Eric Bibb - Blues & Love Road Adventures

What if we evaluated our lives not by the answers we give but by our questions? The deep things we ask ourselves if we are brave enough to try. Eric Bibb puts those queries to music, singing, “Am I the change I long to see?”
It is easy to point to Eric’s accomplishments. A five-decade career recording with folk and blues royalty. Two Grammy nominations and multiple Blues Foundation awards. A following that not only crosses borders, it crosses continents. But what Eric Bibb is after is much, much larger than that.
To meet Eric is to be struck by both his humility and his warmth. There is no pretense in him. He is remarkably centered, his convictions based in the values of the civil rights movement of the sixties. Eric’s music works in service of that dream, holding out a hope for a new world. He challenges us to do better, to reach higher, and strive harder. Like Mavis and Pops Staples, he wants to take us there.
Eric carries this mantle honestly. His father, the late Leon Bibb, was an activist, actor, and folk singer who marched at Selma with Dr. Martin Luther King. Eric’s youth was spent immersed in the Village folk scene. Names like Dylan, Baez, and Seeger were visitors to his home. He was deeply influenced by Odetta, Richie Havens, and Taj Mahal. And he has synthesized all of that into his very own style.
Eric is an artist who preserves the best traditions of pre-war blues, even while he expands his own oeuvre. Marketing tags him as a bluesman, but troubadour is the word that best describes him. He slides neatly between genres as he builds bridges with musicians from the UK and Europe, pickers from North America, and Kora players from West Africa. His collaborations with the likes of Michael Jerome Browne, JJ Milteau, Danny Thompson, and Habib Koite have produced music that is both ecstatic and exquisite.
Fortunately for us, Eric shows no signs of slowing down. He has, of late, been touring a stage show he developed entitled Tales of a Blues Brother. The program intersperses photographs and film clips with gripping oral tradition and rapturous song, tracing Eric’s personal journey through the heady days of the sixties folk music and civil rights movements. In one moment he manages to entertain, educate, and motivate us. Eric provides a grounding in the truth which we desperately need in these days of rancor. A vision we need in a world of divisive rhetoric and veiled allusions to “the other.”
Of course, there is more to him than even those laudable ideals. Proud father of six, and husband to Ulrika Bibb (a fine singer in her own right), Eric brings a humanity and sense of humor to his work. There are treasures here for everyone.
Eric sings of the Freedom Train. He believes it. He lives it. He wants to take us on that ride. I got on the Bibb train in 2008. Maybe you already have your ticket. But if you haven’t, no need to worry. There’s still time to get on board.
Joe McSpadden

Pat Metheny for Lovers

Beautiful melodies and landscapes perfect for relaxation and lovers worldwide as performed by one of the most prolific guitarrist of our time.

BLUES THAN BLUES VOCALS - Various Artists

The Most Amazing Blues Vocal Ballads You'll Ever Listen !!!

BLUER THAN BLUES GUITARS - Various Artists

A collections of dreamy, seductive and passionate Blues Guitar Instrumentals performed by the most amazing blues and non-blues contemporary guitar players.

TOOTS THIELEMANS - HARMONICA MASTER

Toots Thielemans was known for his harmonica playing, as well as his guitar, whistling skills, and composing. His most important contribution was making the harmonica a legitimate voice in jazz and world music. He played with Benny Goodman's band and recorded and performed live with musicians such as Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Werner, Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, Elis Regina and Paquito D'Rivera. Among the film soundtracks that Thielemans recorded are The Pawnbroker (1964), Midnight Cowboy (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Sugarland Express (1974) and Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977). His harmonica theme song for the popular Sesame Street TV show was heard for 40 years. He often performed and recorded with Quincy Jones, who once called him "one of the greatest musicians of our time." In 2009 he was designated a Jazz Master by The National Endowment for the Arts, the highest honor for a jazz musician in the United States. (Source Wikipedia). Cover drawing by Japie Goosen.

STING - ODDITIES & RARITIES

An amazingly cool list of Sting' collaborations with other artists or participations on special side-projects, which are not available on his own albums. Photo byYancho Sabev.

Norah Jones - Oddities & Rarities

A cool list of Norah Jones' collaborations with other artists or on special projects, not available on her albums. Painting attributed to Guku.

JAZZ ROCK 70'S FUSION - Various Artists

The best jazz-rock fusion tracks from the 70s, the era which established the emergence of this musical genre as a musical style to last forever.

