I Love Rock and Roll: Black Sabbath "War Pigs"

Biography Black Sabbath have been so influential in the development of heavy metal rock music as to be a defining force in the style. The group took the blues-rock sound of late-'60s acts like Cream, Blue Cheer, and Vanilla Fudge to its logical conclusion, slowing the tempo, accentuating the bass, and emphasizing screaming guitar solos and howled vocals full of lyrics expressing mental anguish and macabre fantasies. If their predecessors clearly came out of an electrified blues tradition, Black Sabbath took that tradition in a new direction, and in so doing helped give birth to a musical style that continued to attract millions of fans decades later. The group was formed by four teenage friends from Aston, near Birmingham, England: Anthony "Tony" Iommi (b. Feb 19, 1948), guitar; William "Bill" Ward (b. May 5, 1948), drums; John "Ozzy" Osbourne (b. December 3, 1948), vocals; and Terence "Geezer" Butler (b. July 17, 1949), bass. They originally called their jazz-blues band Polka Tulk, later renaming themselves Earth, and they played extensively in Europe. In early 1969, they decided to change their name again when they found that they were being mistaken for another group called Earth. Butler had written a song that took its title from a film directed by Mario Bava, Black Sabbath, and the group adopted it as their name as well. As they attracted attention for their live performances, record labels showed interest, and they were signed to Philips Records in 1969. In January 1970, the Philips subsidiary Fontana released their debut single, "Evil Woman (Don't Play Your Games with Me)," a cover of a song that had just become a U.S. hit for Crow; it did not chart. The following month, a different Philips subsidiary, Vertigo, released Black Sabbath's self-titled debut album, which reached the U.K. Top Ten. Though it was a less immediate success in the U.S. — where the band's recordings were licensed to Warner Bros. Records and appeared in May 1970 — the LP broke into the American charts in August, reaching the Top 40, remaining in the charts over a year, and selling a million copies. Appearing at the start of the '70s, Black Sabbath embodied the Balkanization of popular music that followed the relatively homogenous second half of the 1960s. As exemplified by its most popular act, the Beatles, the '60s suggested that many different aspects of popular music could be integrated into an eclectic style with a broad appeal. The Beatles were as likely to perform an acoustic ballad as a hard rocker or R&B-influenced tune. At the start of the '70s, however, those styles began to become more discrete for new artists, with soft rockers like James Taylor and the Carpenters emerging to play only ballad material, and hard rockers like Led Zeppelin and Grand Funk Railroad taking a radically different course, while R&B music turned increasingly militant. The first wave of rock critics, which had come into existence with the Beatles, was dismayed with this development, and the new acts tended to be poorly reviewed despite their popularity. Black Sabbath, which took an even more extreme tack than the still blues- and folk-based Led Zeppelin, was lambasted by critics (and though they eventually made their peace with Zeppelin, they never did with Sabbath). But the band had discovered a new audience eager for its uncompromising approach. Black Sabbath quickly followed their debut album with a second album, Paranoid, in September 1970. The title track, released as a single in advance of the LP, hit the Top Five in the U.K., and the album went to number one there. In the U.S., where the first album had just begun to sell, Paranoid was held up for release until January 1971, again preceded by the title track, which made the singles charts in November; the album broke into the Top Ten in March 1971 and remained in the charts over a year, eventually selling over four million copies, by far the band's best-selling effort. (Its sales were stimulated by the belated release of one of its tracks, "Iron Man," as a U.S. single in early 1972; the 45 got almost halfway up the charts, the band's best showing for an American single.) Master of Reality, the third album, followed in August 1971, reaching the Top Ten on both sides of the Atlantic and selling over a million copies. Black Sabbath, Vol. 4 (September 1972) was another Top Ten million-seller. For Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (November 1973), the band brought in Yes keyboard player Rick Wakeman on one track, signaling a slight change in musical direction; it was Black Sabbath's fifth straight Top Ten hit and million-seller. In 1974, the group went through managerial disputes that idled them for an extended period. When they returned to action in July 1975 with their sixth album, Sabotage, they were welcomed back at home, but in the U.S. the musical climate had changed, making things more difficult for an album-oriented band with a heavy style, and though the LP reached the Top 20, it did not match previous sales levels. Black Sabbath's record labels quickly responded with a million-selling double-LP compilation, We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll (December 1975), and the band contemplated a more pronounced change of musical style. This brought about disagreement, with guitarist Iommi wanting to add elements to the sound, including horns, and singer Osbourne resisting any variation in the formula. Technical Ecstasy (October 1976), which adopted some of Iommi's innovations, was another good — but not great — seller, and Osbourne's frustration eventually led to his quitting the band in November 1977. He was replaced for some live dates by former Savoy Brown singer Dave Walker, then returned in January 1978. Black Sabbath recorded their eighth album, Never Say Die! (September 1978), the title track becoming a U.K. Top 40 hit before the LP's release and "Hard Road" making the Top 40 afterwards. But the singles did not improve the album's commercial success, which was again modest, and Osbourne left Black Sabbath for a solo career, replaced in June 1979 by former Rainbow singer Ronnie James Dio (b. July 10, 1949, d. May 16, 2010). (Also during this period, keyboardist Geoff Nichols became a regular part of the band's performing and recording efforts, though he was not officially considered a bandmember until later.) The new lineup took its time getting into the recording studio, not releasing its first effort until April 1980 with Heaven and Hell. The result was a commercial resurgence. In the U.S., the album was a million-seller; in Britain, it was a Top Ten hit that threw off two chart singles, "Neon Knights" and "Die Young." (At the same time, the band's former British record label issued a five-year old concert album, Black Sabbath Live at Last, that was quickly withdrawn, though not before making the U.K. Top Five, and reissued "Paranoid" as a single, getting it into the Top 20.) Meanwhile, drummer Bill Ward left Black Sabbath due to ill health and was replaced by Vinny Appice. The lineup of Iommi, Butler, Dio, and Appice then recorded Mob Rules (November 1981), which was almost as successful as its predecessor: In the U.S., it went gold, and in the U.K. it reached the Top 20 and spawned two chart singles, the title track and "Turn Up the Night." Next on the schedule was a concert album, but Iommi and Dio clashed over the mixing of it, and by the time Live Evil appeared in January 1983, Dio had left Black Sabbath, taking Appice with him. The group reorganized by persuading original drummer Bill Ward to return and, in a move that surprised heavy metal fans, recruiting Ian Gillan (b. August 19, 1945), former lead singer of Black Sabbath rivals Deep Purple. This lineup — Iommi, Butler, Ward, and Gillan — recorded Born Again, released in September 1983. Black Sabbath hit the road prior to the album's release, with drummer Bev Bevan (b. November 25, 1946) substituting for Ward, who would return to the band in the spring of 1984. The album was a Top Five hit in the U.K. but only