Dance

May 16, 2014

Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake – Love Never Felt So Good

It’s so heartwarming to have Michael Jackson back with us. I love the digital duet of Justin Timberlake and Michael Jackson as it dances around the music of our heart 🙂

Justin Timberlake Debuts Video for Michael Jackson Duet

January 2, 2014January 5, 2014

Tighten Up – Archie Bells & The Drells

There are songs from my past that bubble up warmly in the music of our heart. “Tighten Up” by Archie Bell & The Drells from Houston, Texas is a song written to showcase their new dance moves. I recall buying their 45 r.p.m. single at the 5&10 record department in the summer of 1968. I played it endlessly on the hi-fi system in my room.

I loved Archie Bell’s soulful voice set against that funky guitar lick that eggs you on. This hit sounds as fresh today as it did 46 years ago 🙂

October 8, 2013October 8, 2013

Soul Train: The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation By Questlove

Questlove has another book coming out, hot on the heels of Mo’ Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove (June 18, 2013). His new book is titled, Soul Train: The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation and it’s due to be released on October 22, 2013.

Questlove reveals the remarkable story of the captivating program, and his text is paired with more than 350 photographs of the show’s most memorable episodes and the larger-than-life characters who defined it: the great host Don Cornelius, the extraordinary musicians, and the people who lived the phenomenon from dance floor. Gladys Knight contributed a foreword to this incredible volume. Nick Cannon contributed the preface.

Questlove scored the 40th anniversary documentary of “Soul Train” and has been known to carry a personal collection of VHS tapes of the series with him on tour.

Questlove says, “start xmas shopping early! cop my SECOND book Soul Train http://amzn.to/1bEHHci a GREAT coffee table book gift item!”

Soul Train was the longest-running syndicated program in television history.

?uestlove Says “Soul Train” Book Is Best Thing He’s Ever Done [EXCLUSIVE] (imarashed.com)

May 28, 2013

David Byrne and St. Vincent – Brass Tactics, Free 5 Song EP

I just love David Byrne & St. Vincent and their brass band choreographed ensemble, Love This Giant. We are ticketed to see them on June 20th at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven.

They have put out a 5-song EP called “Brass Tactics”. It’s available on the Love This Giant website for free, and includes a couple of live tracks from the fall tour which we saw at The Beacon Theatre in New York City on 9/26/12. The free EP has a couple of remixes, and a song David and St. Vincent recorded in the studio that didn’t make it onto the album. You can download that here. They also put together a little video of clips and thoughts about the last tour and the new one to come, which you can see there, as well.

You can find everything (including full tour dates and our new summer merch sale) on LTG.com.

David Byrne & St. Vincent release free EP in advance of tour (brooklynvegan.com)
David Byrne & St. Vincent – Truly Lovable Giants (indiemusicmachine.wordpress.com)
David Byrne and St Vincent Share Some “Brass Tactics” (mtvhive.com)

April 12, 2013April 12, 2013

Rock and Roll (And Evie) Never Forgets

I just have to share this wonderful human interest story with my readers. It is sure to bring a tear to your eye. It did mine 🙂 Maybe you read or heard about this beautiful miracle of life, rock and roll and being a devout fan. We happen to be major Bob Seger fans ourselves and believe in miracles too.

Bob Seger wrote the song, “Rock and Roll Never Forgets”. I found out today that Evie Branan never forgot Bob Seger and he never will forget Evie Branan.

Evie Branan was is a coma for five years. Her first words when she woke up from that coma were, “I want to go to a Bob Seger concert.” Talk about your dream come true.

Well I am happy to share that Evie Branan got to go to that concert. They picked her up in a limousine and drove her there in style. She sat in the special fan luxury box with friends and helpers. She had a beer, got up and danced to some good old rock and roll.

Then she was taken backstage to meet Bob Seger, Alto Reed and Bob’s family (among others) how cool is that!!!!

Evie Branan attends Bob Seger concert

God Bless her, Evie’s assistants and the Bob Seger Bullet Band Organization for taking great care of their new #1 Fan, Evie Branan.

