soundstreamsunday: “The Köln Concert” by Keith Jarrett

On By Craig BreadenIn avant-garde, jazzLeave a comment

keithjarrett2It’s 1975 and I’m nine years old.  I’m lying on my back in Reservoir Park, a small city block of grass and oaks next to the University of Utah.  In my head is a song that trips and travels as I run and play with friends.  It’s a vision of sound, a strong impression of bright sun and moving clouds, a feeling on my skin, a growing chill in the air.  Is it October? The song is a constant rhythm of consciousness and motion, a life in itself but also within me, as if I’m one of its many, many tributaries.

For some things there is no accounting or quantifying:  How much beauty? How much devotion? How wide the smile of god?

There are many details about the conditions under which Keith Jarrett performed his concert in Köln in January 1975, from the context of his blossoming solo and collaborative career on the heels of his epic work with Miles Davis, to the third-rate piano he was given on which to perform the show, to the fact he was exhausted and in a significant amount of physical pain for his hour-plus improvisation in front of a sold-out Opera House crowd.

Ultimately none of these details matter. The Köln Concert is a river, and, if there are miracles in my life, it’s that such depths continue to transport me.

soundstreamsunday presents one song or live set by an artist each week, and in theory wants to be an infinite linear mix tape where the songs relate and progress as a whole. For the complete playlist, go here: soundstreamsunday archive and playlist, or check related articles by clicking on”soundstreamsunday” in the tags section above.

Strange Hobby: Lucassen 20 Years Later

On By bradbirzerIn Progressive rockLeave a comment
arjen-anthony-lucassen
1996; Remastered and Rereleased, 2016

A little over twenty years ago, Arjen Anthony Lucassen anonymously released an album named, STRANGE HOBBY.  The artist spot on the CD was left as a “?”  A love letter to the psychedelic-pop era of music, 1965-1970, STRANGE HOBBY was recorded in Abbey Road studio and contained a total of eighteen covers.

It came out at roughly the same time that his ACTUAL FANTASY did.  A totally different style, though, one that allows the perfectionist to let loose.

Continue reading “Strange Hobby: Lucassen 20 Years Later” →

The 10 most influential bassists, by Nick Beggs

On By Time LordIn Progressive rock1 Comment

Nick Beggs recently named his 10 most influential bassists and here are his top three:

3. GEDDY LEE

“Fronting up a band as a bass player and vocalist is a tough gig –  one with which I’ve had some experience. Geddy shows how it should be done. In a power trio, every little helps and additional duties on bass pedals, double-neck guitar and synths made for a fulsome sound in his stadium filling band Rush.”

2. JACO PASTORIUS

“Also often cited as the most influential player ever, his approach to Jazz and the fretless instrument was ground breaking. It’s hard to find someone Jaco didn’t influence. The 80s music charts were populated with hits featuring many Jaco clones – and for good reason.”

1. CHRIS SQUIRE

“My biggest musical influence ever. His sound and tone inspired a legion of players. Chris’ own inspirations were Paul McCartney and John Entwistle, two players who probably influenced more than most. But for me, Chris will always be top of the list. Sorely missed.”

Pre-Order GRIMSPOUND by Big Big Train

On By bradbirzerIn Progressive rockLeave a comment

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Greg Spawton posted this minutes ago:

The new Big Big Train album, Grimspound, will be released on April 28th 2017. Pre-orders of the album are now available at our official stores at Burning Shed (for vinyl and CD’s)

https://www.burningshed.com/store/bigbigtrain/

and the Merch Desk (for merchandise and CD’s)

http://www.themerchdesk.com.

Pre-orders of hi-resolution downloads are available at Bandcamp

https://bigbigtrain.bandcamp.com/

All LP versions feature double, 180g vinyl with a gatefold cover and 4 page booklet featuring lyrics and the stories behind the songs. A complimentary code for a high-resolution download version of the album is provided with each vinyl order. There is a limited edition clear vinyl version alongside the standard black vinyl version and orders of this limited edition version will include a postcard signed by all band members.

The CD version comes in a gloss laminated softpack and features a 24 page booklet with lyrics and the stories behind the songs.

The hi-res download version includes a PDF of the CD booklet.

A limited edition blue vinyl version of the Folklore is also available at Burning Shed (orders will be shipped with a complimentary hi-resolution download code).

Big Big Train are playing three shows at Cadogan Hall, London, in the autumn. The first two shows are sold out and only a few tickets remain for the third show (a Sunday matinee performance.) http://www.cadoganhall.com/event/big-big-train-2016/

Chestertonian Spawtonious

On By bradbirzerIn Progressive rock1 Comment 


          Out of the mouth of the Mother of God,
          More than the doors of doom,
          I call the muster of Wessex men
          From grassy hamlet or ditch or den,
          To break and be broken, God knows when,
          But I have seen for whom.

