Apologies for absence, music pals. Real life has been coming first for quite a while. I recently had some big band arrangements performed in Oakland CA – couldn’t be there but I’m told all went well. It got me to…
Blog Archives
Da-ba-da-ba-dah…
Never mind Baldwin’s superb yanqui lounge creep, I just love the beautifully done, inane, piss-take bossa. “You have my hand… it gives me the blues… in my heart…” Perfect Portubollocks. Also watch Maya Rudolph on shaker (and “da-ba-da-ba-dahs”) at 1:42.…
Tagged with: alec baldwin, Bossa nova, lounge lizard, SNL
Posted in e) Rants & Ramblings, f) Esquina Latina
Posted in e) Rants & Ramblings, f) Esquina Latina
Robosalsa!
I’ve had an enquiry from PD who enjoyed the article on Hearing the Clave, but isn’t a great music reader so he was asking whether I could give sound examples. Fair enough, I thought, I’ll get to it when I’ve…
Word for the Day: Slatin
Every now and then someone coins a new word and I think it deserves to spread. I’d like to introduce you to the wonderfully descriptive term “slatin”, which comes courtesy of virtuoso percussionist João Bosco de Oliveira. Bosco will sometimes…
Tagged with: Bosco de Oliveira, Bossa nova, jazz, Latin, salsa, samba
Posted in e) Rants & Ramblings, f) Esquina Latina
Posted in e) Rants & Ramblings, f) Esquina Latina
Modern Merengue Piano Basics
If you’ve found this article, you probably don’t need to be told what merengue is. But let’s run things down very briefly to start us off. Merengue, the Latin-American musical style originating on the island of Hispaniola (comprising the Dominican…
How to Hear the Clave in Salsa
If your experience is anything like mine, you may have struggled to hear clave direction when playing or listening to salsa (and its precursors, son, guajira and mambo). Sure there are differences, but rhythmically these styles are largely the same,…
...appetising young books for sale...
Pents book is recommended reading on Gary Burton's Berklee course.
Jason Lyon on Music 