#still call it john mayer trio though

[erisautoma]

in my mind palace john mayer feels like stevie ray vaughan’s shithead grandson who went to college and never left the frat house

[popmusicu]

The Rise and Fall of Power Trios

Live performances of music, and subsequently recorded music, has had a wild range of styles, trends and tendencies that called for change during the decades; this is especially true to the members of music bands and the instruments they used.

Music band, or just band, is a style by itself. Looking back to the birth of contemporary music, it is notorious how bands went down in member count as the decades passed by. Moderno music, mostly popular and classical music, was performed by big bands and orchestras, centering around live shows and concerts. These groups were complimented greatly by brass and stringed instruments, such as trumpets, trombones, pianos and many other used by classical ensembles and big band jazz groups. The lack of amplification made these naturally loud instruments an obvious choice for performing in front of big crowds. The arrival of microphones and, specially, electrified instruments came to rattle the well-established band format halfway the twentieth century. Now performers could highlight specific instruments, vocals and other nuances of the music to their will. Amplification turned on the spotlight for upcoming virtuosos in many genres, but one came on top, and that was the electric guitar -and sometimes bass- player.

The mass production, and therefore accessibility of electric guitar came by the hand of Leo Fender in 1950. With just a slab of lacquered wood, a fretted neck and a single electric pick up the Broadcaster, later named Telecaster brought the electric guitar to the masses. As other brands followed the trend, electric guitar was picked up by lots of artists around the world, particularly in the UK and USA. Players such as Chet Atkins, Les Paul took the guitar to new heights with techniques developed specifically for the electric guitar. This instrument was then well spread among blues icons in the likes of BB King, Albert King, Buddy Guy, just to name a few. Blues guitar made the base for a type of band that would rule the charts for decades. Now, an electric guitar, a bass guitar, and a drum kit were the only instruments needed to reach musical stardom; bands with this configuration are typically called “Power Trios”.

As music got heavier and guitar virtuosos grew more skillful than ever before so did the popularity of Power Trios, which were assembled to showcase these talented musicians. This situation came in hand with the rise in popularity of Rock music in the sixties. Rock bands took over the charts that decade, some highlights among them were The Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience, with guitarist Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, respectively to each band as their main attractive for audiences. With blues influence these bands took volume, concert attendance and record sales to never seen numbers. Power trios continued into the 70’s and 80’s with Double Trouble, showcasing Stevie Ray Vaughan; Motörhead with Lemmy, and many others that made rock heavier and heavier. Looking at the 80’s Power Trios were competing at par with electronic music bands that used synths and new recording techniques, but it didn’t make rock, metal and similar power trios to crumble, the format was even exported to Latin-America. Here, rock bands flourished an so did the Power Trio format, exemplified by groups such as Soda Stereo, Los Prisioneros, Los Socios del Desierto and Spinetta, just to name the most known.

Coming into the nineties, the format kept on going but the music they played turned into new genres. Even though the Power Trio was losing favor, bands as Nirvana and Primus were still selling record-breaking records. These times called for the defeat of the format, as Pop music became overwhelmingly widespread.

Nowadays, the only remains of the Power Trio are bands that were popular at the beginning of the new millennium, particularly Green Day, Muse and Blink-182 and some Pop bands that reach to the past for blues and rock influence, for example, The John Mayer Trio. Although the electric guitar lives on through social media and smaller bands, the popularity that the Power Trio once had succumbed to single artist oriented to Pop, Soul and R&B.

By Diego Cortés

[avaliveradio]

Dan Hochman's 'Morphine' is about finding refuge in the arms of a past lover

This song is about finding refuge in the arms of a past lover.

I wrote this song reflecting on my travels, my then-recent move across the country, and the feeling of being drawn back to a former relationship even though I was "moving forward" in other areas of my life. 

The word "morphine" symbolizes the feelings of healing and relief that I found in this past love. The song was initially supposed to be included in my debut E.P "hearts alive"; however, I decided to team up with my good friends Ash Ruiz (formally of Menudo) & Jack Dugan, a local electronic musician. They helped me get clear on my vision, and my guitar and vocals added vocal harmonies, drums, synth to help make the song feel both more melodic and haunting. Interestingly enough, we even structured the song to have a peak, comedown, and fade out, mimicking the effects of a drug.

This music release is essential to me because I've been experimenting stylistically a lot lately. I feel that an artist must have range; I enjoyed the folk and soul backbone of my E.P Hearts Alive https://open.spotify.com/album/7EIPkAoUWFlWmqi27AgGKN?si=VQRAtpOnQKuo5U-KdfCOSA 

I've recently been dabbling in jazz, electronic, and blues a lot. When it comes to influences, there is a wide range of musicians, old and new, crucial in my development as an artist. Hozier, Damien Rice, James Blake, John Mayer, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Simon & Garfunkel, Gary Clark JR, Ben Howard & Bon Iver, and most recently Tom Misch & Mac Ayres.

