ButterFly is a studio album by Barbra Streisand, recorded and released in 1974. The credited producer is Streisand’s then-boyfriend Jon Peters, with arrangements by Tom Scott. The album contains contemporary material from a diverse selection of writers, as well as interpretations of standards. In a 1992 interview with Larry King, Streisand cited Butterfly as the least favorite of her albums.
On ButterFly Streisand covered the likes of Bob Marley (Guava Jelly) and Buck Owens (Crying Time). But it’s Streisand’s treatment of Bowie’s Life on Mars that is the standout here.
In 1985, Westwood One syndicated a Ronnie James Dio concert that was recorded the previous year in Spokane, WA. The concert isn’t really notable now, except for a snappy rock and roll Budweiser commercial sang by Dio covering Holy Diver‘s Rainbow in the Dark.
In March 1981 N.Y. Rocker put Pylon on its cover as part of their “New Sounds of the Old South” cover story on Athens, Georgia. But I love this for the magazine picking R.E.M. as one of their breakout picks. The group signed to IRS Records in May 1982, so nice going, music editor.
Lots of people can imitate Star Wars’ Chewbacca with their mouths, but have you ever seen one do it on a guitar? Here are The Situation and Bastian Stache.
Now THIS is a cool job. Jacqueline Poirier, server and resident artist at The Ritz-Carlton in Toronto, hand-paints animals, people, food, and other things onto a plate in each of the place settings at TOCA, the hotel dining room. Her work can be seen in person at TOCA by reservations (tell her I sent you), or online via her Instagram account.
Fly Away is one of Lenny Kravitz’s most successful songs to date. The song was a hit in both Kravitz’s native United States and the United Kingdom, particularly in the latter country. It went to number one on the UK Singles Chart in the United Kingdom, while in the United States it reached number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100, and topped both the Mainstream Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks charts. In New Zealand it peaked at #8 and was certified gold. The song also helped to expand the success of his album 5 in Europe and earned Kravitz a Grammy Award in 1999 for Best Male Rock Performance.
Iconic music artist and multi-talented entertainer, Prince, along with his critically acclaimed group 3RDEYEGIRL, announced today a special HITnRUN concert in Toronto, Ontario, hometown of Donna Grantis, Mississauga native and musician/guitarist for 3RDEYEGIRL. The performance will take place at Sony Center For The Performing Arts on May 19th. Tickets go on sale Monday, May 18th at 12pm local time.
Toronto marks the fourth stop on a tour that has already left fans breathless and critics speechless. Following performances in Louisville, KY, The Village Voice raved “Prince and 3RDEYEGIRL succeeded in doing the seemingly impossible for the launch of the impromptu odyssey by forging an intimate, ironclad connection between one of pop’s most aloof and untouchable performers and his adoring public. They reached from the front row to the back of the balcony and met the outstretched arms and eager fingertips of Louisville in a mutual, ravenous embrace.” Recently, Esquire commented, “Where will Prince go next? What will he play next? No one knows, and that’s the magnetism of Prince in 2015 – he keeps it unpredictable. He keeps it real.” Just last week the icon and his super-group performed a surprise Rally 4 Peace show (announced only a few days prior) to a sold-out audience at Baltimore’s Royal Farms Arena. In a spirit of healing, the event was a catalyst for pause and reflection following the outpouring of violence that has gripped Baltimore and areas throughout the US.
The current tour is following on the critically acclaimed series of spontaneous HITnRUN shows that took place in the UK last year. With performances announced at the 11th hour via Twitter, the UK HITnRUN tour saw the band perform in legendary venues including Ronnie Scotts, Electric Ballroom and Shepherds Bush Empire – playing two and sometimes three shows each night. Throughout the tour, the group was showered in 5-star reviews from all major reviewing media, with The Guardian quoting: “These are performances by one of the greatest funk-rock bands ever.” Late last year, the legendary musician released two chart-topping albums, ART OFFICIAL AGE, a solo album that debuted at #1 on the R&B chart, and PLECTRUMELECTRUM, the debut album from Prince & 3RDEYEGIRL, which debuted at #1 on the Rock chart.
A classic tale by Rudyard Kipling, creator of The Jungle Book, narrated by the amazing Jack Nicholson with the exceptional music by Bobby McFerrin. As one review noted on Amazon, To put a rating on this gem is like putting a smiley face sticker on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
John Coltrane recorded A Love Supreme in December of 1964 and released it the following year. He presented it as a four-part suite, broken up into tracks: Acknowledgement (which contains the mantra that gave the suite its name), Resolution, Pursuance, and Psalm. It is intended to be a spiritual album, broadly representative of a personal struggle for purity, and expresses the artist’s deep gratitude as he admits to his talent and instrument as being owned not by him but by a spiritual higher power. Coltrane plays exclusively tenor on all parts.
It is in Psalm, Coltrane performs what he calls a “musical narration” of a devotional poem he included in the liner notes. That is, Coltrane “plays” the words of the poem on saxophone, but does not actually speak them. Some scholars have suggested that this performance is a homage to the sermons of African-American preachers. The poem (and, in his own way, Coltrane’s solo) ends with the cry “Elation. Elegance. Exaltation. All from God. Thank you God. Amen.”
James Cary describes his just-released video creation:
A few years ago, knowing I absolutely adored the John Coltrane album, “A Love Supreme” my wife gave me this incredible book by Ashley Kahn : “A Love Surpreme/The Story of John Coltrane’s Signature Album.” Reading the book, I discovered something remarkable: the fourth movement, Psalm, was actually John Coltrane playing the ‘words’ of the poem that was included in the original liner notes. Apparently he put the handwritten poem on the music stand in front of him, and ‘played’ it, as if it were music. I immediately played the movement while reading the poem, and the hair stood up on the back of my neck. It was one of the most inspirational and spiritual moments of my life.
I’ve seen some nice versions of this posted on the net, but wanted to make one using his exact handwriting. I also wanted to keep it simple. The music and John’s poem are what’s important. I hope you enjoy this. I hope this inspires you, no matter what ‘God’ you may believe in.
