Hecla and Griper

"Hecla and Griper" by Songs: Ohia which is a singer/songwriter named Jason Molina who also recorded under both his name and Magnolia Electric Co.

I stumbled upon his music a year or so ago and found that there was a wealth of recorded material. Only problem is finding physical recordings in my area. So I've been listening, learning, loving and appreciating through iTunes downloads and YouTube videos.

If the assignment of a label or genre is required, I suppose brooding Americana Folk-Rock or Alternative Indie-Rock are possibilities.

Post Christmas Day OPB Playlist

The late night, early morning, hours after Christmas day, Oregon Public Broadcasting Music playlist:

• Young Fathers - In My View
• The Mynabirds - Numbers Don't Lie
• The Thermals - We We're Sick
• Dirty Projectors - Break-Thru
• Laura Gibson - Domestication
• Eels - Rags to Rags
• The Saturday Knights - Patches
• The Donkeys - Summer's Dream
• Blitzen Trapper - Let the Cards Fall
• Swearin' - Grow Into a Ghost
• My Morning Jacket - Big Decisions
• Flock of Dimes - Semaphore
• Tame Impala - Lucidity
• Shawn Lee and Clutchy Hopkins - Indian Burn
• Ages and Ages - I See More
• Born Ruffians - Side Tracked
• Ruby Haunt - Non Sense *****

New Direction in Jazz

Ambrose Akinmusire's 2014 recording, the imagined savior is far easier to paint.

I see the title in lower case lettering wherever I seek information.

On the Blue Note Records label which rarely disappoints the listener.

Completely new sounds for me. The alternative directions in Jazz that I've been searching for. Stunning and wildly imaginative!!! An extreme pleasure to take in.

Ambrose Akinmusire is a trumpet player.

All About Jazz Review ...... Because lacking the proper vocabulary, I'm at a total loss to describe these sounds.

Zuma

From 1975. Zuma by Neil Young and Crazy Horse. I love his recordings with The Horse. How they can sound rough and unpolished but so melodic.

I failed to fully appreciate the record when it was released as I badly wanted it to sound like Neil's earlier albums, After the Goldrush and Harvest. The years (decades) since have allowed me to hear it differently.

Highlights have always been the songs, Cortez the Killer, Lookin' For a Love and Pardon My Heart. But tonight, Barstool Blues and Don't Cry No Tears are standing out!!!

Such Sweet Thunder

Found at the Salem Public Library. It's mine now!!! ..... For two weeks anyway. Recorded in 1956-57. I'm always fascinated by recordings from the year I was born and love Jazz Big Band sounds from those years.

All Music Guide Review

Question .... and Answer(?)

Yesterday, I was asked in the record store if I knew of Steve Forbert ("Yeah, I have all his early records") and if he had any hits? Well I don't know if any of his songs were considered "hits" by the Top-40, AM-radio standards at the time but there were several that you would hear played quite a bit on FM radio in the late 1970's. ..... "Goin' Down to Laurel" from the Alive on Arrival album and "Make It All So Real" and "Romeo's Tune" from Jackrabbit Slim are three songs that immediately come to mind. Great songs!!!

Maybe not "hits" by certainly very memorable!!!

I might be mistaken (I often am) but I seem to recall purchasing Steve Forbert's first record along with Dire Straits first album .... on the same day in 1978!! I must have heard only one song from each record beforehand. That must have been a great day of discovering new sounds and words.

From the song, Make It All So Real ...... "Singer man, do your work, sing your song, make it hurt, sing the tears, sing the pain, make it all so real."

Back Porch Playlist

KLCC-fm, Eugene, Oregon .... Playlist from the Saturday evening "Back Porch" program:

• Jerry Garcia & David Grisman - The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest ..... Cover of the Bob Dylan song.
• Jerry Garcia & David Grisman - Been All Around This World

The DJ says that on this program he's presenting a tribute to the late Canadian Folk singer, Stan Rogers and reading notes about each song.

• Stan Rogers - The Rawdon Hills ..... I have a long story which I won't detail on this playlist of how I first heard his song, "First Christmas" and it almost bringing me to tears and then went several years before discovering that the singer was Stan Rogers.
• Stan Rogers - Forty Five Years ..... A voice like that singing a love song!!! It would be difficult to doubt the sincerity behind the words.
• Stan Rogers - First Christmas ..... For some people Christmas isn't all togetherness, joy, laughter and opening presents.
• Stan Rogers - Dark Eyed Molly
• Stan Rogers - Make and Break Harbour

Call Me Lucky

"Call Me Lucky" ..... Not only is it the title of the album but the three words sum up my discovery a few days ago.

One problem with listening to varied types of music over many years is that you end up with a great number of favorites where you sometimes, especially with the demise of print magazines dealing with music, have difficulty keeping track of everything they are currently doing.

Or occasionally you find a few new favorites and in the process of nurturing all this new information and possibly because you are officially a senior citizen by some definitions, you lose focus regarding some of your older favorites ..... for awhile anyway. Like you just can't process new data without temporarily having some older data fall out of your minds storage capacity in order to make space.

I saw that Chris Smither had a new release recently. I ordered it and to my great surprise and pleasure it arrived (from Vermont) in my mailbox just three days later. And then an added surprise ..... it has a bonus disc with six alternate tracks. I almost always love alternate takes and demos.

Jazz Playlist

Late night radio KMHD-fm Jazz playlist …..

• Donald Byrd - Wind Parade
• Lakey Inspired - The Process
• Kenny Baron - Dawn

Seems to be a 70's theme with these first three songs. I don't know if they are all from the 1970's but that's the vibe that the songs are giving off.

• Dr. Lonnie Smith - Freedom Jazz Dance …… More 70's sounds. I'm expecting the theme from "Shaft" soon.
• Cochemea Gastelum - Arrow's Theme ….. I feel like I should be wearing bell bottom slacks.
• Grover Washington Jr. - Black Frost …. It continues. This is going to be a short playlist if there's not a change in direction soon. It appears that I've traveled back in time.
• Lonnie Liston Smith - Expansions ….. Maybe I'll go read for awhile and try this again later. I just don't feel like funky Jazz from the 1970's tonight.

Miscellaneous Stuff

Some stuff I've been listening to the last few days:

• The John Prine song, "Lake Marie" and his album that came out earlier this year, "The Tree of Forgiveness." 
• Various videos from a band I've just discovered, Madrugada.
• The vinyl record,"American Utopia" by David Byrne.
• Several live versions of "Are You Going With Me" by Pat Metheny.
• The album, "Evening Falls" by Jacob Young ..... A Norwegian Jazz guitarist. From 2004. The different Jazz sound that I've been searching for.
• The song, "Friendship Fails You" by Barn Burning with additional vocals by the late, Robert Fisher of The Willard Grant Conspiracy .... One of my favorite voices.
• An album just released by Willard Grant Conspiracy titled "Untethered" ..... recorded before Robert Fisher's death in 2017. Particularly the song, "Saturday With Jane"

Night

"Night" by Misha Alperin.

On the ECM label who's motto is "The most beautiful sound next to silence." Released in 2002.

Recorded in concert. It's listed as Jazz but it's a loose association. I see it as closer to Modern Classical Minimalism. Primarily piano and violincello with some percussion and marimba mixed in. Beautiful ..... Majestic and soaring in spots.

Misha Alperin on piano with Anja Lechner on violincello.