{Update – 4-21-23} Y’all…it’s been an extra long minute since these were promised, for the second year in a row! But the wait will soon be over and I’ll have them all up very very very soon! 1000% promise this time!
Was doing my best to start 2023 on the “good foot,” as it were, but got stuck in the proverbial mire and that delayed what I’d wanted to get started on the 3rd…But, even if things don’t work out the way you think they should, what’s most important is that they work out. And so, to begin this week’s “Best Of” posts, here’s some of the best, weirdest, wildest, and most gorgeous artwork that was featured on records that I picked up, in stores and online, in the past year.
Kathy McCord – Rainbow Ride
Kathy McCord – Take Away This Pain
Kathy McCord – Candle Waxing
Kathy McCord – Velvet Smile
2022 has been a bit of wild ride, certainly haven’t posted here as much as I would have wanted, but I am a sucker for tradition, and one of the remaining traditions we have here at Melting Pot is to post up the last record I added to my collection for the year. As has often been the case, my last trip to a record store this year was to Burbank’s Atomic. In past years, I’d dig through the whole of the store and spend hours looking through all of the bins for something I’ve never heard. But that was not the mood I was in to close out 2022. A lot of this year has been about going for things that I really want. As a consequence of that, while I’ve had years where I bought more total records, I’m fairly confident that I’ve never spent as much on records as I have this year. 2023 is gonna be about being considerably more frugal, but to close out this year, I had my mind solely focused on the legendary wall at Atomic and perusing the rarest of rares up there.
I’d been in Atomic two weeks before, but without my phone, and so I didn’t get info on a few wall records that I’d never seen before. Two weeks later, of course, those records I was eyeing were all gone, along with 30-40% of the other records that were there. But, as this post attests, clearly there were some things up there that I was able to bring home, including the very first record on CTI, the debut & sole album of Kathy McCord.
As is the case with that Flow record that I posted about a couple years ago, these earliest records on CTI sound NOTHING like the Jazz fusion sounds the label became known for throughout the 1970s. They all have a bit of mystery about them because they so rarely turn up in the wild, and when they do, even seasoned record nerds don’t recognize them. McCord is hyped as a “new contemporary folk artist,” on the cover, but “folk” is not how I would describe the best songs on this album. There’s a bit of country twangy, some soulful horns, snappy drums, psychedelic guitar licks, and the extraordinary instrument that is McCord’s voice bringing it all together. The comparison isn’t entirely apt (except perhaps on “Candle Waxing” which features the flute of CTI stalwart Hubert Laws), but there are times where this album reminds me of Linda Perhacs’ Parallelograms, another album from the same period that people by and large really couldn’t fully get with, but has found a following here in the 21st century. That album is sometimes described as “psychedelic folk,” and I suppose that could be apt for this album to, but it also feels a bit limiting when listening to these songs…There’s more I want to say about this record, but it’s still super new to my ears and it’s NYE, so right now I’m gonna get some grub, and get cozy, and give this one many spins into the night…
Now, you may not believe this dear reader, especially if you’ve been hanging around this spot for a while, but this time around, the fact that it took damn near two months to post this final Moods In Free Time on Artform Radio & WorldwideFM doesn’t deal with any personal PTSD or issues with depression. In fact, I’d actually hoped that I’d have some really good news to share, about where I’d be either taking the show to next or where I’d be back on the radio. But, that good news has yet to materialize, and with 2022 almost over (as well as the Fall semester at CSULB) it felt like the time was right to finally say goodbye to this particular chapter of my DJ life.
Back in October, we all said goodbye to our weekly/monthly excursions as part of the Artform Radio/WorldwideFM family. The end was a bit sudden, and certainly not at all what any of us would have wanted, but as I was thinking about the final show, I didn’t want to dwell on any negative or sad emotions. Instead, I decided to take it back to the beginning, and return to the mood of our very first show, Joy, and play tunes that had sparked joy in my life recently and for many many years. Given that I had never played the song that inspired the name of the show, it felt like the right time to finally play Booker Little’s “Moods In Free Time,” to start the show, but from there most of the tunes (shared in one single set) are things that are fairly recent to my collection, but have given me immense joy to add to it and to listen to since they found a home in my home.
