Episodes

  • Fats Waller Solo Performances VV030

    Fats Waller Solo Performances VV030
    Nov 7 2024
    VV-030 PROGRAM LIST M1 Squeeze Me (Fats Waller) Rec. 2/14/1926, FATS WALLER EARLY UNDISCOVERED SOLOS, Riverside Records RLP 12-103, 1955 (2:55) M2 Handful of Keys (Fats Waller) Rec. 3/1/1929, HANDFUL OF KEYS, FATS WALLER AND HIS RHYTHM, RCA Victor, LPM-1502, 1957 (2:45) M3 Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Fats Waller, Harry Brooks) Rec. 8/2/1929, AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’, FATS WALLER AND HIS RHYTHM, RCA Victor LPM-1246, 1956 (3:00) M4 Tanglefoot (Fats Waller) Rec. 8/24/1929, THE RAREST FATS WALLER, Volume 1, RFW-1, 1955. (3:10) M5 Honeysuckle Rose (Fats Waller) Rec 5/13/1941, AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’, FATS WALLER AND HIS RHYTHM, RCA Victor LPM-1246, 1956 (3:21) M6 Bouncin’ on a V-Disc (Fats Waller) Rec. 9/23/1943, FATS WALLER PLAYS, SINGS AND TALKS, Jazz Treasury JT-1001, 1956 (4:46) Background songs for this episode: M7 Please Take Me Out of Jail (Fats Waller) Rec. 12/1/1927, THE RAREST FATS WALLER, Volume 1, RFW-1, 1955. M8 Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child (Fats Waller) Rec. 9/23/1943, FATS WALLER PLAYS, SINGS AND TALKS, Jazz Treasury JT-1001, 1956 ABOUT THE ARTIST Today’s show features the LATE GREAT Thomas Wright Waller, a jazz pianist and organist, composer and singer, born in New York City in 1904 The 7th of 11 children, his mother was a musician, and his father was a trucker and pastor in NYC. Fats started playing piano when he was 6. He played the organ at his father’s church at age 10. PAUSE He was home-schooled early-on by his mother and worked in a grocery store. He quit high school after just one semester at age 15 to work as an organist at the Lincoln Theater in Harlem. PAUSE At the Lincoln Theater, he earned $32 a week. That was 1929. He became known as “Fats Waller” because he was big -- both in body and in mind. PAUSE Fats Waller laid some of the building blocks for what is NOW ‘modern jazz piano’. He popularized the use of The stride piano style, which is widely used by jazz pianists today. He toured internationally and two of his biggest hits were Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Honeysuckle Rose. PAUSE You are listening to Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child by Fats Waller) Recorded back in 1943.PAUSE Waller copyrighted over 400 songs. He probably composed many more, but, when he was in financial difficulty, he would sell songs to other writers and performers, who would not acknowledge the real composer, claiming the songs as their own. Today’s podcast features Fats Waller and a few of his SOLO piano and organ compositions that were recorded between the years 1926 and 1943, or from the age of 22 to 39. Some of these songs are not available today, except where they are rediscovered - - - on my old and treasured Fats Waller record collection! SHOW PLUG - SHOW PLUG - DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL ! ! BIT BUCKET Waller is also credited with his composition and performance work in Broadway Musicals. Waller is perhaps the FIRST BLACK composer to write the score and perform for a mostly all-white show on Broadway. That was the 1943 Broadway musical EARLY TO BED, produced by Richard Kollmar – the Broadway Flyer for EARLY TO BED reads “Music by Thomas (“Fats”) Waller”. . M1 M1 Squeeze Me (Thomas Waller) Rec. 2/14/1926, FATS WALLER EARLY UNDISCOVERED SOLOS, Riverside Records RLP 12-103, 1955 (2:55) Our first recording is titled “SQUEEZE ME” It’s a piano solo, and the composer and performer is Thomas Waller.He is not billed as “Fats” Waller yet, as he is not that unusually large at the young age of 22. This song SQUEEZE ME was recorded for production of piano rolls in 1926, making this among Waller’s EARLIEST recordings. Waller recorded his piano solos for the production of Piano Rolls between 1926 and 1927.These rolls operate on player pianos. Insert the roll, and the piano plays the song. PAUSE The player piano is a specialty item, affordable by the wealthy, and not a great way to release new music to the masses. Decades later, in 1955,
