Archive for the ‘Music’ Tag

Kae Is Getting More Attention   Leave a comment

Kae Tempest — Photo-Artistry by kenne from a Photo by Wolfgang Tillmans

A couple of years ago, I posted: “I’m a new fan of Kae Tempest, an English spoken word performer, poet, recording artist, novelist, and playwright — a great performer by any measure. Then, in January 2022, 

I did a post on Kae’s latest book, “On Connections,” in which they extolled the importance of finding meanings in the little things.

Like most people, when I first hear about an artist, I feel like I was the one who discovered the artist.

So, I was both surprised and pleased to learn about Kae’s appearance on Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show this past Monday.

— kenne

“The Dean” — Looking Back   1 comment

“The Dean” (November 8, 2001) — HDR Image Taken With My Camera
Lone Star College — Montgomery

There’s a long list of things I have done, and looking back, I don’t know how —
regardless, it’s always about perseverance.

— kenne

Let’s Dance!   2 comments

Credit…Louisa Gouliamaki/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Listening to NPR this morning, I learn that Greek composer and politician Mikis Theodorakis died Thursday at age 96.
Theodorakis’ music for the film Zorba the Greek became a worldwide shorthand for a seize-the-moment kind of joyfulness.

The music and the film scene still provide one of the most memorable scenes in my lifetime.

— kenne

Just Like The White-winged Dove   Leave a comment

White-winged Dove On Ocotillo — Image by kenne

Just like the white-winged dove
Sings a song, sounds like she’s singing
Ooh, ooh, ooh
Just like the white-winged dove
Sings a song, sounds like she’s singing
Ooh, baby, ooh, said ooh
And the days go by, like a strand in the wind
In the web that is my own, I begin again
Said to my friend, baby (everything stopped)
Nothin’ else mattered
He was no more than a baby then
Well, he seemed broken-hearted
Something within him
But the moment that I first laid
Eyes on him, all alone
On the edge of seventeen
Just like the white-winged dove
Sings a song, sounds like she’s singing
I said ooh, baby, ooh, said ooh
Just like the white-winged dove
Sings a song, sounds like she’s singing
I said ooh, baby, ooh, said ooh
 
— from Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks
 
 

‘Hold Tight’   1 comment

‘Hold Tight’ — Oil Painting in Black and White by kenne

 

Hold tight
Hold tight
If you wanna make this feeling stay
Hold tight
Hold tight
Don’t let this moment fade away
Hold tight
Now tears gonna stay
Everybody gets the chance someday
Call it once it last you think you’ve got it made
Not a word that anyone can say
That can change the way you feel
Cause you know that love is real
You can choose within you fall in love
Anybody any moment any way
‘Cause no matter who you chose
There’s a chance that you might loose
Gonna the best that I can do
Hold tight

— from Hold Tight by David Romani / Davide Romani / Mauro Malavasi / Paul Adrian Slade

The Month Of May Fifty Years Out   1 comment

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

 

I can’t let this month get by without recognizing the 50th anniversary (May 21, 1971) of the release of Marvin Gaye’s
masterpiece album, What’s Going On.

“OK, let’s just get this out of the way. Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On LP is a masterpiece. If it’s not in your top five
or at least within the realm of your top 10 albums of all-time, then I seriously think you need to reevaluate your list.
Not many albums give you a snapshot of the world at the time of its release and still remain very relevant decades later.
What’s Going On most certainly does.” — Terry Nelson (albumism.com)

Gaye released the single, What’s Going On, after co-writer Renaldo “Obie” Benson saw police in Berkeley, Calif.,
brutality beat anti-Vietnam War protesters. Gaye would later say, “What mattered was the message. For the first time,
I felt like I had something to say.”

The album went platinum, and Rolling Stone would place it among the greatest albums of all time.
Now fifty years out, its influences are evident today as the nation wrestles with inequality and a racial reckoning.

— kenne

Ground Zero Blues Club   Leave a comment

Ground Zero Blues Club Memphis (01/21/10) — Abstract Art by kenne

“There are only two kinds of songs; 
there’s the blues,
and there’s zip-a-dee-doo-dah.”

— Townes Van Zandt

On The Dock Of The Bay   Leave a comment

Fishing Boats Docked at Galveston Bay, Texas — Image by kenne

[Verse 1]
Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun
I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ come
Watching the ships roll in
And then I watch ’em roll away again, yeah

[Chorus]
I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time

[Verse 2]
I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the ‘Frisco bay
‘Cause I’ve had nothing to live for
And look like nothin’s gonna come my way

[Chorus]
So I’m just gonna sit on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time

[Bridge]
Look like nothing’s gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can’t do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I’ll remain the same, yes

[Verse 3]
Sittin’ here resting my bones
And this loneliness won’t leave me alone
It’s two thousand miles I roamed
Just to make this dock my home

[Chorus]
Now, I’m just gonna sit at the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Oooo-wee, sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time