It’s also given me immense joy to be a part of Artform Radio and WorldwideFM for the close to two years that I was. Having the opportunity to do a show like this has been a joy and a privilege, something entirely different than what I’ve done throughout my long career in radio. As I implied at the start of this post, this “last” show is not truly an end. Moods In Free Time will carry on in some form or fashion, even if it’s just here on Melting Pot. But, in addition to the past two months, I’m gonna take a good amount of time before the show returns, but I promise, return it shall, and at some point in 2023. Until then, enjoy these sounds and all the rest in our 34 shows for Artform Radio & WorldwideFM. May they fill you with as much joy as they filled me in bringing them to you…Peace & Bright Moments to you all.
Moods In Free Time – Vol. 34: Joy II
Playlist – Moods In Free Time 034: Joy II
{opening theme} The Visitors – The Juggler – In My Youth (Muse)
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Booker Little – Moods In Free Time – Out Front (Candid)
Denny Zeitlin – The Wizard – The Name Of This Terrain (Now-Again)
Harvey Mandel – The Snake – Cristo Redentor (Phillips)
Bobby Walker – Can’t Stop Lovin’ You – This Is Walker Country (STS)
Cortex – Troupeau Bleu – Troupeau Bleu (Disques Esperance)
Lotus – Lotus: 1st-3rd Impressions – A Way Of Life (Reynolds)
Rome Sithammarat – Sao New Look – Pai Ban Khun Ar (Double Rabbits)
David Astri – Safe and Sound – Do It Right (Award)
Googoosh – Talagh – Googosh (Finders Keepers)
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{closing theme} Tony Williams – Wild Life – Believe It! (Columbia)
Hunt’s Determination Band – No. 1 Lady
Hunt’s Determination Band – Get Your Act Together
Hunt’s Determination Band – Thinking Of You
Today would have been Matthew Africa’s 51st Birthday and every year around this time we pay tribute to Matthew, a singular influence on my musical sensibilities, here on Melting Pot. This one is one of the handful of albums that I own that originally came from Matthew’s collection, but it first got put on my radar after MKA shared “No. 1 Lady” on his own blog back in 2009.
There’s not really a lot of information I’ve got on Hunt’s Determination Band. I know they hailed from Detroit and released two records in quick succession in ’77 & ’78, both of which feature “No. 1 Lady,” but in very different versions. Having heard them both, I feel like this one is the superior of the two, mostly because of the addition of clavinet and also because of what I call the “No. 1” breakdown that just hits better in this version.
When I heard it back then (and every time I hear it now) I loved absolutely everything about the song, and when he posted it I noted that I was going to play it in LA to bring “a little Africa to the people,” to which Matthew responded how he wished he could bring it live and direct. My gigs became few and far between in the immediately ensuing years, and I don’t think Matthew ever came down to DJ before his passing. Reading those messages between us, ten years after his passing was quite a trip.
But what really tripped me out, going back to his original post (which I am so very thankful is still available on the internets) was that it came exactly one day before I launched my own website! I wasn’t able to get every album of Matthew’s that I wanted when his collection was sold off, but the few records I did get I cherish, and listening to this one (as well as the additional tunes I’ve put up from this album) reminds me that the next time I get to play some funk for the people, I’ll definitely have to play this one…for MKA, always. Peace be with you brother…
I’d been thinking about doing a show just filled with rock breaks for some time, as I do love them so (as I mentioned in the prior post), but the mood took a bit of time to sort out. Originally I was going to use “Bombastic,” but when I actually sat down and looked at the definition, I realized just how swayed I had been by Shaggy’s iconic song. While it seemed like it would have been perfect for a show featuring brash, loud songs, the actual definition is “high sounding, but with little meaning…inflated,” and that was quite the opposite of how I felt about these songs. So the search was on for another mood that would fit this collection of heavy tunes. Fate smiled on me when I finally made my way to “Raucous,” which I often pronounce as “Rock-Cuss,” (or in those moments where my Southern drawl makes an appearance, “Rawk-usss”) and thus all was again right in the world and this show was born. There are many Rock breaks, from every sub-genre of Rock’n’Roll, but I feel like these are some of the hardest and heaviest, and that’s why they made it into the show. Hope y’all dig.