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    46 mins
  • Stevie Wonder Instrumentals – VV029

    Stevie Wonder Instrumentals – VV029
    Sep 17 2023
    SONG LIST* M1 How Can You Believe (Stevie Wonder) Eivets Rednow, Motown Records LP 1968 (3:10) M2 Which Way the Wind (Stevie Wonder) Eivets Rednow, Motown Records LP 1968 (2:40) M3 Contusion (Stevie Wonder) Songs in the Key of Life, Motown Records 2LP, 1976 (3:45) M4 Easy Goin Evenin’ / My Mama’s Call (Stevie Wonder) A Something’s Extra for Songs in the Key of Life, Motown Records 2LP, 1976 (3:58) M5 The First Garden (Stevie Wonder) Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants, Motown Records 2LP, 1979 (2:32) M6 Voyage to India (Stevie Wonder) Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants, Motown Records 2LP, 1979 (6:23) M7 Tree (Stevie Wonder) Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants, Motown Records 2LP, 1979 (5:55) Today’s Vinyl Vibrations episode features Stevie Wonder in his early years, and more specifically his Instrumental compositions. Stevie Wonder is an international pop icon, a singer-songwriter, a record producer, AND a multi-instrumental musician (for example…harmonica, keyboards, drums, bass guitar, guitar, and an incredibly talented singer. Wonder is an innovator - he pioneered the use of the early analog synthesizer during the 1970s. His albums are individual works of art, carefully crafted and thematic. Stevie Wonder’s influence extends across a range of genres that include R&B, pop, soul, gospel, funk, and jazz. He has often been referred to as a “ONE MAN BAND” because of his broad range of talents in music composition, music production and most of all - - music performance. Born Stevland Hardaway Morris, Stevie Wonder was born on May 13, 1950, in Saginaw, Michigan. That’s near Saginaw Bay off Lake Huron, about 100 miles northwest of Detroit. In the 1950s, Saginaw County had several General Motors plants and many companies building parts that went down to the big DETROIT assembly plants. It was a booming economic period for the entire US auto industry. It was a difficult birth. Wonder was born six weeks premature and placed in an oxygen-rich incubator, which  resulted in retinopathy of prematurity - causing his blindness. When he was 4, his Mother divorced with his father, and along with her 3 kids, moved 100 miles down the road to bustling Detroit…. home of MOTOWN RECORDS.  At age 8, Steveland attended the Whitestone Baptist Church on Detroit’s west side. There, he developed his musical talents -- playing piano, drums and harmonica -- and he also sang in the choir and there became a soloist. Stevie was quickly recognized as a prodigy.. He further developed his singing talent with a friend …and they performed as Stevie and John on street corners. When he was just 11, this musical prodigy was discovered by Ronnie White of the MIRACLES, and that in-turn resulted in a meeting with Motown Records founder Barry Gordy, who signed him with the TAMLA label of Motown Records. At that time, he was given the professional name Little Stevie Wonder. That was 1961 and Wonder had a 5-year rolling contract with royalties that were to be held in trust until he was 21. The weekly pay for this young artist was meager – a stipend of just $2.50 a week plus a tutor for Stevie when he was on tour. That $2.50 weekly stipend would be worth about $25 a week today. At age 12 he enrolled in Michigan School for the Blind in Lansing, Michigan. BIT BUCKET Saginaw is also where I was born, just 2 years after Stevie. My family also moved from Saginaw to Detroit, around same year as Stevie - 1954. ­­ M1 How Can You Believe (Stevie Wonder) Eivets Rednow, Motown Records LP 1968 (3:10)   PLAY BACKGROUND - HOW CAN YOU BELIEVE   To start today’s podcast, I feature the album titled Eivets Rednow. There is some humor in the album title. Eivets Rednow is Stevie Wonder spelled backwards, and on the first release of the album, Stevie’s name did not appear on the cover. The album is also UNIQUE for Stevie as it is an INSTRUMENTAL album. No lyrics. No poetry.
