Bass Players

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Victor Wooten is one of the great living bass players. If you’ve never heard of him, or have only listened to only a few of his extensive recordings, I suggest you delve in. You will not be disappointed. In addition to his solo career, Victor Wooten is well known for playing with the incomparable Bela Fleck, and for his collaborations with two other premier bass players of today, Marcus Miler and Stanley Clarke – the three perform together as S.M.V. Give this band a listen if you are into heavy, excellent bass.

What is prompting this post is my recent introduction to a song by Victor Wooten from his album Soul Circus called Bass Tribute. In this song he gives a nod to fellow bass players, or masters of the low end as they are referred to in the song, both those that came before him and a few contemporaries. Some of the major bass players he acknowledges in the song include Jaco Pastorius, Larry Graham, Bootsy Collins, James Jamerson, Paul McCartney, and the afore mentioned Stanley Clarke and Marcus Miller. He also mentions by name bass players from some well known bands, like The O’Jays’ Anthony Jackson and the Gap Band’s Robert Wilson, who’s bass lines you definitely recognize, though you may have neglected to remember who played them.

What I find really impressive about this song is the way Wooten imitates the styles of each of these players when he mentions them. Not only can he play in his own unique way, which often sounds like he’s playing with an extra set of hands, but he can also play in the various styles of the world’s greatest bass players past and present. I’ve included the song above, so have a listen.

George Harrison

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While the Beatles are acknowledged by almost everyone as one of the greatest rock bands of all time, John Lennon and Paul McCartney tend to get the most glory, and are credited a little bit more than the others with the band’s success – if you hear someone list the members of the Beatles, you will probably hear them say, “John, Paul, George, and Ringo,” George and Ringo coming after John and Paul. Both George and Ringo brought their essential talents to the band, but here I would like to focus on George.

First of all, he is responsible for some of the great Beatles songs. Two of the classics he is responsible for writing are “Here Comes the Sun” and “While my Guitar Gently Weeps” – two of my absolute favorites. Harrison was a solid, fundamental guitar player, and deserves credit for his own incredible riffs, and for executing to perfection the ones written by McCartney and Lennon.

After the Beatles, Harrison had a very successful solo career, including big tours, hit albums, and Billboard chart topping songs. One of my favorite performances of his was on Saturday Night Live during the second season of the show, when he performed “Here Comes the Sun” with Paul Simon. I think this performance of a song he originally recorded with the Beatles sums something up very well – George’s heyday was definitely with the Beatles, but the influence of that period of his career was something he was able to carry on to further success and more big performances. I suppose you could say this about all of the Beatles.

One quick thing to note: George Harrison is responsible for recording one of the catchiest, guaranteed to get stuck in your head songs I am personally aware of – his cover of the song Got My Mind Set On You , originally by Rudy Clark and James Ray.

Whitney Houston Biopic

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sarang ahuja whitneyGiven how unpopular these recent Lifetime biopics have been, you have to wonder why they keep making them. They routinely get slammed in reviews, enrage the families of the people they depict, and embarrass the actors and the network generally. I guess they must get enough viewers to make it worth advertising during them, and actually I think they are going to start getting, if they already don’t, viewers to watch the spectacle of how bad these movies are, but is it really worth the barrage of negative press they generate?

That Lifetime makes these is really quite exploitative, especially in the case of Whitney Houston, because her death is very fresh in everyones memory. This was also the case with the Brittany Murphy Story, and yes, they really made that. I was surprised when they made the Aaliya movie, because when they did her death was not all that recent.

What bothers me most about them is that they make these movies without the consent or even input from people who really knew these stars. If they did, their families probably wouldn’t always be so enraged by them. Then again, if the families were more involved, they probably wouldn’t have Lifetime at the top of their desired producers list.

Of course, I don’t expect these types of movies to stop. I’m sure that each year there will be another, and another, and plenty of negative reviews to go along with them. At the very least, like I said before, people can be entertained by how bad the films are, even if it is not so nice that Lifetime is making money by exploiting the death of recently deceased famous people.

