Tag: live

bb king - live at the regal
Vinyl

B.B. King: Live at the Regal (1965)

There are live albums, and then there are live albums.  Some of simply documents of a band or artist at a point in time; others are a snapshot of a comet, a fragile glimpse of the celestial heavens that will never come again.  Sam Cooke’s Live at the Harlem Square Club.  James Brown’s Live at the Apollo.  Hell, I’m more than happy to throw in Iron Maiden’s Live After Death…”Scream for me Long Beach!” indeed.  When it comes to blues, you can take your pick of classic live documents, but one that has always stood out as a a testament to the form is Live at the Regal, the 1964 recording of the great, the singular, B.B. King. Continue reading “B.B. King: Live at the Regal (1965)”

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anathema - universal
CD

Anathema: Universal (2013)

Sometimes you pick up a live album because you want to hear a band stretch it wings on beloved songs, take them for a curved walk around the park, breathe and expand.  Or get that unrelenting push in your face, the sensation of air moving, of heat and sweat and the pummeling that only comes when a raucous roar of guitars hits your face, and this is the closest you can come to that experience.  Or, in this specific case, you see Anathema in their first NYC show in years and when you go to the merch table to you want to show your support, so you pick up a shirt and a copy of Universal, hoping it’ll be close to the experience you just had live. Continue reading “Anathema: Universal (2013)”

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an evening with neil gaiman and amanda palmer live
CD

An Evening With Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer (2013)

I don’t know if “variety show” best describes An Evening with Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer, a recording of a joint tour undertaken by Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman.  It’s a combination of music, poetry, spoken word, and assorted shenanigans by the (then) newly married couple.   But “variety” carries a connotation that doesn’t fit here, where the combination is unique in how the pieces react to one another, and form a experience that is at one wholly intimate and inviting and specific and universal.  Continue reading “An Evening With Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer (2013)”

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al di meola, john mclaughlin and paco de lucia - friday night in san francisco
CD

Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin & Paco De Lucia: Friday Night in San Francisco (1981)

Oh man…almost 30 years since first hearing this and it sounds just as fresh, just as vibrant, just as alive as the first time I heard it.  Friday Night in San Francisco is more than just a live document of three guitar virtuosos at the top of their game; it’s a seminal work of music, astounding in its passion, technicality, and execution, and a high water mark for Al Di Meola, John McLaughin, and Paco De Lucia.  It’s bar none one of my favorite records of all time, and remains for me the apex of what you can do with a guitar, unadorned, armed with only your love of making music. Continue reading “Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin & Paco De Lucia: Friday Night in San Francisco (1981)”

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CD

Adrian Legg: High Strung Tall Tales (1994)

I had the great benefit and privilege to be surrounded by a lot of diverse music growing up.  In high school my two closest friends were a pair of brothers who grew up playing classical piano and jazz guitar.  But their hearts were always also in rock and roll, and it was there I developed the bug for guitar after listening to everyone from Jimi Hendrix to Yngwie J. Malmsteen to Jim Hall, Andre Segovia, and Adrian Legg, whose High Strung Tall Tales provides possibly the best overall document to introduce someone to one of the greatest guitar players I’ve ever heard. Continue reading “Adrian Legg: High Strung Tall Tales (1994)”

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