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    52 mins
  • Pat Metheny – Guitarist VV028

    Pat Metheny – Guitarist VV028
    Aug 22 2023
    SONG LIST* M1 Bright Size Life (Pat Metheny), Bright Size Life, Pat Metheny, Released ECM, LP 1976, (4:55) M2 Sirabhorn (Pat Metheny), Bright Size Life, Pat Metheny, Released ECM, LP 1976, (5:27) M3 Unity Village (Pat Metheny), Bright Size Life, Pat Metheny, Released ECM, LP 1976, (3:38) M4 Unquity Road (Pat Metheny), Bright Size Life, Pat Metheny, Released ECM, LP 1976, (3:36) M5 So May It Secretly Begin (Pat Metheny), Still Life, Pat Metheny Group, Released Geffen Records, LP 1987, (6:24) M6 Last Train Home (Pat Metheny), Still Life, Pat Metheny Group, Released Geffen Records, LP 1987, (5:38) Pat Metheny is an American guitarist and composer. He has worked as a soloist, in duets and small jazz ensembles, and, for decades, with the Pat Metheny Group. His musical styles include Jazz Fusion, Jazz (both progressive and contemporary jazz) …..and also Latin Jazz. He was born in Lee’s Summit, Missouri in 1954. Lee’s Summit is a suburb on the southeast side of Kansas City. His main influences have been other musicians, his musical family and the British Invasion. Musicians influencing Metheny include trumpeter Miles Davis, Gary Burton on vibes, jazz guitarists Jim Hall and Wes Montgomery and Jazz Sax players John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman. PAUSE A major foundational influence for Metheny is his musical family. His father played trumpet, his brother Mike Metheny plays jazz trumpet, and Pat’s maternal grandfather was a professional trumpeter. Brother Mike taught Pat how to play the trumpet, and so trumpet is actually Pat Metheny’s first Musicians in the family. Metheny attributes his early success to the local musical environment he was brought up in – the years 1964-1972, in Kansas City. Much of this is described in his biography titled BENEATH MISSOURI SKIES. Seems like Metheny is destined to become a great trumpeter, with all that musical environment…. PAUSE .. there was a bump in the road at age 10. The BRITISH INVASION was in full force. Metheny saw the Beatles perform on TV in 1964, probably the Ed Sullivan Show, because that year the Beatles appeared. The Beatles are what inspired Metheny to defect from Trumpet to Guitar. Metheny persuaded his father to buy him a guitar for his 12th birthday. That first guitar was a Gibson ES-140. PAUSE That’s a hollow-body guitar, built in ¾ scale for young players and small hands. It’s a scale model of the Gibson ES-175 hollow body. Metheny soon got bigger hands and acquired a Gibson ES-175 …and that guitar is featured on his early albums like those in this podcast episode… Metheny started playing in pizza parlors at age fourteen (that’s 1968). At age 15, Metheny won a scholarship from Down Beat Magazine to attend a jazz camp (1969). That camp led to a meeting with Jazz guitarist Jim Hall, and bassist Ron Carter. So, by the time he graduated from high school (1972) he was the first-call guitarist for Kansas City jazz clubs, private clubs, and jazz festivals. Metheny had A LOT of support from his musical environment. Even though he switched from trumpet to guitar.   Metheny briefly attended college at U of Miami in Florida, but quickly realized after practicing on guitar for years all day long… he was unprepared for a college program … He realized then he was first and foremost, a serious guitarist and composer.   Metheny moved to Boston to teach at Berklee College of Music at the age of 19, where he met Jazz Vibraphonist Gary Burton. Teaching Jazz Theory and Performance was in demand.   BIT BUCKET and for those not familiar, the ES-175 is sought-after by jazz country and rock guitarists - - - these vintage guitars today sell for $3,000 to $25,000. Back in the day, made in Kalamazoo MI. How about that for your first guitar? I am jealous, my first guitar was a Kay (named after John Kay) and it was … a very basic and cheap and crude electric starter guitar. Metheny, on the other hand, got a wonderful instrument, because
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    54 mins
