Acid (jazz) Redux: Soulive, Break Out (2005)

by Pico

Jam bands seem to come in all kinds of flavors. The Allman Brothers took blues-rock, mixed it with soul and jazz and stretched it out. Grateful Dead was into a psychedelic kind of folk while Phish was known for their eclecticism and thrived on absurdity. Virtuosos Derek Trucks and Jonas Hellborg use the extended form as a vehicle for their instrumental prowess.

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One Track Mind: Ray Charles "Night Time Is the Right Time (Live)" (1958)

by Pico

Ray Charles had been such a fixture on the American music scene for so long, it's still hard to reconcile the fact that he's been gone for over two years, now. True, it's been a long time since he had a bona fide hit but his presence permeated our culture through the music of others.

But y'all already know that, so I don't really need to go into any detail about his immense legend. To me, his legend was established when he melded gospel and blues to form what is now known as Soul. That's what makes the Blues disc of the 1994 Blues+Jazz compilation some of Brother Ray's very finest work.

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Laura Nyro, "Live at the Bottom Line" (1988)

by Pico

Ever put in a CD for the first time not expecting any fireworks from the music contained within and find yourself surprisingly blown away by it? That's how it was for me the first time I listened to Laura Nyro's Laura: Live At The Bottom Line. Now, my expectations weren't low because I had some lukewarm opinion about the artist in question.

Oh no, Nyro was one of the more original, innovative composers of American pop music of the last forty years or so. It's just that it didn't seem that this record would have much going for it.

First of all, Nyro's rep is as a songwriter, not a live performer. Secondly, artists who were great in the 60's and 70's generally didn't fare so well in the 80's (Hall & Oates and a few others being notable exceptions). And lastly, the setting is in a relatively small club with a small band consisting of musicians whose names I don't recognize.

Admittedly, I knew almost nothing about Nyro herself until well into my adult life. But I was well acquainted with several of her songs by the time I was in the first grade. My dad played records by the 5th Dimension that contained "Stoned Soul Picnic" and "Wedding Bell Blues", while Blood Sweat & Tears had a radio hit with "And When I Die". And my brothers and I had the Three Dog Night single "Eli's Coming" (how we got that record I have no idea).

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