Some of My Favorite Live Albums

I don't know about you guys but I miss concerts a lot. There is nothing like seeing one of your favorite singers live, but unfortunately that is something we can't really do right now. Missing concerts however has got live music on my mind, and this is why today, I am going to look at some of my favorite live albums. Keep in mind that favorite doesn't always mean best, it just means favorite, so if your favorite live album isn't on here don't take it personally. 

Waylon Live (1974) - Waylon Jennings. 

In my opinion Waylon Jennings is and always will be one of the greatest singers (and not just country) of all time, and this album features him at his best. His voice is at its strongest and most powerful and his band has never sounded better. The selection of songs is top notch from Waylon's own hits to those of his friends (Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson) to old school country classics to then current rock hits. This is pure music perfection. If I had to pick an album to show someone why I love country music this would be one of my top picks. 

Miles Davis: Live at the Plugged Nickel (1965) - Miles Davis

To say this was a daring performance is a true understatement. Drummer Ton Williams said that the band decided to play the music in an anti-jazz style without telling Miles. Miles however not only catches on but considers this a challenge and plays by their rules with the shear artistry that few other than him posses. What results is an incredible concert both for jazz buffs and casual fans.

At Folsom Prison / At San Quentin (1968/1969). - Johnny Cash

These may be obvious choices but that is because these two albums are just so incredible. Johnny has incredible energy and an even better connection with his audience. With how well Johnny connects with these inmates, it no surprise that many people assumed he had been in prison himself. These albums also show the dichotomy of Johnny Cash more than any of his other albums do. You have a strong Christian with his faith in God and inability not to sure what God can do for others and praise him, yet one who also will cuss (or even flip the bird) and sing that he hopes San Quentin will "rot and burn in Hell." These two sides don't feel like they belong in the same person, but Johnny was far from a simple easy to explain person.

Willie and Family Live (1978) - Willie Nelson

If you have never seen Willie in concert, you need to. He is such an incredible live performer who puts so much energy and excitement into each song. It is hard not to just simply get swept up in the music with one of Willie's live performances. None of his live albums capture the energy and fun of a Willie Nelson performance more than Willie and Family Live. This album also shows the rocking side of this country music legend more than any other. 

The Last Waltz (1978) - The Band 

The soundtrack album to one of my favorite concert films is not surprisingly one of my favorite live albums. The Band's farewell concert shows the group at its best and hits like Up on Cripple Creek and The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, never sounded better than they do here. Featuring such incredible guests as Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Dr. John, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton and Emmylou Harris any fan of 1960's or 70's music must hear this album.

 

Offerings: A Worship Album (2000) - Third Day

My favorite Christian rock band turns in one of their finest albums with their first live album and their first worship album. This album combines their own originals plus new covers of Michael W. Smith and Bob Dylan. The band simply sounds incredible and Mac Powell's voice is at its best. This is as good as Christian music gets.

Rock Spectacle (1996) - Barenaked Ladies

The Canadian pop-rock band with a uniquely offbeat sense of humor, are at their best live, and this live album may be their best album. This is them in all of their pre-One Week glory. If you want to see just how great of a band Barenaked Ladies are you can't do better than this album. This is when the band was at their creative peak and mixing that with their incredible energy live, this is a masterpiece of a live album.

At The Ryman (1992) - Emmylou Harris 

Emmylou Harris is one of the best interrupters of classic country songs and many of her covers are often even better than originals. She also has an incredible energy and presence live. So a live album of her performing classic country songs has to be as good as it gets. This is pure traditional country music at its absolute finest and it is only appropriate that it comes from the historic Ryman (which was the home of The Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974). For country music fans it hardly gets better than this. 

