AKG - Quincy Jones line

Being a happy owner of an AKG Q460 headphone, I am pleased to write a short review about the AKG Quincy Jones series. When I first heard this product name, immediately felt that this must be something good.

Three different models make this product line:

• Q350 a canal type earphone
• Q460 - a light and foldable mini travel headphone
• Q701 - a large, professional headphone

All the three are available in three colours: black, white and cool lime. This lime colour appears on all  types, because the brand / type texts and the cable have it.

Unfortunately I haven't got the chance to try the first and last model, but as a user of Q460, I can share you only positive thoughts: it is a convenient just-the-perfect-size headphone with quite clean sound and incredible bass. The music you listen to is so living, energic, but still not disturbing. It manages well even the loud-noisy recordings as well. It comes with a cool case, in which you can keep it while it is folded.

Though I really like Quincy Jones' music, I have a doubt of the amount of quality increase by his name. I mean, I couldn't compare it with similar AKG headphones, I feel there wouldn't be so much difference. His name may be a marketing tool, but I would not like to state anything negative: because this is my favourite headphone. It is good-looking, good-sounding and also has the well-known special Q letter, referring to Quincy.

See the promotion video: 

http://eu.akg.com/quincy-jones-eu/brand_akg/akg-headphones/quincy-jones-signature-line.html

See Quincy Jones' new collaboration song, Strawberry letter 23:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxjopV3lfy4

And the original one, from the movie Jackie Brown: 

Brothers Johnson - Strawberry letter 23

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydRDzKu-_OE

September

Though they sing about the twenty-first night of September, this song creates the atmosphere of summer, in a vivid, joyful world. Recently I saw the film Intouchables in which Earth, Wind & Fire's music is featured. It is an awesome film. I liked very much the free, glad behaviour of Driss (above) and this music was perfectly suitable to his personality. He tried to show Philippe the happy side of each thing and for this, one of his most important methods was music.

Ba de ya - say do you remember

Ba de ya - dancing in September

Ba de ya - never was a cloudy day

Intouchables - IMDB

September

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfLEc09tTjI

Boogie Wonderland (also featured)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jLGa4X5H2c

Fool on the hill

A few days ago I watched one of the Steve Carrell's films, Dinner for Schmucks which is actually a remake of the 1998 french film Le diner de cons. It proved to be better than my expectations were. No doubt that I really like his acting, both in The office and in his films, but did not expect such a cool story and nice atmosphere. It is really a sweet film - and funny as well.

Its soundtrack, which we can hear in the perfect mice-dream-world intro and the closing title is Beatles' Fool on the hill. For a very long time I haven't heard such a clever and witty lyrics. This beautiful song was perfectly suitable for the film, and, if we are from the same kind, hearing these words can be a delight for our souls.

Day after day,

Alone on a hill,

The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still

But nobody wants to know him,

They can see that he's just a fool,

And he never gives an answer,

But the fool on the hill,

Sees the sun going down,

And the eyes in his head,

See the world spinning 'round.

Dinner for Schmucks - IMDB

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg1k_G6fRpQ

July flame

One of my friends showed me recently this awesome song of Laura Veirs, from the album July flame, and I had to realize, that I missed it. I knew that her new album is Tumble bee, with children songs, but somehow I thought that it is the next album after Saltbreakers.

I listened to the song in our weekend house for the first time and took a great effect on me. Maybe it was one of the thousand reasons for which I started my blog again, because I felt that "It would be cool to write a post about it".

To sum up, it is a very nice song of the well-known Laura Veirs style, nothing less, nothing more, which is an advantage. Since I stopped writing my blog, all of my favourite singer-songwriters have released at least one new album, and unfortunately I have to say that the average quality is less than their earlier records. Later I will share my opinion with you about each album, now let's focus on the titles:

• Ane Brun - It all starts with one
• Anna Ternheim - The night visitor
• Hanne Hukkelberg - Featherbrain
• Laura Veirs - July flame, Tumble bee

On the other hand, the video for this song is amazing. I like its simplicity and it is full with those  nice things we often dream about: constellations, campfire, nice animals.

