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 I want to commemorate some artists who inspired me that have passed on. Long live the legacies of John Coltrane, Fred Hopkins, Lester Bowie, Julius Hemphill, Steve McCall, Don Pullen, John Neves, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Tony Williams, Thelonious Monk, Joe Farrell, John Lennon, George Harrison, Bill Monroe, Clarence White, Joe Henderson, Elvin Jones.
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| "Researchers have scanned musicians' brains and found that the 'chills' that they feel when they hear stirring passages of music result from activity in the same parts of the brain stimulated by food and sex." — Drake Bennett, Survival of the harmonious |
My history 
Favorite artists
Links
Ringtones
60s music
Search
MP3
Songs
Videos
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In the early 70s I studied upright bass at Berklee College of Music
in Boston, a leading jazz school. You could say that before I was a programmer I was more in touch with my right-brain. Although I'm not actively playing any more, music is
still one of my first loves and I can often be seen with my iPod's distinctive white earbuds in my ears. I have broadened my tastes
beyond the jazz I loved so much at one time, but improvisational music will always be my favorite style, and jazz is the ultimate form of that
because there are no boundaries to the influences on jazz musicians. For my current musical choices, see my iPod songs .
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I taped this off an album I borrowed from a friend in the 70s and did not write down its name. On my tape it was with some Earth, Wind &
Fire songs, so I always assumed it was from the same album, but it is not their typical sound so I am guessing it was an album filler. I love
the song and later converted it to digital and put it on my iPod. I have listened to EWF
songs on the web and Limewire but have been unable to find it. Please contact me if you
recognize this song. I would really to know its name and confirm that it is by EWF.
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Music has always been a part of my life. I began taking piano lessons at age 7 in
Payette, Idaho, and in 6th grade I took up trumpet, playing in the concert and marching bands. Since I
had a lot of drive and practiced diligently I was able to achieve the first chair position, which I held through
8th grade. When I started high school band, there were many older and more experienced trumpet players already
there, so with my desire to always be the best in the section I switched  to French horn, which I played for a year. At the end of my
freshman year the lead trombone player graduated from high school, so with an eye on that position I decided to
switch to trombone. My older brother had played trombone before, so we had one at home, and by practicing a lot
during the summer and playing in several outdoor concerts at the band shell in the park, I got my chops in order
and successfully achieved first chair trombone in the high school band.  After 10th grade I dropped out of band, for reasons I don't remember
anymore, possibly boredom, or maybe I thought being in band was un-cool, a very important consideration to an
adolescent. The last two years of high school I was not actively playing music, but when I went off to college in
1966, I did what many of my generation were doing – I took up guitar, grew my hair long, and joined a rock band.
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| I get serious |
After several years of playing a variety of improvisational types of music on guitar,
I started playing more and more jazz, and I decided that to better understand this
complex music I wanted to study it in college.
I was living in Seattle at the time but the
school I chose was Berklee College of Music
in Boston. When I started at Berklee (1973) the school had an abundance of guitar
players and a shortage of bass players, so I was asked, would I consider switching to
upright bass? Knowing I would be just one of many struggling guitarists I made the
switch, which turned out to be a good choice because, since there were so few acoustic
bass players at school, we were always in demand. I studied at Berklee for two years
under John Neves and John Repucci. The recording and touring bass players that I was
most inspired by at that time were Dave Holland, Stanley Clarke, and Charlie Haden, three bassists with very distinctive styles.
Although more than a quarter of a century has passed, I still think some of my
greatest musical euphorias were experienced in the mid-70s. I acquired an extensive |
| Loft jazz |
My perspective on things has frequently leaned towards the cutting-edge so my taste in music ultimately evolved
into the avant−garde style that was being performed at that time in the jazz lofts. This very non-commercial
style of music had a serious following among musicians and some fine recordings of it can be found on the
 Wildflowers series. When these musicians came to Boston, they usually didn't play in the big name clubs of the
day like the Jazz Workshop and Paul's Mall, or even the smaller ones like the 1369 Club and Debby's, but they did find that, like New York, Boston had a loft scene. Some of the best music I heard when I was in college
was performed in the jazz lofts. In an Atlantic Monthly article, "Jazz − Religious and Circus", Francis Davis writes about how many of us viewed the 1970s as
the "Golden Age" of jazz. Alan Douglas, who recorded the Wildflowers sessions, says, "I think the loft jazz period was the
last time that significant changes took place in jazz."
