Author Archives: sixstrstories
While We’re On The Subject… The Tommy Gallant All Stars
The only live performances of New Orleans/Traditional Jazz that I’ve had the pleasure of hearing were back in the late 1980’s and 1990’s. The group that I had the very good fortune to hear was made up of some of the best Jazz musicians from … Continue reading
This Historic Day In Music: “Black Bottom Stomp”
As much as I find New Orleans or Traditional Jazz to be among the most smile-inducing music ever made, my LP/cassette tape/CD/iTunes collection contains only four volumes of this remarkable genre of music. I own Volume 1 & Volume 3 of the Columbia/Legacy CD series … Continue reading
This Historic Day In Music: A Triple Header
What do the Stephen Foster song “Oh! Susannah,” master fingerstyle guitarist Leo Kottke and the single version of The Beatles’ song “Love Me Do” all have in common? They were all (kinda, sorta) born on September 11. “Oh! Susannah” had … Continue reading
Road Songs
My wife Andrea and I recently returned from a truly delightful and action-packed Labor Day weekend visit with our son, our daughter and her fiance`in Washington, D.C. With overnight stops to see family and friends in New Jersey on both the way down and … Continue reading
The Water Is Wide
Even though this song is related to “Lord Jamie Douglas,” a Scotish ballad from 1776; and that ballad uses a tune, known as “Waly, Waly,” that is English and dates back to the 1720’s; and that tune is related to … Continue reading
A “This Historic Day In Music” Double Header: Jimmy Raney & John Hiatt
In my small-but-carefully-selected collection of Jazz guitar albums, I have only one by Jimmy Raney. The LP is called Momentum. It showcases Jimmy in a trio with Richard Davis on bass violin and Alan Dawson on drums. Judging by the fact … Continue reading
This Historic Day In Music: August 18, 1962, Hulme Hall, Port Sunlight, Birkenhead, England
In 1959, he was the drummer with Rory Storm & The Hurricanes, the biggest of all the groups in Liverpool, England at that time. But it wasn’t until October and November of 1960 when Rory Storm & The Hurricanes played alternating sets, seven nights a week, 6 … Continue reading
August Music, So Far
One of the best parts of summer here in Southeastern New Hampshire is the Prescott Park Arts Festival. Prescott Park is located between Portsmouth Harbor and the historic Strawbery Banke Museum district in downtown Portsmouth. Every year since 1974 the … Continue reading
This Historic Day In Music: A Jazz Guitarist Was Born
A Jazz guitarist was born on this day, July 31, in 1931. Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, this Jazz guitarist started to play at the age of 12. He was inspired to play guitar, instead of tenor sax (his … Continue reading
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