The idle musings of a former military man, former computer geek, medically retired pastor and now full-time writer. Contents guaranteed to offend the politically correct and anal-retentive from time to time. My approach to life is that it should be taken with a large helping of laughter, and sufficient firepower to keep it tamed!
Showing posts with label Sunday morning music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sunday morning music. Show all posts
And now for something completely different, as they say in the classics! Ernest Tomlinson, who died in 2015 at the age of 91, was an English composer of light music. One of his better-known works was this "Fantasia on Auld Lang Syne", composed in 1976. The fun part about it is that it includes many very short excerpts from other classical pieces - more than 120 of them. (A list of included works may be found here.) For a piece that's less than 20 minutes long, that's going some!
A commenter on the video's YouTube page says, "Only an insane genius could have produced this." I'm not sure about the "insane" part, but it's certainly a remarkable piece of arrangement, if not entirely original composition.
A few weeks ago I put up Mike Oldfield's 2008 quasi-classical album "Music Of The Spheres". In a comment to that post, reader Mauser said "I still need to get a copy of Tubular Bells 3". I thought I'd save him the trouble, and give the rest of my readers a treat at the same time. Here, from 1998, is the world premiere of "Tubular Bells III", live (in sometimes pouring rain) at the Horse Guards Parade in London.
Tubular Bells III was less popular than its two previous versions, but I like it very much. See also "The Millennium Bell" and "Music Of The Spheres" for further development of the musical themes first encountered in earlier Tubular Bells versions.
Many readers will know of Nightwish, the Finnish symphonic metal group. It's on hiatus at present, to allow several of its members to focus on solo albums and opportunities. However, its keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen and multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley, along with Holopainen's wife Johanna Kurkela, formed a progressive folk band in 2017. They named it Auri. The group isn't nearly as well-known in the USA as Nightwish, but it's gained a dedicated following in Europe.
Tuomas: "2011 was when the seed was planted, so to say. That's when Troy made the first song called 'Aphrodite Rising'. And, that's a whole different story, but already back then, we knew that at some point that the three of us, we needed to be doing music together because the way we think about music and life, everything, it's so connected. It's such a rare thing that we need to come together and see what kind of music we would be able to create between the three of us. But for many years, we had other duties to attend to, with Johanna's solo career, us with NIGHTWISH being really busy with the 'Endless Forms Most Beautiful' album and tour, that we didn't have a chance to realize this dream called AURI until 2017. At some point in 2016, we realized, 'What are you doing next year? Do you have anything in your calendar?' 'Not really, nothing.' 'So, how about we try to do something?' It went a bit topsy-turvy because the first thing we did last March was to take the promotional shots, the photos of the band and of the landscapes for the album booklet. That kind of inspired and even forced us to continue recording the actual album."
On the songwriting process for AURI's debut album:
Troy: "It was quite unusual and extraordinary way to make an album, really. From the first seeds of the project — it's not a project, it's an entity — from the very beginning, because of the commitments we had to Johanna's solo work and me and Tuomas with NIGHTWISH, we just put everything in the freezer. We froze even the idea of it. But, it was still always there and it was still whispering to us and telling us, 'This has to happen.' In all that time, we did nothing towards AURI. Nothing. We just talked about it whenever we met up. We knew it was going to be some kind of experiment. We didn't know how it was going to solidify itself and become real. Once we did that, that strange, we did all the photographs for the album first before there was any album, it really got momentum and became really quite fast, the writing of the music. So we did it all in six months. We've got 11 songs on the record, but we did 10 of them in six months. It was the fastest we've ever worked, but we were just driven and inspired so deeply that the thing just wrote itself."
I've chosen one track from each of Auri's three albums (so far) to introduce you to their music. From their eponymous first album, here's "I Hope Your World Is Kind".
From their second album, "Those We Don't Speak Of", here's "Light And Flood".
And, from their third album, "Candles & Beginnings", here's "The Invisible Gossamer Bridge".
