Travis – Xenia Rubinos – “Help” – Agent Moosehead shared a bill with Xenia at Johnny Brenda’s years ago, I thought she was great and I think this was the song she played that sucked me right into her vibe – but I never knew the title or found it when searching her music. She has a lot of great music out there and is highly recommended. She has that Pop feel but with exceptional depth and creativity.
Bart – “Pata Pata” – Miriam Makeba – Angelique Kidjo – I have the students dance the “Pata Pata” on May Day each year, to the original Makeba version. I thought Bart was going to fling the amazing Salsa version as the 2nd version here, but he surprises with an uptempo Angelique Kidjo version. She slams it! Catchy, danceable and there are a lot of excellent covers floating around for us to hear.
Dan – I have a 2fer + a short “how to” vid of obscure guitarists. First is Ray Crawford on a bizarre Babs Gonzalez song “Le Continental” followed by a break down of Ray’s “Bongo” guitar technique. I thought a metronome had been layered into this track behind the soloist and then realized it was a guitar technique and a cool one! I searched out Ray and found someone breaking down the technique. Then I got a George Freeman, Von’s brother, album and thought that George and Ray had similar careers – both having moments on the big stage, but ultimately stuck in regional familiarity. When I searched for the Freeman album I found this vibe-heavy live performance with Gene Ammons – “Jungle Strut”. Hectic and intense with a Sonny Sharrock vibe in George’s solo. Some guitar obscurities for your pleasure.
Brian – Eric Kloss – “Sky Shadow” – Great underrated Tenor player and unusual, but amazing group. The track also offers a lot to absorb, they all are given time to stretch and its such a weird combination of musicians. I’ll let you discover the mix of personalities, but all the solos are of note and they are playing pretty freely – particularly by the end. A very nice surprise and cool tune. The Prestige releases are all worthy Kloss recordings to snap up.
Matt – Bernice – “ça bergers, assemblons – nous” – Very experimental but the voice is very traditional and provides a path through the often free & abstract found sounds. But every so often the sounds collect together and feel rhythmic, create moments of harmony but then divert and lose form. It’s a very breath like experience both her beautiful singing and the way the rest of the music breathes in and exhales its continuity. A challenging mood to create.
Found Sounds 