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New York Standard

The Music That Made New York Standard!

NY Standard – Episode 83 – Ballads

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This week’s show is dedicated to the ballad.  The beautiful, beautiful ballad.  To me, ballads are the best songs…they say so much, evoke so much, they allow us to see & feel things inside ourselves that most uptempo numbers just don’t.

Joan Rivers died earlier this week, Robin Williams died about 3 weeks ago, Bobby Womack died several weeks before that & some friends have had some losses in their lives of late.

The best remedy for the blues is more blues…for a while anyhow.

So, I bring you 3 hours of some of my favorite ballads of all time.

Enjoy.

NY Standard – Episode 82 – A Toast To The Unofficial End Of Summer

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This week’s show is a mostly swingin’ affair with some ballads in the mix.  Ballads, to me, represent the changing season from Summer to Fall & Winter.

You’ll hear from Ellington, Eckstine, Hartman, Cole, Helen Merrill & so much more!

Enjoy!

NY Standard – Episode 81 – Blocks Of Stuff

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This week’s episode of NY Standard is dedicated to a handful of artists.

Ella, Coltrane, Sinatra, Les Paul, Johnny Hartman & Nat Cole.

There’s also a wildcard appearance from Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys – who I have somehow completely avoided for the last 2 years.

Enjoy!

NY Standard – Episode 79 – The Pioneers

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This week’s show is dedicate to the pioneers of jazz – and blues and rock.

With the passing of Tommy Ramone – the last living Ramone – I couldn’t imagine a scenario where I wouldn’t pause & pay respects to The Ramones.  They influenced so much of the rock music I love to this day.  Then, I got to thinking about the impact that the range of music I listen to has had – starting with Louise Armstrong & ending with some of my favorite artists today.

So, this is a trip in time to real music, gritty music & music that is to be listened to for centuries to come.

You will hear Jimi Hendrix.  You will hear B.B. King.  You will hear The Clash, The Ramones & you will hear Hüsker Dü.

What I’ve attempted to do with this show is draw a line from Louis Armstrong to The Clash and beyond.  There is no doubt in my mind that there were omissions here…but, we can explore more next time.

Enjoy!

NY Standard – Episode 78 – America, The Beautiful

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Today is July 4th, 2014 – which is the 238th birthday of the United States of America.  This show is – week in, week out – a tribute to the music that made the sound of New York City sound like it does.  The gilded age of music, in my mind.

Today’s show is dedicated to some of the greatest composers this country has ever produced.

In assembling this show, I was reminded of a phrase that I’ve heard over the many years of internal & external strife in this country: This nation may not be perfect, it’s only as good as its people.  But, it’s still the greatest nation on the planet.  To salute that fact, I bring you this week’s show.

We will hear – as you just heard – from Francis Scott Key, Aaron Copland, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Irving Berlin & more.

To me, the greatest thing about America is the promise of America – and all that America represents.  We have work to do – we ALL have work to do.  But, that’s what we do in America.

Happy Independence Day!

NY Standard – Episode 77 – Swing, Bop & RIP Blues

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This week’s show is another mostly uptempo jaunt with Duke, Coltrane & Sarah Vaughn.

But we close this week with a touching tribute to a soul man in Bobby Womack.  He moved me until the day he died – today – and will move me until the day I died.  We close with the old negro spiritual – without which, so much of this music that I play week after week would not exist – in a song called ‘Deep River.’  Bobby recorded it on his last album in 2012.  The lyrics read as such:

“Deep river, my home is over Jordan,
Deep river, Lord, I want to cross over into camp-ground.
Deep river, my home is over Jordan
Deep river, Lord, I want to cross over into camp-ground.
Oh, don’t you want to go to that gospel feast,
That promised land where all is peace?
Oh deep river, Lord, I want to cross over into camp-ground.”

Keep crossin’ Bobby…