Watch the music video here: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLilpPtY2JU

Or read the post about Laura's Saltbreakers and Carbon glacier:

Two albums of Laura Veirs'

An abandoned place...

... fills with life again. I haven't been here for a very long time. Actually, I have been here, but haven't written anything. Every now and then I read my blog, and there was not a second, when I wasn't aware of it, when I didn't know the future of it. I knew that at a certain point it would revive.

And that certain point is now.

Ladies and Gentlemen, music lovers, I will be fully available to show you one of the best things in the world: music.

Malcolm in the middle theme

Have you ever seen Malcolm in the middle? The crazy and funny family which should be an ordinary family but maybe they have too much eccentricites. Yes, Malcolm is in the middle but just because he's telling us their story, the story of his parents and three brothers.

I've liked the intro for the very first time. Pictures of their life as seen in an older version in tv, pictures of cartoons and so on. Starting with the unmistakable "Yes, no, maybeee... I don't know... can you repeat the question?" lyrics. It's Boss of me by They might be giants. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5Za8HggalY

And here's a very nice video made for another song by this band. It's Meet the elements.

The Billie Holiday Story...

Earlier I've written about the album Billie Holiday - Recorded from Carnegie Hall live but then I didn't know that it's a piece in a series called The Billie Holiday Story by Verve Records. Especially that's the one before the last one in the edition. I really love it, and listening to the samples of its neighbours, those also seem to be cool: containing her finest songs, in well constructed selections.

vol.1.: Jazz at the Philharmonic

vol.2.: Solitude

vol.3.: Recital by

vol.4.: Lady sings the blues

vol.5.: Music for torching

vol.6.: Recorded from Carnegie Hall live

vol.7.: All or nothing at all

If I was president

Staying in Wyclef's word, now I'll show you his new song, If I was president. As everybody could know, Wyclef nominated himself on the prime minister election of Haiti. Then, in the end he changed his mind. On his website we can read:

“After weeks of quiet but painstaking reflection with my wife and daughter, I have chosen to end my bid for the presidency of Haiti,” said Jean. “This was not an easy conclusion to reach; but it is one that was thoughtfully made, taking into account many, many competing factors and weighing the course that will best advance the healing of the country and help it find the quickest path to recovery.”

But the song turned out to be very good. Especially its lyrics took effect on me:

If I was president,
I'd get elected on Friday,
Assassinated on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday,
Then go back to work on Monday...

Hope you'll work for the welfare of Haiti, and make music as well (his new album will come out soon).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pq_3OheqzU

Wyclef Jean - The preacher's son

A few years ago in late afternoon I got an sms from my father: please turn on the amplifier , I'm taking home some black music which rocks. That was this album. He arrived home and we immediately put it in the cd player, and the deep sounds filled the room. Wyclef Jean moved into our life...

... and he's still with us, especially when we want to do some loudness, hear some black rhythms and cool music. He presents this album by the following words:


In the history of the world, something significant happens every 2000 years. Behold the testimony of time, behold the music of the next millenium, behold the revelations of "The Preacher's Son". The date of my birth, October 17th, marks the date of the death the Haitian revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines. This link to such a profound and powerful man has helped me to understand that I too can be a revolutionary, that I too can use the tools and gifts that I have been given to affect change in the world. This is my tribute. And your invitation. Welcome to "THE PREACHER'S SON".


And yes, this album is created carefully, taking attention to its little elements as well. As Steve Harvey tells us in the intro, it is soothing, it's grooving, it is the truth, it's old, it's new, it's for everybody. 

Every song is a little world, with many singing voices, dense arrangement, deep basses, awesome rhythms and melodies. Many musicians participated in the making of this album, for example: Missy Elliott, Carlos Santana, Sharissa... and the result is a colourful, interesting bunch of songs. Songs about love (I am your doctor, Baby), memories (Class reunion), our future (Next generation), and so on.

