Which one is your favorite? - XI -

The song I chose for this week is one of my favorite songs of all time. I like the old versions, relatively new covers, interpretations in different genres, anything...Looks like I really have an affinity for George Gershwin.

Please keep your requests and comments coming...


Here is our song for this post;

"It Ain't Necessarily So"

"It Ain't Necessarily So" is a popular song with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The song comes from the Gershwins' opera Porgy and Bess (1935) where it is sung by the character Sportin' Life, a drug dealer, who expresses his doubt about several statements in the Bible. 

George Gershwin's life work culminated in the three act opera Porgy and Bess, which was based on the 1926 novel Porgy by DuBose Heyward. A jazzy fusion of classical opera and Broadway musical, the work is set in the fictional all-black slum dwelling of Catfish Row in Charleston, South Carolina. The opera tells of the disabled beggar Porgy's desperate attempts to rescue the beautiful Bess from her twin dependency upon her violent and possessive lover Crown and the aforementioned Sportin' Life.

It is said that Gershwin was largely influended by the Jewish blessings when composing the song.The first and most direct example of influence occurs at the start of the song; the melody and phrasing is nearly identical to the blessing incanted before reading from the Torah. The words "It ain't necessarily so" stand in place of "Bar'chu et adonai ham'vorach". This motif repeats multiple times in both, and both include a response from a congregation. While the phrasing of the melody in the blessing varies, it remains strictly in triplets in Gershwin's tune.The song also seems to draw from the tonality of the Jewish prayer mode Adonai malakh (God is King) by emphasizing the minor tenth, the major third, and the minor seventh.

And here are the 3 versions I chose for you;

• Bronski Beat - "It Aint Necessarily So"

• Aziza Mustafa Zadeh - "It Aint Necessarily So"

• Cécile McLorin Salvant - "It Aint Necessarily So"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers...

Which one is your favorite? - X -

This week I took on a challenge and picked a Beatles song to present you. It is one of my favorite Beatles' song and I know there are a lot of good covers and it will really be hard to bring them down to three. Anyhow let me give it a try...

Please keep your requests and comments coming...

Here is our song for this post;

"Come Together"

"Come Together" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written primarily by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is the opening track on their 1969 album Abbey Road and was also released as a single coupled with "Something". The song reached the top of the charts in the United States and peaked at No. 4 in the United Kingdom.

"Come Together" started as Lennon's attempt to write a song for Timothy Leary's campaign for governor of California against Ronald Reagan, which promptly ended when Leary was sent to prison for possession of marijuana.

Timothy Leary was a psychologist who became famous for experimenting with LSD as a way to promote social interaction and raise consciousness. Leary did many experiments on volunteers and himself and felt the drug had many positive qualities if taken correctly. When the government cracked down on LSD, Leary's experiments were stopped and he was arrested on drug charges. In 1969, Leary decided to run for Governor of California, and asked John Lennon to write a song for him. "Come Together, Join The Party" was Leary's campaign slogan (a reference to the drug culture he supported) and was the original title of the song. Leary never had much of a campaign, but the slogan gave Lennon the idea for this song.

Lennon played rhythm guitar and electric piano and sang the lead vocals, Paul McCartney played bass, George Harrison played lead guitar and Ringo Starr played drums. It was produced by George Martin and recorded in late July 1969 at Abbey Road Studios in London.

The whispered lyric that sounds like "shoot" is actually Lennon saying "shoot me" followed by a handclap. The bass line drowns out the "me."

And here are the 3 versions I chose for you;

• Aerosmith - "Come Together"

• Ike and Tina Turner  - "Come Together"

• Michael Jackson - "Come Together"

Here is another one for bonus this week coming from a band I like very much "Tok Tok Tok". 

Keep in mind that it is out of competition...

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers...

Five Songs for the Weekend - L -

Here comes the 50th post for the weekend songs. Music is such an important part of our lives and I hope at least some of the 250 songs I have shared under this title had an influence on your memories, feelings and maybe even your collections...

As the American novelist Sarah Dessen once said;

"Music is the great uniter. An incredible force. 

Something that people who differ on everything 

and anything else can have in common."

So here comes our lists for this weekend;

• The National - "Rylan"

• Etta James - "I'd Rather Be Blind"

• Róisín Murphy - "The Rumble"

• Ólafur Arnalds - "Þú Ert Jörðin"

• Nilüfer Yanya - "In Your Head"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

Which one is your favorite? - IX -

I wasn't planning to post in this series classical (such a wrong definition) music pieces but I have come across some beautiful covers (more like interpretations) in this genre too. This week I am picking a piece that I really love and find rather interesting. I hope you will share my enthusiasm in choosing this piece and send me your comments on the versions you like.

Please keep your requests and comments coming...