Moods In Free Time: 033 – Raucous
Playlist – Moods In Free Time 033: Raucous
{opening theme} The Visitors – The Juggler – In My Youth (Muse)
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Black Sabbath – Behind The Wall Of Sleep – Black Sabbath (WB)
Power Of Zeus – Sorcerer Of Isis – The Gospel According To Zeus (Rare Earth)
Hush – Grand Prix – Rough, Tough & Ready (Wizard)
Jeffrey Simmons – Naked Angels Theme – Naked Angels: Original Soundtrack (Straight)
Edge – Lady Of Darkness – Edge (Nose)
Marc Hamilton – C’Est Que Tout Va Bien – Marc Hamilton (Trans-Canada)
Mount Rushmore – Toe Jam – ’69 (Dot)
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Mountain – Long Red – Mountain Live (Windfall)
Python Lee Jackson – In A Broken Dream – 7” (Eurogram)
Edip Akbayram – Daglar Dagladi Beni – Edip Abayram (Sayan)
Hard Stuff – No Witch At All – Bulletproof (Purple)
Fancy – Wild Thing – Wild Thing (Big Tree)
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{Closing theme) Tony Williams – Wild Life – Believe It! (Columbia)
Bobby Walker – Can’t Stop Loving You
Bobby Walker – Good Ole Mountain Dew
Bobby Walker – Devil Woman
Bobby Walker – Peace Of Mind And Happiness
Just putting this here for the moment…more to come on this fascinating private press bit of Country funk.
In my previous post in tribute to producer, DJ, musician and all around good human, Nectail Díaz bka Sumohair, I mentioned that this month’s show would be dedicated to him and that “Tristeza” would be the mood. As the time to get the show together grew closer, I knew that I didn’t only want sadness to be the mood, but to also have something more uplifting, to recognize that even with the sadness at his passing, how beautiful Sumo’s spirit was, and so I added “Esperanza,” or “hope,” as that is the perfect mood to mix with “Tristeza” at this moment, and the perfect mix of moods to share as much music as I could in the hour I have at Artform Radio & Worldwide FM.
This show is an attempt to do my part to not only pay tribute to Sumo, but to preserve a piece of his legacy. Part of that legacy is a fierce belief in artistic freedom & independence. This is the only show, and likely will be the only show, in my entire career where every single song was self-released by the artist. In paying tribute to Sumo, it was important to me to not only have Sumo’s music, but to also have Sumo’s voice in this show. The last time I heard his voice, the last time I saw him and had a chance to talk with him was after Son Rompe Pera had played a free show in DTLA last Summer. Leaving the show on my way back to my car I ran into him. At the time I thought it was interesting, because I had also run into him leaving a show earlier that same Summer at the Ford, and might have even said something about that happy coincidence. I don’t have a lot of distinct memories of that night, aside from giving him a ride to his spot in Koreatown and talking about music, LA & culture on the way there. At the time it didn’t seem all that noteworthy, as I saw Sumo often, at Subsuelo parties and other events that Summer, as the City started to return to some semblance of normality post-Pandemic. I fully expected there would be many more opportunities to talk and become better friends. There was no way to have known that would be my last conversation with him, that instead of the beginning of something deeper, that was all there would ever be.
While I would have loved to have had the opportunity to interview him, to pick his brain and ask him my own questions about his craft, his use of tropical sounds, repetition, improvisation & our shared love of studio banter, in a more formal setting for posterity, that chance never came to be. But in the wake of his passing, and the many tributes others were posting online, I came upon this near 90 minute interview Sumo did in 2020 with Ray Ricky Rivera and his co-host Julio Trejo. I reached out to Rivera online to ask for permission to use clips from the interview, which he graciously allowed. So in this tribute show, presented in a single set for the hour, you’ll periodically hear Sumo in his own voice, over his own productions, talking about his chosen name, how he and Fabi Reyna came to meet and form Reyna Tropical, their storybook start as a live band opening for their heroes Bomba Estereo, their approach to making music, his approach to DJ-ing and the vision behind the art he created. Having known him briefly it’s a great relief to not only have his music, but also his voice and his philosophy preserved, at least for as long as these digital files remain and are shared. While sadness over his loss has been the prevailing emotion felt over the past month, there’s also a large measure of hope that his legacy, a truly visionary one, despite the relatively short amount of time he was with us, will continue on, and most importantly, continue to inspire others to create music and culture for the communities they represent and love. A hope I’m sure Sumo shared, and one that I imagine would cause him to smile, seeing how deeply he has touched so many with his joyful and inspiring sounds.
