The upcoming premiere of the ABC show, Duets, has had me thinking about duets. I’m not sure about the premise of the show, but with Robin Thicke involved, I’m sure it can’t go wrong. As my thoughts turn to all things duet, I begin to wonder, what makes a good duet? Is it merely two people singing a song together or is it how much each voice sings on a song? I’m not really sure, but I know the duets I love the most are those where I can’t choose which vocal part I want to sing. I have a bad habit of singing one part, then switching to other mid-song; it drives my family crazy! In honor of  Duets, I have listed my favorite duets of all time:

• You’re All I Need to Get By- Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
• Ain’t No Mountain High Enough- Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
• Solid- Ashford & Simpson
• Endless Love- Lionel Richie & Diana Ross
• No More Tears (Enough is Enough)- Donna Summer & Barbara Streisand
• Guilty- Barbara Streisand & Barry Gibb
• Does He Love You- Reba McEntire & Linda Davis
• Heaven Knows- Donna Summer & Joe “Bean” Esposito
• Gimme Some Time- Natalie Cole & Peabo Bryson
• When I Fall in Love- Celine Dion & Clive Griffin
• Here We Go- Minnie Riperton & Peabo Bryson
• You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling- The Righteous Brothers; Hall and Oates
• She’s Gone- Hall and Oates
• On My Own- Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald
• Make It Last Forever- Keith Sweat & Jacci McGhee
• Fire and Desire- Rick James & Teena Marie
• Don’t Go Breaking My Heart- Elton John & Kiki Dee
• I Just Can’t Stop Loving You- Michael Jackson & Siedah Garrett
• If This World Were Mine- Luther Vandross & Cheryl Lynn
• Saturday Love- Alexander O’Neal & Cherrelle

What are some of your favorites?

It’s a bit rare for me to gush over a musician. What can I say? I’m pretty hard to please. But, when a fantastic artist comes along that I can’t stop listening to and talking about, I have to, well…talk about them! My current obsession: Mayer Hawthorne. I previously wrote about Mayer,  http://heightslibrary.org/wordpress/music/?p=61, when I discovered his first CD, A Strange Arrangement. He’s been in my rotation ever since, but he has recently rocketed to the top of my playlist. Last May, Mayer released a free download of his EP, Impressions – The Covers. Of course I jumped on this and played the heck out of it! Just a few months later, his second full-length release, How Do You Do, was released. Let me tell ya, this CD is EXCELLENT! His music still has the same late ’60s-early ’70s soul vibe, but the grooveometer was definitely ratcheted up, with songs that make you wanna dance as you sing along! I also detected a bit of a Yacht Rock feel and a solid nod to the funk era. Mayer still croons and moves with his beautiful falsetto, but he now he’s showing his fans that he can also groove with the best of them.

I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Mayer this past Monday at the House of Blues; I had been waiting for this since I first heard A Strange Arrangement. I knew he would put on a good show, but I did not expect to be blown out of my socks by such an amazing performance. His voice, which sounds so achingly sweet on wax, is even sweeter live, in company with the great voices of The County, his band. He performed, it seemed, an even amount of songs from both of his LP releases and a few numbers from the EP. He even snuck in,  Love in Motion,  a song by SebastiAn on which Mayer performed guest vocals. That song nearly tore the house down! He’s a very funny guy and even took a moment to let the audience take pictures of him and The County. He also had his drummer take a picture of him, sitting in a leather lounge chair, in front of the audience. If you look close enough (he tweeted the pic), you can see three, crazily, adoring fans: Lovelyleslie, my daughter, and me! Mayer, for me, is the epitome of what music entertainer should be. He puts out fantastic music, that makes you feel good, his live show is spectacular and he seems very down-to-earth, to boot. You couldn’t ask for anything more.

Key tracks: The Walk, Can’t Stop, You’ve Got the Makings of a Lover, Hooked, No Strings, Henny & Gingerale, Little Person, You’re Not Ready

If you like fun rock and roll music that causes you to dance and sing then you definitely should check out Eric Hutchinson. The 31 year old from Washington DC has been influenced by other singer/songwriters such as Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Paul Simon, Prince, and the Beatles. His music style is rock, pop, and folk. It has been called intelligent pop with a feel good vibe.

Eric’s songs have been featured on many TV shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and he has performed on Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, and Craig Furguson. Hutchinson has also been named an AOL About To Pop artist, Yahoo! Who’s Next Artist, MSN One To Watch Artist and a VH1 You Oughta Know Artist. Hutchinson recorded a theme song for ESPN’s popular Fantasy Focus podcast.

I had the pleasure of seeing Eric for the second time this past Saturday. He played songs from his latest cd, Moving Up and Living Down as well as songs from Sounds Like This. No matter what the song Eric had the crowd’s attention with his fun and upbeat music. He has a great stage presence. At one point he even serenaded a young lady in the crowd who skipped her senior prom for the concert. Eric is a great artist and I think his music would be a fantastic addition to any outdoor activity this summer. Check out www.erichutchinson.com and follow him on Twitter @EricHutchinson.