I'm your chiropractor

Please lay down on a sofa

And let me massage your back

So I can tell you what's wrong...

Don't forget to check The carnival also by him, with the awesome and never-again-repeatable Guantanamera, and visit his website, where you can watch the concert videos addressed to twitter and facebook.

I am your doctor:

Autumn in New York

... and not just there but everywhere in the Northern hemisphere. Except Autumn leaves, Autumn in New York is the most famous jazz standard about the time of fall. In this song the lyrics isn't about the lost love and the sorrow, it's about the status when a big town is getting surrounded by a new, magical season. And because in NY everything is the most-most-most, autumn is also had to be wonderful there, and the song is an additional proof for it. It was written in 1934 by Vernon Duke and also performed by many musicians and singers.

Jazzstandard.com tells us "Vernon Duke’s composition was written for the 1934 showThumbs Up! and introduced by J. Harold Murray. Thirteen years later it rose to number 27 on the pop charts thanks to a fine vocal version by Frank Sinatra."

Autumn in New York
Why does it seem so inviting?
Autumn in New York
It spells the thrill of first-knighting

Glittering crowds and shimmering clouds
In canyons of steel
They're making me feel
I'm home

It's autumn in New York
That brings the promise of new love
Autumn in New York
Is often mingled with pain

Dreamers with empty hands
May sigh for exotic lands
It's autumn in New York
It's good to live it again

Lovers that bless the dark
On benches in Central Park
It's autumn in New York
It's good to live it again

Some albums on which you can hear it:

• Ahmad Jamal Trio - Ahmad's blues
• Billie Holiday - Lady in autumn - The best of the Verve years
• Bud Powell - The amazing Bud Powell, vol. 2.
• Buddy Defranco - Mr. Clarinet
• Charlie Parker - Charlie Parker with strings -the master takes
• Chet Baker Quartet - Jazz in Paris, vol. 53.
• Dexter Gordon - Autumn in New York
• Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong - Ella and Louis again
• Frank Sinatra - Come fly with me
• Jo Stafford - Autumn in New York and other classics
• John Stetch - Heavens of a hundred days
• Kenny Barron - New York attitude
• Mel Tormé - Songs of New York
• Phineas Newborn Jr - Phineas' rainbow
• Shelly Manne - The three and the two
• Sonny Stitt - Autumn in New York
• Stan Kenton - Portraits on standards
• Sun Ra - The Sun Ra Sextet at the Village Vaungard
• The Hi-Lo's - Love nest / All over the place
• The Modern Jazz Quartet - Django

Some videos - Autumn in New York, performance by:

• Ella and Louis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50zL8TnMBN8
• Billie Holiday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS3ZTVeqJjA
• Frank Sinatra: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WohRBN5oflE

Read more about it here.

More standards about autumn: Autumn leaves, September in the rain, September song.

Preparing for autumn

Autumn is my fave season. Especially September. Then the colour of light changes, the dark yellow turns into pale yellow, the warmness decreases a little, and silence sets. Beautiful landscapes are being created then. And a new season gets new music in our minds, too. Autumn is for me about the revival of jazz and progressive rock, which I rarely listen to in the summertime. Soul's got to move into the background.

For example, as Septembers defeats August, I always listen to Cannonball Adderley's Somethin' else. On that album you can hear the best performance of the jazz standard, Autumn leaves. In the autumn I really like jazz standards. I recommend Billie Holiday's Recorded from Carnegie Hall live, that's cool for early autumn evenings, when the Sun disappears sooner and sooner each day. Horace Silver's Song for my father and Herbie Hancock's Maiden voyage are also connected to fall in my thoughts. The first because its cover and also the slight mysterious mood that crawls into the melodies and cause uncertainty, the second because that's really contemplative*. Coltrane's music has to be listened to again, too, starting with for ex. Ballads then heading on more serious pieces. I'll also pick Chick Corea and Return to forever's Light as a feather, and of course, the season autumn, more precisely the colder, darker kind of it is also the ECM season, as I called it earlier. But the transition between summer and winter isn't only about people turning inside and becoming contemplative, more silent, and calmer. The calmness often walks with doubt, uncertainty hand in hand, and that side of autumn is represented by progressive rock for me. I think about King Crimson's Lizard, Islands, Emerson, Lake & Palmer's ELP, some Pink Floyd albums...

