The first two pieces are, by far, the more interesting section of the whole record. “Greed” and “Disease”, from their very first record, are great examples of their musical talent, and are part of the superb symphonic rock of the late 70s, full of changes and great dialogues between guitar and organ, including some dark and mysterious passages.

“The Drum Thing” is a percussion set performed by the four members of the band. It has an explosive start, but it later turns into fairy and circus music, not really interesting at the end, and you have the sensation that all the high expectations won´t be satisfied. Something similar happens with “Life, Where Have You Been All My Life”, a ballad by guitarist Örjan Strandberg, with great vocal chorus, but the overall result isn´t excellent at all.

“Follies”, the longest piece of the record with 14 minutes, is the next disappointment. It has an impressive start, with frenzy guitar and great vocal arrangements very close to GENTLE GIANT, turning later into keyboard oriented music (FOCUS comes to my mind); lots of tempo changes, including an interlude with mellotron and guitar, very interesting and with that typical scnadinavian flavour, dark and melancholic. But by the secondnd half, the sound becomes more in the traditional symphonic school, less original, despite a tremendous finale. The overall impression is that the song is not really a cohessive work, because there are too many ideas, but not well connected.

“Alea Iacta Est”, the last part of the live section, includes Robert Holmin, lead singer on the second record. It is a very ELP oriented song and, despite the great quality of the music, it lacks originality.

The bonus tracks are very representative of what happened to many bands on the late 70s, placed between the glorious days and what was yet to come, so there isn´t a clear stylistic direction. “Merchandise” is like a parody of musical trends, quite funky oriented. The band describes it as an experimentation, but for me, it lacks inventiveness. “Spring Time” and “Drowned in Time” are simple tunes that, despite the vocal arrangements and incredible keboard playng by Leif Larson, don´t offer anything special. The last song of the record, “An Urgent Request”, is nothing but a short and delicate effort to conclude the recording and, in the artists´words, it could fit well “at the end of a great Broadway musical”.

Despite being a great admirer of this band, I can´t give this record a high punctuation. The overall result is not vey impressive, with a superb beginning that slowly turns down. Furthermore, despite the great talent and musicianship of the artists, the sound quality is a bit poor sometimes, so the result is not brilliant.

I reccommend this record only to admirers of the band interested in completing their recordings. For the rest, they should better check the previous studio recordings, much more interesting than this one. 2 ½ stars.

by victor77


DICE Music Online:
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Playlist
Marquito - “Around Love” (Original Mix) [Panevino Music]
Steven Stone - “No Other Man” (Original Mix) [Reelgroove]
DJ Dervish & Charlie Edwards feat. Patricia Golly - “Lonely People” (Richard Earnshaw Mix) [Duffnote]
Studio Apartment feat Yasmeen Sulieman - “Sun Will Shine” (Copyright Main Mix) [Defected]
Timmy Vegas & Bad Lay-Dee - “Another Dimension” (Timmy Vegas House Mix) [Eye Industries]
Universe Project feat. Miss Broadway - “Where U Wanna B?” (Champagne Sushi Vocal Mix) [Universe Media]
ATFC feat. Yasmeen - “Tell U Y” (ATFC’s New Jack Swing Original Edit) [Defected]
Heath Hunter feat. Stephen & Damian Marley - “Revolution In Paradise” (Colin Sales Remix) [Universe City]
Kiko Navarro & DJ Fudge - “Maximal” [Peppermint Jam]

Download (right click, save as) (110MB, 128kBit/s)

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The Poconos also boast East Stroudsburg University, the site of the Al Cohn Memorial Jazz Collection. Named for the great tenor saxophonist, composer, arranger and catalyst, the Cohn collection is a historian's, researcher's and enthusiast's paradise. It is packed with recordings, oral histories, books, video tapes, DVDs, sheet music and memorabilia. The collection survives and expands with the support of those who understand the importance of its efforts to preserve the history of the music and educate people about it. Its three-times-a-year newsletter The Note would be worth reading if only for Woods' lead column, Phil In The Gap. In the Fall 2008 issue he gives an account of a recent globe-hopping tour in which he and his luggage became strangers. Phil and the bags kept playing different cities. Here's an excerpt about a night in Italy.

