THE BLEND #27: EASY LISTENING - ELLA TO JONI, B.B. TO JAMES TAYLOR

The Blend #27: IRA’S EASY LISTENING, THEN AND NOW

Broadcast 6-7-2016

Host/Engineer: Ira

For: ex-patradio.fr

Listen to archived show on Mixcloud HERE

Glenn Miller Orchestra – In The Mood

Ella Fitzgerald – Basin Street Blues

Peggy Lee – Stormy Weather

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Billie Holiday – Lover Man

Lonette McKee & Dexter Gordon – How Long Has This Been Going On?

Aretha Franklin – My Song

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Sandy Denny John the Gun

Bonnie Raitt – I Feel the Same

Grateful Dead - Ripple

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B.B. King – Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out

John Lee Hooker & Bonnie Raitt – I’m In the Mood

Roy Rogers & Norton Buffalo – Mercury Blues

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Ellen McIlwaine – I Want Watcha Got

James Brown – Cold Sweat, Pt. 1

Derek & The Dominos – Little Wing

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Derek & The Dominos – Have You Ever Loved a Woman

Dave Matthews Band – Ants Marching

Tom Waits – Downtown Train

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Ricki Lee Jones – Young Blood

Joni Mitchell – Sweet Bird

Simon & Garfunkel – Scarborough Fair/Canticle

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Neil Young – Don’t Let It Bring You Down

Chris Smither – Drive You Home Again

Bruce Hornsby & The Range – Jack Straw

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Bobby “Blue” Bland – Stormy Weather

James Taylor – Something In the Way She Moves

Laura Nyro & Labelle – I Met Him On a Sunday/The Bells

THE BLEND #26: THE BLUES OF ROUNDER RECORDS

The Blend #26: ROUNDER RECORDS

Broadcast 3-7-2016

Host/Engineer: Ira

For: ex-patradio.fr

Listen to archived show on Mixcloud HERE

Robert Nighthawk – Mr. Bell’s Shuffle

J.B. Hutto – Jealous Hearted Woman

Jimmie Rogers & Ronnie Earl – Left Me with a Broken Heart

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Frank Hovington – Mean Old Frisco

Booker T. Laurie – Blues with a Feeling

Johnny Shines & Robert Lockwood, Jr. – Lonesome Whistle

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Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson – Ain’t Treating Me Right

Tracy Nelson – I Feel So Good

The Holmes Brothers – Up Above My Head

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Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown – Sometimes I Slip

Magic Dick – Full Court Press

Rory Block – Since You Been Gone

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Professor Longhair – Boogie

Champion Jack Dupree – Give Me Flowers While I’m Livin’

Charles Brown – Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen

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Duke Robillard & Roomful of Blues – Texas Flood

Ronnie Eart – Green Light

Larry Davis – Help the Poor

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Ron Levy – Gimme a Break

The Persuasions – My Jug and I

Marcia Ball – Red Beans

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Bnois King & The Smokin’ Joe Kubek Band- You’re My Brand

Ann Peebles & Little Jimmy King – Full-Time Lover

Smokey Wilson – I Wanna Do It to You Baby

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Michelle Willson & Sugar Ray Norcia – You Got What It Takes

Irma Thomas & Jimmy McCracklin - Tomorrow

The Preston Shannon Band – Beale St. Boogaloo

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Johnny Nocturne Band with Kim Nalley – What a Way to Go

Lowell Fulson – Love Is the Bottom Line

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Robert Johnson – Sweet Home Chicago

NUNEZ, SAVALL & CO. at FONTFROIDE - CONCERT REVIEW

 

Imagine the courtyard of an abbey that's 1,000 years old with the granite crags of a steep hill in the background. As dusk approaches, hundreds of people find their places in rows of temporary seating. In front of them, once the sky turns fully dark, Jordi Savall and four other players take seats in comfy chairs on a raised platform. 

Catalan-born Savall, an early music master and expert on the viola da gamba, is a true heavyweight. Among his many awards and accolades, he holds the French Legion of Honor and has been appointed the European Union ambassador for intercultural dialogue. Next to Savall we see an Irish harp player, two percussionists, and a guitar player. Savall begins tuning. (As the evening progresses, we learn that Savall is the Leo Kottke of early music, tuning whenever he has the chance, even quietly during pieces while other players are featured. He can't be blamed. It's a cool, humid night and his instruments are sensitive to the conditions.)

From the back of the courtyard. we hear bagpipes. Enter Carlos Nunez. No slouch himself, piper Nunez has collaborated with Ry Cooder and some of my favorite Celtic musicians including Sharon Shannon and Altan. He appeared on an Grammy-winning album with the Chieftains. Take a listen:

Could the concert have lived up to such a buildup? Most definitely. The ensemble played for two and one-half hours without a break - except to listen to Savall tune. At the end, folks were literally dancing in the aisles. The night was part of the annual series of concerts that Savall produces at Fontfroide, and Savall's work on the viola da gamba and viola da braccio were featured. Would Natalie MacMaster's modern fiddle work have produced more fireworks? Quite possibly. But Savall worked hard and Nunez provided sufficient energy to fuel the entire evening.

Every year Savall brings something different to Fontfroide. Last year we heard the music of slavery, from Africa to the Caribbean, from Brazil to Mexico to the American south. This year it was Celtic and Celtic-inspired music from Galicia and New Breton. We'll be on hand next year to see what else Savall has up his sleeve.

THE BLEND #25: KEEP ON SWINGIN' - BASIE & ELLINGTON, ELLA & BILLIE...

The Blend #25: KEEP ON SWINGIN'

Broadcast 29-6-2016

Host/Engineer: Ira

For: ex-patradio.fr

Listen to archived show on Mixcloud HERE

Count Basie – April in Paris

Louis Armstrong & Louis Jordan – You Rascal You

Benny Goodman – Stompin’ at the Savoy

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Nat King Cole & George Shearing – Azure Te

Eartha Kitt – Autumn Leaves

Nina Simone – I Love You Porgy

Nina Simone – I Love You Porgy

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Dinah Washington – Caravan

Eartha Kitt – C’est Si Bon

Frank Sinatra – Yesterdays

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Ella Fitzgerald – Easy to Love

Louis Armstrong & Oscar Peterson – Just One of Those Things

Frank Sinatra & Dorothy Kirsten – My Romance

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Nina Simone – Fine and Mellow

Louis Armstrong – Go Down Moses

Erroll Garner – Them There Eyes

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Duke Ellington – Stompin’ at the Savoy

Count Basie – Flight of the Foo Birds

Artie Shaw – Summertime

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Quincy Jones – Soleil de Minuit

Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Jordan – Petootie Pie

Billie Holiday & Lester Young – All of Me

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Miles Davis & Sarah Vaughan (?) – Nice Work If You Can Get It

Django Reinhardt & Duke Ellington – Honeysuckle Rose

Fred Astaire & Oscar Peterson – Fast Dances

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Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie – My Melancholy Baby

Blossom Dearie & King Pleasure – I’m in the Mood for Love

Ella Fitzgerald & Sy Oliver – Don’cha Go ‘Way Mad

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Eddie Lang & Joe Venuti – Stringin’ the Blues

Charlie Parker & Miles Davis – Chasing the Bird

Charlie Carter & Chet Baker – Irresistible You

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Billie Holiday – You’ve Changed