Etta James, a little goodbye.

Another great voice of soul and blues has faded these days. She started fading, actually, a while ago, when her mind started to surrender to dementia and illness. But she was there, a living witness to what she was capable to do in the music world. There's no female singer of our times that didn't try to test herself on Etta James hits, and it was never an easy test to pass. Now she's gone. But sure as hell she's going to last.

Etta James singing her most popular hit in 2009. She was beautiful, and she had that sad vibe in her voice like it was the first and the last time she was singing that tune. Awesome.

I think that Aguilera is one of the few contemporary singers that found a personal way to render Etta James songs. She's got a different style, of course, but the same strenght and power and that touch of rage that I think has always been one of the signatures of Etta.

Maybe it should have been Etta that night. But still, Beyoncé gave a great rendition of this song and the couple dancing on the stage made everything very very special. Etta was mad about that, but she was shining on that stage even if she wasn't there. A nice tribute, freshly done, were Etta James voice shines out like a spark on a funky base that honours well her name. Free to download.

John Lee, voodoo's forever!

I have a special place in my heart for mr.Hooker. I saw him live in Italy a bunch of years ago (better not say how many). I was kind of new in the blues vibes, and I will never, never forget the thrill I felt when I heard that voice. It was something coming from inside, not from my ears, but from my bowel, or just around there. It was the power of the blues, the real one, that I was experiencing and those incredible frequencies that John Lee Hooker was able to get out of his vocal cords. I can still see the man, dress all in black, hat on, sunglasses, singin' Tupelo Blues and thousand of people falling in complete silence, hypnotized by the rhythm of the shoe on the floor and the hand on the guitar. I was looking for that feeling when I started the search and, surprise surprise, I think I found it! There are tons of tracks that make feel like Hooker's still alive and rocking. Listen to these, and you'll know he's still here, bluesing around the music of our days, hat on, unforgettable.

john lee hooker - hobo blues / karim full moon dub by `DJ KiMO Irresistible tune with perfect balance between the bluesy sound of Hooker voice and a base line that can't let you stay still. This is the right way to make a classic brand new. Great job.

Blues Brothers-John Lee Hooker (Bobby C Sound TV remix) by Bobby C Sound TV This track booms right in the middle! One of the most played tunes of Hooker & friends rended in a way that makes you wanna jump.

John Lee Hooker - Mad Man Blues (miX&dorp edit) by miX&dorp Mad Man Blues got new sounds, excellent sounds must say, and it shines like it was composed yesterday.

Tupelo (Blues Cover, All Vocals,Guitars & Bass by The Fat Man) by FatFreeProductions Making a rendition of this tune it's not easy at all. How could anybody compete with those bass frequencies that John Lee was able to reach like they came from his stomach? Nobody could. So, better try something different. And this is what these guys do, and they've done good.

And here's the real thing:

Best Christmas notes! ...at least for me.

Are you tired of the jingling-tingling-dindongling that's invading your ears everywhere you go? I surely am. So, I wanted to leave my blog for a little Christmas holiday with good sounds on it. Ok, it's Christmas, I can't deny it even if I try, but can we please please make the effort to listen to some decent christmas music? I did it:

and if jingle must be, be like this:

I could go on... but I have to cook a Christmas cake, so Happy Christmas everybody! See you before the year ends C.

Aux pies nus Cesaria walked away.

Cesaria Evora was one of a kind. She made popular all around the world a music and a place - Cabo Verde - that, if it was not for her, could still be ignored by the most.
Her voice was velvet, her songs were always in an unstable balance between sadness and joy, between Africa and Europe. Between.
And she was that kind of woman that without being a beauty could capture eyes and ears and stand on a stage keeping the audience in her hands, in her soft modulations and breaths.
She was a queen on bare foots. Aux pies nus she always went on the stage and like that, discreet, she went away. Have a nice trip, queen Evora. This is a little tribute.

The original:


The remix:
ROTW # 07 - Cesaria Evora - Petit Pays - (2002 - 20syl RMX) by 20syl

The interview:
Sarah Linhares interview with Cesaria Evora by Sarah Linhares

Lennon, better than ever.

Everybody's been honoring John Lennon in the anniversary of his death (8 december 1980). I'm a little late in this celebration and I must confess that I didn't have particularly deep feelings about this tribute. I'm not a fan of Beatles and if I had to choose I'd go for George Harrison, without a doubt.
But, I can't deny that Lennon represents a mile stone of music of all times, but I am still critical about his idolization. So, here I am trying to find new ways to keep Lennon's name alive without being obvious or boring.
I found some good reasons for this post looking in SoundCloud...

Imagine-a-jump-john-lennon-vs.-van-halen by jackstanleywp
Imagine that? Really? I don't know if van Halen would be pleased to hear this one, but I surely am.

John Lennon vs. Jay Z - Sweet And Sour (B.Chen Mashup) by B.Chen
A little less unprobable, but still surprising. This mashup actually works. And maybe the two of them would be pleased this time.