made the Top 40 in the U.S. Gillan remained with Black Sabbath until March 1984, when he joined a Deep Purple reunion and was replaced by singer Dave Donato, who was in the band until October without being featured on any of its recordings. Black Sabbath reunited with Ozzy Osbourne for its set at the Live Aid concert on July 13, 1985, but soon after the performance, bassist Geezer Butler left the band, and with that the group became guitarist Tony Iommi's vehicle, a fact emphasized by the next album, Seventh Star, released in January 1986 and credited to "Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi." On this release, the lineup was Iommi (guitar); another former Deep Purple singer, Glenn Hughes (b. August 21, 1952) (vocals); Dave Spitz (bass); Geoff Nichols (keyboards); and Eric Singer (drums). The album was a modest commercial success, but the new band began to fragment immediately, with Hughes replaced by singer Ray Gillen for the promotional tour in March 1986. With Black Sabbath now consisting of Iommi and his employees, personnel changes were rapid. The Eternal Idol (November 1987), which failed to crack the U.K. Top 50 or the U.S. Top 100, featured a returning Bev Bevan, bassist Bob Daisley, and singer Tony Martin. Bevan and Daisley didn't stay long, and there were several replacements in the bass and drum positions over the next couple of years. Headless Cross (April 1989), the band's first album for I.R.S. Records, found veteran drummer Cozy Powell (b. December 29, 1947, d. April 5, 1998) and bassist Laurence Cottle joining Iommi and Martin. It marked a slight uptick in Black Sabbath's fortunes at home, with the title song managing a week in the singles charts. Shortly after its release, Cottle was replaced by bassist Neil Murray. With Geoff Nichols back on keyboards, this lineup made TYR (August 1990), which charted in the Top 40 in the U.K. but became Black Sabbath's first regular album to miss the U.S. charts. Iommi was able to reunite the 1979-1983 lineup of the band — himself, Geezer Butler, Ronnie James Dio, and Vinny Appice — for Dehumanizer (June 1992), which brought Black Sabbath back into the American Top 50 for the first time in nine years, while in the U.K. the album spawned "TV Crimes," their first Top 40 hit in a decade. And on November 15, 1992, Iommi, Butler, and Appice backed Ozzy Osbourne as part of what was billed as the singer's final live appearance. Shortly after, it was announced that Osbourne would be rejoining Black Sabbath. That didn't happen — yet. Instead, Dio and Appice left again, and Iommi replaced them by bringing back Tony Martin and adding drummer Bob Rondinelli. Cross Purposes (February 1994) was a modest seller, and, with Iommi apparently maintaining a Rolodex of all former members from which to pick and choose, the next album, Forbidden (June 1995), featured returning musicians Cozy Powell, Geoff Nichols, and Neil Murray, along with Iommi and Martin. The disc spent only one week in the British charts, suggesting that Black Sabbath finally had exhausted their commercial appeal, at least as a record seller. With that, the group followed the lead of the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, putting the most popular lineup of the band back together for a live album with a couple of new studio tracks on it. Recorded in the band's hometown of Birmingham, England, in December 1997, the two-CD set Reunion — featuring all four of Black Sabbath's original members, Iommi, Osbourne, Butler, and Ward — was released in October 1998. It charted only briefly in the U.K., but in the U.S. it just missed reaching the Top Ten and went platinum. The track "Iron Man" won Black Sabbath their first Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. The band toured through the end of 1999, concluding their reunion tour on December 22, 1999, back in Birmingham. In February 2001, Black Sabbath announced that they would reunite once again to headline the sixth edition of Ozzfest, Osbourne's summer concert festival, playing 29 cities in the U.S. beginning in June. More surprisingly, the group also announced their intention to record a studio album of all-new material, the original lineup's first since 1978. By the end of the year, a failed recording session with producer Rick Rubin proved what an unreasonable idea this was, and the band laid dormant while Osbourne enjoyed scoring a hit TV series the following spring. The band split once more. Osbourne went on recording and touring on his own, while Iommi and Butler reunited with Vinny Appice and Ronnie James Dio to form Heaven & Hell. The band recorded a live album at Radio City Music Hall, performing Sabbath material from the Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules albums in 2007, before releasing a studio effort entitled Devil You Know in 2009. Dio was diagnosed with cancer and passed away in 2010 of that year. In late 2011, all four of Black Sabbath's original members announced yet another reunion; this time they claimed the band would record new material as well as tour. Iommi was diagnosed with early-stage lymphoma early in 2012, however, and it was spring before Osbourne, Iommi, and Butler took to the stage on May 19th at O2 Academy in Birmingham, England for their first show together since 2005. At the end of the summer it was announced that the band was indeed working on material for a new album. The long-awaited 13 surfaced in the early summer of 2013; however, drummer Bill Ward was absent from the recording process completely. In his stead was Rage Against the Machine drummer Brad Wilk, who provided drums for the album as well as its accompanying live dates. Some evidence of the ensuing tour was documented with the live album Gathered in Their Masses, which arrived before the end of the year (iTunes, 2013). Black Sabbath one of the bands I grew up with in the 70's still rock in 2013. Yes, maybe missing Bill Ward but they definitely carry their own still. Ozzie still has the same voice! Amazing after all these years. Summary Music has always been my passion regardless if I was playing with a band, recording in my studio, or just reviewing various artist and their biography and posting them in my blog for everyone to see! I love music and the more artists are exposed to the world the better it will be. Music soothes the soul, makes things right and brings joy and happiness. These blogs are dedicated to all the artists and musicians that spend countless hours working on their music to share with the world to make it a better place. I want to thank all my affiliates for allowing me to share with those music lovers around the world, opportunities that may not be available to them but only through this blog. Feel free to check out some of the offers to the right by clicking on them. You'll find great T-Shirts of your favorite artist and a number of different products that might be of interest to you. 10% of all commissions go to Hina Mauka Kokua Fund to help under served individuals access needed health services. Hina Mauka is a private non-profit agency that help individuals and their families challenged by health problems. To learn more visit: http://hinamauka.org. If your interested in starting a blog and want to learn more about blogging and its benefits, feel free to join my mailing list: You can also connect with me through Facebook by clicking on any one of these links.  "I Love Reggae"   "I Love Rock and Roll"  Please visit and like our page and/or leave a comment. Appreciate the support! Want to learn FOR FREE how to build a business online and make extra money? connect with me at : "This Is Billy Mousser". By joining my email list I will send you all the FREE INFORMATION you need on how to start building your own business online (free websites, becoming an affiliate for free, selling products you don't have to buy, using sites with built-in traffic, limitless opportunities) No obligation, and no gimmicks, just the willingness to explore and try it out. Make money on auto pilot! Join my email list and start today! Much Respect & One Love,  Billy Mousser

