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Elektra, 1970
Remember The Stooge’s ‘Fun House’? Heart-pounding, teeth-gnashing, musical napalm.
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A cappella groups around the Seacoast skip the instruments but still rock the house.
Interest in a cappella music appears to be on the rise on the Seacoast.
Sounds of the Seacoast’s membership is near an all-time
high, and groups like Tuckerman's at 9 are amping up expectations. “You really have to hold your own,” says Mark Miller of Tuckermans at 9.
“It’s the idea of taking songs that we like from whatever era and
saying, ‘OK, this song was originally with instruments, let’s see if we
can do it without instruments.’”
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Larry Simon revives two popular concerts in Portsmouth, aiming to cure what ails you with some old-fashioned music therapy.
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The Mountain Goats are at UNH this week, Ernest Whaley's new music series in Newmarket aims for an intimate "listening room" environment, and the River House wants to let you know they have live music, too!
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The venue has already announced a dozen acts, starting with 1990s pop-rock sensation the Goo Goo Dolls on April 15.
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Gazpacho will play an event to raise funds for the Portsmouth Police Honor Guard, and Manchester's Sons of Kalil will donate proceeds from their hip-hop album "No Plan B" to benefit on-the-ground programs in Haiti.
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Music Hall announces Herbie Hancock and Afro-Cuban All Stars
Herbie Hancock began playing the piano at age 7, and nearly four decades later he still shows no signs of slowing down.
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The Seacoast succumbs to mandolin mania with an upcoming concert from David Grisman and weekend Mandolin Festival.
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Harpist James Montgomery still loves to play. He talks with The Wire about jamming with legends, hanging with Kid Rock, and bringing Boston greats with him to Rochester.
By the time he was in his 20s, James Montgomery had already set the course for the Boston rock scene of the 1970s and achieved far more as a musician than most harmonica players do in their entire careers. Since then, he's gone on to really make a name for himself.
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Local musicians get together and gear up for Morrissey cover show, one in a series highlighting their favorite influences
An active musician in a variety of contexts, Tim Fife has led several tribute shows to different artists over the last year, and their upcoming Morrissey show is part of a fun trend for fans. Local rocker Tim McCoy and his various outfits have been known to play sets of The Who, The Guts and The Lanterns have performed blocks of songs by The Ramones, and The Funky Flunkies even played Michael Jackson’s entire “Thriller” album at The Barley Pub in November.
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Marky Ramone discusses the origins of punk, life after The Ramones and his upcoming gig in Salisbury
When The Ramones released their self-titled debut album in 1976, no
other band was playing rock songs that fast. Most bands were wearing
“platform shoes and velvet pants,” playing disco or glam rock. And
while some other groups had demonstrated elements of punk, “They wouldn’t stick to the formula,” Marky Ramone says in his thick
New York accent.
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A run of winter jazz performances in the area keeps getting hotter. Jazz Universe rounds up the big shows through February.
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A “who’s who” of performers in contemporary jazz will swing through
Portsmouth this week in what performer Regina Carter describes as a really enjoyable, fun tour. Vocalist Kurt Elling, pianist Kenny Barron,
violinist Regina Carter and guitarist Russell Malone, all ably backed
by bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa and drummer Johnathan Blake, both members
of Barron’s working trio, will take the stage as the Monterey Jazz
Festival All-Stars at The Music Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 10.
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Santiago Rodriguez has been described as “a phenomenal pianist” by The
New York Times and “among the finest pianists in the world” by the
Baltimore Sun. He’ll try to live up to the hype during a performance at
the University of New Hampshire on Friday, Feb. 5. On a decidedly different note, Boston resident and Scottish national fiddle champion Hanneke Cassel will celebrate the release of her latest album, “For Reasons
Unseen,” at the Dolphin Striker in Portsmouth the same night.
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Tom Kressler wanders the unmarked lanes and alleyways of today's musical streetscape, always returning with something unexpected.
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Back before she recorded her first album in 2005 and was simply playing gigs in Ravensdale, having a
residency at a local restaurant was enough to make her feel successful. Now on her latest CD, she shares a duet with
Elton John on “Caroline,” splits vocals with The Indigo Girls’ Amy Ray
on “Looking Out,” and works with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad
Smith on several tracks. Carlile is still touring behind “Give Up the Ghost,” and she’ll return
to The Music Hall with a full band on Sunday, Jan. 31, as part of the
Portsmouth theater’s Intimately Yours concert series. The show is
already sold out.
