Sending love to Garry Shider

Word comes via the online grapevine that Garry Shider of P-Funk has been diagnosed with brain cancer.

Shider has been a loyal soldier in George Clinton’s musical army for nearly 30 years... a guitarist, songwriter, vocal arranger and diaper-wearing hype man.

And, of course, a singer. Garry Shider is an amazing singer.

To channel some loving energy in Garry’s direction, let me stream a couple of 1970s tracks on which he wails.

Click here to hear “Sexy Ways.” You’ll notice... it ain’t just about how Garry swings a lyric. It’s about the vamping he does between lines.

Then click here and listen to “Baby I Owe You Something Good,” with special attention paid to the second verse (“I’ve loved, I’ve lost...”). Simply mindblowing.

I had the pleasure, alongside my colleague Larry Alexander, of interviewing Garry Shider back in the ’90s for a P-Funk oral history. He was generous with his time and cool as can be.

New cuts from Bernie Worrell

One of my favorite living musicians has a new album out, and I never would’ve known except for a casual search of the eMusic database.

Keyboard wizard Bernie Worrell is way off the radar screen of today’s commercial music. That is why God invented blogs.

Having previously declared that I’ll purchase any track Bernie ever played on, I might come off as uncritical. Not the case.

Indeed, I must declare that Mr. Worrell’s new release, “I Don’t Even Know,” isn’t quite making my panties damp. The tracks sound like one-man products of a busy weekend in the home studio. For example, click here and check out “Hearin’ Dis, Playin’ Dat.”

Still... when we’re talking about a prime architect of Parliament-Funkadelic’s greatest hits, any new recording is like a handwritten letter from an old friend.

Click here to hear “Shades of The Kid.” Feel what I mean?

God bless you, Bernie. Keep on speaking through your fingertips.

Speaking of Stevie...

... I never knew that “All I Do” – one of the great tunes off of “Hotter Than July” – was originally written for Tammi Terrell, and that she recorded it in 1966. (Yes, Stevie Wonder was a teenager when he co- wrote that song.)

Click here to hear the Tammi Terrell version. It was never released... until 2002, when Universal Music Group put out a compilation in the U.K. called “A Cellarful of Motown!”

Random blackness

To find out what became of this gifted lad, follow this link.

‘The Best of Soul Train’ on DVD

This was a long time coming. Time Life is offering a 9-DVD set called “The Best of Soul Train.” List price: $149.95.

The DVDs won’t ship till the end of March... but Time Life is soliciting pre-orders now.

What I’m waiting for is the kick-ass half-hour infomercial. Till then, you can check out preview clips on YouTube:

Canada’s Little Richard

Bet you don’t know who Jackie Shane is.

I didn’t know... until Toronto-based music writer David Dacks (an occasional commenter here at UBM) reached out.

Jackie Shane was a popular performer in Toronto’s R&B clubs during the 1960s. He was openly gay, and his flamboyant stage persona invited comparisons to Little Richard and Esquerita.

David Dacks worked on a radio documentary called “I Got Mine: The Story of Jackie Shane” for the CBC, Canada’s national broadcaster. This one-hour documentary airs today... and you can hear it streaming live on the Web at 3 p.m. Eastern Time.

[UPDATE (02/28/10): This was a great show! Turns out you have a couple more chances to hear it today. It’s re-playing at 3 p.m. in each time zone. So follow this link and look for “Inside the Music” in the “Listen Live” directory.]

Jackie Shane had only one hit single – “Any Other Way” (1963). To hear it on my Vox blog, click here. And to see the man in action with your very own eyes, check this:

Black History Month à la Britannia (pt. 1)

Are you bored with Black History Month because you know all you wanna know about Harriet Tubman, George Washington Carver and the same old short list of African-American luminaries?

I’m about to spice your shit up, friend, by casting my gaze across the pond. England has its own Black History Month – in October. But I shan’t wait till then to showcase a few intriguing cultural figures from Britain’s past.

We begin with George Bridgetower, a virtuoso violinist who rocked the stage with Beethoven two centuries ago.

George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower was born in Poland circa 1780. Black father, white mother. As a child prodigy on violin, Bridgetower was taken under wing by England’s future King George IV, and received an elite education in music.

In his twenties, he was introduced to Beethoven. They jammed in Vienna. Beethoven was so impressed, he dedicated his new Violin Sonata No. 9 to “the mulatto Brischdauer.”

