kalatva.

Preservation Hall Jazz band has been doing some awesome new collaboration work for a new benefit album, Preservation.

The complete roster of artists includes: Louis Armstrong, Andrew Bird, Terence Blanchard, Pete Seeger, Dr. John, Blind Boys of Alabama, Brandi Carlile, Cory Chisel, Ani DiFranco, Steve Earle, Merle Haggard, Richie Havens, Jason Isbell, Jim James, Angelique Kidjo, Amy LaVere, Del McCoury, Bobby McFerrin, Buddy Miller, Paolo Nutini, and Tom Waits. (link)

All the details of who they’re working with and what songs they’re covering are here and here. You’ll surely be hearing more about this, because it’s some great stuff.

And this here is the song + animated music video to their recent recording of St. James Infirmary with King Britt.

I’m a huge AC/DC fan, so finding this was amusing and strange at the same time. Paris Derniere does a lot of covers of popular songs, and they do a cover of AC/DC’s Highway to Hell that’s really pretty good. It doesn’t have the same kick and power as AC/DC’s song because it’s a soft and melodic version, but it’s just interesting to see it done because I never would have imagined an AC/DC song in such a different light.

Highway to Hell

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Xavier Rudd has a really beautiful, delicate style in his music. He’s amazing at slide guitar, and plays the didgeridoo and a whole slew of other instruments too in a many of his songs. He does a beautiful cover of Jimi Hendrix’s The Wind Cries Mary. Here are two of his original songs too, one is more his classic gentle style (“White Moth”) and the other is a more reggae-style upbeat song of his that I really love (“Twist”).

The Wind Cries Mary

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Twist

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White Moth

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Not to be confused with the French “New Wave” genre in general, Nouvelle Vague is the name of a French group which covers a variety of songs in a bossa nova style, making them quite different from their originals. To make sure that their covers are significantly different, the singer they use for each song has to be unfamiliar with the song she sings. It produces great covers that are very interesting in their difference from the originals, and still sound really good.

Blue Monday

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