Welcome to the blog of Dennis J. Woodyard - Journeyman Artist, and Dragonfly Entertainment. Former TV animation producer/director, storyboard artist, character designer, writer, concept artist, Flip book designer, and other professional credits.
Showing posts with label Margaret Explosion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Margaret Explosion. Show all posts
This Sunday Music Muse Day is another cloudy gloomy day in Rochester. Grey, overcast and cold makes it prefect to settle in with some good tunes and warm drink of choice. First up is Wayne Krantz and Leni Stern Separate Cages. This 1996 session by these two jazz fusion guitarist is reviewed by All Music critic Alex Henderson as "an acoustic-oriented blend of jazz, pop and rock that called for subtlety and economy rather than aggression." I don't consider either guitarist essential listening, but I do like their playing, as I have other CDs of them.
Next is Margaret Explosion, a local group, described in our weekly newspaper, the City, as "a delicate free-form jazz group that takes its listeners on an almost narcotic journey. The music is dreamy and tactile; you can take a hit and hold it. Because the sound is created in the moment, no one song is ever given the same treatment twice. It’s beautiful and mesmerizing."- Frank DeBlase. That's an accurate statement. I haven't seen them play live yet. So, I'd be interested to see how a live set holds up, if there are no set tunes. On CD their music is pleasant enough, but I use it more as background music for "zoning out".
Sometimes non-essential and zoning out fits the bill. Stay safe, stay healthy, wear a mask.
This week's Sunday Music Muse day finds me, again, happily embarrassed to feature CDs of classic LPs the should have been in my music collection ages ago. First, two classics by Herbie Hancock, Maiden Voyage and Empyrean Isles. These are solid, highly regarded sessions, of pre-Headhunter Hancock dates with many well known tunes and legendary sidemen. I'm at lost to think of reason why I didn't have the original LPs. I do have Herbie Headhunter LP and his VSOP LP. These are Rudy Van Gelder Edition CDs which he transferred and remastered these classic Blue Note albums with 24-bit technology. They definitely fill another hole in my collection. While playing Maiden Voyage, my wife asked who was playing, because she like it. That's a sign of great music when it grabs the attention of a casual listener (in all fairness she has good taste music).
The next two selections should also have been in my music collection before now, The Dave Brubeck Quartet Time Out, join the other Brubeck CDs I've picked up this past year. I do have other Brubeck LPs, but not "Time Out". I know I have versions of tunes like "Blue Rondo a la Turk" and "Take Five" on other Brubeck CDs and on some Jazz collections. It's nice to have CD of the original session. Brubeck and Desmond, 1975: The Duets is new to me, but I love the intimacy of it.
Just to show I'm not totally stuck in the past. I picked up another CD of the local group, Margaret Explosion, who was featured in last week's post. They "play spacey, floating dreamscapes with smart improvisational skill" and I'm liking them a lot.
Life, a college visit, and the start of the NFL season, combined to push this week's Sunday Music Muse Day to Monday, again. This time I have some interesting and solid picks for music lovers.
First up, is another great Jazz find with my father, Sam Woodyard, on drums. It's a Verve Master Edition reissue of the LP Johnny Hodges, Soloist with Billy Strayhorn and THE Orchestra. "THE Orchestra" has to been the Duke Ellington Orchestra, without the Duke. Jimmy Jones is on piano, with Billy Strayhorn as bandleader and arranger. I enjoy finding and listening to Sam's outings with other groups, although this has him familiar grounds. It's a great set.
Here the original cover.
And the original back cover.
My next selection is a local band the I saw listed to play at the Little Cafe, a small music venue, the our independent movie theatre. I checked their website and sampled their tunes from their CD, Margaret Explosion - Live Dive. From my first impression of their name, I expect it to been a female-centric, folk-rock band, but to my surprise they're avant-garde jazz band, as one review noted they "play spacey, floating dreamscapes with smart improvisational skill". Margaret Explosion's music reminds me of "a little" Miles Davis "In a Silent way" era music. Even, my wife Lisa like it on first listen. Most of their tunes are totally improvisational live tracks, so in a way they only exist on CD, so if you see them live you should expect a "Greatest Hits" set. I missed their show this past weekend, but plan to look out for their next performance.
I also like this animated video they did the music for.
Next is another CD by guitarist Charlie Hunter, titled "Charlie Hunter". I think it's his first release. I'm such a sucker for the 8-string guitar sound he gets. The radical neck design is so interesting. Some of his stuff can be hit and miss, it's always worth giving it a listen.
The last selection really take me back, Return to Forever - Returns. It's 2 CD set of the Chick Corea's Return to Forever fusion band with the original members, Al Di Meola, on guitar (actually Bill Conners was original guitarist on the first album) , Stanley Clark, on Bass, Lenny White, on drums, and Chick, of course on keyboards. This are live track recorded during their 2008 world wide reunion tour, which I missed somehow. It's fun to listen to the old standards played with new fire and intensity of players who have continue to grow and mature. Many times there are music nods, musical quotes, to each member's solo efforts. This is a nice compliment to the Corea-Mclaughlin CD I featured last week.
After a busy weekend, I'm looking forward to spending time with these great tune. Enjoy.
