RIP: T-Bone Wolk

T-Bone Wolk, NY-based session bass player extraordinaire, best known for his work with Hall & Oates, and the SNL Band passed away Saturday, 2/27/2010. He died from a heart attack.

This is particularly sad because the Hall & Oates reunion tour was about to get underway. For those of you unfamiliar with his work, go to the excellent site Live from Daryl's House.

T-Bone is actually playing guitar in the Daryl's house series and is the musical director. He's the guy in the hat, sitting next to Daryl, most of the time. Watch one episode, you'll know how much he will be missed.

It (or they) came from the 70's

Recently, I obtained two unusual albums from the 1970's:

1. Grand Funk Railroad's Good Singin' Good Playin' produced by Frank Zappa.
2. Daryl Hall's Sacred Songs produced by Robert Fripp.

Both of these albums were commercial flops, but arguably artistic successes. There is usually a WTF or "who would have thunk" reaction to these strange pairings, when I mention them to friends and fellow musicians.

Personally, I give both of these albums kudos and high marks. It's as if a wormhole has been opened to a strange, alternate universe. A universe where two mainstream "pop" acts were temporarily allowed to exercise and demonstrate artistic integrity.