The message of this song is that although the places that our lives take us can often be rugged and discouraging, we aren't ever truly alone. We can still find healing in connection with the ones we love.

Artist: Dan Hochman

New Release: Morphine

Genre: Singer-songwriter, Indie, Soul,

Sounds like: A few of the artists that I feel are most similar to my style are, Nathaniel Rateliff, Hozier, Ben Harper, Leif Vollebekk & Amos Lee.

Located in: Boulder, Colorado, United States

Right now we are...

My band and I have been up to some exciting things recently. We spent the last month playing various venues across Colorado and are set to play two notable venues in Denver in May. (May 9th at The Larimer Lounge and May 14th at Number 28) We're currently planning a tour through the south in late July, making stops in cities like Nashville, New Orleans, Austin, & More!

As a Boulder-based singer-songwriter, my style is a blend of rock, folk, blues, & soul. Music has always been a deep part of my soul. As a young boy, I listened to artists like Otis redding, Simon & Garfunkel, Marvin Gaye & Fleetwood Mack. To me, it felt inevitable that I would become intimately involved in the musical process, and that started with picking up the guitar at sixteen. At that age, I had a lot of blues and rock in my ears. Artists like Eric Clapton, Gary Clark Jr, Stevie Ray, & The Clash were constantly in the mix for me. However, I only started writing songs in my senior year of high school. I was in a band that stuck with me till my sophomore year of college.

It was at that point; I focused more on honing my craft as a guitarist. Eventually, I formed a trio here in boulder called "The lone bones" I played alongside my friends, Taylor Tuke, and Trace Jory, and when that band came to an end, I decided I was going take the reigns on songwriting and pursue my dream as a solo artist. To me, music is the closest thing I have to god, or some form of spirituality. It's pure. I make music to tell my story but also to connect with my audience. My goal is always to dig deep to tell a story that resonates with people no matter where they come from. I want my message to hit below the surface and be uplifting to others.

LINKS: 

Song link - https://open.spotify.com/track/7w0P6fsqwcslvvqP0hm5TE?si=GJr9GpWXSEySGOA-9NTxQQ Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/danhochmanmusic Instagram page - https://www.instagram.com/dan.hochman

Featured on AVA Live Radio Curators Picks with Jacqueline Jax

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🔥Release Radar New Music Playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2JOBcgSYgGmV2g27N1CUXx?si=PQFpAPUbQ0m4ByZEbtBtLg

🔥JAX DAILY Morning Coffee Playlist:

  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7pEY8BiSj6sLLSHAoOo9k0?si=IrwIjmHVRN2vswRyw_P6gA

🔥Songwriter Gold https://open.spotify.com/playlist/68x51bTCMLuLi4o6vqwGfh?si=hXz5kG-rTN-bGkZBJuPm9g

🔥SUMMER SINGLES Fresh Indie Music Finds https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7oQCpI2xEN2RaGWLcRGQJX?si=o93Tf3RwSH2HLg4B57qAVw

🔥Stay Home Chill Zone Music Playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6QXSxW0oyY53ymNs0uGuNr?si=oPS0sQ3dT82p8Dbc26RPHA

🔥Love Bug Playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2PXBN32Bu4WQbSB2PajYqk?si=MaybEYH8QGu-bpFQwnvmTg

🔥Road Trip Best Indie Folk 2020 Music Playlist - Indie / Pop / Folk / Rock https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1PLd9drToDxT0rUcGWGpZ9?si=FvfbaXtcQ1-HJyHf3h59oA

[austennerdita2533]

Tagged by this glorious golden trio: @gooddame, @misssophiachase, @ashleigh-jewitt-xx. Thank you, lovely ladies! 

Rules: answer 30 questions and tag some blogs you would like to get to know better!

Get To Know Me

1. Nicknames: Ash, AshBash, AJ, Aya, Double E, J-Bird, Princess (which my dad still calls me even though I’m 28 haha) Twin...

2. Gender: Female

3. Star sign: Aquarius

4. Height: 5′6′’

5. Time: 9:04 A.M.

6. Birthday: January 23rd

7. Favourite band: Maroon 5

8. Favourite solo artist: Ed Sheeran, Adele, John Mayer, Michael Jackson, Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz...

9. Song stuck in my head: “Too Good At Goodbyes” by Sam Smith

10. Last movie I watched: Wimbledon

11: Last show I watched: Game of Thrones with my mom (who’s watching it for the first time and subsequently freaking out); When Calls the Heart

12. When did I create my blog: April 2014 but I didn’t start actively using it for fandom things until 2015

13. What do I post: The better question is what don’t I post haha. There’s a lot of Gilmore Girls, Klaroline, Jane Austen (especially P&P), book things, quotes/writing, GoT, Marvel, Star Wars, etc.