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| Loft jazz links |
Wildflowers - The New York Loft Jazz SessionsLoft-y SoundsRiversteppingstones - The New York Loft Jazz SessionsWildflowers 5: New York Jazz Loft Sessions – with song samples| By the end of the 70s, although my interest in jazz remained very intense, my desire to play music for a living had lessened, so I basically reached the end of that pursuit. Since that time my creative energy has been consumed by computer programming and though some might find it hard to believe, I get some of the same fulfillment as a programmer I received from being a musician. I have heard that these two interests involve the same parts of the brain. |
| Today |
When my kids became teenagers I was exposed to musical styles that I wouldn't ordinarily discover on my own,
some of which was not even around when I was younger. My son Alex turned me on to Ska *,
and in summer 2000 we went to a concert by Reel Big Fish, one of the
top American Ska groups, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I love how a lot of Ska bands take previously recorded songs and do them in a Ska style. Come On Eileen, a top-40 song by Dexy's Midnight Runners,
was redone by the group Save Ferris (that great name comes from
the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off), and Take On Me, a top-40 hit by the
Norwegian group a-ha, was redone by Reel Big Fish.
Both of my sons have been actively involved in music. Alex took piano lessons for several years, and in high school and college has sung in a rock band. Ben is also quite accomplished on piano (I love to hear him play songs like Scott Joplin's The Entertainer) and is a great singer. He is currently taking voice lessons, and he sings in the high school chorus and performs in school plays. He has also participated in a yearly performance by the Southeast Region District Chorus, which has the top singers from all the school choruses in the area. We love to go to live Broadway musicals when they are in Boston. We often buy the CDs of these shows and the boys have grown up listening to this music, like Rent and Phantom of the Opera. It may appear that I have abandoned jazz, but I prefer to think that I am just not actively involved at the moment. Is jazz dead? On Sunday, August 4, 2002, there was an article in The Boston Globe, "Off the record", describing how the recording industry may think so. I hope not. |
| These are some of the people who have really moved me through the years. The musicians listed by instrument are jazz musicians; non-jazz musicians and groups are listed at the end. Some of the groups may no longer exist and sadly, some of the musicians have passed away (see above), but I still want to list them here because they will always rank as some of my favorites. There are also some musicians listed below under 60s music. Photos of many of these artists can be seen at DowntownMusic.net. |
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I have included a link to each artist's page at All Music Guide for the discographies, cross-reference links, and song previews. Periodically AMG reorganizes their website and some of these links stop working. I try to correct them when I notice this. Please email me if you encounter a bad link. | |
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I have links to some of the artist's videos on YouTube |
| Reeds, flute |  |
John Coltrane – tenor, soprano *Pharoah Sanders – tenor, sopranoArchie Shepp – tenor, sopranoWayne Shorter – tenor, soprano Dewey Redman – tenorSam Rivers – tenor, soprano, fluteJoe Henderson – tenorDavid Murray – tenorHamiet Bluiett – bariOliver Lake – alto, soprano, fluteHenry Threadgill – alto, fluteAnthony Braxton – alto, soprano, fluteJoe Farrell – tenor, soprano, fluteJulius Hemphill – alto, fluteHubert Laws – fluteJohn Surman – bari, sopranoArthur Blythe – alto | ||
| Bass |  |
Stanley Clarke *Dave Holland Miroslav Vitous Fred HopkinsAlex BlakeCharlie HadenSirone – some great photosVictor Wooten *Stu Hamm * | ||
| Keyboards |  |
McCoy Tyner *Chick Corea Cecil Taylor – check out this SessionographyDon PullenMuhal Richard AbramsKeith JarrettBill Evans Joe ZawinulHerbie HancockThelonius Monk | ||
| Brass |  |
Charles Tolliver – trumpetCharles Sullivan – trumpet, flugelhornLester Bowie – trumpet, flugelhornMiles Davis – trumpet *Freddie Hubbard – trumpet, flugelhornEnrico Rava – trumpetBill Watrous – trombone | ||
| Drums, percussion |  |
Billy Cobham Tony Williams Jack DeJohnetteAirto MoreiraElvin JonesSunny Murray | ||
| Guitar |  |
Pat Metheny Pat Metheny video with Kenny G remarks (uses RealPlayer)Pat's initial message board comments – Go Pat!Message board thread on Pat's comments – This gets hot!John AbercrombieJohn McLaughlin Allan HoldsworthGeorge Benson *Biréli Lagrène * (the French accent codes may make his name difficult to search) | ||
| Singers, groups, and others |  |
