Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Stephanie Vaquer and Giulia vs Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade

Here's the match video of Stephanie Vaquer and Giulia vs Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade from last night's WWE NXT Halloween Havoc show in Hershey, PA. Though Halloween Havoc is a gimmick show, they decided to make this a standard tag team match. It was second on the card. I thought it should have been higher on the card. Of course it was predictable that Stephanie and Giulia won. It was clearly a showcase match. Stephanie and Giulia just got to NXT and they already have that big star aura. Plus they can do everything in the ring and they work well together. They gave Roxanne and Cora plenty of offense though Cora looked slower due to inactivity. But she didn't even take the fall. Stephanie won the fall over Roxanne with a Sky Twister Press. That move was the specialty of 90s AJW wrestler Chapparita Asari. The problem was she messed it up half the time. That's why no one does it anymore. It's a very difficult move and Stephanie executed it perfectly. Afterwards this new wrestler Zaria showed up. She will make her in ring debut on Tuesday. So check out the match as I thought Stephanie and Giulia both looked great. 

Giulia & Stephanie Vaquer vs Roxanne Perez & Cora Jade (Full Match) by tokyvideo.com

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Roxy Coss

Artist:Roxy Coss

Song:Waiting

Album:Restless Idealism

Roxy Coss is a jazz saxophonist and the leader of the Women In Jazz Organization. Over the years women have had difficulty being accepted as serious jazz musicians. My suspicion is the problem is with jazz record labels rather than musicians. Roxy has recorded a few albums in recent years that have been critically acclaimed. She was born Apr. 20, 1986 in Riverside, CA but she grew up in Seattle. She taught herself to play piano as a child. Then she started playing sax in her high school jazz band. After graduating from high school, Roxy studied at William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ and graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor in Music in Jazz Studies/Performance. She self released a 2010 album. Then she moved to New York and played with Clark Terry, Louis Hayes, Rufus Reid and Claudio Roditi. She joined trumpeter Jeremy Pelt's band in 2012 and remained there until she signed with Origin Records and released the 2016 album Restless Idealism. Roxy wrote the songs and produced the album. Jeremy Pelt is the special guest. Guitarist Alex Wintz has played on all of Roxy's albums. Other musicians are Chris Pattishall from Jamison Ross' band on piano. Dezron Douglas from Brandee Younger's band on bass and Willie Jones III of Houston Person's band on drums. This album is available on CD. Roxy currently records for Outside in Music and her latest album Disparate Parts was released in 2022. As I said, she leads Women In Jazz Organization and is on Juilliard's faculty. Here's Roxy Coss with Alex Wintz on guitar, Glenn Zaleski on piano, Rick Rosato on bass and Craig Weinrib on drums performing Waiting at Smalls Jazz Club in New York Jan. 14, 2016. Other than Weinrib, this is her current band.

   

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Marvin "Smitty" Smith

Artist:The Buddy Rich Big Band f/Marvin "Smitty" Smith

Song:Standing Up in a Hammock

Album:Burning for Buddy: A Tribute to the Music of Buddy Rich Vol. 2

Again I am using this Buddy Rich tribute album to feature a drummer who I normally wouldn't be able to feature due to lack of video footage and other reasons. Marvin "Smitty" Smith is an in demand sideman and session musician who rarely records as a leader. He was born Marvin Smith Jr. June 24, 1961 in Waukegan, IL which is a Chicago suburb. His father Marvin Smith Sr. was also a drummer and Smith Jr. learned to play when he was very young. After graduating from high school, Smith studied at Berklee in Boston. After graduating in 1981, he moved to New York and joined singer Jon Hendricks' band. Since then he seems to live in the recording studio. Smith has recorded two albums as a leader for Concord in the late 80s. He was also the drummer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno band led by Kevin Eubanks from 1995-2009. He works frequently with bassist Ray Drummond. I guess they are hired as a unit. Who has Smith worked with? The question is who hasn't he worked with. It's a laundry list including Donald Byrd, Michel Camilo, Robin Eubanks, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, Dave Holland, Sonny Rollins, Archie Shepp, McCoy Tyner and many others. He still does that today. So it shouldn't be surprising that Smith appeared on this Buddy Rich tribute concert organized by Rush drummer Neil Peart. Peart is a drum geek. Every song has a guest drummer. Rich recorded Standing in a Hammock on 1968 album The New One!. It was written by Woody Herman pianist and arranger Bill Potts. Of course drum geeks will love this. But I'm not a drum geek and I've been a Marvin "Smitty" Smith fan for years. Here's The Buddy Rich Tribute Band featuring Marvin "Smitty" Smith performing Standing in a Hammock at the Ritz Theater in New York City Apr. 8, 1991.

