The Robinson brothers, Chris and Rich are brilliant together, and individually as well.   Chris is on tour with the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, while Rich is touring in support of his own record: Through A Crooked Sun.

“The sun was a fitting metaphor to examine my life, because in many ways what was going on both nourished me and blinded me at the same time,” says Rich. “I was living this life that was askew. My relationships with the people that were supposed to be my closest seemed damaged. My marriage was not a good fit for either of us and we weren’t facing up to that. Though I love my brother, the fact that my working environment can be challenging has been well chronicled. Nothing was working like it should have been, but by many people’s standards, it was a dream come true.”

Check out more of Rich’s music on his FB page.

Meanwhile – CRB – Chris Robinson Brotherhood is on tour with their own distinctive sound.  Check out this Otis Redding cover.

[The Black Crowes – the Robinson Brothers is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]

[Tom Waits is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]

On Saturday, October 10th, the “All Our Colors: The Good Road Concert” was held in support of The Traditional Circle of Indian Elders & Youth with performances by Santana, the Steve Miller Band, Mickey Hart, Jackson Browne, John Lee Hooker, John Trudell and Graffiti Man, White Boy and the Wagon Burners, and Red Thunder.

On the following day, the “Healing the Sacred Hoop: The Next 500 Years” concert featured sets by Little Feat, Bonnie Raitt, Don Henley, Ry Cooder and David Lindley, Todd Rundgren, Cris Williamson and Floyd “Red Crow” Westerman with proceeds benefiting the International Indian Treaty Council.

With pow-wows, fine art exhibits, native foods and video theater in addition to the amazing line-ups, there was a respectful and celebratory atmosphere throughout the weekend. That spirit was picked up on by the performers as well, who gave unique shows filled with guest appearances, dedications and heartfelt speeches on both days. Today from the Concert Vault, we’re releasing two of the All Our Color sets, with an acoustic Steve Miller Band show and a Jackson Browne performance featuring Bonnie Raitt, David Lindley and more sitting in on stage…in fact, there may have even been a guest appearance by Bill Graham’s spirit to help Browne tune his guitar:

For more informative previews of these new recordings, here are Jackson and Bonnie performing “World In Motion” and the Steve Miller Band playing”Living In the U.S.A.”:

This coming Friday, we’ll also be releasing Santana’s headlining set from that first evening, featuring appearances by his brother Jorge Santana, Ry Cooder, and Steve Miller. In the meantime, you can also find a collection of posters, serigraphs, pelons, vintage tickets and photography from the weekend in the Vault Store.

[All Our Colors / Healing the Sacred Hoop is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]

This week, Will Hoge releases his seventh record, the aptly titled “Number Seven,” via Rykodisc. The new single from the disc is actually the last track, titled “When I Get My Wings.” It weaves together an emotionally poignant story from the vantage of an old man laying his beloved wife to rest after a long and happy life together. The video debuted just last week online, view it below.

YouTube Embed: “When I Get My Wings”

Will Hoge shared with us his musical influences, read about it on the Will Hoge Playlist here, or enjoy a clip of Will discussing the story behind “When I Get My Wings” in more detail:

Will also just kicked off his “When I Get My Wings 2011 Tour” in support of Number Seven. For more information on the dates, go to his website: http://willhoge.com/wired/tour.

And to purchase Willl’s new album Number Seven online,  go here: http://bit.ly/WHitunesEW

Get to know this great musician on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/willhoge

[Will Hoge is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]

Click on the links and images below to stream and download the entire concerts, and to read more about the evening and these legendary jazz performers (the excerpts below were taken from the concert summaries written by esteemed jazz journalist Bill Milkowski).

McCoy Tyner
“Tyner was 40 and in fine form on this June 28th solo set at Carnegie Hall. On the forceful modal opener, “Song of the New World,” he runs cascading lines with the right hand while slamming signature chordal statements with the left. And his avant-garde asides on this turbulent number are positively Cecil Taylor-esque. His stunning extrapolation on Billy Eckstine’s “I Want to Talk About You,” the gorgeous ballad immortalized on John Coltrane’s 1965 Ballads album, is a virtuosic turn by the great pianist in full stride. And he summons up his most potent display of keyboard pyrotechnics on the closer, a passionate solo piano rendition of John Coltrane’s “The Promise,” which Tyner had recorded with Trane on the 1963 Impulse classic, Live at Birdland.”

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Bill Evans
“Bill Evans begins this rare solo piano concert by announcing to the Carnegie Hall crowd: “I’ve played here a couple of times before and I haven’t enjoyed the piano being amplified. I’m going to try to play without amplification, so…see what happens.” And from there he launches into a crystalline, spellbinding set of tunes that showcases his delicate touch, his very personal harmonic vocabulary and dramatic use of space.”

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Mary Lou Williams
“Williams opens her set with a dazzling solo piano medley that covers five primary styles of music – spirituals, ragtime, Kansas City swing, blues and boogie woogie – each played with rare authority and swagger. [Buster] Williams joins her for an unnamed Count Basie styled jump blues number that is fueled by his unerring walking lines. The bassist then takes the lead in playing the melody to the Cole Porter jazz standard “I Love You,” which is underscored by Mary Lou’s consummate accompaniment. They next turn in a rendition of John Stubblefield’s modern blues number “Baby Man” and close out their Carnegie show with a flourish on Mary Lou’s “Medi II” (from her 1974 album Zoning), which showcases her most aggressive playing of the set.”

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Larry Coryell and Philip Catherine
“After blazing the fusion trail in the ‘60s with The Free Spirits and Gary Burton’s groundbreaking quartet and during the early ‘70s with his electrifying bands Eleventh House and Foreplay, pioneering guitarist Larry Coryell turned to the purity of acoustic guitar by the end of the decade, if only to give his ears a rest. His first acoustic project was Twin House, a 1976 duet encounter with the great guitarist from Brussels, Belgium, Philip Catherine. They followed up in 1978 with Splendid. The two six-string wizards culled from both of those superb studio outings for their appearance together at the 1978 Newport Jazz Festival.”

[Newport Jazz: Three Pianos and Two Guitars is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]

Mose Allison – January 21, 1977
Allison’s profoundly wry and witty lyrics, along with his delectable musical style combining elements of jazz and blues, have made him a true American treasure. His influence on the British rock scene in particular has been especially noteworthy, with his compositions appearing on albums by The Who, Van Morrison, Yardbirds, The Clash and Elvis Costello. This newly released Mose Allison concert recording finds him playing within a trio format with bassist Jack Hannah and drummer Jerry Granelli, and showcases those unique lyrical and musical traits that make him a living legend.

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Art Lande – May 13, 1976
This solo piano recital by Art Lande took place a month prior to recording the debut Rubisa Patrol album, though he was already well known on the local San Francisco jazz scene. Improvising on familiar jazz standards, including songs written by Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis, Lande’s explorations move from mesmerizingly plaintive to friskily playful, but are beautiful regardless of the mood.

[New Jazz Releases: Mose Allison & Art Lande is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]

Fred McDowell played Newport Jazz on July 27, 1968.   Here is a track from that show:

It is our pleasure at Wolfgang’s Vault to keep alive the important musical performances of Fred McDowell all these years later.  Read more about this great bluesman, and enjoy the whole Mississippi Fred McDowell performance at Newport Jazz 1968 right here.

[Mississippi Fred McDowell is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]

Tinariwen is an ever-evolving guitar-driven project that brings together musicians: Touareg (nomadic Saharan people from multiple countries including Libya), with western musicians including members of Wilco and TV On The Radio. Take a look.

Wolfgang’s Vault is proudly filled with the history of previous musical expressions of the people of Africa reaching for their ideals. In 1980, Peter Gabriel started WOMAD, the annual music and arts festival that meant to bring World Music to the world. In 1986 U2, Gabriel and other supporters of Amnesty International created the Conspiracy of Hope tour with Bill Graham to raise awareness of the plight of the Prisoners of Conscience around the World. In 1984 and 1985 Bob Geldof championed the starvation of Ethiopia as a solvable crisis with the attention of the world in the Band Aid, and then Live Aid projects. Just last week, Bono – fresh off the worldwide U2 360 tour took to CNN to bring attention to the current starvation crisis in Somalia. It was even via music in 1984 that enough pressure was mounted in the South African effort to abolish Apartheid and Free Nelson Mandela, that the campaign succeeded.

