Summerfest 2014

‘11 days, 11 stages, over 800 acts’ boasts the renowned biggest music festival in the world putting on a show that coincided with the 4^th July celebrations running from June 25 to July 7, introducing a host of American and world bands looking to reignite their musical audiences.

I arrived at the festival on the 28^th June after the festival opened on 25^th with headliners Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga playing at the Marcus Amphitheatre.

I first saw Girl Talk play with energy and passion for a disk jockey that it wasn't hard to feel the music with the fans. Girl Talk whose real name is Gregg Gillis uses mashups and digital sampling of famous songs, to create a rave rowdy sound that gets everyone out of their seat dancing; indeed he had fans on the stage dancing with him in close proximity as is his style.

Although I didn't get to see Outkast or many of the popular country bands who played at the Ampitheatre it was still fascinating to walk round and see all the bands playing at the different stages, taste the local Milwaukee beer and have local food which consisted largely of cheese curds and fries.

Seeing The Wailers was a magical moment, the legendary backing band of Bob Marley. The vibes were great and the audience really felt the music. The band proving that they had not lost any of their spiritual musical touch in making the audience feel good. Now Fronted by Dwayne ‘Danglin’ Anglin, they featured many of the original members of the band including legendary bass player Aston Barrett, whose bass lines have become synonymous with the groove that Marley’s music carried.

New Order were also a special band to see at the BMO Harris Pavilion, bringing their Madchester scene to American audiences, with hits such as ‘True Faith’, ‘Regret’ and ‘Blue Monday’, the final song getting the audience going.

On the day of July 4^th, Independence Day for Americans, I opted to see Kool and the Gang, the world famous R&B, soul, funk disco band from the 80s. The Gang played primarily to the loved up of those in the audience with songs such as ‘Joanna’ and ‘Ladies Night’, but eventually encapsulating everyone with the signature numbers, ‘Get down on it’ and ‘Celebration’ which was fitting for the celebrations that were going on with fireworks booming out over the bay to the left of the stage.

Album Reviews 2014

Paloma Faith - A Perfect Contradiction

Faith delivers to fans a decent helping of original material with her sensational vocals marrying catchy and rhythmic tunes in the genre of pop/retro-soul, yet ultimately falling short on concept and adventure.

Can’t rely on you is the climaxing opening to the album, encouraging listeners to toe-tap and marvel in the rhythms and passions of the song.

Faith brings influences from the poppy style of Whitney Houston and the soulfulness of Sam Cooke to the fore particularly in Taste my own tears, with the lyrics “it’s been a long time comin” echoing Cooke’s classic A Change is gonna come.

Overall the album lacks wow factor, and although there is a decent collection of songs, the collective does not live up to two tracks which for me stand out and that is the opening song and The bigger you love (the harder you fall) a beautiful track which allows Faith to fully express herself with roots in gospel and blues, it is a simple song but one which pulls on the heartstrings, a terrific performance.

Ultimately the album is a masterpiece for Faith as a performer and vocal giant. But it falls short in terms of the concept offering little lyrical substance than in love and indulgence with little variation across the album.

Elbow - The Takeoff and Landing of Everything

Elbow brings an adventurous and unique touch to their 6th studio album The Takeoff and Landing of Everything, which blends a range of multiple instruments to reinstate their warm Northern England sound.

The expansive ‘New York morning’ delivers you into the city in early morning, with hopes and ideas spanning from the skyscrapers and buildings.

Although Elbow explores different avenues and the sound marries well in well structured songs, it is not much different to earlier albums, following on the same route of concept instead of rhythm. ‘Real Life’ and ‘Honey Sun’, tracks 5 and 6 of the album sound like fillers as they pass you by.  Garvey’s voice however, lingers and wraps around the album melodiously.

