3rd Set of Vinylthon

The final part of the Record Store day vinylthon proGram started with several furries gathered together and ended with the big run. Always fun to take SUM of the old records out for a spin.

Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun- Pink Floyd
A Saucerful of Secrets- Pink Floyd
I. “Something Else” (3:22) II. “Syncopated Pandemonium” (2:52) III. “Storm Signal” (0:58) IV. “Celestial Voices

Polk Salad Annie- Elvis Presley with The Imperial’s Quartet (Live)
Hypnotize- Kingfish
Keep On- Big Brother & The Holding Company
Don’t Keep Me Wondering- Allman Brothers Band
Black Hearted Woman- Allman Brothers Band

European Son- The Velvet Underground & Nico
Run Run Run- The Velvet Underground & Nico

Record Store Day Vinylthon Pt. 2

The middle part of the vinylthon proGram reminded me of many sounds and words that helped form the shapes around me.

…And the Gods Made Love- The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Have You Ever Been (to Electric Ladyland)- The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Visions of Johanna- Bob Dylan
Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands- Bob Dylan

Everybody’s Got to Change Sometime- Taj Mahal
Rain- The Beatles
Miss You (live 1978)- The Rolling Stones

Ballrooms of Mars- T Rex
The Width of a Circle- David Bowie
Buick Buick- T Rex
Daddy Daddy Daddy- Frank Zappa w/The Mothers of Invention & The Royal Philharmonic Orch.

Vinylthon For Record Store Day Pt.1

I am not someone who adds to their record collection I have what I have and sometimes people send some over. Otherwise, there’s a lot of albums that are true collection pieces (luckily I do have two copies of many of those) so Iit is fun to ‘spin some’ for three hours to honor the medium. Here’s the first hour.

Contender- Supreme Beings Of Leisure
The Other Side- Supreme Beings Of Leisure

Being Courageous- Yungchen Lhamo
Dedication to My Teacher- Yungchen Lhamo

Jammin- Hu Vibrational
Secret Ending- Vibraharp

Big Dismal- Julien Kasper
Many a Mile to Freedom- Traffic
Stella Blue- Grateful Dead (live)

Inside The Wash

The final part of this week’s proGram could drink or bath in it.

Adjust Like Dat (Vocal Mix)- Joseph Malik ft. Mike Keat + Jo Wallace
merlot & gricio- Yaya Bey Ft. Father Philis
Mother Earth is Dying- Doodlebug & 80 Empire Ft. Michole White & DJ Skillspinz
Stand Well Well (Grand Stand Version)- Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 Ft. Pos of De La Soul


Thums Up (Kahani Remix)- Red Baraat
You Are I- Kenya Eugene
Ojos Secos- Adrian Quesada Ft. Cuco
Je ne t’aime plus- Eric Hilton Ft. Natalia Clavier


Kapina on kuumaa- Vimma
Cakal Cokerten Zeybegi- Ozan Baysal


Moon Shadows- Billy Yfantis

Cosmo- Blazing Redheads
31. Bleep (01)- corto.alto
The Bruz of AD2- Leon Anderson

With A Viewed

The middle part of the proGram walked and looked.

Yo I Surrender- Oliver Wood Ft. Steve Berlin
**pre-recorded conversation with Oliver Wood**
One More Day- The Wood Brothers

Make Them Dance- Johnny Rawls
Hard To Be Mad At You- The Love Dogs


UFO- Daniel Bambaata Marley
Homo Rudolfenis- Sendelica
Borderline- Kris Barras’ ‘Hollow Souls Ft. Jared James Nichols
Gloria- Cocktail Slippers (Live)


Sunchaser- Arc De Soleil
Year Of The Snake- BALTHVS
Prisms- Lance Ferguson & The Bamboos
Take Me- Analog Son
Shake- RETI

Morning Walk On

The first part of this week’s proGram took time to see it and believe it.

