JB – Page 11

The Grateful Dead | China Cat Sunflower

“Deadhead or not, you have to respect any band that had the impact on popular culture that the Grateful Dead did,” (American Songwriter). “Even though several of the founding members, including Jerry Garcia, died long ago, the interest in the band continues, and you can still hear and see their influence in the music of jam bands like Phish and Widespread Panic.”

Most of the band’s classics are songs for which Robert Hunter wrote the lyrics “like ‘Truckin’’ and ‘Friend of the Devil.’ Even 1987’s ‘Touch of Grey’ became part of the fabric of life for so many counter-culturalists, some of whom actually were grey by the time “Touch of Grey” was recorded. One of Hunter’s most abstruse pieces, which became a staple of the Grateful Dead’s legendary hours-long concerts, was ‘China Cat Sunflower.’ It was recorded for the band’s 1969 studio album Aoxomoxoa, and later released on the live Europe ’72 triple album set in a mash-up with the old blues number ‘I Know You Rider.’ The two songs segued together perfectly, and the Grateful Dead performed the combination well over 500 times in live performances.”

Starting out in G major, the tune shifts up to E mixolydian at 2:08 before returning to G major at 2:50. At 3:18, a long instrumental outro in D major closes out the track.

Enya | Exile

“Perhaps much of the derision directed at (Enya’s 1988 release) Watermark over the years has come thanks to the millstone around its neck – the entirely un-representative ‘Orinocho Flow’, with its icily plinking keys and lyrics ‘from the North to the South, Ebudæ into Khartoum / from the deep sea of Clouds to the island of the moon,'” (Quietus) “… For all its hundreds of thousands of sales, and the Top Of The Pops performance that made them, that track distracts from the quiet, clever grace of much of the rest of the album, which recalls traditional Celtic folk, sacred early music and world music – which, let us not forget, was then held in its stuffy, separate ghetto. To label and denigrate this as new age is lazy too – Enya herself dismissed the term as ‘marketing.’

… While a record with clear Celtic origins and Enya always proud of her roots, there’s no misty-eyed evoking of some shamrock ‘n’ leprechaun ‘auld country’ here, with songs delivered in English, Irish and Latin … ‘Exile’ (is a) gorgeous hymnal … gliding downstream on flute and organ drones.” On the negative side is ” … overproduction, with sometimes just a little too much 80s gloss and sheen on the strings and Enya’s vocals. Yet, essentially, Watermark is a deeply weird album in the context of its bright and garish era, and as well as that a strongly and confidently female album. It also stands out as a record inspired by spiritual music in a mainstream pop world that has in recent years chosen to end the centuries-old musical dialogue between the secular and religious, the sacred and profane.”

“Exile” begins in Db minor; after two verses, a chorus arrives (1:17) with a shift to Db major before a return to the original key for the next verse at 1:49. The alternating pattern continues from there.

Josep Castanyer Alonso | Never Gonna GiFugue Up

“(Cellist) Josep Castanyer Alonso has been a member of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra since 2019,” (from the Orchestra’s website). “… He has performed in several festivals and attended different academies, such as the Verbier Festival in Switzerland or the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy, with mentors such as András Schiff, Lynn Harrell, Ferenc Rados, Gustav Rivinius, Wen-Sinn Yang or Gábor Takács-Nagy.

Performing regularly in different chamber music groups, Alonso has as well been a member of the Alinde Quartett. He is also frequently involved in other chamber music projects with colleagues, from the WDR Symphony Orchestra in Cologne, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Dresden, and the vast German and European orchestral scene. He was a student of the RSPO Orchestra Academy and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, and he was the first student of this academy to become a member of the orchestra.”

From Alonso’s description of the video, which bearrs the subtitle A 4-voice fugue, but you got rickrolled: “… the contrapuntal throwback takes us to the ’80s with Rick Astley’s hit ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ — famous in its day and even more popular thanks to Internet meme culture and the “rick-rolling” frenzy of the early 2000s. I’ve developed the irritatingly infectious short initial motive of the tune into a 4-voice fugue, showcasing the structure with motion graphics and light-hearted commentary …” The piece shifts from D major to F# minor from 0:57 – 1:33. Of Alonso’s wonderful piano technique (in addition to his stellar composition chops), our regular contributor JB added, “It’s kind of dumbfounding that piano is just a hobby for him.”

Sure Fire Soul Ensemble | La Fachada

“If you are a fan of the organ (and we know you are), gritty funk, and beautiful original soundtracks, these guys are for you,” (Cole Mine Records). “The SFSE is a heavy, original, instrumental soul band based out of San Diego, CA that released their debut self-titled album on Colemine Records in June of 2015.”

