Tuba Skinny, featuring bandleader Shaye Cohn on cornet. Although we were in NOLA last May, I didn’t get a chance to see them because I was too busy chillin’ on a balcony with the dogs.
Formed in 2016, Lucky Chops began as a group of subway buskers from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, New York City, and now they perform world-wide.
German bluesman Timo Gross has been around for a while but he’s relatively unknown in the US; I had to run his Wikipedia entry through Google Translate.
One man ska band JER / Skatune Network rang in the New Year in 2016 and somehow I missed it. Turnitup!
Yep, it’s almost time to turn the calendar ahead again, but before we do, we have a porch that needs sitting on. See you there.
From Wiki: The Pathé Brothers of France went into the photographic business in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world’s largest film equipment and production company, as well as a major producer of phonograph records. In 1908, Pathé invented the newsreel that was shown in cinemas before a feature film.
[The future of the past found here.]
Leon Redbone could scat-sing better than almost anyone, and there’s proof with his cover of Tommy McClennan’s Bottle Up And Go (aka Step It Up And Go recorded by Blind Boy Fuller and many others). If someone in the audience pulled out a camera to take his photo, when the flash went off, he’d stop the song, jump for his camera and take a shot of them. He’d wait as the Polaroid image developed, (“Hmmm. Not a bad likeness”) and pick up the song right where he left it. He kept those photos, too.
Laverie Vallee, known better as Charmion, was a Sacramento born trapeze artist who possessed strength and a physique most men would be envious of. However, she was most well known for her risqué striptease performances. The act was incredibly impressive and provocative for the era. One of her greatest fans was Thomas Edison. As a result of that adoration, on November 11, 1901 Charmion committed a simplified version of her act to film for Edison. Charmion eventually retired to Santa Ana, California. She passed away on February 6, 1949 at the age of 73.
[Video found here. It’s silent. Talkies didn’t become commercially viable until the 1920s, so don’t crank up the volume and blow your speakers later.]
The Al Cohn Quartet at the Sanremo Jazz Festival 1987. Al Cohn (1925-1988) was one of the greatest improvisational jazz saxophonists of all time. Now check this out:
That’s Shaye Cohn, Al Cohn’s granddaughter, playing stride.
Now check THIS out:
Shaye Cohn – Cornet, Piano, Fiddle, Accordion, Banjo & Spoons
Craig Flory – Clarinet & Saxophone
Barnabus Jones – Trombone, Banjo, Fiddle, Guitar, Vocals
Todd Burdick – Tuba
Gregory Sherman – Vocals, Guitar & HarmonicaMax Bien-Kahn – Guitar & Banjo
Jason Lawrence – Banjo & Guitar
Robin Rapuzzi – Washboard & Drum set
Erika Lewis – Vocals & Bass drum
Dang. I’ve been impressed with Shaye Cohn’s stuff for years without knowing her pedigree, and now I know where she got it from. Note how she cues the band while playing.
Have a great weekend, folks, and we’ll do something else tomorrow.
I was looking for a live performance of “Brazil” (perhaps by Xavier Cugat) to commemorate the Competitions of the Grecian Gods, but instead we must settle for The Theme Song to Terry Gilliam’s Brazil as performed by Geoffrey Muldaur. He was famous for marrying Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D’Amato who recorded some popular songs in 1973 about putting camels to bed, and another one about feeling her leg.
There’s no live performance for that one, so I looked for some more Olympics-themed stuff.
The Cramps were a product of the legendary 1970s CBGB NY punk scene, as were these folks:
Okay I lied. The Two Man Gentlemen Band never played at CBGBs (which stood for Country, Blue Grass & Blues in case you didn’t know). Let’s go for one more.
“Hand Full of Keys,” performed here by Stephanie Trick, is a Fats Waller composition, circa 1938. Awesome stride piano style. Although I’m somewhat ambidextrous and have a basic understanding of music theory and chords, there’s no way I could cut those chops.
I had a conversation with some of my co-workers recently, and the topic of Yellow Snow came up. I tried to explain Nanook of the North and failed, so we’re forced into Zappa mode.
You can find Zappa’s “Nanook Rubs It” on the Utoobage on your own, but “Deathless Horsie” is amazing.
Have a great SuperBowl Weekend folks. Seattle sucks big green donkeys because Seattle sucks big green donkeys. Everyone outside of Seattle knows Seattle sucks big green donkeys and so does Seattle. Seattle sucks big green donkeys.