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Led by Carly Barrett and vocalist Elan Atias, The Wailers pull songs from
Bob Marley’s vast repertoire of hits and play them with a level of
authenticity few other reggae acts can achieve. Their show in Portsmouth on February 3 will open with Green Lion Crew, a locally based collection of reggae DJs, producers and sound system selectors.
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For the fifth consecutive winter, folk duo Susie Burke and David
Surette are hosting their Cabin Fever collaborative concert series. Burke and Surette will split the bill on January 30 with siblings Ari and
Mia Friedman, a fiddle and cello duo from Boston.
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Dance music will resonate through The Hall during a WSCA fundraiser on
Saturday, Jan. 30. The Jeannie Daniels Band and the Los Border Coyotes
will aim to get feet moving on the Portsmouth venue’s dance floor to benefit the non-profit, independent, volunteer-operated Seacoast radio station.
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Relive the big-band era on the third Thursday of every month with the 15-piece New Legacy
Swing Band in York.
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Students and faculty will provide music by Schumann, Mozart, Bach, de Falla and more during the concert series.
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Yoga on the Hill will present an evening of intergalactic musical
experimentation at its studio in the Wentworth Dennett School in
Kittery, Maine, on Tuesday, Jan. 26. On the bill are Daniel Higgs,
Stellar Om Source and Deep Egypt.
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While my reaction to today’s music is not as severe as my father’s was to the Beatles, Miles Davis and Yes of my generation, I
do find myself discouraged, if not completely disillusioned, with much
of the work I hear from younger generations.
But in my list of the top recordings of 2009, which can be found at the end
of this column, there is hope for the future of jazz in names like
Etienne Charles, J.D. Allen, Gretchen Parlato, Jessica Lurie, Esperanza
Spaulding, Danny Grissett and Miquel Zenon.
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Singer-songwriter Heather Maloney has a truly remarkable voice, and
she’s not shy about showing off her vocal dexterity on her new CD,
“Cozy Razor’s Edge.” The Mass.-based artist will air out her lungs
during a CD release show at The Press Room in Portsmouth on Thursday,
Jan. 14.
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The 12th annual “Set the House on Fire” gospel concert will celebrate
Martin Luther King Day on Monday, Jan. 18, with several spirited
musical acts. The concert at Newington Town Hall will feature The
Faithful Harmonize Jrs., The Funky Divas of Gospel and the Set the
House on Fire Band.
And Sandpipers, the Seacoast Children’s Chorus, will present two upcoming
concerts in honor of Martin Luther King Day. The shows take place on
Saturday, Jan. 16, at Holy Trinity Church in Newington, and Sunday,
Jan. 17, at Rye Congregational Church.
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A variety of religious and philosophical doctrines tout the idea that
the rewards we reap in life are proportional to the pain and hardship
we endure.
Maybe that’s why so many thousands of musicians have subjected
themselves to 28 days of painstaking artistic creation each year during
the cold, dark month of February. The potential for hardship is
considerable, but the reward of a brand spanking new CD is worth the
pain.
Won't you join us? Now entering its fifth year, the RPM Challenge is open for registration
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When
classical violin prodigy Joshua Bell performed at The Music Hall in
March 2008, tickets sold out almost immediately. Fans who missed that
show will have a chance to catch the Grammy Award-winning artist when
he returns to Portsmouth on Thursday, Feb. 4.
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Five local musicians will
share the stage at the Elysium Arts Folk Club in
Rollinsford on Saturday, Jan. 9. Jesse Dold, Cole Gove, Courtney
Brocks, Jeff Hawkinson and Joshua Jones promise an interactive blend of music
and storytelling in the cozy, brick-walled venue.
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It was a year ago this month that banjo player and singer Tao
Rodriguez-Seeger stepped onstage with his grandfather Pete Seeger and
Bruce Springsteen during Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration in
Washington, D.C. Accompanied by a youth chorus, the trio performed
Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” in front of an audience of
about 400,000 people.
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by Buzzcocks
United Artists, 1979
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Jazz Society launches Seacoast Jazz Appreciation Project
When Terry MacDonald was growing up in a Boston suburb in the mid
1950s, the Teenage Jazz Club would meet at Storyville in Boston, one of the city’s premier jazz clubs.
