My Interview with the Ace Session-Guitarist Louie Shelton

Some of the artists with whom Louie Shelton has worked.

When Louie was 13 years old he met an up and coming Elvis Presley.  Elvis was playing at Louie’s  junior high school in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.  Years later in Los Angeles as a session guitarist  he was in the studio with Elvis.  Louie was one of two people in the studio when young Michael Jackson sang “I Want You Back.”  He was in the studio with John Lennon and Phil Spector.  T-Bone Walker, James Brown, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder are also among his credits.  He also produced Seals & Crofts and played lead guitar on their most memorable hits.

His 2009 induction into the Musicians Hall of Fame provided the perfect backdrop for this conversation with All About Jazz about his remarkable musical career.

READ THE INTERVIEW ON ALL ABOUT JAZZ

The 60s – Men on the Moon & Teens with Cellphones

Can you hear me now?

Guitar Magic – Carlos Santana with Derek Trucks

Can you believe this!?!

I  spoke with Derek Trucks about Carlos Santana  just before the Allman Brothers’ big 40th anniversary and concert run at the Beacon Theater in NYC.  Of course there was no sense in asking him if Eric Clapton or Santana would be showing up at the Beacon, all of the band was sworn to secrecy.  As we know, E.C. did show up.  He played two nights and it certainly lived up to all my personal expectations.  I thought to myself, it just doesn’t get any better than this – and then I saw the clips of Carlos Santana sitting in with the Derek Trucks Band on April 15, 2009 in San Francisco.  (See video below & please take the poll at the bottom of the post.)

My New All About Jazz Interview with Matthias Bublath

Matthias Bublath is a young German born pianist based in New York City.  He has exceptional compositional talent and is also a Hammond B3 specialist.  Initially he approached me to review his new CD, but after hearing his music I thought he deserved some wider exposure.  I highly recommend any of his four CDs and you can read our interview here.

Johnny Cash & the Living Room PC

Mini PC, not much bigger than your hand

We just bought a living room mini-PC.  Up until now we had occasionally connected our laptop to our LCD TV, but the multimedia use caused the laptop fans to run at full capacity.  It was loud and a bit of a chore hooking it up.  This week a local chain store put the above mini-PC on sale for 222 Euros and we decided to take the plunge.

The first feature that really appealed to us

Beatles For Sale – Again – Remastered, is it worth it?

After more than forty years I hated the idea of re-buying a Beatles recording.  Despite all the hype, how much could they really improve 4-track analogue recordings made in the 60’s? I had read a couple of blog posts which mocked the idea and called the CDs a waste of money.

But after hearing what George Martin’s son had done with his re-mix for the Beatles’ “Love” CD, I thought I would order a couple of my favorite recordings to hear for myself.

New Derek Trucks Interviews

Dusty Wright has a nice podcast interview with Derek Trucks, and Tim Brookes interview with Derek  here.

Beatles, Stones, Bach, Coltrane?

Imagine you were given the chance to go back in time and witness four musical events (one each from jazz, blues, classical, and rock history.) What would they be?

I asked this question to Derek Trucks, Rhoda Scott & Randall Bramblett, you can read their responses in my new All About Jazz article: A Question of Time

Mike Bloomfield – Supernova

In cosmic terms a supernova is basically the explosion of a star.  They are extremely luminous, with a burst of light that can briefly outshine an entire galaxy.  In musical terms that was Mike Bloomfield.

Indaba Music – Changes Everything

Every so often something comes along on the Internet and it hits you that “this is big.” Amazon, YouTube, Google, and podcasting are cases in point. Recently I had the same sensation when I happened upon INDABA MUSIC.

Michael Jackson, Ray Charles & Bob Dylan ?!?

