The Fuze

This show originally aired on February 26, 2009 on THINGS AIN’T WHAT THEY USED TO BE.  It was one of the most fun programs I’ve done in my years with KUSP.  Let’s get acquainted with Pam:

This is a pet project of RUBY RUDMAN’S:

 COPY AND PASTE THIS URL TO YOUR BROWSER AND ENJOY SOME OF RUBY’S PERFORMANCES:

www.reverbnation.com/rubyrudman

MARK JOHNSON began PLAYING FOR CHANGE in 2004 with the goal of building music schools for children around the world.  This was the first recording in Santa Monica, California with Rodger Ridley (now deceased) and other artists from around the world, recorded in their own Countries.  EPISODE ONE:

Eight years later, EPISODE 64:

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MARK JOHNSON better explains the PLAYING FOR CHANGE Project:

Playing any of these episodes always brings tears to my eyes.

This GREAT video on You Tube of DAVID AMRAM speaking at Princeton University not only addresses THE BEAT GENERATION, but also speaks well of JAZZ:

Sara Villa, a visiting student from Milan, Italy University, whose work focuses on Beat Generation writers, discusses Jack Kerouac’s jazz criticism–and finds that Kerouac was more musically literate, and critically adept, than is conventionally thought. Villa gave this lecture at a talk at Princeton on Jack Kerouac and Jazz organized by the Center for Jazz Studies on March 12, 2009.  And, She’s lovely:

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http://youtu.be/9c0nfYddUBM

Pianist Jessica Williams needs our help.  You’ll find more information on this weeks’ playlist @ KUSP.ORG 

You’ll find video performances of Jessica on You Tube 

GROVER COE is my Coe-host on this weeks’ program.  Grover and I did this show on “THINGS’ AIN’T WHAT THEY USED TO BE” in 2009 and I found it worthy of repeating. Both of us are big fans of the BEAT GENERATION and the spoken word.  GROVER COE AND DIZZY BURNETT perform the first two Fridays of the month at the Seascape Resort in Aptos.  

Jack Kerouac speaks:

RAY BREMSER, a Beat-Generation poet, speaks about his introduction to the era:

ALLEN GINSBURG interview on the BBC in 1994:

You’ll find great material about the Beat Generation on YouTube.  More next week.

NANCY WILSON recorded this song on my 16th Birthday Anniversary, May 11, 1960.  I happened across that information doing some random research.  I had a huge crush on NANCY WILSON in my teenage years.

MILES DAVIS and the QUINTETTE in 1967.

AL DI MEOLA, PACO DE LUCIA & JOHN McLAUGHLIN…BRILLIANT!

THE BEAT GENERATION ON THE JULY 20th FUZE.

Here’s DUKE ELLINGTON and a tune written in 1953 that become a monster hit, “SATIN DOLL”:

One of my all time favorites, BILLY STRAYHORN’S  ”ISHFAHAN” with Sax Solo by JOHNNY HODGES:

This is a nice tribute piece to DUKE ELLINGTON featuring his granddaughter  MERCEDES:

ON BEHALF OF ALL JAZZ MUSICIANS  IN JUNE, “BLACK MUSIC MONTH”, TO QUOTE THE DUKE…”WE LOVE YOU MADLY!”

These five CDs of material were cut at two successive birthday celebrations for Ellington in 1953 and 1954 at McElroy’s Ballroom in Portland, OR. They capture Ellington during his period with Capitol Records, which is usually not regarded as one of his better eras, mostly because he and the label never really got on the same wavelength. That has nothing to do with what we hear on these recordings, which were engineered by the legendary Wally Heider, and, as a result, sound at least five years fresher technically. We can’t show you video of the dates but you may hear the programs at the KUSP MUSIC SHOW PLAYER from June 23 through July 6.  We’ve chosen some clips of The Ellington Orchestra performances over the years to share for the remainder of the month on “THE FUZE” BLOG.

Here is DUKE ELLINGTON in a trio performance of his theme song “TAKE THE ‘A’ TRAIN”:

I found a couple of wonderful interviews with DUKE ELLINGTON preserved on YOU TUBE.  In the first he expresses his thoughts about the BLACK MUSIC and overall contributions of Afro-Americans in America:

This second interview takes place in 1973,  just one year before DUKE ELLINGTON’S death:

Please join us for the next broadcast of THE FUZE on KUSP for the second half of the DUKE ELLINGTON ORCHESTRA performance in 1954 at the McElroy Ballroom in Portland, Oregon.

I discovered a Brilliant interview of FRANK ZAPPA on the Today Show in 1993, the year he died.  Since we featured some of his music on this weeks’ show, I scoured You Tube and found this:

Other posthumous performances on this weeks’ show include RAY CHARLES Sings & COUNT BASIE Swings:

HERBIE HANCOCK and “Cantaloup Island”:

Next week we celebrate Black Music Month with a collection of music performed on DUKE ELLINGTON’S April 29th Birthdays.  Please join us Friday Morning on THE FUZE.

NINA SIMONE performed and recorded this song  in response to the murder of Medgar Evers in Mississippi; and the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four black children.

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http://youtu.be/hBiAtwQZnHs

This song was written for NINA in 1964 and also a hit for Eric Burden and The Animals: 

AIN’T GOT NO/ I GOT LIFE  is a Medley of two tunes from the musical “HAIR”.  It became a standard in Nina Simone’s repertoire:

NINA SIMONE’S biggest hit and the only one of her songs to enter the Billboard Top 40 was the 1958 recording of GERSHWIN’S “I LOVES YOU PORGY”.

We have good reason to be proud to claim two generations of McCASLIN’S in Santa Cruz, DONNY & DAD DON. You can enjoy DON McCASLIN’S GROUP “THE AMAZING JAZZ GEEZERS” Tuesday nights at SEVERINO’S in APTOS.

This is a 2008 performance of DONNY and his group in Germany:

PLEASE LISTEN AGAIN NEXT FRIDAY MORNING FOR “THE FUZE” AND CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE VIDEOS OF GREAT PERFORMANCES OF MUSIC WE PLAY ON THE SHOW.

This week’s program begins with music from a LIVE performance in 1988 in Europe in STEPHANE GRAPELLI’S eightieth year.

What a delight to find this performance preserved on YOU TUBE.  STEPHANE GRAPELLI & DJANGO REINHARDT:

http://youtu.be/tl8XcwXlYLU

The original FLECKTONES  are back.  Let’s go behind the scenes: 

Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile & Stuart Duncan  perform three tunes from THE GOAT RODEO SESSIONS ALBUM in the NPR Offices: 

2 CELLOS are Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser. With over 5 million hits on YouTube in less than 3 months, their passionate, dueling cellos version of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” has taken the world by storm and launched their careers:

NEXT WEEK NINA  SIMONE!

Here’s a 1983 DONNA SUMMER performance of “ON THE RADIO”:

This was a 2001 performance LIVE in Rotterdam:

http://youtu.be/OXH–qQFrhE

And here’s a clip of Donna Summer in 1979 singing LAST DANCE:

Here’s a Tribute Hit Medley to ROBIN GIBB:  I STARTED A JOKE/ JULIET/ ANOTHER LONELY NIGHT IN NEW YORK:

And a video production of NIGHT FEVER:

This is a terrific Choral Group from Slovenia, PERPETUUM JAZILLE with a BEE GEES MEDLEY:

This week’s show turned out to be a tribute to DISCO as well as DONNA SUMMER AND ROBIN GIBB.  My favorite group of the era was the  VILLAGE PEOPLE.  I love this video:

CATCH YOUR BREATH, THERE’S MORE NEXT WEEK ON “THE FUZE”.