Clock and Speedometer- LoveSeat
Granite Mills- Alison Krauss & Union Station
Buckets- Eric Schmitt
One Taco at a Time- Jefferson Ross


I Can’t Dance- Steve Marriner
Dance With The Devil- Domenic Cicala


The Same Love That Made Me Laugh- Seth Walker
***pre-recorded conversation with Seth Walker***
Take Me To The River- Seth Walke
r

Keep Going- Reverend Stomp
greenarrowradio promo- Dudley Taft
Wanted Man- Dudley Taft
Uptown Downtown- Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen
Found A Friend In You- Southern Avenue
Back To What Feels Right- Southern Avenue
Stratcat Boogie- Stratcat Willie & the Strays

Family Time With Oliver Wood

Whenever Oliver Wood isn’t touring with The Wood Brothers, the Grammy-nominated roots trio that he co-founded in 2006, he typically begins his mornings the same way: in Nashville, at home, with a coffee cup in his hand and a notebook in his lap, sitting in a chair in front of the window. Many of the songs from his latest solo effort ‘Fat Cat Silhouette’ began taking shape in that chair. Produced by his Wood Brothers’ bandmate Jano Rix, it’s an album of unexpected twists & turns. Longtime fans will recognize the earnest, elastic voice that has always anchored the Wood Brothers’ mix of forward-looking folk and southern country-funk, but Fat Cat Silhouette doesn’t spend much time looking backward. Instead, it abandons convention, breaks a few rules, and positions Oliver Wood as a roots-music innovator who’s every bit as interested in the process as the product. Oliver wanted to step out of the norm on this one. On the album’s opener, “Light and Sweet,” he matches an imaginative storyline with a melody that leaps from ground level into the stratosphere. Eight songs later, he brings things to a close with “Fortune Drives the Bus,” which he recorded on an iPhone in his own backyard. While tracking the rest of the album to analog tape, Wood pushed himself to keep things weird. Wood’s years of experience have left him with a wide circle of collaborators, and ‘Fat Cat Silhouette’ features performances from guests like Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin (whose saxophone can be heard on the groove-heavy numbers “Whom I Adore” and “Yo I Surrender”), Ted Pecchio who handles bass duties throughout the collection and Marcus Henderson (who contributes flute & fife to “Whom I Adore”). Co-writers like Sean McConnell, Seth Walker, & Ric Robertson lend their help, too, while Katie Pruitt tackles a verse on the heartbroken soul ballad “Have You No Shame,” which was written by one of Wood’s mentors, the legendary Atlanta musician and songwriter Donnie McCormick. Jano even pulls double-duty as producer & musician, anchoring the album’s mix of mystery & melody with his percussion & keyboards. Despite the stacked guest list, some of Fat Cat Silhouette‘s best moments find Wood and Rix working together as a duo. On “Little Worries,” Wood sketches a picture of a reflective morning in his armchair, a cat in the window, pancakes in the skillet, anxieties crossing and leaving his mind — over Rix’s inventive pulse. Later, when time constraints prevented them from adding horns to “Star in the Corner,” they chose to sing the horn parts instead. A little less typical, indeed. That might as well be Fat Cat Silhouette’s mission statement. This is an album that finds the art in the unexpected, and Oliver Wood, whose songwriting & vocal chops remain as sharp as ever, at his most adventurous.

It has been a long time that Oliver Wood and I have been catching up about what is going on. I have had his brother Chris on a few times as well to talk Wood Brothers, but t s typically Oliver who plays catch-up. He is going to be at the Stoughton Opera House on April 30th with Dave & Dave of Trampled By Turtles, and Seth Walker. We north marveled over the possibilities of what his night could be bringing and then got into what a solo set of his could shape up into. He reminded us a little about how his most recent release, ‘Fat Cat Silhouette’ went down and we even got into a little bit about his work on Seth Walker’s new album which dropped on April 4th. It’s always nice to hear his voice on the other end of the phone, not quite as great as hearing it singing songs, but I am thinking this treat we will be getting at the Opera House is going to be one of those that is hard to forGet.

Photo-by: Alysse Gafkjen

Seth Walker Asks Why The Worry?

