Green Arrow Radio

FRONTMAN/FOUNDING MEMBER IBRAHIM AG ALHABIB RETURNS TO NORTH AMERICA WITH TINARIWEN. Perhaps the most recognizable member of touareg band Tinariwen, Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, has been unable to join his fellow bandmates on their most recent North American tours. World Village is pleased to announce that he will join them this month and in March for the group’s concerts in the U.S. and Canada. Check out the tour here. I might have to get myself to one of those Chicago shows.

Getting myself psyched up for his performance here on the 27th.

For Dr. Zinn, activism was a natural extension of the revisionist brand of history he taught. “A People’s History of the United States” (1980), his best-known book, had for its heroes not the Founding Fathers — many of them slaveholders and deeply attached to the status quo, as Dr. Zinn was quick to point out — but rather the farmers of Shays’ Rebellion and union organizers of the 1930s. As he wrote in his autobiography, “You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train” (1994), “From the start, my teaching was infused with my own history. I would try to be fair to other points of view, but I wanted more than ‘objectivity’; I wanted students to leave my classes not just better informed, but more prepared to relinquish the safety of silence, more prepared to speak up, to act against injustice wherever they saw it. This, of course, was a recipe for trouble.”…..and that I think is why so many of us have a special spot in our hearts for Howard Zinn, and may we all live up to the lessons he taught us and the reason we hold him in such an admired state. Whether he was thinking or speaking for us, or saying and doing the things we always wished we had the willpower to attempted, I am not quite sure, I just know that he is hero material (for me) in a world of few choice.

Some of Madison’s finest musicians get together to benefit those affected by the tragic events rendered by mother nature in Haiti. On Sunday January 24th from 3-9pm CST at the Barrymore Theatre, join the Gomers, Honor Among Thieves, Sean Michael Dargan Band, the Stellanovas with Chris Wagoner & Mary Gaines, members of the Piper Road Spring Band and Mr. Tony Brown & the 608 Riddim Section. These musicians from Madison will be putting those in need ahead of themselves, as i have learned is certainly an ongoing trend around these parts.

It’s not like Haiti hasn’t been a nation in need for some time now, it is just now more people are noticing.

Teddy Pendergrass, who became R&B’s reigning sex symbol in the 1970s & ’80s with his forceful, masculine voice and passionate love ballads,later becoming an inspirational figure after suffering a devastating car accident that left him paralyzed, died Wednesday at age 59. Mr. Pendergrass suffered a spinal cord injury and was paralyzed from the waist down in the 1982 car accident. He spent six months in a hospital but returned to recording the next year with the album “Love Language.” He returned to the stage at the Live Aid concert in 1985, performing from his wheelchair. He later founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, an organization whose mission is to encourage and help people with spinal chord injuries achieve their maximum potential in education, employment, housing, productivity and independence, according to its Web site. He gained popularity first as a member of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes on songs including “If You Don’t Know Me by Now,” but it was his solo hits that brought him his greatest fame. With songs such as “Love T.K.O.,” “Close the Door” and “I Don’t Love You Anymore,” he came to define a new era of black male singers with his powerful, aggressive vocals that spoke to virility, not vulnerability. His lyrics were never coarse, as those of later male R&B stars would be, but they had a sensual nature that bordered on erotic without being explicit. “Turn Off the Lights” was a tune that perhaps best represented the many moods of Teddy Pendergrass — tender and coaxing yet strong as the song reached its climax. He made women swoon with each note, and his concerts were a testament to that adulation, with infamous stories of women throwing their underwear on stage for his affection.

Debashish Bhattacharya and Subhasis Bhattacharya at the New York Guitar Festival 2010

From the “COOL CREATURE” feature:

A green sea slug appears to be part animal, part plant. It’s the first critter discovered to produce the plant pigment chlorophyll. The sneaky slugs seem to have stolen the genes that enable this skill from algae that they’ve eaten. With their contraband genes, the slugs can carry out photosynthesis — the process plants use to convert sunlight into energy. “They can make their energy-containing molecules without having to eat anything,” said Sidney Pierce, a biologist at the University of South Florida in Tampa….more here

March Fourth, the marching band from Portland Oregon plays live at Surf City Saloon in Huntington Beach, CA, Wednesday 10/7/09. They perform the song, “Fuzzy Lentil”. A short stop on their tour to New Orleans for Vodoo Fest…

Willie Mitchell, who shaped the elegant yet gritty sound of Al Green, Ann Peebles and other stars of soul music as the house producer at Hi Records in the 1960s and ’70s, died Tuesday in Memphis, where he lived. He was 81. The Willie Mitchell sound — prominent horns, delicately strummed guitars, some sweet organ and a steady, straightforward beat — is instantly recognizable on records by singers like Mr. Green, Ms. Peebles, Syl Johnson and O. V. Wright, and on the instrumentals Mr. Mitchell recorded as a bandleader. Both raw and sensuous, it became Hi’s signature sound as the label rose to prominence with Mr. Green in the 1970s. Although its legacy has been less celebrated than those of Stax or Sun, two other pioneering record labels that got started in Memphis in the 1950s, Hi was an integral part of the development of the Memphis soul sound, and Mr. Mitchell is widely credited as one of its architects.

