Jimmy Cobb was an American jazz drummer best known for his work with Miles Davis, and perhaps most famously so for being the drummer on Kind of Blue (1959).
Tag Archives: music
RIP Mory Kanté (1950 – 2020)
Mory Kanté was a Guinean vocalist and player of the kora harp best known for his 1987 hit song “Yé ké yé ké“.
RIP Christophe (1945 – 2020)
Christophe was a French singer-songwriter best known for his schmalzy broken heart love song “Aline” (1965).
Apart from that, he gained some fame for his composition “Sunny Road to Salina” (1970), which was featured in Kill Bill Vol. 2. (2004).
Cryptomnesia III
Am I the first to notice the similarities between the opening basslines of “Travelin’ Man” (1976) by Stanley Cowell and “Seven Nation Army” (2003) by The White Stripes?
RIP Neil ‘Monty Python’ Innes (1944 – 2019)
Neil Innes was an English comedian (Monty Python), musician (The Rutles, Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band) and writer.
RIP Marie ‘Roxette’ Fredriksson (1958 – 2019)
Marie Fredriksson was a Swedish singer known as the lead singer to Roxette.
I have nothing with that band. Perhaps it’s a generation thing, I was 24 when their song “The Look” came out, so too old to make any sort of impression.
To me it’s more pap than pop because, let us be honest, this was 1989 and instead of listening to “The Look”, you could have been listening to “French Kiss” by Lil’ Louis, “I’ll House You” by Jungle Brothers, “Work That Mutherfucker” by Steve Poindexter, “Sueño Latino” by Sueño Latino, “Pacific State” by 808 State, “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy, “Funky Cold Medina” by Tone Lōc or “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak.
Furthermore, in 1989 there was also “Love Shack” by The B52’s which brought pap-ish joy without the bombast of Roxette. Both bands share their use of the guitar but Roxette sounds like American middle of the road arena rock.
And if you were into guilty pleasures, you could have been listening to “Me So Horny” by 2 Live Crew or “Pump Up the Jam” by Technotronic.
“The Look” was featured on Grand Theft Auto IV, on the Vice City FM† channel, at least half of the songs on that channel are better than Roxette’s.
A long time ago, I decided to do only appreciative criticism, but since this blog has evolved into a necrology, it seems fitting that I strive for completeness and thus ‘bash‘ Roxette.
On the other hand, as the video above shows, Roxette had lots of fun.
Life is a stage and each must play his part… so Roxette, enjoy your symptom.
RIP Darondo (1946 – 2013)
Darondo was an American musician who released a couple of singles in the 1970s of which “Didn’t I” eventually became popular in the 2000s.
In view that his compositions never became hits, he was less than a one-hit wonder. However, the current upload of “Didn’t I”scored more than five million listens over the last five years.
Darondo’s voice has been described as a cross between Ronald Isley and Al Green.
In the paucity of his recorded material, he resembles Shuggie Otis and Sixto Rodriguez.
Somehow his death did not appear on my radar back in 2013. These however: Junior Murvin, Lou Reed, JJ Cale, Bobby Bland, Ray Manzarek, Vincent Montana, Jr., Kevin Ayers, Donald Byrd and Cecil Womack, did.
RIP Keith Flint (1969 – 2019)
Keith Flint was an English vocalist and dancer associated with the electronic dance act The Prodigy.
He contributed to “Out of Space” (1992) which sampled the classic reggae track “Chase the Devil” (1976) by Max Romeo, which was produced by Lee Scratch Perry.
That track featured the Afrofuturist lines “I’m gonna send him to outa space, to find another race.”
RIP André Previn (1929 – 2019)
André Previn was a German-American musician best known for his film scores.
He first came to my attention when his ex-wife Dory Previn died in 2012.
After some quick glancing through my archives, I find that a ‘porn groove’ on the compilation The Mood Mosaic Vol. 3 “The Sexploitation” is of Previn’s hand, a track called “Executive Party” composed for the film Rollerball.
In the clip above that song is heard in a wonderfully strange scene “shot in the pre-dawn “magic hour,” as the wealthy, decadent upper-class fire explosive rounds at a line of towering trees, setting fire to them one after another, reveling in destruction” [1].
A example of pure wanton waste of excess energy.
RIP Cecil Taylor (1929 – 2018)
Cecil Taylor was an American pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor is generally acknowledged as having been one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, producing complex improvised sounds, frequently involving tone clusters and intricate polyrhythms. His piano technique has been likened to percussion, for example described as “eighty-eight tuned drums” (referring to the number of keys on a standard piano). He has also been described as “like Art Tatum with contemporary-classical leanings”.
His composition Indent (1973) is on Thurston Moore’s Top Ten Free Jazz Underground (1995).