14: Last thing I googled: Book quotes

15. Do I have any other blogs: Not on Tumblr, no.

16. Do I get asks: Sure do.

17. Why I chose my url: I’m a huge Jane Austen nerd who enjoys making up/manipulating words in both English and Spanish, hence the “nerdita.” 2, 5, and 33 are some of my favorite numbers.

18. Following: 430

19. Followers: 1,191--which is absolutely astounding to me. Thank you all for following me and putting up with my ridiculousness! 

21. Average hours of sleep: 5-7

22. Lucky number: 5

23. Instruments: None, unfortunately. I’d really love to learn to play the acoustic guitar or the violin. I’m a sucker for string instruments.

24. What am I wearing: A hoodie, yoga pants, and slippers. BLESS being able to work from home, especially in this frigid weather.

26. Dream job: Book editor. 

27. Dream trip(s): Spain, Peru, Rome, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand...

28. Favourite food: Pork chops

29. Nationality: American

30. fave song(s): I have so many, but lately I’ve been listening to these quite a bit--”Surrender” by Natalie Taylor, “The Highest Tide” by the Wealthy West, “I Don’t Want You as a Ghost” by Tired Pony, “Solo Para Ti” by Camila, “Iris” and “Let Love In” by the Goo Goo Dolls, “Too Good at Goodbyes” by Sam Smith, “Want You Back by HAIM, “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” by the Bee Gees...

Tagging: @recklessnesspersonified, @klarolinekolvina, @thecuteoneishere, @supremeuppityone, @nanaswhispers, @withyouandthemoon, @arrenemris, @richiextenenbaum Only if you’d like, lovelies. :)

[dustedmagazine]

Dust Volume 3, Number 11

Sam Amidon

As late summer wanes and we fret about North Korean nuclear strikes and the eventual end of Game of Thrones (not necessarily in that order), what better way to take the pressure off than good music? Here are ten short reviews of albums we enjoyed, from the free jazz innovations of Albert Ayler to an unexpected clutch of new material from Royal Trux to the folk jazz experiments of Sam Amidon. This time, a skeleton crew of Ian Mathers, Bill Meyer, Jennifer Kelly and Derek Taylor contributed. Everybody else is off at the beach, we think.

Abronia—Obsidian Visions/Shadowed Lands (Water Wings)

Obsidian Visions/Shadowed Lands by Abronia

Obsidian Visions/Shadowed Lands is the first LP by Abronia is a six-piece combo from Portland OR. Judging from the influences on display, these people have awesome taste, but a few priorities come to the fore. The melding of movie soundtrack twang and heavy-hammer power chords shares page space with fellow PDX-ers Alto! And the pounding beat, which is articulated by a parade drum, and the solemn intonations of singer/saxophonist Keelin Mayer and more abandoned vocalizing of guitarist Eric Crespo suggests that they’re aiming for a ceremonial vibe. It definitely feels like a first album, mixing promise with points to improve. The best moments come when they ease back a bit and let the guitars glisten; they could work a bit on vocal presence. But if they made it to my town, I’d be eager to see how it all holds together on stage.

Bill Meyer

Sam Amidon — The Following Mountain (Nonesuch)

For over a decade, Sam Amidon has produced some of the most simultaneously spellbinding and challenging modern folk albums out there, and he’s done it (he has insisted) without writing any songs. As more time has passed, though, Amidon’s rearrangements and reharmonizings of these songs, to say nothing of more explicitly curatorial decisions in making those albums, have left more and more of his own distinct stamp on them. With The Following Mountain, although Amidon still reveres and refers back to the folk music tradition in its myriad forms, he is more than ever doing his own thing (and writing his own songs). This is also the album that most fully embraces Amidon’s love of musical improv and freedom (jazz or otherwise). He’s assembled an impressive crew to give voice to those impulses, including drummer Milford Graves (most prominently on the extended closer “April”), saxophonist Sam Gendel, Jimi Hendrix percussionist Juma Sultan, and longtime collaborator Shahzad Ismaily, among others. Whether the results are spare, droning and harrowing, like “Ghosts,” or as pastorally beautiful as “Juma Mountain,” the result is Amidon’s boldest effort yet. 

Ian Mathers

Albert Ayler Quartet — Copenhagen Live 1964 (Hatology) 

James Joyce had to move to the European continent to find the headspace to write about Dublin. One wonders if Albert Ayler found a similar remove in Scandinavia. The liner notes of Copenhagen Live 1964 open with Ayler recalling that at a 1962 concert in Stockholm, he started to play what was in his soul, and the following year he made his first LP in Copenhagen. That may seem ironic given how steeped in African-American spirituality his music was. But when you consider that how singularly he articulated that spirit, an ocean seems like barely enough distance. This CD was recorded 1964 at Copenhagen’s Café Montmartre with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Sunny Murray, with whom Ayler had made his creative breakthrough Spiritual Unity just two months earlier, and first-generation free jazz pioneer Don Cherry on cornet. Together they distill Ayler’s conception as pure energy and ecstatic melody. This set has been available before, as part of Ayler Records’ The Copenhagen Tapes, so if you have that CD you’re already set. However if you are a fan of Dusted scribe Derek Taylor’s writing, be aware that he wrote the liner notes for this edition.

