Musical Musings Blog 2... The Infinite Musical Continuum

  From Louis Gerrits on YouTube.  A performance by The Brecker Brothers in Velden, Austria, on April 7th, 1980. Michael Brecker: Tenor Randy Brecker: Trumpet Mark Gray: Keyboards Neil Jason: Bass Barry Finnerty: Guitar Richie Morales: Drums

  Norman Greenbaum with his 1970 rock and roll tune "Spirit in the Sky".  A message in this song, really, is about the afterlife and has a very spiritual meaning, about death and then, what the afterlife would or will be, should you believe that a better place exists for humanity after our time on earth is over.  

  From a performance at the Beacon Theater in New York, New York, here is Joe Bonamassa & his band playing his song "Blue & Evil".  

  Another song, an original, from Minnesota funk and R&B band Parlor Greens, on local Minneapolis record label Colemine Records.  This one is called "Eat Your Greens" live at Portage Lounge.  

Jazz singer Freddy Cole performing the tune "You and Me Against The World".  Discovered this by chance one day playing on the local jazz radio station, Jazz 88, KBEM out of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota.  A great tune originally performed by Helen Reddy and written by Paul H. Williams and Kenneth Lee Ascher.  

  Gary Burton on vibraphone, playing the jazz classic "Sweet Georgia Brown".  Check it out.  The performance dates to sometime in the late 1960s.  

  This clip is a portion of my feature-length documentary, Sing Sing Thanksgiving, recorded in 1972 at the prison in Ossining NY outside of New York City. We got permission to present the concert from the Warden and took full of it to create and then record this incredible event plus tell the lives of some of the inmates who helped make it happen. Regarding the Sing Sing prison performance, B.B. King said in an interview with NPR: "I've played a lot of prisons since but Sing Sing is the only one that I can remember the name of and the reason is because I was scared. I thought it was the end of my life." The experience was an emotionally charged one for King who was initially apprehensive about performing at the prison. However, the performance turned out to be a success, with the inmates showing great appreciation for the music. King's fears were alleviated, and the event left a lasting impression on him. He considered it is absolutely best performance up until tha...

  Parlor Greens' take on Dolly Parton's classic Jolene with their trademark funky organ sound! Gritty Hammond organ takes the melody while Jimmy James' signature rhythm guitar drives the whole thing! Tim Carman holds it down on the kit nice and tight keeping everything right in the pocket in a way that would make Dolly proud!

  Excerpt from the documentary film "Memphis '69: The 1969 Memphis Country Blues Festival" on Fat Possum Records - https://store.fatpossum.com/collectio...

  Bret Primack discusses the first time he "really" heard Coltrane, during a psilocybin trip in 1970. Bret's new book "How John Coltrane Changed Me - A Jazz Journey" is now available on Amazon. Click to pre-order the Kindle version. http://tinyurl.com/howcoltranechangedme #johncoltrane

  The title of this performance and video says it all.  Dave Brubeck and his quartet performing "Someday My Prince Will Come" in the late 1960s.  The band lineup includes Dave Brubeck on piano, Gerry Mulligan on baritone saxophone, Jack Six on bass, and Alan Dawson on drums.  

  From Bret "Jazz Video Guy" Primack. Milton Nascimento (vo,g), Herbie Hancock (p), Wayne Shorter (ss), Stanley Clarke (b), Robertinho da Silva (ds), Live under the Sky 1991, July, 1991 at Yomiuri-land-East, Tokyo-Japan. Their collaboration was unusual because it blended two traditions rarely brought together at that level:Jazz meets Brazilian songcraft. Wayne Shorter, already a major figure from Miles Davis’s Second Quintet and Weather Report, joined forces with Milton Nascimento, Brazil’s iconic singer-songwriter rooted in MPB (Música Popular Brasileira). Shorter wasn’t just adding sax solos over Brazilian rhythms—he integrated his harmonic language with Milton’s melodic, folkloric, and spiritual writing. Both artists were drawn to themes of transcendence. The collaboration wasn’t just stylistic—it had a deep sense of searching. That’s why their music still feels like more than a fusion record; it’s a meeting of spiritual voices.

  This week's Sunday Special.  From Bret "Jazz Video Guy" Primack.  Tommy Flanagan Trio, Concord Jazz Festival, 1991, with Tommy on piano, George Mraz on bass and Lewis Nash on drums.

  Bessie Smith performing St.Louis Blues (1929). Nicknamed The Empress of the Blues she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s. ...And here, is a bonus, a longer version of the video of St. Louis Blues.

  A day late, but worth the wait.  From local Minneapolis record company Colemine Records, check out Parlor Greens with their version of "Auld Lang Syne".  The band is a trio and includes Adam Scone on Hammond B3 organ, Jimmy James on guitar, and Tim Carmen on drums.  

  "A Wave of Hope" from Phish's 12/29/2025 show at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY.