Influence

Not to turn this blog into an obituaries section, but I do feel the need to recognize two amazing artists we lost in the past two weeks.

Dave Brubeck, 91

.

Ravi Shankar, 92

.

The great thing is that these two lived such long and fruitful lives, and were able to share so much of their music with the world. When you think of it that way, it’s hard to be sad. Our lives are that much more enriched because of them.

I heard of Ravi Shankar’s death while in Oakland at a show. It was hard to believe – for me, his presence has always been near, whether through my tabla teacher’s stories (they toured together in the 90’s), through the music of the Beatles and George Harrison, or just the fact that for years he lived a few miles away from my hometown. I am so grateful to have seen him perform, and for the influence he’s had in my musical career.

Thank you Pandit, and thank you Mr. Brubeck, for making the world a better place. 

Remembrance

.

Living in LA for 5 years and being immersed in the beat scene, where Flying Lotus and Daedalus frequented the same shows that my boyfriend played, I came to know Austin Peralta as something of a local idol. Everyone knew his name, and he was an incredible pianist. I never got to meet him, but I know how much of an impact he had in our Los Angeles music bubble.

So last night while chatting with Alex, we found out at the same time that Austin had passed away unexpectedly. He was 22. It’s still unbelievable to me that someone can be gone at such a young age, when he still had so much to share with us all. His last tweet, from two days ago, was “Playing @ Blue Whale tonight.”

News like this will always come as a shock. Although I didn’t know him personally, I wanted to take a moment to remember Austin, and all others who left us too soon. Thank you for your music. We won’t forget you.

A beautiful song about a beautiful city

Heard this morning that Scott McKenzie passed away over the weekend. So sad to hear. He sang one of my favorite songs, so I wanted to share it here.

R.I.P. Scott, you will be missed!

.

The Evolution of Beatles Movies, feat. Paul McCartney and Victor Spinetti

Two things I meant to blog about this past week:

• Happy 70th birthday to Sir Paul McCartney! Here, check out this epic photo tribute from Time.
• R.I.P. Victor Spinetti, hilarious actor and familiar face in all 3 Beatles films (fun fact: we share a birthday). You will be missed!

And now, here are some videos including both of them. Watch the evolution of Beatles movies from cute to weird to incomprehensible:

.

The above is from A Hard Day’s Night. Victor plays the uptight TV director in the beginning. Also, this was the first song I ever learned to play on guitar!

.

From Help! (Context: the mad scientist wants Ringo’s ring so he can rule the world. /end context.)

.

I also had a really great/ridiculous clip from Magical Mystery Tour too, but it seems to have been taken down by Apple Corps. Bummer.

.

Posted in postsTagged beatles, movies, paul mccartney, r.i.p.

I pulled into Nazareth…

We’ve lost two legends in the past two days (really hoping the whole dying in threes thing isn’t gonna happen…): RIP Dick Clark and Levon Helm.

Dick Clark is practically synonymous with pop music. When rock ‘n roll was first getting started, he was the one who introduced it to people across the world – I mean, Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly made their TV debuts on Bandstand, how cool is that? I remember my mom telling stories of coming home from school to find her sisters glued to the TV watching American Bandstand – for teenagers in the 50s and 60s, it was THE show to watch.

Some good old fashioned rock & roll:

(Side note: Lauren and I saw Jerry Lee Lewis at this show in 2009…awwww). Also, random but 70s-tastic.

Levon Helm was the voice behind some of The Band’s greatest songs, and a class act. Incidentally, just the other day I was walking down Haight Street and overheard a bum tell a woman with an oversized backpack: “Take a load off, Annie.” I thought it was amusing, oh-so Haight Ashbury, and a testament to one of the most iconic songs of the 60s:

You’ll see the sun come shining through

I feel like I’ve mentioned this song so many times, but what can I say, I love it and so many of my favorite artists have covered it. I was (very) pleasantly surprised to find a version of the Chaplin song “Smile” performed by the Brazilian bloco afro Olodum, complete with tight beats and cheesy synth strings! Check it:

I’ve really been hyping the Brazilian stuff lately. It’s just so fun to play, and listen to. And I love when two of my favorite things are combined. :)

A couple of other things:
-One of the many upcoming things that I cannot wait for: a George Harrison documentary produced by Martin Scorsese? Win.

-I just found out that Dennis Hopper has passed away. :( So long to one of the 60s’ greatest icons…

vaya con dios

R.I.P. Les Paul
June 9, 1915 – August 13, 2009

I was so sad to hear of Les Paul’s death today…I know he was pretty old but he seemed to be so full of life still! I was really hoping I’d get to see him perform live at some point. Up until his death, he played every Tuesday at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York. Pretty impressive, especially at age 94. In case you missed my earlier entries, Les Paul was an amazing musician and inventor, creator of the famous Les Paul guitar and many modern recording techniques. Honestly, if not for him the music world would be completely different (and definitely not as cool).

Thanks, Les, for being so awesome.

R.I.P. King of Pop

Despite his cosmetic weirdness and juvenile playplace and questionable actions (pet chimpanzee?), you can’t deny the fact that Michael Jackson was an incredible performer and an amazing singer…and too young to die.
I heard the news yesterday at NBCU; my supervisor came in to tell me he’d had a heart attack, and then about 20 minutes later he was confirmed dead. It was so sudden and unexpected I didn’t even know how to react. On my way back from work, the radio played I’ll Be There by the Jackson 5 and I was surprised at how sad it made me.

I took this picture outside the UCLA Reagan Center yesterday. In the middle of the crowd there were a bunch of people dancing to Thriller…while others wore homemade t-shirts and held signs and boomboxes. Along with the constant sound of helicopters overhead all evening, it was a very noisy night (Westwood’s been seeing a lot of those lately).

Back in the apartment, the occasional car will drive by with windows rolled down as “Beat It” and “Smooth Criminal” echo down the street. It’s weird to think our generation has never known life without Michael Jackson (in some form or another, haha). R.I.P. Michael, and Farrah, and Ed, who have sadly been overshadowed but will be remembered nonetheless!

A sad two days in music.

Miriam Makeba passed away on Monday. She was one of the greatest singers to come out of South Africa, and also one of the strongest voices against apartheid. She had a heart attack as she was leaving the stage after a performance Monday night.
If you are not familiar with South African music, I’d suggest checking it out. I love how rich and soulful the music is, and it was Miriam Makeba and Ladysmith Black Mambazo (both of whom worked with Paul Simon) who gave me my first taste of it. This video is of Miriam at the Graceland concert:

Today Mitch Mitchell, drummer of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, passed away at 61. He was the last surviving member of the band, and he wasn’t even that old. At least now the Experience is reunited. R.I.P. Mitch.

to the great gig in the sky

I’m not that hardcore of a Pink Floyd fan, but I do love their music and they are definitely up there on my list of favorite bands. Last night I decided to pull out Dark Side Of The Moon and listen to it before I went to sleep. Now I’ve just found out that Rick Wright, keyboardist and one of the founding members of Pink Floyd, passed away today. He was 65.

R.I.P. Rick <3