Jeff Beck, R.I.P.

Jeff Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) is gone. He and Hendrix were my guitar heroes.

One of his memorable works for me was "Blackbird"...

described thusly: Beck using the curved side of a dinner fork to get ultra-high notes to simulate the ambient chirping of birds sampled for the track: "Round about spring, a blackbird sings loudly up on my roof," jeff said, and "Although I didn't record that bird, I got a tape of a blackbird and started jamming with him. If you listen, the notes the bird is singing are almost beyond human hearing, but the actual punctuation and tonal things are there. I aped the bird as close as I could, and we all had a good laugh with that one."  

 And as remembered by The Guardian and by Bob Lefsetz.

Ave Maria in a Stairwell

(sound may depend on your speakers)

Crucifixion: Marion Anderson

 

  More from The New Yorker on this performance.

Charlie Watts, R.I.P.

Charlie Watts, 80 years old (I can relate -- exactly), has passed. Probably underrated, with most attention given over to his bandmates, Mick and Keith, but I (a more or less failed drummer myself) always was driven by Charlie's lead when the Stones burst into action. Here is one great explainer plus some memories:

Caroline Shaw & Sō Percussion - To the Sky

Something new from Caroline Shaw -- you may remember her here:

Blue at Fifty

 Hard to believe that fifty years have passed since Joni Mitchell made "Blue", this masterpiece of an album that always has, and undoubtedly always will, move me and shake me and put me into a very particular and special space ...

Here are a couple of present-day reads on this work: NPR's insightful comparisons with Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" and NYT's interviews with many who knew her.

And listen: 

But don't miss Joni's paintings, including self-portraits! And while we are at it, an NPR interview with Joni, about three years ago, at age 75.

Eleven Minutes of Windows Startup

Try this meditation of Microsoft Windows startup sounds, slowed 4000% ...