Tune of the Day


"Blue Rondo a la Turk"  on the Two Generations of Brubeck album.  Wow.

There are many fine versions of this tune, but this one gets me dancing, clapping, fist-pounding, whatever, every time....and it's not easy to dance in, what, 9/8?  I love tunes that grow, build, develop, and move through changes.  This one just picks me up and takes me right along with it.  Great melding of jazz and rock idioms, too.  It's fun to imagine Dave Brubeck setting the groove and then sitting back to hear where his kids and their friends take it. 

You can continue exploring Dave and the kids on Two Generations of Brubeck, "The Great Spirit Made Us All".  And Chris Brubeck's rock/jazz band Sky King on "Secret Sauce".

For extra credit, give a "spin" to Chase, "Bochawa" from their last album, Pure Music.

Anyway, that's my two cents today.




77jovian

Iris Dement: "Wasteland Of The Free". This was written and recorded during the Bush Presidency, but is perhaps even more relevant now. This song got her excommunicated from the Far Right Radical Evangelical community.

Iris was born in Arkansas into a Pentecostal family, which moved to Orange County in S. California when she was three years old. She has deep roots in Gospel, Hillbilly, and Folk, and was a frequent collaborator with her close friend John Prine.

Iris has made quite a few albums, all fantastic. This song is from her The Way I Should album. There is a video of the song viewable on YouTube. She’s my favorite living songwriter. I learned of her through Merle Haggard, who recorded her masterpiece song "No Time To Cry". His version is good, hers devastating.