It was my distinct pleasure to welcome Josh Haden and Spain to our studios at KPFK for an interview and performance last week. As I mentioned in the interview I can still remember the first time I heard Spain’s music, when the music director at Album 88 played, “Ray Of Light” from their debut release Blue Moods Of Spain back in 1995. They’ve been one of my most cherised favorite bands since then. Back in 2009 I was overjoyed to hear that Josh had put the band back together and they’d released some new music. On my one and only time as a guest host on Morning Becomes Eclectic I played a track from the new Spain and was surprised to later get a thank you message from Josh. He’s kept in touch making sure that I had new music and when he offerred to bring the band in for a performance, there’s was absolutely no way I was going to say no.

The band plays four songs, two from the brand new release The Soul Of Spain, “Sevenfold” and “Without A Sound,” and the interview closes with renditions of two songs from that debut release, “Untitled #1,” and perhaps Josh’s most famous composition “Spiritual.” During the interview we talk about why it took so long, over 10 years, for the world to hear a new record from Spain and spend a bit of time discussing Josh’s frustrations with the music industry, how the new group got together and plans for the future of Spain. Big thanks to Stan Misraje for working his magic on the sound to get everything just right. I sincerely hope you enjoy this as much as I did, this was definitely one of my favorite moments in my entire radio career.

Spain on KPFK’s Melting Pot: Recorded 04-16-2012

Sunday was notable for a number of reasons, first off it was Earth Day, I’d hoped to play a short Happy Birthday greeting to the Earth that Captain Beefheart recorded many moons ago, but left somewhere in the deep recesses of my hard drive at home. Secondly, April 22nd is Charles Mingus’ birthday, and that is a national holiday in my household so I definitely made sure not to forget to play several tracks from Mingus, including the very first thing I ever identified as coming from the man, first heard almost 20 years ago, “Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting.” All the emotion that was in the playing has hooke me ever since.

Sunday we also played an amazing performance and interview with Josh Haden and Spain, (separate post upcoming), that takes up just about all of the second hour. In between the tribute to Mingus and the Spain interview I played a few newer things that have come my way, almost all of which were pretty funky, including new music from the Sugarman Three, a group out of SF named Monophonics, a brand new group from LA called Jungle Fire, African Electronica from Batida and some interesting reissues from Funky Rob and Jean Rollin. Next week we’ll be on all vinyl, and we’ll likely have a special guest DJ in the second hour.

Melting Pot on KPFK #82: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #82: Second Hour

Playlist: 04-22-2012

{opening theme} Booker T & the MGs – Melting Pot – Melting Pot (Stax)

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Charles Mingus – Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting – Blues & Roots (Atlantic)
Charles Mingus – Old Blues For Walt’s Torin – Tonight At Noon (Atlantic)
Charles Mingus – Mood Indigo – Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (Impulse!)
Charles Mingus – Don’t Let It Happen Here – Music Written For Monterey 1965, Not Heard, Played In Its Entirety at UCLA (Sunnyside)

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Monophonics – There’s A Riot Going On – In Your Brain (Ubiquity)
Rob – Make It Fast, Make It Slow – Make It Fast, Make It Slow (Soundway)
Pierre Raph – Gilda & Gunshots – The B-Music Of Jean Rollin (Finders Keepers)
Jungle Fire – Comencemos – Single (Self-released)

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Georgia Anne Muldrow – Birth Of Petey Wheatstraw – Seeds (Someothaship)
Batida – Tirei O Chapeu – Batida (Soundway)
Pure Essence – Wake Up – Soul Cal (Now-Again)
Sugarman 3 – Got To Get Back To My Baby – What The World Needs Now (Daptone)

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Spain – Performance and Interview – Recorded Live At KPFK (KPFK Archives)

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Gil Scott-Heron – Must Be Something – First Minute Of A New Day (Arista)

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{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Batar (Kemado)

Pat Thomas Interview on KPFK’s Melting Pot: Recorded 04-04-2012

Our guest this past Sunday was author/producer Pat Thomas, who stopped in to discuss his latest work, Listen, Whitey!: The Sights & Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975  and the musical companion to the book, released by Light In The Attic records.  As someone who grew up listening to many of the leaders associated with the Black Power movement, including Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, Stokely Carmichael/Kwame Ture and Eldridge Cleaver I became aware of music associated with the music as my musical tastes began to converge with my political and cultural tastes in college.  In the past there have been a few collections that cover music of the Civil Rights Movement, but few that have covered music directly/indirectly associated with the often more militant Black Power movement.  “Listen, Whitey” more than fills that gap  (I’ll be reviewing the CD later in the week).

