By Juan C. Ayllon
If you are familiar with Larry Carlton, you know that he was a legendary sessions man that rose through the ranks in the 1960s and exploded onto the albums of chart toppers like Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson and many others in the 70s and 80s before going onto a stellar solo career. Most often, this winner of Grammy Awards and The Guitar Player Lifetime Achievement Award (2008) is known for his precision, silky smooth, emotional and lyrical style. (Gress) His sublime live album, Last Nite, takes me back to the 1980s, when I lived in Southern California and frequented this packed, dingy bar in North Hollywood to listen to top-flight studio musicians in their side bands, like acclaimed sessions electric guitarist Steve Lukather of Toto fame playing with Los Lobotomys, saxophonist Brandon Fields who joined Lukather or played with his own trio; there was bassists Abraham Laboriel (of the Crusaders and who plays on Last Nite) and John Pena, percussionist Alex Acuna, as well as lesser lights like Don Randy and Quest. These trips, which took 90 minutes or more to drive were special and, to this day, I remember the route there: take I-10 West to the 101 North to the Lankershim exit, turn left under the highway, take another immediate left on Cahuenga Blvd. and look for it on the right just across from Universal Studios.
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By Juan C. Ayllon
I first discovered DJ Mark Farina in the late 90s while cruising the CD listening stations at the Borders Bookstore in Gurnee. At the time, I had my own mobile DJ service and had been asked by the leader of Single Adults Ministry to play some music on Thursday nights after the singles groups let out. Now, there were two singles groups meeting then: One for students ages 20 to 30 called Young Adults Ministry (or YAM), and the other for those 30 and up called Frontline. In a society enamored with youthfulness, it wasn’t all that surprising that people tended to stay with YAM well into their 30s – and even 40s, which resulted in Frontline being peopled largely by those in their 40s and 50s – and up. I found this ironic; after all, this was church and didn’t one of the Ten Commandments say, “Thou shall not lie”? Gerontophobia is described, first, as a fear of growing old or, second, a hatred or fear of the elderly. Unfortunately, both phenomena were operating here. Their Freudian Slips fully exposed, some YAMers cruelly referred to those in Frontline as “Flatliners”. This of course referenced the 1990s film by the same name featuring Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts and Kevin Bacon as medical students who purposely “flatlined” – or stopped their hearts – to explore the world beyond. But, I digress. Christian pop has its moments, but sometimes, it just doesn’t do it for me. In the church setting, this can be problematic. I needed music that wouldn’t feature offensive or provocative lyrics. Thus, one summer I spent numerous hours listening to various jazz, fusion, samba, trance, house, chill out and dance tracks at Borders in search of hip and upbeat music with little to no lyrics. Some albums were a mixed bag, so I made sure to note the unusable ones as I planned a set for each night. Some nights, I’d feature straight-forward jazz and Bossa Nova; others it might be a house or trance mix, while others might be chill out or Latin Jazz. I enjoyed mixing it up, and used my dual CD player to seamlessly move from one song to the next. Mark Farina was one of my favorites. He produced the more upbeat House dance albums as well as more downbeat mixes featuring superb rhythms and beats – along with some rap – that he dubbed “Mushroom Jazz” (and produced a successful series of albums under that name). Although this falls under the heading of “Mushroom Jazz,” in all honesty, it provides a nice blending of the two styles. It’s decidedly a bit more upbeat ala house music, but also features nice lower tempo pieces. Enjoy! By Juan C. Ayllon A few days before Christmas, I flew south to Tampa, Florida to meet up with my wife and in-laws. It felt good to once again walk outdoors in short sleeves, enjoy breakfast and, later, a glass of wine at night out back by the pool. My sinuses and contenance opened up.
Back in Chicago three days later, the sub-zero wind chill, ice and snow snatched that all away. Our summer clothes were tucked away in drawers and closets, where they will remain for another five months. |
Juan C. AyllonA writer, artist, educator and owner of Prairie Audio Man Cave, he lives with his wife, Isabel (AKA Belle), and their Goldendoodle, Liam, enjoys listening to high fidelity music and all things hi-fi at their home in the greater Chicagoland area.. Archives
March 2024
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