Milton Nascimento Flora PurimAirArt Ensemble of Chicago World Saxophone QuartetReturn to ForeverMahavishnu Orchestra *Weather Report *Maynard Ferguson OrchestraEarth, Wind & FirePink Floyd *Roger Waters 1988 Interview – describes the rise and fall of the bandChicagoLeon RussellElectric Light Orchestra The ByrdsThe EaglesTin Hat TrioBéla Fleck and the FlecktonesNeil YoungBob DylanBill Monroe – the father of bluegrass musicDavid Lindley – he formed the band Kaleidoscope in the 60sClarence White – he played guitar for the Kentucky Colonels, then The ByrdsIan & Sylvia – great Canadian folk singers *Cleo Laine – a British singer with a huge rangeMidori – she recorded Paganini's 24 Caprices as a teenagerSín é – great Irish musicThe Racky Thomas BandChristopher Tin – composerTin Works – good music all the timeYma Sumac – a Peruvian singer with a vocal range of five octaves* See video below
| Reference & reviews |
All Music Guide – a highly cross-referenced database of music and musicians with sample cuts
Yahoo Music
ARTIST direct Network – a searchable music database with sample cutsSing365.com – a huge database of pop music and musicians
Wilson & Alroy's Record Reviews – "We listen to the lousy records so you don't have to."Restructures: Creative Music Forum – Artist info & discographies
Zookeeper Online – Stanford radio station KZSU music databaseSongfacts – a searchable database of song information compiled by radio professionals and music enthusiasts| Jazz |
AACM – Association for the Advancement of Creative MusiciansThe Jazz Composers CollectiveJazz CornerAll About Jazz
Smithsonian Jazz – very extensiveJazz OnlineEurope Jazz NetworkJazzVisionsPhotos.com – Michael Wilderman's Jazz Photo/Graphics
Jazzhouse.org – The Jazz Journalists Association
Welcome to 52nd Street Jazz – reviews, discussions and news about the world of Jazz!freejazz.org - Freedom in Music – an avant garde music discussion groupBill Evans - Time Remembered – some great MIDIs of Evans work| Festivals |
Montreux Jazz FestivalFestival Finder: Music Festivals of North AmericaFestival Productions, Inc. – many festivalsechos.com: Remember A Day – An Analysis Of Over Twenty Years Of American Rock Music Festivals| Education |
Berklee College of MusicNew England Conservatory of MusicMusic Notes – an interactive online musical experienceThe Music Room – a very complete musical resource| Purchasing sites |
OmniTone – my favorite online CD store
CD Universe – this online CD store has song samples
Classic 45's – rare vinyl records on the webBarnes & Noble.com Music – listen to samples of selections on CDs they sell| Assorted links |
BEATLES.COM
The Internet Beatles Album
List of Beatles' songs by singerThe Complete Works of the Rolling Stones 1962 - 2005Innerviews® - Music Without BordersContemporary Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco MusiciansOne Hit Wonder Central
Am I Right – Making fun of music. One song at a time...Lyrics BoxDOWNTOWNMUSIC.NET || photo gallery – artist photos
Second Hand Songs – find out who performed the original version of a song, or who covered it
Beau-dacious Oldies But GoodiesSilly Songs and Classic Comedy – great stuff!Songs of War in Vietnam – by Ike Pappas of CBS NewsDownload RealPlayer Windows Media  |
Windows Media Player downloadWindowsMedia.comWindows Media Player Support Center| Streaming audio (see Stream an audio file for more on streaming) |
SHOUTcast.com – Nullsoft's distributed streaming audio links (see Internet Radio in Winamp)SuperKeyword JukeboxJazzFM.comJazz After HoursLive Radio en Direct Tuner Virtuel - COMFM – Live FM around the worldKZSU 90.1FM Stanford University – see program scheduleKMHD - 89.1FM, Gresham, OR – Jazz 24 hours/dayKPLU - 88.5FM, Seattle, WA – NPR, see program scheduleKBEM - Minneapolis, St. Paul – Jazz88fm.comJean Shepherd Archive – listen to his old radio showsNational Public Radio (NPR)VirtualTuner.com
| I love the freedom ringtones give you to personalize your cellphone, so when someone calls you know it is your phone ringing. You can
even have different ringtones for different callers. There are many websites that allow you to purchase and download ringtones directly to
your phone, but if you want a really unlimited selection you can make your own from any song on your PC and transfer them to your phone with
free software (see below). Here are some ringtones I made from songs I like. They are small segments of the original songs (hopefully this prevents copyright infringement)—some are the intros to the songs and some are instrumental sections I cut and edited—I didn't include any singing because I don't like voices on phone rings. I also find ringtones startling when they start abruptly, so I usually like the ones on my phone to start softly and build. The ones listed here are usually 15-20 seconds long (saved as 96kbps and mono to decrease size) and they will loop on a cellphone so the end should segue into the beginning. There is a limit to the size of a song you can use as a ringtone. I don't know what it is but I have had to make some smaller to get them to work on my phone.