  • STEPHEN STILLS SINGER SONGWRITER for Podcast VV_027

    STEPHEN STILLS SINGER SONGWRITER for Podcast VV_027
    Jul 27 2023
    TODAY’S PROGRAM...... M1 For What It’s Worth (Stephen Stills), Buffalo Springfield, Buffalo Springfield, Released ATCO, LP 1969 (3:00)... M2 Bluebird  (Stephen Stills) Buffalo Springfield Again, Released ATCO, LP 1967, (4:28)... M3 Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (Stephen Stills), Just Roll Tape, Recorded 1968, Released Eyewall, LP 2007 (6:33).... M4 Wooden Ships (Stills, Kantner, Crosby) Just Roll Tape, Recorded 1968, Released Eyewall, LP 2007 (2:26)... M5 Carry On (Stephen Stills) Déjà Vu, Crosby Stills Nash & Young Taylor & Reeves, Atlantic LP 1970 (4:25)... M6 4+20  (Stephen Stills), Déjà Vu, Crosby Stills Nash & Young Taylor & Reeves, Atlantic LP 1970 (1:55)... M7 Sugar Babe (Stephen Stills), Stephen Stills 2, Atlantic Records LP, 1971 (4:04). M8 Change Partners, (Stephen Stills), Stephen Stills 2, Atlantic Records LP, 1971 (3:14)... Stephen Stills is an American musician, singer, and songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield Crosby, Stills & Nash Manassas … and as a SOLO ARTIST. He was born in 1945 in DALLAS TEXAS. He is 78 at the time of this podcast’s production. He is still active. He plays guitar, bass guitar, keyboards… he’s not only a singer and songwriter… also an arranger and producer. Stills has had a long and prosperous career. Starting out in 1963, he has given us some 60 years of songwriting and musical performance. Today I FEATURE original compositions by singer songwriter Stephen Stills. From my collection we will hear 5 albums: Buffalo Springfield album and For What It’s Worth, Buffalo Springfield Again album with Bluebird Stephen Stills’ demo tape album JUST ROLL TAPE with Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, and Wooden Ships Crosby Stills Nash and Young’s DÉJÀ VU album with 4+20 and Carry On And finally, the STEPHEN STILLS 2 solo album with Sugar Babe and Change Partners.   We are now listening to ROCK AND ROLL WOMAN from BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD AGAIN.   These selections were each recorded between 1966 and 1971. Just a small time slice of this singer/songwriter’s career.   Stills was between the ages of 21 and 26. These works are important because these songs are each hand crafted by Stills. I also wanted to showcase his array of talents like multi-instrumental musician, arranger, and producer. In addition to being a successful singer/songwriter, who work has had a large musical impact.   Much more for future podcasts.   M1 For What It’s Worth (Stephen Stills), Buffalo Springfield, Buffalo Springfield, Released ATCO, LP 1969 (3:00)   Stephen Stills’ first HIT recording was FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH (or “Stop, Hey, What’s That Sound”). It was 1966. Stills was just 21 years old. This was his first big break. He had written several songs, by now.. Not only did he have an inventory of original songs, he had helped to form a new band. Along with two other singer-songwriters, Richie Furay and Neil Young… they formed Buffalo Springfield out in Los Angeles. Neil Young came from Winnipeg Alberta, and Furay and Stills left a New York City gig with the Au Go-Go Singers, a 9-member group performing at the Café Au Go-Go. Two other Canadians -- bassist Bruce Palmer and rock drummer Dewey Martin were added --- 5 band members in all. 2 Americans, 3 Canadians.   "For What It's Worth" became one of the most recognizable songs of the 1960s. It was first released as a 45 RPM single in late 1966. In t1967, For What It’s Worth featured on the first Buffalo Springfield LP.   The lyrics in FOR WHAT ITS WORTH are all about a confrontation Stills had with LAPD Riot Police in Los Angeles' earlier that year. There had been many summer nights of rowdy crowds of kids causing late-night traffic issues in the Sunset Strip neighborhood. LA responded by announcing a curfew of 10PM. As a result, there were reported to have been over 1,000 persons out on the Strip protesting and trouble broke out. There were clashes between police and young pe...
