Tuesday 12 March 2013

South By SouthSongs

The music portion of SXSW officially kicks off today, but music's already been a big part of my time with the interactive folks. Here's the soundtrack.

Miles Davis, Kind of Blue: The album that broke the mold what was possible in jazz and, according to some, what was possible in Western music. Used by former jazz pianist turned leadership coach to the U.S Navy Frank Barrett to explain how to improvise and succeed in challenging and unprecedented situations.



Oscar Peterson, C Jam Blues: Also mentioned by Barrett, but as an example of what came before Kind of Blue. Yes, it swings hard. Yes, the technique is top notch. But according to Barrett, Peterson isn't viewed as a great improviser. Listen to enough of his playing and you start to hear patterns and repetition.



Sonny Rollins, Oleo: A peerless improviser who took a five-year sabbatical from jazz because he thought he had begun to repeat himself. I once saw him solo for 20 minutes without repeating so much as an interval.



Iron Maiden, Murders in the Rue Morgue: Playing either from the jukebox or through the stereo at Casino El Camino. Great burgers. Update: The AV Club is reporting that Clive Burr, the drummer for this and other early 'Maiden albums, has died after a long struggle with MS. He was 56.



Roger O'Donnell, Songs From the Silver Box: The former Cure keyboardist breaks out on his own in a lovely bit of ambient. Discovered the day I arrived and subsequently purchased via Groove Salad on SOMA FM. Keep them online and commercial free here. (This isn't the exact song, but it's close.)



Kreuz Ost, Berlin: From a Berlin Music Commission giveaway CD from the German booth at the EXPO. I got one last year and made some cool discoveries. I'm only a few seconds into this one, but so far I like what I hear.



Grinderman, A short film: Nick Cave is present in so many disciplines these days it's hard to pin down one example, but I liked the look of this film. He kicked off the music portion of SXSW today by abusing the raft of iphone flashers: "Are you guys going to do that the whole fucking time?"



James Alan Shelton, Shady Grove: Discovered during a stroll down East 6th last night as part of one of those Putomayo world music compilations. It's an old folk tune and he really does it well.

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