All Over the Board… » Entries tagged with "music"
Five-Star Thursdays: West End Blues
I was rummaging through my best-rated iPod playlist to find a song for this week. It took 21 songs to find something, but it was worth it. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you “West End Blues” by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five. At worst, it’s one of the most influential jazz recordings ever. At best, it defies all descriptions and superlatives. Some call it the greatest piece of recorded music in history. All I can do is tell you that this song is moving and amazing each and every time I hear it. I taught Jackson to love this song, and I will repeat with the two girls. For your edification, I have enclosed four links for you: the first two are YouTube excerpts from Ken Burns’ Jazz series that highlight … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reads, Screens, and Sounds
Web Wednesday: AllMusic.com
With so much music available today, it’s hard to know where to start. First of all, there are probably bands one would love if one only knew about them. Do you like the Black Eyed Peas? Try Wyclef Jean’s The Preacher’s Son. AllMusic made that link for me. Or let’s say that you wanted to buy a Frank Sinatra album. He recorded for over sixty years; with a catalog that big, which one should you buy? The site is the online home of the All Music Guide – you may have seen one of their publications at a library or bookstore. There are artist bios, album lists, album reviews, song ratings, and links to similar artists. Search for your favorite artist and explore. Be careful; it could be addicting. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reads, Screens, and Sounds
Five-star Thursday (rain date from last week): “Like You’ll Never See Me Again”
The Fourth of July weekend came up so quick and I missed an installment of Five-star Thursdays. I was going to skip it, but in honor of our third weather cancellation of a game (don’t get me started), I will post it under the “rain date” exception. Onto the song: “Like You’ll Never See Me Again” is the fifth track on Alicia Keys latest album As I Am. U2 won a Grammy in 2001 or 2002; when Bono got up to accept the award, he remarked that he expected Alicia Keys to win. I filed that away in my head and discovered Ms. Keys two years ago. Her last two albums are good enough to play as released without omitting any songs. This song is a great mix between modern and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reads, Screens, and Sounds
Five-star Thursdays: “When you Come Back Down”
Introducing a new feature on the least-read blog in the world: Five-Star Thursdays. It’s simple: I pick a five-star song from my music collection and highlight it. Of course the rating is completely subjective, but it’s my blog, so suck it up, and leave a comment telling me I am a fool. The first entry is “When You Come Back Down” by Nickel Creek off of their eponymous album. Nickel Creek’s music can best be described as acoustic. To my knowledge, there is only one song they recorded that uses drums. On their other songs, they achieve a drum vibe by percussively playing their stringed instruments. It’s definitely an interesting sound. Their debut album consists of bluegrass or folk songs, and “When You Come Back Down” falls into the latter category. Check … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reads, Screens, and Sounds