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    59 mins
  • Wendy Carlos Electronic Composer VV_026

    Wendy Carlos Electronic Composer VV_026
    May 12 2023
    Wendy Carlos Electronic Composer VV_026 SONG LIST* M1 Air on a G String (JS Bach 1730, W Carlos 1968), Switched-On Bach, Columbia/CBS, 1968 (2:27) ·       Wendy Carlos – Moog Synthesizer ·       Benjamin Folkman, Assistance M2 Two Part Invention in F-Major,(JS Bach 1723, W Carlos, 1968), Switched-On Bach, Columbia/CBS, 1968 (0:40) ·       Wendy Carlos – Moog Synthesizer ·       Benjamin Folkman, Assistance M3 Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring ,(JS Bach 1723, W Carlos 1968), Switched-On Bach, Columbia/CBS, 1968 (2:56) ·       Wendy Carlos – Moog Synthesizer ·       Benjamin Folkman, Assistance M4 Chorale Prelude “Wachet Auf”, (JS Bach 1731, W Carlos 1968), Switched-On Bach, Columbia/CBS, 1968 (3:37) ·       Wendy Carlos – Moog Synthesizer ·       Benjamin Folkman, Assistance M5 Brandenburg Concerto #3 in G Major 2nd Movement, (JS Bach 1723, W Carlos 1968), Switched-On Bach, Columbia/CBS, 1968 (2:50) ·       Wendy Carlos – Moog Synthesizer ·       Benjamin Folkman, Assistance M6 Brandenburg Concerto #3 in G Major 3rd Movement, (JS Bach 1723, W Carlos 1968), Switched-On Bach, Columbia/CBS, 1968 (5:05) ·       Wendy Carlos – Moog Synthesizer ·       Benjamin Folkman, Assistance M7 Title Music from A Clockwork Orange), (Purcell, 1695, W Carlos, R Elkind 1972) , Columbia/CBS, 1972 (2:21) ·       Wendy Carlos – Moog Synthesizer ·       Rachel Elkind Producer M8 Theme from A Clockwork Orange (Beethoviana), (W Carlos, R Elkind 1972) , Columbia/CBS, 1972 (1:44) ·       Wendy Carlos – Moog Synthesizer ·       Rachel Elkind Producer   M9 Timesteps (Excerpt), (W. Carlos 1970, Tempi Music BMI), Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, Warner Bros Records, 1972 (4:13) ·       Wendy Carlos – Moog Synthesizer ·       Rachel Elkind Producer M10 March from A Clockwork Orange/Ninth Symphony, 4th Movement, (L v Beethoven 1824, W Carlos, R Elkind 1970) Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, Warner Bros Records, 1972 (7:00) ·       Wendy Carlos – Moog Synthesizer ·       Rachel Elkind Producer and Articulations Today’s Vinyl Vibrations podcast features the artistry of Wendy Carlos, an American composer, arranger, and electronic musician. Wendy Carlos was born Walter Carlos in Rhode Island in November 1939. She is the first transgender recipient of a Grammy Award, her album SWITCHED-ON BACH won three Grammys in 1970. Later, in 2005 she was the recipient of the SEAMUS Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to the art and craft of electro-acoustic music. Wendy Carlos is best known for her electronic music such as SWITCHED-ON BACH…and film scores such as A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, THE SHINING and TRON. Her studies of music composition at Columbia University in New York City in the 1960s led to her working with electronic musicians and technicians where she helped in the development of the MOOG SYNTHESIZER. This was the first commercially available keyboard instrument from Robert Moog. During her time at Columbia, Carlos ordered components of a custom designed synthesizer from Robert Moog, and she collaborated with Moog on the design of that early instrument, which became known as the MOOG SYNTHESIZER. Some of the modules included a touch-sensitive keyboard, a portamento control, which slides notes in the scale between one note and the next, a filter bank, and a 49-oscillator polyphonic generator bank that could create chords and arpeggios, arpeggios are the individual notes of those chords played in cycles. Today, we take the synthesizer for granted. The keyboard synthesizer has become widely-available, and most keyboard musicians today, including me, use a synth keyboard such as BEHRINGER, KORG, NORD, ROLAND, YAMAHA, and yes… even the brand Carlos herself helped design with Robert Moog, the MOOG synthesizer. After getting her Masters in Music Composition from Columbia University in 1965,
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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • Stephane Grappelli, Violinist – VV025

    Stephane Grappelli, Violinist – VV025
    Mar 2 2023
    M1 Oh, Lady Be Good (George and Ira Gershwin, 1924), Django,  CBS Realm Jazz Series 1969/1934 (2:50)... M2 Dinah, (Akst, Lewis, Young, 1925) Django, CBS Realm Jazz Series 1969/1934 (2:30)... M3 I Saw Stars (Sigler, Goodhart, Hoffman, 1934), Django, CBS Realm Jazz Series 1969/1934 (2:20)....... M4 Confessin’, (Daugherty, Reynolds, 1929), Django, CBS Realm Jazz Series 1969/1935 (2:40).... M5 The Sunshine of Your Smile, (Ray, Cooke, 1913) Django,  CBS Realm Jazz Series, 1969/1935 (2:50)..... M6 Swannee River (Old Folks at Home), (Foster, 1851), Django, CBS Realm Jazz Series, 1969/1935 (2:50)... M7 Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)(Davis, Ramirez, Sherman, 1941)  Best of Django Reinhardt, EMI / Columbia, 1970/1947 (3:10) M8 Golden Green (Ponty, 1972), Ponty/Grappelli, Inner City Records, 1976/1973 (4:42) Today’s Vinyl Vibrations podcast features the artistry of French Violinist Stephane Grappelli. Stephane Grappelli is best known