I've played this track before, but it's just so good I can't resist playing it again. It's perhaps the definitive example of how a master of hard rock can take the electric guitar to a whole new level, a master class in expressive musical genius. Here's Steve Morse and Deep Purple at the Montreux Festival in 1996, playing "When A Blind Man Cries".
Sheer rock guitar genius! To think that was 30 years ago, this year . . . Steve Morse retired from Deep Purple a few years ago, to take care of his wife during a long illness. Sadly, she died in February 2024. Morse is now back in the saddle with his own group.
Most readers will be aware of Mike Oldfield, the progressive rock genius who first took the music world by storm in 1972 with "Tubular Bells". He's released many albums since then, and even in retirement remains a best-selling performer.
For this morning, I thought you'd enjoy an interview with him and a preview performance of his 2008 "Music Of The Spheres". It achieved the distinction of being #1 on the Classical Music charts in the UK in the first week of its appearance, as well as reaching #9 on the overall UK Albums chart - a superb performance across multiple genres. It remains one of my favorites among all his releases.
I'll post the interview first, and follow it with a music-only video of the full album. Enjoy!
What sort of album do you think would attract this praise?
"a musical event that could be compared to the Benny Goodman Band's performance at Carnegie Hall in 1938 … [it] may be considered the most influential of all live acoustic guitar albums."
Ever heard of Imad Fares? I hadn't either, until I came across one of his video clips while surfing the Net. On his YouTube channel, he writes:
I’m Imad Fares, a street musician based in Poland, sharing the passion of rumba flamenca, Latin rhythms, and soulful acoustic guitar.
On this channel, you’ll find powerful guitar covers, street performances, and short videos filled with rhythm, feeling, and fire.
My mission? To bring the magic of the Spanish guitar to the world — one performance at a time.
His video clips are mostly of him "busking" (playing on the streets of various cities), and his audiences' reactions to them. Here are a few for your entertainment.
Let's have something restful and refreshing. Here's baroque composer Tomaso Albinoni's Oboe Concerto in D minor, Op.9, No.2. The soloist is Matthew Jennejohn, performing with Les Boréades de Montréal conducted by Francis Colpron.
Baroque music still has the capacity to move the soul, in its very simplicity.
I've found that a lot of people know the more "common" songs by Jethro Tull, but most are unaware that there are literally dozens of less-well-known pieces out there. Some are outtakes, some are from concept albums that were never released as such, and some appeared in other channels. Many of them are a lot of fun, and I enjoy listening to them.
Today I'd like to bring you four of Jethro Tull's less-well-known pieces. The first, originally intended for their album "Broadsword and the Beast" but left off the final set, is called "Motoreyes". This recording is from the compilation album "20 Years of Jethro Tull".
Next, here's the theme music from the 1984 Channel 4 television series "Blood Of The British". David Palmer wrote most of the music for the series, but Jethro Tull performed the title song, "Coronach".
From their double CD "Nightcap: The Unreleased Masters 1973-1991", here's "Rosa On The Factory Floor".
And finally, again from their "20 Years of Jethro Tull" compilation, here's one of my favorites: "Part Of The Machine".
Please let me know in Comments if these songs were new to you, and if you'd like more of Jethro Tull's less-well-known music. If so, I'll put up a few more posts like this.
I'm not generally a fan of jazz and blues music; it's a uniquely American music genre, and my exposure to it growing up and as a young man was minuscule. Nevertheless, I've learned to enjoy some performers and their music. The subject of this morning's post, Justin Johnson, was highlighted by fellow blogger Zendo Deb a couple of months ago. I hadn't heard of him before, but it seems he's very well-known, with a guitar instruction Web page, his own YouTube channel, and many other points of contact.
I selected three of his pieces for this morning's post. You'll find many more online. Let's start with "Swamp Groove".
Next, a more rock music sound in "Six Of One".
And finally, some excellent slide guitar work in "Low Country Slide".
He also makes (and sells) a 3-string shovel guitar, and has videos showing him playing a cigar box guitar, one made from an ammo can, and more. He's obviously a tremendously versatile and very skilled musician. I'm sorry I hadn't heard of him before Zendo Deb's Blog post, but I'll be making up for lost time!
