Jan-Feb 2014

Greetings. Thanks for checking in.  Per usual, here are some records I’ve really been enjoying lately.  Hope you can find the time to check these out:

Little Richard, The Rill Thing.  Little Richard makes his comeback with this record, made in 1970.  Recorded in Muscle Shoals with the Swampers, it’s some greasy rock n’ soul.  Speaking of Muscle Shoals, if you haven’t seen the new documentary of the same name, do yourself a favor and check it out.  It is beautifully shot and tells the story of Rick Hall, the man who started it all.  So much incredible music (as Jerry Wexler put it, “the heaviest R&B ever recorded”) came out of this small town in the 60’s and 70’s.
The Section, Self-Titled.  Lee Sklar, Russ Kunkel, Craig Doerge and Danny Kortchmar were the Asylum Records house band in the 70’s and played on a slew of incredible albums (James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Crosby Stills & Nash, Carole King, Joni Mitchell).  Their easy going, delicate artistry was the perfect complement to many of the great singer-songwriter records to come out of California during that era.  They became known as The Section and put out a few beautiful instrumental albums of their own.  This is the first one.  Mellow and easy, good way to wind down.  Musicianship on a level nonpareil.
Les McCann, The Gospel Truth.  Les McCann is one of the kings of soul jazz.  On this album, from 1962, he takes it back to the church.  Instrumental, yes, but the uplifting message of this music comes through.  Makes you want to get right out of your seat and dance.
Danny Barnes, Dirt On The Angel.  Barnes is an incredible and uniquely-talented musician and songwriter.  Just went to see him here in Austin the other night and it was pretty mind-blowing.  He has a bunch of records, but I picked this one up because it features my man, Chuck Leavell on piano.  Needless to say, it does not disappoint!
James Taylor, One Man Band.  James Taylor live from a beautiful old theater in Western Mass with only Larry Goldings (who is seriously the master of every musical setting he is in) as an accompanist.  Wonderful.
Bruce Katz, Live At The Firefly.  Bruce is a journeyman keyboardist who has played with Gregg Allman, John Hammond, Maria Muldaur, and Delbert McClinton.  I’ve been a fan of his for a long time so it was a real honor to meet Bruce and his wife Vikki on the Delbert Cruise last month.  This is his newest record and it’s fantastic.
Deep Dark Woods, Jubilee.  I just got turned on to these guys.  They are from Saskatoon, Canada.  Based on their ascetic and nationality it’s easy to compare them to The Band.  They also remind me a bit of Dawes and The Fleet Foxes.  Either way, this is their new album (produced by the omnipresent Jonathan Wilson).  It’s a slow burner but after a few listens really gets under your skin.  Highly recommended…
White Denim, Corsicana Lemonade.  Some of Austin’s finest right here.  They did a tour opening for Wilco two summers ago and since then their rise to the top of the heap has really accelerated.  We played before them at ACL fest this year and you can tell these guys are the real deal…great people who play their asses off.  Their latest record is killer.  If you took ZZ Top’s “Tres Hombres”, The Black Keys, and Jeff Beck’s “Blow By Blow” and put ’em in a blender you might get a delicious smoothie that would taste something like “Corsicana Lemonade”.
Crosby & Nash, Graham Nash David Crosby.  1970.  Backed by The Section, also with Jerry, Phil and Billy Kreutzman.  Some of the headiest music to come out of the headiest times.  Dreamlike.
Phil Upchurch, Darkness Darkness.  This one must have been pilfered through many times during the 80’s and 90’s by hip hop and rap artists looking to sample the real shit.  Donny Hathaway, Joe Sample, Harvey Mason, Chuck Rainey, all holding it down, deep in the cut, while Upchurch sings like a bird.  Again, this is the real shit.

Also, read recently:

“Wild Tales” by Graham Nash (autobiography)
“Ubik” by Philip K. Dick
“More Than Human” by Theodore Sturgeon
“Einstein” by Jurgen Neffe (biography)

“Music is something that has optimism built into it.  Optimism is another way of saying ‘space’.  Music has infinite space.  You can go as far into music as you can fill millions of lifetimes.  Music is an infinite cylinder.” -Jerry Garcia

Fare thee well,

TN