News from the darkest corners...

“I hereby present the music of Taraf Degrief, a unique musician (born Shmuel Schenderovitch) whose songs have been heard by only a small handful of people. I know of him because he was my great uncle, a defiantly unconventional man whose mystical fervor for Judaism was expressed most purely through his music. The only audio recordings that were ever made of his music were produced during his final days in the basement of the old Spanish Synagogue in Prague.”

It may be a hoax, it may be real, but the music certainly is weird. Find out for yourself at http://tarafdegrief.blogspot.com

It’s now confirmed that Shooby “The human horn” Taylor passed away.

Irwin Chusid posted the following message on the Outsider Music Mailinglist today:

The Human Horn (1929-2003)
Ken Freedman and I offered a brief tribute to Shooby Taylor on WFMU ’round noon Wednesday, playing his version of “Over the Rainbow” (with Erroll Garner). After the music faded, Taylor signed off the recording by saying, “I hope you enjoyed the tunes that I’ve done. Let everything that have breath, praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. I’ve given you, maybe not what you want, but hopefully what you need. The end. Shooby Taylor.”