Home Archive by category "Music" (Page 9)

Category: Music

Exploring the Chicago Blues of Lurrie Bell

I have mentioned before that I often use a review of the birthdays listed at AllAboutJazz.com as a way to explore new music. Many times I write a post about whose music I have discovered. The following posts was written back in 2013, about Lurrie Bell…..

Lurrie Bell carrying on the Chicago Blues tradition of his father Carey

Last year 2013 was a great year for Chicago Blues artist Lurrie Bell. Bell, the son of the great blues harpist Carey Bell released one of his most successful solo albums, Blues in My Soul.  Blues in My Soul, released on the Delmark label, was Bell’s return to electric blues after two albums which saw him playing in acoustic and religious styles. The Blues community received Lurrie Bell’s return to traditional Chicago blues positively.  The Blues Foundation nominated him for five 2014 Blues Music Awards. Here are Lurrie Bell’s five Blues Music Award’s nominations. read more

A Six Pack Playlist of New Blues – (Dec 3-9 2017)

Tommy Castro’s Stompin’ Ground Kicks off a  Playlist of New Blues 

So last week after I made the John Gorka playlist I visited the Roots Music Report’’s Blues Chart. I scanned down the list. There were new releases from a few artists I know and like and several new artists. I decided to make a playlist to see which albums I would like to explore in more detail, I.e. listen to the full album. Here are the albums and artists, the playlist and my thoughts on the albums.

Stompin Ground - Tommy CastroStompin’ Ground – Tommy Castro

Tommy Castro has been a favorite of mine since the late 90s. Many of his albums are in my music library. There are times when I wish that his songs had more guitar, but the music is always infectious. read more

Late Summer and Fall 2017 Playlist – Americana and Blues

A  Six Pack Playlist of Americana/Folk and Blues and More

I may never be able to catch up writing about the various albums I have been listening to over the last three to four months.  So I have decided to make a few playlists that will group the tracks roughly by genre. Here;’s what’s on the first one….

Americana – Folk      

Palestine Blues - Lew JerttonLew Jetton & 61 South – Palestine Blues 

I started listening to this album, when we spent a week at the Jersey Shore back in August. It was the soundtrack for a couple of the runs during the week. I really like the album. It has lots of interesting and well-written songs presents well, with the vocals matching the music. read more

New Music from Vincent Herring Joins My Music Rotation. Part 1

I do believe, two of the albums that have been in my music rotation for a few weeks. Now highlight my eclectic taste in music. One is the latest from jazz saxophonist Vincent Herring, while the other is from a bluegrass band Trout Steak Revival. While I don’t think I am alone with my live for both these genres of music, I would think I am in the minority.
Anyway here is my take on the first of these two albums.

Hard Times – Vincent Herring

The first time I listened to this album the two other instruments that stood out besides Vincent’s saxophone were the guitar and piano.
The other day when I looked closely at the album cover I discovered why! The pianist is none other than the great Cyrus Chestnut. While the guitar is provided by the equally great Russell Malone. read more

Louis Hayes Treats with a Serenade for Horace

Serenade for Horace – Louis Hayes

This morning I was looking over the Jazz Charts at the Roots Music Reports. There were several albums on the chart by artists who I am unfamiliar with that I want to check out. But the album at number two was the one that first caught my attention. It’s title is Serenade for Horace by jazz drummer Louis Hayes.  Now two things combine here to make this album interesting to me. First, I know little about Louis Hayes. Now I’ve become familiar with Horace Silver’s music over the last few years. The reason is that many times when I listened to jazz on the radio, a song would come on that caught my attention. So I’d look to see who it was and many times it was Horace Silver!! Anyway when I saw the name Horace Silver I knew I would probably like the album. Guess what, I was right!! read more

Crank Up Should’ve Seen It Coming by Blues Harpist Steve Krase for a Good Time!

Steve Krase – Should’ve Seen It Coming

I first encountered the blues harp and rockin’ music of Houston’s blues harpist Steve Krase a few years ago.At that time, he had just release his second album Buckle Up. The title of my post was  “Steve Krase Buckle Up – for a rockin’ blues ride!!’  I wrote that title because it perfectly fit Buckle Up. The great thing for fans of Steve Krase is that the title fits his current release Should’ve Seen It Coming just right too! Here’s some press about the new album! read more

Pick Your Poison – Selwyn Birchwood – The Spring’s Best Blues Album?

Pick Your Poison Reaches No. 1 on the Roots Music Reporter’s Blues Chart

The more I listen to the Pick Your Poison the latest release from blues rocker Selwyn Birchwood, the more I like it. The album has also been steadily moving up the Roots Music Blues Chart . This week it finally made it to number one! Congrats Selwyn!

I first became aware of Selwyn Birchwood in 2013 when his been won the International Blues Challenge beating 130 bands from around the world! Selwyn also won the Albert King Guitarist of the Year award, presented at the same event

Selwyn BirchwoodSelwyn Birchwood hails from Tampa, Florida. In addition to playing a mean electric blues guitar. The singer composer also plays electric lap steel guitar. The Tampa Tribune said Birchwood plays with read more

A Great Trip to Cabbagetown with Delta Moon

Cabbagetown Another Winner from Delta Moon

In accordance with my plan to listen to more music, I put several Americana albums in the iPhone on Monday night. In addition listening to Americana this week Is consistent with my plans . I planned to explore Americana music ( folk, blues, bluegrass and alt-country) during the first week of each month. Anyway, I the Americana albums I picked include:  two blues, two bluegrass albums and one folk album.

Yesterday, I listened to one of the blues albums Cabbagetown from Delta Moon . I first discovered the music of Delta Moon back in 2010 around the time of the release of their sixth album Hellbound Train. I loved their swamp blues right from the get-go. Cabbagetown is the band’s eleventh album. Eight of the alums are studio albums and three live albums. read more

A Return to Running Music by Sean Chambers

The Run –  30 Minutes – 2.75 Miles

So I stuck to plans for a run this yesterday afternoon and took off on a run at around 5:15. Which I guess is actually this evening. My plan was to run for at least 30 minutes. I chose a course that I usually run when I am returning to running. It’s  about 2.5 miles plus and takes around 30 some minutes.

Since it was my first run in over a month, I kept reminding myself as I was prepping for the run to take it easy! Anyway whether it’s old age or I just have learned over the years how to run slower, I was able to maintain a nice easy pace throughout the run. read more

Five Ways to Get More Music in My Day!

Five Ways to Re-Ignite My Music Listening

I love a variety of music and for several years I’ve blogged about the music I listen to. But lately that has not been the case. So the question of the day is how can I  get back to listening and writing about music?  When I gave the question some thought,  I came up with five ways to get re-ignite my music listening by getting more music into my daily life…..

1. Start Running Again

When I thought about it  realized that I used to listen to a lot of music when I ran. Then after my runs, I would write about the run and the run’s musical soundtrack. So I think that one way to get back into listening to music is to start running three times a week again. read more