          Out of the mouth of the Mother of God
          Like a little word come I;
          For I go gathering Christian men
          From sunken paving and ford and fen,
          To die in a battle, God knows when,
          By God, but I know why.

          And this is the word of Mary,
          The word of the world's desire
          'No more of comfort shall ye get,
          Save that the sky grows darker yet
          And the sea rises higher.'

          Then silence sank. And slowly
          Arose the sea-land lord,
          Like some vast beast for mystery,
          He filled the room and porch and sky,
          And from a cobwebbed nail on high
          Unhooked his heavy sword.

          Up on the shrill sea-downs and up
          Went Alfred all alone,
          Turning but once e'er the door was shut,
          Shouting to Eldred over his butt,
          That he bring all spears to the woodman's hut
          Hewn under Egbert's Stone.

          And he turned his back and broke the fern,
          And fought the moths of dusk,
          And went on his way for other friends
          Friends fallen of all the wide world's ends,
          From Rome that wrath and pardon sends
          And the grey tribes on Usk.--G.K. Chesterton

Ash Wednesday

On By bradbirzerIn Progressive rockLeave a comment

https://youtu.be/SEUlzDTGd44

Only through the Grace of the Word Incarnate, sacrificed on the Hill of Skulls on a Friday afternoon, three hours past noon, to be precise. . . .

Oh, Thomas, what would the world of modern and post-modern slime be without you?  Impoverished, to be sure, to be sure, to be sure.

May you bring comfort to as many in the twenty-first century as you did in the twentieth century.  May your white leopards continue to confound us and your words turn us—convert us—to Truth, Beauty, and Goodness and especially to the One through whom all good things come.

To read the full article, go here: http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/2012/02/ts-eliots-ash-wednesday.html

Hevisaurus, the Heavy-Metal Sensation for Children

On By Time LordIn Progressive rockLeave a comment

This is awesome.

Next up, we need fox heads and starter prog for the kids!

“Lunch is ready.”

WSJ: What Combines Iron Maiden, Dinosaurs and Play Dates? Hevisaurus, the Heavy-Metal Sensation for Children

Vangelis Delectus

On By James R TurnerIn Ambient, classical, electronic, Progressive rockLeave a comment

Delectus: A book of passages from Greek or Latin authors used for study.

When you hear the name Vangelis, depending on your age and musical affinity, you think of different things.

You think of the keyboard player of Aphrodite’s Child whose astonishing album 666 has to be heard to be believed, you think of the pioneer of electronic music whose albums were all groundbreaking in their own way, you think of the soundtrack king, in particular the unforgettable Chariots of Fire, or you think of the fact he was once invited to join Yes, and then produced three fantastic albums with Jon Anderson.

Continue reading “Vangelis Delectus” →

Sting’s first rock album in 13 years, 57th & 9th

On By Time LordIn Progressive rockLeave a comment

Bass Player magazine recommends the new Sting album, and I heartily concur. Here’s the review by Chris Jisi:

Sting’s first rock album in 13 years, 57th & 9th (named for the Manhattan intersection near the recording studio), is a first-rate, ten-song collection that touches on all phases of Mr. Sumner’s broad musical career. The first single, “I Can’t Stop Thinking About You,” has a heavy Police presence—with its chugging-eighths groove, arpeggio guitar parts, and shifting key centers—while “Petrol Head” pivots between the Police and roots rock. “50,000,” dedicated to such departed greats as Prince, Glenn Frey, and Lemmy, rides a muted verse (with Sting tuning the E string on his ’53 Fender Precision down to D) before bursting into a stadium-ready classic rock hook, a formula present on “Down, Down, Down,” as well. Sting’s Celtic persona emerges on the 6/8 “Pretty Young Soldier” and the guitar-and-vocal ballads “Heading South on the Great North Road” and “The Empty Chair” (for journalist and ISIS victim James Foley).

Summoning the jazzy, solo Sting side is the Middle Eastern-tinged, European refugee-focused ballad “Inshallah,” and the exotic “If You Can’t Love Me,” with descending bass notes creating harmonic colors against a repeated four-note pattern, set to Vinnie Colauita’s 7/8 drum figure. Finally, there’s the somber topic of climate change presented via the upbeat, super-catchy rock bossa “One Fine Day,” which, with its Latinlike pushes in the bass line, make it Sting’s best 4-string work on the album.

It’s precisely the Police-like opening track, “I Can’t Stop Thinking About You,” that first hooked me, along with the magnificently smoldering meditation on mortality, “50,000,” where Sting muses on the “what is it all worth?” factor of stardom.

My favorite part of the post-Police side of Sting is exhibited on the guitar-and-vocal pairings on “Heading South on the Great North Road” and “The Empty Chair.” So also on “Inshallah” which is both haunting and catchy.

Skip the bonus tracks version, which offers nothing additional worth hearing, but do be sure to grab hold of the ten-track album version. Sting should keep returning to that corner of NYC, if only to remind us how great music could be when record companies allowed it to be smart.