Friday, September 30, 2011

The Gift of Groove V: With a Voice Like This One Ringing Out

Thanks for hanging with me this week as I've been grooving toward 43.  I debated about what I should do for this post for a while because there's so much I want you all to hear and love and get joyful with but it's not necessarily all dancy groovaliciousness.  Most of it will move your booty but what I've decided to do is focus on voices that I love instead of beats.  These are the singers that just blow me away.

First is Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog and Audioslave who I've crushed on for, oh, about half of my life now.  He's frequently called a Rock God, though I'm not certain that toga fits quite yet.  Carlos Santana has a different opinion, though, because he asked Cornell to cover "Whole Lotta Love" with him on the album Guitar Heaven and you don't trust Robert Plant to just anyone, right?  Cornell's kicking off his new tour in Wellington, NZ on Sunday October 2 (any readers going who might want to do a review, shoot me an email) and will be back in the US in November.  He'll probably be doing "Original Fire" at some point.

 
So Santana trusts Cornell to do justice to Robert Plant, but who does Robert Plant trust? Allison Krauss, of course. Unfortunately nothing on their album really got me though I love her with lots of other people including Brad Paisley and Emmylou Harris. She brought the house down performing "Jolene" at the Kennedy Center in 2006 honoring Dolly Parton.


Speaking of the Kennedy Center, the youngest ever honoree was forty-nine when he received his rainbow sash thingy:  Stevie Wonder.  Think you're accomplished?  He had his first number one hit when he was twelve.  "Fingertips (1&2)" was so big that it has its own wikipedia entry.  I've been dying trying to figure out which song of his I love the most and it's really hard.  Wonder's music is always magic, even when it's being butchered by some drunk guy at a party.  So, "Superstition," arguably the first major funk hit later covered by my beloved Steve Ray Vaughan?  "Sir Duke," which is awesome sauce from the first horn blow?  Okay, both.

At some point Stevie Wonder asked Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jody Watley and Brown Mark from Prince's Revolution to jam with him and this is what happened.



You realize that I've watched that six times before moving on to this paragraph.  Anyway, then there's "Sir Duke," a song about the music that Stevie loves.  How can it be anything but amazing?


The voice that Stevie loves is one that I love, too, and can feel all over.  Ella Fitzgerald needs no introduction or explanation, especially when she's "Stompin' at the Savoy."  Thanks for a groovy week, gang!




 

11 comments:

  1. Nice diverse selection! I'm snapping my fingers along. Happy birthday to you, FunkyBlueDandelion. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy birthday, jazzbaby! May you have many more!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love Alison Krauss and Stevie Wonder and of course dear Ella! My husband and son are big fans of Stevie Ray Vaughan, I like him too but I guess his lyrics don't speak to me like some others. I am all about the lyrics (and the harmony).
    Lovely collection of tunes here, I hope you are having a delightful birthday bash!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Groovaliscious lady hope you had a fabuliscious birthday! Many Happy Returns!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Happy Birthday, Jazzbaby!

    ReplyDelete
  6. We are having an after hours party for you in the chatroom & it seems new posters comments get stuck :( Voila from PV : A Happy Birthday to YOU!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. HAPPY BIRTHDAY
    Too cool for words

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks so much for all the good wishes, gang!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love Sir Duke.

    Happy birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  10. It's hard not to, it's pretty infectious...and thanks for the birthday wish!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting!