Getting ready to record

Over the next two weeks, I hope to begin work on a new music project. I will be recording some of the worship music I have written over the past few years. I'm still doing it the old fashioned way - a simple recorder,laying down tracks and mixing as I go in real time. It's organic and hopefully authentic. Pray for me!

Go West - Indian Summer - a breath of fresh air!!

After the last post about Lil'Wayne, I had to return to some kind of muscial sanity. One of my great 'finds' on my recent spree in Nashvegas, was this classic album from 1992 by one of the most underrated pop bands of all time. Go West are still in existence and have chosen quality over quantity in terms of recorded output. Their latest release "FUTURENOW" is due at any moment which will make 4 studio albums in 20+ years.
Peter Cox's sublime soul voice powers the recording while Richard Drummie's arranging makes this duo, the U.K.'s amswer to Hall and Oates in the Blue-eyed Soul department.
Too many great performances to single out but King of Wishful Thinking has to be one of the classiest pop songs of the modern era. AAHHH....

An afternoon w/ LilWayne

I promised my eldest son that I would listen to the latest Cd by Rapper Lil' Wayne before I dismissed his lack of judgement. So with headphones on I settled down (!) for a 77 minute joyride in the presence of "the greatest rapper of his generation".
Without being unduly unkind - there was some definite skill in wordplay demonstrated throughout. There was the presence of commercial and annoyingly good backbeats and samples. "Lollipop" is an insiduous track that slides into the subconcious before you fully realize the overt oral sexual overtones.
Of course I was listening to the 'unclean' version - and therein lies a problem. How clever a wordsmith do you have to be to use f*@# or m-F or b**tch a thousand times - I can get a dose of that everyweek in my Jail GED class - unfortunately many young black males live in a distorted "WAYNE'S WORLD" but without the bling and the arrogant self promotion.
I wish my son had been exposed to REAL afro-american writing and poetry from the likes of James Baldwin, Langston Hughes and even Gil Scott-Heron before he rose to acclaim Mr Carter as a great poet.
I wish that I could say that my afternoon with Lil' Wayne had a redemptive purpose or an educational, uplifting outcome. Instead I was left with the impression that he is symptomatic of a problem, not an attempt to be a solution, to the plight of the oppressed minorities, whether racially or economically. I am looking for a voice to arise out of the urban landscape that not only speaks truth to power but does it in a way that brings life! Up to this point there has only been one in my lifetime - Martin Luther King, and there is only one who can truly set people free by his word and that is Jesus Christ!

William Topley the 'unknown'

Sometime last year I 'discovered' William Topley. I was rummaging through a bargain bin at a local discount store and found a CD called "Black River". I purchased it and upon first listen was immediately struck by the bluesy raw power of Topley's voice. Eager to know more, I searched online and found that he was English...(who knew?) and that he had fronted a band called "The Blessing" back in the early '90's. I have since purchased "Sea fever" - that should have been a clue that he was english, since every schoolboy has to memorize said poem by John Masefield! and then I managed to track down "The Prince of the Deep Water" the Blessing's first album. Then last week while in Nashville I found the second "Blessing" album, "Locusts and Wild Honey". It is fabulous! Great production, emotive singing, atmospheric lyrics combining into a satisfying potpourri of caribbean jerk seasoning with an adventurous colonial twist.

What I'm listening to.....

While in Nashville last weekend, I spent a happy couple of hours browsing through "The Great Escape" - one of my favorite used music stores. I came away with three wonderful 'finds'. One of the treasures was the double live CD from Brian kennedy, who possesses a wonderful voice and a wide range of musical tastes. Just listen to his acappella version of"You Raise Me Up" that closes the set. It is absolutely sublime!!