The Viking of 6th Avenue

New York has been home to many weirdos, freaks, characters, and oddballs (including me). One of the greatest?
MOONDOG!!
A.K.A. "The Viking of 6th Avenue"

I'm seriously considering dressing up as Moondog for Halloween.
Unfortunately, most people would just assume I was a Viking.
Dang.

Seriously, folks, this man was a MUSICAL GENIUS. And also, probably, totally bonkers. Which is one of my favorite combinations ever.
Background? Moondog (born Louis T. Hardin, in Kansas) was a blind jazz musician who moved to New York City in the 1940's and lived (by choice!) as a street musician, mostly on 6th Avenue, dressed as Odin, the Viking god. 
H'amazing.
Anyways, he had a genius for mixing traditional elements of jazz, like saxophone and flute, with native American percussion and ambient city street noises, like honking horns. His music is instantly identifiable by its unusual rhythms, characteristic lack of any instruments other than woodwind and brass (with a few exceptions), and funny names. Some of his songs also have male choruses and such. Those are good ones, too. If you're curious, watch the Jens Lekman video I posted at the bottom of this post.
As I have mentioned before, I am not a huge jazz fan, but this guy's music is just incredible. And different. Because of his talent and his strategic busking location, he managed to catch the attention of many famous musicians of his time, like Benny Goodman, Charlie Parker, Leonard Bernstein, Toscanini, and Philip Glass.
You HAVE to give him a listen.


GOOD SONG #1: Bird's Lament by Moondog
This song was written in honor of Charlie Parker. Such great saxamaphone.
GOOD SONG #2: Get a Move On by Mr. Scruff (with heavy sampling of Bird's Lament by Moondog)
What an awesome remix! And look at that video-- hilarious! Most of his videos have that goofy animation, actually. Another wonderful human being.

GOOD SONG #4: All is Loneliness by Moondog, sung by Janis Joplin.

Oh yeah, and he invented the Trimba.

(How did I find out about Moondog, you might ask? I was at a Jens Lekman concert in 2007 in NYC and he covered Moondog's song "Paris." You can watch him sing it at that VERY SAME concert here on this GOOD SONG VIDEO. Gotta love youtube!)

Over and out,
Anna

When the (bon)fire is low...

So, remember that Shakira song "Waka Waka?" The one that they played all the time at the World Cup? Well, she recorded it with a group from South Africa called Freshlyground, and it turns out they are awesome!

Look at all those beautiful people of all shades

Here is a GOOD (SUMMER) SONG of theirs: Fire Is Low by Freshlyground

The members of Freshlyground hail from South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, and are assorted ethnicities, and their diverse cultures and backgrounds make for some really cool music. They formed in 2002 in Cape Town. They released their first album, Jika Jika, in 2003, then followed it with another in  2004 and another in 2007. Fire Is Low comes from their most recent album, Radio Africa, from last year (2010). They are Afro-pop with a bit of jazz. Or maybe Indie with a bit of jazzy pop. Or maybe African with an indie-pop twist. However you describe their sound, they are a lot of fun. The lead singer, Solani Mahola, has a really beautiful, jazzy, smooth voice that is extremely smile-inducing. The other band members include Simon Atwell, Peter Cohen, Kyla Rose Smith, Julio "Gugs" Sigauque, Josh Hawks, and Seredeal "Shaggy" Scheepers. All those band mates means lots of instruments: flute, mbira, harmonica, drums, sax, violin, guitar, bass, keyboard, etc., etc. How can you not love it??

This song makes me want to dance around on a summer night when the bonfire gets low. It's impossible not to groove to that beat! Listen! The sax! The clapping!
I hope you enjoy this song, because I sure do.

If you did, indeed, like this song, you might also check out:
Paul Simon
Manu Chao
Arno Carstens
Belleruche
Laura Izibor

Over and out,
Anna

P.S. If you are in DC and free (I'm not. Oh well.) on July 2nd, you should totally go see their show at Black Cat!

Love and the Lack Thereof: February Post #2

And now for something completely different (no, not that):

Sorry boys,  she's taken.

So my brother's friend's family runs a jazz music label, called MaxJazz. They have some really great artists on the label, including a gal named Erin Bode (pronounced Bo-dee).  Through the label, my brother (and then me) discovered her music, and I have to admit, I've been pleasantly surprised. As I have mentioned before, I am not normally a huge jazz fan, and I know little about it, but some of her stuff is great. She's released six albums, so if you like her, then you should be happily perusing through her catalog for a while.