Bill Meyer

Bourdreuil/Rowden—Hollow cassette (No Rent)

"Hollow" (NRR50) by Bordreuil / Rowden

Improvised and experimental music are often characterized as abstract, but titles don’t get any more concrete than Hollow. Leila Bourdreuil plays cello and Zach Rowden plays double bass, both of which can indelicately but accurately be described as boxes with a hole in the side and strings stretched across that hole. Indelicacy is a hallmark of this music, which revels in the coarse scrapes and ribcage-rattling lows that the duo’s instruments can make. Another is consonance; whatever one player does, the other matches fairly closely, so that the contributions of each player fade into the seething but compressed richness of the sounds they make. The shortness of this tape works in its favor. Since it lasts just 25 minutes, you can get through it twice on a typical urban commute, all the better to get familiar with its woody grain.

Bill Meyer

Cyrus Chestnut – There’s a Sweet, Sweet Spirit (HighNote)

Opting for the aural equivalent of comfort food, Cyrus Chestnut goes for what he knows on There’s a Sweet, Sweet Spirit. Surprises are few – a “Chopin Prelude” and guest appearances by vibraphonist Steve Nelson and a trio of female vocalists – but the pianist is at a point in his career where bold detours and dramatic reinventions are probably off the table for consideration. What is on offer is the dependable sort of jazz-rooted music-making Chestnut’s become known for in the reliable company of heavyweights Buster Williams and Lenny White on bass and drums respectively. A pair of solo pieces zero-in on the leader’s acumen with verdant ballad forms and two of the three Nelson-added numbers are vintage Bobby Hutcherson tunes. Monk (“Rhythm-A-Ning”) and Miles (“Nardis”) also receive laudatory nods and Chestnut has audible fun putting Williams and White through a rigorous set of paces on each, revealing conclusively that age is only a number. 

Derek Taylor

King Woman — Created in the Image of Suffering (Relapse)

No disrespect to the rest of King Woman, who do an excellent job with the heavy, bluesy, Americana-flecked doom of Created in the Image of Suffering, but the most immediately noticeable element of the band’s full-length debut is singer Kristina Esfandiari, from the spectral power of her far-away howl to the set of lyrics here that mostly concern working through a repressive religious upbringing and using the structures and imagery of same to better and more productive ends (including being critical of that upbringing). The songs here are fraught with both power and, well, suffering, but there are few moments as cathartic in music this year as when Esfandiari repeats in a blown-out bellow “you can’t even look at me”, reclaiming the judgment of her oppressors and refashioning it into the kind of angelic radiance the impure can’t bring themselves to gaze upon. That this trim, 39-minute album finds time for moments like that as well as the true faith and sincere longing of the alternatively dense and soaring “Hierophant” make this not just an accomplished debut but one of the best metal records of 2017.

 Ian Mathers

Pascal Niggenkemper — Le 7ème Continet: Talking Trash (Clean Feed)

The so-called Seventh Continent is not made of land, and only specialized maps will show it at all.  It’s a massive vortex of garbage located where currents converge in the Pacific Ocean that’s been slowly growing since the 1950s. Reports of this phenomenon inspired bassist and bandleader Pascal Niggenkemper to form a musical ensemble in which a panoply of tonal colors and musical elements come into play. Configured as a set of pairs — Joachim Badenhorst and Joris Ruhl on amplified clarinets, Eve Risser and Philip Zoubek on prepared pianos, and Niggenkemper plus Julián Elvira on pronomos and sub-contrabass flutes — the group’s music is not especially trashy, but it sure is varied, and it does go out of its way to include sounds some might deem broken. Intricate contrapuntal passages butt up against heaving expanses of sound, and slow motion sub-aquatic ballets contrast with stormy squalls.

Bill Meyer 

Aurán Oritz – Cub(an)ism (Intakt)

Cub(an)ism by Aruán Ortiz

Cuban born, pianist Aurán Oritz is at once deeply of and decisively apart from the musical loam of his country of origin. Through his hands the instrument’s eighty-eight keys and ancillary mechanisms become a portal that erases the temporal distance between ancient Caribbean polyrhythms and 21st century improvisation and composition. The clave is just as integral to Ortiz’s conceptions as those of his forbearers even as he decontextualizes and even atomizes its malleable forms. His right hand will worry or burrow into a rhythmic figure as the left shapes steep, pedal-swollen currents around it. Chordal shards and sharp angles intermix with delicate and fleeting asides into eloquent melody. Oritz also goes under the hood, strumming the strings in zither-like fashion or dampening them to create menacingly muted washes of echo. The music of Cub(an)ism is imbued with a vibrant sense of logic and purpose, presented in a personalized musical dialect that pulls in everything from Peruchin to Andrew Hill to Picasso while remaining indelibly Ortiz.

