Recollections

My aficionado friend Robert Rogeness of Wine Expo–he’s the go-to-guy for all things wine, Brazilian, and New Orleans— sent me this video of Tennessee Ernie Ford doing his hit song “16 Tons”.  He sent it to me because we’d been talking about Brazilian group Funk Como le Gusta version of the mid-60s classic.  I liked the video but immediately thought of a Serge Gainsbourg …

If you ask a thinker like Brian Eno who his biggest inspirations were, he’d tell you John Cage.   In LA, we celebrate his 100th birthday this week with a series of concerts  at the Santa Monica Presbyterian Church, along with works by Erik Satie and others.  Somebody will even perform 4″33″ , Cage’s revolutionary piece that has the pianist sit at the …

When I first landed at Galeão airport–now rechristened Tom Jobim International Airport–in Rio in 1990 in the first of many trips to Brazil,  I was greeted by one of the most ethereal but seductive, sensual but distant, and utterly beguiling voices I have ever heard on a public address system.  I wondered, “who is this woman?”.
Later I heard an NPR story on her.  So …

I think I know a fair amount about Brazilian music.  I’ve been following the music for a long time, have visited Brazil like eight or nine times, and love the music, culture, and country.  Brazil is unique.  So is Brazilian music.
And so when I heard this classic cut from a 1964 album by Wilson Simonal on the radio I loved it and wanted to …

In 1934, superstar tango singer Carlos Gardel was one of the most popular singers and matinee idols in the world.  His fame was sealed in his native Buenos Aires, and he was also a huge star in France, where he’d been living.  Paramount Pictures brought him to New York City to make a series of films for the Spanish-speaking audience.  While doing 1934′s Tango on …

Forget about Pat Boone’s pathetic attempt at a death metal record.   Argh.   This is about more subtle things.
I was listening to the brilliant new ECM album by Giovanna Pessi and Susanna Wallumrød the other night.  She’s a Norwegian pop singer who made fame with the Magic Orchestra there, but here she finds herself in a musical arena of 17th century Elizabethan consort …

I chuckled last night as I read the obit of Jacqueline Piatigorsky, wife of the great Russian cellist, who died at the ripe old age of 100.  She was as good a chess player as her husband was a renowned cellist.  The both had to leave Paris during the Nazi occupation, and came to Los Angeles, where Piatigorsky secured a teaching position at USC, …

When MTV started in the early 1980s, I thought to myself, “what a great platform for reggae and the fledgling world music scene.   Well, that was a big disappointment.  MTV went for commercial stuff only.
On the contrary, youtube carries endless discovery and fascination.  Thank goodness for youtube.  My Cuban friend Humberto Capiro–also my interpreter when I do radio interviews with Cuban musicians whose …

The other night I hosted a dinner party.  One of our guests worked at JPL.  I brought out my copy of the box set Murmurs of Earth, published by Time Warner about 20 years ago.  It’s one of the box sets I saved when moving and downsizing last summer, because it’s rare and amazing.  Even the book’s dedication:  ”To the Makers of Music—all worlds, …

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Paul Simon’s epochal album Graceland.  It was one of the most improbable and difficult musical productions ever.   Apartheid was in full force in 1986, Nelson Mandela was still in prison on Robbin’s Island, Johannesburg was still segregated.  We on the outside got glimpses of the South African music scene of the time on the 1977 BBC …