Go Watch The California Guitar Trio

One of the most mind-blowing concerts I have ever attended was by the California Guitar Trio at NEARFest several years ago. Now, I am generally not much for instrumental concerts (I enjoy some classical music shows every now and then), but this group blew me away.

The California Guitar Trio (CGT for short) consist of three spectacularly proficient, classically trained guitarists who put on a show of dexterity and skill like you have never seen before. I was mesmerized by the guitar playing abilities and their incredibly coordinated playing. I can't even imagine how long they must have practiced together to be so in tune with each other (pun intended).

These two selections here just do not do justice to the experience of seeing this group live. Check out their site at http://www.cgtrio.com/ and pick up a couple of albums. However, more importantly, check out their tour schedule at http://cgtrio.proaudiowebsites.com/cgi/calendar.paw. I promise you that you will not be disappointed. To tide you over until they visit a city near you, here are a couple of selections from their Pathways album.

You can find their complete catalog on Amazon here. The Pathways CD is available here.

1. California Guitar Trio - Classical Gas (2.68 MB; 128kbps MP3)

2. California Guitar Trio - Misirlou (1.76 MB; 128kbps MP3)

Experience Seandemonium

A friend of mine sent me a CD by Sean Altman a few years ago. Great catchy pop that is not pretentious and doesn't pretend to be anything more than catchy melodies. The CD he sent me was Sendemonium and proved to be one of those instantly likable CDs.

Some of the songs (like the first one featured here - Person) is completely acapella, while others have more instruments. But all the songs have catchy melodies. Great harmonies and clever vocal stylings. As a lover of harmonies, I tend to prefer the acapella songs, but they're all great.

I started describing the music as very similar to David Yazbek (who will be featured here soon)and the harmonies similar to Rockapella. It was incredibly gratifying to visit his Wikipedia page and find that he is a long time friend of Yazbek and was the founder of Rockapella. Now, you shouldn't be surprised at the sound. There are some songs that remind me of Julian Lennon and others that are very Beatlesque, such as the second song featured here, You're Mine.

You can find all Sean's CDs on Amazon here. If you're interested in his Rockapella discography, you'll find it here. The songs featured in this post are from the Sendemonium album which you'll find here.

As always, I recommend you always visit the artist's site and buy CDs there to support the talent.

1. Sean Altman - Person (2.85 MB;128kbps MP3)

2. Sean Altman - You're Mine (3.17 MB;128kbps MP3)

Getting Back In The Saddle

As I mentioned in my "other blog," I finally fell off the wagon and missed an entire week of posts. I was out of town almost all of last week and was also out for half the previous week. As a result, I've been struggling to catch up and the blog posting fell off my list of priorities. So, I'm going to try hard to get back in line, straighten the wagon, hop back on the saddle, and try and relearn how not to mix metaphors.

On to business.

This weekend, the touring Broadway production of Jesus Christ Superstar was in town. Of course, I couldn't miss it. It featured Ted Neeley as Jesus (yes, he's been playing the role for 35 years now) and Corey Glover (of Living Color) as Judas. While Ted's voice was surprisingly strong for his age (he nailed the screaming tones of Gethsemane!). The rest of the production was okay. It wasn't bad, but nothing spectacular. I have always wanted to play Pilate in a stage production of this musical and I thought the Pilate in this production resorted to screaming too much instead of singing.

To celebrate my return to the blog and my weekend of Jesus Christ Superstar, here are two selections from "international" versions of the production from my collection. The first one is from the Japanese production. The Japanese production has a terrible Judas. He screams dischordantly through many of the numbers. Still, I selected Everything's Alright from the Japanese cast recording because it provides a reasonable sampling of the voices of Jesus (Takeshi Kaga), Judas (Minoru Terada), and Mary Magdalene (Hideko Kuno). The sound seems a little more synthesizer-tinged than the original. It appears that this CD is available via an Amazon seller at a very high price here.

The second selection is from the Spanish cast recording from Madrid. What I love about these different versions is how the local musical flavor influences the arrangement. The Spanish version has a stronger chorus of acoustic guitars than the original. Here's an extra energetic and rock version of Simon Zealotes. Note the great use of synthesizers on this song. I also include I Don't Know How To Love Him sung by Angela Carrasco as Mary Magdalene. The Spanish version is also available for a ridiculous price on Amazon here.

