Thursday’s Music Spot: A new feature

I have been listening to a lot of great music lately. So I have decided to take the Song out of the Weekly Spotlight and give it its own Feature. Consequently, on Thursdays, I will feature a song I have taken to recently. The songs will range from pop to folk to jazz to classical to blues and back again. Some will be new releases; some will be older. And some back in the Old School days. My tastes are pretty eclectic and there will be no repeats. I may repeat the artists but not the songs. And some will come with commentary and some may not. All are there for your listening pleasure.

Today’s is a Willie Nelson. For a man eighty-five years young, he’s still got the goods. The song is “True Love” off his 2017 album, “God’s Problem Child”.

 

Advertisements

Uncle Bardie’s Spotlight Creator: Calexico

Once a week on Friday, Uncle Bardie celebrates the creativity in others by shining a Spotlight on a movie, a song or a creator. This week’s Spotlight Creator is the band Calexico:

I have a real fondness for the border music of the Southwest. It’s a land where the gringo and the Mexican culture mix and you get such a wonderful sound. There’s the sound of horns and the sound of the mariachi and the guitar.

Calexico is a band that embraces that culture and creates a music that is Latin and rock and country and folk with a bit of border thrown in for good measure. Named after the town of Calexico, California, it’s a unique blend the band calls desert noir.

But it’s not just the music Calexico produces. It’s the lyrics that get me. Led by Joey Burns on guitar and vocals and John Convertino on drums, we get a true authentic American sound. Out of Tucson, Arizona, they’re celebrating a culture you don’t often hear celebrated in the United States Anglo community outside of the Southwest.

And off their latest album, The Thread That Keeps Us:

And now they are touring with Iron & Wine:

Honoring Earth Day

Calypso by John Denver

Today is Earth Day. It is a day to remember how much our Mother means to us. Jacques Cousteau committed his life to reminding us of the wonder of the world we live in. The Calypso was the ship he voyaged the seas of this planet. In honoring the Calypso, John Denver honors the work Jacques Cousteau and others do to save our Mother from what we are doing to her and our fellow creatures.

Take a moment and think of all the beauty the Earth gives us. The sunrises and the sunsets. The robins and the butterflies. The snowy mountain peaks and the valleys sown with green. The clear streams and the seas teeming with life. The polar bears and the snow leopards. The penguins and the dolphins. Think about what we are losing. Say a prayer, do something, and don’t keep silent.

Uncle Bardie’s Spotlight Song: For Good Friday and Easter

Once a week on Friday, Uncle Bardie celebrates the creativity in others by shining a Spotlight on a movie, a song or a creator. In honor of Good Friday today and Easter this Sunday, this week’s Spotlight Song is the beautiful “Misere in C minor” by Jan Dismas Zalenka:

In Latin, misere means have mercy. It’s a realization in the petitioner that life is more than the world we live in. We have no control over what happens to us. It is reminder that God is indeed merciful. All we can do is appeal to God to watch over us, to take care of us. How appropriate for Good Friday and Easter.

Uncle Bardie’s Spotlight Song: Singing to Strangers

Once a week on Friday, Uncle Bardie celebrates the creativity in others by shining a Spotlight on a movie, a song or a creator. In honor of the upcoming National Poetry Month of April, this week’s Spotlight Song is Jack Savoretti performing his song “Singing to Strangers”:

Jack Savoretti is a journeyman English singer-songwriter of Italian descent. This song is from his new album, also called “Singing to Strangers. Not much to say except that I just came upon him when I was checking out new music on Amazon Prime. Hope you like him. Here’s a second song form an earlier album, “We are bound”.