 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Duke Ellington

Artist:Duke Ellington

Song:Satin Doll

Album:The Essential Duke Ellington

This is part of my ongoing series Jazz for Beginners. My only criteria is to have a performance video and an album suitable for beginners. Of course it's impossible to cover Duke Ellington's entire career with one post. There are so many songs starting in the 20s. Satin Doll is one of his most popular songs. But it was written and recorded at a low point in his career. I'll get to that in a minute. Edward Kennedy Ellington was born Apr. 29, 1899 in Washington, DC. His parents both played piano. His mother started having him take piano lessons at age seven. Duke was a childhood nickname. As a teen, Ellington was interested in baseball. And then he got more interested in music by ragtime pianists like Eubie Blake. Washington pianist and bandleader Doc Perry taught Ellington to read music. And that's when he got serious. He just wasn't sure if music was a full time profession. Ellington studied commercial art. So he used that to get music gigs. He became successful locally. But when his drummer Sonny Greer was offered a job in New York, Ellington went with him. By 1926, Ellington signed with publisher Irving Mills and that's when Ellington started recording. He started working at the Cotton Club and got national exposure through their weekly radio show. And with the help of trumpeter Bubber Miley, Ellington's music got a harder edge. Miley died in 1932. Ellington was riding high for the next twenty years. But after WWII, most of the big bands faded and bebop was on the rise. Big bands were expensive to run. Count Basie ended his band but Ellington continued to tour. Guys started leaving the band. Ellington left Columbia and signed with Capitol in 1953. That's when Ellington wrote Satin Doll with Billy Strayhorn and it was released as a single. Capitol never released it on an album. Later, Johnny Mercer wrote lyrics for Satin Doll and Ella Fitzgerald sang it. That's when it became popular. Of course Ellington's career was revived after the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival and he returned to Columbia. You can get Satin Doll on this 2CD budget comp. This is from Sony so this version is  probably from the 1959 album Jazz Party. Ellington's career revival continued until his death on May 24, 1974 at age 75. I hope to look at other periods of Ellington's career in the future. Here's Duke Ellington performing Satin Doll 1962.

 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Aldo Nova

Artist:Aldo Nova

Song:Fantasy

Album:The Best of Aldo Nova

Canadian rocker Aldo Nova had success with his 1982 debut album Aldo Nova and the top 30 single Fantasy. He is considered to be influential on the hard rock of the 80s. Then he went on to a very successful songwriting and production career. He was born Aldo Caporuscio Nov. 13, 1956 in Montreal. His parents were Italian immigrants. He was inspired by Jimi Hendrix to learn to play guitar at age 15. While playing local clubs, Aldo played George Harrison in a production of the musical Beatlemania and he worked as a recording engineer. He got a publishing deal and that led to a record deal with Columbia's Portrait label. At the time, Portrait was having success with Cyndi Lauper. Nova's debut album Aldo Nova was released in 1982. The single Fantasy reached #23 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was certified 2XPlatinum. Learning the inner workings of the recording studio certainly paid off because Nova wrote and produced the album and played all the instruments. He hired musicians for touring. Fantasy is thought of as a one hit wonder but a couple of his other songs charted so technically it is not a one hit wonder. Nova released three albums for Portrait. But he clashed with them over commercial expectations so he stopped recording for them. This budget comp covers the Portrait years. After Aldo wrote the guitar riff for the 1991 Jon Bon Jovi single Blaze of Glory, Bon Jovi agreed to release Nova's album Blood on the Bricks on his Jambco label with Mercury distribution. This is when Nova got into producing. He has been especially successful with Celine Dion. Nova won a Grammy for producing her 1996 album Falling into You. He has produced others but he has had his greatest success with Celine. Aldo still releases music on his own label, most recently in 2022. But I think most folks have only heard Fantasy. Here's the video for Fantasy by Aldo Nova.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Gene Watson

