Category Archives: Domestic Bands/ Musicians

Dickie Betts (ex Allman Brothers Band): A Retrospective.

Text and photo by Dawoud Kringle

The southern part of the United States gave birth to many rock & roll pioneers such as Bo Diddley, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis; all of whom defined rock & roll. When one thinks of Southern Rock, the works of groups such as the Outlaws, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, ZZ Top, Elvin Bishop, 38 Special, Molly Hatchet, Blackfoot, and others inevitably come to mind. But the genre of Southern Rock owes its existence to the Allman Brothers Band. Since their debut in 1969, the group’s work single handedly defined a distinctively American music.

Duane Betts with Dickey Betts

Their original line up consisted of Duane Allman (guitar), Greg Allman (keyboards), Barry Oakley (bass), Butch Trucks (drums), Jai Johanson (drums), and Dickie Betts (guitar). They gained national notoriety with the 1971 release of their live album At the Fillmore. The album and the live performance it documented became legendary. Their effortless blend of rock, blues, and country with jazz inspired extended improvisation forged the group’s sound and legacy.

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Eddie Kirkland: the Blues legend got killed in car crash. Rest in peace!

Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

Februaru 27th one of the great living Blues musicians left earth! Known as  the “Gypsy of the Blues”, Eddie Kirkland, an 88-year-old blues legend was killed in Florida when his car turned into the path of a Greyhound bus.

Born in Jamaica, grew up in Alabama, Kirkland eventually moved via Indiana to Detroit. He toured for 7 1/2 years with John Lee Hooker, became a bandleader for Otis Redding and performed with artists, such as Little Richard, Ben King, Ruth Brown and Little Johnnie Taylor.  Eddie Kirkland was not only a great bluesman, but a folk legend.

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Saluti a Tutti! Tiptons Saxophone Quartet are touring the US and Europe!

The Tiptones Saxophone Quartet is celebrating the release of our newest beautiful recording, Strange Flower. They perform original compositions and arrangements of world music on saxophones, clarinet, voices and percussion.  With concerts that cover musical territory from jazz, Afro-Cuban to Balkan, klezmer and beyond, the Tiptons create some of the most wild and joyous sounds ever to come out of a sax quartet.

Strange Flower is available through:
* Squidco (http://www.squidco.com/)
* Wayside Music (http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Tiptons-Sax-Quartet—Strange-Flower__Zipa-spc-592.aspx) and
* CDBaby (http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tiptonssaxquartet).

US Concerts – with Lee “Free” Frisari on drums!
Sat 25 Feb:     Cafe Orwell party, 247 Varet Street New York, NY 11206
Sun 27 Feb:     House Party / Washington DC – if you are in the DC area and would like to come to this please email me!
Wed 02 Mar:    School concert and lecture at the PS 3 Bedford Village School, Brooklyn, NY
Thurs 03 Mar:  Dweck Center for Contemporary Culture, Dwecklectic with The Tiptons @ Brooklyn Public Library / Brooklyn NY – 7pm
Fri 04 Mar:      The Speakeasy under 121 / Providence RI   http://www.myspace.com/local121
Sat 05 Mar:     improvisation workshop at SUNY, New Paltz, NY (exact detail soon!) &  evening gig at Market Market in Rosendale, NY, 9 pm  http://www.marketmarketcafe.com

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Don Van Vliet, better-known as Captain Beefheart died yesterday!!!!


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Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

Yesterday one of my music heroes died !!! Don Van Vliet, better-known as Captain Beefheart,  has died from multiple sclerosis in California, aged 69. He leaves behind his wife of more than 40 years.

The first time when I heard of him was in Osaka,Japan in 1976 when my French buddy had a cassette of Trout Mask Replica which was released in 1969 on Frank Zappa’s newly formed Straight Records label. Some time later, when I toured California for the first time I bought the album in LA, which I gave as a present to my Japanese girlfriend. Listening to Capatain Beefheart in Japan was like a foreigner eating umeboshi for the first time. It was satori!!!

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Just-Aesthetics vs Stefen Robinson vs Yea Big and Kid Static vs L’Amerrrica!

Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

 

Yea Big + Kid Static (courtesy of Stefen Robinson)

For a couple of weeks I have been contacting all kinds of websites and blogs to exchange links. One of them was Just-Aesthetics which is run by Stefen Robinson. Through the process of exchanging links we got to know each other. I found out that he, like me, is a musician, a human being aware of life in general and of the people around him. He isn’t afraid to take over responsibilities and wants to be a positive force for his community. Inshallah!

 

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