Zappa en directo!

· Frank Zappa: "FZ:OZ" (Vaulternative, 2002).

Doble álbum en vivo de Zappa con una formación reducida, dando todo el protagonismo a su guitarra rítmica y solista. Grabado en 1976 en el Hordern Pavillion de Sidney. Muy buen sonido y un repertorio centrado en su LP "Zoot Allures" (que entonces estaba a punto de publicarse), aunque también incluye muchas otras sorpresas en más de 2 horas de concierto.

Dragonfly

Hoy vamos a recordar a este grupo de psych-rock holandés de los 60's, con algunos videos encontrados en ya sabes dónde. La mayoría de ellos son simples fotos fijas de la portada del álbum (o single), pero se pueden escuchar los temas completos. Verdaderas gemas. El mejor de todos es el último video, donde se puede ver al final al grupo en directo.

Hadda Brooks (1916-2002)

The Queen of the Boogie

Legendary Jazz & Blues singer, songwriter, pianist, and actress.

HADDA BROOKS, hailed as the "The Queen of Boogie Woogie" and "The Empress of the Torch Blues", began her recording career in 1945 with "Swingin' the Boogie" (the first release on Modern Records - BEFORE other artists like John Lee Hooker and B.B. King recorded for Modern).

Aficionados of both music and film will recall Ms. Brooks classic recordings along with her several film appearances, including:
Her feature film debut with TURHAN BEY and GEORGE BRENT in Leigh Jason's, "OUT OF THE BLUE" (1947). The smoky beckoning of Ms. Brooks' voice as she sang to movie icon HUMPHERY BOGART, in Nicholas Ray's "IN A LONELY PLACE" (1950). Vincente Minnelli's "The BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL" (1952). Sean Penn's "The CROSSING GUARD" (1995). Josef Rusnak's "THIRTEENTH FLOOR" (1999). Jefferson Davis' "JOHN JOHN IN THE SKY" (2001).

Ms. Brooks also appeared in several "SOUNDIES", from 1947 - 1948 (including "Queen of the Boogie, "Boogie Woogie Blues", & "Joint Is Jumpin'") and hosted her own television show in the 1950's, airing prime time on KLAC (now KCOP) in Los Angeles, CA. The show, called, appropriately "The Hadda Brooks Show", gained Ms. Brooks the ground breaking title of being the FIRST African-American woman to appear regularly on prime time television with her own show (long BEFORE other hosts like Oprah Winfrey & Queen Latifah debuted on television). She hosted the show from the piano, which combined talk show with musical entertainment (much like an earlier version of today's "Late Night" with David Letterman and the "Tonight Show" with Jay Leno).

At her 80th Birthday party, held at Johnny Depp's club, the Viper Room (in Hollywood, CA), Ms. Brooks was greeted by her many fans and friends including; Jack Nicholson, Uma Thurman, Johnny Depp and Sean Penn. Ms. Brooks 80th year also marked another milestone in her legendary career with her Virgin/Pointblank album "Time Was When". This release represented a particularly poignant homecoming for Ms. Brooks. With "Time Was When" she became the first artist in history to sign with a record label, as a new artist, FIFTY years after the artist originally signed to the same label. This began in 1945, when music impresario Jules Bihari created Modern Records specifically as a home for Ms. Brooks' music (later, Modern went on to become one of the most famous R&B labels of all-time - After their success with Ms. Brooks' first recordings, Modern released recordings by B.B. King, Etta James, John Lee Hooker, Charles Brown, and MANY more legendary artists). In 1994, after acquiring the Modern catalog, Pointblank/Virgin released "That's My Desire", a 25-track CD of Ms. Brooks' early gems. Then in 1995, Ms. Brooks joined Modern Records' current parent label, Pointblank/Virgin Records, exactly FIFTY years after her original 1945 Modern Records debut.

While in her 80's (when most people are retired), Brooks drew wide critical acclaim for her recordings and performances, including accolades from the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, L. A. Weekly, etc., and was awarded the prestigious "Pioneer Award" by the Smithsonian-based "Rhythm and Blues Foundation", acknowledging her ground-breaking work in recording, radio, film, and television. She also found an eager and receptive audience in a new generation of fans, including recording "You're My Cadillac" with roots artist, Deke Dickerson, and members of alternative rock band, the Geraldine Fibbers, whom Ms. Brooks recorded with on her CD "I've Got News For You" for Virgin Records (1998).
Ms. Brooks songs conjured many sounds, styles, and emotions; including bawdy blues, classical boogies, comical hokum, smokey jazz, lonely ballads, painfully tender romance, amazingly technical playing, or straight up barrelhouse & juke joint goodtime, and she never lost the strength and empowerment that established her as one of jazz & blues' most devoted mistresses of song. She continued to delight her fans up until her death, at age 86, with the same impassioned brassiness as she did in her recordings and performances from the 1940's to the 2000's....From Analog to Digital....From 78 Records to MP3's.
Called an "American Treasure" by Bonnie Raitt, Ms. Brooks was an enchanting and sultry torch singer, an original "Jazz Diva", that will be sadly missed by her many admirers worldwide. -- mj (11/22/02)
© 2002 HaddaBrooks.com

Discography & Filmography: http://haddabrooks.tripod.com/hadda-disco.htm

Más información: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadda_Brooks

Discos que estoy escuchando actualmente

·The Rolling Stones:
"We Love You" (single Decca, 1967).

Primer single de su etapa psicodélica. No su mejor periodo, desde luego. La cara B, "Dandelion", es bastante mejor que la titular.




· Frank Zappa: "Everything is Healing Nicely"
(Barking Pumpkin, 1999).

Disco póstumo, recoge grabaciones realizadas junto a la Ensemble Modern, que sirvieron de preparación para las sesiones de su LP "The Yellow Shark". Zappa en su vertiente de compositor contemporáneo. No para todos los paladares, pero con la musicalidad innata de Zappa.




· Maika Makovski: "Kradiaw"
(Wild Punk Records, 2005).

Disco debut de esta cantautora rock residente en Barcelona. Interesante y prometedor, pero algo dubitativo, cojea en algunos aspectos, como el que en algunos temas se muestren demasiado explícitas sus influencias. Aún así, reseñable por estar donde estamos.



· Sex Museum: "The Fabulous & Furry Sex Museum"
(Animal Records, 1992).

Magnífico doble álbum de los madrileños. La primera parte, con temas nuevos, grabada en directo en el estudio. La segunda, con temas mayormente de su disco anterior, "Independence", en concierto. Mejor lo primero, no tiene desperdicio. Magnífica portada.

· Bob Dylan: "Self-Portrait"
(CBS, 1970).
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_Portrait
Décimo álbum de estudio de Dylan, el siguiente a su conversión country en "Nashville Skyline", de cuyas sesiones algunos sobrantes están incluídos en éste. Este disco no es tan malo como la crítica de su tiempo (y el propio Dylan) quiso hacerlo parecer. De hecho, hay temas bastante reseñables e incluso muy buenos. El problema son los rellenos incomprensibles que le hacen perder cohesión (temas en directo, alguna versión desafortunada, ...). Dylan harto de ser Dylan.



· Fountains of Wayne: "Radiation Vibe"
(single Atlantic, 1997).

Magnífico single con tres temas extra. La canción titular se incluyó en su LP debut homónimo.

Presentación e Inauguración

Hoy se inaugura este nuevo blog, que se va a ocupar de todo tipo de músicas y algunos otros temas, que ya se me irán ocurriendo.
De momento, únicamente desear que lo que se vaya publicando en este espacio sea de vuestro agrado e interés.