On the last Friday afternoon of
every month, they would take in an exclusive performance by whichever jazz
musician happened to be playing at the club that week. MacDonald and
his fellow young jazz fans heard legends like Max Roach, Oscar
Peterson, George Shearing and others. The musicians would also interact
with their teenage listeners, giving them an informal education in
jazz.
Now a board member of the Seacoast Jazz Society, MacDonald hopes to
replicate his experience with a new program called the Seacoast Jazz
Appreciation Project.
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According to rock lore, the New Riders of the Purple Sage originally
formed in 1969 as a vehicle for Jerry Garcia to practice his new pedal
steel guitar. Forty years later, the band is bringing its psychedelic
cowboy sound to the Tupelo Music Hall in Salisbury, Mass., on Sunday,
Dec. 27.
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Boston-based jazzy folk vocalist Sarah Blacker will perform songs from her first full-length studio recording, in Portsmouth on Dec. 30.
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Let’s Get Married, The
Jonee Earthquake Band, Billy Raygun, The Devil and a Penny and The Zambia are part of an all-ages winter holiday
rock show in Dover.
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A round-up of recent releases from the Seacoast music scene
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local CD sellers look back on the highlights of 2009
The year was dominated by up-and-coming mega-celebs like Taylor Swift
and Lady Gaga, plus renewed mania for the late Michael Jackson and
remastered Beatles. But, as is often the case, many of 2009’s true
recording gems soared beneath the mainstream radar. Our local professional music fans from Portsmouth’s Bull Moose Music, Odyssey &
Oracle and Flea Marketing weigh in on the year’s best albums
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The good news is The Music Hall has booked a singer who lays claim to
some of American music’s most memorable vocal performances. The bad
news is you’ll have to spend at least $65 to see the 68-year-old live.
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For many fans, guitarist Ed Gerhard’s annual Christmas Guitar Concert
has become as much a part of the holiday season as spiked eggnog.
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It’s been about a decade since Boston-based band The Elevator Drops
played a live show together, but they’ll take the stage at The Middle
East in Cambridge on Friday, Dec. 18. The reunion will feature front
man Dave Goolkasian and his new wave pop trio in full makeup—just like
the old days.
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Seasonal festivities with Chris Humphrey, Tim Webb and Peter Moutis, plus holiday gifts that swing.
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The chorus will mark the 200th anniversary of Franz Haydn’s death and Felix Mendelssohn’s birth in 1809 with performances in Durham, Exeter and Newington.
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An upcoming show at The Stone Church in Newmarket will mark a joyous
reunion for one of the area’s most celebrated jam bands.
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Portsmouth’s longest running community chorus, with 45 singers led by
director Priscilla French, presents holiday shows featuring the six
individual cantatas of Bach’s master seasonal work, plus three contemporary compositions, including two recent pieces by
Dover composer Kevin Siegfried.
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WXGR and TVP Records share new studio and events in Portsmouth
It was squirming room only at the Dolphin Striker’s Spring Hill Tavern
in Portsmouth on Dec. 3, as TVP Records and WXGR hosted the first Winter Chill.
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Since launching in 2005, the annual Jazzmouth festival has never failed
to attract a truly impressive array of poets and musicians, both local
and international. Past installments have featured David Amram, Charles
Simic, Andrei Codrescu, Billy Collins, Donald Hall, Mose Allison, Bob
Dorough and Eric Mingus, among others. The recently announced headliners for 2010 are true to form.
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TMH books Neko Case
Perhaps not since Bright Eyes two years ago has the local indie
rock scene been so excited about a show at The Music Hall. Country
rocktress Neko Case will perform at the Portsmouth theater as part of
its Intimately Yours concert series on Thursday, Nov. 12.
Equally influenced by country and punk, Case is a singer and
multi-instrumentalist with a uniquely tantalizing voice. Although she
has now released six studio albums as a solo artist, she is still a
rising star, currently touring in support of her latest CD “Middle
Cyclone.” Released in March, the album debuted at number 3 on the
Billboard charts—the highest an indie CD has ever reached upon its
release.
A native of Virginia, Case made her name as a member of indie
rock group The New Pornographers. But she has excelled as a solo
artist, mastering a distinctive “country-noir” style while playing
guitar, piano and percussion. In addition to her repertoire of original
material, she has covered songs by Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Aretha
Franklin, Harry Nilsson and others.
