lifeasdaddy

I dips me lid to Matthew Harding

Matt went around the world and danced with lots of people in lots of places.  This video is a lot more interesting than you think.

"He realized his bad dancing wasn't actually all that interesting, and that other people were much better at being bad at it. He showed them his inbox, which, as a result of his semi-famousness, was overflowing with emails from all over the planet. He told them he wanted to travel around the world one more time and invite the people who'd written him to come out and dance too."

.

I felt good after I watched it.  You will too.

http://www.vimeo.com/1211060

If your video is jerky, turn off the HD (button on the screen).

Swing Low Sweet Chariot

I stumbled across a podcast on iTunes of Joe Carter singing Swing Low Sweet Chariot.  It's quite simply the best version of this spiritual I've heard.

Carter  sings a slightly shortened version, but I love the way he and his piano accompanist pick up a bit of strut/swing in the second verse.  Don't know the name of the accompanist but he or she does a great job.

To double check, I listened once again to the Paul Robeson version, and still think Carter beats him out.

Other notable covers of Swing Low Sweet Chariot are this one by Kathleen Battle, and this by UB40.

Ed's first concert at the Sydney Opera House

[ Due to technical problems inserting images - this post is a bit late to market. ]

Edward knows perfecty well which buiding is the Sydney Opera House, and a couple of weeks before Christmas he found out what goes on inside.  Music!

We attended a Babies Proms Christmas concert in the Utzon Room which is dominated on one side by a huge woven tapestry  and on the other side by floor to ceiling windows overlooking Farm Cove.  The 16-piece orchestra was conducted by Big G, and there was a solo singer named Saskia.

A highlight for Ed was hanging his ornament on the Christmas tree at the end of the show - he's in the horizontally striped shirt in the pic.

As for the concert, it was great fun for the littlies, and well run by the Opera house team.

lifeasdaddy - Today's podcast review.

What did two-time World Heavyweight Boxing Champion George Foreman dream about when he was a boy?

"...I always dreamed about not a car, not a beautiful home, but enough to eat." 

In this podcast from NPR and the Kitchen Sisters, poor people talk about how the George Foreman Grill is their kitchen.  Often in low-rent unfurnished rooms, they bu a Foreman Grill to cook on.

Then the Kitchen Sisters interview Foreman, and his delight in finding out his grill is helping poor people is just so plain to hear.

Here's the iTunes link:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=156274133&s=143441&i=12732622

Apart from that I've been listening to some pretty good dance music on iTunes this afternoon.

Great tribal house from DJ Anngelica:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=188541623&s=143441&i=13327675

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=188541623&s=143441&i=14008465

And from Radio 538 Dance Department in the Netherlands:

with Paul van Dyk:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=80488920&s=143441&i=18826452

with Scumfrog:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=80488920&s=143441&i=18627023

lifeasdaddy - Edward plays his Ukulele

Gabrielle bought Edward a Ukulele in Hawaii. 

He's long been a fan of guitars, mainly because of Murray.

This one's a Leolani Ukulele. 

So far, Edward's uke playing sounds more sitar than guitar, but he's just starting out.

You can also see Ed's special friends Teddy and Elephant.

Here's youtube of some fine ukulele playing.  And for something more traditional.

lifeasdaddy - anthologyrecordings.com & album cover art

There's this interesting website, anthologyrecording.com, which sells digital downloads of obscure yet seminal music of the past.

When I looked at their catalog page it made me realise that the artwork on album covers in years gone by was truly superb.

Some examples:

 

 

lifeasdaddy - Wichita Rutherford: Bluegrass evangelist and a big fat laugh.

Checking out the iTunes USA store, I saw in the out of left field section the "5 minutes with Wichita" series.

Wichita Rutherford interviews Bluegrass stars, and also answers questions from listeners, such as  a request to expain the Theory of Relativity.

His blog is here, and you'll see that his bluegrass band Van Heffer specialises in bluegrass covers of Ozzy Osbourne songs.

Check out the iTunes podcasts here.

You don't have to know much about bluegrass to enjoy it.  I don't, and I did.

lifeasdaddy - A trove of early cylinder recordings

For those of you interested in early recordings of music and other pieces, check out this site at the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project from the Donald C. Davidson Library, U.C.S.B.

To get an idea of the scope and range, check out the browse by genre section here.

You can listen to a stream, or download MP3, or download an unedited version.

Some gems:

1 :  Russell Hunting giving his famous recitation of Casey at the Bat.  [from 1898]  (Here's the Wikipedia backgrounder on CATB for the unititiated.)

2 :   Lieutenant E. H. Shackleton "My South Polar Expedition". (1910)

..

..

Art Tatums's jazz piano techniques explained by Dick Hyman

  Dick Hyman is a fine piano player.  He turns 80 years old today - and it's amazing to consider his   heavy performing schedule.

I've long treasured my copy of his recording at the Maybeck Recital Hall of the Music of 1937.

Although I listen to Art Tatum rarely now, he was once my favourite jazz pianist.  One of the features of Tatum's playing was his huge technique and ability to play rapidly and clearly.  He had the ability to give voice to many then-original harmonic ideas.  It's often been said that people hearing his recordings for the first time often thought there were two piants playing.

Now I've found on YouTube that Dick Hyman has given lessons explaining and demonstrating Tatum's techniques and musical ideas.  I wish I'd found that 20 years ago.

Here's a link on YouTube for Hyman's introduction to his Tatum lesson series.  Other lessons are found beyond that link.

And here's where you can buy the CD-ROM of Hyman's Tatum Lessons.

My other favourite jazz pianists?  In no particular order:

- Teddy Wilson

- Oscar Peterson

- Erroll Garner

lifeasdaddy - A couple of YouTube gems

There's a YouTube video of a human slingshot.  Well, it's not actually a slingshot, but it's well worth watching.

Could be the next big thing.

And then there's Celine Dion and anastacia doing a cover of ACDC's You shook me all night long.

I offer the Dion/anastacia  last link without comment.  You can make up your own mind.

[tips from Kottke ]