WORKING CLASS HERO (my tribute to John Lennon) by MariSela MuSik
I am always cautious when it comes to Lennon covers. Most of the time they're way too mellifluous and I can't go over the first minute. Not this time. This one is absolutely beautiful. MariSela is on my fav list from now on.

Fold - Happy Chocolate (feat. John Lennon & Nina Simone) by fold
This is more a beautiful speech than a song. But I like the way it sounds and I think that pairing Lennon and Nina Simone is a very good idea. The base line is also very cool.

Gershwin's here to stay.

Every single person who took a mic in the hands and tried to sing jazz had to cope with the Gershwins (I mean George and Ira). Their standards are a must. You can learn jazz playing them, singing them, staying on the classic path and then trying to skew and change patterns, inventing. The history of jazz has been made on those notes and still they're here, kind of a sound track for all of us jazz lovers, musicians, singers. Old stuff? If it's old, still rocks.

I loves you Porgy
Two different renditions of the same standard. Forget just for few minutes the incredible and unforgettable Nina Simone and retune on something new. Two ways to keep this song alive staying on the traditional (but nicely performed) pattern, or going a little ahead with a touch of modernism that does fit perfectly. Equally beautiful.





Summertime
This is what we should name a hit! There's almost nobody in music world that has not played this tune at least once in the lifetime. So whatever rendition you can think about, probably you'll find it. These are the Summertimes I found worth to be listened to and maybe bought.
Again, there's the classic one and the dary one.





Bonus Track

The Floyd's still pink

Some days ago I started thinking of some names that really really changed the music of our era. I came up with a few names and one of the first was Pink Floyd. I can't say I am a big fan of their music, but there's no way to underestimate their greatness. I started to wonder what could have been made with their music in these last 20 years, year more year less. And what I found out totally amazed me.


When I saw the title of this album I stopped, stared, and thought "what the hell...". I read all the story and started to do some research on the Internet. Is it true? Is it a big fake? Is it even hypothetically possible that Marvin Gaye and Pink Floyd recorded together? I know this thing's been around for a while, but I still have no answers. What I can surely say is that this album is amazing. Definitely amazing. And free. And if somebody happens to know something, please, please, tell us!


Another great finding. A classical guitar rendition of some of the most popular Floyds tracks.
Boring? Not for a single minute. Wonderful idea on excellent fingers. And Money is my fav.

Moving to the dj's & co places, I found out that dubstep community has an unconditional love for Pink Floyd and has produced some high quality tracks that could all be included here. But I had to choose and I did it just following my taste. If you're curious you could spend a night surfing on Floyd dubstep renditions.

Pink Floyd - Welcome To The Machine - IDeaL & J-Break dubstep remix by JBREAK

Comfortably Time - Pink Floyd DUBSTEP RMX (Pretty Lights v Pink Floyd v Stylust Beats) FREE DOWNLOAD by djstorms

Bonus Track, the odd mashup:
Pink Floyd vs Stevie Wonder - Another Brick In The Superstition (DJ Prince) by djprince

One sting, two sting, many bite!

When I was a little more than a child I had two (alright, maybe three) great loves: one was Prince. I loved him unconditionally, whatever he was doing. The other one was Sting. He was in the second place just because he was a little too blond and a little too british to be my first. But like many first love-s they didn't stop. Here I am, still in love with them (now I'm more focused on the music though). So, here are some different ways to make Police/Sting classics still perfectly alive. I was just a little surprise that with so many cool tracks they produced there are just few of them used for mashing and remixing. Roxanne's on the top... come on guys!

An unexpected version of this song. I really hadn't consider an englishman with umbrella and dubstep beats. Warning: It's contagious.
Sting - Englishman In New York (Free bootleg) by kator

Now two versions of the superclassic Roxanne. We heard it all, and still can't forget the tango version of Moulin Rouge. But still there's plenty of space to work on. My 3yrs old daughter was dancing and jumping to these two, so it should work for everybody.
LeeDM101 - Roxanne's Tainted Fly (The Police / Soft Cell / Miley Cyrus (?!)) by LeeDM101

Put On The RedLight ( Police vs Coldplay ) Dj Lobsterdust by Mixes and Mashups #2

Finally, one of the most played and danced bass lines ever ever. Walking on the moon. This is maybe a little too ambient to my taste, but I think it wasn't bad to chill out a bit.
The Police - Walking on The Moon (sageone remix feat Hannah Fogel) by sageone

Miles around

With this post I open a new section dedicated to revisiting the classics of music history. I thought it could be interesting because sometimes we tend to think that some figures are kind of untouchable, but actually they're not. On the contrary I think that the best music is the music that you can keep using, modifying and modeling and still remains great. I also thought that one of the best example in music history of this concept of music "plastic" was Miles Davis.

 The rendition:

The remix:

The mashup:
Miles Davis remixes by ethanhein