Wah Pedal

Dust & Bones finds Gary Hoey picking up where he left off on 2013's Deja Blues. Once again, he's in a heavy blues mode, cranking up his amp to the breaking point and indulging in some old-school theatrics, like working his wah-wah pedal so it sings like Hendrix. That's not the only guitar god whose work is apparent here. "Steamroller" is dedicated to Johnny Winter, and there are echoes of Billy Gibbons and Eric Clapton, all filtered through Hoey's dexterous chops. Now a veteran of 25 years – he nods toward his surfy beginnings on the album-closing "Soul Surfer" – Hoey certainly can tip his hat to his peers but he has his own style, one that's designed as an eternal homage to the glory days of classic rock guitar.

Representing much of the group's output for the year 1969, the two albums show the group advancing in the face of adversity - Paul Williams, who had been very much the Temptations' sparkplug in its earlier years, was in declining health, and music was changing around the group, almost faster than a lot of soul artists of the era could keep up with. This remastered collection is a reminder, even better than the Emperors Of Soul box, of precisely how ambitious and urgent the Temptations' music became in response, and how the group and producer Norman Whitfield helped expand and change soul music's boundaries in the process.

Dreaming #11 is something of an oddity: a mini-disc released in 1988 with three live tracks and one new studio track.

This is the first of two super session albums that Chess produced in the late '60s. Time has been a bit kinder to this one, featuring Muddy, Bo Diddley and Little Walter, than the one cut a year later with Howlin' Wolf standing in for Walter. It's loose and extremely sloppy, the time gets pushed around here and there and Little Walter's obviously in bad shape, his voice rusted to a croak and trying to blow with a collapsed lung. But there are moments where Bo's heavily tremoloed guitar sounds just fine and the band kicks it in a few spots and Muddy seems to be genuinely enjoying himself. Granted, these moments are few and way too far between, but at least nobody's playing a wah-wah pedal on here.

A monumental innovator, icon, and maverick, trumpeter Miles Davis helped define the course of jazz as well as popular culture in the 20th century, bridging the gap between bebop, modal music, funk, and fusion. Throughout most of his 50-year career, Davis played the trumpet in a lyrical, introspective style, often employing a stemless Harmon mute to make his sound more personal and intimate. It was a style that, along with his brooding stage persona, earned him the nickname "Prince of Darkness." However, Davis proved to be a dazzlingly protean artist, moving into fiery modal jazz in the '60s and electrified funk and fusion in the '70s, drenching his trumpet in wah-wah pedal effects along the way.

Miles Davis - Get Up With It (1974) {2006 DSD Japan Mini LP Edition Analog Collection SICP 1228~29}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 803 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 298 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 10 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1970-74, 2006 Sony Music Japan / Columbia | SICP 1228~9 | DSD | HQD High Quality Disc
Jazz / Jazz Funk / Jazz Rock / Trumpet

Released in 1974, Get Up With It is a follow-up to Big Fun, which appeared in the same year, offering an overview of the recent period and revealing new directions. The funk genre started with “Honky Tonk” from the Jack Johnson sessions, ran through On The Corner with “Rated X” and “Billy Preston,” and ended up in the groovy structures of “Mtume” where, with the help of the wah-wah pedal, the electrified trumpet abandoned phrasing to work exclusively on timbre and rhythm.