Beethoven and Bridgetower debuted the sonata together on May 24, 1803. It was a triumphant performance.

But then, so goes the story, Bridgetower made an insulting remark about a woman Beethoven happened to know. Pissed off, Beethoven re-dedicated the piece to another violinist... named Kreutzer.

To this day, the composition is known as the “Kreutzer Sonata,” while Bridgetower is said to have died in obscurity.

(Click here to hear the sonata’s third movement, as performed by Itzhak Perlman.)

George Bridgetower’s name and story have been resuscitated in recent years. Afro-British pianist Julian Joseph has composed a “jazz opera” about Bridgetower’s life. And American poet Rita Dove last year published “Sonata Mulattica,” a poetry collection inspired by Bridgetower’s relationship with Beethoven.

Check the two vidclips below:

Random genius

More where that came from... BAM!

The new Gil Scott-Heron album...

... came out last week. Anybody checked out “I’m New Here”? Any reactions?

Frankly, I’m not feeling it. Happy as I am to hear any new stuff from Gil, this set comes up short. Literally. There’s less than 30 minutes of material. And four of the tracks aren’t even new writing.

“Your Soul and Mine” is an inferior remake of one of Gil’s earliest pieces, “The Vulture.” There’s a Robert Johnson cover (“Me and the Devil”) and a Bobby “Blue” Bland cover (“I’ll Take Care of You”). The title track is a cover of an underground rock tune by Bill Callahan.

I also don’t dig the soulless electronic soundscapes designed by Gil’s new British sponsor, Richard Russell. For example, click here to hear “On Coming from a Broken Home (Pt. 1).”

Contrary opinions welcomed.

UPDATE (02/15/10): I must report that “I’m New Here” is getting rave reviews in the British press... particularly in the Daily Telegraph (“...a revelation”) and the Guardian (“... one of the year’s best albums”).

For whatever that’s worth.

New cuts from Fishbone

Ever go through the pockets of some old clothes and find a long- forgotten $10 bill? And it feels as good as if you’d found it on the street?

That happened to me today online.

I hardly remembered joining the Amie Street music site two years ago, let alone that I had nine bucks and change sitting in an account there. Hey... found money!

So I started looking for tunes that might be worth downloading. (Amie Street seems to specialize in artists I never heard of.) Guess what I found? A Fishbone live album I didn’t know about.

“Fishbone Live” (a.k.a. “Live in Bordeaux”) was recorded in France in 2008. The 2009 CD/DVD combo is only available as a high-priced import. The MP3 version, released last week, will cost you $8.49 on Amazon.com.

On Amie Street I paid $2.76 for it. That’s 77 minutes of Fishbone music for less than the price of a Big Mac. (That price isn’t set in stone. The site’s “demand-based pricing” model means the price goes up as a track gets more popular.)

Let me stream a couple of cuts so you can hear how good it sounds.

Click here to hear “Hide Behind My Glasses,” which is one of my favorite Fishbone rarities. I am absolutely delighted to have a live version of this song.

Click here to check out “Party at Ground Zero”... a tune now 25 years old.

Prince’s song for the Minnesota Vikings

As the New Orleans Saints prepare to throw down against the Vikings for the NFC Championship, it has come to my attention that Prince wrote and recorded a “fight song” to inspire his hometown team.

You can hear a bit of it below, courtesy of a Minneapolis TV station. I think Prince is about to get his feelings hurt. WHO DAT??

Haitian Mardi Gras music

It’s Mardi Gras season in New Orleans. Which means I’m seeing a lot of king cakes. (Not a big fan of the king cakes.)

Mardi Gras is such a big deal here, it’s easy to forget that Carnival is a very special time throughout the Catholic world... including, of course, Haiti.

In Haiti it’s called “Kanaval,” and radio stations start playing Carnival-themed music right after New Year’s.

As the eyes of the world now settle upon Haiti for the saddest of reasons, it’s ironic that a CD box set documenting the country’s vibrant musical culture was recently released. “Alan Lomax in Haiti” is a 10-disc collection of field recordings made in 1936 and 1937 by the great musical anthropologist Alan Lomax.

One disc is devoted to Haitian Mardi Gras music!

Click here to hear “Sourit Kaba Bobo A,” which translates as “Mice Have Eaten My Vagina.” (Seriously.) This track is by an unidentified “bann madigra” (band of masked revelers).