Derek Taylor 

Heather Trost — Agistri (Living Music Duplication)

With Agistri, Heather Trost makes the break from Hawk and a Handsaw’s gypsy middle European reels to a breezy Europop soundtrackery. Songs were composed not on the violin she wielded in Neutral Milk Hotel and elsewhere, but on a Hammond chord organ, and they trend towards breathy euphoria rather than world-weary continental lament. She works here with Hawk and a Handsaw bandmate Julian Barnes on bass and drums, John Dieterich from Deerhoof playing guitar, and Drake Hardin and Rosie Hutchinson singing back-up, but they sound like many more musicians, maybe a chamber orchestra, in full-blown, lavishly arranged song that are, nonetheless, as buoyantly weightless as soap bubbles. “Agistri,” named for a Greek island, lilts and wafts and swells in space-age 1960s choruses that could easily soundtrack a Brigitte Bardot movie. Loungey, la-la’d “Abiquiu” slips forward, softly syncopated, with little trills of violin under the wordless choruses. It all brushes with the friction of, say, a silk scarf, giddy tropes of organ, bright iridescent clouds of melody, the barest punch of rock-oriented drums, guitar and bass to keep things moving, so that you might not pick out individual songs at first. A few listen in, a few start to take shape, good natured “Me and My Arrow,” eerily luminous “Bloodmoon,” wistful, chorally layered “Real Me, Real You.”  There’s a girl group hook at the bottom of even the most diaphanous cut; they’re like Dum Dum Girls songs reimagined by Stereolab.

Jennifer Kelly

Royal Trux — Platinum Tips + Ice Cream (Drag City)

Platinum Tips + Ice Cream by Royal Trux

The vocals are a slurred snarl, Herrema’s spit and moan turning surprisingly benign lyrics about ice cream and water parks into something diseased and sexual. The guitar wanders in blistered, bombed out disorientation, half Stones homage, half psychotic breakdown. Yup, it’s Royal Trux all right, sounding pretty much like they always sounded, loose to the brink of unstrung, messy, hallucinatory and feverish. These songs, the first new Royal Trux of the 21st century, come after a decade and a half in which Neil Hagerty and Jennifer Herrema didn’t play together, didn’t speak together, didn’t occupy the same room (reportedly right up to the moment they played their first reunion show in 2015). And yet, caught in a couple of live shows in New York and Los Angeles, they catch fire like a pile of oily rags left in a warehouse. “Junkie Nurse” lurches jerkily to life, a roar of feedback flaming and subsiding behind tranced out lyrics, the beat tapped out on snare and cowbell, just enough to keep the thing together.  The “Banana Question” moves a little faster, but just as fuzzily, a “Dropout Boogie” for the new millennium. “Waterpark” froths and foams at the mouth in scary abandon, little backing vocals “oohing,” guitar flaring at irregular intervals, Herrema singing way back in her throat about how “the water’s cold but the sun is hot.”  “Red Tiger Edit” is, maybe, the trippiest of these songs, a distended blues vamp slowed and stretched to the breaking point, thin enough to let the chaos in.

Jennifer Kelly 

Yan Jun and Ben Own—Swimming Salt游泳的盐 (Organized Music from Thessaloniki) 

swimming salt 游泳的盐 by Yan Jun and Ben Owen

Next time you need your sentimentality ruptured, this CD will due the trick. Ben Owen, who runs the Winds Measure label, has been fashioning sound from field recordings and electronics for over a decade; Yan Jun is a Chinese artist and cultural critic. You could call this stuff noise, but that doesn’t do justice to the specificity and austerity of the work.  Swimming Salt游泳的盐 is a single 38.01 track made from Yan’s feedback and Owen’s electronics, and it boils down to this question; what can you do with sounds that are lancet-sharp and sounds that abrade like a fistful of steel wool? Should the listener be into close distinctions, they will find that the answer is quite a bit. This music anti-psychedelic in the extreme; high-pitched filaments draw attention to how your perception of the room changes depending on how you turn your head, and the rising and subsiding fuzz invites your to reckon with the awareness of space. Where are you? After listening to this CD, you will know.

Bill Meyer 

[blackkudos]

William Warfield

William Caesar Warfield (22 January 1920 – 26 August 2002), was an American concert bass-baritone singer and actor. One of his earliest professional engagements was in Marc Blitzstein's Broadway opera, Regina. His breakthrough came when he gave his recital debut in New York's Town Hall in 1950. He went on to produce a highly acclaimed album of selections from Porgy and Bess with Leontyne Price in 1963.