Key Tracks: All Over Now, The Basement, Breakdown More, Outside Villanova, Best Days, Watching You Watch Him

Last year, my blog-mate, lovelyleslie, wrote about the healing power of music, and how music can make you feel better in the face of illness or the loss of a loved one. But what about everyday stress from your job or other worries? Let’s face it, we all feel down sometimes, but we also need to let it go and think happy!  Below is a list of songs that we compiled, that make us feel better about life.

• Just Got Paid- Johnny Kemp
• One More Time- Daft Punk
• Working for the Weekend- Loverboy
• Everybody Rejoice- cast of The Wiz
• Can You Feel It- The Jacksons
• It’s Gonna Be a Beautiful Night-  Prince
• Holiday- Madonna
• When I Think of You- Janet Jackson
• Off the Wall- Michael Jackson
• Groove Line- Heatwave
• Lovely Day- Bill Withers
• (Don’t) Give Hate a Chance- Jamiroquai
• Canned Heat- Jamiroquai
• Got to Give It Up- Marvin Gaye
• Golden- Jill Scott
• Got to Get You into My Life- The Beatles; Earth, Wind, and Fire
• Let‘s Go Crazy- Prince

What songs make you throw your cares away?

Samantha is a singer-songwriter from Boston. Her voice has been described as “liquor-honey” by the Huffington Post. She has been influenced by other singer-songwriters such as James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, and Van Morrison. Samantha graduated from Bowdoin College in 2005 and then went to Los Angeles where was discovered by the late LeRoi Moore of the Dave Matthews Band. In the summer of 2008 the two joined in the studio to begin recording Luminous, Farrell’s sophomore album. Moore was producing the album but suffered an accident that later led to his death in August. The album was finished after Moore’s passing at the Dave Matthews Band’s Haunted Hollow studio in Charlottesville, VA.

When I first heard Samantha’s voice I was drawn in by her talent. The tracks Fade Away and Slow Dance Romance are both down tempo yet captivating while Lady Luck is an upbeat jazzy song. The final track The Sweetest Sound reflects on Moore’s death.

Samantha not only has a beautiful voice she also plays acoustic guitar and has blended in genres of soul, jazz, funk, folk, and R&B into a unique style of her own. Luminous reached #7 on the national itunes pop chart and her songs have been featured on TV shows such as Shark, Privileged, and One Tree Hill.

Samantha Farrell is another fantastic hidden discovery made possible just by being a fan of the DMB. If you are searching for great music that is worthy of your ears, check her out. She’s unique, talented, and a very kind person. Her albums are available on itunes and you can follow her on twitter @samanthafarrellmusic.

This past weekend, my daughter and I headed to Beachland Ballroom to check out one of my favorite artists, Van Hunt. Initially, my plan was to write this post about Van’s live show, though I was a bit reticent because I’ve written about him recently. I was very pleasantly surprised, however, when inspiration struck in the form of four dapper dudes from Hollywood, California.

We’ve all been there: waiting for the headliner, hoping the opening act is good so you have a great concert experience. Right in front of the stage, as we were, we caught sight of Vintage Trouble as they made their way to the stage. Four slickly dressed gentlemen: lead vocalist Ty Taylor in a vintage smoking jacket with ascot, guitarist Nalle Colt and bassist Rick Barrio Dill in black suits with black fedoras, and drummer Richard Danielson in steel grey dress shirt and black vest. I was very taken with their style from the onset; before a note was sung or a chord struck. Their sound can be categorized as soul or rock; to me they are the epitome of Rock ‘n Roll. True classic rock that hearkens back to the birth of Rock ‘n Roll: hip-swiveling Rhythm & Blues, coupled with jarring guitar licks. Oh yeah, Alan Freed would have definitely spun their tunes. From upbeat songs (Nancy Lee) to poignant, slow songs (Nobody Told Me), and with a stage presence you have to see to believe, Vintage Trouble tore the house down! I knew nothing of the band before their set, but by the end of each song, I was singing [and dancing] along with them. We had the opportunity to meet the band after their set and they are so nice, down-to-earth, and appreciative of fans. I bought there CD The Bomb Shelter Sessions that night, and I’ve been playing it ever since.  I guess I’m a little obsessed; I’ve even joined their mailing list and can now count myself in their legion of fans: the Troublemakers. In this age of “the retro sound”, Vintage Trouble has produced something that is hardly a gimmick, but true music gold.

Key tracks: Nancy Lee, Nobody Told Me, Run Outta You, Gracefully, Blues Hand Me Down, Jezzebella

Recently a friend introduced me to The Voice Project. What is The Voice Project? It is a peace movement that uses music to help the women’s groups in Africa that are affected by the violence from the ongoing war of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

The women of northern Uganda have come together to help the victims from the war and use music to spread the message. The lyrics of “dwog paco” (come home) songs let former soldiers know that they are forgiven and that they should come back. The songs are spread through radio and word of mouth. And it’s working.

The Voice Project was founded in 2009 and the purpose is an attempt to support these women and their message. This is indeed a peace movement and is being used to help raise awareness. How does it work? Artists do a cover chain (one artist covers another artist and so on). These are video recorded and put up on the website voiceproject.org. The money that is raised from donations, sponsors, and advertisers is used to support programs that help in the peace, reconciliation, and rebuilding efforts.

