and raised in nearby Fairfield. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but disenrolled and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with Clay Cook. Together, they formed a short-lived two-man band called Lo-Fi Masters. After their split, Mayer continued to play local clubs—refining his skills and gaining a following.

Check out his “Gravity”.

View more on John Mayer.

Stefan Grossman

Stefan Grossman is an American acoustic fingerstyle guitarist and singer, music producer and educator, and co-founder of Kicking Mule records. He is known for his instructional videos and Vestapol line of videos and DVDs. He also gives lessons on “How To Play Blues Guitar”

Check his tune “Bermuda Triangle Exit”.

View more on Stefan Grossman.

Jorma Kaukonen

Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen, is an American blues, folk, and rock guitarist, best known for his work with Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #54 on its list of 100 Greatest Guitarists.

Check out his “Song for the North Star”.

View more on Jorma Kaukonen.

Leo Kottke

Leo Kottke is an acoustic guitarist. He is known for a fingerpicking style that draws on blues, jazz, and folk music, and for syncopated, polyphonic melodies. He overcame a series of personal obstacles, including partial loss of hearing and a nearly career-ending bout with tendon damage in his right hand, to emerge as a widely recognized master of his instrument. He currently resides in the Minneapolis area with his family. Focusing primarily on instrumental composition and playing, Kottke also sings sporadically, in an unconventional yet expressive baritone described by himself as sounding like “geese farts on a muggy day”.

I love his tune of “Vaseline Machine Gun”.

View more on Leo Kottke.

Bob Brozman

Brozman was born to a Jewish family living on Long Island, New York, United States. He began playing the guitar when he was 6. He performed in a number of styles, including gypsy jazz, calypso, blues, ragtime, Hawaiian music, and Caribbean music. He also collaborated with musicians from diverse cultural backgrounds, from India, Africa, Japan, Papua New Guinea and Réunion. He has been called “an instrumental wizard” and “a walking archive of 20th Century American music”.

I love his tune of “Rattlesnake blues”.

View more on Bob Brozman.

More lists of top players:

The Top 20 Dobro™ Players >>

Top 25 Fingerstyle Guitar Players >>

Top 25 Best Bluegrass Flatpicking Guitarists >>

The post Top 25 Contemporary Acoustic Blues Guitarists appeared first on The Guitar Journal.

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avanneman · 8 years ago

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For the Right, All Roads Lead Through Russia. Unfortunately.

For the “Respectable Right,” I mean—the Wall Street Journal Right, the National Review Right—the “Thoughtful Right”—I guess you could call them, Big Donnie’s recent speech in Poland, which I, uh, didn’t like, made their little hearts beat faster than Max Roach’s Night in Tunisia drum solo from the Jazz at Massey Hall album (which you should totally hear). Enthused—or, rather, sighed—the Journal

“Six months into his first term of office, Mr. Trump finally offered the core of what could become a governing philosophy. It is a determined and affirmative defense of the Western tradition.”

That’s right, a “determined and affirmative defense of the Western tradition” from Mr. Studio 54, a man who has probably participated in more orgies than Nero, and that is not an exaggeration.

But wait, there’s more!

“To be sure, Mr. Trump’s speech also contained several pointed and welcome foreign-policy statements. He assured Poland it would not be held hostage to a single supplier of energy, meaning Russia. He exhorted Russia to stop destabilizing Ukraine “and elsewhere,” to stop supporting Syria and Iran and “instead join the community of responsible nations.” He explicitly committed to NATO’s Article 5 on mutual defense.

“But—and this shocked Washington—the speech aimed higher. Like the best presidential speeches, it contained affirmations of ideas and principles and related them to the current political moment. “Americans, Poles and the nations of Europe value individual freedom and sovereignty,” he said. This was more than a speech, though. It was an argument. One might even call it an apologia for the West.”

An apologia, motherfucker! Yeah, baby!

But then Donnie went to Moscow, and it all went to shit. It would be an interesting psychological study, probably, as to why obsessive/compulsive alpha male Donaldo turns himself into fanboy/butt boy Donnie in the presence of Vladimir. He’s so masculine! He rides horses! He told me he’s going to let me help clean out the stables! He likes me! He really likes me!

The kickback on Donnie’s most hilarious proposal, the “joint cybersecurity1 taskforce” was so furious that even Donnie had to drop it, which, as everyone has noted, is something that Trump almost never does.

