07/06/2009
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The Posterous Problem





Update: part of this is cut off. Under the Add IP address (A Record) below I have the register.com address on the left and the posterous IP address on the right and it shows that when I log into register.com

I registered a domain name with register.com for my posterous and followed the instructions but am still getting this error:


Oops. We ran into 1 problem!

Try to fix these issues and try again.

  • Virtual host is not currently pointing to the right place. We found:
    • A RECORD: XXX.XX.XXX.XXX

    Please set your DNS servers to the correct address (A record to 'XX.XXX.XXX.XX') and try again.

    I have it set correctly on register.com, I think:

    ADD IP ADDRESSES (A RECORD)

    Add more IP addresses by filling in the fields below. Please click Continue when finished. 

    .mssoulpower.com   points to    Delete
    .mssoulpower.com   points to    
    .mssoulpower.com   points to    

    What else do I need to do?

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06/01/2009
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Review: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Kindred-25th
Kindred-25th

It’s June 9,
1976, Dana is celebrating her 26th birthday with her new husband
Kevin in their new home in Altadena CA. 
Two writers, Dana a black woman, Kevin a white man beginning to build a
life together, when that life is interrupted abruptly by a call to a time and
place that both had only known through the history books. Dana was called back
to her ancestors by one who is critical to her very birth, Rufus Weylin.

 

Rufus, the
son of Tom Weylin a slave owner in Maryland has called Dana to him. She arrives
and has no clue where she is.  She sees a
young boy drowning, pulls him from the water, resuscitates him and as thanks
ends up looking down the long barrel of a shotgun. The language she hears is
different, the dress is different, the time, she does not yet know is
different, not until Rufus calls her back again because he’s in trouble again. At
this second calling, after putting out a fire, she learns from Rufus (Rufe)
that she has landed in 1815 on his father’s plantation and that she is a
nigger.  She realizes too that as long as
he’s in trouble he’s going to call her. 
Thus begins her mission.  She must
keep him and the person with whom he father’s the child Hagar alive.  Over months in her time and decades in their
time, Dana returns repeatedly to Rufus learning the hard lessons of slave life,
the hard lessons of love and loss and the hard lessons of betrayal, and what
the desire to be free really looks like as well as its costs.

 

Kindred is
cunning.  Butler uses the fantasy/science
fiction element of time travel to address the legacy of slavery, racial
stereotype, gender roles and love relationships in one fell swoop.  How this novel escaped me for so long is a
wonder because Butler’s style, her language and the manner in which she
grapples with issues that we grapple with to this day is really breath
taking.  I highly recommend Kindred and
further reading and study of Octavia Butler’s work and person.

 

Rating 5 *****stars.

 

For more on
Octavia Butler a good place to start is her wiki and the links contained
in it. Butler was a vanguard someone we should all know more about.

Octavia E Butler
Octavia E Butler
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05/25/2009
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Daddy’s Office –# 2, The Philly Influence

The Sound of Philadelphia dominated Daddy’s office and radio
airwaves for a period of time in the 70’s. The sound of Philly soul was largely
crafted by producers
and production teams which included Kenneth
Gamble and Leon Huff,
Thom Bell, Linda Creed, Gene McFadden
and John Whitehead, Bunny Sigler, Dexter Wansel,
Joe Tarsia and others.
The artists included in this week’s segment are either Philly artists or
non-natives who were blessed by Philadelphia production talent. You’ll also
note that there are two groups that have two selections on the list, The O’Jays
and The Stylistics. The choice to include more than one selection from them was
simple. In Daddy’s office, these two groups dominated and were the ones most
often sung by the family and the ones that were most often played in the car.  For more information on Philadelphia soul
artists, check out:

http://www.phillysoulclassics.com/about

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_soul

A House on Fire: The Rise
and Fall of Philadelphia Soul by John A. Jackson

Enjoy.

