Johnny Paycheck:
Take This Job And Shove It
In honor of Labor Day...
In honor of all the working folks out there, here is Johnny Paycheck singing what most of us are thinking.
The song rocketed to Number one for two weeks in 1977 and stayed on the charts for 18 weeks. Although it has not been verified, Johnny Paycheck claims that unemployment numbers skyrocketed after the song's release.
Otis Redding
Try A Little Tenderness
Otis Redding released his first album in 1964.
By 1966 he was a bona fide star of the Soul and R+B charts.
In June 1967, Redding performed at the influential Monterey Pop Festival as the closing act on Saturday night, the second day of the festival. He was invited through the efforts of promoter Jerry Wexler. Until that point, Redding was still performing mainly for black audiences. At the time, he "had not been considered a commercially viable player in the mainstream white American market." But after delivering one of the most electric performances of the night, and having been the act to most involve the audience, his performance at Monterey Pop moved him from local to national acclaim.
In December 1967, the band was traveling to performances in Redding's Beechcraft H18 airplane. On December 9, they appeared on the Upbeat television show produced in Cleveland.
The next day, Sunday, December 10, they were to play at the Factory nightclub, near the University of Wisconsin.
Although the weather was poor, with heavy rain and fog, and despite warnings, the plane took off. Four miles from their destination at Truax Field in Madison, pilot Richard Fraser radioed for permission to land. Shortly thereafter, the plane crashed into Lake Monona.
Otis Redding and everyone on the plane except for one band member died in the crash.
The world lost one of the greatest soul singers of any generation.
Here is a video from the day before the crash, Otis Redding and the Bar-Kays, performing "Try A Little Tenderness"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqNc4XLBguIRobbie Robertson:
The Weight
Robbie Robertson was born on the Six Nations Reserve outside of Toronto, Ontario, on July 5, 1943, his mother was of Mohawk and Cayuga heritage, and his biological father (who he never knew) was a professional gambler. He spent some time as a teenager working with traveling carnivals before he felt the pull of rock ’n’ roll. By the time he was 16 he was already the lead guitarist with Ronnie Hawkins and The Hawks, a popular Canadian bar band. “I was trying to do something with my playing that was like screaming at the sky,” he wrote in his autobiography “Testimony”.
The Hawks split from Ronnie Hawkins in 1964, and soon were known as The Band, and became Bob Dylan's backup band when Dylan "went electric" to the consternation of his folk fans.
The Band more or less created the style of music now called "Americana". Robertson wrote odes to Confederate soldiers, blacksmiths, medicine shows and whistle stops, his tall tales given weight and energy by the heft of The Band.
By 1976 Robbie had had enough of the touring and rock n roll life, and The Band played their last concert with him, "The Last Waltz". This was released 2 years later as a movie filmed and directed by Martin Scorsese , and it began his career as a music advisor to Scorsese which continued up through Scorsese's current movie, “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Released from the shackles of Rock and Roll, Robertson continued to write songs and put out seven very eclectic albums as well as being involved with eighteen film soundtracks.
Here is a clip from "The Last Waltz", with Levon Helm singing lead on "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"
and here is an amazing clip of The Band playing live in their studio in Woodstock NY, "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)" sung by pianist Richard Manuel,
For the sheer joy of music, and the power of Robertson's songwriting, you can't beat this clip from PLAYING FOR CHANGE with Robertson on guitar and Ringo Starr on drums, with guest spots from Larkin Poe, Lucas Nelson (Willie's son) and countless others.
Robbie, the weight has been lifted, go in peace!
Dorothy Donegan:
Sensations of 1945
Dorothy Donegan, a jazz pianist who brashly mixed swing, boogie-woogie, vaudeville, pop, ragtime and Bach -- sometimes within a span of 10 minutes -- and who was known for an outrageous sense of humor, was born in 1922.
She started playing in bars at the age of 14 in her hometown of Chicago. In 1943, when she was 21, she gave a concert at Orchestra Hall in Chicago, the first black performer to do so.
Hollywood soon came calling. Persuaded by her agent to turn down a five-year contract from MGM, she accepted a $3,000-a-week contract from United Artists for one picture, ''Sensations of 1945.'' This was the beginning and ending of her film career, but she continued to have a long career playing jazz clubs in the US and internationally.
Art Tatum called her "the only woman who can make me practice".
Donegan was outspoken about her view that sexism, along with her insistence on being paid the same rates as male musicians, had limited her career. In 1992, Donegan received an "American Jazz Master" fellowship from the NEA.
Ms. Donegan was better known as a performer than as a recording artist, and her flamboyance helped her find work in a field that was largely hostile to women. To a certain extent, it was also her downfall; her concerts were often criticized for having an excess of personality. Here is a RARE 1992 video from the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood of Dorothy with Linda Hopkins - it gives you a feel for what her live shows were really like!
Sit back and enjoy this AMAZING clip from the movie "SENSATIONS OF 1945" with Dorothy Donegan, Gene Rogers (another amazing stride pianist), Cab Calloway and his orchestra, and others
Jacob Collier:
Somewhere
Last year, while I was playing with my jazz quartet at The Sound Room in Oakland (the show was fabulous, by the way), across the bay Jacob Collier was performing at SFJazz.
Unlike his usual performances which include a large band and lots of electronics, this show was just Jacob sitting at the piano playing songs, piano and voice.
His vocal ability? Astounding. His harmonic choices at the piano? Other-worldly.
I am not sure how long this video will stay up (it was recorded by an audience member) but check it out while you can!
Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers:
Atheists Don't Have No Songs
As anyone that has followed to career of Steve Martin knows, he is a multi-hyphenate talent:
comedian, magician, actor, director, musician, writer of skits, songs, novels, screenplays, Broadway shows, ...
Many people do not know that music (and playing the banjo in particular) was one of his first loves, and was an integral part of his early stand-up routines.
So in a way it was no surprise when in 2009 Steve Martin starting playing and performing with The Steep Canyon Rangers. They released 2 albums and toured together, and then in 2014 they released a live CD/DVD and PBS special that featured Martin's unique blend of comedy and bluegrass.
This song showcases his songwriting talent as well as his singing talent. My hat is off to anyone who can fit the word "existentialism" into a song and make it rhyme!
Will Brahm:
Viale Bramante
About once a year I have the pleasure of bringing my jazz quartet up to the Bay Area in Northern CA. I was up there on SATURDAY JUNE 10, 2023 at The Sound Room in Oakland CA, and I'll be back again in April 2023!
The band features Will Brahm on guitar. (Will tours with Arturo Sandoval), Fred Randolph on Bass and Rob Rhodes on drums.
I am very excited to be working with Will. He is a talented young guitarist that can play in the style of Pat Metheny or Wes Montgomery - very versatile! You have to check this guy out. Born and Raised in Portland Oregon, Will moved to Los Angeles in 2007 where he received his bachelors of music in Jazz Guitar Studies at California State University Long Beach. He is a five time consecutive recipient of the “K-jazz” scholarship.
This weeks Musical Moment is one of Will's compositions, "Viale Bramante"
The Sound Room is aptly named. The focus is on the sound or the music. Unlike clubs where the performance may be peripheral to the experience, at the Sound Room the performance IS the experience. It is an all-ages listening room. They exist to present great music and promote jazz as an art form. The ticket price pays the band, and they get by with Beer/wine and food sales at the club.
https://www.soundroom.org/events
Benny Golson Killer Joe George, Over a seven-decade career, Benny Golson exhibited a combination of grace, warmth and technical virtuosi...