Click on a song to play it—to copy a song to your computer right click on the title and choose Save Link/Target As.
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| Pop/Rock |
Dancing in the Moonlight – King HarvestShe's a Rainbow – Rolling Stones (I heard this on my son's phone and loved it)Gimme Shelter – Rolling StonesA Song For You – Leon RussellHouse of the Rising Sun – The AnimalsMacArthur Park – Richard HarrisDarkness, Darkness – The Youngbloods (violin by David Lindley)Embryonic Journey – Jefferson Airplane (Jorma Kaukonen on guitar)You Are The Sunshine Of My Life – Stevie WonderAnother Star – Stevie WonderPurple Haze – Jimi HendrixDoes Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? – ChicagoWake Up Everybody – Harold Melvin & The Blue NotesRhiannon – Fleetwood MacBeautiful Day – U2Hotel California – The EaglesThat's the Way of the World – Earth, Wind & FireTiny Dancer – Elton JohnBetty Davis Eyes – Kim CarnesMaggie May – Rod StewartSecret Agent Man – Johnny RiversVenus – Shocking BlueIt's Friday I'm In Love – The CureStay With Me Tonight – Jeffrey OsborneStayin' Alive – Bee GeesCan't Get You Out Of My Head – Kylie MinogueCause We've Ended As Lovers – Jeff BeckWildfire – Michael Martin MurpheyUs and Them – Pink Floyd| Jazz |
Stolen Moments – Oliver NelsonTheme de Celine – Art Ensemble of ChicagoEarth, Wind & Fire – this was an album filler that I don't know the name of (see above for entire song)On The Nile – Music Inc.You're Everything – Chick CoreaCaptain Marvel – Chick CoreaReturn To Forever – Chick CoreaThe Gathering – Joe Bonner (his intro to the Pharoah Sanders song)Love Is Everywhere – Joe Bonner (from his piano solo in the Pharoah Sanders song)Samba da Rua – Archie SheppBass Folk Song – Joe Farrell (Stanley Clarke on bass)Phase Dance – Pat MethenyFunky Tonk – Keith Jarrett (from his solo on the Miles Davis album, Live-Evil)Giant Steps – McCoy TynerCelestial Terrestrial Commuters – Mahavishnu Orchestra| Other |
Caprice No 1: Andante – Midori (from her album, Paganini, 24 Caprices)The Sacrifice – Michael Nyman (from The Piano soundtrack)Eight Miles High – Leo KottkeSomewhere Over The Rainbow – Israel Kamakawiwo'oleThe Impression That I Get – The Mighty Mighty BosstonesSailor's Hornpipe – Bill Monroe (Bill Keith on banjo)Star Trek Communicator – "Beam me up, Scotty." – I didn't make this but it is cute| Copy from PC to phone |
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You need several things to transfer a ringtone file from your PC to your cellphone:
Here are the steps I followed to put the ringtones on my RAZR (names and locations may differ on different cellphones):
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| You can do "seem edits" to further customize your cellphone settings, but I don't recommend this unless you really know what you are doing because you can void the warranty on your phone and even make it inoperable. |
(find more 60s links on the Favorites page)|
Because I was a teenager in the 1960s, the music of that time played a big part in my life. Like many young
people of that era I was in a rock band that existed primarily for our own entertainment, although
we did play a few gigs at fraternities and sororities on campus. In Seattle
I went regularly to concerts by the top West Coast groups of the day at the
Eagles Auditorium, and in 1968 (the year before
Woodstock) I joined 20,000 other "social revolutionaries, hippie communalists,
psychedelic evangelists, musicians, and music fans" to attend one of the world’s first
outdoor rock festivals, the 3-day
Sky River Rock Festival and
Lighter than Air Fair (see photos and a
band list),
and in 1969 I went to
Sky River II (see
festival pictures, and a
local review.)
Here are some more links to that music.