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05/17/2009
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Daddy’s Office – #1 Fusion Funk Jazz

We lived in a brick house on 12th Street,
probably my favorite home of the places we lived in. My dad had an office,
right in between the dining room and the living room. In that office housed his
desk, his work and most importantly to me, his music.  It was in this house, in Daddy’s office that
I was first authorized to touch his stereo system. I was fairly young, around
seven or so, when he showed me how to work it. What knobs on the receiver we
work what we called back then, the record player and what knobs would work the eight
track player.  He was and still is a big
time audiophile, and thankfully into component systems instead of those
monstrous all-in-one wooden units. He’s been an owner of vitually every music
related piece of technology except for a DAT machine, including way way back in
the day a reel-to-reel.  In Daddy’s
office, on Daddy’s stereo was where my musical tastes were formed.  Daddy’s Office is a sampling of some of the
music heard in the office or inspired by it and the memories that were created
there.

The first entry from Daddy’s office, is dedicated to what we
now call jazz fusion, funk jazz and smooth jazz.  Back then I didn’t have any earthly idea what
it was.  All I knew was that it sounded
good, it was a good backdrop for anything that was going on around the house
and that daddy always played his music the same way I do to this day, LOUDLY!  Enjoy.

 

Note:  The version of Scratch is a MUCH later live
version, if you have the original recording, please hit me up.


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Fusion-Funk-Jazz

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05/12/2009
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5/12/09 Attitude Adjustment

This morning required some attitude adjustment. I usually adjust that attitude with music. This is the playlist that got me out of the funk and got me rolling.

 

 

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04/20/2009
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Not a Music Journalist goes to Harmony In Life April 18, 2009

HarmonyInLife
HarmonyInLife
I decided to call all the blog posts about live performances Not a Music Journalist. One because I'm not, I'm a fan. Two because a lot of my time at performances is spent singing along, dancing (lots of that) and getting with the overall energy of the artist. The set lists won't ever be right, nor complete because I am singing, dancing and vibing. However, I feel like the live music experience is so beautiful, I share it anyway, in a very non-journalistic, everyman fan/stan sort of way.

I stumbled upon the Harmony In Life Show via a tweet on twitter from @EarwaxRecords (thank you!). I'd never heard of Harmony in Life before, all I knew was that Eric Roberson and N'Dambi were going to be performing and I had to be there. Based on the previous soul performances sponsored by Harmony in Life rest assured they are doing a good thing promoting Soul music in Atlanta. Check out their bio on Myspace.

This edition featured six artists. The first two I'd never heard of but they did some really nice albeit short sets. The opening act was Heston. Mellow music and a really sweet breezy vocal. Heston as with all the acts are backed by the Harmony in Life house band Misty Rose (young, tight and can play anything). Second up was Kameron Corvet a product of Morehouse, soulful but with more of a folkish rockish vibe. Would like to see both him and Heston in more extended sets and expect to do so in some upcoming shows. Third up was Rhonda Thomas whose name I was familiar with but really couldn't associate her in my ear with a particular sound. She has sung previously with the legend, Issac Hayes and with one of my favorite's India Arie. However I still don't have a good idea of her sound based on this performance. Definitely want to hear more.
Next up were the heavy hitters. Listeners to WCLK 91.9 fm in Atlanta, particularly Jamal Ahmed's show are familiar with Atlanta's own (via Birmingham England) Julie Dexter.She shut it down. Funky, soulful, jazzy, she had it locked down. I definitely need some more Julie Dexter in my life. Hope you get you some 
JDexter
JDexter
NDambi2
NDambi2
The next to the last performer was the Energy known as N'Dambi. My BFF whom I attended the Saadiq concert with turned me on to her when she released Little Lost Girls Blues and I've been checking her ever since. Her performance is energetic, her vocals, deep, truthful and fun, which is something you don't see a whole lot of. I don't recall seeing an artist smile the way that she does throughout the show, she's serious and she's seriously enjoying the experience. My girlfriend, who had heard none of the artists on tap that night REALLY enjoyed her. I am breathlessly awaiting her next release and performance in the A this summer.
Finally the man we were all waiting for (in the pressure cooker of Sugar Hill) Eric Roberson stepped to the mic and let me tell you some folks fell in love that night, with him and with each other. He was fresh off a performance late that afternoon in Charlotte NC and you would never know it. He sang the jams Couldn't Hear Her, Softest Lips which he broke down into Prince's Adore midway (approached a faint on that one),  Head to Toe (on which my girlfriend melted), Been in Love, a freestyle song he made up about air conditioning and other words shouted out from the audience and more. The thing about Erro is that he could sing Old McDonald and that voice would knock you out. I need to catch him again… and again and again when he comes to the A.
Erro1
Erro1
Overall I love what Harmony in Life is doing for soul music here in Atlanta. You know for the last decade or so this town has been dominated by hip-hop or what is passed off has hip-hop. Don't get me wrong I love it, but soul music is closet to my soul and I appreciate what they're doing. The line-up was all soul and all unique, the house band is excellent as is the host. The venue Sugar Hill is a night club, a very HOT nightclub and some folks were having trouble with the heat. However the set up is good because you can stand on the dance floor all the way up to the stage and the club is u-shaped with an upstairs. 
If you're in the A, be sure to ch
eck out future shows, HIL is doing beautiful things.
Peace.

