summer end

I've been on a pop music upswing recently, especially old soul and pop music from the 80's. This was right up my alley. Soul Covers of the Beatles . So tight. Listen to it with headphones for a funky time. I've been listening to a lot of Prince lately too. Purple Rain is the shit. It's great to go running with. All the songs are danceable (hence the running) but they have enough interesting parts in them to keep me interested. Does anyone else think he looks a little bit like Old Gregg in the movie with the crazy hair and awkward mustache? Whatever he seems mad cool. As far as current artists go....
Outkast: These guys have consistently been my favorite hip-hop band. They are creative as hell, draw from a number of different genres, and Andre 3000 and Big Boi independently have amazing flows, with Dre having a funky laid-back drawl, and Big Boi hitting the beat right on and manipulating odd rhythms to fit the words. I listened to Stankonia obsessively for about 2 years of my life. I never heard the love below until recently. Not such a big fan of Speakerboxx but the Love Below is overwhelmingly good. Listen to the whole thing, it's mindblowing. It's first song is arguably the best jazz vocal performance I've ever heard (I hate jazz vocals usually), and he takes other cues from jazz, with a Coltrane-y/Daft Punky mashup of "My Favorite Things". The drum n' bass grooves are sick. Here's a sick live clip of the song "Hey Ya" (one of the singles, although not nearly the best on the album). Andre 3000 at his funky finest.
D'Angelo: One of the most underrated artists of the decade. Known more by most for his good looks than for his songwriting skills, his album "Voodoo" is an amalgam of vintage R&B, jazz, and Hendrixy psychedelia, all with a laid-back hazy vibe that makes it a great chill record. If the personnel of this album doesn't convince you, I don't know what will.
D'Angelo - Lead Vocals & Keyboard
Anthony Hamilton and Angie Stone - Background Vocals
Charlie Hunter - Guitar
Pino Palladino - Bass
?uestlove - Drums
Roy Hargrove - Trumpet
He uses crazy jazz chords in his songs and layers his vocals with rich harmonies. Check out his new single "I Found My Smile Again".

On a totally separate note, I just started taking tabla lessons. It's been an amazing experience so far, and I love how disciplined its practice is and how deep its traditions go. It's a nice contrast to guitar, where I already feel competent, and spend a lot of time improvising. Sometimes one thwack of the tabla can feel more profound than an entire solo on the guitar. Here's a video of an entire concert with Zakir Hussain playing tabla. Skip to about 47 minutes in.

To end it here's a hilarious interview with Kurt Rosenwinkel at the Nice Jazz Festival. He is currently working on a big band album which sounds amazing. I've been trying to teach myself the 'Round Midnight solo from Paul Motian's Electric Bebop Band album, and it's impossible but beautiful to listen to.

School Starts Tomorrow!!! Seniors 2K10!!!!