The News Review:
- The Segmented Society
- Music Reviews-Box Sets
- Eric Clapton at the Crossroads again
- Amit Chaudhuri’s This Is Not Fusion
- ld Music Tuesday: ‘The Joshua Tree’ 20 Years Later
The Segmented Society
New York Times – Nov 20, 2007
He played in a series of bands on the Jersey shore and when a friend wanted to draw on his encyclopedic blues knowledge for a song called “Tenth Avenue Freeze-ut” Van Zandt wound up as a guitarist for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. The 1970s were a great moment for musical integration. Artists like the Rolling Stones and Springsteen drew on a range of musical influences and produced songs that might be country-influenced soul-influenced blues-influenced or a combination of all three. These mega-groups attracted gigantic followings and can still fill huge arenas.
Music Reviews-Box Sets
San Francisco Chronicle – Nov 20, 2007
Harris deserves credit for including the curiosity and by cut two she’s on to sturdier stuff — a duet with Gram Parsons. It’s a nice transition because Harris says she found her voice singing with Parsons. Lots of wonderful music follows. There are 78 songs in all with two discs of Harris’ personal favorites and two discs featuring previously unreleased material collaborations and songs that appeared on tribute albums. The set’s fifth disc is an entertaining DVD with nine performances dating back as far as 1975. “Songbird” is a valuable companion to a two-disc anthology released by Rhino in 2001 that focuses on Harris’ hits. These performances are less well know but just as compelling… Spread out over five discs the most well-known songs and performers are thrown together with more obscure gems from Elektra’s vaults to showcase how the label evolved over that decade. Beginning as a haven for folk singers the first disc features contributions from Collins Phil chs Richard Farina and others who helped shape and drive forward the folk music boom of the early ’60s. But the last two songs one from the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and an early version of the Doors’”Moonlight Mile” points to a turning point not only for Elektra but the entire music industry. While it’s always nice to hear familiar songs in a new light when put next to less familiar tunes it’s the ones that come out of nowhere that really make “Forever Changing” a compelling listen. The Zodiac Cosmic Sounds anyone? Ars Nova? And don’t forget The Waphphle. More than half of the 117 songs were never previously available on compact disc. And the 76-page richly illustrated booklet is chock full of useful tidbits about the songs and artists ranging from the poignant to the funny the interesting to the insipid.
Eric Clapton at the Crossroads again
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Pittsburgh Post Gazette – Nov 20, 2007
King Sonny Landreth Jimmy Vaughan Robert Cray and more. But they are there for the watching. If you love Eric Clapton if you love great guitar music if you love the mother’s milk of the blues save a few hours to take in these marvelous performances. Even though it’s Clapton’s gig he’s almost just another guest here fitting into the lineup looking more and more like an English prof at some trendy little college. But his fingers still fly belying the slowhand years. Do I sound like I enjoyed all this? Good.
Amit Chaudhuri’s This Is Not Fusion
abc.net.au – Nov 20, 2007
TranscriptTranscriptThis transcript was typed from a recording of the program. The ABC cannot guarantee its complete accuracy because of the possibility of mishearing and occasional difficulty in identifying speakers. Ramona Koval: We often come across novels about music or novels in which music is a central theme. But it’s not so often that we come across a writer who makes music as well. Amit Chaudhuri is at least one exception to the rule. He’s just released a CD called This Is Not Fusion. It’s a mixture of eastern and western music and an exploration of what it means to fuse two cultural traditions but it’s also quite literary too… I was a very reluctant student of music. My mother is really an excellent singer and she tried to teach me Indian music but I used to run away from it. So later on when I was about 12 or 13 I began to play the guitar and then kept playing the guitar until I was about 19. But around the time I was 16 years old in Bombay I began to learn Indian classical music I suddenly got very attracted to that whole tradition and gradually I stopped playing and then listening to western music so that by the time I went to London as a student in ’83 I had stopped listening and playing western popular music altogether. Ramona Koval: So you were steeped in the music with your musical mother. How did she feel about you taking it up suddenly? bviously you resisted at first but then you embraced it. Amit Chaudhuri: Yes what I resisted were kind of lighter.
ld Music Tuesday: ‘The Joshua Tree’ 20 Years Later
NPR – Nov 20, 2007
Every so often the wife and I will pull out the vinyl copy and listen to the entire thing. Not only is good to listen to but it’s one of those records that can put you right back in time to the moment you first heard it. I saw them on The Joshua Tree tour on Thanksgiving night at the LSU Assembly Center and it was a moment that will stick with me forever. Like their releases prior to or after this album or not one has to tip their hat to a band that has been able to release new material for this sustained period of time. Sent by Kevin | 12:43 AM ET | 12-06-2007 I must disagree. Joshua Tree is overrated as is U2. Sent by Eric Gamboa | 9:04 AM ET | 12-14-2007 I was only 9 when the Joshua Tree was released but it was and still is one of my favorite records of all time! The songs go along with each other so well its hard to hear one on the radio and not start singing the first few notes of the next song on the album before they play another song.