DJ Carl Hamm's Blog *~*~*~*~*~: December 2008

last podcast of 2008 - If Music Could Talk - Dec 28, 2008 - Beautiful music from Brazil, and lots more

Astrud Gilberto

i found two used Astrud Gilberto lps today at the record store, took them home, put the first one on ( "The Shadow of Your Smile" ) and.. fell into a trance..

such a brilliant voice.. the subtle understated vocalization of these melodies.. each one as soulful as a prayer.. like silver threads woven between the sensuous saxophone lines of her accompanyist, Stan Getz.. her unmistakeable "Rio" accent made even the most familiar lyrics sound new and poignant.. if a flower could sing, it would sound like Astrud Gilberto..

when she first began to gain popularity everyone wondered... where did she come from? (from Rio of course...) ...according to wikipedia, her first recording was "on the influential album Getz/Gilberto featuring João Gilberto, Stan Getz, and Antonio Carlos Jobim. She had never performed professionally, and sang on the recordings at the suggestion of her husband, João Gilberto (they divorced in the mid-1960s)." She states in an interview posted on her website, remembering the session where she sang "the Girl from Ipanema", "I'll never forget that while we were listening back to the just recorded song at the studio's control room, Stan said to me, with a very dramatic expression: "This song is going to make you famous"."

i wonder what's she doing now since 2001's "Jungle" Cd? she has apparently "taken a break" from touring but never officially retired... (ps: I found the answers here)

below, a rare video version of "the Girl from Ipanema" complete with a 60's glamor gal fan club audience.. and best of all, it's Christmas!

(in this movie, the cornball classic teen flick "Get Yourself a College Girl", Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz both appeared as themselves. The film also featured appearances by the Animals,The Standells , the Rhythm Masters, Jimmy Smith, Roberta Linn, The Dave Clark Five, and a major role played by Nancy Sinatra )

If Music Could Talk December 21 2008 - Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!

here's last week's PODCAST LINK featuring several odd Christmas songs, some other miscellaneous favorites of mine... and some great Arabic pop to totally mix it up...

"If Music Could Talk" Dec 14, 2008- special guest: producer Tye Jones of SoulFire music

PODCAST LINK

listen to this show and hear some exclusive tracks by local artists Miss Gina & DJ Manifest as well as tracks from a various artists comp from the Summer of Soul series which was put together by Tye Jones to showcase his label, Soulfire Music- based right here in Richmond VA.

the first hour was a mishmash of funk , soul, jazz and hip hop...

ENJOY!

Watch the 1982 Bollywood Classic "Shakti" online

WATCH HERE (17 parts)

Directed by Ramesh Sippy, Music by R.D. Burman
Starring Dilip Kumar and Amitabh "Big B" Bachchan (also featuring Raakhee, Smita Patil Amrish Puri) 1982

Dilip Kumar .... Ashwini Kumar
Amitabh Bachchan .... Vijay Kumar
Raakhee .... Sheetal Kumar
Smita Patil .... Roma Devi
Amrish Puri .... JK Verma
Kulbhushan Kharbanda .... K.D Narang
Dalip Tahil .... Ganput Rai
Ashok Kumar .... Police Commissioner
Satish Shah .... Satish
Anil Kapoor .... Ravi Kumar (Vijay and Roma's son) (Guest appearance)

film description from wikipedia

with subtitles! : )

Smita Patil remembered

December 13th marks the date (22 years ago) when Smita Patil passed away, tragically at such a young age (31)

click here to read Amitabh's recollection of Smita Patil and also how he reacted to seeing Smita's son, Prateek Smit Babaar , acting in the recent film Jaane tu ya Jaane Na.

another link also here

Here is a song which features her and Naseerudin Shah - Karoge Yaad To - a bittersweet poem

Trailer for Mirch Masala - one of Smita's most heroic performances

Ubaratha

Bollywood Night - DECEMBER 13, 2008

Cool Book featuring over 200 pages of Bollywood Posters

Bollywood Posters - Jerry Pinto & Sheena Sippy

read about it here

buy it

Cool Blog featuring Artists, Authors, Cartoonists...from India, Pakistan, etc

Asian Window

PODCAST - December 6 2008 If Music Could Talk

Last week - December 6th, i played a really groovy and soulful reggae set to start out the show. and then eased into the ecclectica for hour 2..some mysterious and melancholy vibes.. and then a transition back into the warmth - with a set of music from brazil (although even this portion starts out with some spooky sounding psych from violeta de outono) then we finish out the evening with a set of arabic (lebanese) music (eid mubarak!!) featuring selections culled from several records brought back - especially for my show - by the sister of a good friend of mine.. a wide range of tempos to keep you motivated and alert... and definitely another good set of music for a cold windy winter evening...or whenever you might end up listening to this after the fact... enjoy the sounds

PODCAST LINK - If music Could Talk - Dec 6, 2008

PODCAST LINK - Nov 19, 2008 - giving thanks.. and other sentiments

giving thanks.. and other sentiments..