In the midst of recording his 12th album, wavering in his resolve to finish what he’d started, Seth Walker came to a realization. No album is trapped in amber, no song is set in stone. Distance colors compositions over the years and each album is left as a reflection of its own period in time. This idea played a big part in shaping ‘Why The Worry’. Now, the other half of knowing is letting go; letting go of the worry about perception, the worry of over-preparation, and the worry that seeps in constantly from the news and noise of everyday life. The new album finds Walker reunited with old friends and familiar names. Once again Jano Rix steps behind the boards, co-producing the album with Seth & engineer Brook Sutton. In the producer’s 5th outing he’s become an invaluable sounding board, the kind who knows what’s missing and, just as importantly, what needs to be taken away. Oliver Wood (The Wood Brothers) lends a pen to the title track, and Seth’s classically trained father Scott adds strings to “I’m Getting Ready,” a song penned by Walker’s contemporary Michael Kiwanuka. Mostly, though, the record was shepherded into shape by Walker’s trio, rounded out by longtime confidants Rhees Williams (Guitar, Piano) & Mark Raudabaugh (Drums). The 3 let the studio guide them, entering without agenda, set straight by the title’s mantra to stop worrying where they’d end up. But worry always tries to creep in. It’s inevitable, isn’t it? The album was just about finished when Hurricane Helene hit Walker’s region in the mountains around Asheville, and as a result, the record almost didn’t see light. As catastrophe took shape and literal bridges were broken, the album’s importance wavered in Seth’s mind until the central theme came back into view. The worry wouldn’t undo any damage, and there was still service in song. There’s a telling nod in the album closing with Bobby Charles’ seminal ode “I Must Be In a Good Place Now.” Why The Worry is a spiritual reset, watching the sunrise over the mountains. It soaks in like warmth on the skin after a night of shivering in the dark. Charles isn’t the only notable scribe among the track list, an even mix of Walker’s originals and a carefully curated crop of covers that rifle through the past and present. Setting the course are two gems from JJ Cale, whose sanguine saunter leans well into the album’s themes of amble and ease. Walker opens the album with the smoke ring sway of Bill Withers, turning the lights low for a gently funked rendition of “The Same Love That Made Me Laugh.” The groove grows deeper on Al Green’s “Take Me To The River,” putting a distinctly reclined feel on the soul classic. The breezy feeling extends to the originals as well, injecting a bit of Cale’s country funk into “Up On The Mountain,” soaking spring air and hope into “Supernatural Thing,” and melting nostalgia into meditation on “Midway Girl.” Why The Worry follows a string of critically acclaimed albums from Walker, garnering praise from NPR to The Washington Post. He’s been found on the road with The Mavericks, The Wood Brothers, Raul Malo, Paul Thorn and Ruthie Foster among others. He recently penned “Moon and Stars” – the title track to The Mavericks new album, sung as a duet with Sierra Ferrell. Walker’s latest album Why The Worry is out on tomorrow, on Royal Potato Family.

I had the chance to catch back up with Seth Walker (it has been a few years since last we spoke and I’ve been paying attention) and he will be back this way on April 30th at the Stoughton Opera House with Dave & Dave of Trampled By Turtles and his longtime pal (doing a short run with) Oliver Wood. What a incredible line-up for all of us who get to be a part of it. He sounded as blown away as I feel about it. We got into the joy of this upcoming show, but we started with getting into his brand new (just dropped April 4th) album ‘Why The Worry’ on Royal Potato Family Records. We kinda go seed to flower, dissect a few tunes off the release, and discuss how he and Oliver worked on their offering on the record and more. When I said I have been paying attention, it all comes back to this moment and this album, it’s really got that truth to it that I search for. Seth also gives some thought to a setlist and he gives love and props to our pal Kevin over at Royal Potato Family. Finally, we will have to check in and find out who wins the tennis matches on this short run. Deuce.

Photo by: Parker Pfister

Da Truth Brass Band at Congo Square Rhythm Fest

Da Truth Brass Band performed live at the 2025 Congo Square Rhythms Festival! We’re video streaming live from the Treme Stage all day today. I attended live via WWOZ. What a fin time as expected.

Sunday, March 30, 2025 – 11:00am to 7:30pm
Armstrong Park (OUTDOORS)
901 North Rampart Street
New Orleans, LA 70116

Sunday, March 30 was streamed live from Congo Square Rhythms Festival!