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Old 97's
1997, Elektra Records
the sound: Alt-country is like
Americana with bite. It’s country, complete with twangs and yowls and
balls-out rock and roll. And Old 97’s is alt-country at its best. The
album starts off with a kick to the teeth called “Timebomb,” a raucous
tune with rapid-fire lyrics and soulful howling. “I got a timebomb, in
my mind, Mom / I got it badly for a stick-legged girl. She’s gonna kill
me, and I don’t mean softly / I got it badly for a stick-legged girl.”
The next song, “Barrier Reef,” slows down to a square dance beat, with
a smartass chorus: “What’s so great about the Barrier Reef? / What’s so
fine about art?” All the lyrics on the band’s fourth album, “Too Far to
Care,” are bittersweet and funny, giving a sense, like the title, that
everything turns out wrong—but so what?
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Little Feat show to benefit ailing Ballroom manager
Jon
Papandrew, operations manager at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, has
been welcoming major musicians to Hampton for more than a decade. It
came as a shock to the Ballroom staff when Papandrew was diagnosed with
liver cancer that has metastasized to his bones. On top of the physical
and emotional toll on Papandrew and his family, the cost of medical
treatment totals nearly $6,000 per month.
The Ballroom will host a benefit show featuring rock legends
Little Feat on Thursday, Aug. 20. Proceeds from the $20 tickets will go
directly to the Papandrew family to help pay for cancer drugs and other
expenses.
Little Feat formed in 1969 after founding songwriter and
instrumentalist Lowell George departed Frank Zappa’s Mothers of
Invention to start his own band. George died in 1979, but the band is
still touring the nation with a seven-piece ensemble. Regular summer
performers at the Ballroom, their most recent studio album, “Kickin’ It
at the Barn,” came out in 2003.
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Bob Lord’s Parma Recordings pumps out classical and world music
Local
music fans may know Bob Lord best as bassist for the heavy-hitting,
prog-rock trio Dreadnaught. But Lord is also the musical mastermind
behind Parma Recordings, a Hampton-based audio production company with
five label imprints—Navona, Capstone, Soundbrush, Big Round and
Ravello.
It may come as some surprise to Dreadnaught fans to learn that
these labels are focused mainly on classical and world music. On the
surface, it seems like a far cry from Dreadnaught’s guitar/bass/drums
equation. But Lord, who founded Parma in 2008, says it’s a logical fit.
From a structural standpoint, he says, Dreadnaught’s arrangements are
rooted in classical sensibility.
“It’s always been embedded in there from the beginning,” Lord says. “It was a very natural fit for me.”
Parma has been putting out CDs at a prolific rate. Navona Records, a
label dedicated to orchestral, chamber and classical music, has churned
out numerous recordings over the last year, all with impressive album
art and sound quality.
Flipping through the CD sleeves reveals that these discs were
recorded at sites all over the world, including Slovakia, Sweden, the
Czech Republic and, more locally, the New England Conservatory in
Boston. Lord traveled to Slovakia in May for recording sessions with
the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, and he has been traveling to the
Czech Republic about every other month. He plans to also embark on
future recording projects in Russia and elsewhere.
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Paul F. Verrette, an associate professor emeritus of music at the
University of New Hampshire, distinguished musician, music historian
and one of the area’s kindest souls, passed away suddenly on Wednesday,
Aug. 5. He was vacationing with his family in Maine at the time of his
death.
An accomplished jazz pianist who was equally comfortable in the
classical realm, Verrette was known for his encyclopedic knowledge of
jazz and a variety of other musical styles. During his 35-year career
at UNH, Verrette taught classes in music appreciation and history,
while also working with aspiring jazz pianists. He also served as chair
of the music department and taught at the UNH Summer Youth Music School
for many years. Verrette served on the UNH Faculty Senate and was a
passionate advocate for diversity at UNH, serving on the university’s
Diversity Committee. On the Seacoast, Verrette was an active member and
supporter of the Seacoast Jazz Society and various other music and art
groups.
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The Minus Scale will say farewell at Brick House
The Seacoast’s music scene got some sad news recently when
members of The Minus Scale announced their pending disbandment. The
sole consolation is that the group will play a farewell show at the
Dover Brick House on Sunday, Aug. 16, and it promises to be a memorable
gig for musicians and fans, alike.
Formed in 2001, The Minus Scale has been an anchor of the
Seacoast’s rock scene. They have weathered several lineup changes over
the years but never compromised the intensity and passion of their
music, an emo-rock, pop-punk, indie brand of local rock.