I Love Rock and Roll: Pearl Jam "even Flow"

Biography Pearl Jam rose from the ashes of Mother Love Bone to become the most popular American rock & roll band of the '90s. After Mother Love Bone's vocalist, Andrew Wood, overdosed on heroin in 1990, guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament assembled a new band, bringing in Mike McCready on lead guitar and recording a demo with Soundgarden's Matt Cameron on drums. Thanks to future Pearl Jam drummer Jack Irons, the demo found its way to a 25-year-old San Diego surfer named Eddie Vedder, who overdubbed vocals and original lyrics and was subsequently invited to join the band (then christened Mookie Blaylock after the NBA player). Dave Krusen was hired as the full-time drummer shortly thereafter, completing the original lineup. Renaming themselves Pearl Jam, the band recorded their debut album, Ten, in the beginning of 1991, although it wasn't released until August; in the meantime, the majority of the band appeared on the Andrew Wood tribute project Temple of the Dog. Krusen left the band shortly after the release of Ten; he was replaced by Dave Abbruzzese. Ten didn't begin selling in significant numbers until early 1992, after Nirvana made mainstream rock radio receptive to alternative rock acts. Soon, Pearl Jam outsold Nirvana, which wasn't surprising. After all, Pearl Jam fused the riff-heavy stadium rock of the '70s with the grit and anger of '80s post-punk, without ever neglecting hooks and choruses; "Jeremy," "Evenflow," and "Alive" fit perfectly onto album rock radio stations looking for new blood. Pearl Jam's audience continued to grow during 1992, thanks to a series of radio and MTV hits, as well as successful appearances on the second Lollapalooza tour and the Singles soundtrack. Meanwhile, Temple of the Dog's self-titled album became a platinum-selling hit, thanks to renewed interest in the project (which, in addition to Pearl Jam, featured grunge heavyweight Chris Cornell) and strong radio support for the single "Hunger Strike." Stone Gossard also embarked on a side project called Brad, which released the album Shame in early 1993. Despite their status as rock & roll superstars, Pearl Jam refused to succumb to the accepted conventions of the music industry. The group refused to release any videos or singles from their second album, 1993's Vs. Nevertheless, it was another multi-platinum success, debuting at number one and selling nearly a million copies in its first week of release. On their spring 1994 American tour, the band decided not to play the conventional stadiums, choosing to play smaller arenas, including several shows on college campuses. Pearl Jam canceled their 1994 summer tour, claiming they couldn't keep ticket prices below 20 dollars because Ticketmaster was pressuring promoters to charge a higher price. The band took Ticketmaster to the Justice Department for unfair business practices; while fighting Ticketmaster, they recorded a new album during the spring and summer of 1994. After the record was completed, the group fired Dave Abbruzzese, replacing him with former Red Hot Chili Peppers and Eleven drummer Jack Irons. Vitalogy, the band's third album, appeared at the end of 1994. For the first two weeks, the album was only available as a limited vinyl release, but the record charted in the Top 60. Once Vitalogy was available on CD and cassette, the album shot to the top of the charts and quickly went multi-platinum. Pearl Jam continued to battle Ticketmaster in 1995, but the Justice Department eventually ruled in favor of the ticket agency. In early 1995, the band recorded an album with Neil Young. Meanwhile, Vedder toured with his wife Beth's experimental band Hovercraft in the spring of 1994 as Stone Gossard founded an independent record company. Mad Season, Mike McCready's side project with Layne Staley of Alice in Chains, released its first album, Above, in the spring of 1995. Comprised entirely of Neil Young songs, Mirror Ball appeared in the summer under Young's name; although the individual members of the band were credited, the name Pearl Jam did not appear on the cover due to legal complications. Pearl Jam released a single culled from the sessions, titled Merkinball and featuring the songs "I Got ID" and "Long Road," during the fall of 1995. In late summer of 1996, Pearl Jam released their fourth album, No Code. Although the album was greeted with fairly positive reviews and debuted at number one, its weird amalgam of rock, worldbeat, and experimentalism dissatisfied a large portion of their fan base, and it quickly fell down the charts. The record's performance was also hurt by Pearl Jam's inability to launch a full-scale tour, due both to their battle with Ticketmaster and a reluctance to spend months on the road. The band spent most of 1997 out of the spotlight, working on new material; Gossard also released a second album with his side project Brad, titled Interiors. By the end of the year, Pearl Jam had completed a new, harder-rocking record entitled Yield. The album was greeted with enthusiastic reviews upon its February 1998 release, but its commercial fortunes weren't quite as clear cut. While their sizable cult embraced the album, sending it to number two its first week of release, Yield quickly slipped down the charts. Pearl Jam supported the record with a full-scale arena tour in the summer of 1998, issuing the concert LP Live on Two Legs at the end of the year; Jack Irons did not participate due to poor health, prompting the band to bring ex-Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron back into the fold. In 1999, Pearl Jam scored an unlikely pop radio smash with their cover of the J. Frank Wilson oldie "Last Kiss," originally released as the seventh in a series of fan club-only singles that had also featured several incongruous covers in the past. Demand from fans and radio programmers resulted in the nationwide release of "Last Kiss," and it eventually became the band's highest-charting pop hit to date, peaking at number two and going gold. The group returned in 2000 with the Tchad Blake-produced Binaural. In order to circumvent bootleggers, their subsequent European and American tours were recorded in full and released in an unprecedented series of double-CD sets, with each of the 72 volumes featuring a complete concert. Riot Act, a muscular — and critically lauded — collection of new songs that found the group dabbling in experimental art rock, was released in 2002. Two