JAZZ ROCK FUSION - Various Artists

 

An Amazing Collection of the Best Jazz Rock Fusion of today. Hot, Known, Rare, Odd and Hard to Find tracks comprise this incredible playlist.

Jazz Odd Voices - Various Artists

A beautiful romantic and joyful journey into the realm of jazz vocals with performances from a range of artist not ussually associated with the jazz genre.

In The Wake Of The Crimson King - Various Artists

The influnce of King Crimson perdures on the music created by the followers and the mucicians who have participated one way or another on this musical journey.

French Kiss - Various Artists - Discover Beautiful French Music !

Beautiful French Ballads for the new age, which will make you feel Romantic. Discover French artists. Play it in Random mode and enjoy!

Brandford Marsalis - Romances for Saxophone

Brandford Marsalis for lovers in an intimate playlist of his most romantic tunes. He is an American saxophonist known for his work as a jazz instrumentalist who also frequently perfoms as a classical soloist.

An Original Christmas - Various Artists Playlist

A collection of original, beautiful Christmas songs mixed with intimate, rare and amazing renditions of Christmas classics, performed by great artist, such as Michael McDonald, Arianna Grande, Maria Mena, Kenny Loggins, Keb Mo, Alison Krauss and many more. 202 songs, over 12 hours of Christmas Joy Simply follow our playlist. Play it in seqence or ramdom and enjoy it. Merry Christmas 2016!!

Andreas Sandlund - My Everything

Swedish singer/songwriter Andreas Sandlund has worked as a musician (pianist & vocalist) collaborating with the best artists in Sweden. He has also collaborated on songs written by Andreas Carlsson (Britney Spears), Johan Åberg (Christina Aguilera) and Desmond Child among others. As a songwriter, besides writing for himself, he has written songs for other well-known Swedish artists through his collaboration with major publisher Warner Chappell Scandinavia, where he was signed for a number of years. To date, he has released 3 albums, “Destiny” in 2012, “Sacred Love” in 2009, “Diamond No. 1” in 2006 and several singles such as “Although I Love You” a remake of a well-known South Korean song, which Andreas was asked to do in 2014 by the South Korean label Some Music Korea. His single “Tänd ett ljus” with former winner of the major Eurovision Song Contest, Carola was released in 2013. His songs have also appeared on album by record labels in Hong Kong, the Czech Republic, Russia and Slovakia. In 2014 Andreas devoted a lot of time writing music for various projects. He also visited South Korea for the first time, doing some promotion and various performances.

Now in 2015, Kithara Music in France has released a compilation album comprised of his most amazing compositions and his best works to date. The result is a heartwarming, fresh and beautiful set of songs immersed in a radio-friendly atmosphere. An incredible collection of original works embraced by pop rhythms, alternative stylings, beautiful vocals and sensibilities, which create a smooth contemporary vibe full of love, longing, sadness, happiness and everlasting emotions. Discover the fuzz around this sensible contemporary artist. The album is available worldwide only on CD Baby and in all digital stores in France.

Tulio Cremisini - Momentum

Every once in a while an album touches you in unexpected ways and “Momentum” by Tulio Cremisini is one of those albums. Cremisini studied the acoustic guitar at an early age but had to give it up in exchange for percussion as a result of an accident, which severed several of his tendons on his fingers. But after many years of diverting his musical skills in other directions, Cremisini bought a guitar and started fooling around trying to reconnect with the young boy who, decades ago, began learning how to play the instrument. After many hours of practice, several ideas began to flow as musical pieces and Cremisini found himself working overtime to keep the “Momentum” going and let the flow of ideas manifest itself into musical works, which he then recorded at his home studio. The result is a heartwarming, fresh and beautiful set of acoustic guitar pieces comparable to the works of Pierre Bensusan, Michael Hedges, Anthony Phillips and many other acoustic guitarists. Tulio Cremisini is a multitalented, classically trained musician, composer, songwriter and producer with over 35 years of experience working on original music for films, TV (shows for NBC/Universal/Telemundo), advertising, records and musical theater. He has been the Principal Timpanist with Miami Symphony Orchestra since 2008 and he has won several ASCAP and TV awards as well a 2010 Latin Grammy. He has worked as producer/songwriter or arranger for numerous top Latin and international artists. Tulio’s multicultural and eclectic educational background has given him such a special versatility to seamlessly embrace any musical style with class and effectiveness. And as a sample of such versatility please check out his work on a grand scale symphonic project: “Symphony of the Soul” (Ilan Chester). Chester expressed perfectly the achievement of Tulio Cremisini’s latest work: "…In his latest work, "Momentum", Tulio reveals his introspective and sensitive nature through the careful selection of melodies; and playing as if caressing his guitar, he manages to take the listener to a serene and beautiful place, a place where the feeling of longing and the goodness of heart are the all-pervading elements. ”Momentum" is a musical privilege to have and to cherish…"

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Bossanovanglo - Various Artists

Brazil’s Bossa Nova emerged as one of the most influential movements in musical history, standardized by its anthem “Garota de Ipanema” (The Girl from Ipanema) written by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes. But the influence of Bossa Nova with its strong jazz flavor has endure the test of time and it has embedded itself into the composition and performing style of many English-singing artists, some of which comprise “Bossanovanglo”. Published by Kithara Musique, this is an incredible collection of Bossa Nova originals and covers sung entirely in English and performed by some amazing international artists who have embraced bossa nova rhythms, jazz stylings and nylon string guitar colors with their own beautiful vocals and pop sensibilities to create a smooth contemporary vibe full of love, longing, sadness, happiness and everlasting emotions normally depicted on this Brazilian music genre. Featuring Canadian singer/songwriter Marc Jordan (famous for having written "Rhythm of My Heart" for Rod Stewart) a duo with Canadian jazz singer Molly Johnson; American composer, pianist and educator Don Grusin accompanied by sensual soul stylist singer Leon Ware of Mowtown fame; the amazing vocal-piano duo of American vocalist Cecily Gardner with famous Canadian composer, pianist, producer David Foster; German crooner Peter Fessler accompanied by the amazing NDR Bigband; German vocal extraordinaire Nikola Materne & Bossanoire; sultry Swedish vocalist Anna Nygren; American jazz diva Sylvia Bennett; the insideful American singer-songwriter Amy Holland (wife of Michael McDonald); the duo of German guitarist, composer Dago and acclaimed soul jazz singer Tokunbo Akinro; the ever cheerful Canadian singer Michele Mele and French awesome newcomers Aymeric Frerejean and Joel Virgel. Beautiful cover painting by Sergio Lazo.

Novo Combo - Self Titled Album / The Animation Generation

Finally after all these years both albums by the group "Novo Combo" have been released straight to digital media and they are available on iTunes as well as Spotify, Qobuz and other streaming services. The first album sinply entitled "Novo Combo", was released in 1981. It was a combination of pop-rock and new wave styles, resembling early Police and enhanced by the great musicianship of its members, drummer and former Santana member Michael Shrieve, Pete Hewlett on guitars, bassist and lead vocalist Steven Drees and Jack Griffith on guitars. Their second release "The Animation Generation" continued their preceeding effort but on a more posihed production style. Drummer Michael Shrieve played a very tight and powerfull style and the inclusion of guitarrist Carlos Rios, a former member of Gino Vannelli's group, who replaced Jack Griffith, became the link which tightened the group's style. Pete Hewlett went on to do some work with Billy Joel, Joe Jackson, Carly Simon and Eric Carmen. Steven Drees would later do work with Hall and Oates and Tony Carey before forming his own band, the Bandees and Jack Griffith went on to play with Mick Jagger, Carlos Santana and Gary Moore. Carlos Rios keep on increasing his activities as a session player as he worked with Earth, Wind & Fire, Yellowjackets, Diana Ross and many other famous artists. Drummer Michael Shrieve has continued spanning his solo career. The band dismantled after their second album.

 

To Stream or Not To Stream - That is the question

After and very long absence I am back with this controversial topic

Controversial? some might say!!

Well, for the artists, musicians, composers, sound recording owners and music publishers it is a controversial issue but one that doesn’t seem will go away.

For those of you who don’t know, Music Streaming services such as Spotify, Qobuz and Deezer have taken over the world making available practically every music recording to anybody in a vast spectrum of countries, either for free or for a subscription basis, which differs depending on the service’s business model and its terms and conditions.

The free subscriptions are basically invaded with advertising every 3 or 4 songs and are basically made that way to allure you into getting into a paid subscription. The advertisings are quite annoying and you can’t simply fast forward to your next chosen song, so you have to wait until the advertising is over to continue to listen to the music you’ve chosen.

