That’s right. We’re back on the Sessions at West 54th train. This time with Cowboy Junkies.
The group was paired with Kronos Quartet and the episode originally aired 09/06/98)
Sorry, not sure of the setlist on this one.
Imagine a time when Sonic Youth was beamed into PBS stations covering 85% of the country. Such was the magic of Sessions at West 54th, the three-season live music extravaganza hosted by KCRW’s Chris Douridas (Season 01), David Byrne (Season 02) and John Hiatt (Season 03). So far we’ve featured sessions from Medeski Martin and Wood with DJ Logic, Phish, David, Byrne, and Beck.
Sonic Youth appeared on Season 01 paired with Bill Frisell.
Setlist:
Anagrama
The Ineffable Me
Wildflower Soul
Stil
Female Mechanic Now on Duty
Hits of Sunshine (for Allen Ginsberg)
As long as we’re jumping down the Sessions at West 54th Rabbit Hole, here’s another one that I remember recording but for some reason no longer have. David Byrne performed for season 01 of the show while KCRW’s Chris Douridas hosted, before himself becoming host for season 02.
Setlist and Times:
0:32 - Fuzzy Freaky
5:54 - Making Flippy Floppy
12:01- Take Me To The River
17:54- Help Me Somebody
22:06- Dance On Vaseline
27:04 -Back In The Box
33:30- Miss America
39:21- Psycho Killer
44:16- I Zimbra.
The Players:
Lead/Backing Vocals – Christina Wheeler
Bass, Guitar, Vocals – Desmond Foster
Drums, Sampler – Rea Mochiach
Lead Vocals, Guitar – David Byrne
Steel Guitar, Keyboards, Guitar – Bruce Kaphan
I still have this show on VHS.
I don’t have a VHS player.
Technically this doesn’t fall in the “I had this show via tape trading” category that a lot of things I post. I recorded this on to VHS directly from my faithful local PBS station. I remember watching it.
I don’t know if you remember, but Sessions at West 54th was a New York variation of Austin City Limits. Originally hosted by KCRW’s Chris Douridas, David Byrne took over hosting duties beginning of the second season while John Hiatt hosted the third season. Yes, PBS is that cool.
Enjoy:
I never took the time to write down a setlist but the Wikipedia blurb for this episode of the show (Season Two Episode 06 originally aired 08/14/98) lists:
Wiggly's Way
Coconut Boogaloo
Latin Shuffle
Enjoy.
“Top of The Pops performances ranging from '83 to '85 are now available on The Smiths' official YouTube Channel. 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now', 'William, It Was Really Nothing', 'How Soon Is Now?' and 'This Charming Man' are all available to watch now.”
“This Charming Man” (Live on Top of The Pops '83)
“Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now” (Live on Top of The Pops '84)
“William, It Was Really Nothing (Live on Top of The Pops '84)
“How Soon is Now?” (Live on Top of The Pops '85)
The band also recently released several remastered official music videos:
Fela’s website says this is what was happening in 1984:
“On 4 September, as Fela is about to board a plane from Lagos to New York to start a US tour, he is arrested on charges of currency smuggling. The Afrika 70 musicians board the plane, believing Fela will be allowed to follow on a later flight. Instead, Fela is held pending trial.”
“The band plays a few US gigs then, with no sign of Fela, returns to Nigeria. In court, Fela explains that he declared the £1,600 found on him on a Customs Declaration form, but – to widespread disbelief - the police say that this has been “lost.” Customs officials who offer to testify that Fela is telling the truth are held in detention and so are unable to appear in court. Fela is sentenced to five years. First held in Kiri-Kiri Prison in Lagos, he is then moved to one further away, in Maiduguiri in the north of the country. Femi and Egypt 80 continue to perform at the Shrine.”
As I’ve mentioned before, one of the things I like doing here at Ye Olde Music Blogge is to post concerts that I first came across when I used to do a lot of tape trading. Yes, through the mail. People would make copies of concerts and trade them and mail them across the world. It was glorious and probably still goes on. I never had many Soul Coughing shows but I did have a cassette copy of this 11.01.97 show from the Urban Art Bar in Houston, TX.
I just realized the other day that there is also video for the show. So, I says to myself: “Self: why not go ahead and post that video for the fine folks who happen by Ye Olde Music Blogge?” And, well, danged if you didn’t know; that’s exactly what I did.
Enjoy.
The Deets:
Soul Coughing - (live)
Urban Art Bar
Houston,Tx
11.1.96
(8mm Master)
Setlist:
Soft Serve
White Girl
Disseminated
Down to This
Don't Go Wreck the Car
Soundtrack to Mary
City of Motors
Moon Sammy
Paint
Holiday at the Sea favorite Ramsay Midwood recently posted a four-song set to help raise money to keep Sam’s Town Point going.
“4 songs and some chatter...and a chance to fund a bar and some musicians you might like... “
Thanks to a friend with a great name (Brent. His name is Brent. Actually, you might know him from his previous recommendations here at Holiday at the Sea: An Hour With Pink Floyd), for posting this fantastic 2012 Spiritualized concert from the 9:30 Club in Washington DC. on May 10, 2012.
I don’t know that I really need to say much more other than enjoy.
Setlist:
"Hey Jane"
"Lord Let It Rain On Me"
"Headin' for the Top Now"
"Walkin' with Jesus"
"Oh Baby"
"Rated X"
"Born Never Asked"
"Electric Mainline"
"Soul on Fire"
"I Am What I Am" *
"Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space" *
"Mary"
"Stay with Me" *
"So Long You Pretty Thing" *
"She Kissed Me (And It Felt Like a Hit)" *
"Come Together" *
"Cop Shoot Cop"
NPR’s original page adds the following commentary:
“Pierce almost died twice in the last seven years, once from double-pneumonia and once from degenerative liver disease which necessitated chemotherapy. He recorded Spiritualized's remarkable new record, Sweet Heart Sweet Light, while recovering from the latter, and its songs don't hesitate to leer into the abyss. Even as they swagger and seethe, they document a frail and flawed man's circuitous journey through self-inflicted agonies and righteous redemption, and back around to agony.
That said, a Spiritualized concert is the stuff of big-hearted, spaced-out, bliss-packed joy and celebration. Sweet Heart Sweet Light overtly pursues salvation through divine intervention — it doesn't take a careful parsing of lyrics to figure that out — so it's appropriate that Spiritualized in concert can convey the spirit of a revival show.”
Israel’s Faran Ensemble live “Mezrab recording from 2015-04-22.”
I first heard Faran Ensemble while looking for music for the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow and their track “Reflection” appeared on Episode 03.
I couldn’t find a setlist for this show but there was some commentary on the video’s page which is included below.
Enjoy.
“The Faran Ensemble was formed in 2009 by three musicians sharing similar musical vibes and values, who decided to embark together on a spiritual quest. Their journey, expressed in music and sound, reflects the beauty of nature, travelling through different sceneries, from the clean and quiet desert to luscious green hills, sometimes even passing through the hectic noise of the city.
Their instruments belong to the ancient traditions of the east, allowing the musicians to combine mystical sounds with modern influences. In their music, Mediterranean landscapes weave an enchanted soundscape, a magic carpet to take the listener on a voyage to faraway lands.
The ensemble’s name, Faran, refers to Wadi Faran, a dry desert riverbed which in winter fills with water and life and in summer is silent and pristine. The Faran crosses three countries, but ignores all artificial human borders.”
So much to tell you about here.
Music-loving, like life, is a journey of learning and exploration. I recently posted a live session by Sarathy Korwar and friends for a site called The Boiler Room. I featured Korwar’s track “"Bismillah" from his 2016 album Day To Day on Episode 08 of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.
I had not heard of The Boiler Room before this but I have since become quite enamored. Their Facebook “About” section says:
“Boiler Room televises underground music as it happens from around the world to a massive online community. By doing so, we create windows into scenes and sounds from every corner of the globe, connecting millions of music heads with the specific music they love. This communal participation has redrawn the map for underground culture and proven that mass audiences now subscribe to alternative choice.”
And that’s a vision I can get behind.
I recently came across a 2016 live set from The Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band. I featured the band’s Thai band’s song "Lai Wua (Chasing the Cow)" from their 2016 album Planet Lam on Episode 11 of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.
There is a link on the video’s Youtube page that says: “TRACKLIST & DOWNLOAD HERE” but the link doesn’t go to anything and the video’s page at the Boiler Room page doesn’t include a setlist so if you have that information it would be greatly appreciated. Though not knowing the song titles (or words for that matter) doesn’t inhibit the global choogle.
Eishan Ensemble’s Afternoon Tea At Six has been one of my favorite albums 0f 2020. In fact, I recently featured the track “Signs” on my Apothecary of Wonders playlist.
The group’s official website says:
“Led by acclaimed Persian-Australian tar player and composer, Hamed Sadeghi, the quintet Eishan Ensemble draws on contemporary and classical music traditions of both East and West. Eishan’s repertoire consists predominantly of Sadeghi’s original compositions with diverse improvisatory idioms featured powerfully. Variously described as “Persian chamber jazz” and “Middle-Eastern jazz fusion”, Eishan defies neat labels.”
Here is a three-song live set they did earlier this year for Phoenix Central Park.
The deets:
Eishan Ensemble:
Hamed Sadeghi | Tar
Pedram Layegh | Acoustic guitar
Michael Avgenicos | Saxophone
Elsen Price | Double bass
Adem Yilmaz | Percussion
Songs:
Black and White
Signs
Street
Composed by Hamed Sadeghi
Bill Withers for German TV show Musikladen/Beat Club (1972).
The Band:
Melvin Dunlap on Bass
James Gadson on Drums
Benorce Blackmon on Guitar
Ray Jackson on Keyboard
Muddy Waters live at Copenhagen Jazz festival (October 27,1968).
The Band:
Muddy Waters - guitar & vocals
'Pee Wee' Madison – guitar
Luther "Snakeboy" Johnson - guitar
Otis Spann – piano
Paul Oscher – harmônica
Sonny Wimberley – bass
S.P. Leary - drums
Setlist:
"Back At The Chicken Shack"
"Train Fare Home Blues"
"(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man"
"Long Distance Call"
"Nobody Knows My Trouble"
"Cold Cold Feeling"
"Got My Mojo Working"
"Tiger In Your Tank"
One of the fun parts of doing this music blog has been revisiting concerts that I first came across through tape-trading. I don’t know if you were ever part of that culture, but I have a lot of good memories and was privy to a lot of great music through the U.S. postal system. I once had stacks of tapes of CDRs that I wish I had kept. But sometimes life leads you in other directions and you revisit those memories through the Internet.
Today we’re re-visiting Bob Marley and the Wailers live for Rockpalast (06/13/80). I gave this CDR away several years ago during one of our moves, but I have kept digital versions of the show. Until just the other day, I didn’t know that video of the show existed (I know, I know, you all knew this video existed a long time ago). But it does and it’s worth your time.
The Dealio:
Bob Marley & The Wailers at Westfalenhalle (06.13.80, Dortmund)
Filmed for the German live music television program Rockpalast.
Setlist:
Marley Chant
Natural Mystic
Positive Vibration
Revolution
I Shot the Sheriff
War
No More Trouble
Zimbabwe
Jamming
No Woman, No Cry
Zion Train
Exodus
Encore 01:
Redemption Song
Could You Be Loved
Work
Natty Dread
Is This Love
Get Up, Stand Up
Encore 02:
Coming in From the Cold
Lively Up Yourself
Get down with Stevie Wonder live on the German television program Musikladen/Beat Club in 1974.
The Youtube page provides the following information:
“Stevie Wonder 1974 concert on German TV show Musikladen/Beat Club.
I recorded from the European TV channel VH1 in 2003. I wish this would be released on DVD! If someone can help me identify the musicians, it would be great. One of the ladies, Afro and a polo shirt, singing backing vocals is Denice Williams. She was part of Wonder's female background singing group Wonderlove. I think this is the partial lineup, based on what Stevie says at 23.15: Reggie McBride plays bass. Michael "Mike" Sembello on guitar and keys, Ollie E. Brown on drums.”
Rainer Ptacek performing "Voodoo Music" in the kitchen of "The 818 Club" during a live cablecast of the local music show "Electric Window".
Hosted and Produced by Chris Wagganer
Cameras: Don Dalen, Chris Babbie, Ben Minot
Audio: David Slutes
Engineering: Roy Knappenberger, Chris Babbie
Cablecast Support: Mark Taylor
June 6, 1986
Thanks to my friend Alex for the tip on this 2015 live set featuring Zakir Hussain on tabla, percussion instruments and Rakesh Chaurasia playing bansouri.
The video’s page gives the following info:
“ZAKIR HUSSAIN is undoubtedly one of the greatest legends of world music, virtuoso of the tabla, and artist who tours and records with many other acclaimed musicians, including those form the world of jazz. His father was the famous musician Ustad Alla Rakha. Thanks to his father, Zakir learned to play musical instruments from his youngest days. He started performing as a teenager, and when he was 19 years old, he travelled to the US for the first time, appearing alongside Ravi Shankar. Audiences remember Hussain’s acclaimed albums, especially “Making Music” recorded for the famous ECM label. It is regarded as one of the finest musical fusions of the East and the West. Hussain was accompanied by John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek and the legendary Hariprasad Chaurasia – uncle of Rakesh, who joins Hussain in Kraków. Hussain has worked with McLaughlin many times, for example when creating recordings with his groups Shakti and Remember Shakti. He also worked alongside Bill Laswell, leading the group Tabla Beat Science bringing together acclaimed tablists and percussionists. He has also co-created the outstanding projects Planete Drum and Global Drum, and worked with some of the greatest musicians of all time, from George Harrison and Van Morrison to Pharoah Sanders and Charles Lloyd. He is a living legend himself.
RAKESH CHAURASIA is more than just a nephew of Hariprasad Chaurasia – he is also one of his most talented pupils. He plays the bansouri, a traditional South Asian bamboo flute. He has worked with musicians including Talvin Singh, participated in recording dozens of albums, and he leads the RAF ensemble – Rakesh and Friends. Recorded at ICE Kraków 08.07.2015.”
Visit Zakir Hussain’s official website
Follow Zakir Hussain on Facebook
Purchase Zakir Hussain’s music at Amazon
Listen to “Raga Kedar: Gat In Ektaal” by Pandit Shivkumar Sharma & Ustad Zakir Hussain on Episode 17 of the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Superhsow.
Visit Rakesh Chaurasia’s official website
Follow Rakesh Chaurasia at Facebook
Purchase Rakesh Chaurasia’s music at Amazon
Ever wonder what “Playing In The Band” might sound like as an extended instrumental free-jazz-space-rock suite? Well, I did.
Inspired by Save Your Face and their various Grateful Dead mixes, I edited six different performances of “Playing In The Band” into an instrumental suite.
I’m not entirely happy with a couple of the transitions, but I dig how it turned out overall, seeing as how I am not a professional, I didn’t actually spend that much time on this, and I really only made this for myself to listen to either while I work or commuting. Enjoy.
Here are the deets for the six pieces making up the Suite:
00:00 - 11:39 :: 09.21.72 at the The Spectrum in Philadelphia, PA (released as Dicks’s Picks 36)
11:39-25:45 :: 03.24.73 at the The Spectrum in Philadelphia, PA
25:245 - 34:47 :: 11.10.73 at Winterland Arena in San Francisco, CA (released as part of Winterland 1973: The Complete Recordings)
34:47 - 44:09 :: 05.17.77 at Memorial Coliseum, U of Alabama, MS (released as part of May 1977)
44:09: 52:31 :: 05.28.77 at at Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, CT (released as To Terrapin: Hartford '77)
52:31 - 56:27 :: 05.28.77 at at Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, CT (released as To Terrapin: Hartford '77)
I chose these performances for no real reason other than that this is the time-period of the Dead that I listen to most and these shows happened to be on my laptop when I decided to try out this idea.
And if all that weren’t enough goodness, here’s an instrumental edit of the mammoth “Playing In The Band” from the Pacific Northwest '73-'74: Believe it If You Need It (Live) set (Live at Hec Edmundson Pavillion, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 5/21/74).