anthologies arrived in 2003 and 2004, Lost Dogs: Rarities and B Sides and Rearviewmirror: Greatest Hits 1991-2003. They were followed in 2006 by the eponymous (and all-new) Pearl Jam, a number two hit on the album charts. As the band's 20th anniversary loomed on the horizon, Pearl Jam launched a series of album reissues, beginning with a deluxe version of Ten in 2009. That same year also saw the release of their ninth studio album, Backspacer, which doubled as the group's first independently released project, initially appearing exclusively in Target stores in the U.S. The band supported the album with an extensive 2010 tour. Live on Ten Legs, a collection of concert highlights from 2003-2010, appeared in January 2011. Later that year, Vedder released a solo album of standards accompanied only by ukulele, and the band celebrated their two-decade anniversary by launching a two-day festival in Wisconsin, commissioning Cameron Crowe to produce a music documentary named PJ20, and releasing a soundtrack of rare songs from the film. Shortly thereafter, the band went back into the studio with Brendan O'Brien to start work on the follow-up to Backspacer. The resulting album, Lightning Bolt, was announced in July 2013 with the release of the raw, punky single "Mind Your Manners." A "darker, more atmospheric" album, with longer songs than its short, sharp predecessor, and bearing the influence of both Pink Floyd and punk, Lightning Bolt appeared in October 2013 (iTunes, 2013). When I saw them in concert here in Hawaii closing their tour with U2, they were fabulous. One of the best concerts I attend in the 2000's. One of the all time greats and would not be suprise to see them in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Solid rock band for sure. Summary Music has always been my passion regardless if I was playing with a band, recording in my studio, or just reviewing various artist and their biography and posting them in my blog for everyone to see! I love music and the more artists are exposed to the world the better it will be. Music soothes the soul, makes things right and brings joy and happiness. These blogs are dedicated to all the artists and musicians that spend countless hours working on their music to share with the world to make it a better place. I want to thank all my affiliates for allowing me to share with those music lovers around the world, opportunities that may not be available to them but only through this blog. Feel free to check out some of the offers to the right by clicking on them. You'll find great T-Shirts of your favorite artist and a number of different products that might be of interest to you. 10% of all commissions go to Hina Mauka Kokua Fund to help under served individuals access needed health services. Hina Mauka is a private non-profit agency that help individuals and their families challenged by health problems. To learn more visit: http://hinamauka.org. If your interested in starting a blog and want to learn more about blogging and its benefits, feel free to join my mailing list: You can also connect with me through Facebook by clicking on any one of these links.  "I Love Reggae"   "I Love Rock and Roll"  Please visit and like our page and/or leave a comment. Appreciate the support! Want to learn FOR FREE how to build a business online and make extra money? connect with me at : "This Is Billy Mousser". By joining my email list I will send you all the FREE INFORMATION you need on how to start building your own business online (free websites, becoming an affiliate for free, selling products you don't have to buy, using sites with built-in traffic, limitless opportunities) No obligation, and no gimmicks, just the willingness to explore and try it out. Make money on auto pilot! Join my email list and start today! Much Respect & One Love,  Billy Mousser

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Jazz History

Jazz 1920s and 1930s


Prohibition in the United States (from 1920 to 1933) banned the sale of alcoholic drinks, resulting in illicit speakeasies becoming lively venues of the “Jazz Age”, an era when popular music included current dance songs, novelty songs, and show tunes. Jazz started to get a reputation as being immoral and many members of the older generations saw it as threatening the old values in culture and promoting the new decadent values of the Roaring 20s. Professor Henry van Dyke of Princeton University wrote “… it is not music at all. It’s merely an irritation of the nerves of hearing, a sensual teasing of the strings of physical passion.” Even the media began to denigrate jazz. The New York Times took stories and altered headlines to pick at jazz. For instance, villagers used pots and pans in Siberia to scare off bears, and the newspaper stated that it was jazz that scared the bears away. Another story claims that Jazz caused the death of a celebrated conductor. The actual cause of death was a fatal heart attack (natural cause). From 1919 Kid Ory’s Original Creole Jazz Band of musicians from New Orleans played in San Francisco and Los Angeles where in 1922 they became the first black jazz band of New Orleans origin to make recordings. However, the main center developing the new “Hot Jazz” was Chicago, where King Oliver joined Bill Johnson. That year also saw the first recording by Bessie Smith, the most famous of the 1920s blues singers. Bix Beiderbecke formed The Wolverines in 1924. Also in 1924 Louis Armstrong joined the Fletcher Henderson dance band as featured soloist for a year. The original New Orleans style was polyphonic, with theme variation, and simultaneous collective improvisation. Armstrong was a master of his hometown style, but by the time he joined Henderson’s band, he was already a trailblazer in a new phase of jazz, with its emphasis on arrangements and soloists. Armstrong’s solos went well beyond the theme-improvisation concept, and extemporized on chords, rather than melodies. Armstrong’s solos were a significant factor in making jazz a true twentieth-century language. After leaving Henderson’s group, Armstrong formed his virtuosic Hot Five band, where he popularized scat singing. The 1930s belonged to popular swing big bands, in which some virtuoso soloists became as famous as the band leaders. Key figures in developing the “big” jazz band included bandleaders and arrangers Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Fletcher Henderson, Earl Hines, Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw.
 