The Verona gig with was with Jesse Davis' band. Good rhythm section, but the hotel was sadder than McKinley's funeral -- even the horses cried. No clean drawers and I don't mean the dresser! The bathroom was the personification of Italian showers - no water, no curtain, no washcloth, and postage-sized towels. But the restaurant was great, of course.

Later in his column, Woods writes about COTA's educational activities and his new CD project, The Children's Suite, his composition based on the stories of A.A. Milne. The issue also has the final part of Dave Liebman's series, "Reflections on the Artistic Process" and a long verbatim oral history conversation with the late composer Manny Albam about his life and music. Each issue of The Note has several such substantive articles. When Bob Bush, the coordinator of the collection and editor of The Note, asked me to contribute something, I was delighted to write about my encounters through the years with the collection's namesake.

One morning in 1973 in Washington, DC, I was waiting to be seated for breakfast at the Airline Inn, a motel south of the Capitol near the UPI Television News bureau. Someone behind me greeted me by name. I looked back and, to my surprise, saw Al Cohn. Al and I met through Zoot Sims shortly after my family and I moved to New York in 1970. We became cordial acquaintances during my frequent visits to the Half Note, home base for him and Zoot.

It turned out that Al was in town orchestrating the score of the musical Raisin during the show's pre-Broadway shape-up. I was UPITN's chief (meaning all-purpose) correspondent, covering the White House, the Watergate hearings in Federal court and the US Senate, and traveling with President Richard M. Nixon on those increasingly rare occasions when he emerged from the bunker. For a time, I traveled to DC and spent most of every week there. I was delighted to find a kindred soul among the lobbyists, lawyers, Teamsters Union representatives and occasional--uh--professional women who populated the Airline Inn when Congress was in session.

After that initial encounter, Al and I met for breakfast every morning while he was working on Raisin. Our talks touched on his work, my work, Watergate, international affairs and whatever we had heard or read in the news that morning. His curiosity about the world ranged as wide as his humor. He had me chuckling much of the time. I'd give anything to have recordings of those conversations.

I wish that I could give you a link to the rest of the article, but The Note has no online version. The good news is that The Al Cohn Collection has a web site, where you can find out how to contribute to a valuable nonprofit organization doing good work. If you ask nicely when you send your check, there's a good chance that Bob Bush will put you on the mailing list for The Note. Click here and scroll down to "How To Donate." Tell him Rifftides sent you.

Al Cohn, ca 1973, with Al Porcino's Band of the Century

in the Rough Rider Room of the Roosevelt Hotel, NYC

© Doug Ramsey

"A masterful set of old school funk & soul put together by DJ Andy Smith.... Smith does a excellent job of mixing sample classics that helped build golden age hip hop"
- Flat Soul Spreading

London's DJ Andy Smith, former DJ for Portishead, has produced a nice collection of 60's & 70's joints on this mix. From Hip Hop to Northern Soul, Funk to Freestyle Andy Smith can get ill on the mix. If you like want you hear he has more downloads of his mixes on his website:

http://www.djandysmith.com/downloads.php

One thing to note the songs on this mix are NOT individually tracked it's all one big mp3 file.

DJ Andy Smith
Diggin In the BGP Vaults (2008) 66 MB



Wilford's Gone - The Blackbyrds
Cracklin' Bread - Dave Hamilton
It's My Thing - Betty Moorer
I Don't Know What It Is But It Sure Is Funky - Ripple
Gotta Get Me A Job - Ann Alford
I Got Some - Billy Garner
Sing A Simple Song - Booker T & The MG's
Live It Up - James K-Nine
Can't Get Enough - 87th Off Broadway
Smokin At Tiffany's - Funk Inc
I Want You Back - Harold Mabern
Just A Groove In G - Wilbur Bascomb
Let A Woman Be A Woman Let A Man Be A Man - Dyke & The Blazers
Brand New Girl - Billy Garner
Soul Brothers' Testify - Chester Randle's Soul Senders
Itch & Scratch Pt 2 - Rufus Thomas
Skunk Juice - Pazant Brothers
Sunshine Of Your Love - Spanky Wilson
I'm A Good Woman - The Generation
Chicken Tracks - Ron Burford
Out Of Sight - The Soulsetters
Just Another Smile - Mel Davis
Tighten Up - Rosevelt Matthews
(Oh Baby) I Believe I'm Losing You

http://rapidshare.com/files/146084496/Andy_Smith_-_Diggin_in_the_BGP_Vaults__2008_.rar.html

