The Music Thread Story
The Music Thread features great songs and the interesting, organic connections/links they suggest. We’ll follow their lead & explore their riches in all directions. The links can be anything: a song, musician, place, style, instrument, label, etc. There can be more than one link at any moment in the Threads.
For example, we could start with The Beatles singing a Chuck Berry song, or using one of his melodies (“You Can’t Catch Me”) for part of their song, like they did on “Come Together.” Then we could follow with Chuck’s “Rock and Roll Music,” or follow with yet another adaptation of Berry’s music: The Beach Boys using variations of Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen” melody for their hit song, “Surfing USA.” It all depends on the link we choose to follow. Staying with the Beatles we could continue with “Back in the USSR.” How about those cool background voices that sound like the Beach Boys? That was the Beach Boys! Again, we could follow them.
The Thread will embrace all kinds of music. How about classical music? Where do Beethoven and Rock and Roll connect? We can listen to Ludwig’s immortal, “Fur Elise” then play Billy Joel’s “This Night,” a homage to Beethoven’s “Pathetique” sonata, or go to ELO’s incredible version of “Roll over Beethoven,” where they cleverly adapt Beethoven’s melodies into the song. But wait, wouldn’t that take us back to Berry? Yes, it would, because he wrote “Roll over Beethoven.”
Like Blues? Who wrote “Crossroads”? (Recorded by Cream) and “Love in Vain” (Recorded by The Stones)? Both were written by Robert Johnson, the king of the Delta Blues, the man who supposedly sold his soul to the devil so he’d learn to play. After playing those songs we wouldn’t be able to resist playing Robert himself, who could lead us to Muddy Waters, (A loyal disciple) or Eric Clapton (who recorded an album of Robert’s songs) and also had a hit with “Crossroads” with his group, Cream. Of course, we could follow the thread leading to countless bluesmen & covers of Robert’s classic songs. While we’re in the south, what do Soul masters James Brown, Little Richard and Otis Redding have in common? All 3 lived in our next link, Georgia. Otis and Little Richard were born there, Brown in South Carolina… and so on.
As you can see, the possibilities are endless! The music will take us on a musical journey created by the links in the songs themselves. From the classic songs we all love to the new artists at the top of the charts now; we’ll follow the connections as we travel through the years, the styles and the places where the music is born. That’s the heart of it: the songs. It’s the music we love, music and artists to remember, discover, enjoy. Some new, some old, in just about every style of music you can imagine.
That’s what The Music Thread is all about.
About the Creator
Ricardo Gautreau is a musician based in White Plains New York. He holds a Music Degree and Masters in Bilingual Education from the City College of New York, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. At City he studied with noted composer/pianist John Lewis, of the Modern Jazz Quartet. He has also studied with master composer/pianist Ran Blake, and Jazz guitar legend Sal Salvador. His influences range from Robert Johnson, the Beatles, Sam Cooke to Juan Luis Guerra. His musical brew is a refreshing blend of Rock, Jazz, and Latin that is beyond category.
Ricardo’s songs have won commendations from Billboard magazine & the UK songwriting contest; they have been featured in Broadside magazine. His new album is “The Missing Link”’; it features original songs by Ricardo as well as covers of songs by Green Day & Emeli Sande. “Latin Gypsy”, one of the songs from the album, was selected as song of the day in the prestigious Jazz portal, “All About Jazz”.
His music is available on many platforms, including Spotify, Apple music, Amazon Music, I Tunes, & his own site.
Ricardo and his trio, winners of the Relix magazine competition, perform all over the tri state area. Please visit his site for more info. https://ricardogautreau.com