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my musical discovery of the year
Dec. 31st, 2024 05:41 pmIt seems that, every year, of all the music I discover, there is one particular standout artist for me who turns me into a major fan. Most often, it is someone new [to me]... but not always. For example, last year my musical discovery was Richie Kamuca — I was listening to records forty years ago that Kamuca played on, but at that time I wasn't focusing particular attention on his specific contributions to those records. Last year, I was given the chance to listen to him more closely and more widely, and finally became smitten.
But my discovery for 2024 is someone I had never heard until a couple months ago: Cory Weeds. He's an exciting find for me — not only for his own playing, but also for the record label he runs which issues work by many other wonderful artists, lots of whom are also new-to-me. There is such a wealth of good music to be discovered here! You can bet that Cory and other Cellar Music artists will occupy my ears frequently in 2025.
But my discovery for 2024 is someone I had never heard until a couple months ago: Cory Weeds. He's an exciting find for me — not only for his own playing, but also for the record label he runs which issues work by many other wonderful artists, lots of whom are also new-to-me. There is such a wealth of good music to be discovered here! You can bet that Cory and other Cellar Music artists will occupy my ears frequently in 2025.
Not sure why I get such a kick out of this story, but I do:
During the Swing Era of the late 30s and 40s, the big bands dominated the top of the charts. They were pop music. Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Harry James, Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey, Count Basie, Duke Ellington... that sound defined an era.
But, by the 50s, that sound mostly died out, the hits stopped coming, and bands that size became too expensive to maintain. The charts became the purview of pop acts like Pat Boone and Doris Day, Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, Rosemary Clooney and The McGuire Sisters. Plus, in mid-decade, Elvis showed up and started breaking records, turning rock and roll into the hottest fad in music. The swing musicians still appeared occasionally in clubs and on TV, but on the charts they were mostly a spent force. Now and then, one of them would manage to interest a label in putting out a record for them, but nothing much came of it.
And then, in 1957, Jimmy Dorsey released So Rare.
God knows why, but in amongst all the usual 50s suspects, that record spent over half a year on the chart, made it to Number Two [Number One in Canada], and ended up being Billboard's Number Five record out of the Top One Hundred of the year. During those few minutes it would play on the radio, it was suddenly 1942 again. Out of nowhere. The Swing Era had a sudden last blaze of glory, and I think that is so swell.
[It was only today that I learned Jimmy Dorsey died in '57, but he lived long enough to see So Rare become a big hit and to receive a gold record for it. Talk about going out on a high note.]
During the Swing Era of the late 30s and 40s, the big bands dominated the top of the charts. They were pop music. Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Harry James, Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey, Count Basie, Duke Ellington... that sound defined an era.
But, by the 50s, that sound mostly died out, the hits stopped coming, and bands that size became too expensive to maintain. The charts became the purview of pop acts like Pat Boone and Doris Day, Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, Rosemary Clooney and The McGuire Sisters. Plus, in mid-decade, Elvis showed up and started breaking records, turning rock and roll into the hottest fad in music. The swing musicians still appeared occasionally in clubs and on TV, but on the charts they were mostly a spent force. Now and then, one of them would manage to interest a label in putting out a record for them, but nothing much came of it.
And then, in 1957, Jimmy Dorsey released So Rare.
God knows why, but in amongst all the usual 50s suspects, that record spent over half a year on the chart, made it to Number Two [Number One in Canada], and ended up being Billboard's Number Five record out of the Top One Hundred of the year. During those few minutes it would play on the radio, it was suddenly 1942 again. Out of nowhere. The Swing Era had a sudden last blaze of glory, and I think that is so swell.
[It was only today that I learned Jimmy Dorsey died in '57, but he lived long enough to see So Rare become a big hit and to receive a gold record for it. Talk about going out on a high note.]
something I am grateful for today
Sep. 2nd, 2024 11:55 amDriving alone on quiet midday streets with a quiet mind, perfect weather, and gorgeous music. In moments like that, life is as good as you could want.
Top Five Bands
Jul. 21st, 2024 07:46 amThis time, I am ranking topness as a measure of "how long can I listen to them before I burn out on them and need a break":
- Sulk
- The Charlatans
- The Ocean Blue
- Shed Seven
- TBA [too many tied for this spot]
something I am grateful for today
Jul. 7th, 2024 06:14 pmMusic.
Over the past year, I have occasionally had moments where I just want to sit in silence and savour it. But those moments are few and far between. Usually — and, in the past, always — I have music playing, whatever else I am doing.
And I have some on now, and just suddenly got thinking about how there is so much of it, and so much of it that I love, and how I am blessed to still have my hearing [with a technological boost] and so much opportunity to experience a thing so primally satisfying and enriching. Music is one of the closest things we have to magic in this world of ours....
Over the past year, I have occasionally had moments where I just want to sit in silence and savour it. But those moments are few and far between. Usually — and, in the past, always — I have music playing, whatever else I am doing.
