Podcasts about he ain't heavy he's my brother

He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother

Þriðji og síðasti þáttur um bresku bítsveitina Hollies frá Manchester. Lögin sem hljóma í þættinum heita: Do The Best You Can, Sorry Suzanne, He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother, Gasoline Alley Bred, Hey Willy, Long Cool Woman (In Black Dress), Long Dark Road, The Baby, The Air That I Breathe, Sandy og Stop In The Name Of Love.

Þriðji og síðasti þáttur um bresku bítsveitina Hollies frá Manchester. Lögin sem hljóma í þættinum heita: Do The Best You Can, Sorry Suzanne, He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother, Gasoline Alley Bred, Hey Willy, Long Cool Woman (In Black Dress), Long Dark Road, The Baby, The Air That I Breathe, Sandy og Stop In The Name Of Love.

So we are definitely feeling the coming of Spring, the greening of the Earth now easily visible, the blossom on the trees, the energy builds, the coming of new life, the breath of the universe. Well this is the Cosmic Jam, what do you expect, a treatise on the benefits big pharma? No we're dedicated to a more holistic approach in case you hadn't realised. I for one am certainly feeling the benefits of a change of diet recently and adopting an even healthier lifestyle, not that I was wallowing in a trough of fast food and bad habits before!! Does this have an effect on The Cosmic Jam… well I hope a beneficial one if any. Positivity abounds at Forge towers of late, and we're enjoying the music more than ever, I suppose if anything I've had a bit of soulful renaissance, in that it's the SOUL that's tipping my balance, but JAZZ is still there in abundance, perhaps in the not too dim and distant I'll do a dedicated Jazz Jam just to renew my faith. Not that Jazz doesn't gets look in in this week's selection far from it, in fact I programmed a distinctly jazztastic left turn early on in proceedings as I didn't want to get caught up in House music, though I really did want to play the Kyodai remix of Shuya Okino's "Still In Love" which kicks things off after a little acapella affirmation from The Peech Boys. So after that blast of jazz infused club energy, we get the rugged tenor of Bob Berg, the smooth but textured vibes of The Expansions and the invigoratingly fresh Agora Ensemble to complete a first section that definitely holds up the jazz content of this week's show. Brazilian music is so close to my heart and most of the qualities that I admire are present in the Ivan Lins tune "Quadros De Roda" the swing of the Samba is all pervasive, just listen to Lins' piano and imagine how difficult it is to play like that, it's not complicated but the feel, and that word again, swing, are sublime. Melody is also paramount and I love the vocal chorus. So We gets little funkier with a Gal Costa tune from her much ignored but undeniably brilliant eighties period. I had a little exchange with Rainer Truby about these tunes during the week so I was very happy to expand my collection with a copy of her Minha Voz album acquired for a fairly nominal sum, and I soon zoomed in on Musa Cabocla with it's slightly Steely Dan-esque horns and rippling rhythm section. In a world where AOR/ Yacht Rock has suddenly become a hip new sound, (some would say scraping the barrel in search of rare grooves) such Brazilian lushness as this Gal tune is vastly preferable to my ears than some of the obscure bits that are currently changing hands for silly sums. However I have lately developed a penchant for Hawaiian rare groove/soul/ folk-funk, call it what you will there's a distinct flavour to the island's music that I've picked up through my love of Seawind, the band that justifiably crossed over into the US mainstream and various CD reissues that I've picked up in Japan. Seawind, led by the drummer and prolific songwriter Bob Wilson with his wife Pauline on vocals, coupled with the musical wherewithal of Larry Williams and that killer horn section, are definitely way up there in my estimation and not just for their bona fide jazz-dance classics "He Loves You" and "Free", though "Devil Is A Liar" is attune that's always had plays and props from the London cognoscenti, it ticks all the boxes and then some for that Hawaiian sound, like a boogie tune infused with gospel and folk vibes played by a killer jazz-funk ensemble, so good to hear that again. The Nohelani Cypriano tune that follows was a highlight of the recent Floating Points/Love On The Run session at Plastic People, every time I hear that intro I just melt!! Tavares are a band I've studiously ignored through the years, however