Gary
I'm stunned that I actually have some Infected Mushroom in my library. Whenever I want to demo deep bass to where my house shakes, I use several of their tracks
Steve...you probably need to dehumidify..
Gary
I'm stunned that I actually have some Infected Mushroom in my library. Whenever I want to demo deep bass to where my house shakes, I use several of their tracks
A couple of days before the California Audio Show, my sister Carolyn came up to me and said, "Remember Ritchie Blackmore?" Of course! How could I forget Deep Purple's lead guitarist? She thrust an album in my hands and I put it on my turntable.
After I got over the fact that it was folk music, I really enjoyed. Good music and very well recorded. I enjoyed it so much that I brought it to the show and used it as one of my demo albums. I can't call it my latest find - it's my sister's.
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If you like guitar music, get this!! While it is not "reference quality" for an audiophile, for a music lover, this 4 LP set represents some of the best guitar players recorded. Even if you are not a lover of guitar music, get this - and be introduced to some of the best performances ever.
Eric Clapton founded the Crossroads Centre, a drug and alcohol treatment centre located on the island of Antigua after his own rehabilitation from drug and alcohol abuse. Started in 1998, it was almost completely bankrolled by Clapton - his lifetime commitment to help others the way he was helped himself to get over his addiction. He famously sold off his art collection, and even his guitar collection to keep it going. The centre was a commitment towards his own sobriety.
The Crossroads Guitar Festival was started by Clapton to help fund the rehabilitation center. The festival showcases some of the very best guitarists hand-picked by Clapton himself. The first was held in 2004 and every three years. The latest was held in NY Madison Square Garden in 2013. It was the first held indoors, and the first to be released on vinyl.
Even with mastering by Bob Ludwig of Gateway Mastering, and the vinyl cut by Chris Bellman of Bernie Grundman Mastering, I don't think the sound, recorded live, is particularly special. However, as with recordings of the previous three festivals, the music and performance is exemplary of heartfelt, soulful guitar playing.
Where else could you get one album with Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Earl Klugh, John Mayer, The Allman Brothers Band, Taj Mahal, Keb' Mo', Los Lobos, Jeff Beck AND MORE all together? Where else will you find Keith Urban playing together with John Mayer? Or Taj Mahal jammin' with Keb' Mo'? Or The Allman Brothers joining forces with The Derek Trucks band?
Definitely a must-buy for any music lover. If you're not yet a fan of guitar music, this may make you one. While you are at it, get all the DVDs and make it a weekend's viewing!!
Yes - agreed. SEV died prematurely. I should have said best living guitarists...... The Live in Montreux DVD is another fabulous display of guitar exponentry
Carlos Santana is also missing, but the line-up is always Eric Clapton's choice.
I have too much EC on vinyl already, including some boxsets, so I'll pass on this. I am however waiting for a pricedrop on the Blu-ray version.
Hang on a second. You own solid 5 figures (if not 6) worth of audio gear, the crossroads Blu Ray retails for $22 on amazon, and you are waiting for it's price to drop? What am I missing?
As you know Gary, this band is no longer. But fortunately Joy Williams is recording again and the latest album of hers that I picked up from HD Tracks is wonderful: http://www.hdtracks.com/music/artist/view/id/8057/So, here's this story of two songwriters/singers who were both really burned out with solo careers and writing songs for other people, and singing pop songs and advertising jingles. They were set up on a blind-date by their publishers for a songwriting camp to come up with radio singles for a band which at the time didn't have a name.
Two reluctant, burned-out artists, but at the camp, they clicked. Said John Paul White, "When we started singing together, there was this weird click; it was like there was a dance going where I knew I could lead her but she could lead me, too." And Joy Williams, "In Nashville, it's not uncommon to harmonise with someone but what was strange was that when he started singing it was like I knew where he was going to go before he went there....... meeting John Paul brought this weird feeling of falling in love with music again."
Less than a year later, the band The Civil Wars was formed and performed in Nashville at the French Quarter Cafe, April 7, 2009. Their second live show, April 8 at Eddie's Attic in Decatur, Georgia was recorded and released on their website as a free download. The Civil Wars have an energy and chemistry in their live shows that is amazing to watch (check out their YouTube videos) and to listen to. I think that their best albums are "Live at Eddie's Attic" (musically, but sonically there is much wanting) and "Unplugged on VH1" (recorded early 2012 - very much better sonically).
They really took off when their song Poison and Wine was used in its entirety on an episode of Grey's Anatomy in 2009. That exposed them to millions of fans - including Taylor Swift who tweeted announcing that she was setting her needle back on their vinyl record over and over since there’s no repeat button on a record player. And then Adele blogged that they were "by far the BEST live band I have EVER seen".
Their first studio album, Barton Hallow in 2011 won critical acclaim and the Grammy for Best Folk Album. Between their formation in 2009 and their unfortunate break-up in 2014, The Civil Wars won four Grammys!
I think that their live albums are better, and the ones to get though. However, both of these albums are only available on vinyl or mp3. No CD or high-rez downloads.
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Allen Toussaint was born in New Orleans, the Birthplace of Jazz, but is better known as a rhythm & blues, rock and soul musician. He wrote a roll of hits and many of his songs got covered by others - Robert Plant, The Rolling Stones, Aaron Neville and Boz Scaggs among others. In the 1970s Glen Campbell took one of his songs to the Number One position on the Pop, Country AND Adult Contemporary charts. In 1998, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2011.
However, this album is a Jazz album - with jazz standards from Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Django Reinhart, Billy Strayhorn and Jelly Roll Morton. Allen was accompanied by jazz stars such as clarinetist Don Byron, pianist Brad Mehldau, and saxophonist Joshua Redman.
The Bright Mississippi had its genesis during a studio session with music producer Joe Henry - Toussaint was amusing himself between takes by blowing freely through a song by Fats Waller. Henry said, "I was stunned. It was a revelation to hear this music interpreted through Allen's very unique point of view. The song, inherently rhythmic as a composition, was transfigured by a left hand schooled in New Orleans, and by the melodic sensibility of a most particular kind of songwriter."
Recorded in the famous Power Station (now Avatar) Studios, it has a wonderful live, fresh sound. As noted by Toussaint, "This isn’t the kind of assembly line music where somebody put the wheels on here and somebody put the top on there. Everything got done at the same time, so everybody fed on each other, their personality and tonality."
A truly wonderful album - I thought that the CD was great, but I am glad that I took the time to hunt down the vinyl. It is one of those rare albums that distribute the music across four sides at 33 1/3 rpm instead of cramming everything into two. As a result, the pressing and production does justice to the fabulous music and musicianship. However, there is one little mistake - on the vinyl, the labels for side C and side D are on the wrong side!!
Get it on CD. The vinyl is as elusive as the yeti. I have been trying to find a spare copy at a reasonable price - unfortunately the scalpers on Amazon and eBay want as much as $1,300 for a new copy, and $800 for a used one. They used to be easily available for less than $50. I'm not sure what happened over the past couple of years.
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