12/6/2023 0 Comments Ragtime piano youtube![]() It is widely credited with finally bringing Johnson's work to a wider audience. Law, who by then worked for Columbia Records, assembled a collection of Johnson's recordings titled King of the Delta Blues Singers that was released by Columbia in 1961. Musicologist Alan Lomax went to Mississippi in 1941 to record Johnson, also not knowing of his death. Brunswick Records, which owned the original recordings, was bought by Columbia Records, where Hammond was employed. In late 1938 John Hammond sought him out for a concert at Carnegie Hall, From Spirituals to Swing, only to discover that Johnson had died. His music had a small, but influential, following during his life and in the two decades after his death. The one most closely associated with him is that he sold his soul to the devil at a local crossroads to achieve musical success. Johnson's poorly documented life and death have given rise to much legend. Much of his story has been reconstructed by researchers. ![]() Other than these recordings, very little was known of him during his life outside of the small musical circuit in the Mississippi Delta where he spent most of his life. Most were released as 10-inch, 78 rpm singles from 1937–1938, with a few released after his death. These songs, recorded solo in improvised studios, were the totality of his recorded output. He participated in only two recording sessions, one in San Antonio in 1936, and one in Dallas in 1937, that produced 29 distinct songs (with 13 surviving alternate takes) recorded by famed Country Music Hall of Fame producer Don Law. Īs a traveling performer who played mostly on street corners, in juke joints, and at Saturday night dances, Johnson had little commercial success or public recognition in his lifetime. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as being "the first ever rock star". Although his recording career spanned only seven months, he is recognized as a master of the blues, particularly the Delta blues style, and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. His landmark recordings in 19 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generations of musicians. That's how big Mehldau's solo act of creativity and clarity was.Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. Played with reverence and intrigue for the tune's emotional core, Mehldau closed with the Fab Four again, this time the eternal yearning of their career closing "Golden Slumbers." He returned for one encore, a truthful reading of Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed." It could have been Carnegie Hall or Town Hall was the general consensus overheard as the audience walked into the humid Ulster County night. Then on to the chiming pop of George Harrison's "If I Needed Someone." Taken here as a meditation, a preamble of sorts to Neil Young's haunted hippie paean from 1970, "Don't Let It Bring You Down." Locked into a greater essence, Mehldau, the muse, and the audience crossed paths with Radiohead's "IndentiKit." A ragtime take on Bob Dylan's early epic "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" elicited appreciative bursts of recognition and applause after the choruses. ![]() "Here, There, and Everywhere." Think about what a master can do with that melody. A brief rundown of the songs played and another hushed thank you brings one and all to The Beatles, where for most in the room, this unbounded love for music began. There is "Waltz for J.B.," a true highlight of Mehldau's classical/jazz hybrid, first heard on the essential 4-disc set, 10 Years Live Solo(Nonesuch, 2015). ![]() Mehldau had obviously set his sights for the evening on familiar territory, yet willfully dug deeper into each selection, revealing new shadows, shedding new light. The insistent motif of "John Boy" rang out first, a prelude of sorts to the more complex, impressionistic "The Falcon Will Rise Again" (both from 2010's ambitious undertaking Highway Rider (Nonesuch)). Brad Mehldau thanked his Hudson Valley neighbors, turned, took the bench and let the dimming light of late August shade his summer reflection. Brad Mehldau The Falcon Marlboro, NY AugTwenty four hours after a raucous, spirit raising performance by South African pianist Nduduzo Makhathini and his trio mates, drummer Francisco Mela and bassist Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere the evening began quietly like a haiku.
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