1. Everything's Alright - Jesus Christ Superstar Japanese Cast (3.7 MB; 128 kbps MP3)
2. Simon Zealotes - Jesus Christ Superstar Spanish Cast (3.35 MB; 128 kbps MP3)
3. Es Mas Que Amor (I Don't Know How To Love Him) - Jesus Christ Superstar Spanish Cast (3.78 MB; 128 kbps MP3)

Give! And Anything Is Possible

Oh no! I missed my first post. And it's only been a few weeks since I started this blog! I was out of town yesterday and never got around to doing my blog post for Monday.

Today, I returned to town and had a meeting with my friend Marty Weintraub who now runs a search engine marketing (SEM) firm AimClear.com. As usual, I remembered my initial introduction to Marty was through his work in the music industry. A long time ago, I served on the local United Way advisory Board and Marty was instrumental in creating a fund raising effort that involved producing an original CD by a Minnesota artist Pamela McNeill. Being on the Committee at that time, I was marginally involved in the process.

The end result was a CD of original songs written by Pamela McNeill and other local artists, with a lot of the music composed by Marty Weintraub. When I heard the CD for the first time, I was floored. Here was one of those rare CDs where I felt every song was a classic. This truly was one of those complete CDs with no filler material. A perfect example of the incredible talent that isd often hidden in the heartland of this country. I bought several autographed copies of this CD to give to friends convinced it was going to be a huge hit. In a way, it was. One of the songs on this CD (The Gift) was picked up and used for the national United Way campaign. The song, The Gift was written in a short time by a local songwriter, Dick Wilson around our local United Way of Greater Duluth theme of "Give, and Anything Is Possible." Beautiful words, with music composed by Marty. If this song doesn't make you want to go out and donate to the great local causes of the United Way, nothing will!

To make up for my missed post on Monday and to highlight the fact that this CD is spectacularly strong, I am including FOUR songs from the CD here. Pamela McNeill has an exquisite and unusual raw voice that will tug at your heartstrings. She donated 100% of the profits from this CD to charity. Unfortunately, you can only get used copies of this CD from Amazon for as little as a penny here. I promise you that this is an album you won't regret buying. Great pop produced in tiny Duluth with catchy melodies and great lyrics. There isn't a weak song on this album. However, she has another album out, American Breakup. Although you can buy these albums on Amazon, I beg you to support such talented artists by buying these CDs from her own site http://www.pamelamcneill.com/. Please consider getting Pamela's CDs. Start with 2 Sides to Every Sky which is featured here and then move on to American Breakup. This is really good stuff that you wouldn't have heard of if it wasn't for this blog! :-)

Here's a deal. To encourage you to support the artists highlighted here, I am willing to mail one of my autographed copies of 2 Sides To Every Sky to the first person who posts a comment on this blog in response to this post AND buys a copy of another Pamela McNeill CD online through her site. First post a message on this blog and then email me (rvblogs@gmail.com) with a copy of your purchase receipt and I'll mail you (at my expense) an autographed copy of her debut CD.

1. Pamela McNeill - You Will Love Again (4.22 MB; 128 kbps)
2. Pamela McNeill - Let The River Come To You (3.99 MB; 128 kbps)
3. Pamela McNeill - 2 Sides To Every Sky (4.78 MB; 128 kbps)
3. Pamela McNeill - The Gift (3.94 MB; 128 kbps)

Welcome to an IndiPop Classic

I'm going to end the week on a nice intercultural, fusion theme. I have greatly enjoyed the pop music emanating from India over the last few years. The entry of MTV into India a decade or so ago completely changed the music scene there. Many talented musicians got a great deal of visibility and a huge new genre of music "IndiPop" started growing. One of the earliest acts to attain superstar status in India was a group called Colonial Cousins. It's fascinating to realize that this group is now so legendary that they're almost considered an "oldies" act there. There has since been an explosion of Indian musicians who skilfully blend western music styles with a range of Indian styles - from Bollywood to classical Indian music.

I'm planning to feature an entire week of IndiPop on this blog within the next few months, but for now, let me start with the people who started it all - Colonial Cousins. Colonial Cousins consist of Hariharan - a top notch musician trained in both the south Indian and north Indian classical styles, and Leslie "Lezz" Lewis - a long-time fixture on the music scene in India who was known for writing catchy jingles for the advertising industry there.

I think they were astonishingly successful at blending the extremes of classical Indian music with Western music. Many people who have not been to India are surprised to learn of the widespread use of "Hinglish" in Indian colloquial speech as well as in advertising. The mixing in of English words, phrases and sentences in a conversation otherwise conducted in Hindi is common. In the selections I have featured here, there is a great blending not only of musical styles but also lyrics in multiple languages. By the way, they were the first (and so far only) Indian act to be featured on MTV Unplugged.

