JT Music Review

Whitey Morgan and the 78’s

James — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:16:47 +0000

Looking for some good country? Needing a little outlaw country to get your day started or maybe to end the day with while putting down a few adult beverages? Well Whitey Morgan and the 78’s is your ticket. With today’s country resembling bubblegum pop more and more this album brings a nostalgic feeling while also being fresh. Listening to them will remind you of Waylon and other outlaw country artist. Just listen to the song Honky Tonk Angel and tell me I am lying. Personally this is the best country I have listened to in a while. The bad thing is without a ton of promotion by the big music labels you will probably not get to hear them on commercial radio. You may be able to hear them on Outlaw Country (Sirius) but I am not sure.

Honky Tonks and Cheap Motels was released 23 September 2008 and features 12 tracks. One track that I know is a cover is I’m on Fire (Bruce Springsteen) and they did a good job, I kind of like it better than the original. I can’t be certain if any of the other songs are covers but I can tell you that I love this whole album.

If it wouldn’t have been for the free track from eMusic though I probably never would have heard of them. So let this album be 11 of your 50 free songs by joining eMusic today by using the banner in the sidebar of this website. I will leave you with a youtube clip for your enjoyment and thanks for reading JT Music Review.

John Coltrane: Black Pearls

James — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:48:22 +0000

This set of tracks recorded in the late 50’s may not be some of Coltrane’s most renown work but it shows the early stuff of a genius whose later works would really set him apart from the pack when it came to Jazz, Bebop, and Hard Bop. The first album that I purchased of Coltrane’s was Blue Train. That was my short indoctrination into a genre and a style of music that has greatly effected the music of many musicians today. I am not some expert on Jazz but I do know what I like and this album is one that I have enjoyed listening to. Fans of Coltrane may listen to Black Pearls and not find a lot of the improvisation that he is known for but there is still some there. The music takes on a more mellow tone than some of the later stuff but it is real easy to relax and enjoy.

Sweet Sapphire Blues is an 18 minute jam session that starts nice and upbeat with Red Garland on piano. Coltrane doesn’t really kick in until around 6 minutes into the song. Somewhere around the 10 minute mark Donald Byrd comes in on the trumpet. Somewhere around 14 minutes Paul Chambers works on the base for a little adding his solo to the mix and then Art Taylor has his turn with the drums around 15:20. The song maintains the same tempo throughout and finishes about the same as it begins with just a little twist.

Lover Come Back To Me starts off at a fast tempo and features a lot more improvisation from Coltrane and the others. This one is a lot shorter that Sweet Sapphire Blues but packs a great song into the shorter span.

Black Pearls starts with the horns together with a medium paced tempo making a great harmony. The rest of the song is similar to Sweet Sapphire Blues in the way the artists take turns with the solos.

Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey on 23 May 1958 featuring John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Donald Byrd (trumpet); Red Garland (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Art Taylor (drums)

If you are a Jazz lover, Coltrane fan, or just want something different pick up this album, sit down, and enjoy. There is no better way to relax than to sit down with some great traditional styled Jazz. You can buy this album from Amazon or if you want you can pick it up from eMusic (this can be three of your 50 free songs). Just click on the ads in my sidebar.

Thanks,

James Terrell

New Music Downloads

James — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:40:45 +0000

I downloaded a few more albums today from eMusic today. I will be writing about them as soon as I have had enough time to listen to them. So look forward to reading reviews for Gov’t Mule, John Coltrane, Whitey Morgan and the 78’s, and a few more. You need to check it out for yourself though. It is a hard deal to pass up.
Get 50 FREE MP3s from eMusic with any paid subscription.

More Free Music

James — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 17:30:32 +0000

I know, it has been a while since I brought you a free music post. That one was fairly popular and maybe you will find this one useful also. I recently joined a subscription service called eMusic. I know some of you have heard of them before and I had even looked into them a while back but about a month ago I come across it again and decided to try it out. Before I wasn’t able to find that much music that I wanted on there but that was a few years ago. Since then they have added a ton of music. If you are a Blues or Jazz fan you will really love it. The thing is you may not find many mainstream artists but if your tastes of music lie outside current pop I can almost guarantee that you will find plenty to satisfy the initial 50 free mp3’s that they give you for signing up. I have around 27 albums in my favorites list waiting for the next months downloads to be available.
I guess you want to know how it works then, well you begin by signing up and you will get 50 free downloads. Once those run out your subscription will begin. You can sign up for 8 levels ranging from The mini plan which allows you to download 10 songs a month for $5.99 all the way to the Connoisseur 300 Monthly which allows you to download 300 songs for $74.99. I have the premium plan myself. I get 75 songs a month for $19.99 and I am thinking about going up a step to 100 per month for $24.99. All of the music is DRM free, will play on any iPod or MP3 player and you don’t have to worry about the licenses if the company sells or goes out of business (like musicmatch). The one catch is that if you don’t download them during the month you lose them, but that really isn’t a problem for me and if you find out you will not have an internet connection for a certain time frame then just pause your plan and then resume once you are back up. So far everything I have downloaded has been high quality and the downloads are fairly fast. If you run out of music for the month and you want more then you can either up your plan or buy a booster pack. If you choose to go to a higher plan then you only pay the difference between your plan and the higher one and then you get the extra songs that the higher plan offers. You can also pay yearly and get all of it cheaper than paying by the month. You can get downloads for as low as .20 cents per if you pay for a 2 year premium plan.
Emusic truly has something for anyone’s taste if you just do a little digging. Go on and give it a try and if you are not satisfied you can cancel before the trial period is up and keep the 50 free songs without anything lost. As far as that goes you can cancel at anytime and only pay for the month you used it after the trial period. Go ahead and give it a shot, I am sure you will be satisfied. ust click the link below, if you use another link you may not get the 50 songs.

