lifeasdaddy

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 ]

lifeasdaddy - Glenn Gould's chair is for sale.

I was just reading my gmail and the name "Glenn Gould" in the right-margin google ads caught my eye. Usually I can resist the temptation to click through very easily, but this piqued my curiosity.  It was about his chair, and the link went through to this site, The Glenn Gould Chair.

Initially, I thought it would be about an important chair which had been a personal possession of Gould, but no, it's a reproduction.   It can be yours for EURO 990.

Here's the wikipedia entry about the gloriously idiosyncratic Glenn Gould, and ironically it is accompanied by a photograph of him at a piano sitting on a folding theatre chair.  Nothing fancy about it.

Want to hear what the fuss about Gould is about?  Here's some YouTube vision and sound.

lifeasdaddy - "enthusiasm is a form of social courage"

Gretchen Rubin talks in her blog about going to a friend's birthday party at a Barry Manilow concert.

She said,

"First of all, it struck me that my friend shows considerable strength of character in being such an avowed Barry Manilow fan. After all, Barry Manilow is…Barry Manilow. It’s so much safer to criticize or to mock than to embrace; enthusiasm is a form of social courage."

I like what Gretchen's got to say there.  You can read the whole thing.

lifeasdaddy - Progressive Bluegrass: I didn't know it existed.

There's a country music band called Nickel Creek.  Up to 5 minutes ago I'd never heard of them, nor that there was a genre called progressive bluegrass although I've long had a soft spot for country music.

Nickel Creek have a best-of-album (the very best they say) called Reasons Why.  There's an embedded video clip from year 2000 of their "When you come back down" single at the Amazon link.  Click on the video link, please. It's very good.  I mean the songwriting's good.  Both music and lyrics.  Their musicianship, the singing, the film direction.

As Molly Meldrum used to say, "Do yourself a favour."

[tip from Terry Teachout ]