Because I don’t have his email to offer personal thanks, I wanted to at least write a brief post, thanking Tony Garciella for his generous contribution to Evening Melancholy. The donation was not expected but is sincerely appreciated. Mr. Garciella’s donation puts a nice little dent in the cost to run the station and with the economy being as crappy as it is, I appreciate the sacrifice even more.
Thanks again, Mr. Garciella!
I just happened to be lounging around this afternoon, reading and listening to the station when I heard a Charles Brown song play followed by an early Ray Charles tune. One has to wonder how Ray Charles’ music career would have developed without the early and obvious influences of Nat King Cole and Charles Brown. I say it over and over again — there is no family tree more resplendent and vast than that of the family of jazz. And what fruit it bore — soul, rock ‘n roll, rhythm and blues.
Come to think of it, where would I be without all this great music? Squaresville.
Ray Charles - You’ll Never Miss The Water
looking for a good way to kill some time, spend a couple of hours at the Rock n’ Soul Museum. At ten bucks for one adult ticket, it’s a steal. Rich with history and music, I went from having a tepid curiosity upon entering the building, to setting foot back onto the city street feeling a great amount of respect for the museum as well as the town to which it was dedicated. Days later and I’m still floored by the thought of how many great artists and songs came out of the city of Memphis.
I also walked away with a new tune for the station. Evening Melancholy is dedicated mostly to classic jazz ballads, but I’d be a fool not to add Three O’Clock Blues by B.B. King. To me, it is the very definition of Evening Melancholy.
Adding a few new tracks this week to the station — Dexter Gordon, Kenny Burrell, . I wanted to point out one particular collection that I really enjoy.
If you love jazz and you love classic Johnny Hodges and his unique, unmistakable tone, pick up this cd. Great music.
Little by little, I am trying to make the website a bit more interactive and not as stale as it has been. I’m not really a web programmer or anything, so it will remain pretty simple, but hopefully you will dig some of the changes.
I have gotten rid of the Links page because I never updated it or used it, and replace it with a Portraits In Jazz link. This link basically takes you to a page that displays all of the jazz photographs and album covers I have discovered over the years. The pictures are tiled wallpaper style with a little Evening Melancholy music playing in the background. There are hundreds of images and they refresh every 20 seconds. If you’re like me, you find those old photographs of the legends somewhat comforting. And some of the best album covers ever are from the jazz world, especially from the Blue Note record company. There are tons to be found here. Let me know what you think.
I have added another Guestbook link. Hopefully, the last. If you have time, stop by and say hello.
I have also updated the EM Video page. Instead of the one video, there is now a jukebox of videos from DailyMotion.com. All of the videos are ballads (I think). I wanted to capture the best of the jazz legends doing what Evening Melancholy loves the most. Daily Motion really has some great archived stuff when it comes to jazz music. I am embedding an example here. It is Jimmy Witherspoon with Ben Webster on tenor. Great stuff. Jimmy Witherspoon’s voice will crumble your aching heart into a million pieces. Wonderful singer. And Webster’s sound speaks for itself.
I hope you enjoy all of the little changes. There are more to come. And if you have any suggestions or comments, please let me know.
P.S. With all the politics lately, you thought I forgot the music, huh? Silly rabbit. It’ll never happen.