And our choice for this week is;

"Gnossienne No.1"

The Gnossiennes  are several piano compositions written by the French composer Erik Satie in the late 19th century. The works are for the most part in free time (lacking time signatures or bar divisions) and highly experimental with form, rhythm and chordal structure. The form as well as the term was invented by Satie.

Satie's coining of the word gnossienne was one of the rare occasions when a composer used a new term to indicate a new "type" of composition. Satie used many novel names for his compositions (vexations, croquis et agaceries and so on). Ogive, for example, is the name of an architectural element which was used by Satie as the name for a composition, the Ogives. Gnossienne, however, was a word that did not exist before Satie used it as a title for a composition. The word appears to derive from gnosis. Satie was involved in gnostic sects and movements at the time that he began to compose the Gnossiennes. However, some published versions claim that the word derives from Cretan "knossos" or "gnossus"; this interpretation supports the theory linking the Gnossiennes to the myth of Theseus, Ariadne and the Minotaur. Several archeological sites relating to that theme were famously excavated around the time that Satie composed the Gnossiennes.

It is possible that Satie may have drawn inspiration for the title of these compositions from a passage in John Dryden's 1697 translation of the Aeneid, in which it is thought the word first appeared:

Let us the land which Heav'n appoints, explore;

Appease the winds, and seek the Gnossian shore

The Three Gnossiennes were composed around 1890 and first published in 1893. A revision prior to publication in 1893 is not unlikely; the 2nd Gnossienne may even have been composed in that year (it has "April 1893" as date on the manuscript). The piano solo versions of the first three Gnossiennes are without time signatures or bar lines, which is known as free time.

And here are the 3 versions I chose for you;

• Paolo Fresu, Richard Galliano & Jan Lundgren - "Gnossienne No.1"

• Erkan Oğur - "Gnossienne No.1"

• Quartet Cinderella - "Gnossienne No.1"

Here is another one for bonus this week coming from "Lost Unicorns". 

Keep in mind that it is out of competition...

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers...

Five Songs for the Weekend - XLIX -

Almost reaching the 50th post of "5 weekend songs", just one more week to go... I hope the songs I am picking for you sound fun to you and every single one of you can make a discovery in those songs or remember something from the past...
I recently watched a great documentary about Pavarotti last week and let's begin with a quote from him.

As the great tenor once said;

"If children are not introduced to music at an early age,

 I believe something fundamental is actually being taken from them."

And now here is our list for the weekend;

• James - "Ring the Bells"

• Ebo Taylor & Uhuru Yenzu - "Love & Death"

• Erykah Badu - "Tyrone"

• GoGo Penguin - "Branches Break"

• Otha - "I'm on Top"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

GoGo Penguin

British jazz scene has been getting more and more interesting in the last couple of years and the trio I will mention in this post is a fine example of what new jazz translates to nowadays.

GoGo Penguin are a band from Manchester,UK featuring pianist Chris Illingworth, bassist Nick Blacka, and drummer Rob Turner.

GoGo Penguin - Photo credit: Linda Bujoli

Their debut album "Fanfares" was released in 2012 from Gondwana records. This album had Grand Russell on bass who was replaced by Nick Blacka on their second CD called the "v2.0" in 2014.
Here is the title track from the first album...

The band's history goes back to "Royal Northern College of Music" in their native Manchester. Their unique and solid sound made them come to the forefront of the jazz scene which is over-populated by trios. One other critical success factor is that the band members are quite young and they try to reflect certain inspirations from an eclectic musical taste from Massive Attack, Brian Eno, Esbjörn Svensson Trio, Aphex Twin to Debussy and Shostakovich...

Here is another track called "Hopopono" from their second album.

You might notice how unified their sound is, they do not try soloing in the songs and rather use an uninterrupted instrumentation throughout the song. I guess this also makes their sound more interesting.

In 2015, the band signed a deal with Blue Note Records and released the album "Man Made Object", which is my favorite. I remember reading somewhere that almost all the compositions of this album were electronically made on Ableton by the drummer Ron Turner and arranged afterwards for the band's acoustic sound.

Let's hear a piece called "All Res".

Their latest album was released in 2018 with the title of "Humdrum Star". Here is a video of the band explaining themselves and the recording.

It is amazing to watch these young guys make so much sense. They seem so relaxed and wise...If you get the chance of listening to their full albums chronologically, you can feel the development and the culmination of their music. It is so enjoyable to listen how parallel their jazz sound is to electronic music.

Let's conclude with a song from this album called "Window".

GoGo Penguin has greatly achieved to combine different musical perceptions, styles and sounds and they have created their unique jazz sound that we mostly hanker for. Highly recommend to all music lovers!

Which one is your favorite? - VIII -

Thank you dear readers, requests are coming and I am trying to fulfill them as long as I can find noteworthy covers of the songs. This one is from a very old friend...

Please keep your requests and comments coming...

