Category Archives: the MisterG-laneous

-of course w/her friends the Indigo Girls

“Weepin'” Willie Robinson, a blues singer who performed with the likes of Steven Tyler and Bonnie Raitt but also spent time homeless, has died at age 81. Mr. Robinson had been a sharecropper, an Army veteran and a friend of performers, including B.B. King. “He was truly the elder statesman of the (Boston) blues. He was our godfather. He was the most dear man,” Holly Harris, host of “Blues on Sunday” on WBOS radio, told The Boston Globe for Monday’s editions. When he sang, “you knew he meant it because he had passion,” Harris said. Robinson died Sunday in a fire started by a cigarette he was smoking in bed, the Boston Fire Department said. He had worked a benefit concert with Tyler and two Boston Music Awards shows, in 2005 and again earlier this month. Robinson was born in Atlanta and picked cotton and fruit with his family up and down the East Coast. After spending time in the Army in the 1940s, he became a master of ceremonies and doorman at blues clubs in Trenton, N.J., where he met King and other legends and eventually sang with King’s 21-piece orchestra. His daughter, Lorraine Robinson, told the Globe her father found his place on stage. “A great smile would come on his face and he would be in his own little world, like he’d tune everything out,” she said. “He just, like, felt the music. It was so much in his soul.” Robinson settled in Boston in 1959 and played in clubs, but by 2005 he was living on the street and out of touch with his family. Blues performers learned of his situation, held a benefit concert and made sure he was fed and clothed. Robinson later performed everywhere from local clubs to the hallways of the rest home where he lived.

What more can I say..this is some great vibes from 3 creative sound creating spirits.

Charismatic, striking and a canny political operator, Benazir Bhutto, 54, was reared in the violent and turbulent world of Pakistani politics and became the country’s and the Muslim world’s first female prime leader. A deeply polarizing figure, the “daughter of Pakistan” was twice elected prime minister and twice expelled from office in a swirl of corruption charges that propelled her into self-imposed exile in London for much of the past decade. She returned home this fall, billing herself as a bulwark against Islamic extremism and a tribune of democracy.

a sad day around the world as another hope is taken away.

Oscar Peterson, whose early talent and speedy fingers made him one of the world’s best known jazz pianists, died at age 82. During an illustrious career spanning seven decades, Peterson played with some of the biggest names in jazz, including Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie. He is also remembered for touring in a trio with Ray Brown on bass and Herb Ellis on guitar in the 1950s. Peterson’s impressive collection of awards include all of Canada’s highest honors, such as the Order of Canada, as well as a Lifetime Grammy (1997) and a spot in the International Jazz Hall of Fame. His growing stature was reflected in the admiration of his peers. Duke Ellington referred to him as “Maharajah of the keyboard,” while Count Basie once said “Oscar Peterson plays the best ivory box I’ve ever heard.” He was also influenced by Nat King Cole, whose Nat King Cole Trio album he considered “a complete musical thesaurus for any aspiring Jazz pianist.” In 2005 he became the first living person other than a reigning monarch to obtain a commemorative stamp in Canada, where he is jazz royalty, with streets, squares, concert halls and schools named after him. A jazz player is an instant composer,” Peterson once said in a Canadian Broadcasting Corp. interview, while conceding jazz did not have the mass appeal of other musical genres. “You have to think about it, it’s an intellectual form,” he said…..and maybe today for a moment, think about the life of Mr. Oscar Peterson.

So it turns out that Indie bands Xiu Xiu and Fucked Up filed a class action lawsuit against Camel cigarettes’ parent company R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Rolling Stone, and the magazine’s parent company, Wenner Media, according to a Daily Swarm report. The suit– filed on December 17 on behalf of 186 artists whose names appeared in Rolling Stone’s “Indie Rock Universe” feature, tucked conspicuously within a fold-out advertisement for Camel’s indie-friendly “The Farm” campaign in the magazine’s November 15 issue– accuses the defending parties of “unauthorized use of artists’ names; unauthorized use of artist names for commercial advantage (right of publicity); and unfair business practices.“. Yeah, I mean how can something like that be overlooked when so many people have such an eager eye to scrutinize? Xiu Xiu and Fucked Up essentially claim that Rolling Stone created and presented their feature with full knowledge that it would appear part and parcel with the Camel ad. The plaintiffs ask that the magazine print a follow-up feature equal in size to the original clarifying that artists’ names were used without consent. They’re also seeking financial recompense for damages. While this marks the first time Rolling Stone has found itself the subject of legal action following the ad scandal, nine states’ Attorneys General have already filed lawsuits against Camel for using cartoons to sell tobacco products. So, it is just get away with as much as possible until someone catches you up, you get all kinds of publicity and a chance to make amends…it’s all a game…but you knew that.

-you’re just a player in the game to the industries.

