The author defines just ten types, but I would suggest that there are more. For instance, the More-Jock-Than-Talent-Singer (maybe found in metal bands), the Always-A-Half-Step-Flat Singer (nuff said, right?), the Egomaniac (who often fathers more kids from more women than a rabbit in a rabbit farm).
Either way, these Top 10 are definitely a good start. Maybe you can post your own list? Enjoy!
Simply amazing! I love this song and these artists. This was released a few years before I got out of high school and these artists and this groove still embody what I love about music from the soul combined with super bad ass musicianship.
R.I.P., Michael Breceker. You changed the tenor saxophone forever…
It turns out that Belleville, Wisconsin can put on a terrific music festival, in addition to it being a great cycling destination and surprising dinner destination (ala Belle Bleu).
This year’s Belleville American Music Festival (BAM Fest 2008) proved to be a great event with two days worth of very strong performers. Hopefully, the town and organizers of the event will do it again next year.
We were fortunate enough to play an early evening spot on Friday with Jimmy Voegeli, The Crashers and the Clyde Stubblefield Horns (in this case, Alex Leong, Chad Whittinghill and myself). We performed original music written by Jimmy Voegeli and recently released under his album “F is for Blues,” featuring a CD cover with his middle school report card and the “F” he received in band. Who would have thought then that he would go on to become one of the best piano and B3 Hammond organ players I’ve met?!
A music loving photographer, Lon Mickelson, was kind enough to steer me to his web site (www.twincityblues.com), where I could download the photos he took during our performance. Here is a collection of some of his photos. Thanks, Lon!
I just finished up a terrific weekend get away in Three Lakes, Wisconsin with Primitive Culture. Many thanks to David Hecht, Bruce and Jerry Nevaiser and Phil Lyons for inviting me to sub for Big Daddy Wando, a.k.a. Bob Corbit. We made some good music, fought a swarm of mosquitoes and generally rocked the house!
Roscoe Mitchell is back in town for a summer visit from his appointment at Mills College. We got to get in a practice session together…like old times! Madison missed you, brother!
Here are more photos: Photo 1 | Photo 2 Notice the 1930’s style tuxedos AND the 1930’s era Martin saxophone Eric is playing. Eric tells me he had a stand up solo during the recording of “Bye Bye Blackbird.” We won’t know, though, until the movie is released whether his scenes make the final edit.
Alex Leong, trombone with the Clyde Stubblefield Band, officially departs for a new life in Chicago
Pete Ross, alto saxophonist and former Laith Al-Saadi roommate at Univ. of Michigan, joins the Clyde Stubblefield Band
I should mention the fun we have been having playing with The Crashers and Mauro Magellan, former drummer with The Georgia Satellites, who are all playing as the Jimmy Voegeli Band with the Clyde Stubblefield Horns. What’s up with famous drummers and Wisconsin?!?
And more fun summer gigs yet to come, such as the Madison Roots Festival, more New Glarus Brewing Company gigs, and recently scheduled Primitive Culture shows to boot! I love summer gigging!
I’ll try to find more time to add pictures, share tales and maybe some music clips. In the meantime, come on down to the Monona Terrace tonight (Thursday, July 10) at 6:00 p.m. and enjoy some free live music with the Clyde Stubblefield Band.
Detroit-native and saxophone colossus (seriously, he deserves that description), James Carter, has released a new album titled “Present Tense.“ I heard a review on NPR with sound clips from the record. It’s a marvelous showcase of Carter’s mega-mastery of the tenor, baritone and soprano saxophones…oh, and the flute and bass clarinet to boot!
James Carter is an incredibly powerful musician who’s sound could knock over whatever home the Big Bad Wolf couldn’t. You’ll know what I mean when you hear him play. Growing up in Michigan, I heard about Carter all the way back to high school, when Carter, not much older than myself, was making an early name for himself around Detroit. He certainly has grown up to be a musician worthy of world-class recognition.
So this spring/summer’s ‘jazz elective’ is Thelonious Monk. First off, the Clyde Band’s new alto saxophonist, Pete Ross, and I have rekindled the torch that Roscoe Mitchell and I had kept lit for a number of years. We’re beginning to meet regularly to study and practice jazz pieces, primarily focusing on Jamie Aebersold books that we would like to learn or learn anew. We decided the Thelonious Monk book, Volume 56, would be our starting point.
Thelonious Monk’s sound and style was eccentric and unique, but deeply rooted in harmonic theory and rich jazz tradition. Monk’s compositions had a powerful formative influence on John Coltrane’s playing style. After years of serving as the primary saxophonist for Miles Davis, Coltrane grew hungry for a new challenge, a new inspiration for his own insatiable pursuit for musical knowledge. He found that creative energy in Monk. Coltrane discovered new chord and harmonic relationships, patterns of sounds and relative structure that really had never been applied to jazz composition until Thelonious Monk. Some say Coltrane’s years with Monk after Miles had the biggest impact on Coltrane’s growth as a musician, helping Coltrane break free of conventional standards that were obstructing his driving creativity.
That said, it couldn’t hurt to try and understand Thelonious Monk’s music a little better myself.
Here’s a fun tune called “I Mean You” that Pete and I are working on, performed by Monk in Paris in 1969.
There is one more important thread to mention regarding Monk. Ellis Marsalis just released a new album titled “An Open Letter to Thelonious,” which has been heralded as a ‘must have’ by my music aficionado friends, most notably, Kevin McFadden of Portland-via-Detroit. It’s on my list to purchase this week, and should be on yours.
We just received a message to the Clyde Stubblefield Band myspace page from a band in Helsinki, Finland called “The Soultwisters.” They wrote a tribute song in honor of the Original Funky Drummer, Clyde Stubblefield. The song is simply titled “Clyde”. You can check it out at their myspage page.
I rarely tune into any of the squakbox news shows, either conservative or liberal. I just don’t have the patience to listen to the shouting matches that invariably errupt. During the Democratic primary, though, I have seen more of Keith Olbermann, who I initially dismissed with a distaste for his overstyled hair and his chic designer glasses.
That said, I was surprised and energized by the very candid editorial statement made by Olbermann last night, sent to me by my vigilent friend, Eric Koppa. Olbermann reminds us why we need a new President and just how damaging and painful it has been to have suffered under eight years of George Bush Jr. and his administration of fear and elitism.
Thank you, Keith Olbermann, for channeling the country’s frustration with our current President without watering down the message or the emotion. The November election can’t come soon enough.
I always enjoy discovering upcoming gigs by reading about them in the paper before actually getting notice from the band. We have pretty good communication amongst the band members, but there are over ten of us. Sometimes we miss a gig announcement (or two).
Nice work, Clyde. I knew you had some gigs brewing, but I didn’t know they’d be “big stage” shows.
Add to that list the Saturday, June 14th afternoon gig the Clyde Stubblefield Horns are playing with Jimmy Voegeli and supporting band, The Crashers, at the New Glarus Brewing Company brewery expansion party. And add one more gig with the same lineup with the Clyde Horns at the Belleville American Music Festival (BAMFest), Friday, July 11 from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
So put those dates on the calendar and we’ve got some summer fun (and work) ahead of us!!
