GREGORY PORTER - LIQUID SPIRIT!

Liquid Spirit album is out now! 

NATURAL BORN LOVER!

ON THE AIR: SUB-SAHARAN BLUES, TINARIWEN LIVE AT WOMAD FESTIVAL!

Tinariwen (Tamasheq: tinariwén "deserts") is a band of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali. The band was formed in 1979 in Tamanrasset, Algeria, but returned to Mali after a cease-fire in the 1990s. The group first started to gain a following outside the Sahara region in 2001, with the release of The Radio Tisdas Sessions, and the performances at Festival au Désert in Mali and at the Roskilde festival in Denmark. Their popularity rose internationally with the release of the critically acclaimed Aman Iman in 2007. Tinariwen's biography has variously been described as "the most compelling of any band" (Songlines), "the most rock'n'roll of them all" (The Irish Times), "hard-bitten" (Slate.com), and "dramatic" (The Independent).

The Tinariwen sound is primarily guitar-driven in the style known as assouf among the Tuareg people. The Tinariwen guitar style has its roots in West African music, specifically that from the "great bend" region along the Niger River, between Timbuktu and Gao. The core elements of Tinariwen's music are traditional Tuareg melodies and rhythms including those played on the shepherd's flute, which is primarily a man's instrument; and those played on a one-string fiddle known as an imzad which is played by women. The primary percussion instrument is the tindé drum which is played by women at festive occasions. Another important traditional influence is the lute known as the teherdent, which is played by the griots of the Gao and Timbuktu regions. In the late 1970s, when the founding members of Tinariwen started playing acoustic guitars, they played a traditional repertoire adapted to the western guitar.

While the Tinariwen style is possibly a distant relative of blues music, via West African music, members of Tinariwen claim to have never heard actual American blues music until they began to travel internationally in 2001.

In August 2012, an Ansar Dine spokesman announced: "We do not want Satan's music. In its place will be Quranic verses. Sharia demands this. What God commands must be done." After large parts of Northern Mali were captured by Ansar Dine, Abdallah Ag Lamida was arrested by the Islamist authority in early January 2013. The other band members managed to evade capture, but Ag Lamida was caught while trying to save his guitars. However, the band soon reported that he was "safe and free".

The band released their fifth album Tassili on August 30, 2011. The album later won the Award for Best World Music Album at the 54th Grammy Awards.

Discography:

• The Radio Tisdas Sessions (2001)
• Amassakoul (2004)
• The Soul Rebel of African Desert (2006) CD/DVD (Amassakoul og Jérémie Reichenbachs film, The Guitars of the Touareg Rebellion), Emma Productions
• Aman Iman (2007)
• Imidiwan (2009)
• Tassili (2011) #68 UK

Music doesn't get better than this! Enjoy!

MR GARY CLARK JR, THE NEW FACE OF THE BLUES!

WHAT IF HE DIDN'T DIE?

Few months ago, 12 previously unreleased Jimi Hendrix recordings from 1968 and 1969 were made available as People, Hell and Angels. The legendary guitarist was experimenting with new sounds and musical directions for First Rays of the New Rising Sun, the planned double-album follow-up to Electric Ladyland, and on "Somewhere," Hendrix sits down with Buddy Miles on drums and Stephen Stills on bass for a far-reaching psychedelic blues jam. Recorded in 1968, "Somewhere" rides signature Hendrix wails, long exploratory solos and free-flowing wordplay. Rolling Stone's Greatest Guitarist of All Time shows why he's earned that title with unparalleled skill and eternally innovative sounds, but "Somewhere" suggests his most complex work may have only been ahead of him..

O-GENIO: RAY CHARLES LIVE IN SÃO PAOLO!

Ray Charles' First Show! Enjoy & Have a nice weekend!

BUDDY GUY 77TH: RHYTHM & BLUES (2013)!

To mark his 77th birthday today, Buddy Guy releases perhaps his finest album. Rhythm & Blues is a two-disc set — one of high-energy R&B, the other of richly textured Chicago-style blues — produced by his longtime collaborator/drummer, Tom Hambridge.

There's no coasting or padding: All but three of the 21 songs are high-quality originals, some autobiographical; the guests, including Kid Rock (on a rollicking cover of Messin' With the Kid), Gary Clark Jr., Keith Urban, members of Aerosmith and Beth Hart (on the stellar What You Gonna Do About Me), more than pull their weight.

"DAMN RIGHT I GOT THE BLUES!" Buddy may be the only one older than Mick Jagger to be able to sing the line, "She's 19-years-old ..." and cause a woman in the audience who sounded 19 to scream in response.

Buy here: iTunes & Amazon!

B.B. KING - THE THRILL IS GONE FT. TRACY CHAPMAN!

You can call it exquisite music. Have a nice weekend!

GARY CLARK JR. & JOHN MAYER - BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN!

Enjoy! Have a productive week!

INFLUENCERS: MUDDY WATERS!

McKinley Morganfield (1913 – April 30, 1983), known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician who is considered the "father of modern Chicago blues". He was a major inspiration for the British blues explosion in the 1960s and is ranked No. 17 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

His influence is tremendous, over a variety of music genres: blues, rhythm and blues, rock 'n' roll, hard rock, folk, jazz, and country. 

The Rolling Stones named themselves after his 1950 song "Rollin' Stone" (also known as "Catfish Blues", which Jimi Hendrix covered as well). He also helped Chuck Berry get his first record contract. Hendrix recalled "the first guitar player I was aware of was Muddy Waters. I first heard him as a little boy and it scared me to death". Cream covered "Rollin' and Tumblin'" on their 1966 debut album Fresh Cream, as Eric Clapton was a big fan of Muddy Waters when he was growing up, and his music influenced Clapton's music career. The song was also covered by Canned Heat at the legendary Monterey Pop Festival and later adapted by Bob Dylan on the album Modern Times. One of Led Zeppelin's biggest hits, "Whole Lotta Love", is lyrically based upon the Muddy Waters hit "You Need Love", written by Willie Dixon. Angus Young of the rock group AC/DC has cited Muddy Waters as one of his influences. The AC/DC song title "You Shook Me All Night Long" came from lyrics of the Muddy Waters song "You Shook Me"

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed four songs of Muddy Waters among the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. Following his death, fellow blues musician B.B. King told Guitar World, "It's going to be years and years before most people realize how greatly he contributed to American music".