With the August 30 release of Tinariwen’s record Tassili, the band seeks only to connect musically. The political backdrop maybe dramatic, but the Tinariwen music is a beautiful and harmonious melt of culture. And so we invite you to lend your ears to Tinariwen.  Purchase Tassili here.

[Introducing Tinariwen is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]

Preview the recordings with the tracks below, and click on the headers to hear and download the entire concerts. Enjoy!

Elvin Jones Quartet
As part of a bill for an evening “Tribute to Trane” concert, Jones and his quartet at the time (bassist David Williams, guitarist Ryo Kawasaki and saxophonist Pat LaBarbera) tackled the four-part suite from the spiritually charged A Love Supreme, the classic John Coltrane album that featured Jones on drums. Though he had left Coltrane’s quartet ten years prior (shortly before Coltrane’s death) and was approaching his 49th birthday at the time, Jones proves he was still on top of his game and up to the task of fueling this set. A powerful tribute indeed.

George Coleman Septet
A powerhouse tenor saxophonist with a robust tone that speaks of his apprenticeship during the early ‘50s with B.B. King, Coleman continues to be one of the most authoritative and respected players on the jazz scene today. At this Carnegie Hall performance his group played renditions of numbers that later appeared on Coleman’s 1977 album as a leader, Revival. Whether navigating unison lines at breakneck speeds, performing lush ballads, or soloing with blazing heat, everyone in the band is on fire (though pianist Harold Mabern deserves a special mention) during this phenomenal set.

Anthony Braxton Ensemble
Employing a heavily theoretical approach to jazz, Braxton stunned this Carnegie Hall crowd with his highly idiosyncratic music. His usual quartet featuring Barry Altschul on drums, Dave Holland on bass, and George Lewis taking the brass seat was augmented by pianist Muhal Richard Abrams for this line-up’s one-off performance of his eight-movement “Composition No. 70.” Though Braxton dedicates the piece to Duke Ellington beforehand, the challenging music has more in common with 20th century classical composers like Stockhausen and Varese who disregarded traditional forms of composition.

Ted Curson
This Carnegie Hall concert marked trumpeter Ted Curson’s return to the United States after being abroad (mostly in Denmark) since the late 1960s. An aggressive soloist with a distinct edge in his trumpet style, Curson easily straddled the hard bop and free bop divide, and there are excellent examples of each in this set.

[A Trane Tribute and a Carnegie Afternoon is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]

Preview the sets with the single tracks below, and click on the headers and images to stream and download the entire recordings.

Mance Lipscomb
Although Lipscomb most certainly played the blues, he preferred to be classified as a “songster,” which better reflected his wide-ranging repertoire. That diversity is evident is this set, as he plays many of the songs from his now classic Texas Songster release (Arhoolie). This clear recording also provides an excellent opportunity to hear his “dead-thumb” country-blues fingerpicking style, wherein his propulsive bass lines anchored dance-like melodies, a perfect complement to his warm and engaging vocal style that works equally well whether he’s being serious, sad, or funny. Taken together with the immediacy and spontaneous interaction with the Ash Grove audience in this recording, this is a fantastic example of Lipscomb as one of the last remnants of the nineteenth century folk tradition.

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Lightnin’ Hopkins
The most prolific recording artist of all the Texas bluesmen, Lightnin’ Hopkins saw many changes within the blues genre over the course of his career, but he never strayed far from his trademark soulfully mournful (or mournfully soulful) sound. Hopkins’ intricate boogie riffs influenced countless guitar players and confounded just as many more, while his lyrical improvisation made nearly every live performance a unique experience, and this brief recording featuring Hopkins on electric guitar is a fine example of both. His playing is the real highlight of this show, but you’ll also enjoy a humorous exchange having to do with “technical difficulties” reminiscent of a much simpler time.

[Mance and Lightnin’ – Texas Blues at the Ash Grove is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]