The band’s latest lineup includes Ryan Lavasseur on vocals and
guitar, Pat Griffin on drums, AJ Tobey on bass and Chris Delisle on
guitar. They released their most recent CD, “Hotter,” last fall.
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Concert for a Cure in Rye
Guests can put on their dancing shoes for a good cause at
Odiorne Point State Park on Thursday, Aug. 6. The fifth annual Seacoast
Concert for a Cure will feature two area bands at the Seacoast Science
Center from 6 to 8 p.m. Bellevue Cadillac and Ben Baldwin and the Big
Note will perform their blend of rock, jazz and blues for the fight
against cancer.
Since launching in 2005, Concert for a Cure has raised more than
$70,000 toward breast cancer research and survivor support. That money
has helped several local organizations expand their services. This
year’s show will benefit Betty J. Borry Breast Cancer Retreats,
On-Belay, BreastCancerStories.org, Fill the Gap and the New Hampshire
Breast Cancer Coalition. There will also be a silent auction including
vacation packages.
Tickets are $12 in advance or $15 day of show ($1 for children
ages 4 to 12). The Seacoast Science Center is at 570 Ocean Blvd., Rye.
Advance tickets and more information are available at
www.seacoastconcertforacure.com.
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In the last few weeks, several promising new recordings have come my
way. From the Boston area, there’s “The Year of the Ox,” the second
effort from exceptional singer-songwriter and keyboardist Jen Kearney
and her band The Lost Onion. Whereas her first very strong CD was
geared toward groove oriented jams, this compelling new recording
places greater emphasis on shorter song forms. This isn’t a jazz
recording, per se, but elements of jazz inform Kearney’s music, along
with Latin, funk, soul and rock.
What’s particularly striking is the story-like quality of
Kearney’s lyrics and how she wraps them in just the right musical
textures. According to Kearney, this is a concept recording based on
the symbol of the ox, one of the Chinese astrological signs, and the 10
ox herding pictures created in ancient Buddhism. All the songs are
loosely based on the 10 pictures and what they represent.
From a musical standpoint, what you get is a sonic ride from the
opening funk groove of “Born” to the soulful “Succotash Blue” to the
folk influenced “Gentle and Precise” to the jazz-fusion groove of
“Lunar Interlude.” Kearney’s powerful but nuanced vocal work captures
your attention and holds your interest as she tells her story. Her
exceptional band navigates varied styles with ease, anchored by the
powerhouse rhythm section of bassist Brian Coakley, drummer Pete McLean
(of Organism and Freelance Bishops fame) and the always superb Yahuba
Garcia on percussion. The excellent horn section is anchored by
saxophonist Dan Abreu, who gets off an incredible solo on “Lunar
Interlude.”
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fall will bring Rufus and Lyle to Portsmouth
The Music Hall recently added two fall concerts to its
Intimately Yours series, booking Rufus Wainwright for Friday, Oct. 2,
and Lyle Lovett for Tuesday, Nov. 10. Tickets to both shows are now
available to Music Hall members and will go on sale to the general
public on Saturday, Aug. 8.
Making his first ever appearance in Portsmouth, Rufus Wainwright
has perhaps become the most prominent name in a sensational musical
family that also includes his father Loudon Wainwright, his mother Kate
McGarrigle and his sister Martha Wainwright. With five albums of “pop
opera” to his name, the singer, guitarist and pianist is also known for
his work on soundtracks to films like “I Am Sam,” “Brokeback Mountain”
and “Moulin Rouge.” He recently debuted his first opera, “Prima Donna,”
at the Manchester International Festival in England.
Lyle Lovett returns to The Music Hall after a sellout show there
with John Hiatt in 2008. This time, however, he will be accompanied by
His Large Band, with whom he released “It’s Not Big It’s Large” in
2007. Lovett is a four-time Grammy Award winner from Nashville, Tenn.,
with a distinctive country-folk and swing style and a highly
recognizable voice.
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a roundup of local releases
‘The Lonely Mans Waltz’
by Tim Cahill
The opening line on multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Tim
Cahill’s first independent release sets the tone for this 12-track
album, which eloquently documents the artist’s lifelong musical
journey.
“I spend most of my time chasin’ dreams and drinkin’ wine / I’ve been stuck spinning tires in stormy weather,” he sings.
Cahill’s got his own brand of indie Americana that feeds off a
diverse set of past and present inspirations. His voice sounds at times
a bit like Tom Petty, at others like a not so hoarse version of John
Mellencamp. Most of the songs are upbeat, though some dwell on life’s
assorted sorrows.