Without doubt the stand out song, which reverberates the album and brings it forward is ‘My Sad Captains’, a passionate lyrical ballad which tells the story of previous drinking friends and how people have moved on throughout their lives, but the song is powerful and carries weight with the piano laying much of the emphasis and drums which echo out. Garvey’s voice is perfect as he tells the tale, floating softly over the top. Another aspect of this song is the trumpets which resonate and add a fanfare feel to the song, ensuring the listen “a perfect waste of time”.

The title track is also interesting blending rhythms with a wall of noise sure to deliver to festival friendly audiences.

Ultimately the album is let down by album fillers in parts but there are some magical moments and its focusing on the special moments and the quality of the sound produced which remains endearing to fans, who are sure to receive a festival friendly welcome of truly British alt rock.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Self Titled Album 2013

The Zeros bring a roots rock and psychedelic 60s feel to their 2013 self titled album, exploring themes of breaking free and rebirth.

The band made up of 12 performers, play a concept album that echoes lead singer Alex Ebert’s own troubles coming out of rehab, painting a picture of his adjustment and reinvention as Edward Sharpe. Many of the musicians have known each other from a young age so emphasis is in the understanding they have for each other in their music. The sound evokes a roots rock and gospel feel, featuring a prominent Alabama Shoals style bass. The songs are catchy and create feeling of joy akin to the collective at a festival, music produced to a live atmosphere, to interact with its audience.

Music critic, Anthony Fantano comments on the ‘acid soaked guitar solos and thumping Paul McCartney-esque bass lines’, yet it is more than that. A signifying theme is nostalgia, looking back at the freedoms of youth, having known a ‘better life’ emerging into a world that is tied down, yet retaining the belief in innocence and spiritual freedom. The Zeros are quite clearly inspired by legends of Woodstock, and they try to echo this reflection in the music they create.

As the album ventures to various levels of dynamic, its downfall is the experimental nature of some of the tracks seeming to be a bit ‘messy’; as Fantano describes, lacking coherence, almost like a drug delirium, lacking a resolution. This is apparent in the catchy, but chaotic ‘Lets Get High’. 

One of the better tracks is ‘Remember to Remember’, as Jade’s soaring voice brings Gospel from the river. The album would fair better with more of her, as Ebert’s voice becomes edgy and harsh.

Although the album is uninhibited and exploratory, it’s musicality is lost in the confusion. Toned down tracks like ‘This Life’however, are effective and the vibes you get from a refreshing gospel tinged, 60s sound are guaranteed to lift your spirits.

edwardsharpeandthemagneticzeros.com/| twitter.com/EdwardSharpe

PHILLY SOUL OF THE 70S IS REBORN AS SONY SECURES RIGHTS TO PIR CATALOGUE

Sony Music Entertainment has secured global rights to the entire Philadelphia International Records catalogue. The ‘Legacy’ will be collated on a set of 12 and 7 inch vinyl CDs, collectibles and replicas to market across to enthusiastic listeners of Philly soul.

Philadelphia International Records (PIR) or the sound of Philadelphia was founded in 1971, by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, a record producing and song writing team who have written 15 gold singles and 22 gold albums and were pioneers of Philadelphia soul, during the 1970s, making a string of hits with artists such as the O’Jays, Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes, The Three Degrees and Billy Paul.

The first collectible CD launched on Legacy will include hits from the O’Jays, the Bluenotes, McFadden & Whitehead and Patti Labelle amongst others.

The sounds of PIR, was widely recognised as liberating and catchy, but also sensual and thought provoking to listeners. ‘Ship Ahoy’ was a notable soul album by The O’Jays, produced by Gamble and Huff around the concept of slavery. The title track, a 9min 39sec epic about the arrival of slaves from Africa being transported across to America conveys the sense of impending doom and struggle for the slaves, the slow plodding beat, floats along, echoing the images of slaves being transported on the award winning album’s cover.