as the founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France along with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. This was a GYPSY jazz band. Grappelli is considered the grandfather of jazz violinists. He lived 90 years, from 1908 until 1997. He began playing violin at the age of 12, early on, preferring to learn in the streets by watching how other violinists played, such as at the Barbes (pron BAR-bez) metro station in Paris. Then he was enrolled by his father at the Conservatory of Paris to learn music theory, sight reading, and ear training. He graduated three years later. Starting at age 15, he worked in the pit orchestra at the Theatre Gaumont, accompanying silent films, then at the Ambassador Hotel orchestra, where jazz violinist Joe Venuti was playing. For a while, Grappelli abandoned violin --- in favor of playing piano in a big band, it was easier to get paid for big band work. Jazz violinists were a relatively unknown and rare breed. In this big band, Grappelli met gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. It was 1931 and Grappelli was just 23, Django was 21. Three years later, Django and Grappelli formed the Quintette du Hot Club de France . This was an all-string jazz band, and they performed regularly at the Montmartre district, an artistic village on the hill in the northside of Paris. This continued until 1939 when the Quintette disbanded due to the outbreak of World War II. ‘’ When the war was over, the original Quintette never did reform. Django and Grappelli did continue to perform together in Paris. In 1949, they briefly toured in Italy, where some 50 tunes were recorded. That would turn out to be the last time the two would record together, 1949, due to Django’s untimely death at the age of 43. Many of those recorded songs were released as an album titled Djangology in 2005 on Bluebird Records. Most of the recordings featured in today’s podcast were recorded between 1934 and 1947 and were recorded in Paris, as performed by the Quintette du Hot Club de France. Stephane Grappelli is a master of improvisation. He had said that he was not a fan of BEBOP jazz, which was then very fashionable in the jazz world.   Instead, he was a strong proponent of SWING music, another popular jazz style. Swing developed in the US in 1935-1945  ….. This was the SWING ERA in America.
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    48 mins
  • Leo Kottke, Guitarist VV-024

    Leo Kottke, Guitarist VV-024
    Feb 13 2023
    M1  Cripple Creek (Traditional), Mudlark, Capitol Records 1971 (1:56).................................................................... M2 Stealing (Kottke), Mudlark, Capitol Records 1971 (1:35).................................................................................... M3 Machine #2 (Kottke), Mudlark, Capitol Records 1971 (3:00)............................................................................... M4 Bourree (J.S. Bach), Mudlark, Capitol Records 1971 (1:26)................................................................................. M5 Easter (Kottke), My Feet Are Smiling, Capitol Records 1973 (3:18).................................................................... M6 June Bug (Kottke), My Feet Are Smiling, Capitol Records 1973 (2:20)............................................................... M7 Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring (J.S.Bach), My Feet Are Smiling, Capitol Records 1973 (2:00)............................. M8 Twilight Property (Kottke), Dreams and All That Stuff, Capitol Records 1974 (3:11).......................................... M9 Vertical Trees (Kottke), Dreams and All That Stuff, Capitol Records 1974 (2:34) Today’s Vinyl Vibrations podcast features the artistry of American composer, arranger, and acoustic guitarist LEO KOTTKE.  Leo Kottke was born in 1945 in Athens Georgia.  As a youth he  lived in several states, including Oklahoma ,,and Missouri and Minnesota  and eventually settled in the Twin Cities. He released his first record on the Oblivion label in 1969 … and just 2 years later he signed on with Capitol Records … it was 1971 he was just 25 years old. Kottke produces instrumental songs, mostly…. but on a few songs he adds his vocals. I selected the instrumental songs because I believe these best showcase his unique guitar and arrangement talent. For his guitars, Kottke uses signature Taylor 12-string and Taylor 6 string.. Kottke plays guitar by an innovative style of fingerpicking, and his style is considered “unconventional”. His style enables the mimicking of a rhythm section, His genres of music include jazz, rock, bluegrass, classical, and folk. Kottke has also been “Different” as far his guitar tuning. He’s used different variations ranging from open tuning to tuning his guitar two steps below the traditional tuning.  This produces a full and warm guitar sound. When Kottke was younger, he suffered significant hearing loss from two events - -  first from a firecracker incident as a youngster, and later during live-fire exercises while serving in the Naval Reserves. He was inducted into the Guitar Player Hall of Fame in 1978 and scored two Grammy nominations --- 1988 and 1991 Kottke has released 40 records in 40 year period.