Moods In Free Time: 032 – Tristeza Y Esperanza – Tribute To Sumohair
Playlist – Moods In Free Time -032: Tristeza y Esperanza – Tribute To Sumohair
{opening theme} The Visitors – The Juggler – In My Youth (Muse)
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Reyna Tropical – Tristeza – Sol y Lluvia EP (Self Released)
Sumo Hair – Acapulco Gold – Single (Self Released)
Los Mirlos – Sumo Hair Rework (Si Tu Quiere Dembow) – 7 Discos 7 Versiones EP (Self Released)
Sumohair – Mister Yellowman ReWorked (Zunga Zeng) – Single (Self Released)
Reyna Tropical – Niña – Reyna Tropical EP (Self Released)
Sumo Hair – Ela Me Mata – Single (Self Released)
Reyna Tropical – No Me Quieres – Reyna Tropical EP (Self Released)
Sumo Hair – Marimba Streets – Single (Self Released)
Reyna Tropical – Mas y Mas – Reyna Tropical EP (Self Released)
QUITAPENAS, Niña Chispa & Sumohair – Ahora Queiro – Live Sessions At Red Bull Studios in LA (Self-released)
Sumo Hair – Brown Es Bonito – Single (Self Released)
DJ Sumo Hair – Excerpt – In Search Of Esperanza Vol. 1 (Self Released)
Sumo Hair – Coconut Water – Afro Mexico EP (Self Released)
Reyna Tropical feat. Y La Bamba – Encerrada (Self Released)
Sumo Hair w/ Fabi Reyna & Happy Colors – Revolucion (Self Released)
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{closing theme} Tony Williams – Wild Life – Believe It! (Columbia)
It’s now been over a week since many of us first learned of the passing of Nectail Díaz, better known as Sumohair…I only met Sumo a handful of times, but even if I wasn’t already a fan of his music, particularly with Reyna Tropical, I would have been impressed by him. While his demeanor was often stoic, I found him to be a warm individual, as intensely obsessed with sound as I am. I barely even know what to say about his loss. I know I’ll be dedicating this month’s Moods to him with the mood being “Tristeza,” but sadness barely explains what I feel at Sumo’s passing. Such a great loss for the LA and Worldwide musical community, at a moment when his star was very much on the rise. But the past week of tributes & remembrances has also shown what a profound and positive effect Sumo had on so many people…and so perhaps it is like the song “Tristeza,” where his passing has left us, “sola sin Tristeza.” Perhaps…but this loss mixes with more than a few others, and so it’s hard to know how to feel, or what else to say, other than the words above…
There is currently a GoFundMe for Sumohair’s family & to help fund memorial services and tribute performances, which you can donate to by clicking this link.
Rahsaan Roland Kirk – We Free Kings
Rahsaan Roland Kirk – You Did It, You Did It
Rahsaan Roland Kirk – The Haunted Melody
Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Three For The Festival
Essentially since the beginning of Melting Pot, nary an August 7th goes by without me paying tribute to our patron saint and my favorite musician, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, here on his birthday. As will be a theme with more than a few posts in the coming months, it came as a bit of a shock that I hadn’t posted this year’s selection before, as it truly is one of my favorite albums of Rahsaan’s early period. Coming out of sessions that pre-date his work on Charles Mingus’ Oh Yeah by a few months, and finding him in top form along with two separate groups of musicians, Hank Jones, Wendell Marshall & Charlie Persip on a slim majority of tracks and then Richard Wyands & Art Davis joining Persip for the remaining four.
While it would be easy to share any track from this album, I still hold to my own rules when it comes to sharing albums, and have chosen only four to post today. The titular “We Free Kings” is actually Kirk’s reworking of the classic Christmas tune, “We Three Kings,” into his own creation, rightly credited as his own composition, as the changes make it almost unrecognizable. “You Did It, You Did It,” might (I’d have to check Rahsaan’s discography to be 100% sure) be the first time that Rahsaan showcased his signature way of singing and playing flute simultaneously. As a reminder of how sweet Rahsaan could play, there’s the ethereal “The Haunted Melody,” but this album also features a song that would become one of the stables of Rahsaan’s live performances, “Three For The Festival,” the best (or at least my favorite) version of which ends up on the The Case Of The Three Sided Dream as “Freaks For The Festival.”