Thomas compiles information on a wide variety of musical releases, some well-known, some very obscure, associated with this turbulent, passionate and still controversial period of American History.  Our interview covers how he came into the project, some insight on several of the most interesting tracks from the collection, including the Lumpen, a group formed by rank and file members of the Black Panther Party and Bob Dylan’s all but lost acoustic version of “George Jackson” dedicated to the Soledad Brother George Jackson and recorded shortly after his murder.   We also discuss the reception of the book, the legacy of this music and this time for contemporary musicians and audiences and plans for subsequent volumes.  In addition to tracks from the Lumpen and Bob Dylan, we also played tracks from Elaine Brown and Amiri Baraka during the course of the interview.

Felt good to be back on the airwaves (and back on Facebook after a long lent) after a little break. We had a little bit of new music in yesterday’s show, including tracks from Georgia Anne Muldrow, Ceu, Ruby Fray, THEE Satisfaction and the first new album from Josh Haden’s Spain in over 10 years! Ahead of their show on Friday the 13th at the Sattelite, you got an edited version of the Sandwitches interview / performance from November of last year (here’s a link to the full performance with 2 more songs) featuring one of my favorite performances on the show from 2011. In the second hour I spend time with author Pat Thomas (separate post coming) on his new book and the CD/LP compilation, “Listen Whitey!: Sounds of Black Power 1967-1974.” There’s a good bit of insight on the process of putting something like this together as well as some interesting stories on some of the artists in the collection. I’m out of town again on April 15th, but Morgan Rhodes will fill-in for me and then I’ll be back on April 22nd!

Melting Pot on KPFK #81: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #81: Second Hour

Playlist: 4-8-2012

{opening theme} Booker T & the MGs – Melting Pot – Melting Pot (Stax)

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Humble Pie – Groovin’ With Jesus – Thunderbox (A&M)
King James Version – He’s Forever – Boddie Recording Co., Cleveland, Ohio (Numero)
David Axelrod – Holy Are You – Warner/Reprise Sessions: Electric Prunes & Pride (Warner UK)
Pulp – Dishes – This Is Hardcore (Island)
Ruby Fray – Closed Eye – Pith (K Records)

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The Sandwitches – Interview & Performance (Rebroadcast) – Recorded at KPFK 11-2-2011 (KPFK Archives)

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Spain – The Only One – The Soul Of Spain (Diamond Soul)
Wendy Rene – Crying All By Myself – After Laughter, Comes Tears: Complete Stax & Volt Singles + Rarities 1964-1965 (Light In The Attic)
Freedom Express – Get Down – Soul Cal (Now-Again)
THEEsatisfaction – God – Awe NaturalE (Sub Pop)
Ceu – Retrovisor – Caravana Sereia Bloom (Six Degrees)
Brownout – Flaximus – Oozy (Nat Geo Music)

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Pat Thomas – Interview – Recorded at KPFK (KPFK Archives)

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Amiri Baraka – Who Will Survive America? – Listen Whitey!: The Sounds of Black Power 1967-1974 (Light In The Attic)
Georgia Anne Muldrow – Kali Yuga – Seeds (SomeOthaShip)
Nancy Priddy – Ebony Glass – You’ve’ Come This Way Before (Dot)

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{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Batar (Kemado)

Had to wait all the way for March for our first all vinyl show on Melting Pot. I’ve actually been a busy beaver on the vinyl front the last couple of months, so there was plenty of goodies to share with y’all. Unfortunately, my computer apparently decided that it didn’t want to record any of the analog sounds in the first hour (i’ve used the lower quality one from KPFK’s audio archives instead), though I was able to sweet talk it into getting all of the second hour. I’m out of town this week, but the always solid O-Dub from Soul-Sides.com will be guest hosting on April Fools Day at Melting Pot. Enjoy!