24’s & More is the 4th single from Sven Barth & Induce Are: Casual Sax & The Saxual Revolution in The Blow Sven Theory. Available Now digitally on iTunes, Amazon and on 2CD & 2LP at Turntablelab.com

Shot & Edited by Joe Perrin.

When you play so many types of sounds on a show, it makes compiling a list like this such a challenge…I believe this is a high quality example of my own and the show’s beliefs in what the tops of 2009 look like. I apologize if I left something out, didn’t receive or just don’t agree with what you see as tops…here’s this year’s list:
* indicates a hard fought tie.

97. These are the Days- Albert Castiglia
96. The Move- Eric Biondo
95. Live in Louisville- Carrie Rodriguez
94. Vol. 2-Truckin’ Sessions- Dale Watson
93. Este Mundo- Rupa & the April Fishes
92. Throw Down Your Heart,Tales from the Acoustic Planet,3:Africa Sessions-Béla Fleck
91. Missy Anderson-Missy Anderson
90. Me not Me- Marco Benevento
89. Solid Ground- Sara Wasserman
88. Coward- Nils Cline
87. Never Going Back- Shemekia Copeland
86. Choices- Terence Blanchard
85. Live- Jake Shimabukuro
84. Quartet Live-Gary Burton,Pat Metheny,Steve Swallow & Antonio Sanchez
83. My World- Lee Fields & the Expressions
82. Pulse- Jim Weider’s Project Percolator
81. Haih Or Amortecedor- Os Mutantes
80. One Day in Brooklyn- JFJO
79. The Lost Southlake Sessions- The Radiators
78. In the Mood for Life- Wax Tailor
77. En’ A-Free-Ka- Shafiq Husayn
76. Awake- Julian Marley
75. Historicity- Vijay Iyer Trio
74. Rishte- Najma Akhtar and Gary Lucas
73. Burn it Down- the Dynamites
72. Trova- Marta Topferova
*71. Piety Street-John Scofield/Bright Mississippi-Allen Toussaint
70. Blueprints Of Jazz Vol. 1- Mike Clark
69. Spiritual Dimensions- Wadada Leo Smith
68. Us- Brother Ali
67. Tell No Lies-Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara
66. Eagle- Mamer
65. Turned Up Turned On-Michael Bellar As-Is Ensemble
64. For this I Rise- J. Russell
63. To Obscurity & Beyond- Afroskull
62. Abyss- Jacques Schwarz Bart
61. Pot of Gold Remixes I/II- Alice Russell
60. Musically Massive- David Last vs Zulu
59. The Blow Sven Theory-Sven Barth & Induce are Casual Sax & The Saxual Revolution
58. Across the Divide: A Tale of Rhythm/Ancestry-Omar Sosa
57. Light a Candle- Forro in the Dark
56. Call My Name- Daby Touré & Skip McDonald
55. Daptone Gold- Daptone Records
54. Dr. Boondigga & the Big BW-Fat Freddy’s Drop
53. Radiolarians II/III- MMW
52. Strange Cousin- Tribescastan
51. Solid Ground- the Black Seeds
50. Secret Song- DJ Spooky
49. Keep it Hid- Dan Auerbach
48. Well Hung- Various Artists
47. Playing for Change
46. Plateau- Soname
45. Magnolia Land- Davis Coen
44. Here I Am- Groundation
43. Future will Come- the Juan Mclean
42. Pigs Feet & Potted Meat-Ivan FUNKBOY Bodley
41. Making Love to the Dark Ages-Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber
40. Barracuda- Kinky
39. Small World- Tony Bunn
38. A Modest Proposal- Gutbucket
37. Metamorphosen- Branford Marsalis Quartet
36. La Revolte Des Zombies- Boukman Eksperyans
35. Trio B.C.- Girl in a Coma
34. Tangled tales-Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks
33. Future Past- Lovespirals
32. Purgatory Hill- pat mAcdonald
31. New World- JTQ
*30. Power Patriot-Garage a Trois/Melvin’s Rockplie-Out to Lunch
29. Rise Up- Dr. Lonnie Smith
28. Jazz Around the World- Putumayo
27. Songs for the Queen of Bohemia-Eldad Tarmu Chamber Jazz Ensemble
26. Diaspora Remixed- Watcha Clan
25. Fondo- Vieux Farka Toure
24. Rivermudtwilight- Les Triaboliques
*23. Hard Times EP-Bonerama/This That & The Other Thing-Skeebo Knight
22. Making a Statement- the JMC Project
21. Ancients Speak- Melvin Gibbs’ Elevated Entity
20. One Ticket One Ride- Geoff Achison
19. Espana- Putumayo
18. Eclecticism- M. Nahadr
17. Eddy Loves Frank- Ed Palermo Big Bang
16. Tales from the Earth- Mark Weinstein/Omar Sosa
*15. Rhythm Method-Cadillac Jones/Aguilas & Cobras-Brownout
14.Re: Generations- Nat King Cole
13. Prester John Sessions- Tommy T
12. After the Air Raid- Zevious
11. Plug ‘N Play- the New Mastersounds
10. The Great American Soulbook- Tower of Power
9. Exotic on the Speaker- Soulico
8. Imidiwan: Companions- Tinariwen
7. Waxed Oop- Fast ‘N Bulbous
6. Taketron- Slavic Soul Party
5. The New Gold Standard II- Fort Knox Five
4. Chaal Baby- Red Baraat
3. Dusk Til Dawn- Breakestra
2. Already Free- the Derek Trucks Band
1. Drumquestra- Larry McDonald

