Mad About Music Monday - Norah Jones' ... Featuring

If you recall, a while back we told you about the trip-hop beginnings of jazz's virtuoso Norah Jones. She began her music career in New York City's Wax Poetic (as we wrote about in Oct. '10) and those groovy beats from her past definitely resurface in this week's Mad About Music post about her latest album.

To attempt to peg her style is next to impossible. Jazz? Folk? Rock? Country? Trip-Hop? Ms. Jones displays of these styles in a compilation of songs recorded between 2001 and 2010 entitled,  ... Featuring.

Mad About Music Monday - Homemade Jamz Blues Band

Any guitar aficionado or Blues fan needs to hear about today's featured artist. The Homemade Jamz Blues Band from Tupelo, Mississippi is well accomplished. They've released two albums, played with B.B. King, recently had their late-night show debut and even have one of their guitars displayed at B.B. King's Blues Museum. You'd think this would be a bunch of twenty-somethings or some odd thirty year old's I'm speaking about. No no, these are teens.

Mad About Music Monday - Rodrigo y Gabriela

To begin this, the second week of October we have a special instrumental group for you to enjoy. Rodrigo y Gabriela is an acoustic duo hailing from Mexico City but finding residence in Dublin, Ireland. If that move seems interesting to you you should hear their style. They first met in a thrash metal band in Mexico City drawing heavily from the world of metal music. Mix in their Latin background with some Spanish and Mexican styles and top it all off with some techniques picked up while performing on the streets of Ireland and you get the unbelievable duo of Rodrigo y Gabriela.

Mad About Music Monday - Terence Blanchard Group 'Choices'

To kick off this first week of October we have the newest work from the Grammy Award winning jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard. He is a New Orleans native releasing his second New Orleans themed album post Hurricane Katrina. His first was A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina). In this first album his band performed with the 40-piece Northwest Sinfonia, and took home the Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble in 2007.

Terence has also scored over 40 films most of which were Spike Lee films. He began with work on Jungle Fever and appeared most recently in the four-part HBO New Orleans/Katrina documentary "When the Levees Broke", and the non-Spike Lee period piece Cadillac Records. Here is a small clip of his Salute to Jazz at this year's Grammy's.

Here you can follow the progression of their latest release "Choices." This playlist features five webisodes highlighting the evolution of this album from concepts, beats and melodies into a melting pot of jazz, blues, and spoken word. This album features neo-soul singer Bilal and Princeton professor Dr. Cornel West. Dr. West's interview in the fourth webisode is remarkable and I highly suggest you take the time to watch that below. To quote Terence, "The thing that I love about him is that he has the ability to put into words things that we all feel about, but don't know how to put into a concrete idea."

After watching the webisodes you're left wanting to hear more and see for yourself how all of the music turned out. Below I have embedded The Terence Blanchard Group performing on the Tavis Smiley show about one month ago. Listen to the words of Dr. West meld together with the music as it rises and falls with each solo and movement. So here is two songs from The Terence Blanchard Group performing songs from their new album, "Choices".

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Special Appearance Saturday - The National Parks: America's Best Idea

Finally, a topic has roped me into posting all seven days this week. I hope you find this topic to be worthy as well.



Over the course of the past week I have been watching PBS' 6-Part Special THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA'S BEST IDEA. As Ken Burns himself stated during an interview with Tavis Smiley, "It's not a travelogue; it's not a nature film, though there's great stuff of nature. It's about ideas and individuals. It's about stories. And I think that's what makes it different from other things about the national parks."

As a child my parent's sought to it, either for their own interest, interest in nature, or for the sheer economics of traveling with a family of seven, to see the nation by automobile on our summer's off. We stopped at a good number of the major National Parks in our system. I was quickly won over by the rolling hills, snow-capped peaks, and grass-filled plains. I've recently revisited a handful of them as an adult and their majesty almost seems to have aged like a fine wine over the years.

This country is magical. The land speaks to us, and it is no wonder that it were these lands that a number of Native Americans called home. You can almost feel the presence of a higher being when you just stop to take in the grandeur of it all. As you stay still you can hear several species of birds sing their song, the wind rustles leaves on the ground and branches in the trees, the fresh air empowers you with strength and fragrance, all the while water nearby carves the land and nourishes all the life around you simultaneously. You come back to your senses as a member of your party snaps a branch as they approach your peaceful stance.

It is exactly this environment that our National Park Service fight to protect, and this is their story. All 6 episodes are available streaming online until October 9th. So connect that computer to your TV and learn about the wonder that is our National Parks. Then, more importantly, get off of your ass and see them for yourself. Come out west and see with your own eyes what John Muir spent most of his life protecting, Yosemite Valley. Or simply visit the nearest National Park to you.

Please enjoy Ken Burns' The National Parks: America's Best Idea:

View the Full Episodes: (Available until Oct. 9th)

• Episode 1 "The Scripture of Nature" (1851-1890)

• Episode 2 "The Last Refuge" (1890-1915)

• Episode 3 "The Empire of Grandeur" (1915-1919)
  

• Episode 4 "Going Home" (1920-1933)
  

• Episode 5 "Great Nature" (1933-1945)
  

• Episode 6 "The Morning of Creation" (1946-1980)
  

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Mad About Music Mondays - Steve Martin

I know what you're probably thinking right now. Is that the famous actor Steve Martin releasing a record? The answer is YES! Steve Martin recently released a BANJO album. Again, you're not mishearing me, I did say banjo. Steve Martin has been playing the banjo for 40 years. Continuing as a hobby for sometime he has played with bluegrass superstar Earl Scruggs, earning a Grammy for his guest appearance on a remake "Foggy Bottom Breakdown" with Earl Scruggs.

His new album hit #1 on the Billboard US Bluegrass charts. He is an amazing performer as seen on his interview with Tavis Smiley. Below I have included a link to his interview with Tavis. I would have embedded the video as I usually do but PBS video does not allow embedding at this time. (AND I couldn't figure out how to rip the code as I often do as well.) Please click on the link below to see Tavis Smiley's interview with Comedian, Actor, and Musician Steve Martin in its entirety. 

http://video.pbs.org/video/1181552411/

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He Will Be Missed . . .

Unless you've been living under a rock you probably are aware that the greatest entertainer ever to grace any stage has passed away. Mr. Micheal Joseph Jackson is no longer with us. Much talk has come up over the past couple days over his performances, life, and legacy. I think that Tavis Smiley's recent guests have articulated his past, present and future as an icon in American culture.

Here is Michael and the Jackson 5 covering Smokey Robinson's "Who's Loving You?"





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