Albert King: Years Gone By

James — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:03:56 +0000

Years Gone By

Years Gone By

Released in 1969 this is probably one of Albert Kings rawest albums. The unpolished but great sound may have been one of his best works. Other earlier albums were compilations of singles but this was the first intentional full LP. Some of the songs were not properly mixed but that just seems to add to the overall feel of the album. I managed to purchase this one about a month ago and after listening to it a few times I am beggining to think that this is my favorite of all of his others. Now I do have favorite songs that are not on this one but as a whole this album is great. Just listen to his version of Elmore James The Sky Is Crying and you will know what I mean. Wrapped Up In Love is another great track with raw guitar work with the horns heard well in the background. The two main parts of this
song (Albert Kings singing and his guitar) are heard up front with everything else providing a low backing to the song. The song seems to end short though, I kind of wish it would have been a little longer some how. Heart Fixing Business is another slow, dirty, blues song that is worthy of your attention. Now if you are a Albert King fan you may have some of the songs that are on this album already but believe me the rest are worthy of a full album purchase. Enjoy the following clip;

The Allman Brothers Band: Where It All Begins

James — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 08:53:32 +0000

I have been an Allman Bros. Band fan for some time now. I try and find an album that I don’t have and pick it up any time I have a little spare change. The last one that I picked up was Where It All Begins and I have been listening to it a lot lately. I really enjoy the driving rhythms and how the band just flows with the instruments harmoniously combining to make a sound that is at times slow and sweet and other times driving and rough. This is Southern Rock at its best with a great band. This album was the fourth effort after many years apart and is a fine example of a older band making a astounding comeback. I have no idea if The Allman Brothers band will ever be a commercial success in the eyes of record labels again but I do know that they can put out some great albums when they want to that are musically and lyrically sound. Do yourself a favor and pick this album up, I know I haven’t regretted it and for the price that they are offering it for on Amazon you can’t beat it.

Drive-By Truckers: The Dirty South

James — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 16:57:00 +0000

I picked this one up after hearing the song Lookout Mountain and decided to give them a try. I enjoy listening to Southern Rock and this is a good album but I am not sure if it could be classified as Southern Rock. Heck I am not sure what genre it would fit into. The music has a desperation and grunge/country feel to it. Kind of earthy feel but a lot of the songs remind me of home, maybe it is because a lot of the places they mention are close to home or I have relatives that live there. Myself, I have enjoyed the whole album and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to dig a little deeper into Southern style rock than Lynyrd Skynyrd. Here is a little clip off of YouTube, and if you like click the link to Amazon and pick up the album or you an also join emusic using the banner to the side and download from there.

B.B. King: One Kind Favor

James — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 21:07:59 +0000

I picked this album up right before I went home on leave. What a great new album. This is classic sounding B.B. King. I have been listening to the King for a while now and to hear a completely new album from him is awesome. I was just in Memphis on the 27th of September and I was able to stop by his restaurant there on Beale street. I sure was hoping he would just happen to be there but to my dismay he wasn’t there.

Now as far as the album goes I think my favorite track is See That My Grave Is Kept Clean. It has a New Orleans feel to it, a little laid back sound with some organ in the background. There is a slight darkness to it but somehow the song is still lively. How Many More Years has the classic driving blues rhythm typical of a lot of his stuff with some clean guitar riffs that Lucille belts out.

Not sure how much more music we can expect from B.B. but lord I hope to get to see him live one day. I think once I get home from Afghanistan I am going to start looking for a venue where I can see him play. I may have to pay a fairly large sum of money for a ticket but it will be worth it to see a legend in action.

Go ahead and check the album out for yourself, if you aree a blues fan I am sure you will enjoy it.

Coming Soon: New Music Reviews

James — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:19:22 +0000

It’s sure has been a long time since I last posted here. I haven’t forgotten about the site, I have just been in Afghanistan and haven’t really been able to work on any of my websites. I am hoping though that I will be able to start publishing a few articles a week especially since I have so much new music to tell yall about and a few programs where you enjoy some good music at a fairly low price. So keep your eyes open and as soon as I can get set back up I will be doing a few articles. I also want to thank everyone for all of the comments on my posts.

Free Music

James — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:14:16 +0000

How many of you scour the web searching for free MP3s to download? Heck I love finding free music. I am not talking about getting stuff from limewire or another peer to peer program either. Most of the stuff that I find is usually unknown artist trying to get their name out there and be heard but every now and then you can find something that you know and like. I tend to try just about anything that I can find to download and I used to have a bunch a free sites bookmarked. I am going to try and give you a little bit each week from different sites on the internet so stay tuned to check out some awesome music.

The first site that I am going to talk about is the Internet Archive. I have been using this site for a few years now. It is real easy to go over your alloted bandwidth per month trying to get all of the music that you want from there. They even have a section just for you Dead Heads (Grateful Dead) out there. Now don’t worry, this is music that the artist allows to be freely traded. They are all mostly live shows recorded “bootleg” style but you can find some great recordings if you just take the time to search. Well good luck, if you find something great let me hear about it. I will be featuring another site next week so stay tuned.