Jazz 1940s and 1950s

By the 1940s, Duke Ellington’s music transcended the bounds of swing, bridging jazz and art music in a natural synthesis. Ellington called his music “American Music” rather than jazz, and liked to describe those who impressed him as “beyond category.” These included many of the musicians who were members of his orchestra, some of whom are considered among the best in jazz in their own right, but it was Ellington who melded them into one of the most well-known jazz orchestral units in the history of jazz. He often composed specifically for the style and skills of these individuals, such as “Jeep’s Blues” for Johnny Hodges, “Concerto for Cootie” for Cootie Williams, which later became “Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me” with Bob Russell’s lyrics, and “The Mooche” for Tricky Sam Nanton and Bubber Miley. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as Juan Tizol’s “Caravan” and “Perdido” which brought the “Spanish Tinge” to big-band jazz. Several members of the orchestra remained there for several decades. The band reached a creative peak in the early 1940s, when Ellington and a small hand-picked group of his composers and arrangers wrote for an orchestra of distinctive voices who displayed tremendous creativity. In the early 1940s bebop-style performers began to shift jazz from danceable popular music towards a more challenging “musician’s music.” The most influential bebop musicians included saxophonist Charlie Parker, pianists Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Clifford Brown, and drummer Max Roach. Since bebop was meant to be listened to, not danced to, it could use faster tempos. Drumming shifted to a more elusive and explosive style, in which the ride cymbal was used to keep time while the snare and bass drum were used for accents. This led to a highly syncopated, linear rhythmic complexity. Bebop musicians employed several harmonic devices not typical of previous jazz, engaging in a more abstracted form of chord-based improvisation Charlie Parker while performing “Cherokee” at Clark Monroe’s Uptown House, New York, in early 1942. These divergences from the jazz mainstream of the time initially met with a divided, sometimes hostile, response among fans and fellow musicians, especially established swing players, who bristled at the new harmonic sounds. To hostile critics, bebop seemed to be filled with “racing, nervous phrases”. Despite the initial friction, by the 1950s bebop had become an accepted part of the jazz vocabulary.

Jazz 1950s and 1960s

In the late 1940s there was a revival of “Dixieland” music, harkening back to the original contrapuntal New Orleans style. This was driven in large part by record company reissues of early jazz classics by the Oliver, Morton, and Armstrong bands of the 1930s. There were two types of musicians involved in the revival. One group consisted of players who had begun their careers playing in the traditional style and were returning to it or continuing what they had been playing all along. This included Bob Crosby’s Bobcats, Max Kaminsky, Eddie Condon, and Wild Bill Davison. Most of these groups were originally Midwesterners, although there were a small number of New Orleans musicians involved. The second group of revivalists consisted of younger musicians, such as those in the Lu Watters band. By the late 1940s, Louis Armstrong’s Allstars band became a leading ensemble. Through the 1950s and 1960s, Dixieland was one of the most commercially popular jazz styles in the US, Europe, and Japan, although critics paid little attention to it. By the end of the 1940s, the nervous energy and tension of bebop was replaced with a tendency towards calm and smoothness, with the sounds of cool jazz, which favored long, linear melodic lines. It emerged in New York City, as a result of the mixture of the styles of predominantly white jazz musicians and black bebop musicians, and it dominated jazz in the first half of the 1950s. The starting point was a series of singles on Capitol Records in 1949 and 1950 of a nonet led by trumpeter Miles Davis, collected and released first on a ten-inch and later a twelve-inch as the Birth of the Cool. Cool jazz recordings by Chet Baker, Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans, Gil Evans, Stan Getz and the Modern Jazz Quartet usually have a “lighter” sound which avoided the aggressive tempos and harmonic abstraction of bebop. Cool jazz later became strongly identified with the West Coast jazz scene, but also had a particular resonance in Europe, especially Scandinavia, with emergence of such major figures as baritone saxophonist Lars Gullin and pianist Bengt Hallberg. The theoretical underpinnings of cool jazz were set out by the blind Chicago pianist Lennie Tristano, and its influence stretches into such later developments as Bossa nova, modal jazz, and even free jazz. Hard bop was developed in the mid-1950s, partly in response to the vogue for cool jazz in the early 1950s. The hard bop style coalesced in 1953 and 1954, paralleling the rise of rhythm and blues. Miles Davis’ performance of “Walkin’”, at the very first Newport Jazz Festival in 1954, announced the style to the jazz world. The quintet Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, fronted by Blakey and featuring pianist Horace Silver and trumpeter Clifford Brown, were leaders in the hard bop movement along with Davis. Modal jazz is a development beginning in the later 1950s which takes the mode, or musical scale, as the basis of musical structure and improvisation. Previously, the goal of the soloist was to play a solo that fit into a given chord progression. However, with modal jazz, the soloist creates a melody using one or a small number of modes. The emphasis in this approach shifts from harmony to melody. The modal theory stems from a work by George Russell. Miles Davis introduced the concept to the greater jazz world with Kind of Blue (1959), an exploration of the possibilities of modal jazz and the bestselling jazz album of all time. Other innovators in this style include Jackie McLean, John Coltrane and Bill Evans, also present on Kind of Blue, as well as later musicians such as Herbie Hancock. A series of recordings with the Classic Quartet in the first half of 1965 show John Coltrane’s playing becoming increasingly abstract, with greater incorporation of devices like multiphonics, utilization of overtones, and playing in the altissimo register, as well as a mutated return to Coltrane’s sheets of sound. In the studio, he all but abandoned his soprano to concentrate on the tenor saxophone. In addition, the quartet responded to the leader by playing with increasing freedom. In June 1965, Coltrane and ten other musicians recorded Ascension, a 40-minute long piece that included adventurous solos by the young avant-garde musicians (as well as Coltrane), and was controversial primarily for the collective improvisation sections that separated the solos. After recording with the quartet over the next few months, Coltrane invited Pharoah Sanders to join the band in September 1965. While Coltrane used over-blowing frequently as an emotional exclamation-point, Sanders would opt to overblow his entire solo, resulting in a constant screaming and screeching in the altissimo range of the instrument. Free jazz quickly found a foothold in Europe—in part because musicians such as Ayler, Taylor, Steve Lacy and Eric Dolphy spent extended periods there. A distinctive European contemporary jazz (often incorporating elements of free jazz but not limited to it) flourished also because of the emergence of musicians (such as John Surman, Zbigniew Namyslowski, Albert Mangelsdorff, Kenny Wheeler and Mike Westbrook) anxious to develop new approaches reflecting their national and regional musical cultures and contexts.

