Posts Tagged New York
Presenting the very talented and beautiful Alicia Keys
Posted by Kim in Foreign, Mainstream, Music, Music Videos on December 16th, 2009
I am no authority but I knew the moment I heard Alicia Keys‘ first hit that hers was a voice and talent that would fill our ears and minds for the years to come. Owe it only to Clive Davis, legendary music executive also known for the discovery of legendary artists like Lou Reed and Whitney Houston (to name a few), to be the person who would single out from the bunch one of the best female talents to emerge in the last decade. Keys, who was 17 and just came out of high school by the time she single-handedly composed, arranged and performed the song Fallin’, had conquered the Billboards with her singles from the album Songs in A Minor. From then on, she was quickly thrust into the music elite especially after her (eventual) victory at the Grammys. An accomplished pianist and an excellent singer, distinguishable by her soaring and occasionally vulnerable vibratos, her career took on both pop fanfare and critical acclaim.
She was certainly the most talented solo soul act that came out since, dare I say, Aretha Franklin. The reason I brought up the comparison is because of Franklin herself, who at one point refused to perform with Alicia Keys at a MusiCares event in Los Angeles because she had apprehensions at the prospect of being upstaged by Alicia Keys and co-performer Mary J. Blige. Why the diva, Aretha should be worried is indeed a mystery, but she must have her reasons. And they may seem evident to you once you’ve seen Alicia Keys perform.
Her latest single “Empire State of Mind” which features Jay-Z was used as an anthem for this year’s New York Yankees victory. When stripped of all its mainstream hype, the song is actually a poignant recollection of Key’s domicile, New York, that makes one wonder what her memories must have been. Although it gets cheesy toward the end, the emotion is still there and is especially crystallized in this stripped down version of the song:
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Alicia Keys - Empire State Of Mind Pt. 2 (Broken Down) [Download] [Lyrics]
Imagining music in 1969
1969
1969 was such a great year for music regardless of the historic Woodstock which took place at the outskirts of New York state. 1969’s music glory owes itself to the culture surrounding it at that time. The restlessness of Vietnam protests. The counter-culture youth in face with the highly conservative and blindly patriotic generation that had lived through the traumatic World War II. 1969 was the height of hallucinogenic substances which inspired new ways of recognizing the world. It was also a time of repression and therefore resistance.
1969 also inspired indie. That music celebrates loving the street musician or playing the record on mono. Indie was also about Bob Dylan rejecting to play at Woodstock. Indie was making music for the sake of music. Or music to save lives. And that there was something hateful about record companies, especially after what they have done to The Beatles. And speaking of The Beatles, 1969 was the last time The Beatles were seen in live performance at the rooftop of Apple Records. It was also the year when John Lennon performs as a solo artist and cries, “Give Peace a Chance”. There was something so distinctly resounding about those words at that time, which now is just a song that we happen to know and have heard on the radio before.
1969 was when Bob Marley and the Wailers emerged from obscurity and began to popularize Reggae. It was also Elvis Presley’s most monumental and critically-acclaimed comeback. Simon and Garfunkel and Jackson 5 debuts – a mark of the beginning of another era in music which is the 70’s folk or pop ballad.
When I close my eyes and think about the alternative lifestyles and the music and the pleasures so prolific in 1969, I kind of wish I lived at least a day in that year and just have a look-see of what was going on. Just as though the Times they are a ‘changin. Just to feel that sense of wonder as one watches the first man land on the moon.
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