Summer is in full effect here in the heart of Texas and we are off to a lovely start. It’s nice that there is actually a little water in the greenbelt right now. Compared to the last two years at this time (both were brutal) we’ve had pretty mild temperatures. I have a fair amount of time off these next two weeks which is nice. Ultimately I like to be busy, especially when it comes to playing music. It is certainly an addictive thing. I often compare it to skiing powder or catching a wave in the sense that when it’s good you can just get swept away by it. Performing draws on more than just your musical talent, especially when there is an improvisational element to the music. You really have to harness your emotions, collect all your senses, physical strength, and mental power etc. and try to focus them as best you can on the performance–one song at a time. Totally exciting. Once you’re hooked, forget it.
Anyway, I’d like to share some new music I was fortunate enough to be a part of:
On the music player on this site, check out Jazz Mills “Meet My Father” and Leopold And His Fiction “Caving In”.
Dawn And Hawkes, click here to stream their new album. I play keys on “Holler” and “Polar Bears”
Kurt McMahan, click here to stream “Texas On A Sunday Evening”
Also, per usual, here are some records that have been on steady rotation recently. I highly recommend checking any or all of these out:
Shuggie Otis, Inspiration Information
Allen Toussaint, Live, Love And Faith
Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris, All The Road Running
Count Basie & Oscar Peterson, Night Rider
Tedeschi Trucks Band, Everybody’s Talkin’
Alex Taylor, With Friends And Neighbors
Booker T And The MG’s, McLemore Avenue
Delaney And Bonnie, Motel Shot
Ronnie Barron, Reverend Ether
I would like to wish my good buddy Bryon Friedman a happy 32nd birthday (June 14). One of the finest people I know–a wonderful friend and a real inspiration to me over the years. Freedog is the man!
“Every step in evolution makes life more valuable. The more evolved you are, the more priceless is every moment; it becomes an opportunity for you to do good to others, to serve others, to give love to others, to be gentle to others, to give your sympathy to souls who are longing and hungering for it. Life is miserable when a person is absorbed in himself; as soon as he forgets himself he is happy. However kind and good a person may be to those he likes, to those he wishes to be kind to, he cannot for this be called kind by nature; real kindness is that which gushes out from the heart to the worthy and to the unworthy.” -Hazrat Inayat Khan
Peace to everybody,
TN