Truth about ‘Last Night The Moon Came Dropping It’s Clothes Down the Street’ by Jon Hassel

Jazz has always been a unknown medium for me as a genre. The organized chaos as I have nick named the genre to has never had much appeal to me. So when taking on the album ‘Last Night The Moon Came Dropping It’s Clothes Down the Street’ by musician Jon Hassel I choose to go simply on instinct. Hassel’s new album is not the Jazz you imagine, it has a mellow depth to it, from start with ‘Aurora’ it has a mystique. The blowing trumpet reveals nothing but mysterious thoughts that some how leads out to an organized chaos in some way.

The following ‘Time and Place’ and ‘Abu Gil’ is against my principles but completely fantastic. It’s not until ‘Last Night The Moon Came’ that I realize how influential this kind of music has always been to me. The sore, calm and beautiful song reminds me of a mixture between Thomas Newman’s fantastic ‘Ghosts’ from ‘Road To Perdition’ and Miles Davis ‘Little Church’. It’s a fantastic mix in the true sense that it’s jazz that I am listening to and the personal relations to this calm and beautiful composition may be the edge of the album.
‘Courtrais’ follow the same example but also lifts in the mystique into the music that makes inspiration flow. The sense of a dark and lonely street in a big city at nighttime is the first that comes to mind and the instrumental touches of belonging strikes perfectly well all the way through the end part of the album. The end part is on the other hand a little bit more of that jazz I never tend to fully understand.

The sweet, somewhat misery ending with ‘Light on Water’ for fills the album that overall is more than a pleasant monday afternoon listening. It has a sense of depth, mystique that brings out creativity and inspiration out from the everyday. It’s a pinch of brilliance involved in this mellow, beautiful album of Jazz, that I don’t fully understand came to me a pleasant surprise.

Truth about 'Astral Weeks: Live at Hollywood Bowl' by Van Morrison

It doesn't come as s suprise, that if Van Morrison where about to choose one album to perform live, it would be 'Astral Weeks'. The 1968 'Astral Weeks' is a timeless classic but there's always this worrying criticism that he could ruin the mythic around the album with a live performance. I have heard the Hollywood Bowl is suppose to be a terrific spot and this is where this live concerts take place. I found it a shame to myself that I haven't actually been there and watched a singe concert since I moved here but I'll just have to do like everybody else. Listen to it on my iPod and say what I think.

In this case, a catastrophy is far away from what the result becomes. The opening with 'Astral Weeks/I Believe That I Have Trancended' aholds up somewhat a terrific touch of settle, which is needed for a version of a classic rock album. After a not so strong 'Beside You', Van Morrison creates a timeless version of Slim Slow Slider. There's a calmness and softness that relies on the original version I can image Van Morrison sitting on a stool as the crowd falls into the fantastic rythm of the song. It surprises me that this strong of a song comes this early and this only brings me hope to the rest.

The concert goes along great and it really keeps this terrific, magical atmosphere and it's not untill the peak when you'll get surpised by the magic eloded into the bowl. 'Cyprus Avenue' comes out terrifcly well, it's timeless and probably the edge of the concert so far. It keeps me settled in my bed. I can't think clearly, if I'm just glad or if the bittersweet and tender music controls my mood. Followed by 'Ballerina', 'Madame George' and a side kick from 'Astral Weeks' with 'Listen to The Lion/The Lion Speaks, originally from 'Listen to The Lion' that appeared on Morrison's fantastic 'St Dominic's Preview' from 1972.

Van Morrison finishes off, perfect. You can sense the jazz influences from the great rock poet and the music, the atmosphere and deapths of this concert becomes timeless in a large sense. The fresh mix, the hard jazz sounds and the amazing violin played by Tony Fitzgibbon captures the beautiful pieces that makes you wish you where there that night.

Captain Beefheart, A Magical Band and The Story of A Revolutionary Man

This past week Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band’s first record ‘Safe As Milk’ was re-released. Who was this man? Captain Beefheart and what was his story because few of us might never have heard about the man influenced greats like Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, The Clash, Nick Cave and on long distances Rock & Roll icon Bruce Springsteen. We ask ourselves, when we think of the 60’s and 70’s, why do we never hear of Captain Beefheart. Why is he not one of greats. Because he choose not to be and that’s what signified his music to change the face of the music industry for eternity and so forth.

