01.27.06 (MusicPortal.com) On March 7th, Milking Bull Records will release the self-titled debut from Norah Jones side project THE LITTLE WILLIES, an album that perfectly distills the fun, down-to-earth spirit of this New York quartet's club shows. The group -- Lee Alexander (bass), Jim Campilongo (electric guitar), Jones (piano, vocals), Richard Julian (guitar, vocals) and Dan Rieser (drums) --tears through a mix of covers and originals on the album, from the revved-up Western Swing of Fred Rose's 'Roly Poly' and Willie Nelson's 'I Gotta Get Drunk' to the cutting wit of Kris Kristofferson's 'Best Of All Possible Worlds'; from the poignancy of Townes Van Zandt's 'No Place To Fall' to the cosmic absurdity of their very own 'Lou Reed.' THE LITTLE WILLIES formed for purely practical reasons. In 2003, the group of five friends, who were all individually involved in other projects, booked a gig at The Living Room on New York's Lower East Side as an excuse to spend an evening playing music together. They soon discovered that they shared a deep musical vernacular. Although they hailed from the far corners of the country -- California, Massachusetts, Texas, and Delaware -- the members of THE LITTLE WILLIES all grew up listening to a certain breed of classic Americana music: the songs of Hank Williams, Nelson, Townes Van Zandt and Kristofferson, just to name a few. As one band member notes: "Something about living in a big city like New York makes you miss the stuff you grew up with, and in our case it was some of these songs. The original idea was to just be a cover band and play all these great songs we knew. It became really fun to have that outlet, and also a great excuse to seek out other songs we didn't know." Over the next couple years, THE LITTLE WILLIES continued to play at The Living Room whenever all five members were in town. They added a few originals to their setlist along the way. The group initially contemplated a live album, but when Jones and Alexander completed work on their home studio, they decided to christen the space with a LITTLE WILLIES recording session. The resulting album showcases the group's core strengths, from Jones and Julian's sublime vocals, to Campilongo's stinging guitar licks, while maintaining the loose, spirited, bar-band feel of THE LITTLE WILLIES' live experience. "The Little Willies" Track Listing: 1. Roly Poly (Fred Rose) • 2. I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive (Fred Rose/Hank Williams) • 3. Love Me (Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller) • 4. It's Not You It's Me (Richard Julian/Ashley Moore) • 5. Best Of All Possible Worlds (Kris Kristofferson) • 6. No Place To Fall (Townes Van Zandt) • 7. Roll On (Lee Alexander) • 8. I Gotta Get Drunk (Willie Nelson) • 9. Streets Of Baltimore (Tompall Glaser/Harland Howard) • 10. Easy As The Rain (Richard Julian/Jim Campilongo) • 11. Tennessee Stud (Jimmy Driftwood) • 12. Night Life (Walter M. Freeland/Paul F. Buskirk/Willie Nelson) • 13. Lou Reed (Lee Alexander/Richard Julian/Norah Jones)
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01.24.06 (AP) JANETTE CARTER, the last surviving child of Country music's founding Carter Family, who in recent years preserved her parents' old-time style with weekly performances, has died in Kingsport, Tennessee. She was 82. Family members said Carter, who had battled Parkinson's disease and other illnesses, was taken to the Holston Valley Medical Center last Tuesday. Her family said she appeared to be improving for a time, but died on Sunday. JANETTE CARTER was the daughter of A.P. and Sara Carter. Her parents and her father's sister-in-law Maybelle Carter formed a singing trio discovered in 1927 when talent scout Ralph Peer came through the Tennessee-Virginia border town of Bristol to record mountain music. When her brother Joe died last March, JANETTE CARTER became the last surviving child of the original group's members. The best known of her generation to present-day listeners was Country star June Carter Cash, a daughter of Maybelle and wife of Johnny Cash. She died in May of 2003 at age 73, with her husband dying later that year. Following the death of her father in 1960, JANETTE CARTER dedicated her life to preserving not only the Carter Family music, but the Folk and Country music of Appalachia. One result of that effort was establishment of the Carter Family Fold in Hiltons, Virginia. "It's good for younger people to know this kind of music," Carter said in a 2002 Associated Press interview. "There was a time when music told a story; it wasn't just some beat." On his deathbed, she said, her father "called me over and said 'Janette, I want you to continue the music the way we'd done it.'" At the time of the interview, she was still giving concerts every Saturday at the Carter Family Fold, an auditorium built from railroad ties and school bus seats near the family farm in Hiltons. She played autoharp. "It's really remarkable how well Janette carried on her family's legacy by helping create the Carter Fold and what that has grown into from such humble beginnings," said Bill Hartley, executive director of the Birthplace Of Country Music Alliance in Bristol. "Thanks to the foundation she built with the Carter Fold, her family legacy lives on." In September, JANETTE CARTER was given the Bess Lomax Hawes Award by the National Endowment For The Arts, which recognized her lifelong effort to preserve and perform Appalachian music. A.P., Maybelle and Sara Carter recorded the songs 'Bury Me Under The Weeping Willow,' 'Little Log Cabin By The Sea,' and 'Poor Orphan Child' with a sound and harmony that was unheard of at the time, and immensely influential on Country music ever since. In 2003, the United States Library Of Congress celebrated the 75th anniversary of their first recordings with a concert on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

01.17.06 (MusicPortal.com) On January 31st, Recall Music For Films will release the soundtrack for Academy Award winner Tommy Lee Jones' directorial debut, "The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada." The collection features the music of South Texas and Northern Mexico, the setting of the movie, including original music from composer Marco Beltrami ("Scream," "I Robot") and songs by Merle Haggard, Flaco Jimenez, Hank Williams Jr., Freddie Fender, Bobby Flores, Dwight Yoakam (who also appears in the film), Lila Downs and more. As an added bonus, the disc will feature a mini-documentary video about the making of the soundtrack. "My idea was to choose popular songs that might easily be heard in that location, but would have some commentary on the action of the film, the situation of the characters, and the ironies and dramatic tensions at play," said Jones, who is a native of San Saba, Texas near Austin. Those songs included Merle Haggard's 1979 hit 'Workin' Man Blues,' Freddie Fender's #1 smash 'Before The Next Teardrop Falls' and Flaco Jimenez's 'This Could Be The One.' The soundtrack will also feature a new exclusive track, 'Donde Estas Papa' by Lila Downs, who recently won a Latin Grammy for "Best Folk Album." Downs gained recognition when she sang and acted in the film "Frida" and performed music from the film at the 2003 Academy Awards ceremony. Marco Beltrami's new compositions capture the essence of the region's uniquely blended sound. From the Tex-Mex Conjunto flavored opening track 'Three Burials Of Melquiades,' to the gritty Country & Western clip 'Stalking Mike,' to the bittersweet closer, 'Goodbye.' Beltrami was primarily inspired by the relationship between Jones' character Pete, a ranch foreman, and Melquiades, a Mexican farmer, as well as the breathtaking scenery. "The thing that struck me most besides the friendship theme...was the landscape itself. I thought the music should have a more earthy feel, a more indigenous feel," said Beltrami. "The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada" is the story of Melquiades Estrada who is shot and quickly buried. His body is found in the high desert of west Texas and reburied in the town cemetery. In order to honor the promise he made to his best friend Melquiades of a proper burial in his Mexican hometown, Pete Perkins (Jones), leads an investigation into his death, finds his killer and offers his friend the most beautiful journey back to his Mexican homeland. The movie was recently honored at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival in France, winning "Best Screenplay" for Guillermo Arriago ("21 Grams") and "Best Actor" for Tommy Lee Jones. The film also stars Barry Pepper ("The Green Mile," "Saving Private Ryan") and January Jones (Love Actually). "It is refreshing to know that Tommy Lee Jones had just as much passion for the score and the soundtrack as he did for the film," says Chris Gray, Managing Director for Recall. "It's an honor to launch our U.S.-based label with this album." "The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada" already screened last month in New York, and will premiere nationally February 3rd. Founded in 1997 by Alexandre Sap, Leslie Dubest and Stephane Lumbroso, Recall Group -- the parent company for Recall Music For Films -- is now one of the leading independent record companies in France.