More:

Gabor Szabo - Spellbinder

Al Di Meola - Elegant gypsy

Sophie Zelmani - Love affair

Kuupuu - Unilintu

* "Autumn in poetry has often been associated with melancholy. The possibilities of summer are gone, and the chill of winter is on the horizon. Skies turn grey, and people turn inward, both physically and mentally." (Wikipedia)

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;

To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

(John Keats - To autumn (first verse))

Have a nice autumn.

Farewell to summer

As you could get used to it, seasons play a big role in my life. Each with its different atmosphere, different thoughts, weather, and so on. Therefore the first and last days of each season are always kept in mind - those are the days when something ends or starts.

Now the summer mood has to be over, and we have to say goodbye to it somehow. Last year, I did it by posting John Mayall's Turning point. Another cool post to say goodbye is in the few days at the weekend house section, Just a song before I go. Now in the last days of summer, the songs from Black Moses kept running in my head.

Isaac Hayes - Black Moses

I've been thinking what the next post will be about, and one of the possibilities was Black Moses by Isaac Hayes. The only thing which kept me back was that I've posted two albums by him recently, and this act will decrease the colourful style of this blog. But I kept thinking and the melodies came into my head again and again, and thought: now is the time when this album takes real effect on me, so this time has to be the most suitable time for it.

The first song sets the atmosphere well. It's an atmosphere which emotional, romantic, but never gets sloppy. Amongst the three albums I own (the other two are Hot buttered soul and Shaft) on this one he sings the most time. His velvety, deep singing voice is an elementary factor in his songs. These songs are well arranged, and his voice is ... by female background voices, which sound really cool. The best vocals are in the second track, (They long to be) Close to you. It's a new interpretation of the song which was written in 1963, but the most famous version of it is by The carpenters. Why do birds suddenly appear, every time when you are near? What he did with this song is similar to what he did with Walk on by on Hot buttered soul. A wholly new interpretation which you listen to and the original song is only a little part of it. A brand new performance, but rather a brand new song. I can't imagine how can it be missing from the cover versions of it at Wikipedia. The singing melody has also changed a little, and I think it's even better.

On this album every song is a little single world. They are rather long, so there's time show resolutions, and creating emphasis. For example, in the song mentioned previously, or in the first song, Never can say goodbye as they start the refrain again and again, the song doesn't want to stop. There are more examples of this re-start mood on the album. In A brand new me, the lyrics makes the same. This is my same old coat... and my same old shoes... I was a same old me... and so on, the repeat of the lines create the emphasis well.

It's a 2 cd album and in 2009 Stax released an awesome version of it. As you open the digipack, as you opened the lp, you get a cross-shaped form with large images of Isaac, and a long booklet with additional images. That's my best cd edition I've ever had. See the image below.

Never can say goodbye:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKKVIEZPTYk

(They long to be) Close to you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlaA5fkAa-o

Me and the devil

This song deserves a mini-post. As I wrote it in the previous one, Me and the devil is the single song by Gil Scott-Heron, from his brand new 2010 album, I'm new here. It's a rather new performance of Robert Johnson's Me and the devil blues.
His voice turned into a really unique sound. An excellent video was made for this song, too, and here music and picture work together perfectly. We can peek into another world which opens when darkness falls - strange people appear in the streets. Painted faces. Lights in the darkness. Far noises. New kind of nightlife.

In the video, after the song there's a fantastic part where Gil Scott makes a monologue with a deep drum pattern and beautiful string melody (it's another track on the album, Your soul and mine).