Both the songs featured here are from their debut CD. You can actually buy the debut Colonial Cousins CD on Amazon here. If you like this, you can find their other CDs here. I strongly recommend you start with the debut CD and then move to the others. I think the weakest album of the lot is The Way We Do It, but I would recommend their third album, Aatma.

Krishna starts off with a brief religious chant and then an invocation of God in a very south Indian style. Then Lezz Lewis jumps in with his very secular lyrics in English. Spectacular! Sa Ni Dha Pa (the south Indian equivalent of Do Re Mi Fa) also starts with a south Indian chant followed by Lezz Lewis's great blend of western and north Indian melodies. The mix of styles here is quite astounding and brilliantly smooth.

1. Colonial Cousins - Krishna (5.34 MB; 128 kbps MP3)
2. Colonial Cousins - Sa Ni Dha Pa (Never Know The Reason) (4.67 MB; 128 kbps MP3)

Jangling Guitars for Years Around The Sun

When I started this blog a few weeks ago, my goal was simply to learn a little about blogging as a form of word-of-mouth communication as well as share my love of more "unusual" music (that is, stuff you don't hear every day when you turn on the radio). I never expected that this blog would (so quickly) help me discover new music and artists -- something I love to do (as I mentioned in my post about bar hopping).

I was surprised recently with an email from the marketing coordinator of an artist management company that represents a band called Years Around The Sun with an attached MP3 file from the band as well as an offer to send me their debut CD Introstay. The moment I heard it, I decided that this was my kind of music. Catchy melody and toe-tapping rhythm. While it's possible the lyrics may be profound (as I've mentioned before, I am not really a "lyrics man"), I couldn't tell. I listen to music for entertainment and not some intellectual stimulation. This was a song with lush and layered sounds surrounding a nice hook. As I said, my kind of music.

I would like to assure blog readers that I am NOT paid for the review. They sent me the song, I liked it and decided it is worth sharing with all of you. I don't know if any of you know me well enough to trust that I won't feature anything I am sent by any band or company that I don't genuinely like myself. But, given my eclectic taste in music, the featured music here will span many genres.

The first song is a single Heart Delay which, as I said, will get your toe tapping. This is the first song I heard from this group. The second song linked below is a selection from their debut CD called Sinclair. I had a hard time picking a song off their Introstay CD to feature here. I didn't like the opening track (Align), but found Dead Man's Sea to be very catchy. But then, when I put my headphones on, I seemed to prefer Dry Lake Bed. Probably the easiest to like on the first listen is Sinclair. Sounds like a single should sound. Soft Soul has a funky groove to it that would work great in the evening with a glass of wine in your hand. Both Northfork and Warm Jets are great songs. For some reason Warm Jets sounds a little Beatlesque to me. The sound on most of the songs is quite similar with jangly guitars and synths leading to a nice melody and a steady beat. Overall, the vocals are somehow reminiscent of a British group, but their site seems to suggest they're all Americans. Let me know if you get the same sense of a "British accent" when you hear these songs. In fact, all these songs remind me a lot of Evermore who I featured recently on this blog. Maybe it's my imagination.

You can find the band web site here (including tour info). And their CD cover looks suspiciously like the Jantar Mantar ancient astronomical lab I used to pass by frequently when I lived in New Delhi! Like many independent bands today, you can hook up with their MySpace page. Of course, I urge those of you who like these songs to buy their CD here. After having heard the songs, how wrong can you go for ten bucks?

1. Years Around The Sun - Heart Delay (Deleted on artist's request)
2. Years Around The Sun - Sinclair (Deleted on artist's request)

10cc of Reggae-Rock

Since I seem to be on a roll here with my nostalgic tunes, here's another one that stems from my college days in India. A cousin of mine owned this album by 10cc. Since I considered this cousin of mine extremely cool, I had no choice but to like what he liked.

One song that was a favorite of his was Dreadlock Holiday by 10cc. If you listen to it, you'll see that it builds on the typically catchy reggae beat by adding some nice harmonies. It also has the word "cricket" in the lyrics, which for some reason, I always liked (I know this is all strange like a surreal dream, but you've got to realize that I'm grabbing at fragments of my memory here).

You can find the 10cc catalog on Amazon here. This song came from the album Bloody Tourists that you can find here. For a start, I strongly recommend this greatest hits collection available here.

You are all savvy enough to find out more info on this band at WIkipedia if you're interested, so I won't go into detail here in the post.

10cc - Dreadlock Holiday (6.92 MB; 192 kbps MP3)