“Alone, alone is not just a word / Alone is like being the last
man on earth,” Cahill sings in the title track. But the song ends with
a large chorus repeating that same line, implying that we are all
united in our loneliness.
Also a member of indie rock band The Babymakers, Cahill has been
on the local music scene for many years. The CD features an extensive
collection of area musicians, including all three members of The
Screen, plus backup vocals from The Yard Sailors Chorus Ensemble.
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by Pink Floyd
1969, Capitol Records
the sounds: Despite giant leaps
in sonic technology, few recorded sounds have approached the terrible
eeriness of Roger Waters shrieking psychotically during a live cut of
“Careful With That Axe Eugene.” It comes as a bit of a shock, arriving
after the bassist ominously whispers the song’s title. Like the rest of
the double album’s live disc, the song establishes a gloomy atmospheric
mood that presaged the goth craze by decades. “Astronomy Domine,” “Set
the Controls for the Heart of the Sun” and “A Saucerful of Secrets” are
equally sinister and darkly psychedelic. The studio disc of “Ummagumma”
includes elaborate instrumental experimentations, with guitarist David
Gilmour, drummer Nick Mason and keyboardist Richard Wright each
retreating into their introspective musical laboratories.
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at the Press Room July 1
Dave Gerard jokingly thanked
folk legend Tom Rush for opening for him on July 1. Rush had played a
show under the tent at the Prescott Park Arts Festival, finishing his
set about an hour before Gerard kicked off his solo gig at The Press
Room. Gerard regrettably confessed that he did not know any Tom Rush
songs and could not pay tribute to the fellow New Hampshire resident.
Instead, he dove into a fresh and energetic set of mostly original
songs from his new CD, “The Zoomy Trail.”
A veteran Seacoast performer with unmitigated passion for his
craft, Gerard meshes blues, rock and bluegrass into a distinctive
guitar and singing style. When he’s not gigging as a solo artist, he
can often be found fronting his Portsmouth-based rock band Truffle,
which has been together since 1986. That experience all comes to bear
on “The Zoomy Trail,” his fourth solo album.
Gerard’s acoustic guitar expertise was on full display at The
Press Room, where he often indulged the Wednesday night crowd with
extended instrumental interludes. He strummed chords easily and
proficiently, complementing his own playing with his often guttural
vocals. His voice, similar in pitch to Eric Clapton but with a slight
Louis Armstrong growl, invokes the spirit of New Orleans music on the
Seacoast.
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The Tommy Gallant Jazz Festival
One of the Seacoast’s
long running cultural events, the Tommy Gallant Jazz Festival will take
place on Sunday, July 5, at Prescott Park. The festival runs from noon
until 6 p.m. and will once again feature an array of local and regional
talent performing over four 75-minute sets. Sorry, fans of vocal
jazz—the emphasis of this year’s event is purely on the instrumental
side. The list of performers includes Billy Novick’s Blues Syncopators,
and saxophonist Fred Haas and guitarist Dave Newsam leading a segment
titled the “LA4 Tribute to saxophonist Bud Shank.” Then there’s The
Press Room Trio of Ryan Parker, John Lockwood and Les Harris Jr.
performing with guests Trent Austin on trumpet and David Wells on
saxophone, plus the Seacoast Big Band, directed by Dave Seiler.
The festival celebrates the legacy of the late Tom Gallant,
founder and long-time centerpiece of Sunday Jazz at The Press Room in
Portsmouth. Gallant, who passed away in 1998, and Dave Seiler helped
organize the annual event, initially dubbed the Seacoast Jazz Festival,
after the demise of the Portsmouth Jazz Festival in early 1996. Renamed
the Tommy Gallant/Seacoast Jazz Festival in 1999, the concert has long
been a showcase for local and regional talent with performers of
international stature, such as guitarist Howard Alden, vocalist Luciana
Souza and trumpeter Bobby Shew, also appearing at the festival.
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South Berwick native Slaid Cleaves brings new CD to his hometown
Everything
about singer-songwriter Slaid Cleaves’ new album, from the title and
cover art to the lyrics and melodies, gushes with pending tragedy.
Released in April, “Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away” suggests
the infirmity and transience of the fleeting things we take for
granted. Cleaves tried to make that theme inhabit every aspect of his
record.
