Ah, Grant Green, one of my favorite guitarists of all time and definitely in my top 2. If I could choose to play and sound like anyone it would be Grant. His playing is clean and smooth, with a killer tone, and he is always in command of his material. He can go from playing [...]

…and now Part 2 of the ever exciting thoughts and musings on James Brown – Make it Funky: The Big Payback 1971 -1975. Be sure to check out Part 1! Disc Two: 1. “The Payback” – This may just be the angriest JB vocals on record. His anger in being cheated, lied to, and stabbed [...]

After the extremely raw and early funk of 1964 – 1969 and the insanely hard hitting funk of 1970, James Brown settled into a highly creative and fertile period of pure ’70’s style funk. Highlighted by heavy bass and drum tracks, regal horn lines, and distinctly seventies wah-wah guitar, JB crystalized his previous efforts into [...]

Speaking of Tull… Ok, there is good news and bad news. The bad news is that for some extremely inexplicable reason Ian Anderson, flautist, vocalist, and acoustic guitarist of Jethro Tull, decided not to record or issue an official live album of the group during their early heyday. That meant  that the post-Aqualung tour, the [...]

A recently unearthed Tull concert from July 7, 1970 is now available here for streaming over at Wolfgang’s Vault. There is also a fantastic video from said concert featuring Nothing is Easy here. The songs and performances are very similar to Tull’s concert at the Isle of Wight 1970. The band is on fire and Tull [...]

Ever since I heard Hank Mobley’s Soul Station a few years back it has dwelled within me that this was something special. Something very special that denies definition. A jazz album of such exquisite beauty and musicianship that it really defies all reviews (even this one) and explanations. I’m not sure why it is so [...]

I can very clearly remember my first encounter with the glorious sounds of Ravel’s Bolero. I was probably in 8th grade, perhaps earlier. Flipping around the TV I landed on PBS who were showing this incredible animation of dinosaurs roaming the earth set to an incredibly moving musical score. The excerpt turned out to be [...]

Every once in a while an album comes along that helps to define a certain genre. An album of such stunning beauty and perfection, that to not have it is a crime. In 1973 James Brown delivered that album to the funk world and generations beyond. It was time for Payback, and the revenge was [...]