By Joel Francis The Daily Record Year-end, Top 10 lists are everywhere. Only The Daily Record presents its favorite records in haiku. Enjoy. 1. Arcade Fire – Suburbs Four sides of vinyl. Suburban sprawl? Viewing life takes time to explore. 2. The Roots – How I Got Over Late night’s finest band drops another classic. [...]
Posts Tagged ‘The Roots’
Nas and Damian Marley – “Distant Relatives”
Posted in Album review, tagged Afrika Bambaataa, Amadou and Miriam, Bob Marley, Chuck D, Damian Marley, Distant Relatives, Fugees, Gang Starr, Guru, hip hop, Joss Stone, K'Naan, KRS-One, Lauryn Hill, Lil Wayne, Nas, Public Enemy, reggae, Road to Zion, Run-DMC, Shabba Ranks, Sly and Robbie, Stephen Marley, The Roots, Welcome to Jamrock, Yellowman on June 4, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
(Above: Damian Marley and Nas perform at the Beaumont Club in Kansas City, Mo. on June 26, 2009.) By Joel Francis The Daily Record When the rapper Nas and reggae artist Damian Marley, youngest son of Bob Marley, first teamed up five years ago, the result was solid, but not spectacular. “Road to Zion” was [...]
Professor Griff discusses the past – and future – of Public Enemy
Posted in band feature, tagged Asher Roth, Bomb Squad, Can-I-Bus, Chuck D, Dead Prez, Flavor Flav, hip hop, Immortal Technique, Jermaine Dupri, KRS-One, Nelly, Professor Griff, Public Enemy, Rage Against the Machine, rap music, Snoop Dogg, Spectrum City, Terminator X, The Roots, Wize Intelligent on January 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
(Above: The title says it all: “Professor Griff drops knowledge.”) By Joel Francis The Daily Record Onstage, Professor Griff, minister of information for the veteran rap group Public Enemy, rarely smiles. Griff rarely takes center stage, but sets the tone of the show by marshalling the S1Ws, Public Enemy’s uniformed faux-security force, through their militant [...]
Review: Roy Ayers, the Impressions
Posted in Concert review, Kansas City Star, tagged 40 Acres and a Mule, Back To Rockville, Choice of Colors, Curtis Mayfield, Everybody Loves the Sunshine, Fela Kuti, Fred Cash, Gypsy Woman, jazz, Juneteenth, Move on Up, Roy Ayers, Sam Gooden, soul music, Superfly, the Impressions, The Roots, We're A Winner on June 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
(Above: Roy Ayers dedicates “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” to Miles Davis.) By Joel Francis The Kansas City Star Before James Brown was black and proud and Marvin Gaye asked what’s going on, the Impressions were a winner who got people ready for the train a-comin’. The Impressions message of racial harmony and black empowerment laid [...]
15 jazz greats to emerge in the last 20 years (part three)
Posted in Album review, Industry commentary, Kansas City music scene, tagged ?uestlove, Art Tatum, Bad Plus, Bamboozled, Ben Folds, Black Sabbath, Brad Mehldau, Bubby Hutcherson, Christian McBride, Count Basie, Eddie Harris, Eldar, Eric Clapton, Herbie Hancock, Jay McShann, jazz, Jazz at the Lincoln Center, jazz tap, John Coltrane, Joshua Redman, Kansas City jazz, Martin and Wood, Matana Roberts, Medeski, Miguel Zenon, Oscar Peterson, Pat Metheny, Philadelphia Experiment, Pixies, Reg E. Gains, Savion Glover, Sesame Street, SF Jazz Collective, Spike Lee, Sting, tap dancing, The Roots, Thelonious Monk, Uri Caine, Weather Report, Wynton Marsalis on February 20, 2009 | 6 Comments »
(Above: Savion Glover does his thing with plenty o’ swing.) By Joel Francis Continuing The Daily Record’s look at the state of jazz today, here is the final of three installments shedding light on 15 jazz greats to emerge in the last 20 years. Note that these musicians are not necessarily the 15 greatest jazz [...]
Bird lives! (and so will jazz)
Posted in Industry commentary, tagged A Tribe Called Quest, Albert Pujols, Babe Ruth, Ben Ratliff, Black Star, Blue Note, Bob Dylan, Charlie Mingus, Christian McBride, Common, D'Angelo, folk music, free jazz, future of music, gospel, Hot Five, Hot Seven, Impulse, Jaco Pastorius, jazz, Jimmy Smith, John Coltrane, John Medeski, Joshua Redman, Louis Armstrong, Martin and Wood, Medeski, Mos Def, New York Times, Pharaoh Sanders, Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Roy Hargrove, Rudy Van Gelder, Sacred Harp, Soft Machine, Sonny Rollins, Stan Musial, The Roots, The Stooges on January 16, 2009 | 6 Comments »
Above: Students at the Berklee School of Music break down the Roots’ “Water.” By Joel Francis The New York Times jazz and pop critic Ben Ratliff participated in a very enlightening Q and A with readers yesterday. It seems Kansas City jazz fans, like our friend at Plastic Sax, aren’t the only ones obsessed about [...]
Green Ribbon Haikus
Posted in Top 10, tagged The Roots, hip hop, Sigur Ros, indie rock, haiku, Hold Steady, Girl Talk, Rachel Yamagata, singer-songwriter, 2008 best albums, year in review on December 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
By Joel Francis Before we bid farewell to 2008, let’s have some more haiku fun and revisit five albums that may not have made The Daily Record’s year-end, best-of list but still merit a listen. Girl Talk – “Feed The Animals” Is it art? Question eclipses legalities. WTF? Dance! Dance! The Hold Steady – “Stay Positive” Great songwriting, [...]
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Releasing Jazz from Aspic
Posted in Industry commentary, Kansas City music scene, tagged Beach Boys, Bill Haley, Branford Marsalis, British Invasion, Buddy Holly, can jazz be saved?, Chuck Berry, Common, Danny and the Juniors, dixieland, Elvis Presley, fusion, future of music, Head Hunters, Herbie Hancock, jazz, John Coltrane, Martin and Wood, Medeski, Miles Davis, Mos Def, Ornette Coleman, Q-Tip, Rocket 88, Ron Carter, Roy Hargrove, Terry Teachout, The Roots, Wynton Marsalis on September 4, 2009 | 2 Comments »
(Above: Ornette Coleman jams with the Roots. Improbably, people respond positively to the non-traditional collaboration.) By Joel Francis In 1958, Danny and the Juniors sang “Rock and Roll is Here to Stay.” Although the genre was only seven years removed from the its birth on the “Rocket 88” single and three years from its explosion [...]
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