“The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble rock an instrumental style of soul and funk with a long history, drawing upon contemporaries like Budos Band and El Michels Affair, then going back through a lineage that includes Poets of Rhythm, The Meters, and The Bar-Kays … It’s a gritty and raw style of funk …” (Scratched Vinyl). “SFSE is a large group, with three percussionists, three horn players, keyboards, bass, guitar, and drums, which gives them a nice full sound. Of course, it only makes sense to rock a group this big if you can be tight enough to make it worth it … SFSE lay(s) down grooves that will have you bobbing your head and making stank face …”

The SFSE’s 2022 track “La Fachada” begins in Bb minor, shifts to a strings tremolo feature section in Gb major at 0:28, and then drops into a horns-driven section built on a spicy Cb augmented chord at 0:50. These sections alternate until a bridge section in C major appears (1:59 – 2:20) before returning to the regular rotation.

Jamie Cullum | All At Sea

UK singer/songwriter/pianist Jamie Cullum, “… mostly self-taught, began playing in a rock band at age 15,” (Brittanica). “He soon became attracted to jazz and began playing and singing it in bars and on cruise ships. He spent a year in Paris and then attended the University of Reading, England, where he studied film and English, composed music, and acted … His second album, Pointless Nostalgic … became such a favorite on British radio that … major labels fought a bidding war to sign him. His singing and playing, which evoked swing and ballad moods rather than rock, were an anomaly in the pop music of the day, but the CD sold 2,000,000 units, 400,000 of them in the United States.” Twentysomething reached top three in the UK, and the Netherlands; it scored top 100 status in most of Europe and the USA.

“… This is not a jazz album in the unapproachable sense – there are Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Buckley covers here (CLUAS.com, 2004) … This is a bona fide listenable and enjoyable opus. Jamie Cullum is not your typical jazz pianist or singer … he straddles genres for fun. This is certainly not a jazz-only album … the end result is surprisingly great.”

The single “All At Sea,” wasn’t a big hit by any stretch of the imagination, but received slow but steady airplay in the US (Cullum’s success seems better measured through the relative success of his full albums as opposed to his singles). Built in Eb major overall, the tune’s bridge (2:44 – 3:26) is in Ab minor; then Eb makes its return. The 2015 live version below includes an extended Billy Joel quote in its closing bars, demonstrating the breadth of Cullum’s improvisatory sensibilities. The studio version benefits from a full instrumentation and vocal harmonies — but Cullum’s dense voicings, sharpened vocal and piano technique, and absolutely unsinkable time make the solo version more than a full portion.

Jonatha Brooke | Glass Half Empty

“Jonatha Brooke is one of those artists whose name always sounds familiar … but whose music you may not be familiar with … though, frankly, you really should be,” (Popdose). “She’s a talented singer-songwriter who first got her career rolling in the early ’90s as a member of a duo called The Story, with collaborator Jennifer Kimball, but Brooke soon stood on her own two feet and has trotted out album after album … some on major labels, some on indies … to critical acclaim and a decidedly diehard following.”

In a 2001 interview, Brooke held forth on the seismic shift in the music industry brought set in motion by Napster and file sharing. She had a front-row seat to both the “before” and “after” cultures of this shift: “‘… it still breaks my heart that music has been so devalued and I think labels — especially the majors — are the worst culprits at not defending the value of art, of music. And because songs are the easiest, tiniest files to steal at this point, the cat’s out of the bag. But I think it comes down to no one being educated as to what really goes into doing what someone like me does … yeah, there are tons of opportunities and great ways to network and share stuff on the Internet, but it’s hard making a living … you have to seek out gazillions of other revenue streams because records just don’t sell the way they used to.'”

1997’s 10-Cent Wings, an early solo effort, was well reviewed: “ … essential, like taking a deep breath after witnessing something magnificent,” (Billboard). “Glass Half Empty,” a mid-tempo track, is quintessential Brooke: polished musicianship, unpredictable and rangy melodies, a rich harmonic vocabulary, and lyrics that are likely to feed an earworm for days on end. You could search for a frayed edge in Brooke’s songwriting, but instead you’re too engaged in the narrative, the mood, or the shifting textures to even start. The intro and verses are in A minor overall (with a shift in emphasis to C major at times); the chorus throws some grit in the gears, shifting to G minor (1:28). Next is a return to the lighter tread of the interlude and then the next verse at 1:50, both in A minor. The alternating pattern continues from there.

Monster Ceilidh Band | Red Monster

“Monster Ceilidh Band … bring something quite unique to the folk world,’ (BrightYoungFolk). “(They) act as a strong bridge between traditional ideas of folk music and the more modern sounds of dance and techno.

This can sound like a bizarre style to try and adopt, but the simple fact is that it works so well in its context. As the band name alone suggests, the focus is on music you can dance along with. To do this, they simply one-up the use of folk instruments by merging them with sound effects, electric guitar tricks, and other methods of really getting a beat pumping.”

