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:

Homenaje a "El Goyo", igbaé bayen tonù.

Hace unos pocos dias falleciò en la Habana Gregorio "El Goyo" Hernandez, 75 años, uno de los representantes de la màs autentica voz afrocubana de la isla. El Goyo no solamente ha sido un gran artista de la rumba y de toda la cultura afrocubana, si no también un maestro para generaciones de cubanos y extranjeros que através de su personalidad, conocimientos y capacidad de comunicar aprendieron los secretos de tan grande y profunda cultura.

Igbaé, Goyo, ahora estas rumbeando con los grandes.

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.

Traveling: South Africa

I can't think of a weirder place than South Africa. The nature takes your breath away, and people is the strangest mix of colours and languages and cultures that you can think about. And there's this deep, souring wound of recent history hidden almost everywhere. I've been in S.A. just for few days, but I definetely want to go back and stay longer cause I totally fell in love with the place. This is a little musical journey in that different world.


This is the kind of folk album that I can listen over and over without getting bored. There's blues in it, and beautiful verses, and this soft, kind of nostalgic athmosphere that totally traps you. Beautiful.


When I think of S.A. music I immediately think "voices". And Moloi is one of the most promising voices of the south african panorama. Born in Soweto, raised in the U.S, there's a little of this and a lot of that in his work. But most of all, there's this incredibly soft and versatile voice.


Speaking of mixed things... this album has a little bit of everything: dubstep, reaggae, hip hop and this political and angry lyrics that are worth a listening.


I chose this album cause I have kids and I know how hard it is to find good kids music. When I saw the smile on my little ones faces I knew this one was good.

Bonus track:

Goapele is one of the best NuSoul voices ever. She belongs to the golden era of Maxwell and Floetry, before the big bang with D'Angelo, Badu & co. So here she is, with her page on BandCamp and some beautiful tracks where her voice still brights.

Black in the 80's

I was searching around trying to put together some music for my new post tagged Black. And I stepped into this album. Firstly I didn't recognize the name, but when I saw the track list I had kind of a flash-back. Wonderful life? "that" wonderful life? Yes, that one. Back to 1987 mr.Colin Vearncombe aka Black made it up to the top-ten with this tune that became quite a classic of the 80's. Then he kind of desappeared, like many stars of that period. And, there he is, BandCamping with this very new album. He's quite freezed in the 80's but still sounds good. Same warm voice, same sweet feeling.

Time to Re-Otis

If Jay-Z and Kanye West make a tribute to Otis Redding is kind of inevitable there'll be a big fall out. A lot of musicians, artists, djs and so on are rethinking one of the biggest ones and that's good for us. Because there's nothing wrong in revisiting, remixing, re-editing music like Redding's. That music will just never die. Not easy to make it better, just different. And different's good enough.

Hard to Handle - Otis Redding (Hawk Edits re-edit) by Jackmaster Hawk
The real thing. Re-edited, and done pretty well!

Otis feat. Otis Redding by watchthethrone
Amd this is the Jay/West idea. Absolutely not a bad idea.

Otis Redding - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (scratchandsniff re-rub) by scratchandsniff
Is there anybody who doesn't know this one? No way. Another good re-edited version.

Dj Czech Vs Otis "Hard to Handle" by Dj Czech
This tune comes from unsuspicious times... maybe JayZ or Kanye heard it?

Jill's back in da house!

Jill Scott is one of the best female voices of our generation. She sounds so soulful, and funky, not only great voice, but excellent writer. She kind of disappeared for a while. But she's back and she's totally at her best! Check out two of her tracks directly on her Soundcloud page and, if you have always liked her, take a journey on some different versions of her hits.

Jill Scott "Golden" (Grant Nelson Remix) by Grant Nelson

JIll Scott - He Loves Me (Qalvrs Lost Love Remix) 320kbps (FINAL Unmastered) by qalvr

Jill Scott & Anthony Hamilton - So in Love (Sounds of Soul Rework) by SOS Remix

Jill Scott – Honey Molasses (bydesign edit) by bydesign

Bye Amy.

I come late. But here I am, extremely sad. I hope her soul keeps singing somewhere around here. Bye Amy.

Great tribute, with beautiful versions of Amy's hits.

Amy, Amy, Amy! by Doc Tv on Mixcloud

Stronger Than Me (Flatline Remix) - Amy Winehouse RIP by Flatline London
Dubstep version of the most popular songs she sang. Moving and kind of melancholic.

