The great Pacific Northwest has always been a hotbed of musical talent in the Hard Rock / Heavy Metal scene with bands like Queensrÿche and Alice in Chains, and just a bit farther south in Vancouver Washington there comes a group who is re-defining a genre. R.A.R. (Robert Anthony Robinson Band) is releasing their 2nd album Truth as a follow up to Dig, and the sound is heavy, yet soulful, chunky yet melodic, and packed with feeling that comes through in the music. The band is masterminded by Robert Robinson (ex-Passion Fatal, Wild Dogs) who writes, plays guitar and sings, with David Kendall (ex-Gargoyle) on the drums, Chris Olney on bass and Brian Mc Grew on guitar to round out a very talented lineup.
Fans of guitar and inspiring beautiful music will certainly be delighted with this sixth album by Calum Graham, who has brought us one of his most accomplished albums to date. Impressive and sensitive.
Album Story Of The Year Rar
Calum Graham is one of these musicians with a rare talent: at 27 years old, with a career that takes him all over the world, his impressive virtuosity and his unique fingerstyle, the Alberta guitarist now offers us his sixth album, precise, sensitive and exciting. Thread of Creation is an open window on the extraordinary abilities of this exceptional artist.
The one that Acoustic Guitar Magazine named one of the 30 best guitarists under 30 years of age in the world will amaze us, almost splitting up on the instrument. If the composer Graham does not sin for excess of audacity, the virtuoso guitarist is in perfect control of his means, extirpating rhythms, bass and transcendental melodies from his guitar alone. Between frenetic excitement, sensitivity, tenderness and generosity, Calum Graham knows how to convince people of the accuracy of his approach.
Revisiting collaborative guitar work, Don teams up with gifted and significant new talent Calum Graham. Calum is one of those players whose music that you can't help but like. His tunes are energetic, infectious, and show a compositional maturity well beyond what I would normally expect to hear from such a young player. What can I say, I'm a fan!" says Don. It's all an ironically "full circle" story, as Don was the reason Calum started playing fingerstyle guitar in the first place. Early on, the younger version of Calum became very serious about the instrument, fascinated by technique and musicality that go far beyond the usual strumming of a few chords.
Since winning the Canadian Fingerstyle Guitar Championship in 2010, Graham has released an indie debut record on his own imprint and a duet CD with Don Ross entitled "12:34", which has received positive reviews worldwide. The compositions on "Phoenix Rising" are all top notch and show a maturity that one does not simply arrive at without years of hard work, trail and error, and finally success which equals great music. Based on the fact that Graham is only in his early twenties, his listeners should be rewarded with much great music to come.
Splitting up for seven years paid off. Their time apart enabled Sara, Sean and Chris to explore new musical vistas on their own. It also enable them to eventually re-team with a new sense of purpose and commitment.
Duke Ellington discovered and recorded pianist-composer Dollar Brand aka Abdullah Ibrahim in 1963 playing in a more or less conventional jazz manner, but it took a long time for the South African township music he evolved in the 1970s to be accepted outside of Africa. This album was one of the very first to be made in America and its impact was immense, its melodicism, warmth and simplicity brought something new and refreshing to the often overheated, testosterone-filled gladiatorial pit of small group improvising to established harmonic patterns. As Jelly Roll Morton had shown 50 years earlier, sometimes the best comes from a truly group effort. (KS)
For the five years he held his Junior Cook-Blue Mitchell quintet together, Silver had the perfect combination of his high-quality tunes and a band that had a magic interpretative touch. They all played for each other to such an extent that the group became one of the true 1960s greats. Song For My Father features this group on two tracks, but not on the famous title tune, which instead ushers in the brilliant but short-lived quintet featuring Joe Henderson and Carmell Jones. No cause to fear: all remains in place for a classic that still casts its spell. (KS)
Ra had been making albums for his own label Saturn for a decade by the time this one slipped out via ESP-Disk, but this was the first to make a wide impact due not only to the unprecedented nature of the music (some tracks sound closer to Tibetan Buddhist music than anything being played in the America at the time) but also to the fact that ESP-Disk, a tiny label making a big noise at the time, actually got distributed outside of Chicago and New York and even made a splash internationally. Ra was on the vinyl map and never looked back. Next stop, Jupiter. (KS)
The heated politics around abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade have crystallized in recent weeks in the case of a 10-year-old Ohio girl. Her private trauma has become the focus of intense public debate. Here's President Biden's remarks from July 8.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Just last week, it was reported that a 10-year-old girl was a rape victim - 10 years old - and she was forced to have to travel out of the state to Indiana to seek to terminate the pregnancy and maybe save her life.
RASCOE: Some opponents of abortion rights questioned the story's veracity until a man was charged with the girl's rape in Ohio just a few days ago. Now the doctor who performed the abortion has come under attack from a top official in her state. Here to explain is Sarah McCammon, who covers reproductive rights for NPR. Hi, Sarah.
MCCAMMON: Well, Dr. Caitlin Bernard is an OB-GYN and abortion provider in Indiana. And her story caught attention after she told The Indianapolis Star about providing care to the 10-year-old girl. She was right around six weeks pregnant when Ohio's trigger ban prohibiting nearly all abortions after about six weeks took effect in response to last month's Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Now, many prominent conservatives came after Dr. Bernard to question her credibility. And among them was Indiana's Republican attorney general, Todd Rokita. On Fox News, he suggested without providing evidence that Bernard had broken an Indiana law that requires doctors to report abortion procedures.
TODD ROKITA: We have this abortion activist acting as a doctor with a history of failing to report. So we're gathering the information. We're gathering the evidence as we speak. And we're going to fight this to the end.
MCCAMMON: But in fact, NPR and other media outlets have obtained documentation that Dr. Bernard indeed filed the appropriate paperwork in this case. I have that report. It's dated July 2. She told the state she'd provided a medication abortion on June 30 for the 10-year-old abuse victim who was about six weeks pregnant. Meanwhile, the Indiana University Health System, where Dr. Bernard is employed, issued a statement on Friday saying they'd conducted a review into whether she'd violated any privacy laws and found her to be in full compliance.
MCCAMMON: So far, she's communicating mostly through her spokespeople. But on Twitter, she said that, quote, "My heart breaks for all survivors of sexual assault and abuse. I am so sad that our country is failing them when they need us most." She also said she hopes to be able to tell her story soon. On Friday, through her attorney, Dr. Bernard sent a cease-and-desist letter to Indiana Attorney General Rokita, demanding that he, quote, "please cease and desist from making false and misleading statements" about her. The letter characterized his statements as defamatory and threatened legal action. And, Ayesha, I should say this is important because a spokeswoman has confirmed to NPR that Bernard had faced threats against her family in the past. And, of course, other abortion providers have faced violence and even been killed. So these statements are a safety concern for her. 2ff7e9595c
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