From the band’s own website: “Disc 2 of the Monster Ceilidh Band’s 2011 double-album Mechanical Monster (is) a mix of traditional Folk music and dirty electronic beats … the UK’s first Drum ‘n’ Bass Ceilidh crossover!” Starting in A minor, “Red Monster” shifts into B minor at 0:33 before returning to A minor at 0:49. The alternating pattern continues from there.

Bellowhead | Gosport Nancy

“Bellowhead formed in 2004 and after 12 amazing years, they called it a day in 2016,” (bellowhead.co.uk). “In their active years they played to thousands of people at festivals and on tour, recorded five studio albums (selling over a quarter of a million copies), were the proud recipients of two silver discs and won a staggering eight BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

During lockdown in 2020, the 11 members of Bellowhead first re-connected online to remotely record ‘New York Girls – At Home’. That led to re-uniting in person for a one-off performance … one of the biggest online streams of 2020, confirming that Bellowhead are still one of the biggest and most in demand UK folk acts, despite not performing for nearly five years. The stream led to pleas from fans for more and the stars aligned for a mammoth reunion tour in November 2022 to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of their fourth album, Broadside.“

Released in 2016, “Gosport Nancy” is unusual for its horn section. Contributor JB adds: “It’s rare for an English trad band to include horns at all, and yet rarer to feature such a funky horns arrangement.” Adding to the intrigue, the tune also includes plenty of syncopation and a few compound chords. Starting in D major, the tune modulates up a whole step to E major at 2:49, layering more shifts in the subsequent measures before landing back in D major.

The Band | Stage Fright

After a wait of too many years, MotD is happy to finally feature a tune by a legendary band whose name likely created more than a few promotion challenges: “After many tours of duty backing the rockabilly legend Ronnie Hawkins and providing the muscle behind Bob Dylan’s move towards electric rock, the four Canadians and one Arkansan comprising the Band were pedigreed to a legendary extent even before making their first album,” (Pitchfork). “By the time they issued the twinned masterpieces Music From Big Pink in 1968 and The Band in 1969, their polymathic command of multiple genres, and self-conscious embrace of traditional American folk, country, bluegrass, and zydeco had established them as the thinking fan’s alternative to the diminishing returns of psychedelia and the counterculture … For critics, audiences and no-lesser peers than the Beatles, they had come to represent authenticity personified. So. How do you follow that up?

The answer came in the form of Stage Fright (1970), a charming, loose-limbed collection that elides the chore of living up to the previous records by basically not even trying. If their first two LPs inspired the Beatles and Stones to return to basics, Stage Fright connotes an entirely different sphere of influence: it’s a nonpareil boogie album, whose in-the-pocket playing establishes the Band as the equal of groovemaster peers like Booker T. and the Meters and sets a predicate for followers like Little Feat and NRBQ … What Stage Fright lacks in history lessons it makes up for in palpable joy. They would never seem so happy again.”

The album’s title track shows off the group’s unique songwriting sense; at times it’s often difficult to predict what might be coming next in terms of either overall form or harmonic progressions. G major holds sway overall, but between 1:47 and 2:41, there’s a clear shift in emphasis to the tune’s relative minor, E minor.

Frankie Valli + The Four Seasons | Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You

“Once the Four Seasons became a consistent success, Frankie Valli established a side career doing solo recordings whose style hearkened back to pre-rock pop,” (AllMusic). “The best and most successful example of his solo work is ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ (1967), (which) would be perfectly at home on one of Frank Sinatra’s mid-1950s albums … The music skillfully blends ballad and pre-rock pop feels by wedding gentle, yearning verses that ebb and flow in a cocktail jazz style to a swinging chorus that bounds along on a series of surging, soaring melodic motifs.

(The track) starts in a ballad style with stately horns drifting a smooth, jazzy beat, undergoes a change midway through where the horns and the beat both start to swing in an uptempo, lounge music style and then shifts back and forth between these two feels for the rest of the song. Valli navigates this tricky set of tempo shifts with graceful style, using a silky tenor croon for the lighter moments and a swaggering baritone in the uptempo moments … (it) became a #2 smash hit and an instant standard that was extensively covered by … Andy Williams, Paul Anka and Englebert Humperdinck … (and has) become an oldies radio favorite and popped up in films as diverse as The Deer Hunter and Conspiracy Theory.“

After starting in E major, the verse features with plenty of harmonic motion over a tonic pedal-point bass. At 2:08, there’s a shift upward to G major for verse 2 — impressive enough that you won’t even mind when you hear verse 1’s lyrics are re-used wholesale. At 2:38, the boisterous instrumental hook returns, but drops back into the original key E major for the chorus, which repeats as the track fades.