Starting from this week, I will be posting 5 songs to listen to carefully selected by myself. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do.
Please note that the songs mentioned in these posts do not belong to any specific genre, taste or musical era; they are merely the songs I like and want to share with you...
Here is this week's list with the links!
Lana Del Rey - "Mariners Apartment Complex"
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - "People-Vultures"
I first heard the name of Kip Hanrahan when I started to show serious interest in Hi-Fi and its tag-along, high quality recorded music, in late 80s and early 90s. Kip Hanrahan albums were tough to find but they were really a treat for the ears especially played on a good system as they were all very well recorded and mastered.
I need to make a clarification here before going on with Kip Hanrahan because there is a belief, especially among average listeners, arguing that Hi-Fi enthusiasts pay more attention to the quality of the sound compared to the quality of the music. I might say that this is a valid and fair judgment and yes I admit, sometimes Hi-Fi craziness can make you do irrational things...
However Kip Hanrahan has never been a favorite of mine just because of the sound quality of his recordings, but more based on his witty, complex and interesting albums.
Hanrahan was born in 1954 in Bronx and even in his teenage years he was interested in various forms of art such as sculpting and film. If you listen to his albums you might easily feel the impacts of his early age studies. In his recordings he merely contributes as a musician (he is a talented percussionist) but he rather acts as a film director bringing the right people together and coordinating the musical scene.
I remember Hanrahan mentioning in an interview how difficult it was working with Jack Bruce musically and intellectually, but on the other hand how Bruce's vocal (especially his deep and darker voice at his later years) carried his musical ideas to another level and fit to the sound perfectly in his imagination.
"Buddy Bolden's Blues" from All Roads Are Made Of The Flesh
Kip Hanrahan also made 3 records with "Conjure" including great musicians such as Taj Mahal, David Murray, Allen Toussaint, Steve Swallow, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Carla Bley and Lester Bowie. I think the best of these 3 albums is "Music for the Texts of Ishmael Reed". Here is a piece from that recording.
"Sky Diving"
Overall there are more than 15 albums released by Kip Hanrahan dating from 1981 to 2017. If you are fond of rhythmic sounds combining jazz, Latin and African elements and like to listen to some innovative, diverse, distinct and unique music, I suggest you try to listen all or at least more than one. I am sure you will get a different taste from each recording.
Listen to the man in the shadows that creates an unusual tale with each album.
