Battle of the Bands: In Your Own Sweet Way

 Welcome to my Battle of the Bands! My battles are going in it's own sweet way hanging out in jazz land.  Much like the last battle I have a jazz standard by a jazz giant and my contestants include one of the best jazz guitarists versus another jazz giant. 

The song I picked is "In Your Own Sweet Way" by Dave Brubeck

Next I am going to have two contenders Miles Davis and Wes Montgomery compete with their versions. In the comments you drop me a line and tell me which one you liked better. I count them up after a week or so and announce the winner in a new post.

                                              Contender One: Miles Davis

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Contender Two: Wes Montgomery

I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for visiting. I'm open for suggestions for future battles, I'm ready for your votes, give me your feedback in the comments!

Battle of the Bands Results: 500 Miles High and Five Votes

 Chick Corea's death provided the extra motivation to change things up a bit on my Battle of the Bands. His song "500 Miles High" was chosen. The Manhattan Transfer and Joe Pass were the contenders. The Manhattan Transfer got the first vote. The next four went to Joe Pass, who won 4 to 1.

On this post I usually celebrate winners. So let's get started!

                                                "Ain't Misbehavin"

"Stella by Starlight"

"Misty"

Thanks for visiting! If you voted thank you! If you didn't vote on my next Battle of the Bands coming up on the first. I'll use the next 5 to 6 days to hopefully think of something.

R.I.P Rush Limbaugh

 Rush Limbaugh passed away at the age of 70. He was controversial, he was a strong voice of the political right, his opinion was probably hated as much as it was loved. However he was successful.  He was a radio personality, a talking head who ended up being inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame and the National Association of Broadcasters  Hall of Fame. 

His radio show was one of the biggest. Spreading into the written word Rush Limbaugh was a best selling author. President Donald Trump honored him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He died due to complications of lung cancer.

He will be remembered by his fans, critics, friends and family. Regardless if you agreed with his opinion you have probably heard of Rush Limbaugh. 

R.I.P Vincent Jackson

 Former NFL wide receiver Vincent Jackson passed way yesterday at the age of 38. The why is unknown as of now. He was a success. Bright enough to go to Columbia but chose to go to Northern Colorado. Vincent wasn't the most recruited guy but was able to play football and basketball in college. He blossomed in college and ended up being a second round draft pick.

In the NFL  he played for 12 seasons, seven with the San Diego Chargers and five with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was a three time Pro Bowler. He had six thousand yard seasons.

                                                Highlights of his career...

He will be missed by his fans, former teammates, friends and family!

Monday's Music Moves Me: The Leadership Edition

 Ironically I am following this morning. I see all my blogging friends are doing the Monday's Music Moves Me thing. Well here I am.

Let's start this thing!

Shangri-La's "Leader of the Pack"

B.B. King "Paying the Cost to be the Boss"

Jimmy Reed "Big Boss Man"

Not to be sexist, woman can be the boss. Mick Jagger "She's the Boss"

To tie this in with Valentine's Day that just passed

Papa Roach "Leader of Broken Hearts"

Hope you enjoyed and I will see you soon!

Battle of the Bands: 500 Miles High

Jazz pianist, composer and talented musician Chick Corea passed away this month. I wrote a brief post on it here. I am going to honor him more by using one of his pieces for my Battle of the Bands segment. It will also be my first genre change of 2021. 

Here is Chick Corea with "500 Miles High"

Genre might be changing but the rules remain the same. I will select two covers. My readers listen to the covers and tell me which version they like the  best, or which one they hate the least whichever the case might be. They tell me in the comments. You can expand on it and tell me why. I have quoted comments in the past or used them for suggestions for future Battles. Anyway I count up the votes and announce winner in a separate post in about a week. 

Chick recorded this as an instrumental and a version with vocals. To be like Chick and to jazz thing up I am going to do the same.

Contender One: Joe Pass

Contender Two: The Manhattan Transfer

Who gets your vote Joe Pass or The Manhattan Transfer? Instrumental or vocals? Joe Pass adds contrasts with a solo guitar version of the jazz pianist piece. The Manhattan Transfer version is beautiful and a bit more condensed compared to Chick's versions.  Hopefully it will be a good battle.

I hope you enjoy and I will be back with  the results!

R.I.P Marty Schottenheimer

 Following a football season where the current Cleveland Browns coach was named Coach of the Year, a season where the Kansas City Chiefs fall in the Super Bowl, former NFL Coach Marty Schottenhiemer has passed away. 

I mentioned Cleveland first because that is where Marty started his head coaching career. Leading the Browns to the playoffs 4 of his 5 years including two trips to the AFC Championships. In Cleveland he had a record of 44-27 and was 2-4 in the playoffs with the Browns.

He Coached the Chiefs next. Making the playoffs 7 out of 10 seasons and adding another trip to the AFC Championship game. He was 101-58-1 with the Chiefs and 3-7 in the postseason. His career earned him a spot in the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame.

His next stop was with the Washington Redskins, now the Washington Football Team, they went 8-8 in his one season.  The Football Team somehow made the playoffs this season. On a side note I actually met the Coach in Pennsylvania during training camp.

His final NFL coaching stop was with the San Diego Chargers. In 5 seasons there his team made the playoffs twice. He compiled a 47-33 record but was 0-2 in the playoffs.

The Coacwill be missed by his family, friends and fans.