Marion Meadows Showcased; with Artie Traum, Booker T. and the MG's, Bob Baldwin, Brooklyn Funk Essentials, & Present Tense; After Hours

Featuring the Smooth Groove of Today's Jazz!
This Week at CaféJazz.ca

May 17th, 2009
Edition #529 Previously

This Week at CafeJazz.ca ...
...in the spotlight on today's show is saxman Marion Meadows with his Secrets release - we've selected three great tracks and have those as part of the showcase segment. Hour two, brings another installment of Back Trax with more favourites from back in the day - on this edition we have the late great Artie Traum as well as some vintage Booker T. & the MG's from the 60s - also appearing Bob Baldwin and Brooklyn Funk Essentials, while additionally there's a track by Present Tense from their debut. Then later in the hour, there's a flashy batch of current favourites, with Daniel Domenge & Gabriel in addition to The Ripps, Paul Hardcastle and Down To The Bone; while featured thru-out are Terry Disley, Earl Klugh, and Herb Alpert!

In This Issue:

SHOWCASE CD :
Secrets - Marion Meadows

BACK TRAX :
She's Riding Again - Artie Traum
Time is Tight - BookerT.
Summer Breeze - Bob Baldwin
Take the L ... - Brooklyn Funk
Dia del Sol - Present Tense

AFTER HOURS : New Music
SPINLIST:

Showcase CD
Secrets - Marion Meadows:
Over the course of his nearly 20-year career, Marion Meadows has come to epitomize the suave and debonair sounds of smooth having proudly authored 11 great albums! His '90 solo debut and his subsequent releases faired well enough but with all due respect, Meadows didn't really discover his true "voice" until after moving over to the Heads Up label and teaming with keyboardist & producer Michael Broening! In Deep was their first collaboration - that effort not only elevated the playing field, it just plain changed the game! The tradition continued thru to Players Club and Dressed To Chill. So it is, that with the recent issue of Secrets, now their fourth co-venture, Meadows & Broening once again live up to their billing as one of the most dynamic partnerships on today's scene! Therefore, it's with pleasure that we check out Marion Meadows and the Secrets cd right here on the showcase segment!

Photo: Marion Meadows by
John Hall Photography

We've selected our usual complement of three incredibly tasty tracks beginning with the gritty groove and heady backbeat of a tune called Flirt! Next up - as we start the second hour - are the deliciously candy-coated sounds of Soul Sugar! Then in the end, it's time to get a little wind blowing thru the hair with Let The Top Down - trumpeter Jesse McGuire contributes a measure of counterpoint to Meadows' sax while guitarist Freddie Fox and bassist Mel Brown lay the foundation on this the first single to radio! But we're not quite done yet … since as a parting gift we've included the percussively rhythmic and melodious Sand Dancers on the After Hours portion of the show. So that's 4 of 12 tracks featured on this edition alone - nonetheless there'll be more in the weeks ahead! Now in truth, in spite of the album title, it's really no secret - there are oodles of smooth saxplayers in the jazz arena, but there's only one with a sound that's sweet like no other and that man is saxman Marion Meadows!

CD: Secrets (2009)
Label: Heads Up
Sites:

Back Trax: Part One

She's Riding Again - Artie Traum:
In a 35-plus-year-career, award-winning Artie Traum had been featured on over 20 albums. Coming out of the Bronx in the late 60s, he made his way onto the music scene in Greenwich Village and over the years, he worked with many top artists such as Michael Franks and The Band. Although he worked primarily in the milieu of folk music, for a time Traum became absorbed with the sounds of John Coltrane and Miles Davis while recording several jazz based projects. Sadly, a few years back Traum was diagnosed with a rare form of ocular melanoma and in spite regular and ongoing treatments he succumbed in July of 2008. Nevertheless, the brilliance of his work lives on - from the '93 Letters From Joubée release and one of his best, we have the simply gorgeous She's Riding Again!

