George Duke and Billy Cobham - Rush Hour and Road Rage

 FMM #100

George Duke and Billy Cobham

 Hard to believe this is #100 of the Friday Musical Moments.  I hope you are enjoying them as much as I enjoy finding these super-cool video clips and sharing them with you.

I thought we would kick out the jams with a little peak experience jazz fusion with two of the masters: George Duke and Billy Cobham. It's hard to confirm a date on this video, but it seems like it is from a 2009 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

How many variations and permutations of 10/4 time signature can you think of? Billy thought of more! The joy and excitement that you see on their faces is amazing. George Duke died on August 5, 2013, in Los Angeles, at the age of 67. Life is short - live it large!

One of the great keyboard/drum duos of all time.  Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/KcA1HKwxkvk

Brandi Carlile - Right On Time

 Brandi Carlile - Right On Time

Here is an artist that is blurring musical categories like no one else. (Because of this I could not just find one video to share, so here are three.) Brandi has won awards in Pop, Rock, Country, Folk and Americana categories, and this year she is the first woman to be nominated twice in one year for Song of The Year.

She released her first album in 2005, and by 2007 she was already a fast-rising star.

In addition to the Right On Time video, you should take 10 minutes and watch this clip from the 2021 Kennedy Center Honors when they gave Joni Mitchell the award, and Brandi and others singers performed a handful of Joni's songs. Brandi delivers "River" with enormous pathos, followed by Brittany Howard and Herbie Hancock performing Both Sides Now. Amazing!

Right On Time finds Brandi Carlile pleading with someone close to her for a reconciliation following an argument. The singer got angry and took it out on this other person, leaving them upset. But in the chorus Carlile reveals she doesn't regret their heated exchange because she'd kept quiet for far too long

Here is Right On Time, (official video)

https://youtu.be/tOpWqWK0q4U

Here is The Joke, live at The Grammy Awards 2019

https://youtu.be/KJqL1yIm9e0

Here is River by Joni Mitchell, live at The Kennedy Center Honors 2021

https://youtu.be/RnsAh9tQbS8?t=206

Rhiannon Giddens - Avalon

 Rhiannon Giddens - Avalon

Here is a little bit of joy to start the New Year - and I know I need it!

With the 2022 Grammy Awards coming up sometime soon (after everyone in Los Angeles recovers from Omicron, I guess), I want to share some of the great music and artists from 2021 that are up for awards.

First up is Rhiannon Giddens, nominated for Best Folk Album, They're Calling Me Home, and for Best American Roots Song (Avalon).

Recorded over six days in the early phase of the pandemic in a small studio outside of Dublin, Ireland, where both Giddens and Turrisi live, They’re Calling Me Home manages to effortlessly blend the music of their native and adoptive countries: America, Italy, and Ireland. "Avalon" speaks of the longing for the comfort of home as well as the metaphorical “call home” of death.

The Avalon video features two wonderful dancers, Stephanie Dufresne and Mintesinot Wolde. Filmed and edited by Laura Sheeran in Co. Galway, Ireland

https://youtu.be/esILLxHM92M

Jon Batiste - FREEDOM

 Jon Batiste

Freedom

We have entered "Grammy Season", the month where as a Grammy member I get to vote for the best music released in the 12 months starting September 2020 - September 2021. I hate to be a Grinch, but there isn't a whole lot that excites me here.

Except... This may be the Year of Jon Batiste. You may know him as the bandleader for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.  As of 2021, Batiste has garnered 14 Grammy Award nominations. The guy is everywhere this year, from Record of The Year to Best Soundtrack Album for "Soul", the Pixar film which was AMAZING. If he wins all 11 awards he is up for this year, I will be thrilled

Check out this wonderful video for Record Of The year FREEDOM

https://youtu.be/3YHVC1DcHmo

And if you like that, check out his Tiny Desk Concert from 2020

https://youtu.be/ze4xcmBFvaE