...to the Sublime

The Grammys (For What They're Worth)

 

The Grammy Awards, especially the mainstream categories, have become deadly safe and predictable, but it's still fun to look at some of the categories that don't get announced during the broadcast.

We didn't make our usual holiday trip to Texas this year so I'm a little homesick, but this makes me feel a little better: in the Best Tejano Album category is "Borders y Bailes" by Los Texmaniacs, which features one of my favorite cumbias: "A Mover El Bote." To all my Colombian cumbia lovers: this is how we do it in South Texas, ya'll. (This one goes out to my favorite Colombiana-Tejana, Cristina Venegas.)

Download 02 A Mover el Bote (Shake Your Booty) [Cumbia]

And in the Best Zydeco or Cajun Album category is Buckwheat Zydeco's "Lay Your Burden Down," which includes "Throw Me Something, Mister." That is, of course, what the kids yell at Mardi Gras parades to the people on the floats who are flinging doubloons and beads. But that's also what I want the New Orleans Saints receivers to be yelling to QB Drew Brees at the Super Bowl: throw me something, mister--preferably in the end zone.

 

Download 06 Throw Me Something, Mister

Goin' Back to New Orleans

Whether or not you like football, you've got to be happy for the city of New Orleans and its long-suffering fans. The Saints started as an expansion team in 1967 and they've never been to the Super Bowl. Today the draught ended with a victory over the Minnesota Vikings. It's one more bit of good news for the city, which is still rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina. I was in New Orleans last October and it seemed like everyone was wearing a Saints jersey or t-shirt. The town was giddy--OK, drunk--with anticipation that this could be the year they finally go all the way. 

And of course there's the fantastic family conflict associated with this year's Super Bowl: For many years, Archie Manning (above) was the Saints' talented but unlucky quarterback. Unlucky in the sense that he played for awful teams. But he is still beloved in New Orleans, where his three sons were born and all played high school football. But, on Feb. 7, Archie's loyalties will be divided when his middle son, Peyton, leads the Indianapolis Colts against the Saints.

The New Orleans Superdome has hosted many Super Bowls. Too bad this year the game isn't there. On the other hand, that might have been too much for the city to handle. Still, I wish I could've been there tonight. In spirit, along with Dr. John, I'm goin' back to New Orleans.

 18 Goin' Back To New Orleans

Wake Up Everybody!

 

There's been way too much loss lately, including the mighty Teddy Pendergrass, but there's no better way to mark his passing, and to honor Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, than with this classic from Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes featuring Teddy. My friends from the band Rey Fresco posted this quote from Dr. King this morning: "My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary." I think Dr. King would have liked this one:

Download 3-02 Wake Up Everybody

For Haiti

 

You may recognize the song "My Blood" from the 1990 Neville Brothers album, "Yellow Moon." But they also recorded a bilingual version of the song, "San Nous Ki La," with the Haitian band Freres Parent, which was made for Jonathan Demme's documentary, "Konbit: Burning Rhythms of Haiti."

In any language, as the song goes, that's my blood down there.

Download 08 San Nous Ki La

Music Sadly Silenced

 

The music world has lost two soulful artists in the past few days. The first one was a shocker. Lhasa de Sela (above), who recorded under the name Lhasa, died on New Year's Day from breast cancer at the age of 37. She was an amazing singer with a fascinating background. Born to a Mexican father and a Jewish mother, she spent much of her childhood going back and forth between Mexico and the U.S. with her family in a school bus that was also their home. Her first album, "La Llorona" (1997), was an all-Spanish recording of ballads that showcased her spellbinding voice. Her second album, "The Living Road" (2003), had songs in English, French and Spanish, including the haunting "La Frontera" (listen below). In between those albums she joined her sisters in Pocheros--their traveling circus/theatre company. Her final album, simply titled "Lhasa," was released last year. I had the fortune to once see Lhasa perform live and she was exquisite. This one hurts.

06 La Frontera

The second musical loss was Willie Mitchell (right), who died Jan. 5. Mitchell was best known as the producer of that amazing string of hits in the '70s by Al Green (left) on Hi Records. From the New York Times obituary:

"In 1968 Mr. Mitchell was booked to perform at a club in Midland, Tex., with a fledgling singer from Michigan named Al Green as his opening act. On hearing him rehearse, Mr. Mitchell invited Mr. Green to Memphis and promised to make him a star."

The rest was history. Mitchell was also a trumpeter who released several albums of his own. One album, "Ooh Baby, You Turn Me On," included the song "Teenie's Dream." Teenie was, of course, Teenie Hodges, the guitarist whose sound was so integral to Reverend Al's songs. Along with the artists and producers at Stax, Mitchell and Hi Records helped make Memphis the capital of Southern soul. Thanks, Willie.

Teenie's Dream

  

Taj, David and the Mockingbirds

 

On "Texas Woman Blues," from his excellent 1972 album "Recycling the Blues (and Other Related Stuff)," Taj Mahal pleads to a woman from San Antonio who has captured his soul: señorita DeLeon / escucha mi canción (Miss DeLeon / listen to my song). So it was no surprise to hear Taj singing in Spanish on "American Horizon," the latest fine recording from the East Bay-based folk ensemble, Los Cenzontles (The Mockingbirds).

Los Cenzontles was founded by the gifted musician and Los Angeles native Eugene Rodriguez (the middle brother in a brilliant trio of siblings that includes filmmaker Phillip Rodriguez and writer Gregory Rodriguez). In 1995, Eugene collaborated with Los Lobos and Chicano music legend Lalo Guerrero on the Grammy-nominated children's album, "Papa's Dream." That started an ongoing collaboration between Eugene and David Hidalgo, who co-produced "American Horizon." Hidalgo is all over the album, playing his usual assortment of instruments, including drums (his original role in Los Lobos) and the ukelele(!), and he shares lead vocal on the searing "Best of Me."

Throughout his long career, Taj Mahal has often exhibited an affinity for the Latino influence in the Caribbean music that largely colors his sound. He opens the album with an all-Spanish vocal on "La Luna" ("The Moon"), a sultry cumbia fueled by Hidalgo's accordion. Taj also sings lead on "Sueños" ("Dreams"), which defines the hybrid nature of this album--in this case a typical Mahal blues number, but with bilingual lyrics.

But the heart of this album is Los Cenzontles, a talented group of musicians and singers that grew out of Rodriguez's non-profit arts center and music school based in San Pablo. The band is rooted in traditional Mexican folk music, but Eugene has been experimenting with other genres so it's perfectly natural when they close the album with the jaunty "La Rutina" ("The Routine"), which sounds like an outtake from the Latin Playboys, Hidalgo's experimental side project with Louie Perez.

The liner notes say: "This is the story of a place that is a place, but also a state of mind where people come from around the world to build their lives...to rise above." 

"American Horizon" is the perfect soundtrack for that state of mind. 

Download 01 La Luna