This past "holiday" week was a bit of a rollercoaster... i spent most of the week in the mountains.. but the usual myrth and merriment of this holiday (turkey day - thanksgiving..) was overshadowed by the attacks on the city of Mumbai and i was glued to the television in our cabin every evening to see what would happen next and when the killing would stop... a really horrifying thing to see.. and i was filled with sadness seeing the faces of people in the streets looking on as the Taj hotel burned.. it made me angry, it made me sad.. it made me remember what 911 felt like..i considered cancelling my upcoming bollywood night but thought again that it might give people a chance to let off some of the frustration from this past few weeks.. basically, events like this leave us feeling paralyzed and confused.. i dont see any clear message from this action.. its just another shock attack from some gang of psychotic motherless wannabe-revolutionaries..

anyway, i was feeling bummed and a bit numb from this horrible tragedy... so i thought id play some indian classics - and one track by ustad nusrat fateh ali khan - the late legendary pakistani qawaali singer - a really beautiful remix that transcends all this stupidity - people will be quick to judge pakistan.. but pakistani people are not behind this.. "it's a political thing" according to one of my friends from nearby in mumbai... most of this crap goes back to the violent clashes just after independence - britain cut india and pakistan into slices (On 3 June 1947, Viscount Louis Mountbatten, the last British Governor-General of India, announced the partitioning of the British Indian Empire into a secular India and a Muslim Pakistan) and people were forced to leave their homes and their land - lots of bloodshed and many unforgotten wounds from those days... now it's remained a political fued... the people dont all hate each other... according to an anecdote from another friend from india, the cricket team from India went to Pakistan recently for the first time in many many years and they stayed in the Pakistani people's homes... the politicians still hold the grudges though.. and according to some sources, the pakistani government has aided radical groups in the past ... i guess this time their thug buddies went too far because they're not too quick to take credit for it..

anyway... history has all the clues to the violence going on the world today-- the seeds were planted years ago.. mainly by the colonial "empires" that are now finding their economies collapsing -- is it karma maybe?

here are the translated lyrics to the song "Zindegi Ek Safar" from Andaz which I played during this show :
'Zindagi Ek Safar' from movie 'Andaz (1971)'

zindagi ek safar hai suhana
life is a wonderful journey
yahan kal kya ho kisne jaana
no one knows what will happen in the future
(yodeling)
arey o leiyo leiyo, oleiyo leiyo
oleiyo leiyo, oleiyo leiyo
oleiyo leiyo, oleiyo leiyo
chaand taaron se chalna hai aage
we have to go ahead of the moon and the stars
asmaanon se badna hai aage
we have to reach beyond the skies
pichhe reh jayega yeh zamana
this world will be left behind
yahan kal kya ho kisne jaana
who knows what the future is
zindagi ek safar hai suhana
life is a wonderful journey
yahan kal kya ho kisne jaana
no one knows what the future is
haste gate jahan se guzar
tread life joyfully
duniya ki tu parvah na kar
don't wory about the rest of the world
muskuraate hue din bitana
pass the day smilingly
yahan kal kya ho kisne jaana
no one knows what the future will be
haan zindagi ek safar hai suhana
yes, life is a beauful journey
yahan kal kya ho kisne jaana
no one knows what the future will be
maut aani hai ayegi ik din
death will befall us one day
jaan jaani hai jayegi ik din
the soul will depart one day
aisi baaton se kya ghabrana
why worry about such things
yahan kal kya ho kisne jaana
who knows what the future will be
zindagi ek safar hai suhana
life is a wonderful journey
yahan kal kya ho kisne jaana
no one knows what the future will be
(yodeling)
di di di, du du du
oleyo leyo ha haa haa

PODCAST LINK - If music Could Talk - Nov 19, 2008

enjoy the podcast - shamshad begum, asha, lata, mukesh, dj hyacinth d'souza, ustad nusrat fateh ali khan, sun ra, john zorn, husker du, the clash, peter murphy, etc