A short movie of several performances spliced together from the 2008 east coast Bassnectar Tour, to the original track Dope Crunk, off their newest album, Collide. Video by videolicious, lucination.com, editing by David Satori
www.myspace.com/beatsantique
Note from Zoe: for you bellydancers out there, this video represents many different dances to different songs all put into one piece. So David, who was editing it, essentially was rechoreographing me…putting a shoulder roll from video of me dancing to something else..in fact, this entire video, other than the first 10 seconds..was originally of me dancing to completely different things!!! It goes to show you what you can do with technology these days….

In a two-decade career, Vic Chesnutt sang darkly comic and often disarmingly candid songs about death, vulnerability, and life’s simple joys. A car accident when he was 18 left him partly paralyzed, but he has said that the accident focused him as a musician and a poet. “It was only after I broke my neck and even like maybe a year later that I really started realizing that I had something to say,” he said in a recent radio interview with Terry Gross. Discovered in the late 1980s by Michael Stipe of R.E.M., who produced his first two albums, he has been a mainstay in independent music, collaborating with the bands Lambchop and Widespread Panic. In 1996 his songs were performed by Madonna, the Indigo Girls, Smashing Pumpkins, R.E.M. and others for “Sweet Relief II: The Gravity of the Situation,” an album that benefited the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, a nonprofit group that offers medical support for musicians. Recently he had had a burst of creativity, releasing two albums in 2009, “At the Cut” and “Skitter on Take-Off.” In the song, “Flirted With You All My Life,” off “At the Cut,” he sings about suicide, which he had attempted several times….and apparently finally had success if he was ready, or not.

In the summer of 1965, Chet Helms brought James to 1090 Page Street to meet Peter Albin and Sam Andrew. James proved to be the missing component to the embryonic Big Brother and the Holding Company. A charismatic figure, James immediately developed a large and devoted following. Many came to the Big Brother shows simply to experience his loud and passionate guitar playing. James was looked upon by his fans as something of a spiritual leader. His innovative trailblazing style did not go unnoticed by his contemporaries in San Francisco. Mickey Hart first heard James playing in the Matrix in 1966. Hart remembers; “I’d never seen anything like it. It was magnificent, the best solo I’d ever heard. The amplifier was just pulsing on the floor”. Barry Melton said, “James Gurley was the first man in space! He’s the Yury Gagarin of Psychedelic guitar”. James was a fusionist in the truest sense of the word. Along with his “weird” blend of blues, country, western and jazz, James employed a finger picking style that he used all the way through the Cheap Thrills sessions. With his guitar mate Sam Andrew, they produced some of the best Psychedelic guitar solos in history. Guitar Player magazine recently listed James’ and Sam’s work on “Summertime” as one of the top ten Psychedelic solos. Along with his work with Big Brother, James has been involved in a number of independent projects. He has recorded with New Age drummer, Muruga and has also been actively involved in writing and recording some very innovative solo work. In May of 1997 James stopped touring with Big Brother to devote his full attention to these projects. The first offering is entitled “Pipe Dreams” and was released in January of 2000. Now, more than thirty-five years after introducing his pioneering style, James is still a marvel and a mystery to watch. One recent concert goer noted; “I love loud weird guitar a la Hendrix, Santana and so on, and on that night what James was doing completely floored me. I have no idea what he was doing to make those sounds. Incredible!” But what else would one expect from the “Father of Psychedelic Guitar”.

