“I met Sal Bernardi at The Comeback Inn in Venice, California in 1975 or so. He was playing piano for a couple of comedians who played there on the weekend. I came and sat in sometimes on Tuesdays, singing ‘My Funny Valentine‘ and ‘Since I Fell.’
We wrote beautiful songs together, Traces of the Western Slopes, where he sings and plays harmonica through some effects Buzzy Feiten concocted. He deeply influenced the whole language of Pirates, with his stories about his friends, Cunt-Finger Louie, and lines like ‘sad-eyed Sinatra’ and remarks like ‘there we were with glue all over our faces.’
He is rich in language and humor, and no one meets him that is not on the floor laughing from the great story he tells. He brings much joy to a tired routine. He doesn’t spell very well, but who does these days, ahead of his time as usual.
So this is Sal Bernardi, from Lodi New Jersey, partner and friend, a cowboy in red-tinted glasses and a beret. Well, a flying cowboy. A great harmonica player and guitar player full of lovely melodies. He’s kind of a Kinks/Zombies singer. Liked the Rolling Stones more than the Beatles. Women, beautiful women love him. He never gets angry. Except that one time when a certain tour manager lost his passport on the way to Spain… but that’s another story.”
— RLJ, October 19, 2000
Click photo for an M6 Interview with Sal Bernardi Text and photo courtesy of www.rickieleejones.com
Rickie Lee Jones and Sal Bernardi, Monte Carlo (1986)
Sal Bernardi. Anyone into the music of Rickie Lee Jones and Mink Deville will immediately recognize him for having penned or co-penned or encouraged some great songs and musical storytelling.
We will publish an interview with him shortly, and as an appetizer we’d like to present one of his most recent collaborations with French-German singer-songwriter Mathis Haug. The album “Wild Country” will be officially released March 10. Stay tuned!
“Le chemin que j’ai choisi écrit sa propre histoire, le lecteur et l’auteur sont quasiment les mêmes », chante Mathis Haug dans Wild Country. Ce vers résume à lui seul la démarche d’un artiste qui perçoit tout le relief de l’existence en comprenant que nos vies se lisent dans la double perspective de l’autre et de soi-même. En clair, que la création est un reflet du monde quand elle est métissage. Métissage, le maître mot d’un album qui est né, a grandi et s’est épanoui dans la rencontre.
L’histoire de la chanson Wild Country en est un bel exemple. Une semaine d’été, Mathis accueille chez lui Sal Bernardi, l’une des plus belles plumes du courant folk-rock américain, dont le nom reste indissociable de celui de Rickie Lee Jones. Dans la petite maison gardoise de Mathis, l’encre des mots coule des doigts de Sal au rythme des mélodies qui s’échappent de la guitare du maître de maison. À ceci près que Sal est originaire du New Jersey le plus urbain et industriel, et qu’il est allergique au chant des cigales. En quittant le Gard précipitamment, il laisse dans son sillage quelques pépites, à commencer par Wild Country duquel va germer l’idée de cet album fait de rencontres et d’interrogations, généreuses et lucides, sur l’avenir de la planète.”
Nigey passed away Monday, November 14 due to complications from radiation therapy she received in 1998. She survived the cancer, but not the treatment. She thought she was fighting a virus, but instead she was fighting a battle she couldn’t win.
Like a lot of creative people who choose the artists’ path, our friend Nigey and her husband Eric depleted their resources during the course of her illness.With this fundraiser we aim to cover the expenses for a funeral. Please do what you can and share to get the word out.
It’s her wish to be buried at Northport Rural Cemetery. In a bio-degradable cardboard coffin. She didn’t want to be cremated. Maybe she liked the idea of becoming part of the soil, the land she cared for.
Can you, as her friends, make that wish come true?
The goal amount is provided by the Northport Rural Cemetery.
All donations will solely be used for Nigey’s funeral.
If you’re in the USA and have a PayPal account, you can also send donations to me directly via https://www.paypal.me/GinaVodegel, and PayPal won’t take a fee. Every dollar will be for Nigey’s plot at Northport Rural Cemetery!!
If you’re in Europe, you can also send donations via https://www.paypal.me/GinaVodegel as my friend, that way no fees will be charged. I will keep you posted of each donation made, of course, via email and in updates with screenshots/pictures on the fundraiser page.
Thank you.
Nigey is known as a published author. She wrote “Sagebrush Bohemian,” the first book about Mark Twain in the West, Homeopathic Cell Salt Remedies (co-author Lionel Rolfe), “Being Frank,” her time spent with Frank Zappa, “Bread & Hyacinths” (co-author Lionel Rolfe) which illuminates an obscure chapter in the history of Los Angeles and America’s socialist movement, and a popular book about the Grandmaster of Pataphysics, Alfred Jarry, “The Man with the Axe” which was extensively illustrated by Bill Griffith, a famous underground comics artist who has had a daily strip (Zippy the Pinhead) for decades.
Her skills as a musician and composer resonate on her album Reinventing the Wheel which was first released in 2001. A remastered version with bonus tracks is in orbit since 2013. Providing these bits and pieces of her resume, however, don’t do justice to who she was as a person and a human being. Her wit and intuitive sense for the peripheral perspective in life gained her an inner encyclopedia of knowledge, a stealth mode that made her invisible and unknown to others, yet she saw and noticed a lot, if not all. Her return to the cosmic collective consciousness is a deep loss for those who love her.