A Billboard bullet, “Rocket 88”, was penned by a 19-year old boogie-woogie boy and his back-up band, “The Kings of Rhythm”, for their first Sun Studios session in March 1951. B.B. King introduced the kid to Sam Phillips, but he did not have a song – yet. So, on that rainy ride up Highway 61 to Memphis with their gear strapped on top, inspiration and lightening struck. The first muscle car – a highway cruiser – the hot, new, Oldsmobile “Rocket 88” was the subject and title of that historic #1 Hit. His lead vocalist, Jackie Brensten, and his side band, “The Delta Cats”, were mistakenly credited with the song by Chess Records, who released it. But those that know Rock history know The Kings of Rhythm were the real rockers toiling in the shadows of their own success. That kid is referred to by Little Richard as “The Man”. B.B. King proudly echoes, “He’s the best band leader I‘ve ever seen.” The kid who became “The Man” is Ike Turner. He won a Grammy in 2007 in the traditional blues album category for “Risin’ With the Blues.” Which in my opinion is a well deserved rock and roll blues album. Ike Turner passed away today at his home in suburban San Diego. He was 76.

With a group of musicians rotating around the Israel-born New Yorkers Ori Kaplan and Tamir Muskat, Balkan Beat Box plays Mediterranean-influenced music that incorporates traditions from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and New York electronica. Both men had plenty of experience playing in various eclectic bands before starting BBB: saxophonist Kaplan came to the U.S. to play jazz but soon fell into the underground, immigrant-driven scene, hooking up with Gogol Bordello and others, while percussionist Muskat played in Firewater for a while as well as flexing his production muscles (which he also uses with BBB) in projects with Gogol Bordello among others.

Evel Knievel, the red-white-and-blue-spangled motorcycle daredevil whose jumps over crazy obstacles including Greyhound buses, live sharks and Idaho’s Snake River Canyon made him an international icon in the 1970s, died today. He was 69. Immortalized in the Washington’s Smithsonian Institution as “America’s Legendary Daredevil,” Knievel was best known for a failed 1974 attempt to jump Snake River Canyon on a rocket-powered cycle and a spectacular crash at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. He suffered nearly 40 broken bones before he retired in 1980. “I think he lived twenty years longer than most people would have” after so many injuries, said his son Kelly Knievel, 47. “I think he willed himself into an extra five or six years.” Though Knievel dropped off the pop culture radar in the ’80s, the image of the high-flying motorcyclist clad in patriotic, star-studded colors was never erased from public consciousness. He always had fans and enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in recent years.

Friend of greenarrowradio, Desiree Bassett is still making a name for herself and as we know, she can play that git-tar. The 10th-grader at E.O. Smith High School in Storrs, CT, is gaining national recognition for her skills. The 15-year-old, who started playing when she was 3, was featured in Guitar Player magazine this past summer. “She’s a true artist in every sense of the word,” her father, Dan Bassett, said. Desiree’, who likes country music, jazz and blues, took guitar lessons from professors at the University of Connecticut, and she now gives lessons to others. She’s currently working on an album with her band, Desiree’ & the Time Machine. “I like to show off what I can do and show people how serious I am about my career,” the 15-year-old says. She played her first full-size guitar at 5, and she won a talent competition when she was 12. At 14, she played side stage at Ozzfest in Hartford. Now she’s 15, and has captured the attention of rock music legends Rik Emmett, Dicky Betts and Joe Satriani. Desiree’ has four major endorsements and her producer is bass player Doug Wimbish from Living Colour. Desiree’ is only the second person ever to sit in and play with Living Colour. The other? Carlos Santana. “Basically, I listen to a lot of music,” Desiree’ said. Satriani is her favorite guitarist, and her favorite singers are Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood and Celine Dion. (We won’t hold that against her) Desiree’, however, doesn’t let music take up all her time. She also likes to make jewelry, draw, go fishing, swim and jump on her trampoline. She enjoys spending time with her 10-year-old sister, Jessica, and is currently working on her 69th anime/comedy video to post on YouTube with her others. After high school, Desiree’ hopes to go on tour. College is a possibility, and Desiree’s father said both Berklee College of Music in Boston and UConn have shown interest in her. For now, the family is focused on making sure she gets through high school at the same high standard she has established as an honor student. “[Playing guitar] is one of my favorite hobbies; it’s something I’m attached to,” Desiree’ said. “I’m going to keep practicing and focusing on my music and keep writing songs.”

As a guest on greenarrowradio several times, I am sure Desi will be just fine in whatever path she takes.

You can read the entire article published in the Hartford Courant here.

Our friend Desiree!