This may have been the most impressive group to ever assemble in a recording studio. It happened  in January 1985.  After the American Music Awards a group of  musicians gathered at the A&M Studios in Hollywood, California to record a song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie, “We Are the World.”  The single was a worldwide success that raised over $63 million for famine relief in Africa (wikipedia.)  The nature of the cause, Michael Jackson’s enormous 80’s star power, and Quincy Jones’ power of persuasion, were no doubt the reasons that so many musicians took part.  It was amazing to watch the interaction of people like Diana Ross and Bob Dylan, or Stevie Wonder helping Bob Dylan work out his solo, so seeing Ray Charles improvising on the theme during a break.  In the 80’s it was easy to like Michael Jackson, he was on top of the world, and regardless of what happened later, his charity saved coutless lives, his dancing set a new standard, and along with Quincy Jones he created some very memorable music.  So for a few minutes, forget Neverland, Thriller and Bad and enjoy this special event.

Allman Brothers Band – What Now?

So what do Randy Brecker, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White have in common with Kid Rock, Eric Clapton and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top?

All were part of the Allman Brothers Band’s three-week musical extravaganza at New York City’s Beacon Theater celebrating the band’s 40th anniversary. This year’s list of surprise guests also included Johnny Winter, Taj Mahal, Sheryl Crow, John Hammond, Boz Scaggs, Chuck Leavell, Levon Helm, Bruce Hornsby, Southside Johnny, The Juke Horns, Buddy Guy, Susan Tedeschi, Bonnie Bramlett, Jimmy Herring, Robert Randolph, Sonny Landreth, Bob Margolin, John Popper, Trey Anastasio, and members of Los Lobos, Cowboy, Wet Willie and The Grateful Dead.

Please check out my recent piece on All About Jazz

The Allman Brothers Band – 40 Year Out

Jimmy Herring & Derek Trucks in a Quartett

You don’t have to imagine it, you can hear Jimmy and Derek accompanied by drums and bass.

It happened at the Cotton Club

Carlos Santana Video Interview

Carlos did a very nice interview last Thursday with Tavis Smiley of PBS.  The 22 minute video is online, but so far I can’t get it to play past seven and a half minutes.  But at least the audio is available in full.

Here’s a sample from the interview:

Tavis: At 60 years of age now, Carlos, do you feel anything — physically, that is — do you feel at 60, since you play so much, do you feel anything different in your hands at 60 than you did at —

Allman Brothers 40th – Ongoing Beacon Updates

UPDATE

A lot of people still seem to be interested in this subject, so I’m leaving this post up.  It was originally a daily review of each Beacon show, primarily using photos and set lists.  Thus it is in reverse order, last show first.

After watching it all and reflecting on the Allman Brothers 40th, I wrote an article that was published on All About Jazz.  You can read it here.

The Allman Brothers: 40 Years Out

Final Night

Fantastic Ending to a Great Run

Well, my guess about Phil Lesh was correct and I’m so happy that Chuck Leavell did indeed make it back from the timber conference in Idaho to close out the Beacon run – what a terrific surprise!  Chuck totally smoked the place, he was awesome.

The best $125 I've ever spent! Thanks to everyone @ Moogis!

On the final night the Moogis folks took us backstage for a tour.

Dan Seals – 1948 – 2009

from the Dan Seals website

Dan Seals will be missed, a country western artist who spoke out for unity, understanding and the elimination of prejudice.  His family asks that flowers not be sent, rather:  “If you want to honor Dan, you should oppose bigotry, intolerance and prejudice.”

My Interview with Derek Trucks

UPDATE: JAN 2010

The annual stats are in @ All About Jazz and this Derek Trucks interview was the most read interview on the site in the year 2009. It was also the #5 most read article overall.

Check out my interview with Derek Trucks, we talk about Clapton, Santana, Duane Allman, Tal Wilkenfeld, Johnny Winter and much more…

Women in Jazz – a sampling

Rolling Stones’ List of the Greatest Singers of All Time

According to Rolling Stone:

The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time

1 | Aretha Franklin

2 | Ray Charles

3 | Elvis Presley

Mitch Mitchell R.I.P. Last of the Hendrix Trio

From the  BBC:

Mitch Mitchell, the British drummer in the seminal 1960s band the Jimi Hendrix Experience, has been found dead in his US hotel room, authorities say.

The 61-year-old was discovered in the Benson Hotel in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of Wednesday.