I'm not particularly sympathetic towards the environmental movement, particularly because so many of their claims have proved to be hyperbole, exaggeration and failed prophecies of doom. Two well-known examples would be the late Paul Ehrlich's "The Population Bomb" and Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth", neither of which has been borne out by events - but both of which are still lauded by environmentalists for promoting awareness of their respective causes.
Nevertheless, I acknowledge there is empirical evidence of some environmentalist's concerns, which can be independently confirmed. One of these is the retreat of the glaciers, which is undoubtedly caused by rising global temperatures. What causes these temperature changes is the subject of fierce debate that is still ongoing, of course. However, I think we can agree that it's a subject worthy of concern and further investigation.
Singer To Athena, accompanied by a small ensemble of musicians, staged the performance inside a glacial cave on the Morteratsch glacier in southeastern Switzerland on March 25. The group hiked through the snow before sunrise, instruments in hand, to reach the cave in time for filming. The performance was captured for a music video of her song "Collide," organized in collaboration with Greenpeace Switzerland.
The Morteratsch glacier, located near the resort town of Pontresina in the canton of Graubünden, has been shrinking for decades. Scientists estimate it is retreating by roughly 50 meters (about 164 feet) per year, with meltwater steadily carving tunnels and caverns into the ice from within.
. . .
Swiss glaciologist Giovanni Kappenberger, who was present at the site, said the cave is a stark symbol of accelerating ice loss.
"The more meltwater there is, the more caves form, and the faster the glacier disappears," he said.
Kappenberger added that the cave is unlikely to survive another summer. He noted that the glacier is losing at least 10 meters of ice from above annually, while warm air flowing through in summer simultaneously melts it from below.
Regardless of our feelings about climate change and/or globular worming, I think we can agree that was a very attractive piece of music, and a great way to highlight a very real problem.
Back to early classical music for a change. Here's a selection of pieces for baroque (9-string) guitar by Santiago de Murcia (1673-1739). The guitarist is Evangelina Mascardi, and the harpist and percussionist is Lincoln Almada (scroll to the bottom half of the page for an English translation). The pieces are:
I went to high school with a young man named Eric. I'll withhold his surname, because he lived and worked as a missionary in some very sensitive areas of southern Africa, from the worst days of the apartheid civil war to the social and economic collapse of more recent times. He made enemies as well as friends, and I wouldn't want the former to seek to harm the latter. Eric was a good man, and did a great deal of good for others at a time when far too many people were seeking only their own good, and dealing out whatever it took to make sure they got it at anyone and everyone else's expense.
I learned yesterday that Eric died some time ago. Sad news, and it brought back memories. We both enjoyed Johnny Clegg and his group Juluka, so I've been listening to some of their songs, thinking about my friend. I thought I'd share a couple with you. They go a lot deeper than surface listening, as anyone who's lived in Africa - the real Africa, not the tourist traps - will tell you.
A reader sent me an e-mail asking about early/original earworms on the Internet: tunes or themes designed to "stick" in one's mind, so much so that it's hard to forget them or shake them off. I don't know whether it's a good idea or not to revive memories of such things, but here we go! If you don't like earworms, don't play these videos!
First, one of the earliest earworms I can recall.
This one's for the steak-lovers among us . . . or should that be vegetarians?
From big animals to small ones:
And finally, a telephone ring tone that morphed into one of the most annoying songs on the Web.
I know there are many others out there, but I don't want to make this music post too long. Readers, please contribute your own earworm suggestions in Comments, with a link if possible. Thanks!
Today let's enjoy a duo who've delighted thousands with their instrumental crossover guitar pieces. I'm speaking of Rodrigo y Gabriela, who started performing in the early 1990's and have never looked back. I've picked a couple of old favorites, plus an extended session with Metallica's bass player Robert Trujillo.
First, here's "Hanuman".
Next, we have "Tamacun".
Finally, from Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheater in 2014, they're joined by Robert Trujillo for an extended jam session.
