Mercy Mercy

Hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, The Mercy Brothers are vocalist extraordinaire Barrence Whitfield and guitarist/producer/songwriter Michael Dinallo.Barrence Whitfield, the soul man/blues shouter/country singer well known from Barrence Whitfield and the Savages, has been called, “…the owner of one incredible pair of lungs and limitless energy and enthusiasm for his music” by John Dougan, in the All Music Guide. Besides touring the world over with the Savages, Barrence has made two critically acclaimed records with Tom Russell, worked with Jim Dickinson, and has a track on the Warner Brothers album from Where I Stand: the Black Experience in Country Music released in 1998. Barrence’s track on the set is a cover of Merle Haggard's Irma Jackson.Michael Dinallo, the former bandleader/guitarist for the Radio Kings, is one Boston’s most sought after producer and guitar players. Michael has become known as the man behind the artist: “Dinallo is that rare self-effacing guitarist who eschews the spotlight” said Bill Dahl in Living Blues and “Thanks to Michael Dinallo’s dynamic production….

There was a strong jazz vibe running through some of Philip Bailey's sides with Earth, Wind & Fire. On Soul on Jazz, his second release for Heads Up International, co-producer Bailey remakes several jazz standards, some with new lyrics by his son, Sir Bailey. The foray is most successful on Thelonious Monk's "Ruby My Dear," a percussive take on Gene McDaniels' "Compared to What," and Joe Zawinul's "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy." R&B and jazz stylishly intersect on the smooth airy ballad "Unrestrained." Bailey redoes the EWF classic "Keep Your Head to the Sky," giving it a mellow sheen that's close to one of his past cuts, "Children of the Ghetto." On that and his dusky cover of Herbie Hancock's "Tell Me a Bedtime Story" and the loopy "Bop-Skip-Doodle," Bailey flexes his legendary falsetto. More jazz-oriented than Dreams, Soul on Jazz benefits from the sharing of production chores with Myron McKinley, Bob Belden, and Scott Kinsey. The album is definitely on track.

The first three cuts of CD 1 are the first traces of Cannonball in France. Today, they seem especially short to us. But the Adderley brothers were not the only ones playing on this Jazz at the Philharmonic tour organized by Norman Granz. Also on the trip : Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, Don Byas, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Lalo Shifrin, J.J. Johnson. Sorry there is so little. The other five titles are from the April 15, 1961 concert.
Two changes in the rhythm section of this second Julian and Nat Adderley Quintet : Bobby Timmons is replaced by the English pianist-vibraphonist Victor Feldman (1934-1987) and, on one piece, the addition of then-unknown Ron Carter, which allows bass player Sam Jones (1924-1981) to show off on cello…

The first three cuts of CD 1 are the first traces of Cannonball in France. Today, they seem especially short to us. But the Adderley brothers were not the only ones playing on this Jazz at the Philharmonic tour organized by Norman Granz. Also on the trip : Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, Don Byas, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Lalo Shifrin, J.J. Johnson. Sorry there is so little. The other five titles are from the April 15, 1961 concert.
Two changes in the rhythm section of this second Julian and Nat Adderley Quintet : Bobby Timmons is replaced by the English pianist-vibraphonist Victor Feldman (1934-1987) and, on one piece, the addition of then-unknown Ron Carter, which allows bass player Sam Jones (1924-1981) to show off on cello…

The first three cuts of CD 1 are the first traces of Cannonball in France. Today, they seem especially short to us. But the Adderley brothers were not the only ones playing on this Jazz at the Philharmonic tour organized by Norman Granz. Also on the trip : Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, Don Byas, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Lalo Shifrin, J.J. Johnson. Sorry there is so little. The other five titles are from the April 15, 1961 concert.
Two changes in the rhythm section of this second Julian and Nat Adderley Quintet : Bobby Timmons is replaced by the English pianist-vibraphonist Victor Feldman (1934-1987) and, on one piece, the addition of then-unknown Ron Carter, which allows bass player Sam Jones (1924-1981) to show off on cello…

What's Going On is not only Marvin Gaye's masterpiece, it's the most important and passionate record to come out of soul music, delivered by one of its finest voices, a man finally free to speak his mind and so move from R&B sex symbol to true recording artist. With What's Going On, Gaye meditated on what had happened to the American dream of the past – as it related to urban decay, environmental woes, military turbulence, police brutality, unemployment, and poverty…

Mercy is a music theater collaboration between Meredith Monk and visual artist Ann Hamilton, described as "a meditation on the human capacity to both extend and withhold compassion, kindness, empathy, and mercy." It's scored for six dancer/vocalists, two keyboards, percussion, violin, and theremin. Music and choreography are by Monk, with installations by Hamilton. Conception, development, and direction were shared.