Music

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The Fifty Years Later Playlists (Then and Now Part I )

Fifty year plus years ago, I was discovering new artists, who would become lifelong companions. Today, many of them are still making music – and I’m still listening. This playlist The Fifty Years Later Playlist looks back at where they started.. and where they are now.

The seeds of this playlist were sown on Monday of this week (May 26th) when I used my 20% off Holiday discount at Goodwill to buy a JVC Dual Cassette deck for $8.00. As a result, over the next several days I searched for my old cassette tapes. read more

A Boz Scaggs Playlist Makes Those Two Plus Miles Fly By!

Over the last year and a half I have run, to say the least sporadically! Over that time span most days my wife and I were babysitting our granddaughter Emma. Emma was born in 2023 and turned 2 in February. Most weekdays we were at my daughters from 7:15 – 4:30! So i couldn’t run either before or after. Well -, Im could have after but I was too tired and dinner to make and clean-up. Anyway -, my daughter had her second baby on May 8 and is now on maternity leave from her job. Consequently while we miss Emma dearly we are slowly reclaiming our former life! For me that means maybe I can restart blogging and most importantly running. read more

Wes Montgomery- A Playlist from the First Wes Albums I Bought!

Wes Montgomery – The First of My Jazz Guitar Heroes

I go way back with Wes Montgomery. I discovered Wes Montgomery in the late 1960s around the time he was crossing over to “mainstream” music: Actually, I don’t know if seeing him on the Hollywood Palace had anything to do with my discovering Wes. Most likely I already already about him because of “Windy”.

Either way I know I went out and bought the three albums Wes recorded on the A&M label. A Day in the Life (1967), Down Here on the Ground (1968) and Road Song (1968). By the time A Day in the Life was released in read more

Robert Jon & the Wreck – Red Moon Rising

Red Moon Rising - Robert Jon & the Wreck

Ok yesterday I was browsing on Spotify when spotted a recommendation for me. The recommendation was for “Rager” a single release from Robert Jon & the Wreck. The single also included “Hate to See You Go” . After listening to the songs and liking them a lot I checked out their Spotify home page and saw they released a full album Red Moon Rising back in June of this year. So I decided to check it out! I liked it also and this morning it became the soundtrack for my granddaughter Emma’s walk! Here’s what I discovered about the band.

About Robert Jon & the Wreck

Robert Jon & The Wreck are a Southern California band which has taken the Southern Rock sound and made it their own. The band was formed in 2011 and the members include: Robert Jon Burrison (lead vocals, guitar), Andrew Espantman (drums, background vocals), Henry James Schneekluth (lead guitar, background vocals), Warren Murrel (bass) and Jake Abernathie (keyboards).

They have played all over the world and have shared the stage with the likes of bills with talent the likes of Joe Bonamassa, Blackberry Smoke, Peter Frampton, Joanne Shaw Taylor, The Mavericks, Buddy Guy and Rival Sons. read more

Tab Benoit – I Hear Music Soundtrack for a Dental Trip

So, I had a 35 minute drive Monday morning to get to a dental appointment, to have a wisdom tooth extracted. It was a good time to listen to one of the three blues albums that have been in my music rotation. I chose I Hear Thunder from Tab Benoit. And I’m glad I did! The more I listen to the album the more I like it

About Tab Benoit

If you are unfamiliar with Tab Benoit he is a Louisiana-based singer, guitarist, and environmental preservationist. His music has a Cajun-inflected blues-rock sound. While he first burst onto the blues music scene with his 1992 release Nice & Warm on the Vanguard label. I think I first found Tab Benoit’s music around 2010, when I started blogging. read more

106 Miles to Chicago – The B Christopher Band – Keeps Me Running!

106 miles to Chicago - The B Christopher Band cover

The Nerdy Details as I Try to Start Running Again!

Ok so over the last two weeks I have semii-started to run again. I say semi because I have only run three times since July 26th. Oh, and I had a stress test on August 5th. The first two runs were actually run/walks. On both of those runs I basically ran a little and then walked a little.

On the July 26th run I covered 2.1 miles in 32:27. That calculates to a 15:30 min/mile pace. However, during the run I ran for 14:45 minutes and walked for 17:41 minutes.

Likewise on my July 28th run I walked and ran but did a little better. I covered 2.68 miles in 39:36 for a 14:46 min/mile pace. However, during this run I actually ran more than I walked. I ran for 21:29 minutes and walked for 18:04 minutes. read more

Atlantic City Pop Festival – Aug 1-3, 1969

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Looking tonight at the Roots calendar I bought back in 2010, I saw that the Atlantic City Pop Festival kicked off on August 1st in 1969! Guess what I don’t even remember anything about it!

From Wikipedia …

‘Atlantic City Pop Festival took place in 1969 on August 1, 2 and 3rd at the Atlantic City race track, two weeks before Woodstock Festival. It actually took place in Hamilton Township Atlantic City Race Course.

There was heavy security at the festival, and the stage the acts performed on was created by Buckminster Fuller. A ticket for the entire 3-day weekend was $15.00 to see all of the performers listed. Attended by some 100,000+ people. read more

Toronzo Cannon Keeps Me Upbeat on My Run/Walk

So, as I’ve written previously over the last year, particularly from September to June I only ran sporadically.And I’ll tell you that the summer is not an easy time for this 73 year old to start over! Anyway the way that I am trying to restart my running is by both running and walking, Basically, I’ll run about a half mile and then walk a quarter mile and keep that switching going for about 30 minutes or more. It also turns out to be running until my heart rate gets up to about 140 bpm and then walking until it drops back to 110 bpm or lower. read more

Josie Quick – All-Purpose Violinist Born April 16th

I really started to explore jazz more in 2014. Prior to that time I had a few favorites I listened to regularly. Those artists included mostly Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith and occasionally Freddie Hubbard and McCoy TYner. When I set out to expand my jazz listening I would review both the Jazz Charts at both the Roots Music Report and JazzWeek. Additionally, I would review the Jazz Birthday Page at All About Jazz.

when I was reviewing the chart I would look for a musician who played an instrument I liked. Those instruments were guitar, Hammond B3 and trumpet. When I would find someone I didn’t know I’d read their biography at the site. Then I’d go to Spotify and find their music. Finally, I would write a post! read more

Life is Hard – Mike Zito

So the other day I wrote a out one of the two songs that have been in my music rotation this month, Albert Cummings‘ latest album Strong. The other album is Mike Zito‘s new album Life is Hard. Like Cummings Zito has been a favorite of mine for many years a now. I started listening to his music back around 2010 in when I heard his album Pearl. I think that his last two albums, 2021 Blues for the Southside Live and Life is Hard have been the best of his career.

About Life is Hard

Life is Hard was recorded in September 0f 2023 at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood, California. Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith produced the album, Both Bonamassa and Smith worked on the production of Blood Brothers, the critically-acclaimed album Zito recorded with fellow label guitarist Albert Castiglia,. (another favorite) Blood Brothers topped both the Billboard and iTunes blues charts after its release in March, 2023. read more

Category: Music