Live in Iraq (2007) - Charlie Daniels Band

Charlie Daniels favorite part of his job was performing live and The Charlie Daniels Band was often at its best when they were live. That is why it is disappointing that they have so few live albums. However the live albums they do have are pure gems. Charlie always said that there was an art of putting together a concert and this was certainly an art he had mastered. This songs on this album are masterful put together and there is never a lull in the whole album. Of course performing for our troops overseas means there is a lot of Charlie's patriotism throughout this album. A lot of Charlie Daniels Band critics may complain about this, but to me this is a treat as his love for America is such a huge part of what makes Charlie Charlie. It is always so real and honest that I don't ever feel I'm being preached to but rather that the artist is just revealing who he is through his music.  

-Michael J. Ruhland 

Summer Concert Series: Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool (2019)

I admit that I am a relative newcomer to Miles Davis' music (I love it by the way). So when I first saw this movie there was a lot that was new to me that may not have been new to many of you.

 This is a simple straightforward documentary but an excellently done one. The interviews with his friends, family and bandmates are fantastic. What makes them work, beyond just how much insight they give you, is the emotion behind them. Miles didn't have the reputation of being one of the nicest people in the world and this film certainly shows why. There are times when it is hard not to get a little angry hearing what he has done. Yet the people being interviewed hardly seem to hold a grudge. They knew he could be a jerk to them, but despite that there was something all of them seemed to still love about the man. They don't defend him or what he did, but rather just love him in spite of these faults and there is something extremely beautiful about that. Of course this is a music documentary and the movie gives a great insight into is music and many of the artistic choices he made and why his music still touches so many. I can't see anyone watching this film and not wanting to listen to the man's incredible music. Those being interviewed talk about the music with such a passion that it is had not to feel that same passion. At the same time while we don't see any complete performances the clips we get are incredible and make one automatically want more. This doc also explains why his later electric work was not a simply ploy to stay relevant, but that his music was always been true to who he was in that moment, whether it was more traditional jazz or the funk inspired experimental music from 1969 on. He was never satisfied with what he did in the past, always looking instead at one to redefine himself and bring his music into the modern era (whatever that era may be). The man was a true artist in every sense of the word.

The main problem with this movie is it tries to tell the story of a decades long career in less than two hours. It is not enough time, and the film can often feel rushed and you wish they would spend more time on one subject. Yet for what this film does it is truly excellent.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Music Monday: Someday My Prince Will Come

Quick name a Disney song that would have an after life in Jazz music. If you answered Someday My Prince Will Come, then you read the title of this blog post.

The song of course was created for the Disney studio’s landmark first feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). It was one of the sweetest scenes of the movie and was perfectly worked into the comedy before the scene or the horror that followed. This is what the film did so perfectly, every song moved the story forward and took the place of what could have been a scene full of boring exposition. The song itself is unbelievably lovely and is 100% perfect for Adriana Coslotti’s voice.

The song received its first major jazz recording in 1957. Dave Brubeck spent a day in Disneyland with his family and this gave him the idea to do a whole album of songs from Disney films. He did and the album, Dave Digs Disney. One of the standout tracks on this album was Someday My Prince Will Come.

Jazz Pianist Bill Evans recoded a version of the song for his 1959 album Portraits in Jazz.

Probably the most famous Jazz version of this song was recorded by Miles Davis on his 1961 album, Someday My Prince Will Come.

Oscar Peterson and Milt Jackson did another jazz version of the song on their 1971 album, Reunion Blues.

Outside of jazz, Tanya Tucker recorded a country version of the song. 

Another country artist who recorded the song was Chet Atkins.

Japanese pop singer Ayumi Hamasaki recorded the song for a  2002 rerelease of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in Japan. 

Disney Chanel star Tiffany Thornton recorded the song for the 2009 Blu-ray release of Snow White. 

Now let us all sing along. 

-Michael J. Ruhland 

Movie Review: The Photograph

Michael's Movie Grade: B

A familiar but well done movie romance.

While this may be the same basic love story I have seen in a thousand or so movies, I can't deny that this film told it very well. The characters are not the two dimensional caricatures, that you see in too many of these movies, but rather they feel like real human beings. This is due both to the acting of our two leads (LaKeith Stanfield, Issa Rae) and some cleverly written dialogue by Stella Meghie (who also directed the movie). This makes some of the cliché bits feel earned since we care about these characters and do want to see them get together.

