Tuesday, December 28, 2010

One More Time

One of my favorite configurations in music is a great singer and a piano. The Tony Bennett and Bill Evans albums (and the recent release of the outtakes on the complete version) are special works of art, like the rarest jewels, never to be duplicated.

So here we are one more time with Teena Marie and a piano, running down one of her classics, If I Were a Bell. If you've ever been close to a great singer it's really something else, and I don't know how Donnie withstood this. She pulls out all the stops, and this particular rendition is not an easy song to sing -- there's some technique flowing here.  Stick around to the end which packs a punch and a good line by Donnie.

Monday, December 27, 2010

La Dona: Homegirl Teena Marie



The shocking news of Teena Marie leaving was a mule kick in the gut. Lady T was only 54.

An Angeleno all the way, I love how on her Wiki she spoke about rollin' down Crenshaw, bumpin' sounds. Like it or not, that's LA and we've made a cultural rite out of it.

Here's a joint from not too long ago. When it first aired I remember Fish and I watched it and were just digging her representin' LA at the Apollo, pimpin' ill at will. I think the fact that this is a recording of someone's TV while watching SatA would have just made her smile. Love you homegirl.

If I were a bell...