And I have some on now, and just suddenly got thinking about how there is so much of it, and so much of it that I love, and how I am blessed to still have my hearing [with a technological boost] and so much opportunity to experience a thing so primally satisfying and enriching. Music is one of the closest things we have to magic in this world of ours....
ars gratia artis
May. 25th, 2024 02:13 pmLong ago I read that the only truly American artforms are jazz, comic books, and rock-and-roll. [The accuracy of all of those claims is easily disputed, but let's leave that aside for the time being so I can make my wanky statement about them]:
I got thinking about this and realized that all these artforms share a common element. Even if we break down jazz into its three major waves [Dixieland, swing, and bebop], the same process always took place.
When these artforms first emerged, all of them were originally dismissed as garbage for kids, the poor, and the ignorant. It took years for each of them to achieve some measure of artistic credibility, i.e., acceptance by well-to-do whites. I just find the consistency of this sort of reaction to creativity to be kinda intriguing.
I got thinking about this and realized that all these artforms share a common element. Even if we break down jazz into its three major waves [Dixieland, swing, and bebop], the same process always took place.
When these artforms first emerged, all of them were originally dismissed as garbage for kids, the poor, and the ignorant. It took years for each of them to achieve some measure of artistic credibility, i.e., acceptance by well-to-do whites. I just find the consistency of this sort of reaction to creativity to be kinda intriguing.
support your local [I mean global] indie
Sep. 15th, 2023 10:04 pmI don't remember how I discovered them, but there's this Swiss indie band on Bandcamp called the blue herons. A few times a year they will record and release a new song, and basically give it away — their sutff is “pay what you want”, even if “what you want” is zero. When I stumbled across them, they had about half a dozen songs out, and I got them all for free.
Eventually I realized that I listened to them so often, and enjoyed them so much, that it was only right that I give something back. So when their next song came out, I volunteered to pay way too much for it, to pay enough for all the earlier freebies. And I've paid for every song since then, more like the price I would expect to pay for any other song. I feel better knowing that I am doing my bit to help support an indie creator.
And for the last few, I haven't even listened to it first, I just buy it and download it as soon as it comes out. We're at the point now where I trust them, cuz they have never let me down. Their periodic reappearance in my inbox is a source of quiet delight in my life.
Eventually I realized that I listened to them so often, and enjoyed them so much, that it was only right that I give something back. So when their next song came out, I volunteered to pay way too much for it, to pay enough for all the earlier freebies. And I've paid for every song since then, more like the price I would expect to pay for any other song. I feel better knowing that I am doing my bit to help support an indie creator.
And for the last few, I haven't even listened to it first, I just buy it and download it as soon as it comes out. We're at the point now where I trust them, cuz they have never let me down. Their periodic reappearance in my inbox is a source of quiet delight in my life.
my ten fave singers redux
Jul. 1st, 2023 01:00 pmIt's been almost fourteen years since I posted my list of my ten fave singers. [Please follow that link to read the explanation for how I decide who makes the list.] In that time, I've been exposed to a lot of new voices, my tastes have morphed, etc. So, time to introduce some new names [and, alas, demote/lose a few, but I'm sure they'll survive]:
- Noddy Holder
- Catherine Anne Davies
- Tortoise Matsumoto
- Pete Fijalkowski
- Gerry Marsden
- Kay Hanley
- Alma Cogan
- Misuzu Takahashi
- Tony Bennett
- Zooey Deschanel
epiphany of obviousness
Apr. 23rd, 2023 05:03 pmI had one of those today.
For the last couple of weeks, I've found myself listening to a lot of rock'n'roll recordings from England in the fifties and early sixties... back when rock was in its infancy, and people were still feeling their way through how to do this thing. And I realize that some of these singers and musicians and songwriters are comparatively crude. But I still enjoy listening to this sutff.
And it occurred to me that, just because there is Better Music® out there that I could be listening to, it doesn't mean I'm wasting my time listening to this instead. There are plenty of reasons to enjoy art besides how accomplished it is. Ultimately those reasons are all subjective, and so what? Heck, have I already forgotten the lessons of seventies punk? That was a deliberate reclamation of the idea that art doesn't need to be The Best® in order to enjoy making it, or to enjoy what someone else has made.
Conversely, something that is demonstrably Well Made® is not necessarily enjoyable, either. Like I said, it's all subjective. It doesn't even really matter if we can identify for ourselves what it is that we like about art, just as long as we like it. People like what they like. And we need to let them like what they like.
Then I got thinking about my own work, and how quick I am to see its shortcomings, and how many better artists and writers there are out there.
And so what? People can still like what I make anyway. Some of them actually do, and I can't say they're wrong to. I could be a crude fifties English rocker for someone out there — not The Best®, but someone still finds something in it to like, for whatever reason.
I keep losing sight of this, and I need to not lose sight of it.
For the last couple of weeks, I've found myself listening to a lot of rock'n'roll recordings from England in the fifties and early sixties... back when rock was in its infancy, and people were still feeling their way through how to do this thing. And I realize that some of these singers and musicians and songwriters are comparatively crude. But I still enjoy listening to this sutff.
