Klaus Waldeck

Photo: myspace.com

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This week the spotlight takes us to Vienna, where an aspiring pianists' life took a sudden turn when he destroyed a Bechstein piano while re-wiring it. He was 15 at the time. He would later go to law school and become a copyright lawyer. But a legal case involving a Beatle would change his life's direction back to music (last.fm). Waldeck explained,

“It was during the time when George Harrison got sued for ripping off an old Motown tune...I realized the way forward was to work a melody until it didn’t belong to anyone anymore (last.fm)."

Waldeck's music tend to feature female vocalists Joy Malcolm (of Incognito), Brian Amos or Zeebee. Today several of his albums including, The Night Garden Reflowered, Balance of the Force, Balance of the Force Remixed, Northern Lights-EP and This Isn't Maybe are out of print and very rare. His most successful album is called Ballroom Stories featuring Austrian vocalist Zeebee (last.fm).

LINKS:
"Memories"
"Addicted"
"Why Did We Fire The Gun?"
"Make My Day"




REFERENCES:
"Waldeck." last.fm Retrieved from: http://www.last.fm/music/Waldeck?ac=Waldeck

Palov & Mishkin

Photo: http://www.last.fm/music/Palov+&+Mishkin/+images/58887055

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This is a duo made of close childhood friends in Athens, Palov & Mishkin. Sharing a common love for music, the two would form their first group while in school. However, around 1987, Mishkin suddenly had to move to a faraway town. They had no contact for almost 20 years, until one day in March of 2006, they happened to meet in the same taxi. And the music began. The duo released 2 albums including the highly praised Think Twice.


LINKS:
"Et De Clarinete"
"De Mi Careta"







REFERENCES
"Palov & Mishkin." last.fm Retrieved from: http://www.last.fm/music/Palov+&+Mishkin
"Palov (Palov and Mishkin). Soundcloud. Retrieved from: https://soundcloud.com/palov-palov-and-mishkin

Nuspirit Helsinki

Photo: http://www.discogs.com/artist/717-Nuspirit-Helsinki

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Their name tells you where they're from (Helsinki, Finland). The group was formed in 1998 by producers, Tuomas Kallio and Hannu Nieminen, but Finnish musicians are a big part of Nuspirit Helsinki's sound with up to ten different guest musicians playing together on a given track.

Nuspirit Helsinki's sound is often called a modern big band sound. However, they are a group that is hard to pigeonhole, and is probably best uncategorized. Enjoy their music for what its worth.


LINKS:
1) Their first single, "Take It Back"
2)"Seis Por Ocho" 
3) "Orson"
4) "Subzero"

REFERENCES:
"Nuspirit Helsinki." last.fm Retrieved from:
http://www.last.fm/music/Nuspirit+Helsinki

"Nuspirit Helsinki." allmusic.com Retrieved from:
http://www.allmusic.com/album/nuspirit-helsinki-mw0000221361

Lisa Ekdahl

Photo: https://myspace.com/ekdahllisa

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Her voice is described as "soft, supple, smooth and child-like." (Wikipedia) It's perhaps the child-like part that makes her music so appealing and unique. 

When she was 19, Ekdahl began performing in small jazz clubs with the swedish jazz trio, The Peter Nordahl trio. She calls the experience with the trio, "a form of musical education." Her debut album released in 1994 won her three awards in her home country of Sweden ("Biography-Lisa Ekdahl"). 

She has published 10 albums, six of the ten are in Swedish, the other four are in English (last.fm). 


LINKS:
Her biggest single, "Vem Vet": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GDQGAZunEg
"Now baby or Never": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_zEWdzNths
Song + Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pcz8MyQipIA

REFEENCES:
"Biography-Lisa Ekdahl." Retrieved from: http://lisaekdahl.com/biography/
"Lisa Ekdahl." last.fm Retrieved from: http://www.last.fm/music/Lisa+Ekdahl
"Lisa Ekdahl." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Ekdahl

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

Photo: https://www.facebook.com/BigBadVoodooDaddy

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With the big football game this weekend, I thought it was only appropriate to feature a Ventura, California based swing revival band who played the 1999 Super Bowl halftime show ("Big Bad Voodoo Daddy"). 