Trespass - CD / SACD / DVD Looking for Someone (7:02) / White Mountain (6:44) / Visions of Angels (6:51) / Stagnation (8:46) / Dusk (4:11) / The Knife (8:53) / DVD Extras - Reissues Interview 2007 (42:35)

Nursery Cryme - CD / SACD / DVD Musical Box (10:31) / For Absent Friends (1:48) / Return of the Giant Hogweed (8:09) / Seven Stones (5:09) / Harold the Barrel (3:00) / Harlequin (2:56) / The Fountain of Salmacis (8:00) / DVD EXTRAS - Reissues Interview 2007 (36:19)

Foxtrot - CD / SACD / DVD Watcher of the Skies (7:22) / Time Table (4:46) / Get 'em out by Friday (8:36) / Can-Utility and the Coastliners (5:45) / Horizons (1:41) / Supper's Ready (23:04) / DVD EXTRAS - Reissues Interview 2007 (34:18) / Brussels, Belgium (Rock of the 70's 1972 (29:22) / Rome, Italy (Piper Club 1972) (4:07)

Selling England By The Pound - CD / SACD / DVD Dancing with the Moonlit Knight (8:02) / I Know What I Like (In your Wardrobe) (4:10) / Firth of Fifth (9:35) / More Fool Me (3:10) / Battle of Epping Forest (11:44) / After the Ordeal (4:15) / The Cinema Show (10:41) / Aisle of Plenty (1:56) / DVD EXTRAS - Reissues Interview 2007 (32:38) / Shepperton Studios, 1973 (1:00:50) / Bataclan, France 1973 (33:52)

The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway - CD / SACD / DVD The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (4:51) /Fly on a Windshield (2:44) / Broadway Melody of 1974 (2:11) / Cuckoo Cocoon (2:13) / In the Cage (8:09) / The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging (2:44) / Back in N.Y.C. (5:36) / Hairless Heart (2:06) / Counting Out Time (4:12) / The Carpet Crawlers (5:11) / The Chamber of 32 Doors (5:39) / Lilywhite Lilith (2:48) / The Waiting Room (5:15) / Anyway (3:08) / Here Comes the Supernatural Anaesthetist (2:56) / The Lamia (6:56) / Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats (2:58) / The Colony of Slippermen (8:11) / Ravine (2:06) / The Light Dies Down on Broadway (3:32) / Riding the Scree (4:06) / In the Rapids (2:18) / It (4:17) / DVD EXTRAS - Reissues Interview 2007 (50:00) / Melody French TV 1974 (30:25) / Slides / Photos

Extras 1970 - 1975 - CD / SACD / DVD Happy the Man (7 single) (3:10) / Twilight Alehouse (B-side (I Know What I Like) (7:48) / Going out to get You (Demo) (4:55) / Shepherd (BBC Nightride) (4:04) / Pacidy (BBC Nightride) (5:44) / Let us now make Love (BBC Nightride) (6:16) / Provocation (Genesis plays Jackson) (4:10) / Frustration (Genesis plays Jackson) (3:42) / Manipulation (Genesis plays Jackson) (3:49) / Resignation (Genesis plays Jackson) (3:01) / DVD EXTRAS - Reissues Interview 2007 (6:00) / Box Set 1967 - 1975 VH1 Special / Midnight Special 1973

by mystic fred


GENESIS Music Online:
recommended progarchives.com worldwide prog rock stores

• GEMM, Vinyl Records & CDs Rare Albums (Out of Print and Imports)
• AMAZON, find cheap, used and new stuff with the marketplace
• eBay, used or new | bid or buy now

Daily updates: because we sometimes get this info weeks in advance, it’s always worth checking with the club (see our venues section) to make sure the event you’re interested in seeing is still happening.

