Category Archives: Music Musings

I know this is mainly a political blog, but I love to write about music too. This wouldn’t be my blog if I didn’t.

Music Musings

Music Musings: Jaci Velásquez

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If there’s one place that most people can be assured to experience music their week, that place is their house of worship.  Music traditions are as old as the churches, synagogues and mosques that practice them, if not older.  That’s why it’s no surprise that some of the best contemporary singers come from Contemporary Christian music.  This is definitely the case with Houston native and bi-lingual superstar Jaci Velásquez.

As the child of evangelical ministers, Velásquez literally grew up singing in the church.  By the time she had her first breakout hit at 16, she was already a more experienced singer than many young stars of a similar age.  The song that was that hit, On My Knees, is one that touched the hearts of millions.

Since then, Velásquez has gone on to win 7 Dove awards, Grammy nominations and various other accolades, fielding successful albums in both English and Spanish.  The emotional and dynamic range of her voice is what sets this singer apart, and has undoubtedly been a key ingredient to her worldwide fame in the Christian community.  Check out some of her songs below.

On My Knees

 

Un Lugar Celestial  (A Heavenly Place)

 

Llegar A Ti

Music Musings

Music Musings: The Ride of the Valkyries (Walkürenritt)

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Often cited as one of the most epic moments in all of music, there’s nothing better to get the blood boiling than the Walkürenritt from Richard Wagner’s Die Walkürie, the second opera from The Ring Cycle.  This scene open’s the opera’s third act, and takes listeners on an epic journey of sight and sound.

Most will recognize the main theme or may know Walkürenritt as a strictly instrumental piece, as it’s been widely commercialized as such.  But there is particularly special magic when engaging with the original operatic setting. Here’s a brief summary of the action from the Utah Symphony’s program notes…

Act III of Die Walküre begins with the image of a rocky mountaintop flanked by storm-driven clouds. Four of Brünnhilde’s Valkyrie sisters wait there in full armor, ready to perform their noble duty – the transportation of fallen heroes to Valhalla. What follows for the next eight minutes is the most popular music Wagner ever wrote and is certainly still among the most beloved orchestral excerpts ever written by anyone.

As many in Texas have just survived a flurry of back-to-school preparations, this excerpt seemed a fitting end to the week.  Check out this stunning performance by the New York Metropolitan Opera, and recorded for DVD by Deutsche Grammophon.

Music Musings

Music Musings: The 8 Best Jessie J Songs That You Don’t Know

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British pop icon Jessie J is back on US airwaves with the smash hit Bang Bang. But for many stateside, the girl-power trio is essentially a re-introduction for fans that have either never heard or don’t recognize her. The singer-songwriter just released information about her upcoming third album, entitled Sweet Talker, which is set to hit the US market this fall. But if you are so one who is unfamiliar with Jessie J, here is a post to help you play “catch up” with some of her other pop hits.

8.  Excuse My Rude 

How or why this song was never made into a single is a puzzling question.  Off of her 2nd album Alive (which is yet to be released in the United States), this track is full of attitude-laced fun, and somewhat reminiscent of Jessie J’s first single Do It Like A Dude… only this song is better.  Besides the original track above, be sure to check out the EPIC jazz-infused acoustic version she did on BBC Radio 1…

7. Abracadabra

This is a song from the singer’s first album Who You Are, and one listen reveals that it had some definite potential in the states.  With an infectious beat and soaring vocal, it’s a great track that would’ve seemingly been fit for R&B radio.

6. Keep Us Together

Now confirmed for Jessie J’s latest effort Sweet Talker, the classic R&B track is destined to become an immediate favorite. It’s hard-driving beat and nice sing-along feel suggest high single potential for US urban markets.  The above clip is of Jessie singing the song live over the summer.

5. Mamma Knows Best

This Who You Are  track is impressive enough on the recording, but when Jessie J sings it live, it literally knocks your socks off. Music stars across the globe praise Jessie J for her incredible live performance skills, and ‘Mamma’ proves a great vehicle to show them off.

4. Nobody’s Perfect

This song was one of 7 singles released for the UK from Who You Are, but never made it to the US airwaves. An edgy rock tune, once again Jessie’s powerful message and lyrics shine through.

3. Thunder

For some reason, this song take as a major single in Europe, but that fact shouldn’t diminish the power within this 80s-infused track. It’s a great song that reveal lots of personal growth and reflection that the singer chose to share with the world.  Jessie J herself has described Thunder as a prayer to God.