Jazz 1960s and 1970s

Latin jazz is jazz with Latin American rhythms. Although musicians continually expand its parameters, the term Latin jazz is generally understood to have a more specific meaning than simply jazz from Latin America. A more precise term might be Afro-Latin jazz, as the jazz sub-genre typically employs rhythms that either have a direct analog in Africa, or exhibit an African rhythmic influence beyond what is ordinarily heard in other jazz. The two main categories of Latin jazz are Afro-Cuban jazz and Brazilian jazz. In the 1960s and 1970s, many jazz musicians had only a minimum understanding of Cuban and Brazilian music. Jazz compositions using Cuban or Brazilian elements were often referred to as “Latin tunes”, with no distinction between a Cuban son montuno and a Brazilian bossa nova. In addition to common jazz concepts, soloists in Latin jazz draw from the improvisational vocabulary of the Afro-Cuban descarga (jazz-inspired instrumental jams), and popular dance forms such as salsa. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the hybrid form of jazz-rock fusion was developed by combining jazz improvisation with rock rhythms, electric instruments and the highly amplified stage sound of rock musicians such as Jimi Hendrix. Jazz fusion music often uses mixed meters, odd time signatures, syncopation, complex chords and harmonies. All Music Guide states that “until around 1967, the worlds of jazz and rock were nearly completely separate. However, as rock became more creative and its musicianship improved, and as some in the jazz world became bored with hard bop and did not want to play strictly avant-garde music, the two different idioms began to trade ideas and occasionally combine forces.” Although jazz purists protested the blend of jazz and rock, some of jazz’s significant innovators crossed over from the contemporary hard bop scene into fusion. In addition to using the electric instruments of rock, such as the electric guitar, electric bass, electric piano and synthesizer keyboards, fusion also used the powerful amplification, “fuzz” pedals, wah-wah pedals, and other effects used by 1970s-era rock bands. Notable performers of jazz fusion included Miles Davis, keyboardists Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, vibraphonist Gary Burton, drummer Tony Williams, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, guitarists Larry Coryell, Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Frank Zappa, saxophonist Wayne Shorter and bassists Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clarke. Jazz fusion was also popular in Japan where the band Casiopea released over thirty fusion albums. In the twenty-first century, almost all jazz has influences from other nations and styles of music, making jazz fusion as much a common practice as style.

Jazz 1980’s and Beyond

In 1987, the US House of Representatives and Senate passed a bill proposed by Democratic Representative John Conyers, Jr. to define jazz as a unique form of American music stating, among other things, “… that jazz is hereby designated as a rare and valuable national American treasure to which we should devote our attention, support and resources to make certain it is preserved, understood and promulgated.” It passed in the House of Representatives on September 23, 1987 and in the Senate on November 4, 1987. While the 1970s had been dominated by the fusion and free jazz genres, the early 1980s saw a re-emergence of a more conventional kind of acoustic or straight-ahead jazz. Perhaps the most prominent manifestation of this resurgence was the emergence of trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, who strove to create music within what he believed was the tradition, rejecting both fusion and free jazz and creating extensions of the small and large forms initially pioneered by such artists as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington as well as the hard bop of the 1950s. Acid jazz developed in the UK over the 1980s and 1990s, influenced by jazz-funk and electronic dance music. Jazz-funk musicians such as Roy Ayers and Donald Byrd are often credited as forerunners of acid jazz. While acid jazz often contains various types of electronic composition, it is just as likely to be played live by musicians, who often showcase jazz interpretation as part of their performance. Jazz since the 1990s has been characterized by a pluralism in which no one style dominates but rather a wide range of active styles and genres are popular. Often individual performers will record and play music in a variety of different styles, sometimes in the same performance.
Although jazz-rock fusion reached the height of its popularity in the 1970s, the use of electronic instruments and rock-derived musical elements in jazz continued in the 1990s and 2000s. Musicians using this approach have included Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie, John Scofield and Swedish group e.s.t. among others. Pianist Brad Mehldau and power trio The Bad Plus have explored contemporary rock music within the context of the traditional jazz acoustic piano trio, for example recording instrumental jazz versions of songs by rock musicians. The Bad Plus has also incorporated elements of free jazz into their music. A number of new vocalists have achieved popularity with a mix of traditional jazz and pop/rock forms, such as Diana Krall, Norah Jones, Cassandra Wilson, Kurt Elling and Jamie Cullum. While some musicians such as saxophonists Greg Osby and Charles Gayle have maintained a firm avant-garde or free jazz stance, others such as James Carter have incorporated free jazz elements into a more traditional framework. Established musicians in a variety of styles continued to perform, such as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Sonny Rollins, Wynton Marsalis, Keith Jarrett, David Murray and McCoy Tyner.
I would like to thank the contributors who made this knowledge-base available for me to learn a little more about the music I play. If you would like to know more about my blog or the blogging system I use, hit me up at: www.thisisbilly.com
Thank you Billy Mousser
www.rbmproductions.com