Biography

Early life and career

Warfield was born in West Helena, Arkansas, the oldest of five sons of a Baptist minister. He grew up in Rochester, New York, where his father was called to serve as pastor of Mt. Vernon Church. He gave his recital debut in New York's Town Hall on 19 March 1950. He was quickly invited by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to tour Australia and give 35 concerts. In 1952, Warfield performed in Porgy and Bess during a tour of Europe sponsored by the U.S. State Department (he made six separate tours for the US Department of State, more than any other American solo artist.) In this production he played opposite the opera star Leontyne Price, whom he soon married, but the demands of two separate careers left them little time together. They divorced in 1972, but were featured together in a 1963 studio recording of excerpts from Porgy and Bess.

According to a recent exhibit about World War Two, Warfield was the only African American member of the "Ritchie Boys", thousands of soldiers who were trained at Fort Ritchie, Maryland. It was an intelligence center where hundreds of Jewish recruits who fled Nazi Germany for the United States were trained to interrogate their one-time countrymen. According to the exhibit at the Zekelman Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan, Warfield was brought to the camp because of his strong German skills which he perfected while studying music. Because of segregation, his skills were never put to use.

Warfield was a graduate of the Eastman School of Music. In 1975 he accepted an appointment as Professor of Music at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He later became Chairman of the Voice Department. In 1994, he moved to Northwestern University's School of Music, where he stayed until his death.

He sang the premiere performances of the version for soloist and orchestra of Set I of Aaron Copland's Old American Songs in 1955, and of the version for soloist and piano of Set II of the collection in 1958. (He also recorded both sets of the songs.) His vocal talents were also featured on two recordings of Handel's "Messiah" – a classic, but heavily cut, performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Eugene Ormandy (released in 1959), and a lesser-known, drastically restructured recording made in 1956, also heavily cut, with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic. Bernstein combined the Christmas and Resurrection sections, and ended with the arias and choruses depicting the death of Christ. The Ormandy recording featured the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and Bernstein's the Westminster Choir.

Warfield was also accomplished in acting and poetry recitation. He played the character De Lawd in a celebrated Hallmark Hall of Fame television production of The Green Pastures, a role he played twice on live TV (both versions survive as kinescopes). He appeared in two Hollywood films, including a star-making performance as Joe in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's 1951 Technicolor remake of Show Boat. His other film was an overlooked item called "Old Explorers", starring James Whitmore and José Ferrer. In a nod to "Show Boat", Warfield played a cameo role as a tugboat captain. Footage of Warfield in "Show Boat" has been included in several TV shows and/or films, notably That's Entertainment!. Warfield played his Show Boat role in two other productions of the musical – the 1966 Lincoln Center production, and a 1972 production in Vienna. He sang Ol' Man River in three different record albums of the show – the 1951 motion picture soundtrack album on MGM Records, a 1962 studio album featuring Barbara Cook and John Raitt on Columbia Masterworks, and the RCA Victor album made from the Lincoln Center production.

He made an appearance on The Colgate Comedy Hour and on a program called TV Recital Hall in 1951, the same year that he made his screen debut in Show Boat. He later appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1955. In 1961, he appeared as a recital soloist on an episode of the Young People's Concerts, conducted by Leonard Bernstein. In March 1984 he was the winner of a Grammy in the "Spoken Word" category for his outstanding narration of Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait accompanied by the [1]. And in the 1990s, he narrated a special jazz arrangement of music from "Show Boat", on the PRI program Riverwalk Jazz. In 1999 Warfield joined baritones Robert Sims and Benjamin Matthews in a trio by the name of "Three Generations". Managed by Arthur White, this ensemble toured the United States giving full concerts of African-American spirituals and folk songs until Warfield's death in 2002.

Decline and death

Beginning in 1962, Warfield began to have some trouble with his voice, as he himself admitted in his autobiography. This was only slightly noticeable on the 1962 studio recording of Show Boat. By the time he made the 1966 recording of the Lincoln Center production of the musical, his voice had deepened from merely bass-baritone to a full-fledged bass, and he could not sing the climactic high note on Ol' Man River as easily as he had in the 1951 film version, though he sounded fine on his lower notes. Because of this problem, however, he compensated by learning how to sing even more expressively than he had before.

By 1976, Warfield, although still making various stage and television appearances, was not singing as much as he had in the past. He served as narrator in various orchestral works, such as Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait, and occasionally performed sprechstimme roles in works by Arnold Schoenberg. However, he did sing on occasion during his final years, despite the fact that by then his singing voice was practically gone. In those years, when he sang Ol' Man River, he would not perform it with the original lyrics, but with the altered ones that Paul Robeson used in his recitals beginning in 1938.

He died in Chicago in August 2002, following treatment at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, succumbing to injuries he sustained in his neck from a fall a month prior.

