The Web’s Best Video Clips: Videos With A Brain

On a ukelele, recorded in Central Park. Tender, energetic and beautiful. Surprisingly engaging for a 4-stringed instrument with limited tonal range.

One of the great composers of the last century (along with lyricist Hal David), accompanied here by the most skillful interpreter of his work. Dionne sings A House is Not a Home, What the World Needs Now and Alfie.

Sounding much more mature than her 15 years when she recorded this, Renee Olstead (from TV’s “Still Standing”) is getting a lot of attention these days as a singer of jazz standards, produced by uber-producer David Foster. This is the classic Someone to Watch Over Me.

The young girl from the sitcom “Still Standing” is no longer so little (although she was born in ‘89)…and her singing just may be eclipsing her acting. Her producer is David Foster…so it’s quite likely that she’s going places. This is a monster performance of the standard Summertime.

Back before “smooth jazz” destroyed what was left of contemporary instrumental music, there was the great Grover Washington, Jr. This was recorded June 27, 1981 in Philadelphia. Sadly, GWjr died in late 1999, way too young. He was just 56. His backup band on this recording including jazz luminaries Ralph MacDonald, Eric Gale, Anthony Jackson [...]

A great band in their prime. BS&T at Woodstock. The music mix is a bit weak…so the great horn arrangements are hard to pick out, but you get to hear that was the magnificence that was David Clayton-Thomas when his voice was young and nimble. One of the best bands ever if you love jazz-rock.

This amazing little lady is 11 YEARS OLD. If you missed the first season of America’s Got Talent, you didn’t get to see her win the million dollars. This is a nearly letter-perfect performance of the big hit from Dreamgirls…but before Jennifer Hudson’s soundtrack recording of the song was released. She’s amazingly confident, and clearly [...]

Much more an experiment in creative video editing than anything else. It’s sort of a paint-by-numbers musical experiments, since the creator states at the end of the video: “I can neither play the drums nor the piano.” But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel the music, and it shows that he does. A fun, quirky [...]

A rare TV appearance of the British rock band Argent from 1972, with an early Seventies anthemic rock standard called “Hold Your Head Up”, which reached #5 on the US charts in the summer of that year. Even though this is in B&W and pretty obviously lip-synched to the original recording, it’s still good to [...]

One of the most pleasant musical discoveries of the past few years was “Love”, the mashup of original Beatles tracks by George and Giles Martin. If you haven’t heard it…you should. The Martins, Paul, Ringo, Yoko and Olivia all share their thoughts on the projects and how well it turned out.

A friend who teaches guitar told me he generally doesn’t recommend that they start lessons til age 9. This kid is SIX years old, and very solid. Nice, clean playing. He nails Twist & Shout and some nice blues rock. I’m sure his dad is a guitarist. But still…very cool. And just look at his [...]

The Reactable is a multi-user electronic music instrument with a tabletop tangible user interface. Several simultaneous performers share complete control over the instrument by moving physical objects on a luminous table surface. This instrument is being developed by a team of digital luthiers at the Music Technology Group within the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, [...]

Three incredible guitarists (Albert Lee, Vince Gill…aka Mr. Amy Grant, and the late Danny Gatton) playing One Way Rider. Despite the lame camera work during Vince’s solo, you get to see some very creative playing from all three of these legends. What a hoot!

Danny Gatton is hardly a household name, and yet…not a conversation goes by among guitarists about the all-time greats without his name being included. This video is a great example of just why that’s the case. Whereas, for many guitarists, it’s all about the technique…for Danny, his talent and technique were so amazing that they [...]

The cello is, very simply, one of the most evocative musical instruments in the world. Few instruments can communicate such passion quite so quickly. This is Part 1 of Movement 1 of Anton Dvorak’s Cello Concerto, as performed by The New York Philharmonic conducted by Kurt Masur, recorded at Lincoln Center. And the lead, of [...]

Even if you don’t know Yo-Yo Ma from Yo Mama…certainly you can appreciate a passionate musical performance, right? This is a very seductive performance. It would be a challenge not to be drawn away by the music. Just close your eyes and listen.

On an instrument traditionally limited to one note at a time, flautist Greg Pattillo mixes in elements of beatboxing for a very tasty blend. Enjoy this medley of The Inspector Gadget Theme and The Axel F Theme (from Beverly Hills Cop). More about Greg at MySpace.com/pattillostyle

Gospel producer Kirk Franklin returns with an inspirational, encouraging song about breaking free of your past baggage…both external and internal.

An energetic Celtic piece, performed live at Slane Castle, Ireland (August 2006).

The only Dave Matthews song I’ve ever really liked. The rest all sound the same to me. This one has a beautiful, distinct jazzy soulful feel. Tasty video, too.

From the Prince’s Trust Rock Gala. Layla, one of rock’s 10 best songs of all time (about Clapton’s love for George Harrison’s wife Olivia) is accompanied here by Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits), Nile Rodgers (Chic) and Elton John, among others.

The closest thing to an “official” music video of this dynamic young band performing one of their most moving songs. [via MusicJesus.com]

Seeing Riverdance live is a much richer experience than just listening to the music (beautiful as it is). It’s very difficult to describe the power of 30+ people moving at light-speed in perfect sync, tapping and stamping. This clip will give you just a bit of a feel for it. More info at Riverdance.com.

Riverdance is one of the most powerful and energetic stage shows of the last 20 years. This clip (from Eurovision 1994) will introduce you to some of the gorgeous music and the look of the set…as well as individual dance parts. The other clip will feature the power of the team dancing. More info at [...]

Another superb-quality animation. The weakness of the Animusic series is that the music they base the work on is so throwaway. But that can’t be said this time. “Pictures at an Exhibition” was created by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874. It was brought into the current musical vernacular by Emerson, Lake & Palmer in [...]