BATTLE OF THE BANDS RESULTS and A LOT OF EXTRA YAKKETY YAK

I have a lot to talk about today, so this could be a jam packed blog post, or maybe not. We’ll just have to fasten our seat belts and see what shakes out.

First up on the agenda is my BATTLE OF THE BANDS results. Ladies and gentlemen we’ve had another blow out here a Far Away Series. I just can’t seem to get it right and pick two versions that will leave you guys scratching your heads and splitting yer tickets.

In this last BATTLE most everyone said they liked both versions, but one was seriously liked more than the other. They won by a margin of three to one. In the end I have to agree; although I liked both versions, the percussion driven genius of the Ahmad Jamal version won me over.

The final tally:

                            Ahmad Jamal     18 votes (including mine

                       Keith Jarrett Trio      5 votes

Ahmad took the first 7 votes, and for a day or two I thought, oh no, not another dreaded shut-out. So, I extend a great big thank you to the five courageous souls who voted their conscience and gave Keith those five nods.

Next on the agenda is an award I received last week. I don’t normally go in for this sort of chicanery, and normally I just plain don’t have the time. But, since it was my good ole blog buddy Mr. McCarthy who nominated me for this award, and since he held me in such high regard as to include me with others he’s quite partial too; well, how could I resist.

So No I bring to you…

Here are the rules: 

Once accepted, the award process has five steps:

1. Link back to the person who nominated you
2. Answer the questions with words AND music
3. Pass the award on to 5 bloggers who inspire you with their posts about music
4. Tag your post with #MWA, for Music&Words Award so that we can all find you down the line
5. Quote these 5 steps and the award icon in your post. You can display the icon on your sidebar as well. 

I don't know how to do "Tags", so I had to leave that part out. But here's the rest of it...

What does music mean to you?

I started to scratch my head over this one, wanting to say something profound, but the very first thing that came to mind was ‘freedom’. To me music is an expression of the soul. Granted some of it seem to come for a quite tortured soul that exposes more than I want to experience, but for the most part it seems to me to be the most free form of creative expression that can take you to the innermost working of the human heart and or mind.

One piece of music can mean many different things to each of us. In fact I think a single piece of music can mean something different or at least conjure up different feelings and emotions to every single person who listens. Sometimes I listen with my head, but most time I listen with my heart. That’s when the deepest meanings and or feelings seem to penetrate my soul.

What is your first music related memory?

This is a toughie. As far as recorded music goes my first memory is of the cowboy troubadours like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers; they were my musical heroes from about the age of 4 or 5. But other musical memories go back to my mother singing with me little nursery rhymes and children’s songs. I don’t remember my mother as being particularly ‘musical’, but I do remember her as sounding like an angel.

What was the first album you’ve purchased yourself?

This question is even tougher. As a kid I didn’t have a lot of money. My family wasn’t exactly poor, but we got by on a pretty modest income and I didn’t get an allowance or have much spending money. I don’t remember purchasing albums. I do remember getting an early Beatles album as a birthday gift from a friend, and not really having an idea who they were. We didn’t watch much TV either. I also liked the ‘Surf sound’ and had some Jan and Dean and Beachboys albums, but I think those were gifts also.

What was the latest music you purchased? (No online streaming or free downloads, I’m talking about cash here!)

I had to read that over carefully, and as I read it this should be able to include downloads as long as they were ‘purchased’ downloads. In that case the most recent purchase I made was the album ‘Trouble’ Ray Lamontagne.

Which song did you listen to last?

Finally, a question that is easy-peasy. ‘My Funny Valentine’ by Chris Botti of the album ‘a Thousand Kisses Deep’.

Ok, no I have to pass this award on to five bloggers. I’ve been doing BATTLE OF THE BANDS for going on three years now. It has grown to include over fifteen participants. We all try to go around and vote on each other’s BATTLES at the first and fifteenth of each month. I also have some very loyal followers who don’t participate, but come on over to my space, listen to what I post, leave a thoughtful comment and vote. I appreciate these guys to the max, and I really enjoy their participation in their own way. So, I’m going to nominate five of them for this ‘Music and Words Award’.

They are:

     CW Martin of the blog Tilting at Windmills

     Bish Denham of the blog Random Thoughts

     Birgit of the blog BB Creations

     Pat Hatt of the blog It's Rhyme time

     Alex J Cavanaugh of the blog Alex J Cavanaugh

HONORABLE MENTION goes to Sehboyganboy VI who doesn’t blog, but has a veritable card catalog of musical knowledge in his head. I’m sure he would have some interesting answers to a post of this sort.

And finally, Mr. McCarthy had a very interesting post recently ‘My Life According to Music’, at least a particular artists music. I thought this was interesting and that I might like to join in the fun. Upon further investigation I realized that Mr. McCarthy lifted the idea from Mr. Bird of Wrote by Rote who initially pinched it from Debbie the Dog Lady of The Dog Ladys Den. Well, anyway it was fun to read their life according to one of their favorite recording artists. I’m gonna play, but since this post has now gone over the thousand word mark, and I need to consult with Mr. Petty. I’m gonna save that for another day (let’s make that day Thursday, March 10^th, shall we?). So, I’ll be back before the 15^th of March (or The Ides – if you prefer) with that post.

Until then...Happy Trails!