And it occurred to me that, just because there is Better Music® out there that I could be listening to, it doesn't mean I'm wasting my time listening to this instead. There are plenty of reasons to enjoy art besides how accomplished it is. Ultimately those reasons are all subjective, and so what? Heck, have I already forgotten the lessons of seventies punk? That was a deliberate reclamation of the idea that art doesn't need to be The Best® in order to enjoy making it, or to enjoy what someone else has made.
Conversely, something that is demonstrably Well Made® is not necessarily enjoyable, either. Like I said, it's all subjective. It doesn't even really matter if we can identify for ourselves what it is that we like about art, just as long as we like it. People like what they like. And we need to let them like what they like.
Then I got thinking about my own work, and how quick I am to see its shortcomings, and how many better artists and writers there are out there.
And so what? People can still like what I make anyway. Some of them actually do, and I can't say they're wrong to. I could be a crude fifties English rocker for someone out there — not The Best®, but someone still finds something in it to like, for whatever reason.
I keep losing sight of this, and I need to not lose sight of it.
something I am grateful for today
Apr. 6th, 2023 07:50 amThis morning I woke to the songs of robins — first time I've heard that this year!
something I am grateful for today
Feb. 6th, 2023 01:04 pmI sang — first time I have felt moved to in well over a year.
lovingly made
Aug. 7th, 2022 05:38 pmToday I gave up on reading a novel [something I am more willing to allow myself to do nowadays than when I was younger].
It's very short, more technically a novella — about 120 pages — and I got about halfway through it before deciding I'd had enough. The author is, as it happens, a very well known showbiz personality, whose work on screen I have always enjoyed immensely. And, when seeing him on talk shows, I always found his “real life self” to be warm and engaging, although in a quiet way. I guess I was expecting to find his writing to be similarly warm and engaging, and ended up disappointed in that regard.
All along, I was thinking about why this story wasn't connecting with me, and finally I think I figured it out. This guy's writing, at least in this book, is so cold and aloof and disconnected, I got an undercurrent from it that “I don't really care about any of these characters or what happens to them, none of it interests me, so I have no idea why any of it might interest you.”
This is the first time I can recall being consciously aware of this: part of what I respond to in any creator's work is the love with which they made it. It can be a story, or a painting, or a musical composition, or a blanket — anything, really. But, on some level, I get a sense that the artist was emotionally engaged with their work. “I like this, it means something to me, and if I'm lucky it will mean something to you, too.” I never realized before that I somehow pick up on this unspoken sense of the creator's love, and that this enhances my own appreciation and enjoyment of what they have made.
This may all well be nothing more than my imagination — but, for me, it's a real thing to be taken into consideration. And it reminds me to care about my own work.
It's very short, more technically a novella — about 120 pages — and I got about halfway through it before deciding I'd had enough. The author is, as it happens, a very well known showbiz personality, whose work on screen I have always enjoyed immensely. And, when seeing him on talk shows, I always found his “real life self” to be warm and engaging, although in a quiet way. I guess I was expecting to find his writing to be similarly warm and engaging, and ended up disappointed in that regard.
All along, I was thinking about why this story wasn't connecting with me, and finally I think I figured it out. This guy's writing, at least in this book, is so cold and aloof and disconnected, I got an undercurrent from it that “I don't really care about any of these characters or what happens to them, none of it interests me, so I have no idea why any of it might interest you.”
This is the first time I can recall being consciously aware of this: part of what I respond to in any creator's work is the love with which they made it. It can be a story, or a painting, or a musical composition, or a blanket — anything, really. But, on some level, I get a sense that the artist was emotionally engaged with their work. “I like this, it means something to me, and if I'm lucky it will mean something to you, too.” I never realized before that I somehow pick up on this unspoken sense of the creator's love, and that this enhances my own appreciation and enjoyment of what they have made.
This may all well be nothing more than my imagination — but, for me, it's a real thing to be taken into consideration. And it reminds me to care about my own work.
something I am grateful for today
Apr. 29th, 2022 07:57 pma special moment of peace today
I was out on my own, driving around, a lovely day, cool tunes playing.... and suddenly it occurred to me that my late brother Artie woulda liked to have been there, too. He would appreciate being out on the road on such a nice day. And he would appreciate such cool tunes. And for a while I felt closer to him.
I was out on my own, driving around, a lovely day, cool tunes playing.... and suddenly it occurred to me that my late brother Artie woulda liked to have been there, too. He would appreciate being out on the road on such a nice day. And he would appreciate such cool tunes. And for a while I felt closer to him.
something I am grateful for today
Apr. 9th, 2022 10:00 ama new album from The Linda Lindas
Gotta tell ya, I find a lot of these songs uncommonly well-crafted for punk rock, and for such young creators....
Gotta tell ya, I find a lot of these songs uncommonly well-crafted for punk rock, and for such young creators....