Here is one of my all time favorite acts. Screaming Headless Torsos featuring David Fuczinski, Dean Bowman, Fima Ephron. Screaming Headless Torsos, brainchild of mad-scientist virtuoso guitarist David “Fuze” Fiuczynski, with riveting vocalist extraordinaire Dean Bowman, is an original and creative take on avant-funk-jazz rock. The Torsos intensely high energy, impassioned playing and transcendent musicianship has inspired fans, other musicians, and numbers of tribute bands all over the world, becoming a cult phenomena with their three CD’s and double live DVD…..A live show not to soon be forgotten.

Ecolonomics is to demonstrate that creating a symbiotic relationship between a strong economy and a healthy ecology is the only formula for a sustainable future: develop non-polluting technologies that turn into viable ecolonomic businesses identity, research, demonstrate and promote clean and inexhaustible energy sources assist inventors of ecolonomic technologies obtain legal and other support implement ecolonomics curricula nationwide conduct ecolonomics courses and workshops via the Internet publsih literature for young people underscoring the interdependence of our ecology and economy produce ecolonomics public service announcements for radio and television stage dynamic media events demonstrating ecolonomic technologies. For more information head over to the Institute of Ecolonomics website here. Amongst the strategies of the Institute to achieve this are:

1. Develop non-polluting technologies that turn into viable ecolonomic/sustainable businesses.
2. Identify, research, demonstrate and promote clean and inexhaustible energy sources.
3. Assist inventors of Ecolonomic technologies in obtaining legal and other support.
4. Implement Ecolonomic curriculum nationally and internationally.

This movement is heading to thoughts and innovations that will hopefully assist in the sustainable nature of our economy and our environment and is often something I know I think about maybe even without realization. It’s worth taking a few moments to check it out..if you so desire.

I just get a kick out of this whole thing. The song cracks me up and makes it sss-hake-allll-ova. Add a wacky video surrounded within a hoops game and I am hooked. The Cat Empire is one of the world’s busiest band. In case you wanted to remember to check more about them here.

Not the best video but the audio is where it’s at for this treat…stick with the entire rehearsal.

For over a decade and a half we have waited (some of us) for the next big explosion….from the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion…narrowed down these days to simply Blues Explosion….but it will arrive on November 13th. Jukebox Explosion collects 18 of the best bits (and a few outtakes) from the “Jukebox” single series the howling wolves of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion inaugurated back in 1992. And to get you in the mood……a video.

Rock on with the Blues Explosion featuring Burn it Off from the Damage album..

No particular order but here are some artists I have been listening to for one reason or another….

Galactic-From the Corner to the Block-Anti
Underworld-Oblivion w/Bells-Side One
Tango Around the World-Putumayo
Keller Williams-12-Sci Fidelity
Geoff Achison & the Soul Diggers-Live @ St. Andrews Hotel-Sound Vault
DJ Spooky/Freight Elevator Quartet-file under FUTURISM-Caipirinha
Lotus-Escaping Sargasso Sea-Lotus Vibes
The 180 Gs-180D’Gs to the Future:-Seeland
Neil Young-Chrome Dreams II-Reprise
Brazz Tree-Spiral On-BT Music
Invert-the Strange Parade-Inverted Music
Global Drum Project-Sound Factory
Sharon Jones& the Dapkings-100 Days 100 Nights-Daptone
Marsmobil-Minx-Compost Records
Baby Elephant-Turn my Teeth up!-Godforsaken
Guvna Dub Session
Skeebo Knight-Jekyll Island Night-Big Hair
Club d’Elf-Perhapsody Live 10/12/06
Anoushka Shankar/Karsh Kale-Breathing Under Water-Manhatten
Pete Wernick & Flexigrass-What The-Niwot Records
Mama’s Cookin’-MC RECORDS
Stan Harrison-the Optimist-Parisnight Music
Corey Harris-Zion Crossroads-Telarc
A.K.A.C.O.D.

There is SOOOO much more but these are the chosen for this trip…..Stay tuned for some “G”-views and set-lists.

I knew him as “Pops“. Calvin A. Harris (with proper respect), 83 was called home to his resting place on the evening of Thursday, (November 1, 2007). Calvin was born October 5, 1924 in Willimantic, CT to the late Albert and Florence Harris of Willimantic. His family will receive friends at Potter Funeral Home, 456 Jackson St. (Rte 195) Willimantic, on Monday November 5, between 5-8 p.m. Funeral Services will be held at Calvary Baptist Church, 412 Valley Street Willimantic on Tuesday November 6, at 10 a.m. Interment will follow in New Willimantic Cemetery. In lieu of flowers donations may be sent to Clara Mae Harris or Mansfield Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, 100 Warren Circle, Storrs, CT 06268. Special thanks for the love and care provided is given to the Mansfield Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation from the Harris family. My love and positive thoughts to the wonderful Harris family.