Among the label’s top acts, Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes, fronted by charismatic and gifted singer, Teddy Pendergrass, blended easy listening groove with social awareness on a simple ballad of love, ‘If you don’t know me by now’ and ‘Wake up Everybody’, fore-fronting the issues of not standing up for the wrongs in the world and setting an example for our children to learn.

Mother, Father, Sister, Brother (MFSB) were a pool of 30 or so musicians who would come together to jam and create music, and back up such musical acts such as the Bluenotes, the Spinners and the Stylistics.

Jazz and world music were also genres that took off within the label, with artists such as Dexter Wansel, exploring new avenues alongside music that would come to influence many artists, including Daft Punk who sampled Edwin Birdsong’s 1979 funk classic ‘Cola Bottle Baby’ on their song ‘Harder, better, faster, stronger’.

Perhaps the biggest hit to come out of the label was McFadden and Whitehead’s dance floor filler, ‘Aint no stopping us now’ which reached across both borders, topping the US R&B charts for one week in 1979.

Personally, The Bluenotes’ ‘Wake up everybody’ remains very relevant to social and political troubles today, with violence and conflict across Europe and Africa. It delivers a strong message on how we should act in such hard times, as Pendergrass sings ‘the world won’t get no better if we just let it be’.

The Legacy of Motown

What Paul Gambaccini labelled the “sound of young America” was founded by Berry Gordy Jr in Detroit, Michigan in the early 60s. A sound that proved a crossover success in both America and Europe and whose legacy has continued to thrive.

Hitsville USA, at West Grand Boulevard, was the starting point, just outside the motor city, where big business were booming including Ford cars and artists such as Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, Diana Ross and The Supremes, and The Four Tops, amongst many others began to thrive as performers.

Detroit became a hub for catchy, liberating music, reviled by the elders but revered by the youth, where black acts crossed over to the pop charts, creating an atmosphere and “enabling music to reach across racial lines” (Chris Sampson). Gordy contacted Lamont Dozier and Brothers Brian and Eddie Holland, who would write the songs for the acts and together they made a formidable team that would come to define what would become the ‘Motown’ era in US music.

Between 1961 and 1971, Motown had 110 top 10 hits, with artists including Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye bagging numerous releases on the Tamla label. Motown reflected and inspired social change and captured the heart of a burgeoning culture where younger audiences could enjoy and dance to music. The sound reached overseas to parts of Europe, where this bright daring music, produced and performed by African-American artists, would come to influence much of The Beatles’ early works.

Jr Walker & the All Stars joined the label in 1964, and songs such as ‘Shotgun’ and ‘I’m a roadrunner’ formed a benchmark for popularising Motown. Walker embodied this new found freedom where upbeat tracks were coloured with tenor saxophone solos and passionate vocals with the band backing him. Hits were shared between major artists including ‘How sweet it is to be loved’ sung by both Marvin Gaye and Jr Walker as Motown hit its peak.

Perhaps the biggest record that would come to symbolise this era would be ‘My Girl’ by The Temptations. The harmonies of the vocals behind the lead would form the foundation for vocal groups throughout the 20th century. The lyrics conveyed a liberating influence on 60s youth and the over-riding pressures of the Vietnam War and tensions between the US and Russia. ‘I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day’, banished that overriding sense of trouble that was beginning to envelope the country.

Today Motown has retained its legacy, both as a benchmark for performers and groups in both pop and R&B charts today, as well as unifying people of all races and colours to enjoy the music. Due to vanquished businesses and plummeting employment, the Detroit of the 21st century is now regarded as a ghost town with the lack of economic prospects. Hitsville however has maintained its historical and cultural appeal, now called the ‘Motown Museum’ as tourists flock to reminisce and discover the magic that was created in ‘Studio A’ and those very headquarters.

‘Motown classics‘, consisting of 14 rare and unreleased on vinyl gems, is out now!