"A new record from Gil Scott-Heron, forty years after his first solo album, is a cause for major celebration and something that the world needs now more than ever."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OET8SVAGELA

Video for the album

Visit his website: www.gilscottheron.net

Gil-Scott Heron - Reflections

An unknown face in sunglasses, reflecting a black and white image with Miles Davis. Who could it be?

Gil Scott-Heron's music is not as famous as the musicians' in earlier posts like Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, etc. I have this album in a special release which proves this fact, too (The vibe! - original rare grooves album series). But he is still active nowadays, his latest album, I'm new here, came out in 2010 and I reckon it became a success. The devil and me is a really "deep" song with a cool and little surreal motion picture. The noir feeling and the painted faces do a great job.

I love this 1981 album for a lot of things. First of all, because of the new discovery. When unexpected music steps in man's life. I like as the first song, Storm music sets a loose, somehow carefree mood by the harmonica melody, and the new, special voice which sometimes speaks, sometimes sings - really unique. His voice became even more characteristic on his new album, it's worth to hear, see the video below. I like the contrast in Grandma's hands between the nostalgic topic and synthesizer melody in the background. I like as Morning thoughts are really morning thoughts, the awesome bass melody, its cool lyrics and the perfect atmosphere creating. That's my favourite song on this album. I also like - and that was how I discovered this music - the Inner city blues performance. It became slower and got a lighter interpretation than the original darker Marvin Gaye song. To sum up, it's a very colourful album and a nice start to make his new album a likable one, which is still extraordinary to me. Times will change, I dare to say there'll be a post about it in the future.

I don't think I've ever heard a sweeter feelin' in the whole wide world than that music playin' in my heart. (Storm music)

Morning thoughts:

Move on up

During my soul video seeking I found a cool classic piece which is really worth to show. It's Move on up by Curtis Mayfield, one of the old big names of soul. You can listen to this song on his first album, Curtis which was released in 1970 (I also recommend The other side of town on that album). It's almost nine minutes long, and with the inimitable "move on up" singing it's cool from its first sound to the last. At 4:00 a drum and percussion pattern appear and later a beautiful guitar sound combined with bass provides the basic notes (check out in the live version, it's even better). Solos come in, and it gets bigger. Awesome.

The melody struck in my head so much that it has been playing for weeks now. And still doesn't want to stop, though it isn't problem.

I also published it on Facebook, and one of my classmates liked it and commented: something like that it isn't Kanye West who changed the world, he can just copy well. First I didn't understand it but later I was told by another friend that Kanye remixed this song. I know he's around No.1 in today's r'n'b music, though I'm not a fan of him. I like Love lockdown, that's interesting for me. I searched for this song, but it turned out to be that its title is Touch the sky instead of Move on up. At last I found it and found it cool. It surprised me, the melody got slowed and the lyrics wholly changed. What only remained from the original song is Curtis' voice deepened, which sounds great with the deep bass pattern.

Original version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z66wVo7uNw

Radio/tv version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpD8FpGpBjE

Live version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzsCP5QfcdU

Kanye's version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkwQbuAGLj4

A little bit more than... few days at the weekend house

Summer holiday again. The same place. The same house. The unexplicable feelings which belong to here - from the past, and to-be thoughts in the future.

And music - of course - is still with me. Let me dive into a little kitchen philosophy...

In my childhood there were a few albums I listened to and when we spent our holiday at the weekend house, I felt the long, often three, four weeks long holiday shouldn't happen without my favourite music - so I brought my walkman and favourite cassettes with me. Later an older cassette player got to the house and my family always brought some cassettes to listen to. The feeling improved, louder music played and we could hear it while sitting on the terrace. Then years passed by and when the mp3 age started it was obvious that the walkman has to be replaced with the mp3 player. I took long walks with my little gadget and that feeling of free was really new and cool. The next step didn't make a big change, it was only the introduction of iPod in my life. More space, smaller player, and I love it. Hope Apple feels happy for this advertisement. And now, this year there's a notebook and mobile internet with us, so everything's accessible. This is the state of total freedom, which is really cool, but also...

