With all of the jazz albums out there that have titles like "Such-and-such Meets Such-and-such" — "The Count Meets the Duke", "Lionel Meets the Duke", "Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson", "Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins", etc., etc. — I'd like to see something a bit out of the norm, something like "Duke Ellington Meets Dwight D. Eisenhower". There would be the famous photo of Ike, befuddl
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Isaac Hayes, along with David Porter, was responsible for about 165% of Stax Records' brilliant output in the 60s. Without those Stax records, the world would be a not-as-good place. Along those lines, the world just might be a tad less funky without Isaac Hayes' 1969 album Hot Buttered Soul. The whole album is tremendous, but "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" is the tune that most mesmerize...
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Old School C posted a fantastic version of "I Can't Stand the Rain" by Ann Peebles, which instantly started Cassandra Wilson's version playing in my head. She's accompanied solely by the National steel guitar of the late Chris Whitley. The combination of Wilson's almost mournful phrasing and that sound of Whitley's National guitar played with a slide gives this version a nearly haunting quality.
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Chip Taylor was born James Wesley Voight. If I were to change my name, it sure would seem like a natural segue leaping from "James Wesley Voight" to "Chip Taylor".¹ Even Robert Zimmerman kept the nickname for his first name when he went to Bob Dylan. Nevertheless, if the surname "Voight" sounds familiar, it's because Chip Taylor is the brother of actor John Voight. How cool would it be for Angeli
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Imagine if someone contacted you and said, "There are a bunch of lyrics written by Vince Neil of Motley Crue. Would you like to put them to music?" Once your laughter subsided you might say something gentle like, "Wouldn't that be like wrapping dog shit in Louis Vuitton?" and then decline the offer. However, imagine if someone contacted you and said, "There are a bunch of unheard lyrics written by
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I was accidentally watching the TV show "Jesse" (starring Christina Applegate) one night, several years ago, and I accidentally kept watching the damn thing, and I can't even recall the plot now, it has morphed into mush, but at one point, toward the end of this particular episode, Christina Applegate is having a potential moment with her love interest, and this song starts playing. The delicate g
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Not my favorite song from the musical or movie West Side Story, Oscar Peterson tears up this tune with some of the most fiery piano runs this side of Bud Powell.
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This album is one of the most pleasurable listening experiences I've ever had, one of my stranded-on-an-island-or-in-Antarctica albums. The Peterson Trio's treatment of "Maria" is probably what would have been playing in my head upon first seeing Maria. But then seeing Tony walking around town performing air piano instead of singing wouldn't have the same effect. The rhythm section of Ray Brown (b
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