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    37 mins
  • Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass-VV023

    Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass-VV023
    Feb 3 2023
    Today’s Vinyl Vibrations podcast features the great trumpeter, arranger and producer, Herb Alpert. M1  The Lonely Bull, (Sol Lake), Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, The Lonely Bull, A&M Records, 1962 (2:29). M2 South of the Border (Jimmy Kennedy and Michael Carr), Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass, South of the Border, A&M Records, 1964 (2:06)    M3 I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face (Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe), Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass, South of the Border, A&M Records, 1964 (2:25)    M4 A Taste of Honey, (Bobby Scott), Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965, (2:43). M5 More and More Amor (Sol Lake), Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Going Places, A&M Records, 1965 (2:44). M6 Mae (Riz Ortolani), Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Going Places, A&M Records, 1965 (2:27). M7 Shades of Blue (Julias Wechter), Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Sounds Like, A&M Records, 1967 (2:44 ). M8 Wade in the Water" (Traditional) - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Sounds Like, A&M Records, 1967 (3:03). M9 "Treasure of San Miguel" (Roger Nichols), Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Sounds Like, A&M Records, 1967 (2:14) Herb Alpert was born in 1935, and is an American trumpeter who led the band “Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass” in the 1960s. He was born and raised in the Eastside Los Angeles. His parents were Tillie and Louis Alpert ---they were Jewish immigrants to the U.S., coming here from the Ukraine and from Romania. Alpert was born into a family of musicians. His father was a mandolin player and his mother taught violin. Herb’s older brother was a drummer.  Herb began to play trumpet at the age of eight. While attending the University of Southern California in the 1950s, he was a member of the USC Trojan Marching Band for two years. In the 1960s Alpert co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss, A for Alpert and M for Moss. There are many, many measures of success in the area of popular music by which to measure the success of Herb Alpert - - ….here are just a few: He sold some 72 million records worldwide. And 28 of his albums landed on the Billboard 200 chart 5 of his albums became No. 1 albums He achieved #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 as instrumentalist He has had 14 platinum albums (sold 1 million) and 15 gold albums (sold 500,000). He has received a Tony Award, eight Grammy Awards, and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006…. and was awarded the National Medal of Arts by Barack Obama in 2013. One of the recording techniques Herb Alpert used in these early records was the overdubbing of the trumpet part, Starting with his first album, THE LONELY BULL, and the title track 1 on side 1.  According to Herb Alpert, he said that he had been trying to find the right trumpet voice. He tried emulating the trumpet styles of Harry James, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and Clifford Brown. Oddly enough, he got inspiration NOT from these famous trumpeters, but from a guitarist named …Les Paul. Les Paul had been using multitracking his guitar  recordings. So Alpert tried multitracking his trumpet … and that multitracking became one of the signature sounds we will hear. Here is an example of the overdubbed trumpet from the song A QUIET TEAR……. (Play an example of Herb’s overdubbed trumpet on the song   A QUIET TEAR  song side 2 track 6) In this overdub Herb Alpert is recording each part with the same phrasing and time … but playing the second part in harmony. Additionally Alpert does a fair amount of overdubbing and playing both parts in unison. This double-recording of one part gives Herb’s trumpet an even more rich and full sound, added resonance of the instrument and added reverb or echo of the room. So overdubbing while playing the trumpet part in unison or in harmony was a signature sound of Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. Here is an example from THE LONELY BULL intro….
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    46 mins