Sounds like a lot of fun was had by all concerned. You'll find lots more music from Rodrigo y Gabriela on YouTube.
This is so bizarre, so utterly awful, that I could hardly believe it's labeled "music" . . . but it is. According to Wikipedia, the Estonian group Winny Puhh is a "metal/punk band formed in 1993". The term "band" may be optimistic.
My attention was drawn to them by a reader who sent me the link to a 2014 article in Fashionista magazine. I quote:
For those of you who haven't had the great fortune of being in Europe during the Eurovision, allow me to explain. Eurovision is an international, televised song contest celebrating unity between countries and bad taste. The winning country gets to host the contest the following year. It's ripe with generally terrible music, head scratching choreography, and some incredible British voiceover commentary. People throw Eurovision parties and consume lots and lots of alcohol. Witnessing the Eurovision is like watching the birth of 10,000 glorious GIFs. You have to see it to believe it.
Sadly, the Estonian heavy metal band Winny Puhh (which, yep, translates to 'Winnie the Pooh") didn't quite make it past qualifying rounds for the 2013 Eurovision finals that took place in Sweden this past May--perhaps Estonia wasn't too keen on being represented to the rest of Europe and beyond by men who sometimes glue Wookie fur all over their faces and hang upside-down from the ceiling while wearing wrestling gear.
But master of cool Rick Owens saw past all that. He had a vision--as designers are wont to have. He reached his mighty hand down into the deep, dark depths of the Internet and rescued Winny Puhh from certain Eurovision-reject-obscurity. He plopped them down on his spring 2014 menswear show's runway this morning in Paris and what happened next, according to UK fashion writer Charlie Porter, was "HEAVEN." The rockers stood up, they sat down, they laid down, and then eventually were pulled up by their ankles towards the ceiling--all while playing some melodic tune destined to never see the light of Eurovision GIF glory. But no matter: Twitter went cray. Vine went cray. And Instagram video had a small seizure.
Aaaaaand . . . here's their performance from the 2013 Eurovision trials. Brace yourselves. (And turn down the volume.)
If that's music, I'm . . . oh, never mind. At any rate, there's your Sunday Morning Cacophony!
As a child, I had several favorites among my parents' long-playing records, including two albums with martial songs by the Merrill Staton Choir (who also produced many other albums). I believe they were active in the post-war years up until the 1960's, but I haven't been able to find out any biographical details. I was reminded of those old memories by a couple of chance encounters while browsing the Web, and I thought I'd share them with any other old fogeys veterans who might remember them too.
First, from the album "Sound Off!", here's a medley: "This Is The Army, Mr. Jones", "Comin' In On A Wing And A Prayer", and "Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition".
Next, from the album "Up Anchor!", here's a favorite from the Civil War, "Shenandoah".
And finally, from the same album, another medley: a World War II ballad about "Torpedo Jim", followed by "Your Boy Is On The Coal Pile Now".
Those brought back many memories of my childhood. I reckon I wore out those long-playing records until they were more scratch than song! I wish someone would bring out the Merrill Staton Choir's albums in digital form. I'd buy them all.
I had no idea that one of my favorite Jethro Tull songs - "Wond'ring Aloud", from their 1971 album "Aqualung" - had an extended version. I'd only heard the abbreviated version from the album. However, there was a longer edit, on the 40th anniversary re-issue of the album.
That made my week to hear that. After 55 years, an old favorite lives again!
Joe Satriani needs no introduction to electric guitar aficionados. He's had a long and extraordinarily talented career, and is one of the top performers in his field. Go read his bio at Wikipedia to get some idea of how creative he's been, and how many others he's taught and/or influenced along the way.
I couldn't possibly list all his hits and noteworthy performances; a blog post containing them would take days to write and probably break Blogger's download bandwidth. Instead, I'm going to take the simple approach and play just one: "The Forgotten (Part 2)" from his third studio album, 1989's "Flying In A Blue Dream".
There's an enormous number of his tracks recorded on his YouTube channel and elsewhere. Go enjoy them all!