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Monterey International Pop Music Festival – June 16, 17, and 18, 1967WoodstockJimi HendrixUniVibes – International Jimi Hendrix MagazineJanis JoplinCountry Joe & the Fish – Gimme an F!Country Joe's PlaceGrateful DeadMoby GrapeJefferson AirplaneJorma Kaukonen's Web Site!The DoorsBuffalo Springield – members included Stephen Stills, Neil Young, and Jim MessinaNeil YoungCrosby, Stills, Nash, and YoungCreamThe Yardbirds – Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy page all played for the YardbirdsSteve Miller BandThe ByrdsBob DylanDonovanJohn Mayall – band members at various times included Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood, and John McVieThe YoungbloodsJesse Colin YoungDan Hicks and His Hot LicksJim Kweskin Jug BandMaria MuldaurGeoff MuldaurKaleidoscopeDavid Lindley – still touring!Chris DarrowCrome Syrcus – a band I remember from my Seattle daysIke and Tina Turner RevueSixtiesRock.com
| Multimedia search engines |
| These search engines allow you to search for songs on sites like mine. The results typically provide the ability to listen to songs from the sites where they are found. However, if you want to download your own copy of a song, put the mouse pointer on the link and press the right mouse button, and from the context menu choose Save Target/Link As. |
Dogpile
Project Playlist
Soundflavor Music Search
Lycos
SeeqPodYahoo! Search - Audio
MP3Search.Ru Club – listen to songs for free, buy for small fee
MP3sHits.com
Mp3Realm - Mp3 Search
Mp3Raid.comReal SeachThe MIDI Farm| Peer-to-peer (p2p) |
| These MP3 search applications, pioneered by Napster, allow you to find shared files offered by others using software that you install on your PC. They are the best way get your own copies of audio files, although the RIAA is forcing the government to crack down on this process. Also, some are rumored to install spyware (hidden software tracking your web-surfing habits) on your PC, and you can also download viruses, so be cautious. If you do frequent downloads, it is always a good idea to run anti-virus and anti-spyware programs regularly to keep your system clean. Many of these are clients of Gnutella, a large open protocol distributed file-sharing network. |
LimeWireGnucleusBearShareWarez
eDonkeyMorpheusNapster – no longer does free file-sharing
MP3
songs below 
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"The real threat of MP3 music piracy—to listeners and, conceivably, democracy itself—is the music industry's reaction to it."
— Charles C. Mann, The Atlantic Monthly
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MP3 tools
MP3 songs
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The above quotation is from an article, "The Heavenly Jukebox",
that includes a history of the MP3, which is one of the digital formats for music that has become very popular on the Internet. Because they are
ubiquitous and you can download them for free, MP3s have the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) all freaked out. In 2001 the RIAA took peer-to-peer file-sharing company Napster to court and put them out
of business, and in 2003 they started going after individual "major offenders", those who offered more than 1,000
songs to others for downloading. The RIAA has the rather short-sighted view that being able to download MP3 songs
for free will keep people from purchasing the CDs. MP3s actually provide a great way to sample songs before buying
a CD, and people will continue to make purchases if the music is good. As far as MP3s being a threat to the
royalty income the musicians receive from CD sales, according to the previously mentioned Atlantic Monthly
article, if it exists at all this income is miniscule.
This is from the testimony in the trial of a Minnesota woman which resulted in her being fined $222.000 for sharing music. It looks like the RIAA are even bigger idiots than imagined. One can also be introduced to a new artist via MP3s, especially someone esoteric like Tin Hat Trio, who lacks the heavy marketing of the more commercial artists. I discovered them almost by accident (on a music system in Starbucks no less), yet I still purchased Tin Hat Trio's CDs, even though I knew I could download some of their MP3 music for free. Or suppose you have a song on a CD that you want to share with someone who lives far away from you. You can convert the song from the CD (rip it) to an MP3 file and send it as an email attachment, which may even encourage that person to go out and buy the CD, thereby increasing sales. |
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MP3 tips |
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Convert analog
Shrink
Create WAV
Suppress prompt
Stream
ID3 tags
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I don't know where the MP3 litigation will ultimately end up, but in the meantime MP3s provide some interesting technical
solutions. For instance, when I wanted to put a song I liked on a cassette tape to listen to in my Walkman (the old days), I could only
locate it in the MP3 format (it was also made on 7" vinyl but I couldn't find that). To get my MP3 on tape I had to
burn it to a CD, which I then played on a regular stereo system and recorded it to tape. For mobile music I use an
iPod now so I still convert many individual songs to MP3s from CDs or vinyl recordings
(see Convert a record or tape) to load them.
As MP3 usage and the software to do things with them gets more common, some of the tips I put here are no longer needed, and I will try to keep this section up−todate. Many of these tips make reference to various software I use (names in green italics). See see MP3 tools for more on these. |
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 Top of section
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These are some of the tools I have used to manipulate MP3s. Some shareware/freeware may contain spyware, so use caution when installing them.
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