And our song for this week is;

"Honesty"

"Honesty" is a song by American singer and songwriter Billy Joel. Columbia Records released the song as the third single from his sixth studio album 52nd Street in 1979. It was solely written by Joel, while production was handled by Phil Ramone.

The song received mostly positive reviews from music critics, who generally praised its lyrics and piano instrumentation. It also received comparisons to other songs by Joel. "Honesty" peaked at number twenty-four on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the album's third consecutive top forty hit. It went to Number 1 in France and has also been certified gold by Recording Industry Association of Japan for ringtone download sales of over 100,000 units.

When Joel started writing this song, he started with the title "Home Again," but was looking for something more appropriate. At his Howard Stern town hall appearance in 2014, he explained: "I didn't have a lyric for it, so my drummer started to sing 'sodomy' - 'sodomy... such a lonely word.' So I had to come up with some lyrics fast."

And here are the 3 versions I chose for you;

• Beyoncé - "Honesty"

• Toots Thielemans - "Honesty" 

• Ramón García - "Honesty"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers...

Five Songs for the Weekend - XLVIII -

Changing of the seasons is open to so many things and especially if this change is from summer to winter you get moody, sentimental and nostalgic. And obviously all this ends up with a runny nose each and every year. So this year why not to shake off our weariness and let music be one of our means of escape from these tedious feelings...

As Yanni once said;

"Music is an incredibly direct language. It bypasses 

language and logic, and speaks directly to your soul."

So here is our weekend list for you to accompany your cold medicines;

• Cream - "Sunshine of Your Love" (RIP Ginger Baker)

• Joni Mitchell - "Both Sides Now"

• Jimmy Fallon, Sia, Natalie Portman & The Roots - "Iko Iko"

• Arjun Vagale & Ramiro Lopez - "Oddball "

• Max Roach & Abbey Lincoln - "Driva' Man"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

RIP Ginger Baker :(

Sad to hear the news of Ginger Baker's passing away. He was an incredible drummer and at the same time an amazing character...

I remember listening to his wonderful drumming with Cream and Blind Faith. I did not follow his works too much later on but he was always active in various musical endeavors.

He was a difficult person and his relation with fans, band members, promoters etc. were volatile,
and you can witness this in the below documentary called "Beware of Mr. Baker" made by Jay Bulger in 2012.

Farewell to a great drummer and a wild man.

Watch Thom Yorke & Stephen Colbert

Thom Yorke was the guest of Stephen Colbert on his show very recently ( The Late Show with Stephen Colbert).

I found it interesting so here I am sharing the video with you.

Thom is really cool as usual...

Five Songs for the Weekend - XLVII -

Back from South Africa with a lot of good memories (and some wine too)...It is always sad to see such beautiful and rich countries suffering from so many meaningless conflicts. Anyhow we still need to keep our chins up and hope that the world will be a better place.

As Aaron Copland once said;

"To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping 

of time itself, incredible and inconceivable."

Here is our list for this weekend;

• Clare Maguire - "Falling Leaves"

• Steve Lehman & Sélébéyone - "Laamb"

• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - "Red Right Hand"

• Björk - "It's Oh So Quiet"

• Messer Chups - "Magneto"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

Which one is your favorite? - VII -

This week the song proposal is coming from a dear friend with whom I share the passion of electronic music and instruments. You may also follow his blog/website from the below address:

http://cereyanlimusiki.net/tr/

Please keep your requests and comments coming...

And our song for this week is;

"Warm Leatherette"

"Warm Leatherette" is a song by Daniel Miller's project The Normal, released in 1978. The lyrics of "Warm Leatherette" reference J.G. Ballard's controversial 1973 novel Crash, which had heavily influenced Daniel Miller. Together with his college friend, he had worked on a film script based on the book, but after the project was abandoned, Miller decided to "write a song encapsulating [the script] in 2 and a half minutes". The song was recorded in Miller's apartment using two Revox B-77 tape machines. A series of sawtooth waves were recorded on a $150 Korg 700S synthesizer.

Miller took the record to a few independent music shops, including Rough Trade in London, where it would be played to customers. "Warm Leatherette" was released as the B-side to "T.V.O.D.", the only single by Miller's musical project The Normal, and the very first release on his Mute Records label. However, since it was "Warm Leatherette" that gained more public attention, it was featured as the lead song on subsequent single re-releases. Although Miller did not expect the single to be successful, it sold thirty thousand copies.

The single was an early example of the then-burgeoning industrial music genre, emerging on a wave of numerous electronic pop experiments of the late 1970s in the UK. It has since been described as having "revolutionised electronic music with its punk aesthetic, stark sound and dark subject matter" and has been covered by numerous artists.

And here are the 3 versions I chose for you;

• Grace Jones -"Warm Leatherette"

• Trent Reznor, Jeordie White, Peter Murphy and Atticus Ross-"Warm Leatherette"

• Deathface - "Warm Leatherette"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers...