James Brown


  • How To Play in a Rock Band, Part 1: Introduction

    “Iโ€™ve decided to start a new series. Even if youโ€™re not a musician, perhaps itโ€™ll give some insight into the nitty-gritty of the art of music-making, or inform your listening the next time you sit in front of your stereo, or just provide some entertainment and perhaps a life lesson or two.

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  • Orange Amplification Launches The Pyramid Audio System

    The Pyramid Audio System has been carefully formulated to sound pleasing to the ear with a warm clean sound shaped to limit โ€œear fatigueโ€.

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  • Why 2024’s Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Inductees Disappoint

    “There has to be a party. Which is why there have to be as many inductees crammed in as groupies at a Mรถtley Crรผe orgy.”

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  • An Evening With DALI’s Epikore 11 Loudspeaker, Featuring Accuphase, Esoteric, Stable 33.33, Andrรฉ Thรฉriault, Luna Cables

    “Some studio effects seemed to pop out of nowhere, in a way that sounded completely liberated from the speakers.”

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  • Diving Into Disco โ€“ Rediscovering the Soul of a Generation

    Hi, my name is Claude and I’m a… disco addict. There I said it. Now that wasn’t so awful after all. Truth be told, I never shied away from admitting my lifelong disco dependency to strangers. I was always an unabashed member of the disco brigade, but from what I’ve gathered from friends and acquaintances,…

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  • The Jackson 5 on “American Bandstand”: When Five Brothers from Gary, Indiana, Became America’s Favorite Siblings

    On the electrifying day of February 21, 1970, the Jackson 5 stormed โ€œAmerican Bandstand,โ€ forever changing the landscape of pop music. This debut wasnโ€™t just a performance; it was a revelation. Led by the prodigious Michael Jackson, the groupโ€™s entrance onto the national stage was a high-octane spectacle that left audiences spellbound and set the…

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  • MICHEL PETRUCCIANI: THE MONTREUX YEARS

    BMG & THE MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES THE NEXT RELEASE IN THE MONTREUX YEARS SERIES.ย  A COLLECTION OF MICHEL PETRUCCIANIโ€™S FINEST PERFORMANCES AT THE MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL FROM 1990 โ€“ 1998. PRE-ORDER LONDON, WEDNESDAY MARCH 1, 2023 โ€“ BMG and The Montreux Jazz Festival have today announced the release of โ€œMichel Petrucciani: The Montreux Yearsโ€…

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  • PACO DE LUCรA: THE MONTREUX YEARS

    A SHOWCASE OF PACO DE LUCรAโ€™S MOST MESMERISING MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL LIVE PERFORMANCES BETWEEN 1984 to 2012 PLUS LINER NOTES FROM JOHN MCLAUGHLIN & RARE PHOTOS OF PACO DE LUCรAโ€™S TIME AT MONTREUX PRE-ORDER HERE. London Wednesday 18 January 2023 โ€“ BMG today announces the next instalment in The Montreux Years series with โ€œPaco De…

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  • Norah Jonesโ€™s โ€œI Dream of Christmasโ€โ€”A new Christmas classic?

    At this time of year, I have always been fascinated by the question of what draws musicians from nearly every musical genre to Christmas music. Google โ€œChristmas musicโ€ and youโ€™ll see literally thousands of listings, everyone from Cheech & Chong and XTC to Charles Brown and The Flaming Lips. Even The Rolling Stones have a…

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  • MoFiโ€™s 40th Anniversary Edition of Michael Jacksonโ€™s Thriller REVIEWED

    When MoFi offered to send me an advanced promo for one of the most famous albums of all time, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity and thrill of revisiting a classic forty years after its initial release.

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  • MONTY ALEXANDER: THE MONTREUX YEARS

    THE MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL & BMG ANNOUNCE THE NEXT RELEASE IN THE MONTREUX YEARS SERIES FEATURES THE LEGENDARY JAZZ PIANISTโ€™S PERFORMANCES AT MONTREUX FROM 1993 โ€“ 2016 PRE-ORDER MONTY ALEXANDER: THE MONTREUX YEARS HERE. Montreux Jazz Festival and BMG today announce the next instalment in The Montreux Years series with Monty Alexander: The Montreux Years.…

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  • CHICK COREA: THE MONTREUX YEARS

    THE MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL & BMG ANNOUNCE THE NEXT RELEASE IN THE MONTREUX YEARS SERIES RELIVE THE 23 TIME GRAMMY AWARD WINNERโ€™S PERFORMANCES AT MONTREUX FROM 1981 โ€“ 2010 PRE-ORDER CHICK COREA: THE MONTREUX YEARS HERE LONDON 17 AUGUST 2022 โ€“ Montreux Jazz Festival and BMG today announce the next installment in The Montreux Years…

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  • Diving into Disco, Part 7 โ€” Psychedelic Soul

    The Vietnam War and social upheavalโ€ฆ The times they were (still) aโ€™changinโ€™

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  • Diving into Disco, Part 5 โ€” Going to a Go-Go

    While the Supremes, with the support of their writing and producing team of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland, a.k.a. H-D-H, continued their winning streak with “I Hear a Symphony” in October, 1965, and “My World Is Empty Without You” in December of the same year, squeezed in between those two months, in…

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  • Diving into Disco, Part 4 โ€” Funk and Memphis Soul

    Born in Barnwell, South Carolina, James Brown had to hustle his way up and out from extreme poverty. Partly raised by a mostly-absent mother and abusive father-husband, young Brown bore the brunt of a rough, tough childhood, shining shoes for less than a dime, and living with one of his aunts in a brothel; his…

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