R.I.P James Brown

James Brown

James Brown, the “Godfather of Soul”, the legendary R&B artist, the singer and songwriter who defined funk and inspired rap, died yesterday at Atlanta’s Emory Crawford Long Hospital of congestive heart failure at the age of 73.

Brown’s last words were to his manager Charles Bobbit, and they were: “I’m going away tonight.”

James Brown is one of the few music legends who will live on forever through their art and through the way they affected and revolutionized the music scene.
His influence was broad and deep, and so much of the music we hear nowadays has it’s roots in Brown’s music.

Brown began his professional music career in 1953 and skyrocketed to fame in the late 1950s and early 1960s on the strength of his thrilling live performances and a string of smash hits. In spite of various personal problems and setbacks, he continued to score hits in every decade through the 1980s.

I grew up listening to James Brown’s hits from “Sex Machine” to “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” to “I Got You (I Feel Good)” and countless other songs; My dad is very big fan of Brown’s music, and so his songs played a big role in my personal musical education and defining my taste of music.

Rest in peace James Brown, for you have achieved immortality through your music…

Paul Anka – Rock Swings

These past two days I’ve been listening to, and greatly enjoying I must add, Paul Anka’s latest album “Rock Swings“. I first heard some bits from it at a friend’s place and was hooked immediately.

On this album Paul Anka has taken a number of the most famous rock songs of these past years, re-arranged them using some cool swinging jazz beats, and the result is pure magic.

Some of the hits he’s covered and that I loved on this cd are: Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana), Wonderwall (Oasis), Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden), It’s My Life (Bon Jovi), Tears In Heaven (Eric Clapton) and Hello (Lionel Richie).

When I first heard a bit of this album at my friend’s place, I’d never have guessed that it was old 50s crooner Paul Anka, who can count my dad as one of his fans. But well, he did an amazing job on this album, and I’m truly enjoying every bit of it.

I really recommend listening to this album, it’s a great piece of music, that gives another dimension and life to a list of great songs.

And if you enjoy this album, I also recommend the following cool albums:

George Michael: “Songs from the Last Century”
Michael Bubl

Michel Camilo – One More Once

These past days I’ve been listening to this album “One More Once” by Michel Camilo non stop in the car, it’s just amazing.

I got the cd a few days ago, after the guy I rent DVDs from gave me a taste of his music, and I was hooked right away. This album actually dates back to 1994, but has a fresh feeling to it that makes it as delightful to listen to now as I imagine it was back when it came out.

Michel Camilo is a pianist and composer from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. His music is a great mixture of jazz, latin and classical music, and his technical ability as a pianist is just amazing.
He’s also a music producer, and has won several awards, including Grammy, Latin Grammy and Emmy awards.

I can’t wait to get my hands on more of his albums to enjoy more and more of his cool and refreshing music.
I definitely recommend checking his music out, it’ll lift you up and take you through a beautiful ride in the magical world of good music.

I’d like to thank my friend Tarek from the DVD store for introducing me to this great musician, and would also like to send a big hi to my friend Mite from the Dominican Republic.

Tabarka Jazz Festival 2006

Tabarka Jazz FestivalIt’s that time of the year when the north coastal town of Tabarka welcomes Jazz musicians and fans from all over the world in it’s famous Tabarka Jazz Festival, and everyone has started planning for the concerts they’re going to attend.

The schedule this year is as follows:

08/07/2006: Neilo FEEL Project (Tunisia), IVISIONARI (Italy), Stanley Clarke & George Duke (USA)
09/07/2006: Karim Ziad (Algeria/France)
11/07/2006: Tigrita project (Poland), B Connected (Switzerland)
12/07/2006: O.Loundstreman Orchestra (Russia), Randy Weston (USA)
13/07/2006: Nabil Khmir (Tunisia/Holland), Mem Shannon (USA)
14/07/2006: Tiefland (Austria), Popa Chubby (USA)
15/07/2006: Sunshine [Abdou Selim & Judy Blair

Mariah Carey Live In Tunisia Soon

Mariah CareySo, the news is that American music diva Mariah Carey will be coming to Tunisia this summer to perform at two concerts.

The concerts will be held on July 22nd and 24th at the Menzah Stadium in Tunis.

It’s not very often that someone as famous as Mariah Carey comes to Tunisia for a concert. We’ve only had Michael Jackson once, Sting once and well I don’t remember who else, if any.

Still I’m not too sure I’ll be going. I used to like some of Mariah’s music in the early 90’s, around the period of her hit album ‘Music Box’.

But then after her divorce, when she started stripping out of her clothes and teaming up with a bunch of rappers, she went on my musical blacklist.

Her latest album ‘The Emancipation of Mimi’ has some songs that are reminiscent of her old style, which I think is the reason of its success, but well it hasn’t really made me much more of a fan of hers.

She has a good voice though, when she’s not shouting too much to the border of squeaking, so I don’t know, maybe from now to the dates of the concerts, I’ll have a little mind change and say “Why not?”

Till then, here’s another bit of Mariah Carey related news: Mariah Carey to be honoured for her “Celebrity Legs of a Goddess”. Whatever…

Shakira feat. Wyclef Jean: Hips Don’t Lie

A very fun song I’m basically in love with these days is “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean, off her album Oral Fixation Vol. 2.

It’s only a slight remake of the original “Dance Like This” by Wyclef Jean featuring. Claudette Ortiz from the soundtrack of “Dirty Dancing – Havana Nights“, which I really love too. In fact, that whole soundtrack is amazing. I think I must have listened to it thousands of time up to now.
This remake just adds a layer of Shakira on top of it all, adding to it’s coolness.

The lyrics aren’t much, but the rhythm and the tune are fantastic and so much fun. A great and cool summer song.

Win Natacha Atlas’ New Album ‘Mish Maoul’

natachaatlasmishmaoul.gifBelgian-born Middle Eastern singer Natacha Atlas has just released her latest album, by the title “Mish Maoul“. The album is a blend of western beats and middle eastern forms and influences, mainly sung in Arabic and English.

I was introduced to Natacha’s music a few years ago, 1999 to be precise, with her hit song “Mon Amie La Rose”, from her album “Gedida”.

This album experiments with the fusion of different musical styles from west and east, and is quite an interesting listen.

Through Subzero Blue, Natacha’s record label Mantra Recordings/Beggars Group will be offering 10 copies of her new album for grabs.

All you have to do to have a chance at winning one of the CDs is to jump by the album site “Mish Maoul“, listen to some of her songs, identify 3 different musical instruments that are used on the album, and email your reply to marketing@beggars.com. And make sure you don’t forget to say that you’re coming from Subzero Blue in your email.

Good luck…

Amman’s First Charity Rock Festival

A blogospheric friend asked me, as a little favor, to post about this event that’s taking place in Jordan; and as it’s for a good deed, I could do nothing but help.

The first charity rock festival is taking place in Amman (Jordan) next Friday, May 5th. It will be at the Haya Cultural Center, in Shmeisani of course.

The open-air concert will be featuring the live local rock bands Atmosphere, Euphoria, Symphovainia and Farhan’s Band playing originals as well as covers of songs by Metallica, Megadeth, Lacuna Coil, System of a Down and more.

All the proceeds from the concert will be going to orphans.

Click on the poster or go here for more details.