Membership of organizations

Warfield was active in many organizations, after appearing as the featured artist at the 50th year convention of the National Association of Negro Musicians [2], he became active with the organization, serving as its president for two terms. He later served on the boards of the [3] (NANM) and the Schiller Institute. After joining the Schiller Institute in 1996, he began to collaborate with acclaimed vocal coach Sylvia Olden Lee in a project to save the performance tradition of the Negro spiritual. During the final years of his life, from 1999 to 2002, he performed regularly at Schiller Institute biannual conferences, often with Olden Lee as his accompanist, and the two of them traveled the country conducting singing workshops for members of the LaRouche Youth Movement. Warfield was made an honorary member of the Delta Lambda chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia at Ball State University in 1961, and awarded the Fraternity's Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award in 1976 at its national convention in Evansville, Indiana.

Legacy

The William Warfield Scholarship Fund was formed in 1977 with the purpose supporting young African American classical singers at the Eastman School of Music. Recipients include Claron McFadden and Nicole Cabell. It has provided financial aid to over 35 students to date.

Wikipedia

[davedimartino]

New This Week 10.20.08

It's a big week for rock 'n' roll fans, as AC/DC--the legendary Australian rock band who set an entire generation on the "Highway To Hell"--has returned with their first new studio album in eight years.

In these days of short-term artists who blaze to the forefront of pop with a giant hit single and then slowly fade away, how nice it is to encounter actual "career artists" in this day and age.

That said, eight years is a long time for any band to stay out of the spotlight--even giants like AC/DC--so the question of whether they still "have it"--that is, whether they still rock like nobody's business or are instead old, washed-up, kangaroo-loving rock hobbyists looking to relive their respective youths all over again--remains.

Plus, High School Musical 3 is out!

  AC/DC: Black Ice (Columbia) In a remarkable retail coup, AC/DC's new album is exclusively available at Wal-Mart, so you can bet your boots that I--like most of my metal-loving friends--was waiting in line this morning to pick my copy right up! Unfortunately, at my Wal-Mart, the music section is sort of at the back of the store. And while walking there I noticed a fantastic deal on Hawaiian Punch--my favorite non-carbonated beverage--and an incredible bargain on one of those hats that have beer can holders and a straw on top! Who could pass that up? Heading toward the music section, I noticed a stylish apron/dishtowel set I just know my mom would love this Christmas, so guess what? My hands were suddenly full! Planning to return after hitting the checkout counter, I ran into some guy with tattoos and a crewcut  who mentioned the album was actually streaming that very minute on the Wal-Mart website! Wow! So I drove home, checked out the site, and am listening to it right now! It's great!

 Various Artists: High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Walt Disney) If you thought High School Musical 2 was something of a shocker--with the original kids slightly older and at a small private college--this sequel will completely astound you! Taking the concept of "senior" to shockingly literal heights, the plot now features the gang white-haired and, frankly, doddering in the confines of an oddly nameless senior retirement home! Thus there are therefore two entirely different meanings to be had with such songs as "Right Here, Right Now," "A Night To Remember," and--perhaps most harrowing--"We're All In This Together (Graduation Mix)" likely to chill the most sensitive among us thoroughly to the bone! So it's pretty cool!

 Labelle: Back To Now (Verve) A great return from the marvelously talented Labelle, a trio whose talents were evident back in the early '60s (as three-fourths of Patti LaBelle & the Bluebelles) and highly conspicuous in the early '70s, most notably via the international smash "Lady Marmalade." The three ladies here--Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash--sound like they never left, and the music behind them, by Gamble & Huff, Lenny Kravitz and Wyclef Jean, is contextually perfect. Closing track "Miss Otis Regrets" was actually recorded in 1969, but for the most part, that's the only real backward look from this yet again, very forward-looking trio. Give it a spin and then watch Jason & The Argonauts!  

 Various Artists: Love Train: The Sound Of Philadelphia (Philadelphia International/Legacy) Speaking of legendary producers Gamble and huff, they're all over this superb collection of tracks from the Philadelphia International label--71 songs on 4 CDs, all filled with pure joy and pop standards. With nearly every hit you'd want from such artists as Billy Paul, the O'Jays, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, and countless others, the set pops with a consistency and verve that's almost astonishing in retrospect. Interestingly. the last track on the set, Patti LaBelle's "If Only You Knew," originally appeared in 1983--exactly the same year music stopped being good anymore! Heck, just buy this and move on to other consumer disposables!  

 Lee Ann Womack: Call Me Crazy (MCA Nashville) No, despite all the rumors and the album cover and the title, it isn't true that country star Womack had the upper two-thirds of her body removed in a plastic surgery mishap--because there's plenty of lung-power to be heard here! Featuring guest appearances by George Strait and Keith Urban, Womack's latest set is an expertly produced collection that any self-respecting country music fan will find immensely pleasing!  Call her crazy? Crazy like a fox! But not like that annoying cartoon guy in the comercial!

