Thursday, April 23, 2009
WE'VE MOVED
THE CINEMA 21 MOVIE THEATER
NAME CHANGE
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
SADDEST MOMENT OF ALL TIME IN MOVIE HISTORY
DVD PICK OF THE WEEK - AZUMI
Azumi is a female assassin on a deadly mission and will let no one get in her way. At one point of the film Azumi takes on 200 samurai in a blood soaked conclusion. This review is for the first Azumi however this movie did spawn a part two dvd that is also great as well. An action packed and blood spattered movie that you are sure to enjoy! Hey, have I ever steered you wrong before? Check out the trailer and see what I'm talkin' about!
Monday, April 20, 2009
A DAY AT VENICE BEACH
Some people I know have never been to Venice Beach and others either don't like it or are scared to go. I know there are homeless people and bums around but so what?
Me? I've been going to Venice Beach for years. Although there are many other beaches that are nicer, to me they are just sand and the ocean. At Venice you have all of the entertainment and all of the people selling things on the boardwalk. We typically get there in the morning and stroll the boardwalk, which takes over 2 hours. Then we have a bite to eat and head down to the beach. Yesterday I took my iPod and promptly dozed off as soon as I laid down. The photos below are not pictures that I took but are just an example of the sights down at Venice Beach. What? You say you've never been? Well go check it out and get hip!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
LET THE NBA PLAYOFF'S BEGIN
Now, the real season starts, the playoffs! I look forward to watching at least two games every single night and doing absolutely nothing productive! To me the NBA playoffs are truly exciting to watch with great games every night.
Monday, April 13, 2009
DVD PICK OF THE WEEK - SWING GIRLS
This is a hilarious movie that is definitely a lot of fun to watch and I must say I have watched it several times. Watch the ups and downs of the band as the girls skills progress and then the final conclusion, their performance in a jazz competition.
The video is part of the performance of the Swing Girls in action. Enjoy!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
REGGAE CD PICK OF THE WEEK - GARNETT SILK - MUSIC IS THE ROD
This weeks reggae cd pick of the week goes to legendary reggae singer Garnet Silk with the double cd titled Music Is The Rod. This is a best of cd and contains most of the hits from the brief career of Garnet Silk. I had heard many reggae performers mention Garnet's influence but didn't get hip to him until fairly recently.
Garnet was known for his powerful and smooth voice. During the early 1990s he was hailed as a rising talent, but his career was cut short in 1994 when he died while attempting to save his mother while his house was on fire.
Go here to hear some audio samples of this great cd!
http://www.amazon.com/Reggae-Anthology-Music-Garnett-Silk/dp/B00066VTUI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1239493783&sr=8-1
View the video to hear a live performance by Garnet Silk with the ode to his mother titled Mama. Rest in peace Garnet Silk and may your music live on!
LATIN FUNK CD PICK OF THE WEEK - ILLYA KURYAKI
http://www.amazon.com/Leche-Illya-Kuryaki-Valderramas/dp/B00000K1K3/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1239492188&sr=8-1
Friday, April 10, 2009
JAZZ CD PICK OF THE WEEK - BOBBY HUTCHERSON - DIALOGUE
TIME FOR ANOTHER TRIP TO CHINATOWN
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
LOVE ALBUM OF THE DECADE (THE 70's) THE TEMPREES
Sunday, April 5, 2009
BACK TO BLOGGING
Monday, March 30, 2009
JAZZ ARTIST OF THE WEEK - CANNONBALL ADDERLEY
Now I thought I was pretty hip to Cannonball's recordings and have 18 cd's by him currently in my collection. I must say though that I was caught completely off guard by some of these release (pictured) that I knew absolutely nothing about! How could this be? A hip guy like me? I believe most of these have never been released on cd and are only available on rare vinyl if you can find them. The lp Love, Sex, and The Zodiac features narration by Rick Holmes. Now most of you are probably not old enough to know but Rick Holmes was the premiere DJ on the Los Angeles jazz station KBCA (105.1) in the early 70's. KBCA then became KKGO and is now KKJZ (88.1 in Long Beach). Anyway, Rick Holmes had the 6:00PM - 9:00PM time slot during the week and played the hippest jazz anywhere! I used to listen to his show (Rick's Affair) every week night.
Anyway, check out http://myjazzworld.blogspot.com/
for downloads of these rare recordings. Too lazy to do that?
Then check out some video of my man, Cannonball Adderley and get hip!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
GOD BLESS AMERICA
Thursday, March 26, 2009
JAZZ CD PICK OF THE WEEK - KENNY BURRELL
What? You say you're not hip to this recording? Well click on the link below to hear some audio samples of this great recording
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
BOOK REVIEW - ELECTRIC MILES DAVIS
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
PHOTO OF THE WEEK - MACHU PICCHU
Monday, March 23, 2009
BLOG PHOTO UPDATE
REGGAE CD PICK OF THE WEEK - GREGORY ISAACS
Saturday, March 21, 2009
LATIN FUNK - LOS MOCOSOS
JAZZ OBOE - YUSEF LATEEF
Enjoy the sounds of Yusef Lateef!
Friday, March 20, 2009
TRIBUTE TO THE BLUES
OK, now I like listening to the blues as much as anyone however for some reason I don't really have that many blues cd's in my collection. I have some Buddy Guy, some Albert Collins and also Michael John and The Bottomline (a great local blues band).
This past weekend I rented the Cadillac Records dvd which is the story of Chess Records and some of their recording artists (Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Etta James and Chuck Berry.