Rock and Roll

Rock and Roll

The origins of rock and roll have been fiercely debated by commentators and historians of music. There is general agreement that it arose in the Southern United States a region which would produce most of the major early rock and roll acts through the meeting of various influences that embodied a merging of the African musical tradition with European instrumentation. The migration of many former slaves and their descendants to major urban centers like Memphis and north to New York City, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland and Buffalo meant that black and white residents were living in close proximity in larger numbers than ever before, and as a result heard each other’s music and even began to emulate each other’s fashions. Radio stations that made white and black forms of music available to both groups, the development and spread of the gramophone record, and African American musical styles such as jazz and swing which were taken up by white musicians, aided this process of “cultural collision”. The immediate roots of rock and roll lay in the rhythm and blues, then called “race music”, and country music of the 1940s and 1950s. Particularly significant influences were jazz, blues, gospel, country, and folk. Commentators differ in their views of which of these forms were most important and the degree to which the new music was a re-branding of African American rhythm and blues for a white market, or a new hybrid of black and white forms.
In the 1930s jazz, and particularly swing, both in urban based dance bands and blues-influenced country swing, was among the first music to present African American sounds for a predominantly white audience. The 1940s saw the increased use of blaring horns, shouted lyrics and boogie woogie beats in jazz based music. During and immediately after World War II, with shortages of fuel and limitations on audiences and available personnel, large jazz bands were less economical and tended to be replaced by smaller combos, using guitars, bass and drums. In the same period, particularly on the West Coast and in the Midwest, the development of jump blues, with its guitar riffs, prominent beats and shouted lyrics, prefigured many later developments. In the documentary film Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll, Keith Richards proposes that Chuck Berry developed his brand of rock and roll, by transposing the familiar two-note lead line of jump blues piano directly to the electric guitar, creating what is instantly recognizable as rock guitar. Similarly, country boogie and Chicago electric blues supplied many of the elements that would be seen as characteristic of rock and roll.
Rock and roll arrived at a time of considerable technological change, soon after the development of the electric guitar, amplifier and microphone, and the 45 rpm record. There were also changes in the record industry, with the rise of independent labels like Atlantic, Sun and Chess servicing niche audiences and a similar rise of radio stations that played their music. It was the realization that relatively affluent white teenagers were listening to this music that led to the development of what was to be defined as rock and roll as a distinct genre.

 

Rock and Roll-Early Days

 

“Rockabilly” usually refers to the type of rock and roll music which was played and recorded in the mid-1950s primarily by white singers such as Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis, who drew mainly on the country roots of the music. Many other popular rock and roll singers of the time, such as Fats Domino and Little Richard, came out of the black rhythm and blues tradition, making the music attractive to white audiences, and are not usually classed as “rockabilly”. In 1956, the arrival of rockabilly was underlined by the success of songs like “Folsom Prison Blues” by Johnny Cash, “Blue Suede Shoes” by Perkins and “Heartbreak Hotel” by Presley. For a few years it became the most commercially successful form of rock and roll. Later rockabilly acts, particularly performing songwriters like Buddy Holly, would be a major influence on British Invasion acts and particularly on the song writing of The Beatles and through them on the nature of later rock music. Rock and Roll-Doo Wop was one of the most popular forms of 1950s rock and roll, with an emphasis on multi-part vocal harmonies and meaningless backing lyrics (from which the genre later gained its name), which were usually supported with light instrumentation. Its origins were in African American vocal groups of the 1930s and 40s, like the Ink Spots and the Mills Brothers, who had enjoyed considerable commercial success with arrangements based on close harmonies. They were followed by 1940s R&B vocal acts like The Orioles, The Ravens and The Clovers, who injected a strong element of traditional gospel and, increasingly, the energy of jump blues. By 1954, as rock and roll was beginning to emerge, a number of similar acts began to cross over from the R&B charts to mainstream success, often with added honking brass and saxophone, with The Crows, The Penguins, The El Dorados and The Turbans all scoring major hits.

 

Rock and Roll-Decline

 

Commentators have traditionally perceived a decline of rock and roll in the late 1950s and early 1960s. By 1959, the death of Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens in a plane crash (February 1959), the departure of Elvis for the army (March 1958), the retirement of Little Richard to become a preacher (October 1957), the scandal surrounding Jerry Lee Lewis’ marriage to his thirteen-year-old cousin (May 1958), the arrest of Chuck Berry (December 1959), and the breaking of the payola scandal implicating major figures, including Alan Freed, in bribery and corruption in promoting individual acts or songs (November 1959), gave a sense that the initial rock and roll era had come to an end. There was also a process that has been described as the “feminization” of rock and roll, with the charts beginning to be dominated by love ballads, often aimed at a female audience, and the rise of girl groups like The Shirelles and The Crystals.

 

Rock and Roll-British Invasion

 

As interest in rock and roll was beginning to subside in America in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it was taken up by groups in major British urban centres like Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and London. About the same time, a British blues scene developed, initially led by purist blues followers such as Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies who were directly inspired by American musicians such as Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. Many groups moved towards the beat music of rock and roll and rhythm and blues from skiffle, like the Quarrymen who became The Beatles, producing a form of rock and roll revivalism that carried them and many other groups to national success from about 1963 and to international success from 1964, known in America as the British Invasion. Groups that followed The Beatles included the beat-influenced Freddie and the Dreamers, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, Herman’s Hermits and the Dave Clark Five, and the more blues-influenced The Animals, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Who and The Yardbirds. As the blues became an increasingly significant influence, leading to the creation of the blues-rock of groups like The Moody Blues, Small Faces, The Move, Traffic and Cream, and developing into rock music, the influence of early rock and roll began to subside.

