I think I speak on behalf of at least some of my close friends, if I say we need you back…
How can it be, that a talent like you, with a velvet, scraping voice, in my opinion the best voice since I was starvin’ like Marvin, with that funky guitar touch is not spoiling us with his smoov soulful grooves anymore?
You obviously don’t know this, but me and some very close friends met you at an Incognito concert in Vredenburg, Utrecht, The Netherlands in november 1996. And as the acoustics are horrible in Vredenburg and you were opening for them, your sounds were strange; however, we did feel a strange kind of attraction to your songs… so we got to our favourite recordstore and got your album, after which we really understood what kind of amazing vision to new soul you had. In fact, your first album is up there with Brown sugar (d’Angelo), the first Badu and Plantation Lullabies (Me’shell NdegeOcello) in my humble, but passionate opinion.
I understand how you really got fed up by being labelled the new blue-eyed soulster and indeed, whether you are white, black or bright-purple, it is about the soul eventually.. hm.. I am still crazy about your jumping syncoping grooves on Lewis II. To be honest, the 2 Stoned-albums moved me less, but the first 2 are still continuously on my playlist. In fact, any chance I get, I tell everyone who wants to hear (and all those who don’t wanna hear, but I don’t care) about you. So sue me… (as I understand you don’t (wanna?) play anymore…)
So Lewis, thank you for those tunes and I hope you’re doing well. Maybe we’ll be able to enjoy you playing live somewhere in the future, maybe we won’t. Just know there are a lot of real appreciative people out here.
Warm regards,”
Anyway,if you like these couple of tracks, buy them at Amazon for example, as I feel any musical genius should get the appreciation and rewards for making music that makes you laugh, cry, move or sit still.
I know, it has been a couple of weeks, but you know, birthdays and stuff….
With my friend Marieke, who has been a fan for years as well, we went to see Zuco 103 Acustico @ the old Luxor in Rotterdam.
An acoustic set, with special guests percussionist Marcos Suzano and guitarist Sergio Chiavazzoli from Brasil.
As usual, when Lilian Viera gets on stage, we are mesmerized by her presence. Some performers, singers in particular feel the need to act arrogant or with their noses in the air, probably from insecurity…
Not Lilian.
Probably because of her background on the one hand and her experience on the other, she is (seems?) perfectly relaxed and enchants the theater as if it was my livingroom during my party… Now, the band is tight as ever, Stefan Kruger on drums and Alex Oele on bass are like siamese twins, Stefan Schmid is one of the best Rhodes-players in Holland and their guests are amazing on percussion and guitar. There is magic on stage, despite their obvious fatigue from the tour… When you like, please support them, all albums are amazing! Check it out…
on this video there’s a lot more of this stuff… damn, the guy is going absolutely crazy, that is why it is so frustrating i wasn’t able to see this tour live!!!
Here is devil’s pie (be sure to go through the beginning, when it starts, goose bumps!):
now I was going to see him in 2000. After he released his Voodoo album, I looked forward, no I was drewlingover the anticipation of seeing him doing his thing; the new stuff, but also the old stuff like brown sugar…
and i missed the north sea jazz festival in 2000, but my dissappointment was dismissed quickly by the news, that he was going to come back to rotterdam! and he was coming, posters were ready and everything…
but the concert was cancelled, resulting in the fact that this is the musical genius, i have, so far, not been able to see. now some intermediate albums notwithstanding, we haven’t heard anything since Voodoo in 2000. however, rumour has it, that his new album is coming out this year… seeing is believing, unfortunately…
i do have some footage of him though, @ the Free Jazz Festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2000. Check it out!
Marzio
told me a little early and asked me to keep my mouth shut marketingwise (which is kind of difficult for me, but I succeeded nonetheless ): he was going to play the Bimhuis in Amsterdam for Blue Note. So, last week we were off to the nation’s capital to enjoy some undoubtedly amazing jazz…
I do have to laugh though, @ the difference between enjoying various types of music live… When we went to Raphael Saadiq for example, it is one big social gathering, loud, noise, fantastic!
wanted to upload some of my songs, as i came across them on my laptop and i hope you like them… btw, i added all of the lyrics as well, just click the link if you want…
first song is called “good things“, a song about a meeting between two people, seen from her point of view:
this song, “Get 2 know ya” is about the same meeting but seen from his point of view:
i wrote a song for a dear friend of mine, when he lost the last of his parents, called “under the tree“:
the first song i wrote for this beautiful girl, “talk 2 u“:
and finally a song i wrote about too young girls with too mature bodies, “too much body“:
when i was in italy the year before last, i got a fantastic tip from a friend of mine, when we were talking about jazz… isn’t it funny though, how in all music, and in jazz too, countries rise unexpectedly in providing new waves. at the end of the ’50s brasil was the first one to take new wave very literally (bossa nova). and after that we have had Sweden (Esbjorn Svensson (why did he have to pass away so tragically) Trio), Norway (Bugge Wesseltoft, Beady Belle) and of course the Netherlands (Michiel Borstlap, Jesse van Ruller). my friend Andrea drew my attention to the fact, that it had been Italy giving new impulses for some time already. so he gave me mario biondi and nicola conte. please also check out biondi, but i had that one for a while. rituals and other directions are two amazing albums. the guestlist on rituals particularly, is quite impressive, till brönner, greg osby and josé james among many others…
so after having found that clip on youtube, i realised i only have
“music on my mind”!!! so i am repairing that as we speak, starting with an album, which is a masterpiece from beginning to end, with some obvious favourites for a funkateeeeeer like me, Living for the city and Higher ground, but a song like Visions is to die for…
and the same goes for mr donny hathaway, know him from head to toe, but did not have one album yet! shame, shame, shame… bought this one, because of What’s going on. don’t touch this song by my absolute hero, or…. Continue Reading…
strangely, music that i love seems to go through a cycle, so that i wanna share some of those pearls in a bunch everytime… this time, i have a couple, check them out:
kraak & smaak is a dutch dj-collective with some definite funky qualities. i love them, with their funky grooves that resemble the berlin jazzanova collective a little, but i like k&s’s grooves better. cutting up some old grooves, making up new ones,but the songs always have some lowdown, dirty feel…
i have known this threesome for quite a while and have always been impressed with their new sounds. as far as i am concerned they were the creators of this dance/brazil crossover. and over the years, their sound has also evolved, Continue Reading…
doesn’t matter how often I play, hear or feel this song, it is the ultimate groove. 1973!
i stumbled across this video and i just start smiling from the obvious joy of music…
): he was going to play the Bimhuis in Amsterdam for Blue Note. So, last week we were off to the nation’s capital to enjoy some undoubtedly amazing jazz…