As usual, weekly events first, followed by the daily calendar:

This December the Stone has been booked by Jennifer Charles, the excellent frontwoman of artsy noir rockers Elysian Fields. As a result it’s an especially good month there. Highlights below in the daily calendar.

Sundays from half past noon to 3:30 PM, bluegrass cats Freshly Baked (f.k.a. Graveyard Shift), featuring excellent, incisive fiddle player Diane Stockwell play Nolita House (upstairs over Botanica at 47 E Houston).

Every Sunday, Michael Arenella & the Dreamland Dance Band play sly yet boisterous oldtimey hot jazz during a brunch set at Bar Tabac on Smith St. in Brooklyn Heights from about half past noon to 4 PM.

Sundays Sean Kershaw & the Terrible Two (that’s the New Jack Ramblers minus a couple fingers & toes) play the upstairs roof deck at Rocky Sullivan’s, 34 Van Dyke St at Dwight St in Red Hook, 1-4 PM. Free ferry from Manhattan (pier 11,Wall St.) and free shuttle buses from the F&G trains at Smith-9th St, the F,M,R at 4th Ave, and the 2,3,4,5,M,N,R at Borough Hall. Kershaw also does a happy hour set from 5 to 7 at Hill Country on Fridays.

The 2008-09 series of organ concerts at St. Thomas Church continues most every Sunday (holidays excepted) at 5:15 sharp, featuring a whole slew of world-renowned performers. Concerts continue through May 17 of next year.

Every Sunday the Ear-Regulars, led by trumpeter Jon Kellso and (frequently) guitarist Matt Munisteri play NYC’s only weekly hot jazz session starting around 8 PM at the Ear Inn on Spring St.  Hard to believe, in the city that springboarded the careers of thousands of jazz legends, but true. This is by far the best value in town for marquee-caliber jazz: for the price of a drink and a tip for the band, you can see world-famous players (and brilliant obscure ones) you’d usually have to drop $100 for at some big-ticket room. The material is mostly old-time stuff from the 30s and 40s, but the players (especially Kellso and Munisteri, who have a chemistry that goes back several years) push it into some deliciously unexpected places.

Sundays at 8:30 PM Sasha Dobson plays Pete’s Candy Store. Jazz chanteuse on the serious Brazilian tip: musically, she’s where Snorah Jones should hope to be in five years.

Every Sunday, hip-hop MC Big Zoo hosts the long-running End of the Weak rap showcase at the Pyramid, 9 PM, admission $5 before 10, $7 afterward. This is one of the best places to discover some of the hottest under-the-radar hip-hop talent, both short cameos as well as longer sets from both newcomers and established vets.

Monday nights Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks, a boisterous horn-driven 11-piece 1920s/early 30’s band play Sofia’s Restaurant, downstairs at the Edison Hotel, 221 West 46th Street between Broadway & 8th Ave., 3 sets from 8 to 11, surprisingly cheap $15 cover plus $15 minimum considering whaat you’re getting. Even before the Flying Neutrinos or the Moonlighters, multi-instrumentalist Giordano was pioneering the oldtimey sound in New York; his long-running residency at the old Cajun on lower 8th Ave. is legendary. He also gets a ton of film work (Giordano wrote the satirical number that Willie Nelson famously sang in Wag the Dog).

Mondays 12/1, 12/8 and 12/22 the Mingus Big Band at the Jazz Standard. A repertory unit, topnotch players who know the legend’s stuff inside out and really get it. Note that tix are “$25 plus tax.”

Also Mondays the Barbes house band, Chicha Libre plays there starting around 9:45. Chicha Libre are the sole American practitioners of chicha, a style popular in the Peruvian Amazon ghettos in the late 60s and early 70s. With electric accordion, cuatro, surf guitar and a boisterous rhythm section, their hypnotic, reverb-drenched mix of obscure psychedelic surf/cumbia/rock classics and originals is one of the funnest, most danceable things you’ll witness this year. Lately they’ve been expanding their repertoire to include not only their often hilarious, hypnotic originals but also covers of period pieces as well as chichafied rock songs. If you get lucky they’ll play their amped-up version of the Clash classic Guns of Brixton.