Captain Beefheart also known as Don Van Vliet was born in 1941 and was raised in Glendale, California. He was an artist of his time and rumors claim that he started sculpting at the age of 6. At the age of 13, Don Vliet was offered a full art scholarship to an Art School in Europe but declined and had his parents move with him to the Mojave desert in order to find a better environment for inspiration.

Frank Zappa was one of Vliet’s older friends and at this time Vliet formed a band called The Magic Band. In a tribute to his greatest idols, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Howlin’ Wolf he named himself Captain Beefheart. Vliet’s Beefheart went from pursuing art into shaping that element in music through inspiration the old past masters of blues.
Beefheart had tremendous blues voice and his band soon became local heroes and as former guitarist of the band Doug Moon states: ‘Don could capture the sound of Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters and recreate, not copy it. But recreate it to his own’. At this time the American Labels looked for a way to respond to the 'British Invasion' and they all saw potential in Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, but no one could recreate Mick Jagger in Don Vliet. Instead the band headed into a darker form of Desert Blues/Rock that later became the influences of what the impact of Homme’s, 'The Dessert Sessions' and Stoner Rock genre came to be.

The Band moved to Los Angeles and recorded their first full length album. The Legendary ‘Safe As Milk’ and on this production famous blues guitarist Ry Cooder had replaced Doug Moon. At this time the band headed even darker into influences and Cooder describes Vliet’s vision:
‘His vision was to take the raw blues elements of John Lee Hooker and Howlin Wolf’ and tear it down so raw that you just would have a sound. Just a grunt maybe and you would add something abstract. You would add the John Coltrane, crazy time signature free Jazz on a Coleman thing and then Hybridize it together, which was a great idea’.

At this time the record company had a large idea around Captain Beefheart and as a proof of their capability, the band was about to get introduced on the Monterey Pop Festival. A Festival that had helped Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding and Janis Joplin among others. Vliet, suffered from hard anxiety problems at this time and the concert ended in chaos and the commercial idea around Beefheart and his band was lost for a very long time.

It was at this time that Don Vliet and the Magic Band started to work on a new album. The audience was somewhat people rejected by hippies. The one’s who were to strange and they suited well into the Beefheart phenomenon. Don Vliet and his band was locked into a house for 8 moths rehearsing an album that came to be ‘Trout Mask Replica’ and the members of the band weren’t even able to go to the store to by food. It was a dictatorship in which the dictator or mastermind was Don Vliet’s Captain Beefheart composing an album that was recorded as a live session.

The ‘Trout Mask Replica’ was not just touching the brilliance it was among many musicians and fans in particular the best album ever made at this time. It had the best parts of all the genres Vliet tried to reach within; Blues, Rock and Jazz and the experiment did not stop with ‘Trout Mask Replica’ it continued with the controversial album called ‘Lick My Decals Off Baby’ which contained a tv-spot in an extreme artistic way that was refused by audiences. It was even asked to be taken off the air.
After ‘Lick My Decals Off Baby’, Captain Beefheart left the dessert and moved to Santa Cruz in California and this was the period where Don Vliet realized he did not make well profits from being a musician. People and the record labels never really counted on The Captain Beefheart albums to sell well, but they all loved it’s concept. In this transformation to an easier form of blues.

It was also at this time that Vliet started to market himself as a serious artist and establish himself as a painter through several exhibitions. He also declared a love for the Black/White Television medium and his art could be seen through his Cover Art. Captain Beefheart had reached it’s highest commercial break in the history of the band but many fans was dissapointed in Vliet’s later compositions.