The Journey of Jazz

Jazz has played an important part in shaping American musical identity, serving as a communication between players and listeners and delving into the heart and soul of improvisation. It is difficult to write about jazz, as the music is self expressive and one can only understand the beauty of it by listening.

Buddy Bolden, named the ‘inventor of jazz’ was never heard on radios: “no one knew
what he sounded like, since he ceased musical activity before the first jazz recording was made.” (Tilden, Guardian)

Buddy Bolden

Jazz was initially formed in the style of Dixieland and made famous by Jelly Roll Morton, and the Original Dixieland Jazz band from New Orleans, who made the first jazz recording in 1917. The music would inspire a variety of scores and one of the most famous jazz composers of the early 20th Century; George Gershwin. His ‘Rhapsody in Blue‘ composed in 1924 was the first significant connection between jazz and classical music.

Art Tatum revolutionised bebop in jazz with his fast improvisatory style of playing, and in 1927 Duke Ellington and his orchestra opened Harlem’s Cotton Club in front of a white high society audience. A significant event and landmark in the progression of jazz to commercial audiences.

Charlie Parker nicknamed ‘Bird’ was one of the most talented jazz artists of the 20th century. His uprising marked a significant step in playing jazz as art, soloing away from set chords with complex, intricate rhythms and melodies. ‘Billie’s Bounce‘, ‘The Yardbird Suite‘ and ‘KoKo’ were just a few of the masterpieces he created.

Historically, jazz is hugely significant in the way it reached out to audiences and to the world. In terms of civil rights and values expressed in the music, Billie Holiday’s vocal in Lewis Allen’s ‘Strange Fruit’ was monumental in addressing these changing attitudes, depicting the lynching of two black men in the Deep South.

Harlem Cotton Club

Once bebop emerged as a signifying influence in jazz, artists such as Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Gerry Mulligan and Miles Davis, came to the fore with their own and varying style of playing. Each possessing a sublime quality in their instrument and going on to be major names in the jazz scene.

Gerry Mulligan was a famous baritone saxophone player; a clean cut white man who was arrested for heroin abuse. His quartet played a version of ‘Moonlight in Vermont’ along with Chet Baker, a classic rendition known for its floating counterpoint between horns.

As soon as Thelonious Monk would put on his hat, dissonant chords and harmonies would follow, forming the benchmark to many improvised jazz in the late 20th century.

Bill Evans was a gifted pianist whose smooth sounds in contrast to Monk, were a joy to the ear. He and Stan Getz embodied the cool of jazz, the tone as the focal point of producing eloquent modal sounds.

Miles Davis honed his skills initially in ‘cool’ jazz, creating the classic album ‘A Kind of Blue’. Upon discovering rock and psychedelic music, he sought a new direction in ‘Bitches Brew’ which he performed at the Isle of Wight festival in 1970, introducing the electric guitar and stadium friendly sounds that encapsulated his audiences.

John Coltrane became a spiritual icon for jazz and his album ‘A Love Supreme’ (1964) is considered to be one of the greatest jazz albums of all time, blending hard bop with free jazz. His funeral remains iconic in jazz history with the Ornette Coleman quartet giving the suitable send off for the legend.

Today, Jazz FM forms the platform for voicing jazz commercially, providing listeners with an outlet to enjoy the music they love. Artists such as Dee Dee Bridgewater and Jamie Cullum, are active producers in popularising this sound as it emerges into the YouTube era.

In 2011, Esperanza Spalding won the Grammy award for best newcomer, (beating the likes of Justin Bieber) which was a great moment for jazz music. Spalding has released four albums in total, with her third release mixing Brazilian rhythms to soothing vocals. She has also played ‘Overjoyed’ at the White House in front of the President in 2012.

Traditional jazz musicians such as Wynton Marsalis and Walter Blanding are brilliant ambassadors of the great jazz records gone by. They provide proof that the Duke’s influence in jazz still lives on, and that many enjoy traditional jazz in its simplest forms, but done with effortless expertise.