RIBS TPTD: Ronnie Laws, Steely Dan, Jon Lucien
Late drop today, but I hope you feel it’s worth the wait…
Sometimes when trying to come up with an idea for Triple Play Thurs-Day I like to push the envelope (so to speak) and pull together three artists that, at first glance, you wouldn’t think would mix well together. My best effort to date along that line was the Hugh Masekela-Bobby McFerrin-John Coltrane mix back in March that started off this weekly TPTD feature here. I cannot even begin to tell you how long it took me to put that one together… let’s just say it was months… many, many months.
Anyway, I decided to challenge myself again this week, as I was in the mood for something a little different. I’ve been listening to and/or hearing selections from today’s trio off and on for a couple of weeks now and I figured, what the hell, let’s see if we can flow these three into a decent sounding mix.
So… for this week’s TPTD we present, IMHO, three unlikely bedfellows:
Ronnie Laws, he of the famous and talented Laws family (older brother Hubert and sisters Debra and Eloise), has always been one of my favorite saxophone players. While not quite attaining the recognition and/or “household name” status of some of his peers, Grover Washington, Jr. or David Sanborn for example, I think his talent ranks right up there with the best of them. His debut album as a solo artist, Pressure Sensitive, with the monster hit Always There, still gets pulled out from time to time and is enjoyed as much now as when it first came out.
If Steely Dan had only recorded the Aja album and nothing else, I would still have been a happy fan forever. Let me put it this way, I’ve had to purchase multiple copies of this disk over the years cause I’ve worn out my copy from playing it so much. This, IMHO, has to be the pinnacle achievement of their recording career. The title track Aja never fails to float me away on a bed of sound and ease my mind of burdens troubling it. The only other song I can think of that has always had this type of effect on me is Deliver The Word by WAR (hmmmm… have to remember to put those two in a mix back-to-back someday, that’ll sound real nice I think). And then… there is the cut I consider my theme song, Deacon Blues:
They have a name for the winners in the world,
I want a name when I lose.
They call Alabama the “Crimson Tide”,
Call me “Deacon Blues”.
How *many* times have I been there and lived those lines… {sigh}
Last, but not least (not by any stretch of the imagination) is Jon Lucien. This man possesses one of the most beautifully melodic (that’s the only way I can think to describe it) singing voices I have ever heard. This man could sing Chopsticks (if it had lyrics, of course {smile}) and I think I would just sit there spellbound and hang on every note. As a matter of fact, even though Jon’s selections in this mix are some of my favorites, especially Lady Love and Rashida (which, now that I think about it, ranks right up there with Aja and Deliver The Word), these few songs don’t really do him the justice that he deserves. I have a feeling RIBS will be doing an all Jon Lucien feature mix sometime in the not-too-distant future.
RIBS TPTD: Ronnie Laws, Steely Dan, Jon Lucien
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Playlist:
- Steely Dan - Aja
- Ronnie Laws - Saturday Night
- Jon Lucien - Would You Believe In Me?
- Steely Dan - Deacon Blues
- Ronnie Laws - Friends And Strangers
- Jon Lucien - Lady Love
- Steely Dan - Home At Last
- Ronnie Laws - Why Do You Always Laugh At Me?
- Jon Lucien - Lady Love
- Steely Dan - Do It Again
- Ronnie Laws - Always There
- Jon Lucien - So Little Time
- Jon Lucien - Ghetto Song
- Steely Dan - Time Out Of Mind
- Ronnie Laws - Life In Paradise
- Jon Lucien - Rashida
Enjoy!
Technorati Tags: soul, netinfoweb, TPTD, playlist, mp3, mp3blog, soul music, jazz, Rhythms In Black Satin, RIBS
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Comments
2 Comments on RIBS TPTD: Ronnie Laws, Steely Dan, Jon Lucien
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Xquizzyt1 on
Thu, 2nd Aug 2007 3:05 pm
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NetInfoWeb 2.0: Soul, R&B, Jazz and Blues on the ‘Net » Jon Lucien: Rest In Peace… on
Wed, 22nd Aug 2007 10:31 am
*humming Very Special while reading about Ronnie and Debra *
I can’t listen at work… but dayum! Those ARE unlikely bedfellows (in my opinion too)!! I will definitely listen when I get home… =)
[...] We had just taken a look at a few selections from Jon a couple of weeks ago as one of the featured artists in the August 2 Triple Play Thurs-Day. As I’ve mentioned, he’s always been one of my favorite singers, so, in his honor, tomorrow’s TPTD will feature a more in depth look at the musical legacy he’s left behind for us to enjoy. [...]
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