After a long term of legal argues Captain Beefheart returned to the studio with a new version of younger musicians in his Magic Band and recorded the three albums that brought the brilliance back to Vliet’s vision. The three albums ‘The Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)’, ‘Doc At The Radar Station’ and ‘Ice Cream for Crow’ was the last pieces we got see with Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band. It was after this commercial and critic success that Beefheart decided to transform himself into focusing more onto his art in order to be recognized as an artistic painter rather than a musician that paints.
Vliet is today a well recognized painter who has pursued great art and is well known in the art societies. It is also clear that Vliet suffers from some form of illness that has made him wheel cheer bound. Still Vliet’s music in form of Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band lives on and has clearly been one of the greatest inspirations in experimental Jazz, Rock and most of all blues that has shaped many artists such as the alternative genres of Rock & Roll as it took it’s shape into become a mix of The Rhythm and Blues in the Rolling Stones as to the Stone Rock Universe of Josh Homme and later influenced Grunge/Rock artist Dave Grohl. As the BBC DJ, John Peel stated: "If there has ever been such a thing as a genius in the history of popular music, it's Beefheart…I heard echoes of his music in some of the records I listened to last week and I'll hear more echoes in records that I listen to this week."

Don Van Vliet or Captain Beefheart was driven by his musical vision. On a borderline between genius and imbalanced he composed together a new genre of Blues/Rock/Jazz that came to be the underground of Psychedelic Rock in 1960’s. He’s music is a source for the experimental greatness we all witness today and that’s why he’s worth his genius and the recognition above all.

Sources for this article comes from: ‘The Artist Formely Known As Captain Beefheart’ BBC Television Documentary from 1994, England, ‘Captain Beefheart Biography: Rolling Stone Encyclopedia Of Rock & Roll’ (Simon & Schuster, 2001) and Allmusic.com: Captain Beefheart: Biography.

Truth on ‘Already Free’ by The Derek Trucks Band

Vocalist and frontman of The Derek Trucks Band, Derek Trucks is fairly new to me, an in a positive way. In the companions new album ‘Already Free’ I am perfectly introduced to Derek Trucks and it’s somewhat mind blowing. ‘Already Free’ is a mix, just as claimed, Derek Trucks is as well. A mix of ‘feel good’ Rock/Rhythm & Blues with great influences from Bob Dylan, Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton. ‘Already Free’ is the bands 7th album released in a course of 12 years. According to critic’s the 2006 album ‘Songlines’ is the highlight of DTB’s discography, but I no nothing of that so I stick to ‘Already Free’, that’s what I know.

DTB is an original concept, easily mixed with great of greats and as one of few jam sessions bands in the field, the mixes between blues and rock with a touch of funk creates an original piece of music that is spiritual in a ‘feel good’ sense. The album is opened with an exceptional brilliant cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Down in The Flood’, an open interpretation with a funky guitar and strong vocals that only reminds me of a Buddy Guy. It’s an eternal sound so spiritual that it reaches up and above what ‘Mustang Sally’ made to me in ‘The Commitments’. It’s a pure stylish concept and as the album moves forward into the transitions of track 3, ‘Maybe This Time’ and ‘Sweet Inspiration’ comes to me I sense the rhythm and blues in somewhat a ‘soulish’ way that takes me to the brilliant of Stevie Wonder.
What I realize as I listen on for the second, third and fourth time is how The Derek Trucks Band reaches somewhat an emotional explosion into all their influences, mixing it into a pure true, funky blues version of greatness. Mellow essences of rock, blues, jazz and soul are all stirred together into a original touch that makes this one of the most unique albums I’ve ever sensed to come close to me. And at it’s middle peak it’s not even close to what I am about to say. The tension of some what sweet love melody ‘Our Love’ reaches me at a perfection, it’s exploding in a softness sense into my ears and totally blows my mind.

The emotional aspects of the album is something that I take onto me as somewhat personal and with ‘Down’ Don’t Bother Me’ and ‘Days Is Almost Gone’ is brilliant companions, the music is still breathtaking and as the albums closes with album title named song ‘Already Free’ I don’t really, fully understand what this mix of greatness in music has done to me. Forget greatness on all those guys I’ve been so terribly optimistic about, The Derek Trucks Band’s ‘Already Free’ is in it’s ace of brilliance. This is not great but rather magnificent and magical in the sense that I am captured into an album that changes my night, day and hopefully tomorrow. Gloriously!