Tune of the Day


"Blue Rondo a la Turk"  on the Two Generations of Brubeck album.  Wow.

There are many fine versions of this tune, but this one gets me dancing, clapping, fist-pounding, whatever, every time....and it's not easy to dance in, what, 9/8?  I love tunes that grow, build, develop, and move through changes.  This one just picks me up and takes me right along with it.  Great melding of jazz and rock idioms, too.  It's fun to imagine Dave Brubeck setting the groove and then sitting back to hear where his kids and their friends take it. 

You can continue exploring Dave and the kids on Two Generations of Brubeck, "The Great Spirit Made Us All".  And Chris Brubeck's rock/jazz band Sky King on "Secret Sauce".

For extra credit, give a "spin" to Chase, "Bochawa" from their last album, Pure Music.

Anyway, that's my two cents today.




77jovian

"As If We Would Never Love Again" on Jim Lauderdale’s Onward Through It All album. A great, great song (chord progressions, melody) from a "perfect" album (not a single bad song. Jim is a master songwriter, his songs having been recorded and made hits by a LOT of other singers. Look him up!), played by some of the best musicians in the world (none of whom you’ve heard of ;-) as a shuffle with a subtle swing feel, complete with walking bass, a favorite of mine.

I dig how the drummer switches from playing cross-stick on the snare drum on the first verse, to the tip of the stick on the drumhead on the second verse. Taste and class! Superb pedal steel playing, lead guitar parts and tone to die for (in the mold of James Burton), acoustic piano played honky-tonk style, nice harmony parts to compliment Jim’s great singing of the melody. What’s not to love? For those of you raised on Rock but now drawn to some Americana or Alt-Country artists or bands, this is how the music is played by men, rather than boys ;-) .