xliii. URBANIAK, Michal: Roksana

xliii. URBANIAK, Michal (1943-       )

Roksana (1975)
MU, electric violin
Urszula Dudziak, voice
Gerald Brown, drums
Joe Caro, guitar
Anthony Jackson, bass
Wlodek Gulgowski, keyboards
(5:45)

From Fusion III.

Starts off in a calm 3/4 meter; rich changes -- then it starts to get faster and faster. This extremely fast lick is used as a link between solos, by:

Jackson / Dudziak / MU / Gulgowski

xlii. FAGEN, Donald: The Goodbye Look

xlii. FAGEN, Donald (1948-       )

The Goodbye Look (1982)
DF, vocals
Greg Phillinganes, keyboards
Larry Carlton, lead guitar
Dean Parks, guitar
Steve Khan, acoustic guitar
Starz Vanderlocket, percussion
Jeff Porcaro, drums
Marcus Miller, bass
Valerie Simpson, backup vocals
(4:50)

From The Nightfly.

The marimba introduces us to a "tale of military upheaval on a Caribbean island."

Won't you pour me a Cuban breeze, Gretchen?

Very special music.

xli. LENNON, John: Remember

xli. LENNON, John (1940-1980)

Remember (1970)
JL, vocals, piano
Ringo Starr, drums
Klaus Voormann, bass
(4:32)

From John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.

The insistent piano, the double-tracked vocals; the surprise blow-up ending. Everything about this song imprints on the brain. You feel like you're in John's skull.

xl. KENEALLY, Mike: Beautiful

xl. KENEALLY, Mike (1961-       )

Beautiful (1997)
MK, vocals, guitars, Rhodes, shelf
Toss Panos, drums
Bryan Beller, bass
(4:20)

From Sluggo!

One day, Mike picked up the phone and called Frank Zappa. He said that he was "extremely familiar with all of his material and that he would be ready to play any of it for him given a short amount of preparation time," as he had already "been listening to Zappa's music for 16 years." On the phone the day before the audition, Frank told him to have "What's New in Baltimore?" and "Sinister Footwear" ready for the next day's audition. On the way to the audition, Mike practiced the aforementioned songs, as well as "Little House I Used To Live In," and every single Zappa melody he could think of, kind of as an exercise for his memory.

Mike -- who is fluent on both guitar and piano -- played on the infamous shortened 1988 tour, worked with Dweezil for awhile, and then began recording under his own name.

Beautiful is a song about all sorts of people:

I was driving down Lankershim today and I had a comforting thought
For years I believed that 90% of the people in the world were useless and should die
This thought accompanied me and sometimes kept me warm

But today I thought about how many wonderful
People I've met in the last couple of years
In fact the vast majority of people I've had contact with recently have been wonderful

And if I am to take them as a representative sampling then most people in the world are wonderful

This made me kinda happy
And I took the newspapers to recycle them
And I got some Kleenex for my poor wife who's sick today
And then I brought them to her

(This beautiful world is a fantasy, not unlike the fairy tales of old
If you're smart you'll do what you're told. If this beautiful world is depressing you
Simply call this number if you're bold. We'll gladly lead you back to the fold.)

And I worked on the Hungarian part of the
Instrumental with Dweezil at Joe's Garage
And it was a lot of fun

And I met Linda and Lisa from Rock City News at the Cat & Fiddle
They were great and it was a good interview, I had fun

Then I went to Aron's and got the "Generic Flipper" CD for $1.98
So apart from Viv being sick it was a great day
And while I was driving west on Wilshire to see Chad Wackerman
Someone driving east threw a heavy object at my car
And cracked the windshield

A big crack
Screwed up the antenna too
It could have killed me and they never would have known

So I want to thank that person for reminding me
That in this world there are people who should just die

(This beautiful world is a fantasy, not unlike the fairy tales of old
If you're smart you'll do what you're told. If this beautiful world is depressing you
Simply call this number if you're bold. We'll gladly lead you back to the fold.)

Video

xxxix. COLLIER, Jacob: Djesse

xxxix. COLLIER, Jacob (1994-      )

Djesse (2018)
JC, everything
Metropole Orkest
Jules Buckley, cond.
(4:36)

From Djesse Vol. 1.

Tremolo strings ... then the Collier beat pumps out soft heat.

Djesse (J-C) seems autobiographical:

Djesse has a sky like a merry-go-round
Making circles in a mind made of tapestry
And the world outside never seems to make a sound
So he lives inside his world full of majesty

Djesse close his eyes and sees the rain rise up
From the deep blue waters of infinity
He says, "I wish I knew the reason for the fire in my heart
But I can't seem to tell you why it burns for me."

The orchestrations are perfection, always complimentary to JC's voice. His choices are so inspired.

xxxviii. REDBONE, Leon: My Walking Stick

xxxviii. REDBONE, Leon (Dickran Gobalian) (1949-2019)

My Walking Stick (1975)
LR, vocals
Joe Venuti, violin
Don McLean, banjo
Milt Hinton, bass
Charles Macey, Hawaiian guitar
Patty Bown, piano
Ralph MacDonald, castanets
Steve Gadd, drums
Billy Slapin, clarinet
Garnett Brown, trombone
Joe Wilder, trumpet, cornet
Seldon Powell, saxophone
Philip Bodner, saxophone
Jonathan Dorn, tuba
(3:40)

From On the Track.

Irving Berlin song. Redbone showed folks what music sounded like long ago. He made it magical, too.

xxxvii. TRUFFAZ, Erik: Magrouni

xxxvii. TRUFFAZ, Erik (1960-       )

Magrouni (2001)
ET, trumpet
Manu Codjia, guitar
Michel Benita, bass
Mounir Troudi, vocals
(3:50)

From Mantis.

Beautiful Arabic chanting. The rhythm kicks into a fast SEVEN; Erik combines his trumpet sound with an electric guitar.

Great, unusual music.