What about the older feelings? Long, grey mornings in my teenager years in the autumn or winter when I listened to lp's from my father's collection. The hissing sound between tracks - from the lp player in the room, or from the walkman right in my ears. And no pc noise. When music comes from a furniture. Yes, a real pair of loudspeekers can be a part of the furniture of a room. And the cds? Cd shelves, of course. Another furniture, which, I think isn't ugly but cool. Posters on the wall, and not Windows backgrounds. Maybe now you're starting to feel this mood. I realize it every once in a while, and now I got my latest expereince here, of course in the weekend house. As CSN's Just a song before I go played by the cassette player. Sound quality? Who cares!? It's even better.

The passenger

Being an Up in the air fan, the song playing in one of the trailers kept floating in my mind and I felt I had to investigate a little bit. As it isn't part of the soundtrack, I couldn't get the title, but they sing I am the passenger, so YouTube immediately helped me as almost always. It turned out to be an Iggy Pop song which surprised me, because I thought it plays harder music, like metal. Now it's part of my home radio station in iTunes. Or on my iPod, when I'm a passenger...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSFV6RhdsNs

trailer:
http://www.theupintheairmovie.com/

The 100th! Isaac Hayes - Hot buttered soul

This is the hundredth post in this blog. I'm very happy - though I haven't posted often recently, the blog continuously exists in my mind.

For the 100th rendez-vous I felt I had to choose something which really deserves this place. It's something like when on my birthday I listened to this album. For me, that hour was the celebration, an hour just for me, my own little celebration. And why did I choose this album? It has a lot of reasons. That time this album and music was quite new for me and I was just being introduced to it. The meeting gave a lot of inspiration. There are songs in our - or at least in my, but I really think in everyone's - life which can totally change our music preferences. The songs have heard earlier will sound differently, and you'll long for that new kind of music. In my case, it was the introduction of soul by Marvin Gaye and Isaac Hayes which made this. And as a result, now I think differently about music.

So that was the first reason, that new effect. And I had to choose a song which is in celebratory mood, at least a little bit. I don't really like way too grandiose things. The first, famous Walk on by is from that celebratory type. It can even call tears in my eye sometimes, which is a rare effect in my life. It's long, it's expressive, it's cool. Starts in a loud way and suddenly gets minimal and those elements of black music such as the inimitable rhythm appear. With the low amount of lyrics it's really effective - the string section do reach your soul.

The fewer songs an album contain, the more their importance will be: here you hear only 4 songs, so every one is equivalent. Hyperbolicsyllablicsequedalymistyc can really wake you up and I was delighted when I heard it in the movie Brooklyn's finest this year. After its improvisative and loud end, One woman creates a romantic atmosphere. And in the end By the time I get to Phoenix does something experimental. The first half of the song is a storytelling by Hayes, with a monotonic pattern in the background. The story is about the power of love. And then, slowly the music appears and nicely closes the album.

Walk on by (single version):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5tqAbrZeX0

One woman:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWv4xEsgY48

Read about Shaft!

Daylight

In Isaac Hayes' One woman daylight "slowly leaves the sky", and here, in Bobby Womack's Daylight daylight "is gonna catch me up again". Pretty actual - here, in Hungary, where daylight defeats night, which only lives 6-7 hours and there's extremely hot, almost unbearable. But daylight is something which is essential. As it appears at sunrise and as it disappears at sunset sometimes makes amazing atmosphere. This song presents daylight in its most beautiful existence to me.

One of my friends and his girlfriend live a strange life: they work at night, often until 4:00 a.m. or later, and don't get up earlier than 12:00. Which means sunrise and morning don't exist in their life. They don't know what they're missing by that lifestyle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4wIZrKC1ug

(live) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uDdI9p26cc

(live) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUnHHi3szWY