01 – High Rise – Ashford & Simpson
02 – It Seems To Hang On – Ashford & Simpson
03 – Stuff Like That – Quincy Jones
04 – Found A Cure – Ashford & Simpson
05 – Love Don’t Make It Right – Ashford & Simpson
06 – It’s My House – Diana Ross
07 – Have You Ever Tried It – Main Ingredient
08 – Bourgié Bourgié – Ashford & Simpson
09 – Don’t Cost You Nothing – Ashford & Simpson
10 – Street Corner – Ashford & Simpson
11 – Over And Over – Sylvester
12 – Clouds – Chaka Khan
13 – I Ain’t Asking – Phyllis Hyman
14 – By Way Of Love’s Express – Ashford & Simpson
15 – Send It – Ashford & Simpson
16 – Is It Still Good To Ya? – Teddy Pendergrass
Herbie Hancock over his illustrious career has been proven time and time again to be a musical innovator as well as an incredible musical citizen of the world. (more…)
This week we have a double-shot from fantastic writer, singer, keyboardist Michael McDonald. Two timeless pieces of music created by some great collaborative efforts with Kenny Loggins and Carly Simon respectively. Plain and simple this is what great songwriting is all about and when a song is great, artists love to sing them.
I remember when I was a kid listening to Michael McDonald talk about the process of recording “What A Fool Believes” (this was before the days of MIDI sequencing) there are 20 keyboard tracks in the final production of the song. There are various reasons for that number (monophonic synths etc.) but that’s some serious arranging and orchestration and that’s why he’s Michael McDonald and others aren’t. Enjoy!
In this new series we take on the art of the “cover” song, the “remake” and the sometimes referred to “remix”. There is a very long and rich tradition of “covers”, I often wonder though is that tradition slowly fading as music becomes more and more compartmentalized and highly stylized. (more…)
You could almost consider this post part-two of a post I did last week.
Whether it occurs in cyberspace or face to face I find myself having a similar conversation re: What’s happening or what has happened to music? There are numerous events, practices and personalities that have contributed to where music is at this point and time (far too numerous for this particular post) but I would like to offer something that I feel has contributed greatly to the way music is performed, produced and consumed in these last few weeks of the the first decade of the new century. (more…)
Chaka Khan and The Funk Brothers (aka “The best kept secret in the history of pop/soul music“). Is there anyone badder than Chaka? Or the Funk Brothers? Really?