Melting Pot on KPFK #80: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #80: Second Hour

Playlist: 03-25-2012

Boris Gardiner – Melting Pot – Is What’s Happening (Dynamic)

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Tim Maia – Primavera – Tim Maia (Polydor)
Richard “Popcorn” Wylie – E.S.P. – Extrasensory Perception (ABC)
Blue Mitchell – P.T. Blues – Last Tango – Blues (Mainstream)
El Gran Combo – Si No Me Dan – 5

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Sureshot Symphone Solution – Chair On The Ceiling (Skeleton Edit) – 7” (Self-released)
Dr. John – Babylon – Babylon (Atco)
SCLC Operation Breadbasket Orchestra – Nobody Knows – On The Case (Chess)
Scott Walker – The Big Hurt – Aloner (Smash)
Joe Dukes – Moohah The DJ – Soulful Drums (Prestige)

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The One & Nines – Make It Easy – 7” (Cotter)
Butterfield Blues Band – Driftin & Driftin’ – Live (Elektra)

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JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound – To Love Someone – 7” (Addenda)
Los Coke – Que Seria De Mi – Coke (Sound Triangle)
Johnny Lytle – You’ve Got To Love The World – Be Proud (Solid State)
Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation – Mutiny – Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation (Blue Thumb)

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The Sandwitches – Miracle Mile – Mrs. Jones Cookies (Empty Cellar)
La Reservacion India – Detras De Mi Sonrisa – Lo Buena De La Vida (Eco)
Henry “Red” Allen & Kid Ory – Blues For Jimmy – Red Allen Meets Kid Ory (Verve)
Lee Hazlewood – Bugles In The Afternoon – The Very Special World Of Lee Hazlewood (MGM)

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The Soul Investigators – Creepin’ Part 2 – 7” (Timmion)
Iggy & the Stooges – Death Trip – Raw Power (CBS)
Jorge Ben – Amor Do Carnaval – From Brazil (4 Corners)
Dennis Coffey – Big City Funk – Evolution (Sussex)

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{closing theme} Kenny Baker – Mississippi Waltz – Plays Bill Monroe (County)

Still pretty busy, but at least here’s an updated playlist for y’all. Nice show featuring a lot of new music, from Robert Glasper Experiment feat. King, Holly Golightly, Quantic & Alice Russell, La Sera, Frankie Rose, Ceu and many more…enjoy!

Melting Pot on KPFK #79: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #79: Second Hour

Playlist: 03-18-2012

{opening theme} Booker T & the MGs – Melting Pot – 7” (Stax)

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No Walls – Wanderlust – No Walls (Third Eye)
Love – A House Is Not A Motel – Forever Changes (Elektra)
The Chefs – Love Is Such A Splendid Thing – Records & Tea (Damaged Goods)
The Spectrals – Get A Grip – Bad Penny (Slumberland)

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Robert Glasper Experiment feat. King – Move Love – Black Radio (Blue Note)
Frankie Rose – Daylight Sky – Interstellar (Slumberland)
Barry Goldberg – Fool On A Hill – Reunion (Buddah)
La Sera – I’m Alone – Sees The Light (Hardly Art)
Wendy Rene – Deep In My Heart – After Laughter Comes Tears (Light In The Attic)

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Adrian Younge – The Love I Got – Adrian vs. Adrian 12” (Ubiquity)
24 Carat Black – I Begin To Weep – Gone: The Promises of Yesterday (Numero)
Gonjasufi – Time Out – MUZZLE EP (Warp)
Sureshot Symphony Solution feat. Moses Soulreal – Hate The Real – A Good Look EP (Self-released)

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Quantic & Alice Russell with the Combo Barbaro – Magdalena – Look Around The Corner (Tru Thoughts)
Rotary Connection – I Must Be There – Aladdin (Cadet Concept)
Gold Leaves – Future – The Ornament (Hardly Art)
Ceu – Chegar Em Mim – Caravana Sereia Bloom (Six Degrees)

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Georgia Anne Muldrow – Husfriend – Seeds (SomeOthaShip)
US Aries – Are You Ready To Come (With Me) – Personal Space (Chocolate Industries)
J.J. Barnes – You Owe It To Yourself – Best of Perception and Today (BBE)
Quakers feat. Dead Prez – Soul Power – Quakers (Stones Throw)
The Funk Ark – High Noon – High Noon (ESL)

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Holly Golightly & the Brokeoffs – Mother Earth – Long Distance (Damaged Goods)
Hunx – Your Love Is Here To Stay – Hairdresser’s Blues (Hardly Art)
Kool Man & Diamond T – One For The Road – 7” (Timmion)
La Chiva Gantiva – Pa Q’ca – Pelao (Crammed Discs)

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{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Batar (Kemado)