Well, friend of greenarrowradio Mister Rourke has put together a new podcast on Ropeadope. This is some bugged out scratch music that is cosmic as well as soul-grabbing. Follow this link HERE and click on the word to have your musical itch lubed up with some lotion to only make the SCRATCHING better….It will take a few moments to download so be patient, stay calm…maybe feed the need…..

ear-scratching good times

Trent Reznor doesn’t pretend to know the answers to what ails the music industry. But that hasn’t stopped the iconoclastic front man for the band Nine Inch Nails from marching to the front lines–in lock step with British band Radiohead–in an assault on the traditional music business. Reznor, who made news earlier this month when he left his record label, spoke Tuesday with CNETNews.com about the decision. He also bashed the music industry, detailed how he persuaded performer Saul Williams to give away his latest album for free, praised Radiohead for distributing music directly to fans via the Web, and indicated that instead of fighting the so-called free culture–people who share music online–he plans to embrace it. “Personally, I would like people to support artists,” Reznor said. “After all, we as artists dedicate our lives to producing the best music we can. It’s been a painful process for me personally (to see the changes in the music industry). But should I be angry at the audience that wants to hear music so much, an audience that is so passionate about hearing it they go online to get it two weeks before the music debuts? No, I want them to be that way.” Reznor has become a revolutionary figure to the file-sharing community. A video appeared recently at YouTube that showed him during a concert performance lamenting the high prices of CDs. Fans whooped it up when Reznor told them to go ahead and steal his music. Since then, Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead have become symbols of a growing movement among performers who are trying to use the Web to cut out the traditional middlemen of distribution: record labels. Radiohead shook the industry earlier this month by releasing a digital version of their latest album and asking fans pay whatever price they believed the album was worth. It was unprecedented move largely because it appeared to address an issue that music industry has largely tried to ignore. Music fans, many of whom obtain songs for free through illegal file sharing, perceive the dollar value of songs as almost nothing. Unless something dramatic occurs, many believe there is a chance a large number of fans will never again be swayed to plunk down money for music. Reznor, 42, said that the music industry is spinning its wheels trying to fight that perception. He said that in the future songs can be a way to entice fans to buy concert tickets and merchandise and he recognized that this may be how musicians make their living. He has recently produced an album for Williams, a rapper/filmmaker/spoken-word artist, called The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust, which goes on sale Thursday on Williams’ site. Not coincidentally, the digital version of the album, which is free of copy-protection software, is priced for free or fans can make a $5 donation. It was Reznor’s idea to give away Williams’ music in a similar way as Radiohead. “Radiohead is one of my favorite bands,” Reznor said. “When they announced they were releasing that album for free, I got dozens of text messages. It gave me goose bumps? It’s such an exciting way to sell a record.” Now, here’s the rub. Reznor isn’t the naive artist who doesn’t understand dollars and cents. He said that he knows giving away music may not make business sense. In addition, such a model could work for marquee bands like Radiohead but not for up-and-coming acts. “Radiohead has a built-in audience and they have the luxury of being able to experiment with a new distribution model,” Reznor said. “I think there were some serious flaws with how they executed but it was a good idea.” Reznor addressed some of the questions about whether artists are prepared to become merchants. Who is going to oversee sales, promotion, marketing, site supervision, and the countless other chores that record labels historically handled? But Reznor isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. He said that he was part of the negotiations with Musicane,the company handling the online distribution of Williams’ upcoming album. Musicane is overseeing fulfillment, payment processing, and customer service. The beauty of Musicane, according to Reznor, is that it provides the backbone for distribution without requiring musicians to invest “hundreds of thousands of dollars.” “Look, we’re looking for what works and this seemed like it made sense,” Reznor said. “Ask me in a week about how it went and hopefully I’ll be saying the same thing.” It’s doubtful that even if problems crop up Reznor can be dissuaded from his belief that the Internet is good for artists. He thinks that the Web creates direct links between musicians and their fans. This is beneficial even if sometimes it’s hard for performers to stand out among the countless acts trying to promote themselves online. “The greatest thing about the Internet is that everybody is their own distributor,” Reznor said. “Being your own distributor is power and the thing that labels once held over artists. The power of getting your message out to an audience is very empowering as an artist. These are exciting times and things are happening that I couldn’t imagine just a few years ago.” As for the future, well, Reznor fully acknowledges that he–like everybody else in music–is unsure of how things will turn out. But he says he’s sure of one thing: the old way of doing business is dead. “I don’t know what the future holds,” he said. “I don’t know what model is going to work. I do know relationships between music labels and artist like myself aren’t going well. These days when digital elements come into play labels have dealt with them generally poorly. It has gotten to a place where it couldn’t be worse. Their treatment of artists has less sympathy and it’s more like ‘What can we get out of you?’ My only concern has always been that my audience is treated fairly.”

as reported on news.com 10/30/07