John McLaughlin (1927-2016)

A class act, and one of a kind.

Never will there be another.

Bye-bye!

--Raj Manoharan
  

Kenny Baker (1934-2016)

Thank you for the childhood (and adulthood) memories.

You will be us always.

--Raj Manoharan

  

Spirits, by Erik Scott

On his latest album, rock veteran turned solo instrumentalist Erik Scott (Sonia Dada, Alice Cooper) embarks on unique sonic excursions, using his fretted and fretless basses, baritone guitar, keyboards and drum and percussion programming to create ethereal and mystical sounds that bring listeners along on a cosmic ride.

In addition to his 12 enticing original compositions, Scott presents a stunning take on the Lennon/McCartney Beatles classic "Yesterday."

Scott's band on this outing includes Larry Beers on drums, Chris Cameron on organ and piano, Steve Eisen on flute, Hank Guaglianone and John Mader on drums, Shira Kammen on violin, Phil Miller and David Resnik on electric guitar, John Pirrucello on steel guitar and mandolin, Glen Rupp on acoustic guitar, and Ron Schwartz on effects and percussion.

--Raj Manoharan

IMAGINE

John Lennon is my least favorite Beatle, and I’m not a John Lennon fan by any stretch of the imagination.

But “Imagine” is one of the best songs of all time, and it is my favorite John Lennon song.

So, in the spirit of John Lennon, just IMAGINE.

--Raj Manoharan

Noel Neill (1920-2016)

For comic book movie and TV fans, you were our first, Noel.

Thank you for your gift.

Please give our regards to Kirk, George, John, Bob, and Jack.

Up, up, and away!

--Raj Manoharan

30 Years of Bruce Hornsby

It's hard for me to believe, but Bruce Hornsby first arrived on the music scene three decades ago in 1986.

I became an instant fan with the release of Bruce Hornsby and the Range's debut album, The Way It Is. The top two singles, the title track and “Mandolin Rain,” played constantly on the radio and on MTV. The group also won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1986.

Hornsby and his band's music isn't your typical '80s sythesizer pop. Rather, it is timeless, led by Hornsby's graceful piano playing and his band's tasteful soft-rock groove. And unlike Billy Joel's bluesy, soulful piano playing, Hornsby's style gravitates more towards jazz and new age, often compared to Keith Jarrett and giving Hornsby's pop a more elegant flavor.

Even the group's videos were not your typical racy or avant-garde MTV fare, simply featuring exquisite cinematography of Hornsby and his band playing in the studio.

I distinctly remember buying Hornsby's first album on vinyl from a record shop on the top floor of the Bergen Mall, the second one on vinyl from a suburban Sears where my family went to get a portrait photograph taken, and the third and final Range album on cassette from a music store on the underground level of the Garden State Plaza.

As I listened to these albums as a teenager (and attended a 1993 Hornsby concert in Holmdel, New Jersey, with my brother), I never could have imagined that I would get to interview Hornsby nearly two decades later, which I did by telephone in 2002. I then met him in person strictly as a fan five years later at a free outdoor concert and CD signing at J&R Music in New York City. When my turn came to get autographs and talk to him and his fellow musicians at the time, I quoted an obscure and hilarious line from one of his solo albums, and he immediately started singing the exact song with that phrase, which I had also gotten him to do on the phone five years earlier. His bass player, legendary jazz musician Christian McBride, was laughing and shaking his head. Hornsby's people also got a good laugh out of it. In addition to meeting and getting autographs from Hornsby and McBride, I also got to meet and get an autograph from Hornsby's drummer at the time, Jack DeJohnette, also a legendary jazz musician.

Hornsby and his current band, the Noisemakers, just released their latest album, Rehab Reunion, this summer. This is the first album on which Hornsby doesn't play piano, instead concentrating solely on hammered dulcimer.

But it all began with Bruce Hornsby and the Range, 30 years ago.

--Raj Manoharan
  

Myself When I Am Real

When Andy Summers' take on the Charles Mingus composition first came out as part of Summers' 2000 Mingus tribute album Peggy's Blue Skylight, I wasn't completely taken by it due to its length and its very classical bent. In fact, I passed it over frequently for the more jazz-rock fusion numbers on the record.

I have just recently been listening to the nearly 10-minute epic several times, and I now find it to be a masterpiece of intricate beauty. It is basically Summers playing restrained electric guitar both over and behind a vast expanse of alternatively prominent and subdued violins and cellos.

It is a grandly ambitious piece that fulfills its lofty aspirations, and in the end it is quite something to behold.

--Raj Manoharan