Showing 1-10 of 12 results
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Creating a buzz
Life, John Clewley, Published on 19/02/2019
» Some years ago, I reviewed Colin McPhee's marvellous book, A House In Bali, about life and gamelan music (traditional Balinese music -- mainly percussive and driven by metallophones or gongs) in Bali during the 1930s. Published in 1947, the book details how a young man, after hearing some rare gamelan music on old records, journeys to Bali in 1929 to seek the music that will change his life. It is an enchanting book, well worth reading.
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It came from the swamp
Life, John Clewley, Published on 04/04/2017
» New Orleans, as the crucible of jazz, has a unique musical heritage. The Big Easy, as the port city is often called, has always been a melting pot of cultures. Here Spanish and French colonists mixed with French Acadians, Irish workers, other Europeans and Native Americans to produce a musical culture that has been a seminal element in the development of popular American music.
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Mambo madness
Life, John Clewley, Published on 02/08/2022
» Latin music has been circling the globe for more than a century, creating dance crazes and inspiring local forms of music. From tango to reggaeton, with stops for mambo, rumba, son and salsa, bolero, Latin jazz and more, the Latin music juggernaut just keeps rolling on.
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Tracing the roots of The Big Easy's groove
Life, John Clewley, Published on 23/11/2021
» In March 1947, pianist and singer Cecil Grant heard Roy Brown sing Good Rockin' Tonight during a break at a small club in New Orleans. He was so taken with the song, he called the owners of De Luxe Records and had Brown sing the song over the phone. Brown was quickly signed with the label and recorded the song at J&M Studio with producer Cosimo Matassa.
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Indie rock done right
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 09/02/2020
» "When I was 18/ Someone got stabbed in a church/ But I got used to it/ And forgave all the ways and the names/ It was so long ago, anyways," vocalist Jeremy Gaudet recounts on Murder In The Cathedral, the opening track to Kiwi Jr.'s debut album, Football Money. The vivid songwriting, buoyed by his bandmates' jangly instrumentation, is delivered with the kind of drawl that would have you thinking fondly of Pavement's Stephen Malkmus and The Strokes as well as the Modern Lovers' Jonathan Richman and Parquet Courts' Andrew Savage.
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From his home base
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 22/09/2019
» It's not often that the success of an artist can be attributed to his/her talent alone. Without the full backing of a major label, most artists would struggle to get the sort of exposure required to bring them international recognition. Thai singer-songwriter Phum Viphurit, however, is an extraordinary exception. Signed to Bangkok's bona fide indie label Rats Records, the young singer-songwriter showed immense potential from the get-go with his 2014 English-language debut single Adore. Since then, he has delivered gem after gem, dealing in breezy folky rock perfect for a road trip to the seaside or a session around the campfire.
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Great Little Otis
Life, John Clewley, Published on 02/10/2018
» Otis Rush, the legendary blues guitarist, singer and bandleader, died last week, following a long illness. He was 84 years old. Not as well-known as Chicago blues legends like Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Howling Wolf, he was, nonetheless, a major player in the development of the Chicago "West Side Sound" and his unique, guitar style influenced rock musicians like Mike Bloomfield, Duane Allman, Carlos Santana and Eric Clapton.
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Filipinos and all that jazz
Life, John Clewley, Published on 26/05/2015
» There's a famous photograph of HM the King playing jazz with a band of enthusiastic musicians. It is from 1963 when His Majesty held regular jam sessions with locally-based and visiting musicians. Perhaps the most famous jazz photo is the one that features Benny Goodman, the clarinet-playing American bandleader, but in the 1963 photo, His Majesty is playing with two Filipino jazz musicians: Angel Pena on upright bass and Bert del Rosario on piano.
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From the valleys to Bangkok
Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 25/03/2016
» Ever since the beginning of the year, Bangkok has not been short of world-class musical icons flying in to grace Thai fans, from Madonna to Santana to most recently David Foster. So it's not unusual that the legendary Welsh singer Tom Jones is next to dazzle Thai audiences.
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Boogie down one last time
Life, John Clewley, Published on 13/01/2015
» Johnny Otis was one of the pioneers of R&B, a key but often neglected figure in the development of rock'n'roll. Otis passed away, aged 90, at his home in California in 2012, after a lifetime in show business as a performer and band leader, composer, arranger, producer, disc jockey, nightclub owner, talent scout, political activist and cartoonist. He had over 20 R&B and pop hits between 1948-60 and was responsible for the discovery of Etta James, Hank Ballard, Jackie Wilson and Little Esther Jones, among others.
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