that all changed when I heard "Ridin High" recently, reminiscent of The Natural Four, it's pedigree vocal harmony business. The Mighty Clouds Of Joy's album was something I bought on spec recently instinctively knowing it would have the kind of gospel-boogie that "Glow Love" turned out to be. Tarika Blue's classic "Truth Is The Key" closes the first hour, just remembering the joy when I first got my grubby mitts on a copy of that album raises a smile now!! I was so obsessed with James Mason's Rhythm Of Life album when I heard about (kind of related) Tarika Blue I went nuts until I eventually connected with a copy! Memories… but the music still sounds great. Some new Jazz worthy of the Cosmic Jam's high standards, and you know I wouldn't kick off the second half of the show with any old rubbish, takes us off into that mesmeric territory that in many ways was first mapped out by the great Sun Ra. Nick Woodmansey aka Emanative who produced Collocutor's "Archaic Morning" is a huge Sun Ra fan and space-jazz evangelist, and for my money he's getting closer and closer to a sound that genuinely embodies that incredible heritage whilst also having a contemporary twist. Archaic Morning is properly tranced out, a good way to drop into another great track from Melanie De Biasio's excellent No Deal, The Flow is deeper than deep, so much so we had to brighten up after that darkening of the mood. And Greetje Kaufeld's version of the devotional "Day By Day" from the gospel rock opera Godspell is one that I adore with it's bonkers big band arrangement . Michael Gregory Jackson's albums are just the kind of left footed soulful music that always fell between the cracks of most tastes back in the day, (as did so much great music, I can remember throwing way Rotary Connection and Lou Bond albums when I worked for Reckless Records in the late eighties because they's been reduced all the way down to 50p and still no takers!) These days these kind of artists are better appreciated for the way in which they threw together so many influences, I love the MGJ's Heart ANd Center album and "Lovin You" just gets better for me, kind of like an East Coast Shuggie Otis. Had to pull out the Dave Valentin album The Hawk, to touch down on "We'll Make Love" with Angela Bofill on vocals, the pair had worked together since being involved in Ricardo Marrero's groups, and you can't mess with the production values of the GRP label, the sound is impeccable, and of course the players Dave Grusin brought through from the jamaica Queens posse, Marcus Miller, Dennis Chambers, Don Blackman, Bernard Wright, wow , what a stable!! Esther Marrow's "Ask Me To Dance" is another fine tune, written and arranged by Bobby Scott whose credits are as impressive as anyone's in the history of popular music. This is the man who wrote " A Taste Of Honey" and "He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother" , ooof! So by way of a finale I had to start with a tune that I've had lurking around for a while, but not found a way to play, as it's not the kind of thing that sits easily in most types of Cosmic Jam sequence. However Pat Williams "Joy Joy" is a beautifully bonkers piece of orchestrated funk that definitely deserved an airing, so I goaded myself into it by posting a picture of the cover on Instagram beforehand!! Following on with a bona fide rare groove classic from 9th Creation, and a favourite from Caldera, the ever impressive "Sky Islands", before we land on "Do You Want To Dance" from Jim Messina's rather wonderful Oasis album which also takes me back to early days of The Cosmic Jam, I've only just re-acquired this on vinyl, it's proper West Coast, Steely Dan at the disco business… time to go before I get carried away. Hope you enjoy the music. May I remind you about a little session well worth investigating…. https://www.facebook.com/events/609272492453291/ 1. NYC Peech Boys - Life Is Something Special (Acapella) 2. Shuya Okino ft Navasha Deya - Still In Love (Kyodai Remix) 3. Bob Berg - Shapes 4. The Expansions - Lavender 5. Agora Ensemble - Vila Madalena 6. Ivan Lins - Quadras De Roda 7. Gal Costa - Musa Cabocla 8. Seawind - The Devil is a Liar 9. Nohelani Cypriano - Lihue 10. Tavares - Ridin High 11. Mighty Clouds Of Joy - Glow Love 12. Tarika Blue - Truth Is the Key 13. Collocutor - Archaic Morning 14. Melanie De Biasio - The Flow 15. Greetje Kaufeld - Day By Day 16. Michael Gregory Jackson - Lovin' You 17. Esther Marrow - Ask Me To Dance 18. Pat Williams - Joy Joy 19. 9th Creation - Much Too Much 20. Caldera- Sky Islands 21. Jim Messina - Do You Want To Dance 22. MUV - Torte De Chocolate