Camden 2nd night. June 25, 2010. HD Version Amazing “2001″ Michael Jackson Tribute Jam with teases of three Michael Jackson songs including “Thriller” 06/25/10 Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ Set I: Alumni Blues – Letter to Jimmy Page – Alumni Blues, Big Black Furry Creature from Mars, Runaway Jim, Army of One, Free Man in Paris, Summer of ’89, Split Open and Melt, The Sloth, Time Turns Elastic, Golgi Apparatus Set II: Chalkdust Torture – Prince Caspian, Heavy Things, Alaska, Also Sprach Zarathustra – Light – Possum – Character Zero Encore: Shine A Light 1 First Time Played (Joni Mitchell)

Camden 2nd night. June 25, 2010 Amazing “2001″ Michael Jacskon tribute jam with teases of three Michael Jackson songs including “Thriller” 06/25/10 Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ Set I: Alumni Blues – Letter to Jimmy Page – Alumni Blues, Big Black Furry Creature from Mars, Runaway Jim, Army of One, Free Man in Paris, Summer of ’89, Split Open and Melt, The Sloth, Time Turns Elastic, Golgi Apparatus Set II: Chalkdust Torture – Prince Caspian, Heavy Things, Alaska, Also Sprach Zarathustra – Light – Possum – Character Zero Encore: Shine A Light 1 First Time Played (Joni Mitchell)

A Couple of mentions of Phish and Trey in the most recent issue of Rolling Stone (April 29, 2010) I also included a version of the song that Trey talks about from the TAB performance at the House Of Blues in Boston. Also included are some of my photos from the TAB shows in Philly and Red Bank from the same tour Enjoy

Phish – Twist 9/30/2000 Thomas and Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada One of my favourite versions of Twist. Very blues-rock with a jazz edge.

Salvador Santana

Music is a burst of choices. Not only what note to play when and with what instrument, but whether to play a note at all. Salvador Santana, the 26-year-old keyboardist, vocalist, composer, and songwriter with strong Bay Area roots, knows what it means to navigate the infinite options of music. His 2008 project with the Salvador Santana Band pursued the scope of his ability. But for Santana, it wasn’t enough. He has no choice but to push himself further.

Collaboration has always been the centerpiece of his creations, and this passion manifested his solo debut Keyboard City around the inspirations of a few legends: Bay Area MC/producer Del tha Funky Homosapien, who helped hone in Santana’s writing skills, Beastie Boys studio wizard Money Mark, and GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan. The legendary Wu founder rallied support around the album by featuring himself on a remix of the title track “Keyboard City” earlier this fall. Stream the track here.

Santana’s long anticipated debut hits the streets February 2, 2010 followed by extensive touring with his keyboard-laden band, featuring a three-person keyboard assault with Santana at the head.

Money Mark inspired Santana in a beautiful way during the creation process. “With all the people I’ve ever collaborated with or just working by myself, I have never produced so many ideas into songs as I have during these Money Mark sessions. That guy is just a machine,” said Santana. Additionally, Money Mark opened up a new way of recording that was previously unknown to Santana. “He has mentored me by showing me that it’s cool to be all over the place. It’s cool to sit there and work on a song, then out of nowhere, interrupt that flow and work on another idea… to just go with it.”

Santana is pushed by a need to step out of his comfort zone in a quest for new ideas. Easy going and humble, Santana exudes the Bay Area vibe. He began playing the drums at age three – sitting on his father’s lap, controlling the snare and tom, as his father worked the hi-hat and kick drum – but his true love was discovered when he began taking piano lessons when he was six. Later, he studied at San Francisco’s heralded School of the Arts before attending Cal Arts in Valencia, CA. His education, passion and lineage has turned Santana into a monster on the keys, leading him to say that he’s “a musician first, a vocalist second and a performer second-and-a-half.”