Artist:Gene Watson

Song:Should I Go Home (Or Should I Go Crazy)

Album:18 Greatest Hits

Gene Watson scored a string of top ten country hits from 1975-85 on two different labels. Of course he faded after that. But he still tours and records for small labels. He was born Oct. 11, 1943 in Palestine, TX but he grew up in Paris, TX. Watson moved to Houston in 1963. He performed in clubs at night while working at an auto body shop during the day. He released a 1969 album produced by Cowboy Jack Clement for World Wide Records. Russ Reeder was one of the label owners and he started a new label Resco. The goal was to get Watson a major label record deal. When the 1975 single Bad Water charted nationally, Capitol signed Watson and the single Love in the Afternoon reached #3 on the Country Singles chart. This began a string of top ten country hits. The big advantage of getting on a major label in those days was getting access to Nashville songs and session musicians. Reeder produced all of Watson's albums. And he never produced anyone else. And Watson was not a songwriter. So they needed the Nashville machine. Should I Go Home (Or Should I Go Crazy) is from the 1979 album Should I Go Home. It reached #3 on the Country Singles chart. The song was written by Joe Allen who played bass on the album. The cream of Nashville session musicians led by pianist Hargus "Pig" Robbins played on the album. This comp which was sold on TV has all of Watson's Capitol hits. They are original recordings. Watson switched to MCA in 1981 no doubt for more money. He brought Reeder with him. They continued to have success including his 1981 #1 country hit Fourteen Carat Mind. Inevitably Watson faded in the late 80s. He recorded for Epic and Warner Bros. with little success. He even worked with legendary producer Billy Sherrill at Epic with little success. Watson continues to record and tour. He released his latest album in 2022 on his own label. Here's Gene Watson performing Should I Go Home (Or Should I Go Crazy) on a 1985 episode of the TV show Play It Again Nashville.

 

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Stephanie Vaquer and Giulia vs Fallon Henley and Jacy Jayne

Here's the match video of Stephanie Vaquer and Giulia vs Fallon Henley and Jacy Jayne from last night's episode of NXT. The idea here is to give Stephanie and Giulia a warmup match before Sunday's Halloween Havoc match against Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade. And that's what the match was. Stephanie and Giulia looked great and they made their opponents look good too. Mission accomplished. Enjoy the video! 

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-IYO SKY and Kairi Sane vs Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson

Here's the match video of IYO SKY and Kairi Sane vs Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson from last night's episode of NXT. Lash and Jakara have been getting in IYO and Kairi's business. So they decided to come to NXT and take care of business. They didn't quite do that because of Chelsea Green and Piper Niven interfering at the end of the match. But the match was good and IYO and Kairi made Lash and Jakara look good. IYO did slip on the ropes once. But it turned out fine. Considering their opponents are still green, I thought the match turned out well. Enjoy the video! 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Aerosmith