~biography by Todd Bolton

by Terry Hall & Mushtaq, released in 2003 on the Honest Jons Record label. Terry Hall and Mushtaq’s album couldn’t be more in tune with this time period’s headlines, fusing the Jewish and Arabic musical cultures which draws upon the duo’s own lineage — Terry Hall being a Polish refugee with a Jewish background and Mushtaq being a Middle Eastern Muslim. In some ways, the album is a return to Terry Hall’s musical roots (The Specials’ breakthrough hit “Gangsters” was based around a Middle Eastern-influenced melody).But, together with Mushtaq, the album breaks bold new ground by creating a stunning topical tapestry of music. This melting pot of sounds features Jewish Gypsy music (from the group Romani Rad), a Mongolian throat singer, an Egyptian violinist, an Algerian rapper, a Turkish percussionist, a Syrian oud player, an Arabian pianist, and a Jewish Clarinet player whose resume includes being a sessions musician on the original “Pink Panther” theme! Even Blur & Gorillaz front man Damon Albarn provides guest vocals and instrumentation. The Hour Of Two Lights is truly a visionary record of extraordinary boldness in which music, politics and humanity are fused as one. And it always seems that the time is NOW to try to fuse humanity and politics together and if music can make a difference….it might start with music like this.

Music by. Bunny Holiday and Poppa (Pop Levi)
Lyrics by/Sung by. Bunny Holiday
Music Produced by. Poppa with Bunny Holiday
Film Starring. Bunny Holiday
Film Edited/Produced by. Bunny Holiday
©2009 World Empire Inc.

Here’s a little band I have been introduced to and thought a quick share was in order. Say hello to the all female rock -N- roll outfit called Antigone Rising.

Here’s the live version of Queen’s Fat Bottomed Girls from sometime in 2008.

The word is I will be kept in the loop about the news of new material and will share that over the airwaves as soon as possible…Stay tuned.

As birthdays come and go for so many without me posting a single word, this one is different, and in these words expressed by Pat Methany…..the importance is so well capture:
“Jaco Pastorius may well have been the last jazz musician of the 20th century to have made a major impact on the musical world at large. everywhere you go,sometimes it seems like a dozen times a day, in the most unlikely places you hear Jaco’s sound; from the latest TV commercial to bass players of all stripes copping his licks on recordings of all styles, from news broadcasts to famous rock and roll bands, from hip hop samples to personal tribute records, you hear the echoes of that unmistakable sound everywhere.”
And so, with this I celebrate the sounds, the inspiration to others and the unmatched innovations that Jaco Pastorius left us with, and am thankful to the rest of the musical world who carry’s it on.

Illustrious Cuban singer Omara Portuondo has made history twice this year. In October, the remarkable vocalist, and only female star of the Buena Vista Social Club™, became one of the first Cuban artists in six years to obtain a visa to perform in the U.S., marking a cultural breakthrough in the strained relations between her homeland and the U.S. On November 5, she also became the first Cuban resident to present at the 10th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards, where she delivered the prestigious Song of The Year award. She was honored again as the winner for Best Contemporary Tropical Album or “Mejor Álbum Tropical Contemporáneo” with her latest release Gracias produced by Montuno Productions and released on World Village. Although Portuondo is a four-time Latin GRAMMY nominee, and won a “Prémio Música Brasileira” Brazilian Music Award last year for her duets album with Maria Bethania, as well as a Billboard Latin Music Award in 2005, this is her first GRAMMY award. Gracias was produced by Alê Siqueira, with musical direction from Swami Jr., and it features “some striking collaborations” (Songlines), with such guest artists as Jorge Drexler, Richard Bona, Cachaíto López, Chico Buarque and Chucho Valdés. It is a special gift from the artist to herself and to the songwriters for whom she feels the highest regard. As the Montreal Gazette writes, it is “a highly personal collection of ballads… she packs a lot of feeling into this tender and nostalgic album.” These are the songs she has always longed to sing.
OMARA PORTUONDO Tour Dates 2010
Feb 24 Lisner Auditorium Washington DC
Feb 26 Harvard University: Sanders Theater Boston, MA
Feb 27 Town Hall New York, NY