Their name came from band leader Scotty Morris' meeting with blues great Albert Collins at his concert. Albert Collins signed Morris' poster "To Scotty, the big bad voodoo daddy."Morris said, "I thought it was the coolest name I ever heard on one of the coolest musical nights I ever had. So when it came time to name this band, I didn't really have a choice. I felt like it was handed down to me ("Big Bad Voodoo Daddy)." 

The band promoted their tribute to Cab Calloway called How Big Can You Get?: The Music of Cab Calloway, on Dancing With The Stars and on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ("Big Bad Voodoo Daddy"). 

Similar to their contemporaries, The Brian Setzer Orchestra and The Squirrel Nut Zippers, their sound recalls the swing and jump blues of the 40s and 50s (i.e. Louis Prima, Cab Calloway, Glenn Miller) but adds in contemporary genres like ska and rockabilly. Swing Revival (also called neo-swing) was especially popular in the 1990s and early 2000s ("Swing Revival").

LINKS:
Perhaps their best known song, "Go Daddy Go": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehtEFCuBD_8

This one really swings!, Jumpin' Jack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEWuZ0QBvlo

"Why Me?": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKpVGKOa2xs

Tribute to Cab Calloway, "Minnie The Moocher": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5OpyFCBgWc

REFERENCES:
"Big Bad Voodoo Daddy." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bad_Voodoo_Daddy

"Swing revival." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing_revival

9 Lazy 9

Photo: ninjatune.net

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This group was started by an artist who would become established in his own right, James Braddell (known to the world as Funki Porcini). In 1992, he wasn't calling himself Funki Porcini yet, his pseudonym at the time was Giacomo Braddellini, basically an Italian translation of his original name (last.fm). After meeting Keir Fraserello, 9 Lazy 9 was born. Based out of Italy, 9 Lazy 9's sound is described as a "smoky Mediterranean mix of vibes and good times. (ninjatune.net)" The group was one of the first to sign with the independent label, Ninja Tune, a label that would later sign Mr.Scruff, Bonobo and Jaga Jazzist just to name a few (Facebook). 9 Lazy 9 joined the label when it was "one grey metal cupboard in a run down London loft (ninjatune.net)."

LINKS:
"The Herb": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSjyNgQAc6w
"5 AM": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E88bB77yIY
This one has a bossa nova feel to it, "The Flying Nun": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj7bWvoBouM

REFERENCES:
"9 Lazy 9." last.fm. Retrieved from: http://www.last.fm/search?q=9+lazy+9
"9 Lazy 9/Artists/Ninja Tune." ninjatune.net 2015. Retrieved from: http://ninjatune.net/artist/9-lazy-9#.VMPr5mTF9LY
"Ninja Tune Official." (n.d.) Facebook. Retrieved January 24, 2015 from: 
https://www.facebook.com/ninjatuneofficial/info?tab=page_info

Gecko Turner

Gecko Turner
Photo: www.vivirextremadura.es

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His love of music began as a kid in the 70s when he discovered the greats like The Beatles and The Stones, it was The Stones that led him to him discovering blues greats like Muddy Waters and Big Joe Turner. By listening and playing along with the blues he learned to speak English. As a young adult, he would later grow to love jazz and hitched around Spain following Dizzy Gillespie's tour. When he was 20 he moved to London with a borrowed guitar, played locally and explored the jazz scene there. He would move back to Spain to take a job in a bank, but after his wife died of a long-term illness, Turner was back at music. It's always refreshing to hear Spanish artist Gecko Turner's playful yet laid back sound. Spanish music journalists call his sound 'Afromeño' which translated means Africa and Extremeño which is the region of Spain where Turner is from, but besides African and local influences, North American and Caribbean music are also integrated into his sound (Gecko Turner). 
Enjoy!


LINKS:
"Toda Mojata": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNwkXGeHE34
A Music Video that involves boxing, knitting, and more, "En la calle on the street": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atzD3y9FiD8
(Vocal Version) "Limon En La Cabeza": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYq2fYLNhqE


REFERENCES:
"Gecko Turner." AllMusic. Retrieved from: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/gecko-turner-mn0000860882