Meetiques

Amazon: Backed by two of jazz’s greatest improvisers–bassist Dave Holland and drummer Elvin Jones–guitarist Bill Frisell forges one of his strongest efforts to date. There’s no real theme here, just Frisell at his creative peak–the numerous loops and effects he puts his guitar through finally sounding organic and coherent–with two great collaborators.

PopMatters : On Herbie Mann & Phil Woods’s Beyond Brooklyn, the opening number, “We Will Meet Again”, is set to a sly bossa nova shuffle that recalls Mann’s lifelong fascination with Latin rhythmical forms. Both Mann’s flute and Wood’s alto saxophone are in fine lyrical form, and the two disparate instruments make a cohesive harmonic unit.

Freddie McGregor : Over the years, Freddie has consistently “given back” to the community in many ways. He produces his own concert entitled RockSteady Meets Reggae, which promotes unity within the reggae fraternity.

on MySpace : Valentine Brown was introduced to music in Jamaica by his mother, a member of the local church choir, who always sung to him. Valentine made his own guitar at the age of 8 and would later join his mother singing in church. Valentine, a.k.a G-vine moved to Toronto at the age of 11 to live with his father.

Julie Crochetiere on MySpace : Julie Crochetiere recently established Play it Forward, a concert series designed to raise funds for music programs across Canada and motive children to play music. Sharing the stage with school bands and children’s choirs has sparked an incredible energy among everyone involved, which in turn, has resulted in a powerful social impact in the community.

Music Maker Relief Foundation : Virginia guitarist Carl Hodges says “[I was born in] Middlesex County, Saluda, Virginia. My uncle, he could play a guitar. He started me when I was younger [at] home… about maybe eight, nine, ten years old. After I got older, enough to go, we played anywhere, everywhere, playin’ parties, here, there, anywhere, ’cause that’s all was goin’ at that time, was guitars. Everything was guitars.”

Reeves Audio : Since harmony and singing groups was my main interest in the ’50’s, Mary Ford was at the top of my list of incredible singers. Actually, I discovered Les Paul through hearing her! And more than his out of this world ability to play guitar, Les’s knowledge of multi-tracked recording techniques pulled me in closer. I couldn’t get enough of her (their) records.

The Harry James Orchestra : Some also know Harry as the husband of American film star Betty Grable. Already a celebrity, James’ marriage to Grable in 1943 cemented his status as one of the most famous American personalities of his generation.

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