From Bill Moyers Journal:

Bill Moyers sits down with Mark Johnson, the producer of a remarkable documentary about the simple but transformative power of music: PLAYING FOR CHANGE: PEACE THROUGH MUSIC. The film brings together musicians from around the world — blues singers in a waterlogged New Orleans, chamber groups in Moscow, a South African choir — to collaborate on songs familiar and new, in the effort to foster a new, greater understanding of our commonality.

Johnson traveled around the globe and recorded tracks for such classics as "Stand By Me" and Bob Marley's "One World" — creating a new mix in which essentially the performers are all performing together — worlds apart. Often recording with just battery-powered equipment, Johnson found musicians on street corners or in small clubs and they would in turn gather their friends and colleagues — in all, they recorded over 100 musicians from Tibet to Zimbabwe.

You can read the rest of the story and watch Bill Moyers' interview with Mark Johnson here.

Obama played in a Philly voter registration event. An American Reclamation project.

Springsteen: After the disastrous administration of the past 8 years. What we really need is, we need somebody to lead us in an American Reclamation project.

I've continued to find where ever I go, that America remains a repository of America's hopes and desires and that despite the terrible erosion of the standing in the world accomplished by our recent administration we remain for many, many people this house of dreams and 1000 George Bushes and 1000 Dick Cheney's will never be able to tear that house down.

(H/t Scarce)

Alabama Jubilee

 NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Jerry Reed, a singer who became a good ol' boy actor in car chase movies like "Smokey and the Bandit," has died of complications from emphysema at 71.

As a singer in the 1970s and early 1980s, Reed had a string of hits that included "Amos Moses," "When You're Hot, You're Hot," "East Bound and Down," "She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)" and "The Bird." Read on...

Springsteen live at Hammersmith Odeon, 1975- Jungleland

"Let it Die"

One of my favorite all time bands. You know how I feel about Michael. He's one of my heroes.

'Dennis Chambers on Drums, Mike Stern on Guitar, and James Genus on bass, and George Whitty on keyboards.'

Brecker Brothers Live In Barcelona - Some Skunk Funk

  This should be interesting:

Political rap-rock giants Rage Against the Machine will give a rare performance at Target Center in Minneapolis on Sept. 3, which not so coincidentally is the same week as the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. for $60.

Rage guitarist Tom Morello has already committed to perform with country-rocker Steve Earle at a union rally Sept. 1 at St. Paul's Harriet Island, the first day of the convention. The band has lashed out at the Bush administration at other shows this year, including last weekend's Lollapalooza festival in Chicago. Morello expressed interest this summer in performing during both party conventions.

Guitar night at the LNMC!

Bridge Of Sighs-Remastered

There's some good older videos that I could not embed.

And now for something beautiful.

Charlie is a good friend and a true legend. Ernie Watts is simply magnificent.

I saw Joe recently sit in at the Roxy and play Funk 49. Evey note is placed to perfection. Every sound that emanated from his fretboard was magical. 

Johnny Griffin dies and the Saxophone Gods weep. We lost another Jazz Legend. He just smoked. Please support every great Jazz Master that you can. Going to a live show in a small club is simply heaven.

NY Times:

Johnny Griffin, a tenor saxophonist from Chicago whose speed, control and harmonic acuity made him one of the most talented American jazz musicians of his generation yet who spent most of his career in Europe, died Friday at his home in Availles-Limouzine, a village in France. He was 80 and had lived there for 24 years...

Mr. Griffin's modest height earned him the nickname the Little Giant; his speed in bebop improvising marked him as the Fastest Gun in the West; a group he led with his fellow saxophonist Eddie (Lockjaw) Davis was informally called the Tough Tenor band, a designation that was eventually applied to a whole school of hard-bop tenor players...read on

Growing up a rocker in the 70's, I forgot how much we all listened to America.

"A Horse with No Name"

Wow, this is wild. Check out Radiohead's new camera free---laser made---music video.

3D plotting technologies collected information about the shapes and relative distances of objects. The video was created entirely with visualizations of that data.  

Go here to see what you can do to it yourself.

Gizmodo has more...

Did I mention that because this video is pure data instead of images you can manipulate it in real time using a visualizer? Because you can. Also be sure to check out the awesome visualizer, which lets you manipulate the data to adjust the image and rotate around the objects in real-time. The most fun time waster you'll find all week, guaranteed. [Radiohead]

Hey Now.

I really loved Pixar's new movie, "Wall-E," and I was really happy to hear the voice that screams "humanity," sing to us during the end credits. Peter Gabriel wrote the lyrics to the very cool song "Down to the Earth"