Thelonious

So atm, I've been reading a fair bit of music lit that I picked up while on a trip to the US, including an amazing biography of legendary jazz pianist Thelonious Monk by Robin D.G. Kelley. D.G Kelley is a professor of History and AMerican Studies at the University of Southern California - and he basically sets the record straight on who Monk was both as an artist and a human being - a loving family man, a loyal friend and one of America's greatest composers and improvisers.



 The book is great because it is an EXHAUSTIVELY researched bio of Thelonious Monk (cobbled together with interviews from publications at the time, interviews with family members and recordings of Monk in the studio or at home with his beloved wife Nellie - they had a tape recorder that was often on to record new compositions and sounds of domestic life). It is intertwined with a wider commentary and exploration on wider social and contextual issues of the time.

Kelley gives an insight into the civil rights movements, the underground jazz scene, the ill-treatment of mental illness at the time, and the socio cultural issues that some black people were both victims of and transcendent over during Monk's life time. Don't let the talk of history put you off though, it's elegantly (to take the blurb from the back of the book) written (very humorous and witty and compassionate) and there's a massive focus on the music and Monk's personal life - about a man  so in love with music and his wife that he'd get up in the middle of the bandstand and start dancing, about a man who wouldn't sleep for days while composing his magnum opus and a generous mentor who influenced figures like Sonny Rollins and Bud Powell and a guy who played a show for teenagers and then took them out for ice-creams afterwards. Life also wasn't easy for Monk, he was beset by a lack of recognition, mental illness, personal and financial troubles, but what is extraordinary was how he continued to make amazing music and give his time for others even when everything became difficult.

Another thing I loved was the cool anecdotes peppered throughout the book written about figures like saxophonist John Coltrane, Monk's clashes with trumpeter Miles Davis, drummer Art Blakey... reads like a who's-who of jazz really!

 I'm about halfway through, but it's a MUST read if you're a fan of Thelonious Monk (but you've probably already read it) - and if you're not, you'll become a fan after reading it because you'll see his music in a completely new light.

D'Angelo is RnB Jesus

So.

D'Angelo is back.

^they are, reputedly and in my humble opinion from crappy youtube videos, one of the greatest live acts . The Soultronics. D'Angelo is in the centre. Also worth noting, Drummer ?uestlove of the Roots (dude with big fro) and Bassist Pino Palladino (tall, italian chap - from Cardiff - in the back row). Spanky Alford on guitar.... a young Anthony Hamilton on backing vox, and some seriously bad jazz cats on horns/accompaniment. yeah.

Hm. *clears throat*. This guy. He's one of my favourite all-time artists. And he's coming back. For sure. He's just played a few shows in Europe - and uhh... it has been what? nearly a decade? since ... well he became a recluse ... he's putting finishing touches on his album (which is guaranteed to be ace and will OUT HYPE all the hype building around him), he sounds good (and apparently he is now a pretty good guitar player - like think Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic good - he is a pretty accomplished blues/jazz/funk pianist already)

Shit. I am going all fanboy on this (more so than usual!). I am losing my cool. I cannot believe it. I have listened to his sophomore album Voodoo almost... well I've lost count of how many times I've listened to it... he has had a profound influence on the way I play keyboards... he is a master artist of soul and black music out there along with guys n girls like Erykah Badu, Grace Jones, Prince and Stevie Wonder (maybe not quite there, but only history will tell) who, spearheading the neo-soul/experimental-funk-groove soul movement, saved RnB from self-parody (at least for a short while).

Shit.

 I'm not scared that I'll over hype his new album - I know it will be good because it is made by D'Angelo. Anyway here's some D'Angelo flavoured goodies (courtesy of my fav music site OKAYPLAYER.COM and a cool little site called FUNKIT)

http://soundcloud.com/funk-it-blog/dangelo-solo-medley-january-29 (While you ideally want to see him live in a band, undeniably that man is DANGEROUS when he is playing solo piano and singing)

http://www.okayplayer.com/news/mixtape-mondays-sam-champ-x-okayplayer-dangelo-live-mixtape.html (awesome OFFICIAL pretty high quality mix of LIVE tracks from D'Angelo's voodoo tour in the 00's - I stopped what I was doing for an hour and a half, put on some good headphones and vibed out to it)

Just add milk...

Some crunchy cereal for your wednesday morning :). Put it on loop and enjoyyy!