[Outro]
*Whistling*

Shrimp boats is a-coming’   Leave a comment

Galveston Bay — Image by kenne

Oh…
(CHORUS):
Shrimp boats is a-comin’
Their sails are in sight
Shrimp boats is a-comin’
There’s dancin’ tonight
Why don’t ‘cha hurry hurry hurry home
Why don’t ‘cha hurry hurry hurry home
Look here! The shrimp boats is a-comin’
There’s dancin’ tonight
(Shrimp boats is a-comin’, there’s dancin’ tonight)
:
They go to sea with the evenin’ tide
And the women folk wave their good-bye
(There they go… There they go)
While the Louisiana moon floats on high
And they wait for the day when they can cry…
:
Happy the days while they’re mending the nets
‘Til once more they ride out to sea
(There they go… There they go)
Then how lonely the nights will be
‘Til that wonderful day when they sing…
:
Happy the days while they’re mending the nets
‘Til once more they ride out to sea
(There they go… There they go)
Then how lonely the nights will be
‘Til that wonderful day when they sing…
(Shrimp boats is a-comin’ – there’s dancin’
There’s dancin’ There’s dancin’ There’s dancin’ …)
Shrimp boats is a-comin’ – there’s dancin’ tonight!
 
— Source: LyricFind
 
 

“Who’s Yellen Now?”   1 comment

Janet Yellen — Source: Getty Images

This is way too much!
This is way too good!

Biden: Yellen needs a “Hamilton” musical. Dessa: Here you go.

Finding Peace In People’s Faces   5 comments

Kae Tempest (formerly Kate Tempest) — Source: scenestr.com

 
I’m a new fan of Kae Tempest, an English spoken word performer, poet,
recording artist, novelist, and playwright — a great performer by any measure.
 
— kenne
 
People’s Faces
 
[Verse 1]
It’s coming to pass, my country’s coming apart
The whole thing’s becoming such a bumbling farce
Was that a pivotal historical moment we just went stumbling past?
Well, here we are, dancing in the rumbling dark
So come a little closer, give me something to grasp
Give me your beautiful, crumbling heart
Another disaster, catharsis
Another half-discarded mirage
Another mask slips
I face off with the physical
My head’s ringing from the love of the stars
There is too much pretense here
Too much depends on the fragile wages
And extortionate rents here
We’re working every dread day that is given us
Feeling like the person people meet really isn’t us
Like we’re gonna buckle underneath the trouble
Like any minute now, the struggle’s going to finish us
And then we smile at all our friends
(Click Here for all Verses)

 

 
 
 

“I Am Woman” — Helen Reddy   3 comments

Helen Reddy (October 25, 1941/September 29, 2020)

Australian-born singer Helen Reddy, whose hit “I Am Woman”
became a feminist anthem in the 1970’s,
died in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon.
She was 78 years old.

Posted September 30, 2020 by kenneturner in Information, Music, video

Tagged with , , ,

An Affirmation Of Life — Fifty Years Out   2 comments

Van Morrison — Source: Ryan H. Walsh

“Into the Mystic” in Van Morrison’s 1970 Moondance Album

We were borne before the wind
Also younger than the sun
Ere the bonnie boat was won
As we sailed into the mystic

Hark, now hear the sailors cry
Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic

And when that foghorn blows
I will be coming home
And when the foghorn blows
I want to hear it

I don’t have to fear it and I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
And magnificently we will flow into the mystic

When that fog horn blows
You know I will be coming home
And when that fog horn whistle blows
I got to hear it

I don’t have to fear it and I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
And together we will flow into the mystic
Come on, girl
Too late to stop now

“Into the Mystic” — the words and melody ethereally flowing together as one —
is about a spiritual quest.  But over the years the song has become much more —
an affirmation of life for me, and I would like to think for my generation,
as well, should we choose to embrace its sentiments, an anthem of lives
lived as we float down that stream, merrily or otherwise, after leaving
this mortal coil.  I am honored that my path intersected with friends departed,
and I am a better person because it did.  The fog horn has blown for them
and they will be coming home.

It is indeed too late to stop now.

Van Morrison — Into The Mystic

‘Where Have The Sparrows Gone?’   Leave a comment

ES158D_Emily-Barker_A-Dark-Murmuration-of-Words.1400Album Cover of Emily Barker’s Latest CD.

“Over the last few decades, the Sparrow has gone from being one of the world’s most common and widespread birds to being Red Listed as a species of high conservation concern,” Emily reflects. “When writing the song, my thoughts returned to the sparrows outside my window – how sad it would be to look out and not see and hear their vibrant movement and chatter. I hope that day never comes.” Read more . . .

Johnny Mandel, Dead at 94   2 comments

Johnny Mandel-TonyBenettJohnny Mandel — Source: Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett posted on Twitter Yesterday:

If Johnny Mandel had just composed “The Shadow of Your Smile” – one of the most beautiful songs I have been honored to record – it would have been enough to earn his standing as one of the finest composers of our time.

. . . and let’s not forget the arrangement Mandel did for Natalie Cole in the song “Unforgettable!”

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