Author Archives: grnarrow

Mad Juana performs a new song, Bury Me Standing. Karmen Guy sings with Sami Yaffa on guitar, Fernando Rosario on bass, Maukka Palmio on percussion, Kiku Collins on trumpet, Danny Ray on sax and Marni Rice playing accordion. Video by Alan Rand.

2-20-2000-Merl plays 140 West in Missoula,MT

Jimmy Carl Black….Jimmy passed away peacefully last night Saturday 11/01/08 at 11:00 o’clock pm. Jimmy says hi to everybody and he doesn’t want anybody to be sad.

Merl Saunders, a phenomenal person and funky keyboardist who collaborated with artists of all shapes and sizes including Miles Davis and the Grateful Dead, has died at the age of 74. In a statement posted on Merl’s website from the Saunders Family reads as follows:

Merl Saunders stood for music and love – his smile alone told you that. We loved him very much – and we know that you, his fans, did too. Sad as we are to lose him, we’re very aware of being comforted by the affection coming from all those touched by that smile and that wonderful music. He was a special man, a beautiful companion, father, grandfather, and family patriarch, and the proof of that spirit is in the way you’ve reached out to us at his passing.

Keep on keepin’on,
The Saunders Family

A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, October 29th, at 11 am
at First AME Zion Church, 2159 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco.

I send my thoughts and positive vibes to Jr and the entire Saunders’ family as well as those in the circle through the music. Rest In Peace Brother Merl.

Check out my conversation with Merl Saunders Jr a few years back right here.

man have I been exploding and exploring with sounds from all over, cannot always get them all on air but want to try to constantly make sure the names get out there as something I am appreciating, for whatever that is worth. The list is much greater than I will recall but here goes something:

ARTIST:ALBUM
——————————————-
Mad Juana: Bruja On the Corner
Neco Novellas: New Dawn Ku Khata
OGOGO: Linden
the Voodoo Organist: Darwin Dance Hall Days
Buzzy Linhart: Buzzy
Dayton Flic: Takin’ you Back to the Music Suite
Grant Calvin Weston: Nassira
Dub Gabriel: Anarchy & Alchemy

Pimps of Joytime shake down SOB’s for a funky New York City night of Soul.
Listen to the Pimps kick it out Joytime style like only the Pimps of Joytime can.
brian j vocals, guitar hagar on bass chaunce yearwood congas, vocals kalb drums, jones percussion, sampler. jan 12 08 with turntables on the hudson. nicodemus and dj obah. more info on the pimps of joytime here

For almost 10 years, Michael Robertson, the often controversial cofounder of MP3.com and Linspire, has toiled to store music in the cloud, the term used to describe the seemingly limitless amount of data and services accessible with a Web browser. But in the past, Robertson’s efforts have led him into huge legal battles with the music industry. That’s where he finds himself once again. In November, EMI filed a copyright suit against him and his music service, MP3tunes.com. More recently, Robertson has had to watch competitors generate headlines with an idea he helped pioneer. On Monday, Lala.com launched a service that enables customers to upload songs into digital music lockers (or the cloud) and then stream the tracks to Web-connected devices. Before launching, Lala obtained licenses from each of the top four recording companies. The differences between MP3tunes & Lala are many but the most notable among them is this: Robertson doesn’t believe services such as his are obligated to obtain licenses to help consumers store legally owned music. How this legal case is decided could help determine who owns the keys to digital lockers. Little in EMI’s complaint indicates that the label objects to the storing of music in lockers, digital or otherwise. As a matter of fact, the document reads like a run-of-the-mill piracy complaint. The record label accuses MP3tunes of then handing users the ability to share access to their music lockers with anybody. According to EMI, MP3tunes only requires customers to submit an e-mail and password to access their music. EMI lawyers argued that such lax security enables a locker to become a “virtual drop box for this illegal distribution.” Robertson dismisses EMI’s claims and said Sideload is nothing but a search engine just like Google and Yahoo. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act protects service providers from responsibility for any crimes committed by users, Robertson said. He claims EMI’s lawsuit is designed to camouflage the record industry’s true goal, which is to prevent him and anyone else from storing music in digital lockers without first paying licensing fees….for more head to Greg Sandoval’s article for CNET here.

Four Tops frontman Levi Stubbs, whose dynamic and emotive voice drove such Motown classics as “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” and “Baby I Need Your Loving,” died Friday at 72. With Stubbs in the lead, the Four Tops sold millions of records and performed for more than four decades without a change in personnel. “Levi Stubbs was one of the great voices of all times,” former Motown labelmate Smokey Robinson said. “He was very near and dear to my heart. He was my friend and my brother, I miss him. God bless his family and comfort them.” The Four Tops began singing together in 1953 under the name the Four Aims and signed a deal with Chess Records. They later changed their names to the Four Tops to avoid being confused with the Ames Brothers. The Four Tops signed with Motown Records in 1963 and produced 20 Top-40 hits over the next 10 years, making music history with the other acts in Berry Gordy’s Motown stable. “It is not only a tremendous personal loss for me, but for the Motown family, and people all over the world who were touched by his rare voice and remarkable spirit,” Gordy said Friday. “Levi was the greatest interpreter of songs I’ve ever heard.” Stubbs’ death leaves one surviving member of the original group: Abdul “Duke” Fakir. Original Top Lawrence Payton died of liver cancer in 1997. Renaldo “Obie” Benson died of lung cancer in 2005. Stubbs is survived by his wife Cliniece, five children and 11 grandchildren.

Discussion on the new album on Amulet Records, Fun with Free Form Funky Freqs, Ornette Coleman, James Blood Ulmer and The Lounge Lizards