2. Big White Room

Big White Room is a very special song to the people that know it. It was written when Jessie J reflected on being hospitalized for stroke, and in her room, had to deal with the death of child staying in the same hospital room. For such a heavy subject matter, the power of Jessie’s vocals carries the listener through what was a very intense journey.  Yet another testament to This singer’s talent for live performance, the album track on Who You Are is from an acoustic concert… just live vocals and acoustic guitar.

1.  Who You Are

The title of the singer’s first album has also become very special to her fans. It’s a positive message that speaks to people when they are going through a rough time, or struggling with trying to be someone they are not. Another example of how the performer’s incredible voice and songwriting skills merge to form an epic result.

 

Music Musings

Music Musings: Johnny Mathis

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There is no singer in music today quite like Johnny Mathis.  Born in Texas and raised on the West Coast, his golden Baritone voice has rang across popular music for nearly six decades.  With 350 million records sold across the world, Mathis is one of the most successful singers of the 21st century.  Perhaps best known as a balladeer from early hits like Chances Are and It’s Not For Me To Say,  this versatile artist has performed everything from Jazz and R&B to Country and Disco music.

As a teenager, he studied opera and classical voice, which is easy to tell given his long, prosperous career and consistently healthy vocal technique.  In an era where so many young artists wear out their voice and are forced to endure costly and risky voice surgery, Johnny Mathis is a great example how proper training can last a lifetime.  He maintains a robust tour schedule even today!!

Here is the original of Johnny singing his hit song Misty, recorded in 1958…

And here he is singing the same song live, in 2014…

Indeed, Johnny Mathis is a true original.  Make sure to see this great artist if he comes to your area.

 

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(photo credit: fanart.tv) 

Music Musings

Music Musings: Jessie J + Ariana Grande + Nicki Minaj– BANG BANG

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In today’s music industry, it’s rare to find a talent like British singer-songwriter Jessie J. Her gifts lie in solid melodic composition, a wealth of pop music knowledge and versatility. She’s a well-known presence throughout the music industry, having written Miley Cyrus chart-topper Party in the USA, and other hits for artists like Chris Brown. But her greatest gift by far is a unique voice, which can only be closely described as the power of Patti Labelle combined with the agile melismatic skills of Whitney Houston. But even comparisons to those singers don’t quite fit Jessie J.

And fitting in, at least for marketing to US audiences, has been the issue. Of course she is not entirely without her successes in the United States.  Her song Domino reached Number 6 on the Billboard charts, and she had another significant worldwide hit with ‘Price Tag‘…  both of which came from her debut album Who You Are.  But due to a string of bad decisions by her management, most Americans know very little about her or her incredible talent.  While finding great success in countries like Brazil and her native UK, the artist has struggled to even have the chance of releasing music stateside.  In fact, the singer’s entire second album Alive has yet to be brought into the US market.

After a rocky road, Jessie J is giving US fans another go.  This week, her new co-single Bang Bang with fellow pop stars Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj was released worldwide, and was an immediate success.  Thus far, the song has already skyrocketed to Number 1 on US iTunes, as well as 20 other countries, cementing its status as a certified hit.

The tune is a fun romp into the world of pop collaboration (something surprisingly missing so far in 2014), and could be destined to become one of this decade’s “girl power” anthems.  All three ladies bring their best on this fiery track, but instead of being a vocal duel, the trio manages a fair level of cohesiveness.  Jessie J and Ariana Grande both have a great show of their respective vocal skills, while Nicki Minaj almost steals the show with her rapid fire rap. It’s a great song for the summer.

Besides the official record, Jessie J did a live acoustic version of Bang Bang. With just her and guitarist Lewie Allen Jessie J proves her worth as one of today’s best pop singers, navigating massive registration shifts with utmost precision and clarity. As Vibe magazine said when tweeting out the video, “she kills it.” Check out the track below.

Here is the record version with partners in crime Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj…

 

 

Music Musings

Music Musings: Weird Al Mandates ‘Fun’ to Number 1

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I was going start this post by waxing poetic about the eccentric genius that is Weird Al Yankovic and his over 30 years of dedicated musical satire, but ‘Never mind I give up’. Tis far better to start off with a series of Word Crimes, and then just Segway into an excerpt from Billboard.  If you’ve read my blog, you’re probably used to my run-on sentences anyway…

After more than 30 years on the charts, comedian-singer “Weird Al” Yankovic earns his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, as “Mandatory Fun” debuts atop the list. The album is the first comedy set to top the chart since 1963, and logs the largest sales week for a comedy album since 1994.

“Mandatory Fun” was released July 15 through Way Moby and RCA Records, and sold 104,000 copies in the week ending July 20, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It was promoted by a well-receiveddaily viral video campaign that launched Monday, July 14. Starting with his parody of Pharrell’s “Happy,” Yankovic released eight music videos for the album through the week on various sites, like The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo, Nerdist, College Humor and YouTube.

“Mandatory” is the first comedy album to top the Billboard 200 since Allan Sherman’s “My Son, the Nut” spent eight weeks at No. 1 beginning on the chart dated Aug. 31, 1963. A couple of comedy sets came close since then, including Steve Martin’s No. 2-peaking “A Wild and Crazy Guy” back in 1978 and a pair of No. 2 Cheech & Chong titles in the early 1970s.

Besides the ‘Happy’ parody, Yankovic also does his own unique versions of the Iggy Azalea hit ‘Fancy’, ‘Royals’ by Lorde and a host of other chart-toppers.

But behind all of the fun is also some serious business.  For the album, Weird Al deployed a novel marketing and production strategy. Here’s more on that from the New York Times…

Because RCA did not provide any production budget, Mr. Yankovic said, the videos were paid for by various partner sites that brought their own audiences, like Nerdist, Funny or Die and College Humor. The gambit worked. Mr. Yankovic’s web stats exploded. On Wikipedia, for example, his profile has drawn 575,000 views so far this month, according to the music data-tracking firm Next Big Sound. On Spotify, Mr. Yankovic’s music was streamed 3,282,937 times around the world last week, up 785 percent from the week before.

In an era where record companies allocate a dwindling pool of resources and face immense pressure just to break even, Weird Al’s sponsorship model is one that has been quickly noticed.  So kudos to Mr. Yankovic for standing out and perhaps paving a new way for ‘serious artists’ to follow as well. This week, it is definitely he who has the last laugh.

Check out the video for Word Crimes below.

Music Musings

Music Musings: Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes

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Hundreds of years ago, as European society awoke from the Dark Ages and launched into a period of unprecedented creativity, they formulated an ideal that we carry strongly with us today.  A Renaissance Man was someone who could seemingly do and exceed at anything they tried.  In the style of scientist, painter, sculptor and philosopher Leonardo da Vinci, it was a person that society held up as a supreme achiever in several fields.  Even today, so many of our music and movie stars strive for this legacy, but only a precious few actually reach it to become Renaissance Men and Women.

And then there are those that have been on that path for their whole life.  As this incredible feature article by Dave Ramsey of the Arkansas Times notes, if there was ever a candidate for that title in the 21st Century, it would be musician, park ranger, former NFL player, alligator wrestler, and actor Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes (full disclosure… he’s also my uncle) .  Here’s a snippet from the feature, but it’s definitely worth a read of the whole thing…

When Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes arrived in New Orleans almost 20 years ago, he felt an uncanny recognition when he heard people speaking Creole French.

“I picked it up right away,” Barnes said. “When I was a kid I used to have all these dreams in Creole. I didn’t know what it was, I just knew it was some kind of different language. When I moved to Louisiana, I knew.”

Barnes has always been attuned to dreams. He was born in Benton in 1963 under a prophet sign, according to his grandmother, a Louisiana-born “fix-it lady” who did traditional healings and read stars for people in their community. “She told me I would have dreams and visions, and she taught me how to interpret them,” Barnes said. Laughing, he added, “and she told me not everyone would believe me, or understand.”

Whatever the cause, it’s hard to deny that Barnes has found his path. Nowadays the boy who used to dream in Creole in Benton sings in Creole in New Orleans as one of the most prominent musicians in zydeco, a traditional music form originating in southwest Louisiana. Barnes — a multi-instrumentalist who plays accordion, harmonica, rub board, piano, talking drum and more — fronts Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots. Though Sunpie is a popular mainstay on the zydeco circuit, Barnes’ music isn’t contained by a single genre — he mixes in Delta blues, gospel, boogie woogie, R&B, and West African and Caribbean influences. He calls it “Afro-Louisiana.”

Barnes, in addition to being a musician and composer, is a naturalist, a full-time National Park ranger, a black-and-white portrait photographer, a television and film actor and a former professional football player with the Kansas City Chiefs.

“I’m not interested in being restricted,” Barnes said. “I’m interested in life.”

Interested in life isn’t even the half of it with Barnes.  He’s living life as full and great as possibly anyone on the planet.  After just completing a national tour with musical legends Sting and Paul Simon, Barnes is back home playing capacity crowds in and around the Crescent City.  You also may have caught him on HBO’s tv series Treme.  But wherever the wind takes him, Sunpie definitely knows how to bring the house down.  Be on the lookout for him!!