I'm pleased to announce that our CD Sometimes Things Work Out is now available at Little Mountain Music in Molalla, Oregon.
I met Tony Hill, the owner of Little Mountain Music on Saturday and gave him a 'short stack' of CDs. They're very nice folks, and they stock a terrific selection of CDs as well as vintage vinyl -- something that's hard to find in a physical store these days. I'm old-school, I guess. I enjoy finger-walking through bins of old LPs, finding records I didn't know about or had forgotten, and reading the back-cover. My guilty pleasure is also looking for LPs I played on back when LPs were THE medium for recorded music.
Little Mountain Music is located at 1585 W Main St., Suite O (that's the Safeway shopping center), in lovely Molalla, Oregon. Stop by and flip through their bins, and maybe ask about taking home a copy of our CD.
Of course, downloads are also available on iTunes and Amazon, but you'll miss out on the nice artwork and extra information about the players and the tunes. There are also some photos in the booklet that were taken during the sessions by my friend Peter Uchytil.
If you read this blog (you both know who you are) you may have wondered why there has been no activity for a while. The short story is that I've been a bit ill, and correspondingly worried. The musical tie-in is that I get into something of a worry-fugue that tends to block out most creative activity, and my blogs and music are the first areas to suffer.
I got good news today. The results of my biopsies came back negative, meaning I won't have to make a memorial mix-tape for myself anytime soon (although I did start making lists...)
Here's a little gift that came my way via yet another XM Radio free-trial period. The Rolling Stones:
Yes, that's Keef on lead vocals, and I think it is a really sweet tune. And yes, this was on one of those lists I was making.
I've read that Tom Lehrer originally wrote this song in 1990 in order to remedy the lack of Hanukkah songs. (via Boing Boing):
I'm spending Hanukkah, in Santa Monica, Wearing sandals lighting candles by the sea. I spent Shavuos, in East St. Louis, A charming spot but clearly not the spot for me.
Those eastern winters, I can't endure 'em, So every year I pack my gear And come out here to Purim.
Rosh Hashona, I spend in Arizona, And Yom Kippa, way down in Mississippa. But in Decemba, there's just one place for me. 'Mid the California flora, I'll be lighting my menorah. Every California maid'll Find me playing with a dreidl. Santa Monica, spending Hanukkah by the sea.
A fine article at Collector's Weekly details the history of the orchestrion, a mechanical contraption to make music.They describe it as "The iPod’s 4,000-Pound Grandfather", and I guess that is as good a description as any. Check out the article - it's full of pictures and video links.
The inside of a Hupfeld style A Phonoliszt-Violina, featuring three violins accompanied by an expression piano.
OK, this is not really about music, but about awesomeness, and something I call EJW - Essential Japanese Weirdness. That's not a cultural put-down. Japanese culture produces some astoundingly weird (to us) artifacts, which I enjoy tremendously.
Here's a recent example - the Wrecking Crew Orchestra. Do you like Techno? Dig the movie Tron? Fan of locking & popping? Know what EL wire is? These guys have all the bases covered for you.
My friend and former employer Lisa Nemzo has done something remarkable, and I would like to share it with you, if you have not seen it yet. Please turn on your speakers or headphones, and watch this video.
I was thrilled beyond words to see this video. Lisa and I go way back; I played bass for her for several years in the mid-1970s, including a lot of gigs in and around LA, some recording, and some touring. Lisa is a tremendously talented singer and songwriter, as you can tell from this video. This video - directed by Mary Ann Skweres - was clearly a labor of love for Lisa on a number of levels. It was the last tune she co-wrote with her longtime collaborator and friend, Artie Colatrella, before his tragic and senseless death in 2011. It is also based on a true story.
In this video, Lisa shows herself to be quite a good actress, in addition to her other talents. In fact, it took me a few moments to realize that it was Lisa playing the 'mother' in the video. It also took me a while to recognize the bassist in the video - Freebo!
A friend of mine wrote a book a few years ago, all about the musicians and the scene around the old Bla-Bla Cafe in Los Angeles. In that book, I was (inaccurately) described as a "fretless bassist." When my wife heard that, she said, "She must have meant FRETFUL bassist." Hence the title of this blog.
