JAMES JAMERSON, THE MASTER OF BASS

James Jamerson was one of the most remarkable session musicians of Motown Records. He is often considered as the greatest bass player ever. For many years Jamerson played recording huge success with true legends of the music as Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Jackson Five. Is fact, Marvin Gaye asked him to play in his most famous album "What's Going On". The documentary "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" explain about how Gaye insisted to have Jamerson playing the bass in his historic album. Also James Jamerson played "Darling Dear" with Michael Jackson and his brothers. The bass lines in this song are amazing because it instrument works like a chorus, doing a duet with the lead singer. As a member of The Funk Brothers, which was the Motown Records session band, he played in the vast majority of records of Motown during the sixties. He played and performed on nearly 30 No. 1 pop hits. Some the most successful songs were "My Girl" and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" James Jamerson was the main bassist of Motown Record since 1962-1968, having played in almost 95% of Motown recording. Even though this extraordinary musician suffered a lack of recognition during his life, he hugely influenced many bassist of the world. Prominent bassists as Pino Palladino, Alan Gorrie, Rick Danko, Anthony Jackson, Jack Bruce, John Entwistle, Bernard Edwards, and Jaco Pastorius have claimed Jamerson as a primary influence. So, his real recognition and appreciation came years later. James Jamerson died of cirrhosis on August 2, 1983, in Los Angeles.

AC/DC AT RIVER

AC/DC is an Australian rock band, considered as one the most famous groups ever. In 2009 they did an enormous tour called the “Ice Black Tour” that delivered them to twenty-eight countries around the world, playing their hits for millions of fans. The most amazing concerts of the entire tour were at River Plate stadium, Argentina, on 2, 4 and 6 December of 2009, in front of 200.000 people. These concerts were filmed by 34 super HD video cameras around the stadium. In my opinion, and based on the videos views on Internet, these were outstanding performances; also the Argentinian crowd was really amazing in these concerts. Perhaps the Argentinian crowd is the most exciting in the world. In an interview the main members of the band, Brian Johnson and Angus Young, expressed their admiration toward the Argentina people. A very special moment occurred when AC DC played the song "Thunderstruck" from the Set List number 7. It literally caused an earthquake in the stadium. The main character was, obviously, the legendary Angus Young, who is the lead guitar since 1974. He played astonishing and furious guitar solos while the vocal leader Brian Johnson was singing truly rock and roll hymns. This concert was filmed as the official video of the Ice Black Tour. It was released on DVD and Blue Ray in May of 2012.

THE CARPENTERS

The Carpenters were perhaps one of the best duets of all time, and their vocal lead, Karen Carpenter, had one of the most beautiful voices ever. She formed this duet with her older brother Richard. They lived in Connecticut when they were younger, but soon moved to California in order to develop their musical talents and become renowned. During the 70's, The Carpenters recorded several number one hits on the Billboard charts. They also recorded thirteen albums and performed many concerts in many countries of the world for millions of fans. In the beginning of their musical career, they had the very important support of Herb Alpert, who gave them a contract in 1969 to be part of A&M Records. Their most famous song, and first number one hit was "Close To You". Burt Bacharach composed this song, which was enormously successful in 1970. In the peak of their careers, they came to have five number one songs in the U.S., and accordingly, The Carpenters are considered one the most successful melodic bands of all time. Also, in 1976 they got a contract with ABC, and in this way, they were able to present the famous show “The Carpenters First Television Special” in a primetime slot over five years. This show helped to increase their popularity again, after a brief time when their fame declined. Karen was a gorgeous singer, but she also had a great talent with drums, which was an underrated skill. She possessed a beautiful and crystalline voice, but her talent distracted others from focusing on her health problems with anorexia. She died in 1982 of a heart attack, which was a consequence of her serious problems with this disorder.

“THE BIRD”, CHARLIE PARKER

Charlie Parker, best known as "The Bird," was one of the most famous saxophonists ever. He developed his career over almost 2 decades and during this time, he couldn't overcome his addiction to drugs and alcohol. Especially hard was his fight against heroin. A great jazz musician, Parker made records and had legendary collaborations with Dizzy Gillespie. In fact, both musicians traveled throughout the U.S., and performed in Carnegie Hall in 1947. Around this time, they made a band with five members, among them a young Miles Davis. After that, Charlie Parker went to Europe, and did recordings with saxophone and strings. His best years were from 1947 to 1951, but in 1951,he couldn't play in cabarets anymore because of his addiction to heroin. Moreover, his daughter died of pneumonia because Parker didn't have enough money to give her adequate medical treatment. These two events caused in him a deep depression. After two suicide attempts, Parker died of a heart attack in 1954.