CD: Letters From Joubée (1993)
Label: Shanachie Ent.
Sites:

Time is Tight - Booker T. and the MG's:
Throughout the 1960s, the band Booker T. & the MG's became known as one of the tightest house units of the day. Booker T. Jones started as a session man for Stax Records in Memphis, TN back in 1960, whereupon he met guitarist Steve Cropper. With the addition of drummer Al Jackson and bassist Donald Dunn, they laid down a sound that may have been one of the biggest reasons for the success of Southern soul with contributions to the records of Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and Sam & Dave as well as many other biggies of the day. Additionally, on their own, they cut three of the best-known instrumental classics of the era in Green Onions, Time Is Tight, and Hip Hugger. In the case of Time Is Tight, they originally recorded the track in the mid-'60s and then reworked it for the soundtrack of the 1968 film Up Tight. The following year Time Is Tight was released as a single. It skyrocketed to #6 on the charts and with it Booker T. and the MG's scored their second biggest hit ever! Now 40 years since it was issued, it remains an absolute classic of the day!

Parting Shot: Booker T. and the MG's - inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992!

CD: Up Tight (1968)
Label: Stax Records
Sites: Booker T. and the MG's features ...

Also: Booker T. Jones

Steve Cropper

Donald "Duck" Dunn

Very Best of
Rhino / 1994

Back Trax: Part Two
	Summer Breeze - Bob Baldwin: In a career stretching back to the 80s, Bob Baldwin is a veteran performer with several chart-topping and critically acclaimed efforts. His father was an accomplished jazz piano player and bassist in his own right - Baldwin recalls attending some of his father's gigs and getting into the sounds of straight ahead jazz. Bob Jr. released his debut in 1990 and after moving to Atlanta, he went on a four stint touring with saxman Marion Meadows while continuing to advance his own solo career. With a catalogue now in the double digits, on this occasion we went to one of Baldwin's biggest hits in Summer Breeze with Marion Meadows guesting! Addendum: Look for Summer Breeze on the cd "Lookin' Back" coming 6/23! CD: Cool Breeze (1997) Label: Shanachie Ent. Site:
	Take the L Train (to 8th Avenue) - Brooklyn Funk Essentials: Brooklyn Funk Essentials - the name tells you a lot! Formed in 1993, the collective was a dynamic sometimes 13-piece unit hailing from Brooklyn with a sound that was squarely centered in the funk. Sporting a full horn section and a few 'poets', BFE became entrenched on the hip NYC club scene. They released their debut, Cool and Steady and Easy, the following year and scored an underground hit with a slick cover of Pharoah Sanders' The Creator Has a Master Plan. From that same effort, we now have BFE with the moody melody of Take The L Train (to 8th Avenue) - featuring Barbara Snow on flug! CD: Cool and Steady and Easy (1995) Label: Groovetown / RCA / BMG Sites:
	Dia del Sol - Present Tense: Richard Frank on acoustic bass and Ronnie Kaufman on drums lay down the grooves that define the sound of Present Tense. Both are seasoned musicians; Kaufman was the original drummer in the GAP Band and toured with the group as well as having played on five or so of their albums. Meanwhile, with a background in classical, jazz, 70's rock, and world music, Frank firmly grounds the PT sound with a solid bottom end. On their first effort released in 2002, Messrs R Squared enlisted John Enrico Douglas and Chad Edwards who split piano duties on the 11-track set with Douglas on the first five and Edwards on the back 6. From that effort, the selection Dia del Sol, with JED dancing on the keys, was just begging to be played! CD: Night Shadows (2002) Label: R Squared Records Sites:

After Hours ~ Exclusive to our Site and Select Affiliates :

New Music ... from deep in the heart of studio B it's an all new music edition - we have 13 lucky selections all shiny and new. Today our line-up includes the Velez Brothers and a bit more from Gregg Karukas and the GK release and they're followed by Australian bassman Wayne Jones. Leading off in set #2 is Joyce Cooling with Hart Ramsey and Bernie Williams - additionally, there's new stuff as well from the band Spyro Gyra and keyboardist Brian Kelly. Then in our final set, there's music by Nils while we have another great track from Marion Meadows and the Secrets cd - also appearing are Swing Out Sister - while in the end, it's Brian Tarquin teaming with Frank Gambale for today's closing track. But to begin, we have something new of course and this time its from Jay Soto - his latest is Mesmerized and from that fine effort we've selected a great melody called A Love Like Mine. So brother & sis, better grab Mom & Dad, cuz it's time again for the whole family to sit down round old radio - as we crack the seal on brand new listening!

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