Services go something like this:

Spotify: On mobile or tablets, you can always listen to artists, albums, created or ready-made playlists for free but always in shuffle mode. If you want to play any song or album in any order as you wish, any time, just upgrade to the Spotify Premium: Web access only without the ads and no commitment, for $4.99/month or Web/Mobile access without the ads and no commitment, for $9.99/month and you can play any song, anywhere. You also have the option of downloading music for fees such as those of iTunes, etc. & you’ll also be able to listen offline.

Deezer: Three subscription modes are available, Discovery: Web access only with ads, this is free. Premium: Web access only without the ads and no commitment, for $4.99/month; Premium+: Web/Mobile access without the ads and no commitment, for $9.99/month.

Qobuz: The world's first high-definition music streaming service based in France and only available in France, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, The United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Their subscriptions are: Premium 1: Web access only to music on MP3 (320 kbps resolution guaranteed) without the ads and no commitment, for $4.99/month; Premium 2: Web/mobile access to music on MP3 (320 kbps resolution guaranteed) without the ads and no commitment, for $9.99/month; Qobuz Hi-Fi: Web/mobile access to music on True CD Quality (FLAC 16 bit/44.1 kHz resolution guaranteed) without the ads and no commitment, for $19.99/month (Also available with listening limited to classical music for $14.99/month). One feature which separates Qobuz from other services is the option of downloading music at high resolutions. There are two levels of high quality audio available: Lossless, the uncompressed "True CD Quality" at 16-bit, as well as 24-bit Studio Masters range, boasting the actual quality of the files you purchase. Even thou Qobuz service is only available in the countries mentioned above, you can get them to change your account so you can purchase from other countries by emailing customer support in English or customer support in French. I guess this will bring foreign fees charged to your credit card, but Qobuz does have quite a larger selection of HD Tracks for sale (24 bits / 192 kHz on 12000 plus albums called “Qobuz Studio Masters”) making it very attractive for the Hi-Fi aficionado.

There are other services and business mdels as well, but I just wanted to give you an overall picture.

Now, you might say that this is “awesome”, to be able to listen to any music, any time, create your own playlists, etc. and it is wonderful indeed, but it comes at a price not to the consumer but to the artists, musicians, composers, sound recording owners and music publishers making this a controversial issue among music industry professionals.

And this is why:

One download sold at $0.99 purchased from any store, such as iTunes brings approximately the following revenue for the creators involved:

Store: $0.29; digital distributor: $0.10; sound recording owner: $0.60 and for example in the US the sound recording owner must pay the owner of the composition a fee of $0.091 before they pay the artist, so that leaves roughly $0.50 to be shared between the sound recording owner (Record companies, most of the time) and a percentage paid to the artist based on their contractual percentages. In other countries the author/composer/publisher share gets discounted by the store and paid to the pertaining performance rights society.

One listen at a streaming site, let’s say Spotify in the US, brings approximately US$ 0.007219 for the digital distributor, so approximately $ 0.006136 to the sound recording owner who for example in the US will have to pay 10.50% of that to the owner of the composition, leaving $0.00549172 to be shared with the artist.

So as you can see you would have to sell approximately 92 streams to reach the price of simply one download.

Of course, you cannot compare the two in the sense.  A stream is like a personal radio where you choose what song to listen to and you don’t own anything and the download you actually own but this gives you an idea as to why this is a controversial issue in spite of the fact that record companies and artists alike have embraced the streaming revolution as a media which is here to stay. But the issue is that a lot of people feel compelled to just stream and not buy.

It is a fact that sales have suffered a great deal and many artists and small independent labels find themselves struggling to survive as these revenue streams make it very difficult to recoup the investments needed to produce and market an album.

Some artists, such as Peter Gabriel or record labels such as ECM Records and many others have even blocked their recordings from being offered through streaming services, meaning that if you want their music, you should buy it. Others have decided beforehand that they will make their money on the shows so they use streaming as a mean to get fans to enjoy their music and then go to their shows. Some of the streaming services even alert you as to when your favorite artist will be in town. Other artists simply say that their streaming revenue surpasses the one form downloading, which is actually understandable as the revenue from sales of downloads has decreased dramatically due to people turning to streaming.