I especially love her GOOD (LOVE) SONG Don't Take Your Time.

Her voice is jazzy and light, and even though I am not always a fan of that sort of vocal style, it works fantastically. I like that the lyrics are pretty simple. It's a very common thought amongst those who are in love and wanting to be with their loved one: Don't take your time!
Also, the sax and piano are great. Apparently, she's married to her bassist (aw).

If you liked this song, you might also check out:

Norah Jones (obviously)
Carla Cook
Gretchen Parlato

I wish I could name more but I just don't know this genre very well.

Hope you enjoyed! More GOOD (LOVE) SONGS on the way...

Over and out,
Anna

Good Things, Indeed

So I'm aware that I haven't posted a lot of soul/R&B since my post on Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. This post changes all that. I haven't been able to stop humming these two GOOD SONGS by Aloe Blacc and I thought I would share them with you.

GOOD SONG the first: I Need A Dollar (Who doesn't need a dollar these days?)

This song has the perfect mix of piano, trumpet, and Aloe Blacc's SWEET vocals. Who is Aloe Blacc you might ask? Well, his real name is actually Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III... I don't blame him for changing his name. He is the son of Panamanian immigrants, and a lot of his music has a nice Latin flair to it. He began as a hip-hop/rap artist, but then branched into more retro music, and boy! am I happy about it! He has two albums out now: "Shine Through" (2006) and his most recent album "Good Things," which came out this September (2010). He weaves together R&B, soul, hip-hop, jazz, and salsa influences to make his songs work so damn well.

Mr. Blacc looking pretty snazzy in white.

Good song the second: Loving You Is Killing Me (the song + the lyrics)
Also from "Good Things," this song is just so good, and makes me wanna dance. You can definitely tell he has some real rapper cred here. My favorite line: "How did you get to be so evil, girl?" sung by the falsetto chorus.

If you like this song, you might also like:

John Legend
The Roots
Talib Kweli
People Under the Stairs
Danger Doom/Danger Mouse
Janelle Monae
Al Green
Marvin Gaye

BUY HIS MUSIC HERE: Aloe Blacc!

Over and out,
Anna

Where there's a will, there's a way... and probably also the Cangelosi Cards.

Let's get one thing straight: I know nothing about jazz.
Most jazz I don't really like. I find it boring.


BUT, old-school, New Orleans style, big band jazz I most certainly DO like. And that's where the Cangelosi Cards come in.

Twinkle lights + Cangelosi Cards = Retro Romance

I heard them play live at the Telephone Bar in NYC years ago and was BLOWN AWAY. They are so much fun, and their singer Tamar Korn has the most amazing voice: high-pitched, girly, yet growly when it needs to be. They sound like they came straight outta the 1920's or '30's.
Super old-school, they are a jazz band with lindy, swing, folk, and blues influences.


So, today's GOOD SONG is "Get Some Cash For Your Trash," which you can listen to on the Down Home Radio Show website. Listen to it here: Cash For Your Trash


I also want to post some videos of theirs:
This song, Dinah, is great. And listen to that harmonica! IT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE A HARMONICA! It sounds like the lovechild of a harmonica and a trumpet... or something like that.


And THIS VIDEO (it's "Millenburg Joys" ) is also GREAT. Look at those dancers! What a fun time everyone is having. Both of these videos were filmed at the fabulous Glen Echo Park (in their Bumper Car Pavilion) right near me outside DC. I've been there a bunch of times, and it's a whole lotta fun. What's amazing to me is how much people LOVE to dance to them-- not just at Glen Echo, which is the whole point of going to Glen Echo, but also at places like the Telephone Bar. When I saw them there (they used to have weekly gigs there before the place closed) they played in a TINY room with no dance floor, and yet people still got up and danced up a storm. Where there's a will, there's a way...


If you want to buy their album, go here: Los Musicos Viajeros. It's fantastic!


If you like the Cangelosi Cards, you might also like some of these guys (some old, some new):


Dean Mora
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Whispering Jack Smith
Billie Holiday
Glenn Miller
Benny Goodman
Boilermaker Jazz Band




Over and out,
Anna