The Old and the New

I've got a lot more old music on my computer than I do new. For years I wasn't exposed to any new music unless it was through friends. Then I discovered the digital music stations offered by Cox Communications. I'd load a blank DVD into the recorder and stream the jazz, blues, alternative, or even the showtunes channel. I could get 6 hours of music on a DVD! I discovered a lot of new artists that way.

When my wife got a free subscription to Paste magazine from a friend she worked with, we discovered new independent label bands and songwriters. Over the years, the magazine has expanded to cover films, books, interviews, etc. We've been subscribers for three years now. Every month a new issue arrives with a CD with over 20 songs. The latest contains Umphrey's McGee, Bruce Hornsby and Ricky Skaggs, and a band from Siloam Springs (now in Nashville) - Jackson Waters. In past issues: Norah Jones, Son Volt, Hem, Beck, and Lucinda Williams.

I also subscribe to a couple of sites where I can download mp3s at a fair price. Recent downloads: The OKeh Ellington a two-disc collection of greats from the Duke, including East St. Louis Toodle-oo, which Steely Dan covered in 1974 on Pretzel Logic. Jazz pianist Jacky Terrasson and a host of Paris-based musicians - A Paris.... I recently found a couple of projects interpreting the music of a couple of megastars: Guitarist/composer Joel Harrison's Harrison on Harrison where he explores some interesting arrangements of the music of George Harrison. And, saxophonist Tim Reis's The Rolling Stones Project.

Long-time friend and former bandmateTim Alexander turned me on to Verve Unmixed, Vol. 2: Dizzy Gillespie, Nina Simone, Ramsey Lewis, Cal Tjader. I don't really have a favorite cut -- they're all good. But when I put this disc in my cd player, I'm always reminded that I should listen to more of the underrated tenor player, Archie Shepp. In fact, I'm going to go look for some Shepp downloads now.