But as a consumer, the experience is often different than the one described above. Consumers find quite a few advantages from these services. First of all you are your own radio station; you decide what you want to listen. Some of the cons include the ability to be able to have almost all the music in the world available at your fingertip, the ability to create playlists with your favorite artists or with the albums or songs you would have never bought. For example, you like the Rolling Stones, but you never bought any of their albums because you had other preferences. Well by using these services you can actually create your own personalized Rolling Stones playlist and you would actually find yourself listening to it more often than not. Perhaps it is a list of 80s recordings, the sky is the limit. Some listeners, specially 40 and older are using these streaming services to fulfil their dreams of having their record collection completed with every release from the artist they love or like. And this is especially true since you can create a playlist with as many albums as you like but you also can delete the songs you dislike from each album on the playlist, and they stay deleted; a powerful tool indeed.

And then there is the discovery process. You will find yourself jumping from one related artist to another and soon enough you will have discovered a great deal of new music, meaning new for you as some of the discovery can take you to groups or songs from earlier years, which you never heard before. Or what about rediscovering that great song you always liked but never knew who performed until now that you find it through the related artist tool.

This brings me to another point. If you discover something you really like, then you feel inclined to buy either the CD or the downloads, and perhaps this is one of the most positive aspects of the streaming revolution, if you like something you might then want to buy it so that you can listen to it at your own pace and through different media systems. I can tell you from my own experience that I have bought a great deal of CDs and album downloads, just because I discovered them through my streaming subscription service.

And party music has never been as exciting. The playlists from people’s iPods or telephones have been replaced by the search engines on the party host’s computer streaming service or the playlists created beforehand by the host on his/hers subscription service. Music has indeed become global.

Another advantage of the streaming revolution is that it seems illegal music sharing and downloading has decreased as people can now simply send a URL corresponding to a created or existing playlist and their friends can then open it on their computers using their own subscriptions, or they can share their playlists in any social media making the discovery and sharing process legal and compelling. Some people find it easier to simply have the music on their subscription service available at all times and on any media than actually going on those annoying file sharing searching for something, which readily available on the streaming service, and downloading it with the risk of infecting their computer with a virus.

This brings me to my point concerning this blog.

From now on and when I start posting again, I will list most of my future posts using Spotify playlists (unless it is something, which is not available). That way you can join the revenue stream so needed to keep music, artists and composers alive so that we can continue to enjoy music as we’ve know it.

Streaming is here to stay and even if I resisted in the beginning, I have succumbed to the streaming revolution but please remember:

If you love the music please buy it!!

Silvano Monasterios - Unconditional

The Venezuelan-born pianist/composer has synthesized his classical and jazz training with the rich musical traditions of all of South America into a potent personal multifaceted musical vision. Over the years he has led his own impressive groups and performed with a host of jazz greats, such as Randy Brecker, Donald Byrd, Larry Coryell, Paquito D'Rivera, Mark Egan, Arturo Sandoval, Terumasa Hino, Marc Johnson, Dave Liebman, Claudio Roditi, Dave Valentin, Othello Molineaux, Melton Mustafa, Sammy Figueroa, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Paul Wertico, Lou Soloff and even pop & rock icons Shakira and David Lee Roth. Though the language of jazz is obvious within his music, his originality is both refreshing and a joyful. Whether delving into different traditions or moving beyond them, Monasterios demonstrates his longing and search for love, family and heritage which forever will be at the core of his artistic journey. The influence of his own culture is present in every cell of music he creates; in every phrase he executes; and most of all, in every piece he composes. While his music occasionally touches on Latin jazz expectations, his compositions don't always point South. Monasterios’ music lacks limitations or constraints, as he breaks free from the shackles of Latin jazz labeling to construct a compelling multifaceted musical statement that touches on a variety of styles and moods, ranging from serene to soaring with an emphasis on composition, attention to detail, craftsmanship, fine improvisation and coherence prominently integrated within a romantic atmosphere. But when Monasterios and his peers cut loose their delivery fiercely digs deep into the realms of jazz greatness. The contribution of Silvano Monasterios to the development of jazz is sure to garner recognition and persistence through his masterful playing and composing. Musicians are: Silvano Monaterios on piano, Gabriel Vivas and Jon Dadurka on bass, José Gregorio Hernández on percusión, Troy Roberts on saxophone and Rodolfo Zuñiga on drums.

Track Listing:

1. Farmacia del Angel

2. Monsieur Petit Noir

3. Song for Jacques, Pt. 1
4. Song for Jacques, Pt. 2
5. Sno' Peas
6. Forgotten Gods (sampled above)
7. Unconditional
8. Black Saint
Buy Unconditional at Amazon or