Category: Music

Just received the new (six years old) CD from Cuong Vu, titled It’s Mostly Residual. Got it from Artist Share, where the money actually goes to the artist. Artist Share is a really nice concept, You can collaborate and provide input into an artist’s project and contribute accordingly. The god thing about Artist Share is that you know the music will be recorded and mastered with great quality, and the artists themselves are putting everything into what they are doing. Totally different from the here today, gone tomorrow commercial music made for the masses. 

Cuong Vu can be best described as “massively” progressive Jazz, as best as I can judge it. This CD is a mix of eclectic sounds and a great dynamic range, melodies and paces from a trio. Cuong is a trumpeter and plays it well. And the drummer….wow. I hope to catch these guys someday at the Vanguard. I also purchased the recently released CD, Cuong Vu Vu-Vet but hasn’t arrived yet. One thing about Artist Share that I’ve provided feedback one, is the ability to download the music in .FLAC lossless format, not just compressed MP3. 

So what’s the first thing you do when a new CD shows up? Use Exact Audio Copy to make FLAC files. Why? First, you need to make a backup for when the physical media wears out or gets damaged. Second, to use on the Squeezebox.

Now this is what record labels really fear, a real market based economy of music. First, you can bet that I will be purchasing the new Radiohead CD via download. And I’m willing to pay more than $1 per song, which most of it will go to the artist instead of a record company that provides me no added value. I’m sure Radiohead will allow me to play the CD I’ve purchased on any media device I want, make ringtones, or whatever. And I’m sure it will be DRM free. So, support artists that support music freedom and connect directly with their fans. If record labels want to survive, they’d better start thinking are restructuring their business models.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Radiohead fans to pick album cost
Radiohead fans will be able to choose how much to pay for the band’s next album, In Rainbows, which is available for download on 10 October.
Instead of listing a price for the music, the group’s website simply states “it’s up to you” – and then adds: “No really, it’s up to you.”

The announcement was made online by guitarist Jonny Greenwood.

Fans can buy the download or a £40 “discbox”, which includes two CDs, two records, plus artwork and booklets.

Critical acclaim

This will be Radiohead’s seventh album, but they are not using a record label, having fulfilled their contract with EMI following their 2003 album Hail to the Thief.

Baptist Cowboy A cowboy walks into a bar in Texas, orders three mugs of Bud and sits in the back room, drinking a sip out ofeach one in turn. When he finishes them, he comes back to the bar and orders three more. The bartender approaches and tells the cowboy, “You know, a mug goes flat after I draw it, it would taste better if you bought one at a time.” The cowboy replies, “Well, you see, I have two brothers. One is in Australia, the other is in Dublin, and I’m in Texas. When we all left home, we promised that we’d drink this way to remember the days we drank together. So I drink one for each of my brothers and one for myself.” The bartender admits that this is a nice custom, and leaves it there.

The cowboy becomes a regular in the bar, and always drinks the same way. He orders three mugs and drinks them in turn. One day, he comes in and orders two mugs. All the regulars take notice and fall silent. When he comes back to the bar for the second round, the bartender says, “I don’t want to intrude on your grief, but I wanted to offer my condolences on your loss.” The cowboy looks quite puzzled for a moment, then a light dawns and he laughs. “Oh, no, everybody’s just fine,” he explains, “It’s just that my wife and I joined the Baptist Church in Sweetwater and I had to quit drinking. Hasn’t affected my brothers though.”

Still one of my favorite albums from the 80’s. It has a fine blend of calming Sax playing, without sounding like corporate Smooth Jazz. The “ivory” has a very melodic arrangement and having Marcus Miller on bass only adds to the complexity of the first three tracks. You can find it @ Jazz/set3/Collaborations. You can find their highly smooth at relaxing sounds at http://davidsanborn.com and also at http://www.bobjames.com.

Oh my gosh….what else can be said. I never knew a bass could be played the way he plays it. I finally saw him at the Cat’s Cradle in Chapel Hill, NC. in Sept., 2002. What a concert. And with Branford Marsalis making a guest appearance and jamming for over an hour, this concert has been placed in my all time top three performances. Much thanks to Cliff for introducing me to Victor’s music. You can hear some tracks @ Jazz/set2/ and please check out his website at http://www.victorwooten.com.

Ms. Dana Owens (a.k.a. Queen Latifah) has released a standards Jazz compilation. Wow, this woman is versitle and her talent is really showing. What can she not do? I heard her today on NPR in an interview and they played some bites. Wow, this is a long way from “All Hail The Queen”.

All I can say is, I’ll be making a trip to the music shop this weekend to get my CD. She does a rendition of “I Put a Spell On You” that was recorded by Screaming Jay Hawkins around 1956. Somehow, I don’t think she was drunk like Jay was when recording this track. But who cannot love the Jay version.