SCHEDULE (subject to change):

11am-12:15pm Alicia Renee aka “Blue Eyes”
12:30-2pm Da Truth Brass Band
2:15-3:30pm Zena Moses & Rue Fiya’s Allstars
3:45-4:45pm NOLA Resistance
5-6pm Gladney
6:15-7:30pm Original Pinettes Brass Band

Tribute to Poly Styrene

This year’s American Songbook (at the Lincoln Center) celebrates the voices of women and nonbinary performers who have not only shaped the landscape of music, but have also driven important conversations on gender, identity, and empowerment. Galvanized by a Sex Pistols concert, the UK-born Marion Elliot adapted the sobriquet Poly Styrene, formed a band and then promptly changed the history of rock by recording the seminal punk anthem Oh Bondage! Up Yours! Poly Styrene would only release one album in the 1970s, but Germ Free Adolescents would prove to be one of the most influential LPs of its era. For this evening of music by and inspired by Poly Styrene and her band X-Ray Spex, the American Songbook band—featuring Keyanna Hutchinson (guitar), Barbara Duncan (percussion), Evan Lawrence (bass), and Elenna Canlas (keyboards and vocals)—will be joined by an array of musical luminaries, all paying their respects to a true punk pioneer. Watch it all HERE!!

Featured Artists

Host: LaRonda Davis

Vocalists:
Cleo Reed
Dunia Best
Felice Rosser
Honeychild Coleman
Princess Nokia
Lisa McQuade
Militia Vox
Rachel Dissident
Rose Blood
Shara Lunon








Poked Up

The final part of the proGram this week was able to peek out and reach for it.

Sidestep- Alexander Flood Ft. Erica Tucceri
high vibrations- Theo Croker Ft. Malaya
Honey biscuit at colorado steakhouse in bloomington indiana- Jacob Wick
Thanks dave (fede)- Jacob Wick


UMMG- Sasha Berliner Ft. Taylor Eigsti
Nica’s Dream- The Empress


Nikriz Semai- Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol
**pre-recorded conversation with Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol**
Hüseyni Jam- Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol


Montuno Salad- Paul VornHagen (Live)
Free-Ish- Michael Buckley


Tomorrow, Pt. 1- The Drovers Unlimited Orchestra
Black Nile- Dan Moretti (Live)
Fue tanto el amor- Twanguero

Upsward

The middle part of the program wanted to get to that liGht.

It’s Not Our Time- The Charities
Where Did I Go Wrong?- Brenda
The Orchard Dreamer- Cinema Royale
Trust In This Life- Rodina


Hol Kahol- Romano
Oga Doctor- Femi Kuti
Apotheosi- Web Web


74 Leonard Street- Ben Basile
Outtaspace Connection- DoodleBUG & 80 Empire Ft. The Brassaholics
Deseo- Fabi Hernandez Ft. Mathieu Ruz
Harmony Cats’ Theme- Harmony Cats


Optica Glow With All The Colors Of The Rainbow- Jake Stephenson
Ganja Beats Space Is High- Jake Stephenson

Yard Blanket

The first part of this week’s proGram laid down right there, y’all.

Let’s Go- Albert White
California Trap- Andrew Duncanson Ft. Michael Peloquin
greenarrowradio promo- Andrew Duncanson & Michael Peloquin
Hold Me Back- Andrew Duncanson Ft. Michael Peloquin


Spektator- Little Barrie & Malcolm Catto
Madison- Smoking Popes


On Its Face- mssv
OK To Change- mssv
The Bag- Nels Cline
I Wish- Marcin & Hayato Sumino


Cosmo- LaMP ft. Russ Lawton, Scott Metzger & Ray Paczkowski
Purple Haze (Vietnamese Đàn Bầu & Glissentar Style)- Ancient Future Ft. Matthew Montfort/Bui Huu Nhut/Abbos Kosimov/Mariah Parker
Queenless King- WITCH
Ceylan- Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek
Güneş- Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek

From The Mind Of Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol

Grammy nominated composer & CMES Harvard University fellow, Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol made his Carnegie Hall debut in April 2016 premiering his commissioned piece Harabat/The Intoxicated with the American Composers Orchestra. Other recent works have been heard at Tanglewood’s Ozawa Hall & Jordan Hall. He hails from Cyprus & Turkey, and is a Jazz pianist, a multi-instrumentalist, a singer, an ethnomusicologist as well as a full-time faculty member at the New England Conservatory. He has been the recipient of numerous respected awards including the South Arts Jazz Road Creative Residency Grant in 2021, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music Grant twice in 2016 & 2020, as well as the New Music USA Grant twice in 2020 & again in 2024. A musical polymath, Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol has composed for, performed & toured with international stars & ensembles such as Dave Liebman, Bob Brookmeyer, Billy Cobham, Antonio Sanchez, Anat Cohen, Ingrid Jensen, Miguel Zenón, John Patitucci, Esperanza Spalding, The Boston Camerata, The Boston Cello Quartet, American Composers Orchestra, Okay Temiz, Erkan Oğur & Birol Yayla. He pairs Turkish instruments such as zurna (double reed wind), ney (end-blown flute), kös (large kettledrums) and nekkare (small kettledrums) with the jazz orchestra/combo to perform his Turkish music-influenced compositions, in which Turkish makam (mode) and usul (rhythmic cycles) are intertwined with modern jazz as well as specifically film noir influenced music. To achieve the same goal on keyboard instruments he has designed & conceived the SANLIKOL Renaissance 17, a digital microtonal keyboard with 17 keys per octave. Mehmet studied western classical piano with his mother and started giving piano recitals at age 5. Later on he studied with the internationally acclaimed Turkish composer/pianist Aydın Esen and won a scholarship to Berklee College of Music. While at Berklee, Sanlıkol studied jazz composition with such accomplished composers like Herb Pomeroy & Ken Pullig. After studying with composers George Russell, Bob Brookmeyer & Lee Hyla, Sanlıkol completed his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Composition. During his doctoral studies, he also focused on Turkish music & ethnomusicology as a result of which he helped find the organization DÜNYA based in Boston, where he acts as the president. It’s a musicians’ collective dedicated to contemporary presentations of Turkish traditions, alone and in interaction with other world traditions, through musical performance, publication, & educational activities. Since its founding Sanlıkol has produced, performed & delivered talks at over two hundred DÜNYA events and released 17 albums, 3 singles, a concert DVD, a feature film of Mehmet’s opera “Othello in the Seraglio” and a documentary film. You can often find Mehmet actively delivering papers & talks at academic conferences such as International Conference on Analytical Approaches to World Music & Society for Ethnomusicology. His first book, entitled The Musician Mehters, about the organization and the music of the Ottoman Janissary Bands has been published during 2011 in English by The ISIS press and in Turkish by Yapı Kredi Yayınları. His second book, entitled Reform, Notation and Ottoman music in Early 19th Century Istanbul: EUTERPE, was published by Routledge in 2023. Currently, he is the director of New England Conservatory’s Intercultural Institute and the project director and curator of Nilüfer Municipality Dr. Hüseyin Parkan Sanlıkol Musical Instruments Museum.

I had the chance to catch up with Mehmet a day or two ahead of the debut concert featuring the R-17 and we got right into it. He described the where it idea (not necessarily a new idea) came from, how it resonates with his desire to reconnect with his Turkish culture, and how this innovation will lead to more exploration. I was and am fascinated by all of this. the concert left nothing to the mind. It took a walk thru history with ancient instrumentation and combined it with a climb into the bed of the future with his new sonic tool to take off with. We talk about the R-17’s small place on his soon to be released album, 7 Shades of Melancholia, out 4/25 on DÜNYA and dive into the creation and ins and out of the new record. For me to get into these types of discussions with Mehmet was a nice push in the ‘we keep building’ direction, as the sonic bridges we create keep getting stronger with each new step added, and new directions we can head. We are constantly moving, and the R-17 is certainly a mover and a shaker.

The Debut Of The Renaissance 17

The 3D printed Renaissance 17 (R17), invented and patented by Grammy-nominated New England Conservatory faculty member Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol, marks a revolutionary step in instrument making. The 3D version of instrument will be premiered in a concert featuring Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol and the Dunya Ensemble at 7:30 ET on Wednesday, March 26 at NEC’s Jordan Hall.

