What are you listening to? March 2024

[axolotl]

That reminds me of this album cover.



This is Instrumental Desert Music...with elements of psychedelia, spaghetti westerns, sci-fi, and ambient, and New-Mexicana.
An unintentional soundtrack to a David Lynch movie that doesn't yet exist. Eerie, distorted and cerebral yet strangely familiar and comforting.

For fans of Ennio Morricone, Calexico, Explosions in the Sky, Tom Waits, The Desert Sessions Friends of Dean Martinez and The Dirty Three.

Welcome to Caravan East.

Imma listen to it next.

Caravan East, by The Gral Brothers

8 track album

thegralbrothers.bandcamp.com

 

[Ojai Sam]

That reminds me of this album cover.

View attachment 11689

This is Instrumental Desert Music...with elements of psychedelia, spaghetti westerns, sci-fi, and ambient, and New-Mexicana.
An unintentional soundtrack to a David Lynch movie that doesn't yet exist. Eerie, distorted and cerebral yet strangely familiar and comforting.

For fans of Ennio Morricone, Calexico, Explosions in the Sky, Tom Waits, The Desert Sessions Friends of Dean Martinez and The Dirty Three.

Welcome to Caravan East.

Imma listen to it next.

Caravan East, by The Gral Brothers

8 track album

thegralbrothers.bandcamp.com

That's a really clever adaptation of the actual lettering on the sign.

I'll have to check that one out, maybe even from the library.

 

[Ojai Sam]

John Kirby - 1945-1946 (Classics comp. 1997)

This collection gathers a bunch of mythically rare 78's from obscure post-war labels like Crown and Disc, featuring vocals by the equally obscure Shirley Moore. Sarah Vaughan is here too. With Kirby on bass, you just know it's all all superb. This one didn't rank among the Penguins for some reason that perhaps Zeeba, our resident penguinologist can explain.

 

[Nickyboy]

Pat Metheny - Side Eye NYC (2021)


For some reason, I've never been a Metheny fan. Not "not been a fan" in the sense that I listened to his music and did not like it. But in the sense I simply did not seek him out to listen to in the first place. That, and whenever I heard something by him, I appreciated his talent and skill, but never really connected with the music.

One of my oldest non-childhood friends is a huge Metheny fan. When I was first navigating my Jazz immersion, this friend (not a huge Jazz fan himself at the time) recommended Metheny. Long ago, I ripped a couple of his Metheny CDs to my then-computer and gave them a few whirls. When that computer died and all its music with it, I rarely listened to Metheny again.

Last night, that friend took me as a third wheel to a Metheny concert. Because of my non-connection with Metheny, I was a little worried I'd not enjoy the show as much as I "should." In the lobby I got a beer while my friend bought his date a tee shirt and himself an autographed Metheny CD. He insisted on buying me the CD also, and as much as I insisted on the non-autographed cheaper version, he over-insisted on the autographed one for me as well. When Pat came out and I realized it was a solo show, my trepidation heightened. When Pat opened with a long monologue that included a warning that swaths of the evening would be "very slow and sparse", I wondered if I should have ordered three beers instead of one.

The show was good. monologue breaks were fun. I enjoyed the evening a lot. Listening now to this album purchased at the show, I'm liking this even better. Here, Pat has James Francies on keyboards+synths and Marcus Gilmore on drums. Having the young guys (both of whom I've heard often and enjoy) might make a difference. Pat's playing is masterful as well. Just a really really really good album.

I was deep into him in the early 80s when I was in college. I went to see him live at Smith College once and was blown away by his playing. What a talent. I have occasionally played some of those old tracks in the intervening years, but they never grabbed me again like they did back then. Maybe his minimalist-jazz style was newer to me then? You post has inspired me to give him some more spins today with open ears. I loved it then, why can't I love it again?