If you’d like a FREE MP3 of Haitian Mardi Gras music off this box set – and if you’re willing to give your email address to the record company – check out this widget:

Something cold from Gil Scott-Heron

Gil’s new album arrives February 9. (Hat-tip: Shadow and Act.)

New cuts from Bernie Worrell (and friends)

Nothing is more of an automatic purchase for me than Bernie Worrell music. He is simply one of the most gifted dudes ever to lay fingers on a synthesizer, clavinet, Hammond B3, electric piano or baby grand. I’ll buy any track he ever played on.

Bernie’s latest project is a groove-oriented supergroup called SociaLybrium, which includes another former Funkadelic – Blackbyrd McKnight on guitar. (On bass is Melvin Gibbs. On the drum kit, J.T. Lewis.)

The SociaLybrium album “For You - For Us - For All” is digitally available at iTunes, Amazon, eMusic and other fine MP3 retailers.

It’s all instrumentals, and the album hasn’t really grown on me. Frankly, the compositions won’t burn any houses down. But I’m streaming a couple of tracks on my Vox blog... so my fellow P-Funk fans can know what’s happening.

Click here to hear “Glory Story,” with Bernie rocking the organ.

“He-Then Holiday” is a sick showcase for Melvin Gibbs, with Mr. Worrell providing swirls of color. Click here to listen.

It’s a gift to humanity that Bernie is doing his thing to a ripe old age.

Year of the Chocolate Drops

As a reminder that the new Carolina Chocolate Drops CD – “Genuine Negro Jig” – comes out next month (except in the U.K., where it’ll be available January 25), I’ve embedded below a 6-minute promotional video from Nonesuch Records.

The Chocolate Drops begin a two-month American tour tonight in Athens, Georgia.

Random genius

Bow down to Steely Dan. (Hat-tip: Harry Allen.)

A fundraiser for Pedro Bell

Album-cover artist Pedro Bell, the prophetic penman of P-Funk liner notes, satirical satyr of South Side Chicago, and one of my personal heroes, has been enduring health and money problems for years. We need to show him some love.

The Black Rock Coalition is sponsoring a benefit show for Pedro Bell this Saturday night (January 2) at Santos Party House in downtown Manhattan. Doors open at 7 p.m. The price is $15.

Pedro’s friends and fans were stirred to action by a November article in the Chicago Sun-Times.

If you can’t attend the fundraiser but would like to help Pedro in his time of need, follow this link to PayPal and donate to the Pedro Bell Benefit Fund.

New cuts from Fay Victor, Pyeng Threadgill

In a mood for something different? Let’s catch up with a couple of progressive jazz vocalists I’ve blogged about before... Fay Victor and Pyeng Threadgill (Henry Threadgill’s daughter).

Ms. Victor’s latest CD, “The FreeSong Suite,” came out three months ago. To hear a track called “Gone Fishing” on my Vox blog, click here.

Ms. Threadgill’s new album, “Portholes to a Love & Other Short Stories,” dropped earlier this month. Click here to listen to “My Left Foot.”

If I lived in New York City, I could watch these ladies perform often... and would.

Random blackness

Gina Gershon’s talented mouth

Funny what I’ll stumble upon when trying to burn through those use-’em-or-lose-’em monthly downloads at eMusic.com.

Did you know that Gina Gershon, one of Hollywood’s sexiest women, plays the Jew’s harp? Indeed, she duets with Christian McBride, one of the finest jazz musicians of his generation, on a new track called “Chitlins and Gefilte Fish.”

To hear it on my Vox blog, click here. Frankly... I don’t get it. (Was tickled by the reference to J.B.’s “Doing It to Death,” though.)

Ms. Gershon also rocked a Jew’s harp on her own 2007 album, “In Search of Cleo.” To check out a track called “Marie,” click here.

Oh snap... time for me to compile another playlist of actresses who think they can sing.

UPDATE (12/29/09): Check out this Gina Gershon quote from a 2003 magazine interview conducted by her friend Dave Stewart (of Eurythmics):

“Remember that time that you played on Letterman? It was Lou Reed’s birthday, and afterward we – you and me and Lou and Bootsy Collins and those girls – we all went and played at some weird little dive where Lou wanted to play. I played my Jew’s harp and you played the guitar and Lou sang.”

Lordy. If Gina Gershon’s Jew’s harp could talk...