DMT22

02022-04-15 | Daily Music Tip

Javier Limón is a guitarist, songwriter, and producer from Madrid. (his website, wikipedia)
I made a short playlist of five songs from his productions. The first track is a piece sung by Mariza, the most famous current fado singer. Limón also produced her album “Mondo”, which you can find here.
The second and third tracks on this playlist are sung by Buika. The third one, “No Habrá Nadie en el Mundo” feels like a particular beautiful example of the meeting of Pop, Flamenco, and Jazz. At one point I was exploring the idea of adding singing to my album “Waiting n Swan” and thought Buika might have the right voice for that. Now I listen to “Waiting n Swan” and can’t imagine having singers on it.
The last track on the playlist is from Limón’s album “Son de Limón” and features a trumpet player from the Bronx by the name of Jerry Gonzalez. More about him tomorrow.

DMT20

02022-04-10 | Daily Music Tip

Afghani Raga by Harry Manx, from the album Mantras for Madmen.

Check out the Wikipedia link for Harry Manx.

In 1990, while Manx was in Japan, he heard a recording of the Indian slide guitarist Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. When Manx met Bhatt for the first time in Rajasthan, he had been living in another part of India for years. He became a student of Bhatt’s and remained with him for five years. They travelled together in India and performed for large audiences.

If the name Vishwa Mohan Bhatt rings a bell, maybe you have heard the famous album he recorded with Ry Cooder, A Meeting by the River – on Apple Music, on Wikipedia.

Back to Harry Manx – once I started to listen to his music again, I came up with a little playlist of some of his songs, which I called “Blue Raga”.

DMT19

02022-04-09 | Daily Music Tip

Procissao by Bill Frisel, from the album The Intercontinentals

You arrive on an island just as the sun is setting. Perhaps you were dropped off by small plane or perhaps you came by boat. Or maybe you were transported here by a dream. It’s hot but there is a nice breeze and you enjoy the scent of the saltwater. Then you hear a band strike up a tune. Where does that come from? Is there a stage beyond that hill? You climb up through sand. The music sounds like so many different things… samba and bluegrass, blues and folk music. A man sings in Brazilian Portuguese, then another man sings in Arabic, or maybe that’s an Indian language. It’s getting dark as you get to the top and look down. There is indeed a stage and a big sound system but there is no band. As you get closer the song ends and then you find a CD player that is plugged into the sound system.