"Back To Frank" Funky DL samples Amy Winehouse [click "buy this set" to download for FREE!!] by funkydl
This is a hip hop version of the whole Frank album. It's been made in unsuspicious times and I think it sounds extremely good. If you want to download, it's free.

Amy Winehouse - Stronger Than Me (Daims Moombahsoul Edit) by DAIMS&CHRISUPREME
Another version of Stronger than me, totally different. Good vibe, cool beat, I would just kill that ah-uh thing... anyway, I like it.

Cabral, un homenaje.

Este post es un recuerdo dedicado a la figura de Facundo Cabral, poeta, cantautor, mensajero de paz y de justicia para toda America Latina. Falleciò ayer en un atentado en Ciudad de Guatemala y se apagò una voz bien conocida en la cultura hispanica y casi totalmente ignorada por el resto del mundo. Buen viaje Facundo! Esta es una pequeña despedida:

Homenaje a "FACUNDO CABRAL" /DIVINA RADIO/ CONDUCE GUADALUPE DIVINA by Guadalupe Divina on Mixcloud

Goodbye Gil.

Gil Scott Heron died. He's been a peculiar kind of a prophet, with light and dark sides. He saw a lot of things, he talked about justice, rage, isolation. He talked about life and struggle. He's been great. And this is just a little tribute. Rest in peace.

Gil Scott Heron Tribute by Shpakt on Mixcloud

Gil Scott Heron's been the inspiration for an entire generation of musicians and rappers and poets. This Mixtape is a sample of that path.

Celebs like the Net: The Roots

The Roots and particularly the backbone of the band, QuestLove, have always been one of my favourite, ever. Now that I found this... the quotations of this group in my music heart have raised up to the top. This is a free (!!!) mixtape created by the Roots as a tribute to the producer JDilla. Fourteen tracks with the strong presence of QuestLove vibes and the coolness of JDilla tunes.
Of course it's been "legally" cannibalized by almost everyone works or play with music&mixes. Wanna be the next one?

The Roots – Dilla Joints by Hypetrak

Celebrating Mr. Marley

A special post to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the death of the king of reggae and the ambassador of the Rastafarian philosophy Bob Marley.
While the star system is releasing tribute albums, preparing big events and doin' his star system job, the independent music world is not far behind. Best said, is far ahead. I chose some works dedicated to this great figure, not caring about the anniversary, but just about the music.

The mixtape #3
Bob Marley & sons together in one compilation of 29 tracks, more than an hour of classics.

Bob Marley Masterpiece by Retro Reggae on Mixcloud

The albums


This actually is a tribute album , with no big names but very very cool and original versions of the most popular Marley tunes from an independent label based in Chicago.



This album is entirely made of mashups between Marley, Hendrix and Notorious BIG. Think it's crazy? Maybe it is, but sounds damn good!

The remix&mashups

So many tracks I found... but I made a choice and these are simply impossible to miss.

Bob Marley - Exodus (HavocNdeeD RemiX) by HavocNdeeDsounD

Bob Marley - Sun is shining (Red House remix) by Red House

Nas vs Bob Marley - One Love (DJ Wax On Remix) by djwaxon

Celebs like Camp: Boris Larramendi

Maybe this is a name that doesn't ring any bell for a lot of you. But if you happen to have some relationship with Cuba, cuban music, cuban movies... maybe you remember the project Habana Abierta and the beautiful music that came out of it.
Well, the mind of most of Habana Abierta tracks was Boris.
Now he lives in Madrid and makes his own music, with the help of a lot of cuban stars, just to name two of them Horacio "el negro" Hernandez and Roberto Carcasses.


If you didn't know him, give this album a try and you'll know why he's a Celeb.

Celebs like the Net: Ludacris

If you're familiar with myspace maybe you know the operation "Hijack", started by Black Eyed Peas and followed by a bunch of music and screen celebrities.
This time I'd like to spotlight Ludacris page, with a lot of stuff: tracks, videos, links, pictures...

Couldn't help to complete this with a supa-funk Ludacris mashup.

Ludacris & Big Pun Feat Chicago-Street Player-Relative Funk Remix by Relative Funk SoundSystem

Celebs like Camp: Sergent Garcia

Who says that Bandcamp, SoundCloud and whatever there's out there on the net for musicians and artists in general is just for wannabes? There are lots of well known people who know how to reach their fans using these tools.
Sergent Garcia is one of them. He's always been on the other side of music system, and now, after 5 years of silence, he's chosen the www to make his coming back, free and independent, as always.