2014 Top 40 Songs

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Now that 2014 is over, we can look at the top 40 songs of the year. The list from which I will be discussing this topic will be the official most streamed list complied by Official Charts Company. Looking at the Top 5, I see three songs that I definitely dig – Happy by Pharrell, All of Me by John Legend, and Stay With Me by Sam Smith. These songs were a big part of the soundtrack to the past year. The great thing about these songs is that I would describe the people who sing them as genuinely talented people, unlike the people who sing some of the songs a bit further down on this list (read: Iggy Azalea).

One of the things I like to do with lists like these is look at the singers/performers, and see which ones I think no one will remember in 10 years, like the group O Town or 3LW 10 years ago. in this age of short attention spans and blink-and-you-miss-them fads, my gut tells me that several people on the Top 40 list fall into this category. I’m going to guess that on of them will be Meghan Trainor. Though I’m not a fan of Iggy Azalea, I think people will still know who she is in ten years, because she will probably be on one of those celebrity reality shows like Big Brother or The Surreal Life.

One singer who really came out big this year was Ariana Grande. Though her music too is representative of the times – highly produced (some would say over produced) and often very electronic – she seems also to be a genuinely talented singer. She is also everywhere right now, on all kinds of talk shows and public public performances, so she is obviously willing to put in the work to transcend many singers who will find themselves being just another fad.

 

Sam Cooke

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Sarang Ahuja Sam CookeOf all soul singers, from the early days of recorded music right up to the present, one of my favorites has to be Sam Cooke. I might even be able to say he is my overall favorite. There are a couple of reason.

First, of course, is his voice. It is very unique because you could describe it in two ways that would seem to oppose each other – it is both smooth and raspy. It has texture. This is something that you miss when you hear all of the over recorded pop music that is so prevalent today. A lot of times it almost sounds too perfect, as if the voices were computer generated. This is not, of course, the case with Sam Cooke. The fact that his voice has both of these qualities also means that his voice can express a wide range of emotion, from soft sentimental sweet nothings to pain and yearning.

Next, I love Sam Cooke’s lyrics. Again, when you look at the list of songs that he wrote they show this same wide range that his voice expresses. You can see this if you listen to a song like Cupid, which is fun and playful if tinged with a touch of desire, and then listen to a song like A Change is Gonna Come in which you hear real and conscious lyrics, and a voice that perfectly expresses the longing in them.

The tragedy with Sam Cooke, as is the tragedy with so many talented singers and artists of various types, is that he died too soon. This is first and foremost tragic because he was a young man. Further though, I have a friend who pointed out to me that he died just before the Beatles really took off. I imagine that he could have given some pretty amazing renditions of some of the songs in the Lennon/McCartney songbook.

Guitar Video

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Check out this video from Sarang Ahuja.  There is a great beat to go along with some fascinating guitars.  After checking out this video be sure to head over to Sarang’s Vimeo page where there is much more to see.

Guitars | Sarang Ahuja from Sarang Ahuja.

Sports and Music Come Together

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Music and sports have always been connected.  When teams are putting together a highlight video they put together their favorite mixtape to back it up.  When they enter the arena they come out to some pump up music.  Some high school and college teams have even been known to play music during practice.  But not at the professional level.

sarangahuja_texansBill O’Brien is changing that mantra and the Houston Texans coach has brought some high powered music to his practices.  While the crowd bumps along to the music watching the players practice, Owner Bob McNair walks around the field checking out the progress of his players.  Although McNair hasn’t expressed approval for the music, he isn’t questioning Bill O’Brien’s methods after he was brought in to the Texans following a dismal 2-14 season.  

Known as Billy O to many, Coach O’Brien believes the music to be more than just playing players favorite songs like “Whatever You Like” by T.I. or something from U2.  In a recent Houston Chronicle article by Jerome Solomon mentions that Bill O’Brien could be an innovator, cutting edge and cocky, in a good way.  