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04/02/2009
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For Marvin’s 70th

I couldn’t let this day pass without showing my love. Miss you Marvin.
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03/31/2009
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His Majesty Raphael Saadiq

Raphael Saadiq, Variety Playhouse, Atlanta GA

March 28, 2009

IMG_0575
IMG_0575
The moment I heard that he would be in Atlanta it wasn't a question. I bought two tickets with no concern who the second would be for. I had to be there and I'm so glad that me and my BFF from back home were able to be in his presence. First things first.

The show opened with a trio (plus drummer) called Tha Boogie. The music, fresh, their energy high octane, the sound I  would call the funky future. I quite enjoyed the set, because they aren't playing what you hear on the radio (if you listen to such things). You can check them out on their Myspace. Now for the main event.
The lights dropped, the band, then the two back-ups then Saadiq, in his 60's David Ruffin-ish glory. Let me first gush, he looked fantastic, but as good as he looked, the performance was the star. The tour is in support of his most recent output, The Way I See It. The set included The Way See It nearly in its entirety, with a standout extended performance of Big Easy, inspired by post-Katrina New Orleans. The band killed this one, in the sense that the sound put you right down in the heart of Big Easy. The performance was also sprinkled with hits from Tony Toni Tone, including Lay Your Head on My Pillow, Anniversary, Lucy Pearl I Wanna Dance Tonight and cuts from his solo debut  Instant Vintage, You Should Be Here, Still Ray and closed out the show post encore with an extended play of Skyy Can You Feel Me. 
The performance from the opening act to the close of Saadiq's set was fantastic. The energy, was high throughout, his female backup singer an absolute spitfire and his keyboardist, surprised every when he started BLOWING out of the blue on Can you Feel Me. What I would have liked to see more of? Energy from the crowd. As a middle age person, who's first concert was Parliament/Funkadelic and is used to dancing for an entire show (which I did) I was disappointed at how some of the crowd on the floor were barely bobbing their heads. What I would like to have heard more of? Music. Most curious thing about the show? Not really curious but Saadiq is wildly averse to cameras during the performance. I had my BFF working one for me (He's tall) we got our shots and put it away out of respect, but the crowd on the floor was soooo focused on getting the money shot, I'm not so sure they enjoyed the show. Anytime the cameras were shooting, Saadiq was dancing, moving and spinning in the other direction. He even called out (in a very nice way) one particular photog offender. The beauty of the end? After he and his band left it all on the floor. Saadiq shook hands, signed autographs and posed for phone pictures.
In all, this continues a string of great performances that I've witnessed at Variety Playhouse. Saadiq et all, held it down. If he comes through your town (he's heading to Europe now), put your money down on some tickets. Just make sure you put your dancing shoes on and your cameras down.

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12/06/2008
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