Thinking about John Coltrane’s birthday today reminds me of what Carlos Santana had to say about the late creator: “When you listen to the sound resonant vibration, that flows freely from the center of his luminous spirit, you remember at a molecular level, that we are all holy, sacred and divine.” Enough said …
Read More HAPPY BORN DAY, TRANE.If it’s even possible for the statuses of pop artistsTaylor Swift, Beyoncé Knowles or J.Cole to be upgraded beyond their current recognition as some of the brightest lights in the history of entertainment, I could imagine that sort of elevation becoming a near certain probability if they ever appear in nearly 90 recordings with world renowned […]
Read More HENRY GRIMES’ LIGHT SHINES EVEN BRIGHTERLosing music great BB King earlier this year is still a load on my mind, but I try to remain thankful for what he gave the earth—an inimitable style and a strong wave of influennce. I don’t know of any serious guitarist who didn’t admire him. Since King would have turned 90 today, I shared […]
Read More BB KING – BORN ON THIS DAYPart Two: This Movie and Planet Earth Now that I’ve discussed the social backdrop for the Straight Outta Compton movie in my previous post, I want to start this post by giving props to film director F. Gary Gray because Compton was shot and edited well. But of course I have some feedback about the storyline. […]
Read More STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON MOVIE THOUGHTS, PART TWOI’ve heard many of you respond to BB King’s recent earthly departure with “He lived for 89 years. It was time for God to take him.” I know, but I’m still going miss him. Introducing BB King to my life stands among the many perfect decisions the Elders made in my personal development. The King […]
Read More BB KING – AN AMERICAN SUCCESS STORYANNABEL (LEE) BY THE SEA… AND OTHER SOLITARY PLACES NINJA TUNE / IF MUSIC 2015 Beautifully lush at times, brilliantly spartan at others, but stylistically layered and engaging from start to finish, the new album By the Sea… and Other Solitary Places by the group Annabel(Lee) hits your senses like a soundtrack to an expressionist […]
Read More ALBUM IN THE CROSSHAIRS: ANNABEL (LEE) – BY THE SEA… AND OTHER SOLITARY PLACES (NINJA TUNE / IF MUSIC)It’s sad to hear that Mangiedi Mawangu, the innovative Konono N°1 founder from Congo who demonstrated to the music world the sonic possibilities of a proto-Techno electric likembé plus ensemble, has left this planet. Konono N°1’s four decades of “Congotronic” music undoubtedly fits in my personal Afrofuturism soundtrack, but the style has also grabbed the […]
Read More MANGIEDI MAWANGU, EDM PIONEER, IS GONEBy the sea, annabel lee, aural dive, music reviews, independent music, electronic music, aural dive
Read More AURAL DIVE: “BELIEVE” BY ANNABEL (LEE)JOSÉ JAMES YESTERDAY I HAD THE BLUES: THE MUSIC OF BILLIE HOLIDAY BLUE NOTE 2015 An interesting personal but peripheral observation: I couldn’t immediately come up with a list of male baritone Jazz vocalists whom I listen to on a regular basis. My personal prejudice probably relegated baritones to R&B or Country-Western music, I’m not […]
Read More AN ALBUM (OR TWO) IN MY HEAD (0062)I’m breaking from my blog’s editorial policy of covering unsung stories for a moment to post this adorable, viral video of 7-12 year-olds from the Louisville Leopard Percussionists getting the Led out. I’ve been watching this clip all week. And Jimmy Page approves. Video is embedded below…
Read More A BREAK FROM POLICY, BUT FOR GOOD REASON
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