Jun Miyake is one of the great modern composers who doesn’t receive enough mainstream attention or recognition. Born in 1958 in Kyoto Japan, Miyake was discovered by famed trumpeter Terumasa Hino and trained at the prestigious Berklee College of Music. Since 1983, he’s been artfully blending sounds from often contrasting elements of music. His compositions are passionate, lyrical, and sometimes - as with this week’s track - addictively rhythmic.
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“All Names” is from his soundtrack for the 2011 Wim Wenders 3D documentary film Pina. It’s a percussive piece that fits perfectly with the physical artistry of dance and Jörg Widmer and Hélène Louvart’s brilliant cinematography.

Go Bills!

What do Linda Ronstadt, Jimi Hendrix, The Troggs, The Ventures, The Hollies, Juice Newton, Jon Voight and Angelina Jolie have in common? Chip Taylor. His most notable songs “Wild Thing” and “Angel of the Morning” were covered by those musicians, and Voight and Jolie are family members.

In 1965, Taylor teamed up with singer Evie Sands. She had recently charted with her regional hit “Take Me For a Little While,” but still hadn’t found national acclaim. She recorded Taylor’s “I Can’t Let Go,” which again found modest success, but was then overshadowed by the Hollies version which made it to #2 on the UK charts. This trend would continue for Sands after she was the first to record Taylor’s “Angel of the Morning,” only to see Merrilee Rush’s version become a top ten hit with a Grammy Award nomination. 

In 1969, Sands finely found chart success and national acclaim with another Taylor song. The single “Any Way That You Want Me” made it to #53, although the album, while considered a masterpiece today, was overshadowed by other artists of the era.
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Evie Sands is an extremely talented singer whose career was marred by label bankruptcies, mismanagement, and poor timing. She never received the world wide acclaim and credit she deserves but I hope one day she will.

Happy New Year everyone! 2020 was a rough one for sure and 2021 might not be much better, but as humanity has been put to the test, many creative minds have been busy helping us find solace in their work.

One of my favorite records released in 2020 was from mr. Gnome. If you haven’t heard of them, they are a married duo from Cleveland Ohio who have been producing some fantastic music since 2005, and their The Day You Flew Away is another excellent effort that shouldn’t be ignored.

“Gold Edges” is the seventeenth track on the double LP. It’s a sinfully catchy song that sticks the landing, while reminding us that Cleveland still rocks.

By the way, they also produce their own music videos and artwork. Don’t sleep on these two… 
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https://www.mrgnome.com/