I wanted to post a clip from one of my favorite documentaries about the studio wizard Tom Dowd who was a key part of the Atlantic Records sound for decades. Tom tracked, mixed and produced countless classic records for the company and was an extremely intelligent and gifted engineer and musician. If you write, record or produce music and don’t know the name and work of Tom Dowd, what I would suggest is to drop everything and seek out this entire doc. and then after you watch it (a couple of times) look up Tom’s credits over his stellar career. What a gift Tom Dowd was to the world of music, gone but never ever forgotten.

“Tears In Heaven” was written by Eric Clapton and Will Jennings about the lost Clapton felt after his four-year-old son Conor fell to his death from a New York apartment window. The song was one of Clapton’s most successful–it was nominated for nine Grammy Awards and it won three. The song also appears on the soundtrack to the motion picture Rush. Clapton no longer performs the song.

B.B. King in Atlanta

In the ever present hustle of life, I often have to make the consciouses effort to step back and breathe in the moment. I’ve found that the fruitless pursuits of mirages and mirrors can  insidiously make you lose sight of  God’s most precious blessings. For some,  it may be the infectious giggle of your child and for others, it may be the moment you said “I do”. Life is filled with a number of magical flashes and can surprise you with phenomenal people along the way. However if you’re not careful, you can easily fall into the trap of taking  things for granted when greatness is right before your eyes. This past Sunday at Chastain Park, I’m glad I didn’t miss my moment and had a chance to literally kneel before music royalty. Who am I referring to you ask? None other than Chicago blues great, Buddy Guy and Lucille’s old man, B.B. King. (more…)

This is what happens when the Blues are exported and then imported back. Quite frankly I love the result.