Friday, 1 June 2012

Chicago guitar genius Pete Cosey dead at 68

Guitar fans have had a rough couple of days. Yesterday brilliant folk and country guitarist Doc Watson died at age 89. This morning, according to the private Facebook page of fellow guitarist and collaborator Vernon Reid, Chicago's own Pete Cosey died at 68. Obituaries and remembrances for Watson have already appeared all over, and deservedly so—few instrumentalists so completely absorbed America's folk and country traditions, and fewer still brought such quiet virtuosity to them. Watson was a key catalyst in the folk revival after his discovery by producer Ralph Rinzler in 1960.
Pete Cosey, on the other hand, was a classic musician's musician; he's not especially well-known, though he played on tons of classic records. As such, word of his passing is traveling rather more slowly.
Cosey was a key session musician at Chess Records in the 60s, appearing on sides by Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, the Rotary Connection, and Etta James, and he worked with the great Phil Cohran in the latter's Artistic Heritage Ensemble. He's probably most famous, though (to the extent that he's famous at all), for his mind-melting work with Miles Davis in the early 70s: he played on the trumpeter's heaviest, most electric albums, including Agharta, Pangaea, and Get Up With It. After Davis broke up the band in 1975 and went into semi-retirement, Cosey was never able to build the solo career he so richly deserved. He used his guitar like an abstract expressionist painter, creating thick, richly textured solos with fierce rhythmic power, dazzling colors, and nonchalant violence. He continued to appear on records here and there, including Herbie Hancock's Future Shock and an album with Japanese saxophonist Akira Sakata, but he always seemed to be planning his own next project, which never quite materialized.
( Chicago Reader)
via Ed Kuepper and Mark Stewart on FB

November 3, 1973
Stadthalle, Vienna (Austria)
Miles Davis (tpt, org); Dave Liebman (ss, ts, fl); Pete Cosey (g, perc); Reggie Lucas (g); Michael Henderson (el-b); Al Foster (d); James Mtume Forman (cga, perc)

Too Much Power for a President

The President’s Kill List

‏@ioerror

I'd just like to say Fuck PayPal - that is all.

Street slang in drug education advertises more than it helps

Am*dam

Via

‏@iankatz1000

Leveson tells Jay off for goading Hunt over his (self-professed) non use of the word "impactful": "Come on Mr Jay..."

Thursday, 31 May 2012

Jeremy Hunt congratulated James Murdoch on BSkyB deal bid progress

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Clementine

Doug Dillard RIP

Doug Dillard, the pioneering country rock banjo-player, has died aged aged 75, according to reports.
Dillard had first found fame in the Dillards, a bluegrass group formed with his brother Rodney, who made regular appearances on successful American sitcom, The Andy Griffith Show, where they played a fictional band called 'The Darlings'.
After leaving the Dillards in 1968, Doug Dillard teamed up with former Byrd, Gene Clark, to form Dillard & Clark.
Dillard & Clark released two albums - The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark (1968) and Through The Morning, Through The Night (1969) - which are both considered country rock classics.
The musicians who played on Dillard & Clark's two albums reads like a Who's Who of country rock's A list: The Byrds' Chris Hillman and Michael Clark, The Eagles' Bernie Leadon and Flying Burrito Brothers' Sneaky Pete Kleinow.
Two tracks from Through The Morning, Through The Night - the title song itself and "Polly" - were later covered by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss on their 2007 album, Raising Sand.
In 2011, Dillard had been admitted to a Nashville hospital suffering from a collapsed lung.
According to country and bluegrass website The Boot, a family spokesperson confirmed that Dillard was taken to a Nashville emergency room on Wednesday night [May 16] and died shortly thereafter.
Via
How did I miss this sad, sad news???

ACTA rejected by EU Parliament committees in crucial vote

Pete Rock's Vinyl Collection (Crate Diggers)

Crate Diggers profiles people with extraordinary vinyl record collections, with owners displaying and telling the stories behind their collections. In this episode Pete Rock, the legendary DJ and producer for rappers like Nas, Notorious B.I.G, and members of the Wu-Tang Clan, talks about his early days with cousin Heavy D, his love of funk, and a rare Marvin Gaye record.
Via

The Rolling Stones to celebrate 50th anniversary with free exhibition in London

The Rolling Stones: 50
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood
A Free Photographic Exhibition at Somerset House
13 July – 27 August 2012
‘This is our story of fifty fantastic years. We started out as a blues band playing the clubs and more recently we’ve filled the largest stadiums in the world with the kind of show that none of us could have imagined all those years ago’.
- Mick, Keith, Charlie & Ronnie
On 12 July 1962 the Rolling Stones went on stage at the Marquee Club in London’s Oxford Street. A phenomenal 50 years later, and to celebrate this milestone, Somerset House will present a free photographic exhibition documenting the last half-century and looking back at their astounding career. This exhibition will also coincide with the release of the book by the same name, published by Thames & Hudson.
With privileged access to a wealth of unseen and rare material, this one-off exhibition will include over seventy prints ranging from reportage photography, live concert and studio session images, to contact sheets, negative strips and outtakes from every period of the band’s history – from performing in the smallest blues clubs to the
biggest stadium tours of all time.
Visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to purchase limited edition prints, copies of the book and other merchandise.
INFORMATION
Dates: 13 July – 27 August 2012
Opening Hours: 10am – 6pm Daily
Address: East Wing Galleries, Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA
Admission: Free
Transport: Nearest Underground Stations – Temple, Embankment, Charing Cross
Further Information: www.somersethouse.org.uk
Via