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more new music from prince....

2/17/2013

Prince fans out there, you can't help but notice our boy is seriously getting back into the swing of things, even though in reality he never really slowed down. He continues to create and perform music at such a stunning level, even the music business cannot keep up with him. Imagine this scenario, at this present moment in time Prince does not have a record deal, yet the industry still sits up and takes notice whenever he deems it suitable to release new music.

His mere presence is greeted with the greatest respect and admiration, as was shown in Los Angeles only last week when he presented the Record Of The Year Award to Gotye & Kimbra at the 55th Grammy Awards. Prince does seem to be on a role right now as it has just been annouced he will headline 3 nights (13, 14 & 15 July) at this year's highly prestigous Montreux Jazz Festival. This isn't his first time at this world renowned event. He made his debut back in 2007 and returned in 2009 when he performed 2 outstanding shows on one evening.

Only recently he offered a brand new track, the rock influenced poppy 'Screwdriver', to the world and pretty much got a thumbs up from his loyal fans, me included. Just as we were digesting this track, up he pops with another new song (which in my opinion strengthens the rumours that there is indeed an album in the offing), a smooth funky groove (which r&b fans should love) called 'Breakfast Can Wait'.

You can make your own verdict right here, right now...
http://www.jukebo.com/prince/music-clip,breakfast-can-wait,x580lr.html

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r.i.p. rapper tim dog

2/15/2013

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The hip hop community had it's first major casualty of 2013 when it was just announced that Bronx, New York rapper Tim Dog has died at the young age of 46. He sadly suffered a seizure after a long fight with diabetes. His main claim to fame came back in 1991 when he released a track which has been hailed as one of the best 'diss' records ever in rap history, the controversial 'Fuck Compton'.

During the late 80's the West Coast emerged from under the shadow of New York with a slew of hot new artists, led by the trailblazing rap group N.W.A. (which featured future hip hop superstars Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Eazy E). In 1988 they exploded onto the scene with their seminal 'Straight Outta Compton' which placed a spotlight on the raw ghetto gang life happening in Compton, a poor, black, working class district in South Central Los Angeles. In one fail swoop, after New York had been the rap world's crowning glory, now LA and California was fast becoming Hip Hop Central.
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Cue Tim Dog. While everyone was showing Compton and it's inhabitants major love, Tim decided to go the complete opposite route and recorded a song simply called 'Fuck Compton'. With it's hard relentless pumping beat and lyrics leaving everyone in no doubt that this dude thought the West Coast movement was corny and wack, the record's impact was immediate. In New York the song was played from the rooftops, and Tim Dogg's 'diss' was heard around the world! Added to this was a video which showed the West Coast gangsters as a joke. Suddenly everybody was talking about Tim Dog.

Tim Blair (Dog's real name) never really achieved this level of success again, even though he released several albums. His early music career had him working with The Ultrmagnetic MC's. In recent times he had a brush with the law, pleading guilty to grand larceny in September 2011 for cheating a woman out of thousands of dollars. After meeting her online, he convinced her that he needed finance for a comeback album which never materialized. So Tim Dog has now left the building, but he has left us a piece of hip hop history.

Tim Dog 'Fuck Compton' video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwzeM2J3Emk

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unsung: epmd

2/13/2013

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US TV cable station TV One has returned with a brand new series of 'Unsung', the excellent music show putting a spotlight on black music acts who did not always receive the complete credit or recognition they fully deserved. Very recently they aired (on US screens only) an edition looking at the hip hop duo known as EPMD.

Erick Sermon (who I'm chillin' with in this photograph to the left, taken on the group's last visit to London) and Parrish Smith first burst on to the rap scene back in 1988 with the album, 'Strictly Business'. These two rappers from Long Island, New York met in college and decided to join forces under the title of 'Erick & Parish Making Dollars', thus EPMD was born.

Apart from their own individual vocal styles, what enabled the group to stand out from the pack was their emphasis of using hard core funk in their samples, giving the tracks a harder, grittier edge. One case in point, one of their earliest records which exploded on the streets of New York (and got them an album deal) was 'You Gots To Chill'. This song sampled the bass bottom funk of 'More Bounce To The Ounce' by Roger Troutman's Zapp to perfection. From this beginning more hip hop hits followed including 'So Wat Cha Sayin' and 'Crossover'. From the late 80's into the 90's they were a major force in hip hop music.