A musical journey, with Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol and the DÜNYA ensemble, from classical Ottoman/Turkish music to original concert and jazz pieces inspired by Turkish music.

Dünya Ensemble

Beth Bahia Cohen, rebab, bowed tanbur, violin
Süeda Çatakoğlu, voice, piano, percussion
Vladyslav Dovhan, alto saxophone
Heiraza, voice, percussion
James Heazlewood-Dale, bass
George Lernis, drums, percussion, voice
Dan Meyers, sackbut, percussion, voice
Tareq Rantisi, percussion, voice
Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol, oud, electric oud, Renaissance 17, piano, duduk, ney, voice
Mark Tipton, trumpet, flugelhorn
Alice Xu, piano

Program:

I. Early Ottoman Music
II. Classical Turkish Music
III. Concert Music
IV. Sacred Music
V. Jazz and Pop

Ariacne Trujillo at Lincoln Center

GRAMMY nominee Ariacne Trujillo and her orchestra celebrate her latest album release, Legacy. Ariacne is one of the most creative pianists, vocalists, composers, and arrangers on the New York music scene. At the young age of 18, she was a lead singer and pianist at the legendary Cabaret Tropicana; and since then, she has built an astonishing career sharing the stage with legends Paul Simon, Paquito D. Rivera, Wynton Marsalis, and countless more. With her virtuosity on the piano, her powerful and flexible voice, originality of her compositions, and musical influence from her native Havana, Cuba, she makes her mark in Afro-Cuban Latin jazz—exuding the perfect balance of elegance and intensity. Her and her orchestra played a wonderul evening at the Lincoln Center.

Popping A Spring

The final part of the proGram was happy to see it would still occur.

Oye Como Va- Juan Perea
Stars In A Box- Adam Ahuja, Radiccio Nash & Gavi Grodsky
Kaleidoscope- J3PO Ft. Anwar Marshall & Yayennings
Fusion Fest- J3PO Ft. Anwar Marshall
Last Train To From Overbrook- Nick Hempton & Cory Weeds


Sunset On The Keys- Erik Jekabson
Sephardic Blues- Dennis Mitcheltree / Johannes Wallmann Duo


X Marks The Spot- Shuffle Demons
Nice Signal- Shuffle Demons
Struttin’ With Some Barbecue- Caili O’Doherty
Pros and Cons- Dann Zinn Ft. Rachel Z, Omar Hakim & Jeff Denson


Struttin’- Bill Moio
Four On Six- Chicago Jazz Orchestra Ft. Bobby Broom
Boss City- Chicago Jazz Orchestra Ft. Bobby Broom
Tykytys- Kaisa’s Machine

Undo Tangled

The middle part of the proGram yad some new twists & turns to it.

The 23- Nels Cline
Folded Secret- Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson


Until We Meet Again- Shane Sato
Red Sun- Sim Nagai
If You’re Wondering- Sim Nagai
Created With A Heavy Brush- Ant
All Right Now, Listen- Ant


The Grifter- The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble
Open The Gate- The Mighty Mocambos
Just As Long As We’re Together- Jalen Ngonda
Here When You’re Ready- Tanika Charles


Direne Direne- Derya Yildirim & Grup Simsek
Hook And Swing- Ray Lugo & The Boogaloo Destroyers
Pássaros Selvagem- Os Carbonos
Edmundo (In the Mood)- Coisa Quente

Wood’s Spot

The first part of this week’s proGram wondered what we could do if we chucked that wood.

The Evil That Never Dies- Mitch Burger
My Baby Left Me- ZZ Ward
All Over Now- Duane Hoover
Wild Thing- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers


NEIGHBORHOOD DOG- CHIME OBLIVION
Previous Life- Messiness
Simply Avanti- Mynd Reader


Say Baby Say- Bob Corritore
New Low- Ben Levin Ft. Lil’ Ed
I’m Too Young to Be This Old- Taj Mahal & Mindy Canter


Tiny Pipes- mssv
***pre-recorded conversation with Mike Baggetta of mssv***
Careful What You Wish For- mssv
Leave Unattended and Suffer The Consequences- stef.in
Surplus- Nels Cline