Artist:Aerosmith

Song:Angel

Album:The Essential Aerosmith

Most fans are familiar with Aerosmith's hits from the 70s on Columbia. They had a few hits but they were mostly were an album and touring band. They switched to Geffen in 1985. The 1988 single Angel was one of four top ten hits from that era. Aerosmith returned to Columbia in 1997. The late 70s decline of Aerosmith started with constant touring and drug abuse. Steven Tyler and Joe Perry became known as The Toxic Twins. Then backstage at the 1979 World Series of Rock festival in Cleveland, Tyler and Perry got into an argument over Perry's wife's behavior. That led to Perry leaving and starting his own band The Joe Perry Project. Needless to say, Columbia was not happy. Then guitarist Brad Whitford left in 1981 and joined The Joe Perry Project in 1984. Then Perry divorced his wife and reunited with Tyler. Drug abuse was still a problem. So Columbia didn't renew Aerosmith's contract. They signed with Geffen. They were still in a funk when they released the 1985 album Done with Mirrors. Aerosmith was still a popular touring act mostly for their 70s hits. No one was interested in the new stuff. Then Aerosmith got a big boost when Run DMC's 1986 cover of Walk This Way featuring Tyler and Perry reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. This led to a real comeback starting with Tyler going to rehab. And that led to the success of the 1987 album Permanent Vacation. The album was certified 5XPlatinum. There were three hit singles. Angel reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Tyler and Perry still wrote most of the songs. But Tyler was open to getting help with songwriting, something he resisted in the past. He wrote Angel and a couple of other songs with Desmond Child. The success continued with the 1989 album Pump. Then Aerosmith signed a new record deal with Columbia in 1991. But they still had three albums remaining on their Geffen deal. At the time, Sony was throwing a lot of money around. They had just signed Michael Jackson to a big deal. Geffen couldn't match it. They eventually worked things out and recorded for Columbia in 1997. This 2CD comp is the only one that has Columbia and Geffen hits. Here's the video for Angel by Aerosmith.

  

Big Bad Blog video Theater-IYO SKY and Kairi Sane vs Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez

 Here's the match video of IYO SKY and Kairi Sane vs Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez from last night's episode of RAW. The match was OK but this was more about the angle. IYO and Kairi are getting a little tired of all these girls getting in their business. Last week it was Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson. They interfered again last night to set up tonight's NXT match. Be sure you watch that. And then Rhea Ripley came out and confronted Liv and Raquel and Dirty Dom made the save. And then later on IYO and Kairi complained to GM Adam Pearce and he promised to make it right. So we'll see what comes from that. But this was one of those times when the match didn't matter. BTW, IYO and Kairi won by DQ. Enjoy the video.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Brittany Howard

Artist:Brittany Howard

Song:Stay High

Album:Jaime

Fans of the band Alabama Shakes will want to check out the 2019 debut solo album from that band's lead singer Brittany Howard. She's a major talent but I don't think she is a mainstream artist. I would say she is an album and touring act. She was born Oct. 2, 1988 in Athens, AL which is a suburb of Huntsville. Her father is black and her mother is white. The family lived in a junkyard which burned down after a lightning strike. She learned to write poetry and play piano from her older sister Jaime who died from the rare cancer of the eye retinoblastoma in 1998. Brittany suffered the same affliction and she is partially blind in one eye. After her parents separated, Brittany learned to play guitar and began to write songs. She met bassist Zac Cockrell in high school and they would form Alabama Shakes. Brittany was lead singer, lead guitarist and main songwriter. The band was very successful as an album and touring act from 2012 to 2018. They went on hiatus and Brittany released the 2019 album Jaime dedicated to her late sister. The album was on Alabama Shakes' label ATO. I don't think she signed a solo deal. The album was highly acclaimed and reached #13 on the Billboard 200. The single Stay High topped the Adult Alternative Airplay chart. Actor Terry Crews appears in the video. Stay High won a Grammy for Best Rock Song. Brittany wrote and produced and played all the instruments except for Zac Cockrell on bass and and jazz drummer Nate Smith. Robert Glasper appeared on a few tracks. The album is available on CD. For the 2023 album What Now, Brittany signed with Island Records. Again, she wrote and produced with Shawn Everett who had worked with Alabama Shakes. But the album did not do as well. And that's the problem with going to a larger label. Sales expectations are higher. And when they aren't met, Island will want her to compromise. Then what? I understand she's getting more money at Island. But she should have stayed at ATO as they know how to market her. We'll see how things go. I'm a big fan so I'll keep an eye on her. Here's the video for Stay High by Brittany Howard.