Thelonius Monk - Blue Monk

This is a live performance by jazz legend and jazz composer Thelonius Monk playing his classic jazz standard "Blue Monk". The performance was shot in Norway in 1966. The musicians joining Monk are: Charlie Rouse on tenor saxophone, Larry Gales on bass and Ben Riley on drums.
As mentioned earlier "Blue Monk" is an instrumental jazz standard composed by Thelonius Monk. It is a B♭ blues based on the jazz tune "Pastel Blue".
Thelonius Monk is considered one of the great contributors of American music and he has written several jazz standards, "Blue Monk" included. He was known for his very distinctive and unique approach to the piano, for his clothing style and for standing up in the middle of songs and taking breaks to then return to the piano. He also does this in this performance. In fact all musicians but the drummer do this and then at the end they all join in again.
It's a great performance and you can really tell that the musicians are in sync with each other and leave space and respect to one another. This is a great laid back performance of a great jazz standard.

Enjoy ;-)

The Who - Baba O'Riley

This is a live performance by British rock band "The Who" playing the song "Baba O'Riley". The song was written by Pete Townshend and released in 1971. The song is known for it's use of early electronic experimentation done by Townshend and for it's crashing chorus of F-C-B♭ power chords. This has made the song very popular at concerts and also a favourite on classic rock radio stations.
The song was released as a single in many European countries, but in the US and the UK it was only released as part of the album "Who's Next". On the original recording there is a violin solo as the song goes into the Irish folk style beat at the end. At most live concerts, this clip included, this is replaced by a harmonica piece played by Roger Daltrey.
The song has been ranked as the 340th Greatest Song of All Time. A remixed version of the song is also used as the theme for the TV-show CSI:NY. In fact: Every CSI show uses a Who song as their intro.
For me what also stands out on this song, and on every Who song ever recorded is the bass playing of John Entwistle. He is definitely one of the greatest bass players ever, and was one of the first who was able to really show off on the instrument, and not just be backing for the group. Below is a clip. It is the same clip as the one above, but with the isolated bass track. It's for geeks, but mind boggling to listen to.

In fact Entwistle's bass playing is what made it possible for the group to be a trio with a singer. He filled in in just the right places to make the band's sound not sound no smaller than any other band. It's like Noel Gallagher said: "They're all playing lead, aren't they, all of them", and he's right. That's the sound of The Who: a trio where everyone is playing lead. Quite impressive.