Rock and Roll-Influences

Far beyond simply a musical style, rock and roll influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language. In addition, rock and roll may have helped the cause of the civil rights movement because both African American teens and white American teens enjoyed the music. Many early rock and roll songs dealt with issues of cars, school, dating, and clothing. The lyrics of rock and roll songs described events and conflicts that most listeners could relate to from some point in their lives. Topics that were generally considered taboo, such as sex, began to be introduced in rock and roll music. This new music tried to break boundaries and express the real emotions that people were feeling, but didn’t talk about. An awakening in the young American culture began to take place. In the crossover of African American “race music” to a growing white youth audience, the popularization of rock and roll involved both black performers reaching a white audience and white performers appropriating African American music. The coming together of white youth audiences and black music in rock and roll inevitably provoked strong white racist reactions within the US, with many whites condemning its breaking down of barriers based on color. Many observers saw rock and roll as heralding the way for desegregation, in creating a new form of music that encouraged racial cooperation and shared experience. Many authors have argued that early rock and roll was instrumental in the way both white and black teenagers identified themselves.

Rock and Roll-Summary

I am very fortunate to have grown up in times where rock and roll music meant more than what it initially stood for. Rock and Roll in Hawaii in the late 60′s and early 70′s was everywhere to include bands like The Rock and Roll Roadshow, The Honolulu Dogs, Spector, Catapult, and my favorite Zuproc and much more. There was a rock and roll club on every corner. Rock and roll was a way of life back them playing at clubs 7 nights a week. Back then there was enough to go around. Bands were bands that actually had their own members. Sometimes I ponder about those days and how lucky I was to be a part of it all.

For me rock and roll changed my life, music in general is still a big part of what I do owning a recording studio and entertainment service here in Hawaii. The music scene has changed but I still play in a band and produce when I can. But no matter what instrument I play, or what type of music I play, I still find myself going back to my roots of rock and roll where it all began. I have no regrets only that I wish that time could of lasted a little longer. The friends I made and people I played with will live on in my memory for the rest of my life. most of all, when i think of those days and rock and roll, I miss my 2 best friends who have departed this earth, Joe and Deanie. For without them, my rock and roll journey would of been incomplete. I dedicate this wrting in memory of them.

 

I would like to thank the contributors who made this knowledge-base available for me to learn a little more about the music I play. If you would like to know more about my blog or the blogging system I use, hit me up at: www.thisisbilly.com/did-you-know/

 

Thank you Billy Mousse

www.rbmproductions.com

Pohaku

  I would like to introduce one of my favorite artist produced and recorded at RBM Productions. “Pohaku We’re Comin”. Album provides 10 songs with the primary focus on ragga and reggae. Songs written by Danny Keliikoa and Kaaomae Wilhelm. The two main driving forces behind this album. Musical arrangements done and copyrighted by Pohaku Productions an RBM Production affiliate. Mix and mastered at Studio One and cover design by RBM Productions. The album distributed by Pacific Hawaiian Distribution and published by Robert Sterling Music Group.

Pohaku-Review

I had the firsthand experience watching these two driving forces grow up on the westside of Oahu. Kaao’s dad Dean Wilhelm and I played music together since we were kids up to his passing several years ago. Kaao comes from a large family of musicians. Kaao and Danny met in thier respective neighborhood and hit it off right away. The early years of playing music date back to high school with an a acoustic guitar and ukulele playing Ka’au Crater Boys music. They started a band called Hawaiian Fusion and played around the local circuit and developed some popularity. I still have thier early recordings as part of my Pohaku archives. During this era, Dean and I started a band called Pohaku. In Hawaiian, Pohaku means “rock”. Dean and I were long time favorites of rock and roll and played in several efforts during the 70′s and 80′s in Hawaii’s music scene. As the rock scene practically disappeared, we were not working as much so we decided to incorporate Hawaiian Fusion and change direction of Pohaku’s music to accommodate the current Hawaii music trend. As time went on, and musicians changed, Pohaku eventually took on a different identity. The focus now was reggae music since it had become very popular. Pohaku finally launched their first album titled “Friends Forever” wihich didn’t do too well. Soon after, they followed with “We’re Comin”. This album hit the local radio airwaves upon release with “I Love You”, “Just A Little Love” and “Far Away”. The three songs made the top five on Island 98.5 and KCCN 100.3 on several occasions. The album picked up popularity across the state and even in the mainland with followed up inter-state tours to include California and Las Vegas. Pohaku’s “We’re Comin” sold over 10,000 units in stores across the west coast and online. Far Away and Just A Little Love was also featured in the motion picture “One Kine Day.” Wayne Hirada from the Star Advertiser conducted a music review with favorable results. The band went through several changes all the way to it’s release in 2008. Thier live performances did the product justice and were well received by the public. This album finally put the band on the map with the rest of the Westside established artists. Pohaku finally etched their name in local music history. They were also the runner up nominee next to Rebel Soljahs at the Hoku Hanohano Awards for best reggae album of the year.

Pohaku-Summary

Dean and I were best friends. All we wanted to do is play music and maybe see some of our efforts perpetuate itself and live beyond what we would imagine. When Dean died, I felt like I lost a big part of me. At that time I played bass and he played drums. We were unstoppable! Since his passing I have taken on the drumming responsibility for Pohaku for most of its existence. Ka’ao being my nephew, I got to see him grow into a fine artist. His dad would be proud of him. As for Danny, he later became my son-in-law and gave me my first granddaughter. Though the boys have gone their separate ways, Danny and I still hold up the Pohaku reputation. I have been honored to play with such fine musicians in their own right. If you really think about it, I am the only one left from Pohaku’s original days………

The album tracks are available on itunes. You can actually go to www.rbmproductions.com to get more information on the band and view their videos. If you wish, feel free to comment. All comments are welcomed. Support local music and local musicians and thier work by commenting.

For more information about the blogging platform please go to: www.thisisbilly.com. Empower Network has a great blogging system that allows you to monetize your efforts. 100% commissions when you sign others up to this simple to use blogging system. Empower Network has much more to offer as well. Check me out! No obligation.

Until the next time, This is Billy Mousser saying “rock on!”
See you on the inside….