Follow these links for more great pictures and video of a very special evening for Evie, Bob Seger and fans everywhere!

Picture Slideshow: http://photos.mlive.com/4466/gallery/evie_branan_attends_bob_seger_concert/index.html

Video: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=9062610&pid=9062612

Evie Branan, 79, smiles as Bob Seger wraps his arm around her for a photograph Thursday, April 11, 2013 backstage before his concert at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Evie Branan meets Bob Seger

Bob Seger meets super fan to grant wish after she woke from 5-year coma (mlive.com)
Woman Requests To See Bob Seger After 5-Year Coma (wncx.cbslocal.com)

February 6, 2013

Happy Birthday Bob Marley and Mystic Bowie – One Love

I tuned the FM dial in the car to WPKN-FM 89.5 for the morning commute. I quickly discovered that tomorrow February 6th would be Bob Marley‘s 68th birthday. Steve di Constanzo the morning DJ was doing his Radio Basecamp show, playing some cool stuff.

He announced that starting at 1 p.m. WPKN would begin a Bob Marley 36 Hour Marathon. The radio celebration would be complemented by the annual Bob Marley and Mystic Bowie Birthday Bash on Stage One by the Fairfield Theatre Company. It was at that moment I said to myself this event can’t miss. Woah, Woah…. Stop the Clock! Our two favorite reggae superstars, Mystic Bowie and Bob Marley with special guest stars at this intimate venue. I purchased the tickets online pronto 😉 The concert will be broadcast live over WPKN this evening!

It has been a One Love celebration ever since. I plugged into WPKN-FM this afternoon where I have been actively engaged and entertained ever since.

We love Mystic Bowie’s energy, its so infectious! Can’t wait to dance the night away.

September 30, 2012

Love This Giant Tour – Beacon Theatre NYC – 9/26/12

We saw the David Byrne and St. Vincent (Annie Clark) Love This Giant Tour Wednesday evening 9/26/12 at the beautifully restored Beacon Theatre in New York City.

The concert far exceeded our expectations. David Byrne and St. Vincent were accompanied by an eight piece brass band with a drummer and an electronics player. The concert is visually enhanced by shaded lighting in turn accented by the choreography of Annie-B Parson (Big Dance Theater). She re-imagined the band as a dance troupe; thus, along the horns, Byrne and Clark became just two more members of the night’s dance company

Photograph by Catalina Kulczar, Copyright 2012

The dance troupe kicked the festivities off with Love This Giant‘s initial track “Who“. We were quickly engaged by that infectious beat tightly coupled with the sensory lyrics.

The two-hour concert (which includes two encores) offers David Byrne & St. Vincent band songs, the much clamored for David Byrne/Talking Heads songs, and the hauntingly brilliant St. Vincent songs. The counter balance of this song mix captivates the listener as does the ever-moving musicians. The fluid motion of 12 people on stage is never boring or repetitive. Ever since David Byrne worked with Twyla Tharp on Catherine’s Wheel his live concerts incorporate dance and choreography. We fell in love with this idiom when we saw the first leg of the Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno Tour in 2008. It became our avowed aim to see David Byrne live again and this is what motivated us to attend the Love This Giant Tour.

There were several moments during the concert that exhibited great fun juxtaposed with just the right techno experimentation One such highlight was the Star Wars like dueling light saber technique that David and Annie performed sharing the waves of the theremin on “Northern Lights”.

David Byrne has a great stage presence and I love his flippant, intellectual nature. He had us laughing when he spoke about how he catalogs his music recordings, fiction and non-fiction.

It was difficult to isolate which of the Love This Giant recording live performances was my favorite. I’ve narrowed it down to “I Am An Ape”, “Lazarus”, and “Outside of Space and Time”.

The night would have not been complete without the Talking Heads, “Burning Down The House”.

We left this concert more amazed than ever by David Byrne. We gained a new appreciation for the music and guitarmanship of St. Vincent. We won’t think of brass band music as we did before, one-dimensional, it now has a new, vibrant multi-dimension in our psyche. Thank you David Byrne, Annie Clark and the band, what a phenomenal evening of multimedia techno romp.