Aloe Blacc ABC O2 Glasgow 12th December 2011

Aloe Black stole our hearts and showed why he is the King of Soul. He was supported by a DJ set which meant the dance beats were kept up with no pause before Blacc’s entrance onstage. 

He sang with his crooning mellow voice.  He was also the dance master of cool, with some neat footwork and sliding shimmies.  Later during his set Blacc created a soul train down the centre of the Glasgow audience where locals were only too happy to boogie down. Songs included -  ' I Need A Dollar’ and ‘Billie Jean.' 

For his encore he spoke of missing the sun of his homeland and sang the Beach Boys classic ‘California Dreaming.’ 

Blacc caused a stir at Glastonbury 2011 with his performance there on one of the main pages.  

It is worth checking Blacc singing at MADE on YouTube – a collaboration in Germany between composers, artists and performers.   ( Highsnobiety TV: An Evening with Aloe Blacc at MADE - Berlin creative space MADE recently played host to singer and songwriter Aloe Blacc, violinist and composer Mihalj "Miki" Kekenj and painter Jaybo.)

 http://aloeblacc.com/

**Producer George Martin: Known as 'The Fifth Beatle'

**'Arena: Produced by George Martin'  BBC 2 Monday25th - Awesome. A Legend.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/arena

I highly recommend watching this program on BBC iPlayer.

Martin had  36 no 1's with the Beatles in the 60s..

(In my other life I am a record producer!)  He says that The Beatles didn't sound so great at first either... :

A very well made docmentary and such an interesting character!  I especially liked his comment that when the Beatles first arrived in the studio! 'Their music was rubbish - but importantly they made you feel good and they had charisma.' 

Also his reference to Degas' quote about his art  "It's not what you see, it's about what we make others see", in comparing this with what he hoped to achieve in sound. He hoped to 'paint' in the studio rather than to simply make a copy.

The program was followed by The Beatles  'A Hard Days Night', so many memories......!  P Keightley

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/arena

George Martin is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"—a title that he owes to his work as producer of all but one of 'The Beatles' original albums. He is considered one of the greatest record producers of all time, with 23 number one hits, an unmatched achievement.  George Martin, recognised as one of music's most versatile and imaginative talents, entered the music industry in 1950 after studying at the Guildhall School of Music and playing the oboe professionally in London. He began recording classical music specialising in the Baroque period. His later experience with jazz and pop led to his appointment as Head of the Parlophone in the EMI Group in 1955.
As a producer he has been responsible for bringing a host of artists into recording studios particularly in the humorous field with brilliant performers such as Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Flanders and Swann and the 'Beyond the Fringe' team - Jonathan Miller, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Alan Bennett. He has also worked with jazz artists Cleo Laine, John Dankworth, Humphrey Lyttelton and Stan Getz. 

'Jerry Douglas' at Celtic Connections ABC Glasgow 23 Jan 2011

Jerry Douglas - who is considered one of the world’s most renowned Dobro or resonator guitar players - performed at Celtic Connections Festival Glasgow 2011.  

For this concert he had two highly accomplished musicians with him - Viktor Krauss and Omar Hakim.  Douglas performed mainly bluegrass and American style instrumental tunes, and also some original material by movie score composer and bassist Viktor Krauss (brother of Allison Krauss) plus one of the most acclaimed drummers Omar Hakim  - and alongside Douglas's brilliant and expressive guitar they provided a creative and dynamic rhythm section. 

I first heard Jerry Douglas on YouTube, playing with Union Station who were backing beautiful bluegrass singer Allison Krauss. His playing was of a high quality, accomplished and melodic. Later I saw Douglas at the collaborations of the TransAtlantic sessions at Celtic 2008 - where he is the musical director for the Americans, alongside Ali Bain with the Scottish musicians on the left of the stage. In 2009 I attended Douglas's Old Fruitmarket gig where he had a full band with him - and we were treated to a fun night of charged upbeat tunes.  While Douglas normally plays a brown Dobro resonator guitar, he also played a white dobro electric guitar which had a higher register and resonance.  Well worth hearing Douglas play.