Paolo

If you haven't heard Paolo Nutini, get on it. He's a 23 year old scot with a monster of a voice. But don't take my word for it, see for yourself...

"Growing up Beside You"

Dream Team

Credit for this post goes to my roommate Mr. Noel Thomson. Although caucasian on the exterior I'm thoroughly convinced someone in his family lineage had a child with someone of African-American descent because the man's got s o u l soul.
I don't even know what to say about this video other than it combines three of my favourite musicians D'angelo, Eric Clapton, and Marcus Miller. Whatever planetary alignment caused this collaboration to take place, I hope it happens again. Soon.
Here's Bill Withers' "Use Me".

18th Century Soul

My dad introduced my to Irakere, the Afro-Cuban group formed in the 70's, headed up by Cuban brass legends Paquito D'Rivera and Arturo Sandoval and founded by pianist Chucho Valdes. Combine two of the best rhythm-heavy styles of music, Funk and Latin, throw in some blazing horns and you've got yourself a hell of a dish. I strongly suggest checking them out, but I've decided to share with you something a little bit lighter.
Here's a great clip of Paquito playing Mozart's Adagio with the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra. Everything's all ponies and daisies until Paquito brings it with some 12/8 soul straight outta left field. Makes for a beautiful contrast.

Blue Wild Angel

The release of Jimi Hendrix's new album "Valleys of Neptunes" has caused me once again to relapse into that familiar state of psychological and physical dependence on the man who's contribution to the guitar has in my opinion, been unrivaled since his death. I have a habit of exhausting artists pretty quickly on my iPod but there's something comforting, and even...mothering about Hendrix that always makes him a good choice. He was the first guitar player to completely engulf me in a solo and has the rare ability to make the world around you dissolve only to have you snap out of your daze once the song is over thinking "what just happened?".
Here's one of my personal favourite Hendrix clips. Jimi playing "Machine Gun" at the Isle of Wight in 1970, one of the last big shows before his death.

A Musical Tragedy

After a few enlightening conversations and the recent induction of two good friends to the world of blogging (http://peterwjmiller.com/, http://jacobsfox.com/), I've been re-inspired to hop back on the blog train and continue to share with the world what I believe to be music worth listening to. So welcome back to your one-stop full serve window into music that moves you.

If there was a consensus on what people thought was the biggest tragedy in the history hip-hop music, I'd put the disappearance of Lauryn Hill up near the top. Everyone familiar with Lauryn's only studio album "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" is well acquainted with its ability to encompass all that is good in Hip-Hop music. She's got the voice of an angel, the flow, the lyrics and the beats for a great organic sounding hip-hop album. Here's a taste of her unplugged set at MTV.
COME BACK LAURYN!!!!!!!!!!!