O’Brien sees it differently though.  He sees a young team that suffered from being one of the worst tackling and poorest offenses each week in the NFL.  The music being played during practice is to help the players pay more attention to signals and it forces them to communicate with one another.  O’Brien also mentioned that on Sundays, the coaches aren’t on the field making the decisions.  Pre-snap it is up to the players to make plays and they are on their own to do so.  By understanding each other’s body language and signals the teams should learn to communicate no matter the environment.  The music also changes abruptly at times.  Sometimes this happens right in the middle of the song.  This forces players to react on the fly.  With the new technique it will be interesting to see if the tactics in practice translate to wins on the field.

Jack Johnson performs at FireFly

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Jack Johnson finished off the FireFly Music Festival, the third annual installment, with a happy and go-lucky performance that left patrons feeling relaxed in a big jam session sort of feel reports the Dover Post.  The first annual Firefly saw The Black Keys finish of the festivities and the year following it was Foster the People.  Both bands are high energy but Jack Johnson got the nod this year and it left the crowd dancing and wiggling to a reggae groove and surf-rock.

sarangahuja_jackjohnsonHow did Jack Johnson succeed?  He began his set with old classics like “Taylor,” Sitting, Waiting, Wishing” and “Flake.”  But Jack did something that was completely unexpected.  The four day festival had over 100 acts but on the last act, Jack Johnson invited up The Lumineers to play in two songs with him—side by side.

The Lumineers joined in on two classic songs.  The first song played was a new rift on Johnson’s “Breakdown” and The Lumineers also assisted on Bob Dylan’s old song “ I Shall be Released.”  The Dover Post mentions that “the collaboration was magical.”

Individuals in the crowd mentioned how much they appreciated Jack Johnson bringing on the folk rock band saying that he is tailoring to his audience, knowing that everyone loves them.

Johnson has also been known to throw audiences for a loop, typically in a very successful fashion.  He did so by adding “Whole Lotta Love” from Led Zeppelin, using the chorus in his song “Staple It Together.”

Johnson’s set flowed wonderfully and he played for an hour and a half until the set was finished.  It seemed he expected an encore and he got it.  For the encore he played his absolute classics “Angel,” “Do You Remember” and “Sleep Through The Static.”  Johnson didn’t leave after his last song though.  He also added fireworks after his final tune stating his appreciation to the fans for coming out and waiting for his final set.

Larry’s Country Diner

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There is a diner like no other.  This one takes place on television screens across the country.  Larry’s Country Diner has all the typical things you’d expect, blue and white checkered table cloths, a neon red “OPEN” sign, signs with mashed potatoes, sundaes, sarangahuja_larrysand fried chicken cover the walls, and folks get to enjoy live music from the comfort of their booth while they scarf down a freshly cooked meal.  However, don’t expect to get into Larry’s anytime soon—they have a waiting list of two years.  The show is four years old and works in a live studio audience setting on RFD-TV. 

While guests get to eat a freshly cooked meal they certainly don’t have the option of what they want.  One of the servers on the show, Renae Johnson, said that people often just come to meet the cast and they don’t fully realize that they are getting a full cooked meal with it.  Johnson mentions though that this isn’t Burger King.  People don’t “have it their way” so they can’t be picky but they get the privilege of listening to great music in a unique environment.

Behind the scenes, in the kitchen, Ingrid Reed cooks a variety of things for the guests like chicken, potato salad, pies, sundaes and more.  The performers get an even more specialized menu which includes: barbecue ribs, poached salmon, Mexican entrees, steak, and many more.  Reed has been catering to the show since its beginning in 2009.  At first she did typical diner food like burgers, fries, chicken tenders, and more but when Springer Mountain Farms came on as a sponsor of the show she began creating the same meal for each episode—36 baskets of chicken and four shows a day.  To learn more about Larry’s Country Diner and how the show is doing be sure to click here for more details.