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01.10.06 (AP) The discovery of a long-lost letter offers rare insight into bluesman ROBERT JOHNSON's life and confirms that he indeed recorded at a downtown Dallas, Texas building, music historians have revealed. Blues fans have long thought Johnson recorded 13 songs in 1937 in a building two blocks east of Dallas City Hall. The building was home to Brunswick Records at the time, but there was no known documentation to confirm where the recordings took place. That was until San Diego Blues enthusiast Tom Jacobson tracked down a 1961 letter unlocking the mystery. In the letter, the producer of the recordings, Don Law, wrote that the session took place in a makeshift studio at the Brunswick Records office - a three-story building now owned by a drink distribution company. Johnson died 18 months after the recordings at age 27, but his music lived on and was hugely influential on 1960s musicians like Bob Dylan, THE ROLLING STONES and LED ZEPPELIN. "It's just an incredible document," Jacobson told The Dallas Morning News for its Monday editions. "It's an important piece of Americana about a musical genius." Law was the only producer to ever record ROBERT JOHNSON, including another session in San Antonio eight months before the Dallas recordings. Law died 23 years ago. Jacobson donated the letter to the Library Of Congress in December. It also includes information about other Johnson tales, like the night in San Antonio that he asked Law for money to pay a prostitute, and how he was so secretive about his guitar technique that he would actually face the wall while playing when other musicians were present. Jacobson found the letter in the New York City basement of Frank Driggs, a former Columbia Records employee who wrote the liner notes for the 1961 release of Johnson's music, "King Of The Delta Blues." Michael Taft, the head of Folk culture archives at the United States Library Of Congress, says the letter and recording site are important because so little is known about ROBERT JOHNSON's life. "It's a big deal for us," he said. "To finally be able to say this is the building he recorded in, that's a way of bringing Robert Johnson back to life."

01.03.06 (MusicPortal.com) URSULA 1000 is set to release "Here Comes Tomorrow" on April 4th via Eighteenth Street Lounge Music. On the upcoming release, URSULA 1000 explores a mind meld of Jazz, Electro, Latin, Swing, Ska, Bossa Nova, Hip-Hop, Funk, Psychedelia and Glam Rock to create an undeniably original album chock full of fun surprises. "Here Comes Tomorrow" marks the artist's third studio album, and features guest appearances by LOS AMIGOS INVISIBLES, Federico Aubele, Dougee Dimensional, Cristina (of Ze Records fame), and members of GENTLE PEOPLE, QYPTHONE, CABARET NOIR, TOWER OF POWER and MISTY ROSES. The man behind URSULA 1000 is none other than mild mannered multi-instrumentalist Alex Gimeno. Based in New York City, his style evolved and transitioned from the sophisticated & hip background score provided by his father -- a renowned member of 50's Latin orchestra LOS CHAVALES DE ESPANA -- to the heady Rock, Punk, Disco, Funk and Electronic Dance music of his generation. Gimeno smoothly moves back and forth between musical styles from the glamorous Jet Set era to frenetic Electronica. URSULA 1000 cannot be boxed in, categorized or labeled - his music being a multi-leveled eclectic blend of styles and genres. Finding a label to house his extent of eclecticism is just too tricky. In the late '90s came the smart and highly respected Eighteenth Street Lounge Music label, operated by Washington DC's THIEVERY CORPORATION. "The Now Sound Of Ursula 1000," Gimeno debut album, drenched in its sound collage of Lounge, funky breaks, and pastiche-a-delica, was released to critical acclaim, Tower Records' Pulse magazine naming it one of the "Top Ten Dance Albums Of 1999." Joining the ranks of the international club Pop & loungecore elite, some dubbed URSULA 1000 as the U.S. ambassador to the tantalizing new sound. His second release, "All Systems Are Go Go," was compiled and mixed from a live session. It features 18 cuts that are staples in his DJ set with tracks from Japan, Germany, Italy, England and the U.S. Featuring collaborations with Dr. Luke (guitarist from the "Saturday Night Live" band) and Brother Cleve (of loungesters COMBUSTIBLE EDISON), 2002 saw "Kinda' Kinky" taking the "Now Sound" to a bigger and badder place where the leisure class meet the beatfreak upstarts on the dancefloor for a showdown. Cheeky Hammond organ breaks, spy caper intrigue, boogaloo shingalings, Samba Disco, a pinch of Electro and bongos are most definitely on the menu. That album's original artwork was done by Shag from "Supersonic Swingers & Bottomless Cocktail" fame. 2004 brought "Ursadelica," yet another mix of URSULA 1000's signature eclectic style. You can catch Alex Gimeno DJ-ing his transcontinental grooves for fashionistas at discotheques worldwide, and in New York on weekend residencies at the swank APT and the Soho Grand Lounge. URSULA 1000 has also lent his production hand to some of Dance music's finest. Over the past couple years, he's remixed the likes of Felix Da Housecat, Quincy Jones, Nicola Conte, Pierre Henry, THE FAINT, FORT KNOX FIVE, plus he's also remixed theme songs for "The Incredibles," "The Powerpuff Girls" and "Sesame Street." URSULA 1000's music has been used in hit shows like "Entourage," "Sex And The City," "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy" and Tony Hawk's ESPN specials as well.
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[Ethnic News: December 2005]
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