Mondays in December (and pretty much every month, when he’s not on tour), Rev. Vince Anderson and his band play Black Betty in Williamsburg, two sets starting around 10:30 PM. The Rev. is one of the great keyboardists around, equally thrilling on organ or electric piano, an expert at Billy Preston style funk, honkytonk, gospel and blues. He writes very funny, very politically astute, frequently salacious original gospel songs and is one of the great live performers of our time. Moist Paula from Moisturizer is the lead soloist on baritone sax.

Tuesdays Dec 2, 9 and 16 violinist/singer Christina Courtin at Pete’s, 9 PM. A lot like Jenny Scheinman in her quieter moments: classical chops, beautifully thoughtful melody and an outside-the-box approach.

Also every Tues in Dec., the boisterous and very popular brass-heavy gypsy jazz band Slavic Soul Party plays Barbes at 9. Get here as soon as you can as the opening act is usually popular as well.  

Also Tuesdays, El Ritmo Southside plays Rose Bar in Williamsburg, 11 PM. Instrumental covers of classic, Fania-era salsa, mambo, cha-cha, rhumba etc.: Palmieri, Puente, Barretto, et al. featuring superb vibraphonist Tommy Mattioli and a rotating rhythm section.

Every Wednesday, Will Scott and drummer Wylie Wirth play mesmerizing, hypnotic, completely authentic Mississippi hill country blues along with Scott’s own melodic, tuneful blues originals at 68 Jay St. Bar in Dumbo, starting around 8:30 PM. Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside and Asie Payton are sadly gone but Scott continues their tradition of music that is as danceable as it is trance-inducing, and does his influences justice.

Also every Wednesday, the Nat Lucas Organ Trio plays jazz at Lenox Lounge uptown, sets from 8 PM to midnight.

Sun Nov 30 Kilifax at Otto’s, 6:45 PM. Punk vets who’ve never lost touch with what punk is all about. Smartly aware, loud, tuneful and often funny as hell. This is the group responsible for the classic song Bush Is an Asshole.

Sun Nov 30, a rare, excellent triple bill at the Mercury beginning at 7 PM fiery, brilliantly improvisational powerpop trio Devi - whose new cd, recently reviewed here, is killer - followed by long-running, absolutely hypnotic, bass-driven reggae/groove-rockers Faith at 8, and eventually at 10 Lakeside Lounge Saturday night regulars Spanking Charlene, who sound a lot like vintage X and have a ferociously good singer in Charlene McPherson.

Also Sun Nov 30 Stephane Wrembel at Barbes, 9 PM. The Django disciple is pushing the outermost limits of where Balkan/Middle Eastern-inflected guitar jazz has ever gone.

Mon Dec 1 the Ukuladies play Rodeo Bar, 10 PM. Theatrical, funny, oldtimey female-fronted Canadian ukelele act who bring food and lottery tix to shows: definitely a good time.

Tues Dec 2 Jenny Scheinman at Barbes, 7 PM followed by Slavic Soul Party. The opener you probably know: A-list jazz composer, killer violinist, fluent in pretty much any genre she feels like writing in. The headliners are a wild Balkan brass band who play here every Tuesday and are very popular. Scheinman is also at Banjo Jim’s on 12/10 at 9, most likely doing her country stuff.

Also Tues Dec 2, 9:30 PM at Banjo Jim’s, self-described “big city hick” and Minnie Pearl soundalike Lindy Loo’s Country Cuzins with many special guests.

Weds Dec 3, 7 PM, Elaine Romanelli at Suite Bar Lounge, 992 Amsterdam Av at 109th St Subway: 1 or B/C to 110th St, free, shot specials at the bar. Spectacularly soaring voice (classical training, Broadway experience), like a turbocharged Bliss Blood; tastefully retro bluesy songwriting. She’s also here at 7 on 12/17.

Also Weds Dec 3 Anoche plays intriguing downtempo chanteuse stuff at Caffe Vivaldi, 8 PM

Also Weds Dec 3 pianist Sylvie Courvoisier solo followed by the awesome Brahim Frigbane playing solo oud at the Stone, 8 PM

Also Weds Dec 3 fiery Cajun/Texas honkytonk band the