No Nepotism Here: Children of famous muscians who actually have talent.

The other night I caught Ziggy Marley (son of Bob Marley) on Late Night w/Jimmy Kimmel. I was a big fan of his music in the 80's and 90's and then lost track of him. He performed two songs. A new single which sadly, was not my cup of tea. But then he played one of his classics "Tomorrow People" and afterward I ran to my CD collection to find my "Conscious Party" CD by Ziggy Marley And The Melody Makers.
 This got me thinking, how many children of accomplished musicians are out there who are actually talented?
I came up with a short list off the top of my head. Read on to check out the list and hopefully reserve some of the music that our library carries.

Jim James - Regions of light and sound of God

I have written previously about music that triggers emotions or memories (in this post about Trip Hop), but I find myself revisiting this theme again as I ponder why I love Jim James' voice so much.

For those who aren't familiar with Jim James by name he is a songwriter and lead singer for the band My Morning Jacket. The library had recently acquired his solo album Regions of Light and Sound of God, an album which revisits a sound similar to My Morning Jacket's earlier albums. It is calm and methodical, focusing mainly on vocalization rather than intricate instrumentation. In my opinion, this album is more akin to the classic rock contemporaries like Eric Clapton and Van Morrison than to My Morning Jacket's dynamic sound, although Jim James' influence is clear in both.

What would David Byrne say?

As I was shopping at Trader Joe's, my husband texted me to say he bought berries earlier in the day, so I was confused by his next text.

Husband: You better get some nuts and berries.
Me: I thought you bought berries.
Husband: I did. That was David Byrne texting.

Charles Bradley - The Screaming Eagle of Soul

My ticket stub from the August 22 Charles Bradley show at The Rialto is now thumb-tacked to my kitchen wall.  It still makes me smile to walk by and be reminded of the amazing performance he and his band put on last month.  On especially good days, seeing the ticket stub and thinking of the show even makes me attempt a Charles Bradley-like dance move.  I do not, however, possess the incredible dance skills as the 65 year old showman.  This man can sing, dance, and preach the good word, often all at the same time.  He is a prophet, he is a boddhisattva, he is a prophetsattva.  Please read on to hear more about this (already legendary) performance and for a freegal link to his new album.

The Ultimate Isaac Hayes: Can You Dig It?

Why, yes, I can ... and you can too with a click below.

OK. Why listen to a 2 CD compilation of Isaac Hayes's music? No, not because he provided the voice of the Chef on South Park. And no, not because of the "Theme From 'Shaft'," which--while a great song--is more representative of the film's lead character than of Hayes's music catalog.

Chris Whitley: Gone But Not Forgotten

I love being able to just wander the stacks and come across something that catches my eye. While checking on our music collection I saw Dislocation Blues by Chris Whitley and Jeff Lang.  I know I had picked it up before and I guess I didn't love it at the time because I didn't make a copy (shhhh!) or buy my own copy (which I do for the stuff I realllly love.)  I took it home again and put it on the player this weekend and wow....I was just blown away this time out.  Funny how something that didn't really catch your attention before ends up being your new favorite thing...seems to happen to me a lot.  Chris Whitley was a talented guy who left us too soon, passing away in 2005.  I don't pretend to know about his blues "chops" or how talented he was as a guitar player, but a quick Wikipedia search reveals that many musicians considered him to be quite the heavyweight.