Along the way there has been major drama, the biggest being when the two split up and did not speak personally for several years. Without giving too much away, all I'll say is a robbery and threats of violence is caught up in the mix. All of which is covered (along with the various outside music productions and rap artists they worked with) in 'Unsung'. If you are a lover of the old school hip hop flavours, then you can watch the EPMD episode right here. In closing, let me add after seeing the band perform many years ago at a Public Enemy concert (at which I had the privilege of djing at the after-party), I caught EPMD at the Jazz Cafe in London recently and can testify that these boys have still got da skillz to rock da house!!!

'Unsung': EPMD
http://www.tvone.tv/shows/unsung/video/full-episode--epmd.html

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from be bop to hip hop.......an appreciation of donald byrd (1932-2013)

2/8/2013

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So after rumours started circulating last Monday about the sad passing of a true jazz legend, we finally received confirmation from a family member on Thursday that the news wasn't rumour, but fact. I'm talking about the death of Donald Byrd. The cause is still unknown at this time. The word came from his nephew, jazz pianist Alex Bugnon, who issued a statement saying his uncle had indeed died on Monday and he couldn't quite understand why other members of his family felt to keep this information from the outside world. A world, I might add, which has a huge amount of people of all ages who have major love for this jazz legend, as can be seen by the outpouring of condolences everywhere.

Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd ll was born in 1932 in Detroit, Michigan in the United States. This talented man, whose weapon of choice was the trumpet, first rose to fame as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in the 1950's. From there he worked alongside such jazz greats as John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins and Herbie Hancock. In fact further on in time both he and Hancock would take a similar route in their musical careers, which at the time was thought very risky.

Though coming through at the time of the be bop revolution in jazz (where Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker were undoubtedly the kings of swing), what made Byrd so special was the abiltiy to adapt to several musical styles throughtout his career while keeping his distinctive trumpet playing style up front and centre. One case in point was in the early 70's when he experimented with the fusion of jazz with funk. In 1973 he released the groundbreaking set, 'Black Byrd' which would end up being the biggest selling album on Blue Note Records, his record label. This introduction into fusion began a very successful relationship with Larry and Fonce Mizell, two musician brothers who oversaw all his classic 70's recordings, including the influential 'Places & Spaces' LP (containing such gems as 'Change (Makes You Want To Hustle)', which was the first single released, 'Wind Parade', '(Fallin' Like) Dominoes' and of course the sizzling title cut).

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going, going, gone...the record shop experience

2/7/2013

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A friend recently saw an image of me in one of my favourite hang outs in New York, or at least it used to be. She asked, "Is it still there? I bought records from here in 2001!" She was referring to the 'Fat Beats' record shop which was situated on 6th Avenue in Lower Manhattan. For quite a while this record store was THE hot spot to pick up your brand new, hotter than hot hip hop jams. Many of the city's top dj's could be seen getting their vinyl junkie fix in this initmate, friendly store after climbing the narrow stairs to get to it from the street. Even ghetto fabulous ceebrities like Q Tip could be seen getting in on the action. However, in answer to my friend's enquiry, 'Fat Beats' is sadly no more, well at least not the physical shop, which closed it's doors in September 2010. It does live on however (like so many other stores) in cyber space, yes, online. The dismise of this shop, along with the recent collapse of the HMV music chain in the UK, the giant Virgin France megastore in Paris, along with the virtual disappearance of all record/cd shops n New York City (of all places!) brought to mind the very sad and real fact that future generations of music lovers will never experience what helped to seduce me to the 'dark side' (buying records). It really has become a lifelong addiction for me (similar to most of the dj's I know) and it usually started with visits to a record shop.

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al pacino is phil spector!!

2/6/2013

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Renowned record producer Phil Spector is currently lauguishing in jail, convicted in 2009 (after a mistrail in 2003) of second degree murder of actress Lana Clarkson. This eccentric figure made his mark on the pop music world back in the 1960's with his trademark 'wall of sound' which he gave to such r&b groups as The Ronettes. His unique style helped to create Ike & Tina Turner's classic record, 'River Deep, Mountain High'. Later on he worked with The Beatles, John Lennon and The Ramones. Known for his odd behaviour and his extensive range of wigs, it came as no shock to some people when he was arrested for shooting dead Clarkson. Spector was eventually sentenced to 19 years in prison.
The US TV cable company HBO have produced a film, simply called 'Phil Spector', detailing the events leading up to his conviction. The project is written and directed by leading American playwright David Mamet and executive produced by 'Rain Man' director Barry Levinson. It stars the one and only Al Pacino (in another one of his very rare TV roles) as Spector with the talented Helen Mirren as his lawyer. HBO have just released a trailer for 'Phil Spector' before it's airing in the US on Sunday 24th March 2013. From the look of what's on offer, this could well be an interesting look inside the mind of someone who's been called both genius and madman.

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robert deniro's back!!

2/6/2013

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Well, well, well, it looks af if the world's greatest movie actor alive is suddenly back in vogue and on everybody's lips. I'm talking about Bobby DeNiro, oops pardon me, I mean Mr Robert DeNiro. Must give him the respect due, and it is definitely due. This incredible talent first bowled me over when I first saw 'The Godfather Part 2' on it's original theatrical run back in 1974. Never having seen him on screen before I totally believed this man to be purely Italian. In the film he barely utters any English at all, yet he was so convincing in the role I was not surprised when he got a Best Supporting Actor for his efforts. Then in 1976 I saw this Italian American rip up the screen in 'Taxi Driver' and that was it. I was now a fully paid up member of the Robert DeNiro fan club. What followed was role after role which translated as a masterclass in acting. In 1980 he left everyone in the dust with his brilliant, harrowing portrayal of boxer Jake LaMotta in Martin Scorsese's masterpiece 'Raging Bull', for which he received his second Oscar, this time for Best Actor.

So DeNiro has been doing his thing, making movies, opening restaurants and starting the annual Tribeca Film Festival in downtown Manhattan (set up after 9/11 to help the struggling businesses in the neighburhood), with his reputation pretty much in tact. In recent years he has decided to further explore his comedic side with films such as 'Meet The Parents' and 'Analyse This', while big box office hits, these films caused some dismay to some of his more loyal fans, believing the roles were beneath an actor of his stature. He doesn't seem to care and professes he actually enjoys making these kinds of films along with the more serious fare.

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r.i.p. soul man cecil womack

2/5/2013

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Another of soul music's true r&b talents has passed away. I've just learned of the sad news that Cecil Womack has died at the age of 65, in Africa where he, his wife Linda and their four children had settled down to live. Though his name may not have been known by the mainstream, lovers of soul music knew of this man and his huge musical heritage. Born in 1947, while still very young, he and his brothers formed a gospel singing group, The Womack Brothers, which included the legendary soul surivior, Bobby Womack. They began singing in churches across America and soon caught they eye of another musical legend, Sam Cooke, who eventually signed them to a recording deal. Now called The Valentinos, they went on to score several hits.
In 1966 Cecil married Motown singer Mary Wells, who had scored a major worldwide hit with 'My Guy'. They had 3 children together, but unfortunately the marriage ended in 1976. In 1977 Cecil married Linda Cooke, the daughter of Sam Cooke and together they wrote songs for Patti Labelle, George Benson, The O'Jays and Teddy Pendergrass, in fact delivering to Teddy one of his biggest hits with the slow jam classic, 'Love T.K.O.'.
In 1983 the husband and wife team began recording under the name of Womack & Womack and secured several hits under their own belt inmcluding 'Baby I'm Scared Of You' and 'Teardrops'. Cecil tragically left us on 1st February 2013. May he rest in peace.

Here's 'Baby I'm Scared Of You'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAG-Ec4b-zw

And here's 'Teardrops'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8AOAap6_k4

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more new music from prince....

r.i.p. rapper tim dog

unsung: epmd

from be bop to hip hop.......an appreciation of donald byrd (1932-2013)

going, going, gone...the record shop experience

al pacino is phil spector!!

robert deniro's back!!

r.i.p. soul man cecil womack

EON IRVING

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