While the main characters are not two dimensional caricatures, pretty much all the supporting characters are. Also while our main characters are given some smart dialogue, the supporting cast is given much more cliché and less interesting things to say.

There is no way to talk about this movie without praising its fantastic musical score. Robert Glasper's lovely jazz influenced score is beyond lovely to listen to. Glasper has said in the past that Miles Davis was a major influence on him (he even scored a movie about Miles Davis, Miles Ahead (2015)) and that influence definitely can be heard here. I admit to being a bit of a newcomer to Miles Davis' music (re-watching the movie, Elevator to the Gallows (1958), for which Miles did the score converted me), but I would be lying if I didn't say I was in love with the music. While no one can sound quite like Miles, Robert has some of the same pure passion that makes his influence's music so powerful. There is a soft powerful beauty to the music here, that just captured me from the second the film started. This movie has made me want to check out some of Robert Glasper's non-film music and I think that is one of the best compliments I can give a film score. This movie also uses some R&B songs on the soundtrack and each one is used perfectly.

This film also features lovely cinematography from Marc Swartzbard, who makes the movie feel like you are stepping into the way an artist like Mae's mother sees the world around her.

This is far from a perfect movie, but there is a lot to recommend here. Heck the score alone is reason enough to see this film.

-Michael J. Ruhland  

Jazz Legends on Film #1

Hello my friends. I don't know about you guys but being a fan of classic films has introduced me to a lot of great vintage music. For instance I don't think I would listen to jazz music if it wasn't for great old films. When talkies came about jazz was at the height of its powers and many music fans wanted to see their favorite jazz musicians performing on screen. Because of this many true legends of jazz appeared in films. Today (and a few days in the future) I am going to share with you some great examples of jazz music in classic films. 

If you had to ask me what the best jazz film ever made was, I would have to go with Jammin' the Blues (1944). While most short subjects featuring popular musicians performing, simply placed the camera in front of the performers and let them play. This film does not do that at all. Instead director Gjon Mili and cinematographer Robert Burks (who my fellow film buffs will know went on to become Alfred Hitchcock's cinematographer on many of his most famous films) create a visually unique and jaw dropping film. The music is jazz music at its finest featuring such great musicians as Lester Young, Red Callender, Harry Edison, Matthew Morris, Sidney Catlett, Joe Jones, Barney Kessel, John Simmons, Illinois Jacquet and Marie Bryant. A review in The Exhibitor said "Lighting, camera work and direction by Gjon Mili are first rate." 

Unusual for a short subject this film received a three page article in American Cinematographer. You can read this below. If any of the pages are hard to read you can click on them and use your touch screen to zoom in.

Next comes a classic short subject starring the King of Hi De Ho himself, Cab Calloway. This film is called Cab Calloway's Hi De Ho (1934). The story isn't much to write home about but the music is fantastic. However I will admit I really like the ending gag.

The feature film Stormy Whether (1943) featured quite a few jazz greats in it, including the one and only Fats Waller. Here is Fats Waller performing Ain't Misbehaving in that movie.

 






Many vintage music fans are familiar with the Vitaphone Varieties. This was a series of short films from the late 1920's and early 1930's that featured various musicians and vaudeville acts performing in front of the camera. While few of these are cinematic masterpieces, they give us a great glimpse into a type of entertainment that is gone today.  Here is a typical Vitaphone Variety, Jazzmania Quintette (1928). This film features the jazz violinist Georgie Stoll as well as Edythe Flynn.

 


I have not been shy about my love for the Paul Whiteman feature film, King of Jazz (1930). Here is the great Rhapsody in Blue scene in that movie.

 


One of the all time great film scores is for Louis Malle's Elevator to the Gallows (1958). The score for this movie was done by the one and only Miles Davis. Here is a scene from the movie featuring some great music by Miles.

Thanks for joining me, I will have more of these posts in the future.

-Michael J. Ruhland