Veering A Bit Off Topic Here

But I can't resist ...

How Did Beethoven Really Sound?

Over the years Michael Frederick has assembled in the Frederick Historic Piano Collection an array of antique, restored pianos from about 1790 - 1907, all housed in a Massachusetts village. A recent article from Slate takes us on a fascinating visit, comparing modern piano sound with that of the Beethoven era.

A Couple For Valentine's Day

First, the Tom Waits classic:

And something for Kim (by Roberta Flack):

Song Of The Day: This Land Is Your Land

This Land Is Your Land by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings.

Last night we watched "Up In The Air", an Oscar nominee this year. This song led off the film, and is not what you may be used to hearing from Woody Guthrie, its composer, or, say, Pete Seeger.

Sharon Jones did her version a few years ago. Although I am a fan of her gospel/funk/soul sound that makes me imagine a blend of Mavis Staples and Tina Turner, I had never heard it before. But you can now:



Coincidentally, we happened to see Sharon Jones a couple of weeks ago on Saturday Night Live, so you can probably find a video clip of her performance then.

Song of the Day: Blagdon Lake

Blagdon Lake by Beak (Invada Records)



Beak is three-person group, including Geoff Barrows of Portishead, whose work I have followed and admired for many years. Also Matt Williams and Billy Fuller.

At today's currency conversion rates, I paid a mere $1.12 to download a FLAC version (many other formats are available, more than I usually see in one place). You can do the same or just get more information at http://beak.bandcamp.com/album/beak

We Shall Overcome

Here, in celebration of MLK, two takes on the iconic hymn. First, in the 1960s by Mahalia Jackson, then Diana Ross in the 1990s:

Song of the Day: Wedding Bells by Lissie (EP: Why You Runnin')

More like the song (and EP, from Fat Possum Records) of the Past Few Weeks!

First heard Lissie doing this remarkable (and almost unrecognizable) Hank Williams cover on KCRW, then OPBMusic and NPR. Right now, I can't seem to get enough of Lissie. And she has triggered some memories and other side-thoughts ...

My brother used to live in a place where the Mississippi River flows "sideways". I would sometime stopover at his Davenport, Iowa home on my flights from LA to D.C. or New York, and see dearest niece Gabrielle, then a very small child (whose own child, Toby Ellis, just recently served up the drumming while laying down some tracks on a project with Crazy Horse's -- of Neil Young fame -- bass player and vocalist, Billy Talbot). Across the street from their apartment the train passed several times a day, and "Rock Island Line" (originally sung and perhaps composed by Lead Belly, and popularized during my boyhood by Lonnie Donegan) figured frequently in our songs and conversation. This was the "Quad-Cities" area (actually I think it encompassed five cities). One of the constituent cities, just south of the river, was Rock Island, Illinois.

So when I found that Lissie Maurus originated in Rock Island, I took notice. Now she is in Ojai, north of Los Angeles, a neighborhood also well-known to me. Listen to her on her MySpace page, during her guest appearance on KCRW (try to ignore Jason Bentley's unfortunate questions and comments) and as previewed on NPR's World Cafe.