Check out Jose Conde's new video! It's been a long time coming and the dream has been realized! Check it out. Ola Fresca bandleader and the project's visionary, Jose Conde: "In 1998, almost 20 years before the historic re-opening of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, I wrote a song called “Puente a Mi Gente” (Bridge to My People). Now, through the mediums of video and audio recording in a new arrangement of this song and a 6 minute video clip, the cultural bridge visualized in the song has been built! "Puente a Mi Gente" features Cuban musicians...

Happy birthday to DJ superstar Jason Mizell (aka Jam Master Jay) of Run DMC. He helped bring mainstream approval to DJs and hiphop in general. He also played the live instruments on Run DMC's records. He later produced Onyx and opened a DJ academy. He was shot to death in his Queens studio in 2002 but remains a popular music icon. "The best DJ in the US of A!".

One of my favorite 60s pop heroes, the NYC-born (Blackfoot Indian & Afro-Caribbean heritage) Richie Havens brought a rhythmic flair to folk guitar and with his searing vocals combined to bring new life to both classic & popular material, as well as his own tunes. His style melded urban doo-wop and gospel influence, 60s rock/pop, Indian music, Greenwich Village lefty folk, R&B, spirituals and protest blues. He was a mesmerizing solo performer deep into his years.

While best known for the timeless classic "War" and "25 Miles", the truth is that Edwin Starr made a lot of great records in the 60s and 70s, including "Stop Her On Sight (S.O.S.)", "Headline News", the psychedelic "You've Got My Soul On Fire", "Stop The War Now", music from the soundtrack to "Hell Up In Harlem" and the late 70s hit "Contact", among others. Ranging from Northern Soul on the Ric-Tic label to topical psych-funk (produced by Norman Whitfield) to disco, his strong voice always blew these ears away. And there was this funky number from the flick Hell...

After checking out the mighty Brown Sabbath show, a side project of Grupo Fantasma side project Brownout (with Brownout side project Money Chicha opening the bill - that's a lot of side projects!), I remembered that amazing clave-rock version of the Led Zeppelin banger "Immigrant Song" that Grupo played on a live video session for KUTX. These Texas badboys rip and shred on anything they want! One of our favorite group of musicians here at Peace & Rhythm. Check 'em out! http://grupofantasma.com/ http://kutx.org/ TWISTED features left-field cover versions of popular songs.