Going for a Spin

Normally I don’t read Spin Magazine. I’m not into the grunge rock and punk music, and that’s what they seem to focus on. I think it’s great that some of these kids have a shot at a singing or performing career, but since I don’t have college age kids I just can’t get my head into what they are singing about or how they look. The extreme hair and makeup, the tattoos, the piercings - it’s so boring. Really boring. What I’d like to see is kids that are clean and groomed and take music seriously along the lines of lyrics meaningful to more than just 13 and 14 year old spoiled brats.

But I do like reading the ads in this magazine. You can learn a lot about a variety of things in today’s pop culture by reading the ads. Especially if you have an interest in liquor and electronics. You’ll read about things you aren’t exposed to in any other popular medium. That’s the downside of targeting ads to narrow demographics. The slick marketing pros in NYC and LA don’t always get it right.

Thanks for the Riffs, LeRoi

Bummed out to learn this morning of the death of the sax player in the Dave Matthews Band, LeRoi Moore.

Beside some hit tunes, one of the things I really liked about the Dave Matthews Band is that it was a true college band gone golden story. The band was formed in Charlottesville, VA, which is a little college town in central Virginia.

LeRoi was a sax player trying to chase dreams of a jazz band but ended up hooking up with his friend and fellow jazz player, Carter Beauford (drums) and Dave Matthews who was working as a bartender, back in 1991. They went on to create a great sound and the band has a string of hit records and tours constantly.

LeRoi was riding an ATV on his farm in Charlottesville on June 30 when he wrecked it and got hurt. He’s been recovering at his L.A. home while Jeff Coffin filled in for him on the Dave Matthews Band summer gigs, but was rushed to the hospital yesterday where he died from “complications.”

Jeff Coffin has played with Bela Fleck and I wonder if he will end up staying with Dave Matthews? He has big riffs to fill with the loss of LeRoi.

New CD

My family has a long tradition of being musicians and I have a deep appreciation for music. Everyone in my family has, at the very least, a piano in the house. With my uncles and cousins bringing their musical instruments, we could have a full fledged orchestra.

I still love to listen to piano instrumentals and am a Jim Brickman fan. I like Yanni, too, but a lot of his music is over produced and too complicated. I recently discovered another pianist that I like, David Lanz. I bought a two CD set from Amazon, The Ultimate David Lanz Narada Collection, that just came and I’ve been listening to it. There are only two songs on it that I skip over - the rest is really good and easy on the ears.

Long Road Out of Eden

One of my birthday presents was the new Eagles album, “Long Road Out of Eden.” I’ve heard one of the cuts on the radio, “Just Too Busy Being Fabulous,” which is a good song and an interesting commentary to people of my generation. So I cuoldn’t wait to hear the other songs on the double CD.

First time all the way through, my first impression was that the whole album sounded very typically Eagles. There were a couple songs that were easy on the ears and a couple that sounded a little edgey, and an instrumental that was absolutely haunting.

I had to listen to it a second time before I could say that I really like it. Now I am really starting to like a couple of the songs, especially “Waiting in the Weeds.” Now, I don’t really know what the song is totally about, but the tune is very catchy and I find myself humming along to it. I just need to listen for the words a little harder and figure it out. But overall, I like this album a lot.

Nine Lives

They say, “a cat has nine lives.”

They call musicians, “cats.”

I wonder if musicians have nine lives?

Or is there some other meaning to Steve Winwood’s newest album, “Nine Lives”? Has Steve gone through 8 of them already and this is his last? Scary thought, especially if he believes that. There is nothing in the liner notes - yes, I read all the liner notes in every album - to explain the title of this album. I don’t get it - so I’m going to have to dig deeper.

Steve Winwood and his songwriting partner, Godwin, wrote every song on the album. There’s only 9 songs on the album - a little light on the load for today’s typical CD. On the other CDs that I bought today, there are 13 on Willie’s, 11 on John’s, and 14 on Tom’s. (Can you guess the last names of these 3? I’ll talk about those in other posts, so read on, my friends. Heh heh.) So I guess Steve is having us pay for quality - not quantity.

On the first track, Steve plays all the instruments himself. But the reason I bought the album, unheard, is that I know his good friend, Eric Clapton plays a kick ass guitar solo on the song, “Dirty City.” This is depressing look at a working man’s life with an odd upbeat, and it lasts 7 minutes 44 seconds. Another great bathroom break song for the radio DJs, and my favorite of all the tracks.