Music truly thrives in Santana’s veins. His maternal grandfather was blues pioneer Saunders King and his paternal grandfather was the internationally celebrated violinist and mariachi bandleader Jose Santana. And, of course, his father, and frequent collaborator, is 10 time Grammy-winning, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Carlos Santana (Salvador co-wrote “El Farol” from 1999′s smash album Supernatural). With his upcoming solo project, however, Salvador Santana will truly become a brand of his own.

“With the Salvador Santana Band record I was very passive and insecure, only because I wasn’t listening to my gut, allowing my second opinions to get to me. Knowing what I know now, I could have played that part better. I don’t ever want to have that feeling ever again,” he says.

In addition to his musical desires, Santana has worldly efforts on his mind. After a trip to South Africa and inspiring work with Artists for a New South Africa (ANSA), something triggered inside of Santana to make sure his music wasn’t only about personal glory. Once the record is released and he begins touring the project, Salvador will be posting various non-profit organizations on his website that will receive a percentage of the profits. “I want to use music in a positive way, and give back to people in need. There can never be enough people who do that.” And there can never be enough musicians pushing their art to the brink.

Praise for Keyboard City

“On Keyboard City Sal and Mark layer reedy, synth atmospherics, icy-cool electronic keys and a smooth-as-butter beat underneath Sal’s awesomely zonked-out Vocoder-heavy vocals – RollingStone.com

On this day in 1922, the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) began radio service in the England. No matter where one finds themselves in the world, the letters BBC form a crucial shorthand for serious radio work that ultimately helped usher the likes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and endless others onto the world stage. Without BBC Radio we might not have known John Peel, and that alone would have greatly altered the world of hip, ear-to-the-ground music lovers everywhere.

However, like all giant, high-minded entities, the BBC has from time to time yanked songs from its airwaves because they were deemed too controversial, too sexual, etc. So, as we salute the BBC for the many good things they’ve done, we also pause to remind ourselves that when there’s just one authority dishing up cultural goods they sometimes think they know better than the populace. And this weekend’s U.S. opening of the film Pirate Radio (titled The Boat That Rocked for its UK release earlier this year) also inspired us to dig into the tunes the BBC has banned for one reason or another. It’s a good thing to remember what was once forbidden simply because it made certain people uncomfortable. Viva, free speech!

While this selection of clips is far from inclusive, it does offer a small cross-section of the salacious, political, and social bugaboos that once troubled the BBC. Most, if not all, have had the ban lifted over time, which is a hopeful reminder that societies can and do change, just not as swiftly as some of us might like.

It was the first Gulf War that got The Cure kicked off.

Rock’s precursor in England, skiffle, introduced some earthy old American blues tunes to the English airwaves. And for some reason, this Lonnie Donegan number was declared unfit for broadcast. It’s just about potatoes, right?

For obvious reasons in 1972, the British government didn’t want a Beatle encouraging England to “Give Ireland Back To The Irish” so the single was yanked. The sound on this rehearsal footing is abysmal but it’s fun to watch Macca work. But, we’ve included a clip of the original track off Wings’ Wild Life so you can check out the lyrics properly.

We’re guessing they thought this ode to air travel was about drugs or something when they banned it. Here’s The Byrds with a jammed out rendition.

Not sure why Jose Feliciano‘s version of “Light My Fire” got the axe and not The Doors’ original, but it is undeniably suggestive. Admittedly, this version below with Minnie Ripperton singing with Jose is pretty dirty.

Though rumored to be a commentary on the Falkland War, this Split Enz single wasn’t but got pushed off the air just the same.

For obvious reasons, both the Sex Pistols and Anti-Nowhere League failed to find programming time for their negative takes on jolly old England. Two punk classics that spit in the eye of things.

It ain’t easy being gay in England (and surely no cakewalk in the U.S. either), and the oddly affectionate tone of Ray Davies encounter a lovely ‘lady’ that talks like a man just didn’t sit well with the BBC. We leave you with two versions, one from Top of the Pops and a nifty live take.