Now, of course, Little Donnie’s multiple disasters—with its hilarious cast of pop stars, pushers, promoters, sleazy Russian “oligarchs”, and various other assorted hustlers, a gaggle that can only be described as “Trumpian”2—have eclipsed all thoughts of apologias. The Russian Connection, oft dismissed though never quite dead, bids fair to become the nothingburger that devoured Donald.

Yes, for the “Respectable Right” Little Donnie’s doings are a monstrous headache. For the Breitbart Boys, of course, it’s just another Democrat plot. Same old, same old! But I think that the Respectable Right, to get back to them, are still worried about Donnie and Vlad’s excellent meeting.

Back in the day—when the West was the West!—there was a bipartisan understanding that both Eastern Europe and the Middle East were of vital importance to the U.S. We had to stand tall in both! And there was a good deal of one hand washes the other thing going on between the Eastern Europe folks and the Middle East folks: “I’ll bewail your existential crisis of the West if you’ll bewail mine!”3

The True Believers endured eight years of flaccidity from “Mr. Flaccid” Barack Obama. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump’s frequent way off the reservation talk—George Bush lied us into Iraq? That’s so crazy!—terrified many of the RR, TR boys. But then Donnie won, he appointed lots of generals, he fired Tomahawks at Assad, he dropped that big bomb thing in Afghanistan, and he delivered an apologia! And then he went to Moscow and fell on his knees. But not to pray.

What the RR fears more than anything is that Donnie will make a deal with Russia on Syria. Yeah, it will be a “joint project” but everyone knows that Donnie has the attention span of a three-year-old. “You say we’re kicking ass, Mr. President! That’s fantastic! Yeah, if you’re happy, I’m happy, Mr. President! I can call you Vlad? Did you hear that? Did you hear it? I can call him Vlad!”

Yes, that’s what the RR is hearing in their nightmares. I recently beat up on Charles Krauthammer for bemoaning the fact that all people wanted to talk about was the Russia thing, about how, you know, Trump fired FBI Director James Comey for always hassling him about all this Russia stuff—like Comey wasn’t being a total pain in the ass and totally asking for it—when what we needed to be talking about was the Islamic Civil War between noble Saudi Arabia (the Sunni guys) and evil Iran (the evil Shiites), and the key to everything was Syria: “For Iran, Syria is the key, the central theater of a Shiite-Sunni war for regional hegemony.” And now it’s dollars to doughnuts that Donnie is going to give Syria to Vladimir and his Shiite buddies for free! And that was before Little Donnie set the whole house on fire!

Have a drink on me, Charlie. Cause I think you’re going to need it.

Afterwords Over at the National Review, Rich Lowry indulges in some epic eye rolling at the news that Little Donnie's media "strategy" was crafted, not by him, but by the "grown-ups" at the White House: "that the response was the handiwork of the very top of the White House foodchain is disturbing, and reminiscent of the initial, wholly misleading account of the Comey firing"—"misleading" being Lowryese for "total fucking lie".

“Cybersecurity” is a word in Word. I’m surprised. (And, presumably, out of it.) ↩︎

Both Donnies can only thank their lucky stars—to the extent that they have them—that Miss Universe herself never showed up in any of this. No doubt she had better things to do. ↩︎

My go-to whipping girl for this sort of thing was Anne Applebaum, though some of my old criticism of Anne is now out of date, because she’s been firmly anti-Trump from the get-go, and wisely so. ↩︎

#Donald Trump #Wall Street Journal #Poland #Russia #Charles Krauthammer

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soundcheckentertainment · 8 years ago

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20 years ago I was a student at Canadore College in North Bay. We had this bar, called The Wall. It was a small venue but in its 20 year existence hosted some of the finest musicians Canada has ever produced. It was also where I was first introduced to Jeff Martin and The Tea Party as they rolled across the country promoting their new album Transmission.

Jules Cardoso of The Road Heavy performs at Algonquin Commons Theatre photo by Dave DiUbaldo

Little did I know then that 20 years later I’d be sitting in the theatre at another College, this time Algonquin College, celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Transmission with Jeff Martin and The Tea Party as the tour passed through Ottawa.

Transmission has always been my favourite album by The Tea Party and is possibly one of the greatest rock albums ever made and the best way to listen to the album is live and last night was no different.