 Mary Mary: The Sound (Columbia) Inevitable comparisons to Duran Duran notwithstanding, this polished duo merge gospel, R&B and pop in a manner that's as fresh and invigorating as a spring rain or an old-fashioned Orange Julius! With guest appearances by David Banner, Kerra "KiKi" Sheard, and Deborah Winans, The Sound mixes up faith-filled tracks like "God In Me" and "I Worship You" with the intriguingly titled "Dirt" and is inspirational listening throughout! They certainly seem pleasant!

 Brett Dennen: Hope For The Hopeless (Dualtone) Anyone who's seen this appealing singer/songwriter in full performance mode knows how appealing he is, and his recent tours with John Mayer, Colbie Calliat and Sheryl Crow ensured that many people saw him indeed. The follow-up to his So Much More, this CD is--like the singer--warm, emotional, uplifting and so gosh-darned huggable you just want to put it under your pillow and close your eyes so hard you start to see spots! Yeah, just like that!  Incidentally, he's very tall!

 The Dears: Missiles (Dangerbird) From Montreal and acclaimed in their product description as "elder statesmen of the indie rock renaissance"--which is quite an honor, sort of!--the Dears have produced a fine follow-up to Gang Of Losers, and this is it! There's 10 tracks in all, and with titles such as "Meltdown In A Major," perhaps you'll have an inkling of much of this album's subject matter! That's right--the gang is shrunken to microscopic size in a military encampment, strapped into a tiny vehicle capable of being injected directly into an army officer's bloodstream, and forced to photograph the physiological effects of excessive radiation exposure! That would actually be a cool idea, huh?

 Of Montreal: Skeletal Lamping  (Polyvinyl) Since we just discussed the Dears, who are of Montreal, why not discuss Of Montreal, who, I am told, are dears? Certainly near the zenith of that "indie rock renaissance" thing product descriptions are always raving about, these guys are actually getting better by the minute and you should buy all their music or get left behind! Unfortunately, according to group leader Kevin Barnes, there may be a slight problem. "This record is only for broad-minded people," he told Billboard, "who like to dance, make love and freak the f**k out. It's not for most inanimate objects." So what's the problem? Simply this: CD players, turntables and even computers--they're all inanimate objects! Maybe he'll come to your town and hum a few bars of it!

 Hank Williams III: Damn Right, Rebel Proud (Curb) He's back with a new album--though sadly it doesn't feature his recently performed "McCain-Palin Tradition," a rewriting of his earlier hit "Family Tradition."  But it does feature a track called "Candidate For Suicide," which is nearly as good and may even have a longer shelf life! Bless his heart!

[joemixn]

Blog 4 Spain This week was solid. Normal Monday at school followed by an afternoon making traditional food with my culture class and then also seeing part of a professional dance concert put on in the evening. I say I saw part of it because I left early to go up the mountain to watch the sunset by myself. I had just been feeling overwhelmed with people lately. After school we went to the aquarium in Valencia on Tuesday! That was cool but I ended up with a migraine most of the afternoon. Wednesday after a huge two-part grammar test, in which I aced one and failed the other, I went out to lunch with a couple friends I've made at a place in Sagunto called The Good Burger (which I didn't know existed until I got here). Wednesday night we had a basketball tournament and my team went undefeated! It was fun but I got fouled super hard during the LAST game and tweaked my back. In addition, my reoccurring Achilles injury has still been acting up. Thursday was another day at school and then a beach trip during the afternoon. Some of us tried to do some trio gymnastics moves which was fun. but Thursday night was finally the tournament I've been waiting for: a fútbol tournament. It was fun and my team came in 4th out of 8 which I was happy with but I also got fouled super hard again in the LAST game and came down on my back again and so on Friday I was super sore all day. We did go to the beach again on Friday afternoon and the water was really nice. I've come to really like te Med coast. Friday night I helped with song service for vespers (as usual) and then jammed out with some friends afterward. About midnight a couple of us decided to go for a hike around the ridge surrounding the school. Even though I ended up with 4 hours of sleep it was most definitely worth it. We caught some amazing views and it was a great time. Woke up early sabbath to practice/soundcheck for church song service and then helped co-teach sabbath school with Mariam. I've been one of the go-to people to teach and do worship thoughts. All in English of course. Sabbath afternoon was full of practices for the talent show that happened sat night! I ended up being in four different acts. The first was a choir piece called esto les digo in which I sang base. The second was a pentatonix song called run to you in which I also sang base. The third was a trio in which I sang the high harmony in the song good good father. And the fourth was a comedic skit in which myself and three other dudes air played all the instruments for the John Mayer song Neon. It was lit. After the talent show we all goofed around and took tons of pictures together and it was a really great time. I'm going to miss all these people I've come to know and love over the summer. After a cool night sleeping out in the hammock, our entire group went out to a water park on Sunday!! It was small and packed but still fun. Sunday night I ended up going over to Erics house to hang out with some of the spaniards. Only a few days left... time to procrastinate and cram.