This is an amazing project that I feel needs a light shed upon it. I have spent time listening to the songs that are covered by artists that I’m a fan of and artists that are new. The songs are great and it is interesting to hear other artist’s interpretations. It makes me wonder why these aren’t available for fans to purchase and money raised go to the project. Hopefully in the near future this will be available. In the meantime check it out and help spread the word.

Key video tracks:
http://voiceproject.org/index.php?id=145785476 (Brett Dennen covers Citizen Cope)
http://voiceproject.org/index.php?id=145785509 (Ben Sollee covers Joan As Police Woman)
http://voiceproject.org/index.php?id=145785512 (Katie Costello covers Matthew Perryman Jones)

I’ve been meaning to write a post about Dubstep for a long time, and I have to confess it’s all my daughter’s fault. Many a day, I have come home to an impromptu dance party; my windows shaking, housequaking, and bass pumping deep in my chest. I fought the pull of the music for a while, angrily muttering, “What is this noise?” Y’know, like any good parent would. However, I now have to say I’m pretty much a fan. Don’t get me wrong, not all of it is loud; in fact, many songs are very chill.

An offshoot of electronic dance music, Dubstep was born in the underground music scene of South London in the late ’90s. In recent years, the popularity of Dubstep has helped send it far into the mainstream, spreading from European musicians to those around the world.  It’s a bit hard to describe the music, but I found a description from music experts, allmusic: “tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals”. To me, it’s like house divided by trance plus ambient industrial  What I love about most Dubstep is the buildup. For those into electronica and house music, you know about the drum buildup to the high point, where the song’s energy is pretty much at it’s highest. Many Dubstep songs have a sort of reverse buildup, where the music builds up then drops to a series of mechanical screeches and “wubs”.  I’m not as schooled in the music as my daughter or her friends, but I do have  few favorite Dubstep musicians: Skrillex (L.A.), Nero (London), Datsik (British Columbia), Skream (London), 12th Planet (San Francisco), Modestep (London), Plastician (London), Getter, (San Jose) and Digital Mystikz (Norwood). Dubstep has a pretty huge following and there are tons of videos on youtube dedicated to the genre. I won’t say this music is for everybody, but if you’re into dance music and acts like Daft Punk and Deadmau5, you just might enjoy a bit of Dubstep.

Key Tracks: Cinema, Crush on You, Nuke ‘Em, Exothermic Reactions, Corner Pocket, Dub King, Vio Lent, That Just Happened, Haunted

The last blog post about Morwenna Lasko and Jay Pun has me very excited as a music fan because it gave me the opportunity to introduce their music to people that probably never heard of it. Through this I began following the duo on twitter and noticed that they have had tweets with the tag of #stillundergroundanddigit. This led me to think about other musicians that are out there but virtually underground and unknown. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to discover these talented folks? I’m always searching for new music that will grab me and cause me to listen.

Sometimes you hear these people just by attending a concert of someone you already love. Jukebox the Ghost, Carsie Blanton, Ben Sollee, Jon McLaughlin, Blue Merle, Eric Hutchinson, Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers are some of the musicians I’ve found by attending a concert. They are all very talented musicians and deserve to be known because they are creating great music! As fans we have the advantage with technology because music is more accessible now than ever. So why not take advantage? I feel as if this is a mission to share this wonderful music because it deserves to be heard and enjoyed! Who have you been listening to but is still known as underground? Why not share it with everyone? I’ll retweet your responses.

Another accidental discovery is how I found Morwenna Lasko & Jay Pun. This links to being a fan of the Dave Matthews Band. One of the band members, Rashawn Ross along with Lasko and Pun recorded a tribute song to the fallen dmb saxophonist LeRoi Moore. The song is titled One Moore Farewell  and can be found on the album, Chioggia Beat. I found the video for the song on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-DiE8x6djc&feature=related and after watching/listening to it countless times, I decided to check out this dynamic duo.

Lasko and Pun are very unique. They play acoustically, Lasko a violinist and Pun a guitarist that blend various styles of music. They met in their last semester of college at the Berklee College of Music. They became friends and Jay told Morwenna about the music scene in his hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia. In the fall of 2003 they both moved there and began playing music together. Mixing styles of Folk, Jazz, Rock, World Beat, Bluegrass, and Classical. To get an idea of the duo’s amazing musicianship check out The Wen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at-hEwOcFzA

Listening to Chioggia Beat I’m amazed by the quality of the music and the styles that are blended together. Most of the songs are acoustic but some vocals can be found in Mama, Kidane, and B-Loose. They have also added an upright bass and drums to form Morwenna Lasko & Jay Pun Quartet. It is a new sound and one that should be listened to and appreciated. On their website it says “100 % Pure Music. No Artificial Ingredients Added.” I couldn’t agree more and I’m now a fan.

Key Tracks: Atip Ouypron, Koby’s Tune, Sheba’s Tea, Mama
Also check out the official website: http://www.mojamusic.net