Toronto based, The Road Heavy, kicked off the night and wasted no time pumping up the packed theatre. The Road Heavy formed in 2014 and quickly made a name for themselves as a band to watch. The powerhouse vocals of Pat James along with the incredible voice of Jules Cardoso turned the dial all the way to rock and that’s where it was left for the remainder of the night. We’ll be watching these guys, who knows maybe 20 years down the road we’ll be celebrating their 20th Anniversary. Check out the Road Heavy next time they’re near you. For more information visit them online at www.theroadheavy.com

The Tea Party perform as part of 20 Years of Transmission at Algonquin Commons Theatre photo by Dave DiUbaldo

The Tea Party played two sets, each of which lasted about an hour. From the opening notes of “Psychopomp” all the way through the incredibly powerful, and relevant, “Temptation” the first set ended where most shows we cover would have ended but last night The Tea Party was just getting warmed up. Martin told the crowd before he left the stage that they were going to take a 20-25 minute break and then they were coming back to tear shit up.

The Tea Party perform at Algonquin Commons Theatre in Ottawa photo by Dave DiUbaldo

One thing that really struck me last night, I don’t know if being a music writer has made me pay closer attention to the details over the years or why I didn’t notice it before, was the incredible lyrics that go with these songs. Take “Temptation”, for example, the verse: “We exist in a world Where the fear of illusion is real And we cling to the past To deny and confuse the ideal Once inside we conceive and Believe in a God we can’t feel”. This song was written about 21 years ago but remains relevant today.

The Tea Party perform as part of 20 Years of Transmission at Algonquin Commons Theatre photo by Dave DiUbaldo

After the break the band returned to the stage jumping ahead, a bit, to 2004’s Seven Circles. Martin walked out onto the stage and asked the seated crowd “why aren’t you standing?” before immediately diving full on into “Writing’s On the Wall”. If hard and heavy is what Martin meant when he said they were going to tear shit up in their second set he definitely wasn’t lying.

The Tea Party perform as part of 20 Years of Transmission at Algonquin Commons Theatre photo by Dave DiUbaldo

I also never noticed the heavy influences from Led Zeppelin and Bowie in the Tea Party’s music, something Martin mentioned on more than one occasion. The band paid tribute to some of the talent that was lost in 2016 including a shout out to George Michael. Martin said “his music wasn’t my thing but he had a lot of talent”. One loss in particular that, Martin said, inspired their music so much, that they likely wouldn’t exist as a band had it not been for his influence, was David Bowie. Martin dedicated “Aftermath” to Bowie’s memory.

As the second set wound down they jumped to 1999’s Triptych for “Heaven’s Coming Down” before wrapping up the show with “Sister Awake” infused with Rolling Stones “Painted Black” and an incredible performance on the drums by Jeff Burrows.

The Tea Party perform as part of 20 Years of Transmission at Algonquin Commons Theatre photo by Dave DiUbaldo

All said and done the last note sounded shortly after 11:30, far longer than most shows I’ve seen in that venue or many other, non-bar, venues not that anyone in the sold out Algonquin Commons Theatre minded one bit. To say they got their money’s worth is an understatement.

If history repeats itself The Tea Party has enough juice left in the tank for a few more decades of tours. With 8 albums to date that leaves 4 more albums that can be followed up with “20 years of” tours. I can say, without question, I’ll be ready and willing to do it all again in a couple of years with 20 Years of Triptych…something tells me I’m not alone.

The Tea Party perform as part of 20 Years of Transmission at Algonquin Commons Theatre photo by Dave DiUbaldo

For 2017 the 20 Years of Transmission tour, or #TX20 for short, moves on to Quebec for a couple of shows before returning to Toronto for two nights at the Danforth Music Hall after which they’ll head to western Canada where they’ll wrap up their Canadian dates. The tour will head south of the border for shows in Washington, Oregon and California in April before wrapping up in Australia for a show with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Many of these shows are close to, if not already, sold out so if you want to catch this tour you’ll want to get your tickets sooner than later. For full tour details and news visit www.teaparty.com.

Before closing out the show Martin left the crowd with a little teaser…could TX20 be making a return to Ottawa this summer for a show at RBC Bluesfest? Although I find it unlikely I can’t rule it out. The band had a very successful turnout for the 20th Anniversary of Edges of Twilight a few summer’s ago and based on the crowd reaction last night there’s no doubt they’d come out in droves to catch Martin and the boys again in July. I’d watch for that announcement after their Ontario dates are finished in a couple of weeks, if it comes at all.

Photos by Dave DiUbaldo of Worn Leather Media. Keep up with him on facebook, twitter, and instagram.

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The Tea Party perform as part of 20 Years of Transmission at Algonquin Commons Theatre in Ottawa photo by Dave DiUbaldo