“I just learned early on that in order to make an impression on
people, in order for people to remember my songs, I had to really
strike them in the heart and really move them,” he said. And striking
the heart means stoking the tragic.
Cleaves spoke to The Wire by phone while driving to Pittsburgh
for the first leg of a tour that will keep him on the road for five
months. The tour swings through his hometown of South Berwick, Maine,
on Thursday, July 2, kicking off the 10th annual Hot Summer Nights
concert series.
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local maestro Nat Baldwin plugged in Spin
Upright bassist Nat Baldwin’s musical innovation has put him on
a platform that continues to steadily rise. He is now an official
member of New York-based experimental rock band Dirty Projectors, which
is in the midst of an extensive summer tour and landed a write-up in
the latest issue of Spin magazine. The article on page 44 of the July
edition of Spin includes a large color photo of the six-piece band on
the streets of Brooklyn, and Baldwin’s scruffy face is grinning at the
far left.
This is not Baldwin’s first time in the spotlight. He performed
on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” last fall as a member of
Brooklyn-based band Department of Eagles. He has also garnered
considerable attention as a solo artist with at least three albums
under his belt. His inventive double-bass style and dynamic vocals have
made him a local favorite at live shows.
Baldwin’s own full band includes the three operators of Buoy in
Kittery, Maine—guitarist Al Mead, saxophonist Jeremy LeClair and
trumpet player Brett Deschenes. The Dirty Projectors offered a
memorable performance at Buoy in February, and now the group is
swinging through Canada before trickling down the West Coast with gigs
in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.
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a roundup of recent local releases
‘Superliminal’
by The Screen
Portsmouth’s hard rockers The Screen had been fairly quiet on the
Seacoast since releasing “Antitrust” in 2005. But they are quiet no
more. With the recent unveiling of “Superliminal,” the local trio
behind The Screen are just the way we like them: loud.
Guitarist and vocalist Robert Beal, bassist Erik Ralston and
drummer Jarrett Osborn met while students at the University of New
Hampshire and formed The Screen in 2001. Since then, the group has
earned a reputation as one of the Seacoast’s most riveting rock bands,
and perhaps nowhere has their power been better demonstrated than on
“Superliminal.”
Recorded at Beal’s studio BB3 Audio, the album kicks off with
“001,” which churns and boils until it reaches a scorching guitar solo.
Beal is a downright nasty guitarist, and his talents are on full
display here. The intensity remains high with the heavy chords of
“Stand Up Guy,” and later instrumental experiments give the disc a
cerebral appeal.
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‘92982’
by William Basinski
label: 2062
genre: memory reels
suitable for: Sept. 29, 1982
From the composer himself:
“Home at last after a day of work at the answering service. Answering
phones for Calvin Klein, Bianca Jagger, Steve Rubell and all the other
somebody people ... Roger is in the front, gluing old shoes on canvas
and painting them orange. I’m clicking the old Norelcos back and forth
between channels. All the windows are open. The sound is spreading all
over downtown Brooklyn mixing with the helicopters, sirens, pot smoke
and fireworks ...”
I’ve included Basinski’s own description
of his work because, like his most well known series of albums, “The
Disintegration Loops,” this latest archival release circa 1982 seems to
be the sum of something larger. Basinski, an artist and composer who
has been experimenting with tape loops since the early ’80s, was
famously transferring the music that would make up “The Disintegration
Loops” when the tape began to fall apart in the spools. A recorder
captured the decaying sound as the loops slowly faded into oblivion.
This all occurred in September 2001, and apparently Basinski, eyes on
Manhattan from the roof of his Brooklyn home, was listening to the
sound rise and fall as the towers went down.
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Dave Gerard books two CD release shows
Local roots
rocker Dave Gerard, perhaps best known as front man of Durham-based
band Truffle, will celebrate the release of his fourth solo album with
a pair of upcoming shows in Durham and Londonderry.
Recorded
at Thundering Sky Studio in South Berwick, Maine, “The Zoomy Trail”
includes a blend of Gerard’s soulful arrangements and industrial
sounds, with some tracks showcasing acoustic solo performances and
others entailing full band ensembles. Gerard roped in several of his
Truffle band mates and other guest musicians to round out the sound.
The
first release show takes place at Three Chimneys Inn in Durham on
Friday, June 19 at 7 p.m. The second occurs at the Tupelo Music Hall in
Londonderry on Friday, June 26 at 8 p.m. The first 50 guests at Three
Chimneys will receive a copy of the CD. Tickets to the Tupelo show are
$15 and include a copy of the disc. For more information, visit
www.gerardtruffle.com.