Now I may not have selected the best videos available however I thought I would pay my respects to the blues with a few choice clips of some of these artists. Enjoy!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
DVD PICK OF THE WEEK - FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS
FUNK ARTIST OF THE WEEK - JAMES BROWN
Check out this video of James at his funky best on Soul Train! Dig it!
JAZZ ARTIST OF THE WEEK - SONNY ROLLINS
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
ZATOICHI - THE BLIND SWORDSMAN
The original Zatoichi movie first aired in 1962 and spawned a total of 25 subsequent sequels (and you thought there were a lot of Rocky sequels). In addition Zatoichi spun off into a television series of the same name and aired for 112 episodes. I currently only own the first four movies and a few of the television episodes but I expect this number to grow in the very near future. Anyway, check out Zatoichi when you get a chance. You will not be disappointed!
The link below will take you to a listing of all Zatoichi films made.
http://www.momii.com/zatoichi/faqs.html#listing
Check out some video of my man Zatoichi
Monday, March 16, 2009
LATIN CD PICK OF THE WEEK - YURI BUENAVENTURA
Check out Yuri in action
Sunday, March 15, 2009
REGGAE CD PICK OF THE WEEK - DENNIS BROWN
JAZZ CD PICK OF THE WEEK - SONNY CLARK
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
THE BEST DECADE FOR MUSIC
There are those that thought the best decade of music was the 60's (British invasion, Motown) or the 80's (Heavy Metal Bands) but for me the best decade of music was and always will be the 70's.
The music being made in the 70's is timeless and to me some of the best music that was ever made. Let me give you some examples of some of the artists who were making great music at this time. I'm sure I am forgetting several artists but I'm sure my many readers will let me know.
- SOUL and FUNK - Ohio Players (pictured), Tower of Power, Mandrill, Kool and the Gang, Parliament, Slave, Earth, Wind and Fire, The Commodores, James Brown, Donny Hathaway, The Dramatics, War, Average White Band, Sun, Bootsy Collins, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Isley Brothers, GQ, Gil Scott Heron as well as "love groups" such as the Delfonics, Temprees, Blue Magic, Stylistics, Whatnauts, Black Ivory, Chi-Lites
- REGGAE - Bob Marley was putting out his best music in the 70's although I knew nothing about him at the time
- SALSA - The latin salsa coming out of New York in the 70's is timeless (Willie Colon. Hector Lavoe, Celia Cruz, Tito Puente)
- AFRICA - The jazz funk sounds of Fela Kuti
- JAZZ - Jazz music suffered in the 70's as the artists (above) overwhelmed the scene. Jazz at this time was undergoing a jazz funk phase with releases on CTI and KUDU being extremely popular although not my particular cup of tea in a lot of cases.
I rest my case. Some may disagree but for me the 70's was some of the best music ever made!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
CHINATOWN AND JAZZ (WHAT?)
Where else can you buy the latest Asian movies, shop for Bruce Lee t-shirts and buy Asian hats. I passed (for now) on the hat that said "No Money - No Honey" Oh well, maybe next visit. Going there is like being transported to another country at times. It really is a lot of fun and I would recommend Chinatown to anyone.
Also for those that don't know there is also a jazz club located in the heart of Chinatown (see photo). I'm not sure what level of talent is booked at this club but it is always refreshing to see a place that supports live jazz.
This jazz club is also home to what's known as The Beat Swap Meet where thousands of LP's. 12 inch singles and 45's are for sale while DJ's spin the latest and greatest beats. It doesn't appear they sell cd's at this show, only vinyl. So all you vinyl hounds go check it out!
I don't know how often this record show is held but I know on March 15th they will be holding their first anniversary event. For more info go to http://www.beatswapmeet.com/
Anyway, as always another fun day in Chinatown as I picked up the latest movies (Chinese action and Korean suspense) to enjoy.
Friday, March 6, 2009
BLU-RAY?
LATIN CD PICK OF THE WEEK - WILLIE COLON
LATIN JAZZ AND SALSA ON THE RADIO
- Latin Jazz - 88.1 FM (KKJZ) Monday through Friday from 5:00PM - 7:00PM
- Salsa - 90.7 FM (KPFK) Saturday 8:00PM - 10:00PM
- Salsa - 107.5 FM (KLVE) Saturday 8:00PM - 11:00PM (not sure when this program ends as I haven't listened to it much lately)
MANNY SIGNS WITH THE DODGERS
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
MY TOP TRUMPET PLAYERS
- Miles Davis
- Freddie Hubbard
- Kenny Dorham
- Clifford Brown
- Booker Little
I'm sure there are many more that I am missing but I'm sure my many readers will let me know if there any I may have missed.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
LIVE CD PICK OF THE WEEK - JAMES BROWN
The iPod
JAZZ CD PICK OF THE WEEK - STANLEY TURRENTINE
DVD PICK OF THE WEEK - KING BOXER
Check out the trailer for King Boxer
Monday, March 2, 2009
JAZZ ARTIST OF THE WEEK - ANDREW HILL
REGGAE CD PICK OF THE WEEK - HORACE ANDY
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Sunday, March 1, 2009
MY TOP FIVE ALTO SAX PLAYERS
For some reason I listen to more tenor sax players than alto sax players. Since I have listed my top five tenor sax players I guess I might as well list my top five (only five?) alto sax players.
- Charlie Parker ( a real no-brainer)
- Sonny Stitt
- Cannonball Adderly
- Jackie McLean
- Art Pepper
Honorable Mention: Gary Bartz, Ornette Coleman. Hmmm..........anyone else? I'm sure I'm probably forgetting a lot of them but I'm drawing a real blank on alto players.