Podcast 11 - Aceyalone

I've got something a little different set up for this episode. Instead of organizing around some musical theme, I've decided to focus on just one artist. The result is basically a retrospective of the 20 plus year career of my favorite emcee, Aceyalone. Note, I don't call it a greatest hits. He's got so many good tracks covering such a wide variety of sounds that instead of dictate what I think are his best tracks, I really wanted to just give the uninitiated a broad overview and a good place to start looking to find more of what most appeals to them. For those that are already fans, well, ya'll can just get excited. This mix is good.

Aceyalone came up in LA during the late 80's. He, along with a number of other amazing emcees, got his real start at The Good Life Cafe. The Good Life was a health food store in south central that had an open mic night from 8-10 on Thursday nights. There were rules, such as no cussing among others, to help foster real creativity. The music that came out of The Good Life was basically the exact opposite of the music LA became know for, NWA and all the other gansta rap. Also worth mentioning, that many credit these guys with the invention of "freestyling".

There's a great documentary about it called "This is the Life: How the West was One". You can get it on Netflix. Highly recommended.

Enjoy and don't forget to support the artists,

Aaron


Track List
1. The Guidelines by Aceyalone on A Book of Human Language
2. Mic Check (Kemo Remix) by Aceyalone on All Balls Don't Bounce (Revisited)
3. Disconnected by Aceyalone & RJD2 on Magnificent City
4. Hardship by Aceyalone on Accepted Eclectic
5. Workin' Man Blues ft. Bionik by Aceyalone on The Lonely Ones
6. Eazy ft. Chali 2na by Aceyalone on Lightning Strikes
7. Cornbread by Freestyle Fellowship on Innercity Griots
8. Makeba by Aceyalone on All Balls Don't Bounce (Revisited)
9. Options ft. Aceyalone by Myka 9 on 1969
10. Mike, Aaron, and Eddie by Haiku D'Etat on Coup de Theatre

Same old directions on how to access the podcast

1. Use Itunes

-Open Itunes

- Click the “Advanced” pull down menu and select “Subscribe to a Podcast”

- Paste following URL into the box: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ActiveListener

- Click “OK” and you’re set. Downloading should begin immediately and Itunes will automatically download new episodes

2. Download the file direct

-Click the link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ActiveListener

-Find the link that says “Play Now” under the desired podcast and right click on it

-from the right click menu select “Save link as…”

-Choose location and file name and download. This needs to be done each time I release a new podcast.

Podcast 10 - The Jazz Trio

Thanks for stickin' in there during this delay. Between vacationing, losing my microphone, and a little spontaneous computer failure, it's been quite a task to get this one out for ya'll but here it is, podcast number 10! To mark the occasion, I have put together, what I think is a really special mix, focusing on jazz in one of it's simplest manifestations, the trio. Easily one of my favorite forms, jazz trios have put together some of my absolute favorite tunes which, I have included here. Really, almost every piece presented has been my favorite song at one point or another. I get goosebumps just thinking about some of them.

I wanted to take a moment to remember an amazing piano player and all around jazz great who passed away in May, Hank Jones. The older brother of famed drummer Elvin and composer Thad, Hank was the last of the Joneses. While I certainly can't say I have known his work all along or anything like that, I did know him as the piano player on one of the first jazz albums I bought. I bought The Great Jazz Trio's album 's Wonderful around 2006 and really connected with it. I played their version of "Take Five" on a previous podcast but truly the whole cd is outstanding. While the list of his accomplishments since his birth in 1918 could be a book in and of itself, one thing he is known for that almost anyone, jazz fan or not, might like to know is that he was playing the accompanying piano when Marylin Monroe sang happy birthday to JFK.

So anyway, thanks again for listening. Making these ten mixes has been a blast. I love hearing what people think and the recommendations people have given me. I'm really enjoying this so expect the podcasts to keep coming.

Don't forget to support the artists,

Aaron


Track List
1. Wave by The Ahmad Jamal Trio on The Awakening
2. Fly Me to the Moon by Eldar on Eldar
3. Question and Answer by The Roy Haynes Trio on The Roy Haynes Trio
4. Diamonds and Pearls by The Marcin Wasilewski Trio on January
5. Eighty-Eight Days in My Veins by E.S.T. (Esjorn Svensson Trio) on Viaticum
6. Pinzin Kinzin by The Avishai Cohen Trio on Gently Disturbed
7. Mami Gato by Medeski, Martin, and Wood on End of the World Party (Just in Case)

Same old directions on how to access the podcast

1. Use Itunes

-Open Itunes

- Click the “Advanced” pull down menu and select “Subscribe to a Podcast”

- Paste following URL into the box: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ActiveListener

- Click “OK” and you’re set. Downloading should begin immediately and Itunes will automatically download new episodes

2. Download the file direct

-Click the link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ActiveListener

-Find the link that says “Play Now” under the desired podcast and right click on it

-from the right click menu select “Save link as…”

-Choose location and file name and download. This needs to be done each time I release a new podcast.