Cubdriver

Deeply melancholy item from the early 1960s.

Cubdriver

First-rate players of a long gone era. Scruggs, Lester Flatt and the rest were fiercely capable musicians.

Cubdriver

I have listened to this recording so many times over the years I have lost all perspective on what it means. It is a pensive, winding, probing, restless, hypnotic, disturbing gem of a piece, still relevant after 50 years.



This one has been playing at Starbucks a lot lately.

Cubdriver

A lightning fast John Coltrane burning through his newly liberated chord progression of 1959 termed "Coltrane changes" by the jazz community. This was and still is exciting stuff, an artist on fire. The human mind is incredible when it gets working exactly like this.



Dead but never forgotten master of jazz, Dexter Gordon. This guy was able to excite rhythm sections (drums piano bass) to near madness. He thought, musically speaking, larger than anything he was playing at the actual time. Curiosity generated by this fact was what excited listeners- "what is this guy thinking?" The real battle of minds lies in ideas- if you get people thinking they are yours for the taking. Dexter knew this, and worked carefully to avoid simple musical gymnastics although he had fine musical skill. The smartest men are always somewhat lazy in the end.

Cubdriver

Tito Puente (1923-2000)

Tito Puente Ensemble- Oye Como Va
Tito Puente Ensemble- Oye Como Va
Tito Puente Ensemble- Oye Como Va





Elmo Hope, John Coltrane, Hank Mobley On It

Cubdriver

George Jones (1931-2013) The talented vocalist who enriched the lives of many, by living and feeling what he sang.

Cubdriver

If you have some time and want to see one of the best musicians of our age, here you go. Feast on this concert by a deceased master of jazz organ, Jimmy Smith. It does not get any better than this- Smith was one in a million, a rare talent who defined his own art and was never overshadowed on really any level. We are lucky to have this high quality video of him at his creative peak.

Cubdriver

The talented actor, Will Smith. I have to admit I am envious of this guy, I was a far better musician than he is. All he did was to take an old Grover Washington & Bill Withers hit, reissue it using some studio musicians, and make a million bucks. Heck, my guys did this kind of thing all day for $50 and a plate of fried chicken. But sincerely, I think Mr. Smith is a good singer and a great actor, and I would do the same thing if I were he. Mr. Withers deserves the real credit for this song.

Cubdriver

Cubdriver

Charlie Parker was an artistic genius of our time. He did what nobody could quite accomplish before- he defined the tonal boundaries of upper harmonics within chord structures showing that musical expression can be crafted with truly expansive possibilities previously unknown. It was an outrageous discovery that only a rare mind could or would hit upon. Parker ("Bird" as he often crafted chirping bird -like sounds) opened a huge door of freedom for personal expression based simply on artful navigation of the upper harmonics we tend to overlook. It was sheer genius borne of love and personal struggle. He had one serious problem though, being ahead of his time, which was when you are way ahead of your time nobody really understands you. Parker was painfully alone, and he turned too escapism as a result. Drugs, food, sex, and booze, more drugs, Parker abused his feeble mortal coil continuously until he died at age 35 as a victim of his own brilliance.

But the seed was planted by then, and an early adopter was this fellow Jackie McLean, who lived a long and profitable life exploring the wonders of Charlie Parker's discoveries.