Listening now...

[Bloomfield]

I have gone from rich to Bloomfield. But I am fortunate.

Fortunate enough to be listening to Corey Harris & Henry Butler's Vu-du Menz. Oh, man: Good music.

[dubhlinn]

That Corey can play a bit..no doubt.

Must check this one out.

Slan,
D.

[emmline]

Hmmm. Perhaps I can find a clip. I'm living in a world where one is limited to compilations of whatever the teens have seen fit to download from iTunes and have never heard of those guys.

[dubhlinn]

Have a look in the iTunes shop - under Blues - plenty of Corey Harris there..

Slan,
D.

[dubhlinn]

Have a look in the iTunes shop - under Blues - plenty of Corey Harris there..

Slan,
D.

And speaking of iTunes..

I've just had a quick preview of Bloomies current rave..

It's downloading has we speak..

Thanks for the tip Bloomie

Slan,
D.

[Bloomfield]

Henry Butler is a mindboggling pianist; and I don't say that easily. (Boggling the mind of Bloomfield is like jiggling Ayers Rock, after all.) One of the greatest living blues/jazz/New Orleans pianists.

A five-time W.C. Handy “Best Blues Instrumentalist - Piano” award nominee, Henry Butler knows no limitations. Although blinded by glaucoma since birth, Butler is also a world class photographer with his work displayed at exhibitions throughout the United States. Playing piano since the age of six, Butler is a master of musical diversity. Combining the percussive jazz piano playing of McCoy Tyner and the New Orleans style playing of Professor Longhair through his classically-trained wizardry, Butler continues to craft a sound uniquely his own. A rich amalgam of jazz, Caribbean, classical, pop, R&B and blues influences, his music is as excitingly eclectic as that of his New Orleans birthplace.

Mastering baritone horn, valve trombone and drums, in addition to the piano, at the Louisiana State School for the Blind in Baton Rouge, as a youngster, Butler began formal vocal training in the eleventh grade. He went on to sing German lieder, French and Italian art songs and operatic arias at Southern and Michigan State Universities, earning a Masters degree in vocal music. He has taught music workshops throughout the country and initiated a number of different educational projects, including a residential jazz camp at Missouri State School for the Blind and a program for blind and visually impaired students at the University of New Orleans.

Mentored by influential jazz clarinetist and Michigan University teacher Alvin Batiste, Butler was encouraged to explore Brazilian, Afro-Cuban and other Caribbean music. With Batiste’s help, he successfully applied for National Endowment for the Arts grants to study with keyboard players George Duke, then with Cannonball Adderly’s Quintet, and the late Sir Roland Hanna. He studied with Harold Mabern, pianist for the late Lee Morgan, for a summer and spent a long afternoon studying with Professor Longhair.

While his early albums were jazz trio recordings featuring such top-notch instrumentalists as Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins, on “Fivin’ Around” in 1986, and Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette, on “The Village” two years later, Butler has increasingly turned to New Orleans music and the blues. His 1990 album, “Orleans Inspiration”, recorded with Leo Nocentelli of the Meters, was followed by “Blues And More” in 1992. Although he briefly returned to jazz with “For All Seasons” in 1996, he’s remained immersed in a variety of genres since releasing “Blues After Sunset” in 1998.

Collaborating with Corey Harris on a duo album, “Vu-du Menz”, in 2000, Butler spent the next three years touring with the Delta blues-influenced guitarist/vocalist. That fascination with the blues has continued to be reflected in his solo work. After releasing a power-packed, all electric, blues-rock, album, “The Game Has Just Begun”, in 2002 on the New Orleans based indie label Basin Street Records, Butler takes things even deeper with his latest outing on that label, “Homeland”, released in April 2004. “This album is a real turning point,” he said. “It was the first time that I’ve brought a blues and R&B band into the studio with me. On this record, I’m feeling closer to my roots.” The CD is on the final ballot for a possible Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album, to be announced on December 7th, 2004.

(source: http://www.henrybutler.com/hbbio.html)

If you are interested, here is a great place to start listening:

WNYC: An Hour with Henry Butler

[Dale]

I speak now of Napster. The new, legal Napster.

I've used iTunes quite a bit, but I've now joined Napster and, I must say, I'm very pleased. Here's the deal, or rather deals, with Napster.

Pay $9.95 a month and you can download as much music as you want from their massive library. They don't have everything, but of course neither does iTunes, but I've certainly been able to find a ton of stuff I wanted.

The catch on this deal is that you download to your hard drive and you can listen to the music only from the hard drive. You can't burn to CD-R and you can't transfer to a portable mp3 player. But, for $10 a month, it's good deal IF you listen to music through your computer a lot, which I do.

Pay $14.95 a month and you get all of that PLUS the ability to download to a portable mp3 player. Still can't burn, though.

For people who made extensive use of their mp3 player, that's an exceptional deal.

Oh. Only Napster-compatible mp3 players (Dell, iRiver, Zen. NOT iPOD)

Dale

[dubhlinn]

Henry Butler is a mindboggling pianist; and I don't say that easily. (Boggling the mind of Bloomfield is like jiggling Ayers Rock, after all.) One of the greatest living blues/jazz/New Orleans pianists.



WNYC: An Hour with Henry Butler

I'm in there now. 'Night all.


Slan,
D.

[dubhlinn]

Wonderful link,really enjoyed it.
Got caught up in the middle with the death of Sean McGuire though...
Always rains on the Parade.

Slan,
D.

[FJohnSharp]

I speak now of Napster. The new, legal Napster.

I've used iTunes quite a bit, but I've now joined Napster and, I must say, I'm very pleased. Here's the deal, or rather deals, with Napster.

Pay $9.95 a month and you can download as much music as you want from their massive library. They don't have everything, but of course neither does iTunes, but I've certainly been able to find a ton of stuff I wanted.

The catch on this deal is that you download to your hard drive and you can listen to the music only from the hard drive. You can't burn to CD-R and you can't transfer to a portable mp3 player. But, for $10 a month, it's good deal IF you listen to music through your computer a lot, which I do.

Pay $14.95 a month and you get all of that PLUS the ability to download to a portable mp3 player. Still can't burn, though.

For people who made extensive use of their mp3 player, that's an exceptional deal.

Oh. Only Napster-compatible mp3 players (Dell, iRiver, Zen. NOT iPOD)

Dale

See? I'm all about copyright protection, but this music thing is pissing me off. If I buy a tune from iTunes, I should be able to do anyting I want with it, short of making a zillion copies and selling it. So I get these proprietary iTune files and I can't make them into MP3 without burning them onto a CD then reloading them into the computer. My son has one of those Sony MP3 CD thingys and he can't load any of his iTune songs into it without going through all that stuff. There is no way we're going to burn 50 or so CD so we can reload them back int the computer so he can have them on his player.

If someone comes up with something with moderate cost but unlimited usage, I'll be all over it.

[Wombat]

See? I'm all about copyright protection, but this music thing is pissing me off.

Me too. This 'medium specific' deal with modern music is farcical. Since when were you not allowed to make cassettes of your LPs and singles to play in the car or at the barbeque or party? Since the music is wildly overpriced to begin with, it's the height of impertinence to tell you what you can and can't do with it for your own purposes.

[Flyingcursor]

Mr. Butler kicks butt on the ivories that's for sure.