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Ten Years After - Woodstock 1969 (2024, Chrysalis Records Ltd.); What's Old Is New Again

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  Photo: Ten Years After This week's batch of new releases was interesting, to say the least, but aren't they all. Amongst what came out on Friday, August 16th, I pulled out a few albums to listen to. These included new albums by Devon Allman, Ray LaMontagne and Charly Bliss, among others. But, the album that rose to the top of my list to listen to first was a live album recorded almost exactly 55 years ago in August 1969 by Ten Years After at the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival. Full Disclosure: I have been all about all things Woodstock ever since missing the festival because (at the time) I was not quite old enough to drive.  However,  I was right there when the movie opened in 1970. Not only was the Woodstock documentary movie so well made that it was easy to feel like you'd been there, but two of the most amazing performances in the movie were those by The Who and Ten Years After. The arrangements for the festival have been well documented, but of all the things th...
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The Police - Synchronicity (1983, A&M Records); A Great Album Deserves and Gets a Great Anniversary Box Set

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  Courtesy of The Police Listening to Synchronicity by The Police from their newly released 40th anniversary box set, I was immediately struck by how excellent this album was, and still is. The first CD in the box contains the original remastered album plus the B-side , " Murder By Numbers,"  that arguably should have been on the original LP.  The great songs come at you one after another and they're almost as familiar to fans as the Beatles catalog. For example, just look at the lineup of songs from Side 2:  "Every Breath You Take" is followed by " King Of Pain," "Wrapped Around Your Finger,"   and  "Tea In The Sahara." With all but two songs  on  Synchronicity  credited only to Sting , any consideration of Sting's best work should include this album alongside his solo work.  Synchronicity was the fifth and final album released by The Police before the three principle musicians went their separate ways. For the purpose of thi...
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John Mayall - The Turning Point (1969, Polydor); He Was Ahead of His Time

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John Mayall live at Fillmore East, Jul 12, 1969 (Wolfgang's) When I first heard news that John Mayall had died at age 90, my first thought was to post a little appreciation of him. When I do a music related post on FaceBook, I like to include a song. I chose "Room to Move" from The Turning Point album since it was his biggest hit. When I brought the song up on YouTube and I played it to check the version, I was initially thrown for a loop because the music started right up without the stage introduction I was accustomed to hearing. The version was right, so I just attributed it to the nuances of transferring a master to YouTube and away we went.  I should mention that I was just a kid in school when I bought this album upon its release. I would love to know where I had heard it back then, but it had to have been on the radio in the early days of rock music on FM.  In any case, a day or two after posting it, I dialed the album up and gave it a listen.  My first thought wa...
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Khruangbin - A LA SALA (Dead Oceans and Night Time Stories, 2024); Room with a Vibe

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Photo courtesy of the artists It's already shaping up to be a banner week, what with the release of a new Mark Knopfler album, and I was totally not prepared for a new collaboration between Texas and Spooner Oldham, recorded in the classic Muscle Shoals studios. Moreover, it features mostly the best tunes from the career of the Scottish band reimagined in stripped down versions with Sharleen Spiteri's soulful voice paired with Oldham's pianos. But, this is about that, it's about something that dropped last week. It's an album by  Khruangbin called  A La Sala . For those of you keeping track, that's  pronounced "krung-bin".  Khruangbin has made numerous albums and EPs, they've sold out venues across the country including Red Rocks and Radio City Music Hall. With all that, and considering I've been on a search for new music since I don't know when, it kind of freaks me out that I've never crossed paths with  Khruangbin until now when my d...
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Bela Fleck - Rhapsody in Blue (Thirty Tigers, 2024); It's a Function of Flex Talent and Gershwin's Durability

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  Photo:  Stevie Connor, The Sound Cafe Despite the many achievements of Bela Fleck combining bluegrass and jazz, I've got an admission to make. I do remember when Fleck first appeared playing jazz with his banjo. Although I've heard songs here and there, in all these years I have never taken the opportunity to see him play live or even listen to one of his albums. Perhaps it was that I was never all that enthusiastic about the bluegrass part of the equation. That is... until now.  Fleck has just released his latest long player called Rhapsody in Blue to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the piece's debut. I've read that Rhapsody in Blue was first performed on February 12th, 1924 in NYC at  Aeolian Hall (believe it or not, that building still exists) . I always love the piece. I don't know how far back I go with the  Rhapsody , but no, I wasn't there for it's debut. It was already familiar to me when I had the privilege of playing it from the prospec...
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