Bloggerhythms

Per Wikipedia - in a theater built just for this event - Cirque du Soleil (CDS) presents  LOVE , a spectacle that  " com bines the re-produced and re-imagined music of The Beatles  with an interpretive, circus-based artistic and athletic stage performance." The online encyclopedia couldn't have described it better. In 2000, CDS co-founder,  Guy Laliberté and his friend - the late, ex-Beatle, George Harrison - initiated discussions that resulted in this long-running, ninety minute adaptation of The Beatles' music. Unfortunately, Harrison passed away in 2001, but talks continued with Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and the estates of both John Lennon and Harrison. In the end, they brought the production to the stage in 2006 at The Mirage  casino-hotel in Las Vegas where - to this day - it's been the only place in the world you can see the wild extravaganza. The carnival atmosphere includes outlandish costumes, a lot of dancing and truly dangerous feats. If a...

It's probably cheating to say that Quinella is a last album, but since I've always loved Atlanta Rhythm Section I'm making an exception today.  ARS's fortunes declined steadily with each successive album charting lower than the previous one after  Champagne Jam  reached #7 in 1978.  Quinella - their tenth release -   peaked at   only #70 on Billboard's top 200 album chart, but the single, "Alien," did much better, climbing all the way to #29 on the Hot 100. This would be the last time the group would make either of those lists. Singer Ronnie Hammond joined ARS in time to record their second album, and original drummer, Robert Nix, was replaced by Roy Yeager for  The Boys From Doraville,  the album before  Quinella.  The latter was the only change made to their classic lineup during their hitmaking years. After Quinella,  the sextet became a revolving door with new members joining and old ones returning - then leaving again. B...

Steve Howe has now been in the spotlight for over fifty years. While the virtuoso will always be remembered as a prominent member of the world's most successful prog-rock band he has also recorded a lot of work outside of Yes - and his later band, Asia - that is worth hearing. Such is the case with  New Frontier  (2019),   the third album - and second studio effort - released under the name of The Steve Howe Trio. New Frontier  is a jazz-fusion set that shares the spotlight with rock just as much as it does jazz. It features Howe on electric and acoustic guitars; Ross Stanley, a quite talented Hammond B3 player; and the leader's son, Dylan Howe , on drums. The boss isn't selfish. Stanley gets lots of space to stretch out and drummer Howe gets to shine when the situation calls for it. The trio doesn't employ a bass player, but there is so much happening on each track that the bottom end isn't missed. This music isn't for everyone, but for fans of Howe or those l...

Without expressing my views on the subject here is a rerun of a post that is quite relevant today considering the surprise leak of the controversial - but not yet officially released - Supreme Court decision overturning Roe vs. Wade. Originally published here on June 27, 2013, it has generated a higher number of comments than one of my posts usually receives. Have you ever heard of Mike Rabon? No? I didn't think so. He was the lead guitar player for The Five Americans, a band that charted five singles a long time ago. They reached the top twenty only once - in 1967 - with "Western Union," a song co-written by Rabon that is still played on oldies radio stations today. Eventually, The Five Americans went their separate ways and in the early 70s Rabon hooked up with another band, Gladstone ("From down home in Tyler, Texas U S A," their debut album cover said). From that LP the unknown group lifted "A Piece of Paper" as a single. It only got as high ...