Cinematic music. It lingered since yesterday. And the video on Camila Meza’s page is deserving of many more views. So here it is. Today we’re looking a little closer into who did what, and so we find it’s not the least of names that are among the musicians she recorded this album with. They sure created a nice flow together:
Camila Meza – voice, electric & acoustic guitar; Shai Maestro – piano, Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Mellotron, pump organ, ampli-celeste;
Matt Penman – bass ; Kendrick Scott – drums; Bashiri Johnson – percussion; Jody Redhage – cello; Sachal – voice http://sunnysidezone.com/album/traces
Thanks to Donna, who enjoyed Ted Baker’s piano solo in a Black Cow video, we were reminded of Mr. Cornelius Bumpus’ energy and contribution to some mighty fine music when he was with the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan. We went looking and found this concert which we hope you’ll enjoy as much as we do.
#TBT Thanks to a friend who enjoyed Ted Baker's piano in a Black Cow video, we can't help but have to pay homage to mr….
Yesterday, the 25th of July, it was eight years ago that Hiram Bullock passed away at the age of 52. He had cancer. Hiram was a versatile musician who worked with the crème de la crème in the music industry, as a seasoned session guitarist and bandleader. Whether live and on tour, recording albums or featured in the band on television shows (Saturday Night Live and David Letterman), he was in for anything. Rock, blues, jazz fusion and ballads. Some prefer his chops as a guitar player, others praise his qualities as a singer. Think of Jimi Hendrix, Al Jarreau, Nat King Cole, Robert Kray and Frank Zappa in one voice. Yes, one of his fans compared Hiram’s singing to that of FZ!
John Beasley posted the cover of one of Hiram’s albums, Way Kool (1992), as a token of respect and remembrance.
“On the follow-up to his Atlantic debut, guitarist and producer Hiram Bullock pulled out all the stops and dove wholeheartedly onto the “funk” side of jazz-funk and left out the jazz. No, that’s not a bad thing. If anything, Way Kool feels a lot more like a funky rock record than anything else. With a handpicked cast of studio greats, Bullock set out to make a party record and he did it. From the screaming guitar work on “Da Alley,” to the deeply funky George Duke-styled keys and guitar wonk on “Show Me” (with its Prince-styled handclaps and big backing chorus), to the groovy bass pop and chunky chords on the title track, it’s all in there. On Way Kool Bullock showed that he couldn’t care less about what people thought he was or should have been doing, and he did exactly what he wanted — and this time it was making a primarily instrumental set (there are only three vocal cuts out of the ten here) that stayed close to rock and funk with up-to-the-minute production (that in retrospect sounds a bit dated). There is a jazzy instrumental ballad called “Never Give Up,” with some nice hand percussion from Don Alias and keyboard work from Dave Delhomme. But the strength of the set comes from Bullock’s guitar playing, and his screaming tone is the most enduring thing about it. Check the track that reveals its Prince influence not only in its instrumental attack but even in its title: “I No U.” The big funker “Wolfman” even contains scratching! The biggest surprise on Way Kool, however, is the cover of Lennon and McCartney’s “Dear Prudence” that closes the album. It’s modern, reverent, restrained, and quite beautiful. (Admittedly, it’s such a great song it would be tough to mess up.) Bullock’s guitar solo that takes over after the three-minute mark is killer. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide”
Hiram Bullock and Jaco Pastorius were good friends. Here is their take on the Beatles song Hiram also recorded on Way Kool.
Hiram Bullock with the WDR Big Band – Foxy Lady.
Bassist and friend Will Lee talks about Hiram. And you have to wait for it. Donald Fagen is mentioned.
Yeah. It’s everything what Will Lee said in the clip above 😉
Hiram Bullock. His melody still lingers on.
Hiram Bullock played on Gaucho. On My Rival, to be precise. We’ll conclude this Mizar6 entry with that very song in a HD version.
We have a soft spot for Steely Dan covers. They’re not just a testimony to excellent songwriting and a way to shape our own musical palette if we enjoy playing an instrument with friends and family for the fun of it, they also offer hope in darker times, when in doubt whether young generations can appreciate or recognize quality when they see and hear it. Our friend at the Steely Dan Covers page posted a brilliant rendition of Don’t Take Me Alive from the Royal Scam album, which can be seen as a perfect hybrid mix of rock, jazz, funk and quirky, setting the tone for Steely Dan’s electrifying energy and off the beaten track tenure. Thank you, Ethan Bill, for this gem!
This guy plays guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, and does the vocals on this cover of "Don't Take Me Alive".
We are huge fans of Rob Meany and Terramara. You can check our interview section for an M5 interview Mike Dale from Australia had with Rob. That was more than a decade ago. The music hasn’t stopped since, of course. Rob has recently released his first solo album, Ferris Wheels Unbound. “Rob’s debut album as a solo artist is a piano- and acoustic guitar-driven collection of intimate performances and organic arrangements, enhanced occasionally by string quartet, and jazz trio. Produced by Andy Thompson and Rob Meany.”
illness.