Someone not familiar with Rahsaan’s music might worry that at some point I’d run out of albums to share or sterling things to say about the man, but given the volume of Rahsaan’s discography, as a leader and sidemen, I can guarantee we’ll be sharing a different recording from him each year on his day until this blog is done…which should be many many moons from now. Bright Moments!!!
This past July’s Moods was the direct result of me going through my record collection and sorting out what things I’m going to be getting rid of during this Summer. With the ability to rebuild my collection after the major sell-off in 2004 that left me with less than one hundred LPs, I never wanted it to get unwieldly in the future. I have two matching shelves along a wall with 24 cubes and I want to keep everything contained within those 24 cubes. During the pandemic I have done perhaps more record therapy than at any other point in my life and now, just as is the case with my actual pandemic weight, it’s time to “trim the fat.” That process requires me to go through all of my albums and decide whether each one still sparks joy and deserves to remain. What’s been interesting (and is precisely the reason why I don’t want my collection to get any bigger than this) is that I kept running into records that I’d almost forgotten that I’d even bought (which might also be a consequence of how the pandemic has affected memory and created an even more elastic sense of time than normal…then again it could be the copious amounts of weed I now smoke, also a consequence of the pandemic). One of those records was the album from the Catalan progressive psych group Om, which I bought back in 2016 at Barcelona’s Wah Wah Records.
That record, especially the song, “Excusa 6/8,” was something that I had on my turntable for months after returning, but it was also a record I likely haven’t played in three or four years, as my attention focused on newer acquisitions. Returning to it and how much I love it got me thinking about how I could feature it in my show. Because of the length of the song, and the largely instrumental nature of it, it didn’t immediately bring any emotion or mood to mind. But it was that very nature, how the song wanders about in a variety of ways before returning to the sublime melody that it begins with brought “wander” to mind. Once that was the case, I knew I’d pair it with a few similar songs, long tunes that travel far distances, and that also might have been difficult to find a home in a future Moods, despite how much I love them. From 1970s Catalunya, we settled on Germany around the same time with songs from Achim Reichel and The Can that cover their entire album sides. These songs don’t just wander about, or aimlessly meander, but the variety of places they travel also spark wonder in my ears and mind, and thus this “mixed” emotions show was born. Presenting them all in a single set made the most sense, to maximize the wonderful effect of these wandering sounds. I can almost guarantee that we’ll return with a few of these wander/wonder sessions in the future, but for now enjoy this one…Peace & Bright Moments
Moods In Free Time: 031 – Wander/Wonder
Playlist – Moods In Free Time 031: Wander/Wonder
{opening theme} The Visitors – The Juggler – In My Youth (Muse)
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Om – Excusa 6/8 – Om (Edigsa)
Achim Reichel – Vita – A.R.4 (Zebra)
Can – Bel Air – Future Days (United Artists)
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{closing theme} Tony Williams – Wild Life – Believe It! (Columbia)
It’s taken me almost the entirety of the day to finally recognize that my little slice of the internets turns 13 here on 7/7…13 is my lucky number, and more than ever I’m hopeful that moving forward I’ll be able to spend more time on this blog, get through the many e-mails I’ve neglected and the thousands of mostly bot driven comments that I simply just haven’t found the time for. Sharing music is one of my greatest joys, and the fire to do so still burns bright. Particularly right now, as I go through a long overdue purge of vinyl from my collection, running into records bought years ago but still not posted here. The past few years especially have taught me not to promise much of anything, but right now at this moment I’m feeling solid and hopeful. Hopeful that in this next year I’ll be able to wrangle a anniversary mix out of a friend, hopeful that I’ll do a nice update to the aesthetics of this site, after the pandemic robbed me of my custom theme, and most of all, hopeful that I’ll get back to sharing music on a weekly basis with you. And so, yet again, as ever…onwards and upwards Minha Gente, peace and bright moments to you all