Paco Malo, Meet BradleyQ

This evening, through some mutual friends and fans, I learned of the passing of a relatively obscure songwriter/musician whom I had never had the pleasure of listening to. Because the news of his passing was eloquently shared on a social media post, an interest was sparked, and I took the opportunity to visit his Reverbnation page. What I got there was a close-up view into the beautiful soul of BradleyQ. And as I sat there listening, it occurred to me that, aside from any prayers of sympathy I could offer to his loved ones, the best thing I could do to celebrate BradleyQ's life was to listen, and to share that listening experience with others. How serendipitous it is that I would first share it on a blog that I have attempted to maintain in memory of a personal friend of mine, and creator of Gold Coast Bluenote, Paco Malo. He was such a big fan of and supporter of the arts, and I know that one of this blog's primary missions was to explore that passionate interest. So tonight, as Paco Malo and BradleyQ meet for the first time in that quaint little cafe on the corner of Celestial Avenue and St. Peter's Way, I simultaneously celebrate both their lives with a post of my own. Paco Malo, meet BradleyQ...

Free Music Player for Myspace at ReverbNation.com

I Remember Tampa

This is the original unplugged version of the Tampa Natives Show Theme Song, I Remember Tampa. Those of us who knew Paco Malo personally, know that he was very passionate about Tampa's history and that he was a huge fan of the Tampa Natives Show, as well as it's theme song. Here, the song is accompanied by video from a short film called "The Flower of Tampa", which was made in the 1950's by the Tampa Chamber of Commerce to promote Tampa and the cigar industry. The original 16mm film resides in the City of Tampa Archives and Records Department along with historic photos from the film's shooting. 

Invisible

Gone, But Not Forgotten

Thanks For the Memories...

Gold Coast Bluenote was founded in 2005, by Jim Kearney (aka, Paco Malo). It was a labor of love that he took on to share his knowledge and express his feelings about the music, the movies, the art, and the literature that shaped his life.  There are over 500 entries in this blog, and each contains Jim's unique insights and observations about a host of different subjects. Today would have been Jim's 57th birthday.  I am honored to be able to keep GCB up and running, and accessible to all who pass through to research, review, and remember the topics he covered. Please feel free to browse through his posts, commenting and sharing on any of them that has a special meaning in your life.

Great Music, Great Friends

  The other night, I received a rather serendipitous email from a close friend of Jim's. It tells the story behind a Gold Coast Bluenote post that dates back to 2005. I thought it would nice to share the story as a post on it's own, complete with links to the original post, as well as to the music of Alison Krauss, who's beautiful voice inspired it.

It's funny how our lives weave together disparate elements, and make them inseparable. I was listening to some tunes last night. The music got me thinking about Jim, and GCB, and that in turn made me think of you.

Here's the back story behind an old post on GCB:(http://goldcoastbluenote.blogspot.com/2006/12/all-my-answers-turned-out-to-be.html). Alison Krauss and Union Station were scheduled to play Lakeland in Dec 2005. I wanted Jim to go see them, and to cover the concert for GCB.

Why? Union Station is the tightest band I have ever seen. Every member is a master musician. Some bands sound great on an album, but just so-so live. Union Station delivers the goods live, every time. Alison Krauss was then (is still) one of the best singers in the world. And she also has the instrumental chops to play with Union Station. Jim had never seen them; I wanted to fix that.

I knew Jim was a bit tight on funds, so I bought him a ticket. As we exchanged emails, it dawned on me that he had no way to get from Tampa to Lakeland and back. In for a dime, in for a dollar. I bought another concert ticket, and a plane ticket, and arranged to fly in from NC so that Jim and I could see the show together. One of the best nights of my life, by the way.

As Jim put it

First timers think they are just going to a concert; but after they listen to these musician’s musicians, they leave the show, just having found that Yahweh cuts us sinners a break now and again.

Digging around on youtube I found a great concert recording of AK/US. It's about three years before the show we went to, but has a quite a bit of overlap with the show we attended. I saw this 2002 tour in Durham NC, and it made me a fan for life. Sometime when you have an hour or so, read Jim's post, open a cold one, and give this a spin: http://youtu.be/HKgTra0QldE

Just one thing though. The concert Jim and I went to had a different encore, as mentioned on GCB. It gave me chills. Here it is, as performed on the Leno Show:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5gmVzbjxwl4.

later bro,
drc

"Baby Doll": Our first glimpse of legendary character actor, Eli Wallach

For my first official GCB blog entry, I would like to pay tribute to Hollywood legend, Eli Wallach, who passed away last week, at the age of 89. His screen debut in Baby Doll (1956) showed us all a glimpse of the talent that would ultimately make him one of the greatest character actors of our time. Below is the link to a beautiful video produced by Turner Classic Movies, featuring many of the highlights of his career. Knowing the kind of movie buff that Paco Malo was, it is highly unlikely that he would have let the opportunity to recognize Eli's contributions to the silver screen slip by.

TCM Remembers Eli Wallach