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Seacoast Wind Ensemble salutes historic peace makers from around town and around the globe
President
Theodore Roosevelt’s work to end the Russo-Japanese War made him the
first U.S. president to win a Nobel Peace Prize. Diplomats from Russia
and Japan met in Portsmouth as Roosevelt’s guests in 1905, paving the
way for the signing of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty.
With music for four historic peacemakers—Jimmy Carter, Martti
Ahtisaari, Claiborne Pell and George Mitchell—the third annual
Portsmouth Peace Treaty concert will pay musical homage to the ongoing
peace efforts Roosevelt helped initiate in Portsmouth more than a
century ago.
The historic occasion is well documented, and the Portsmouth
Peace Treaty Forum has worked hard to keep people aware of the
Seacoast’s role in Roosevelt’s peacemaking efforts. But residents might
be less aware of the important role music played in the peace process.
The State Department hired a military band from Boston to come to
Portsmouth in 1905 and serve as entertainment for the visiting
delegates. In celebration of the treaty, the band led a massive parade
that stretched from the area of the salt piles on Market Street to the
former Rockingham County Courthouse several blocks away. The mayor of
Portsmouth convinced the same band to play weekly concerts in Market
Square and at Fort Constitution for the next four weeks.
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Kate Redgate’s long journey leads to CD release at the Firehouse
Kate
Redgate spent much of her childhood horseback riding across the farm in
rural Illinois where she grew up. Adopted as an infant from Scott Air
Force Base in 1970, her old horse Rusty became her closest friend. She
spent whole days atop Rusty’s bare back, racing carefree over the
farm’s green pastures.
Redgate also started singing in a church chorus when she was
about 8 years old. The organist later gave her piano lessons, and
another church patron taught her how to play guitar, showing her the
chords to old John Denver tunes.
Music soon became as much a passion for Redgate as horseback
riding. “I used to ride my horse at the Boots and Saddle Club, and they
always had country music blasting on the loud speakers,” she said.
Now just shy of 39, Redgate’s life has taken numerous turns over
the last three decades. She has moved around the country, lived on the
streets, worked countless jobs, gotten married and divorced, and raised
two children of her own. But the Newburyport resident still vividly
recalls the simplicity of her youth, when she wanted little more than
to sing and ride horses.
“Ironically enough, those two things are my life right now,” she said.
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by Frank Black and the Catholics
2002, SpinART Records
the sound: The album starts and
ends with performances of “The Black Rider,” a cover of the title track
from a Tom Waits musical. The first version is closer to Waits’, with
its jaunty music and menacing take on the “Flintstones” theme: “Come on
along with the Black Rider / We’ll have a gay old time /Lay down in the
web of the Black Spider / I’ll drink your blood like wine.” The second
version is a surf tune, with a Ventures-like guitar riff and Black
crooning the lyrics in a velvety voice as accompanying vocals scream in
the background. These two songs signify the transformation of Black
Francis, shrieking college-radio god of the Pixies, to Frank Black,
alt-country rock extraordinaire. The album’s title track picks up speed
with a call-and-response chorus and Black singing in a nerdy timbre.
“Southbound Bevy” pits Black’s falsetto against a slide guitar,
reminding us, “Don’t get your spirits high / they’ll all come crashing
down.” In arguably the best song on the album, “If You Leave,” Black
sings/talks about what would happen if he lost his love.
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Ogunquit Chamber Music Festival celebrates its 15th year
Ogunquit Performing Arts is celebrating the crystal anniversary
of its annual Chamber Music Festival with four concerts in two
locations. The festival features live performances of works by Haydn,
Mozart, Mendelssohn, Debussy and others, with nightly shows from
Thursday to Sunday, June 11 to 14.
The first two concerts begin at 8 p.m. at the Dunaway Center on
School Street. The Thursday night show features the New York-based
Ambrosia Trio, with Beulah Cox on violin, Martin Fett on cello and
Frank Daykin on piano. Formed in 1990, the trio has performed
internationally and across the United States, recording two CDs along
the way. Their performance will include works by composers Joseph
Haydn, Felix Mendehlssohn and Joaquin Turina.
Topping the bill on Friday night is The Boston Chamber Music
Society, with Thomas Hill on clarinet, Randall Hodgkinson on piano, and
guest artist Sharan Leventhal on violin. The reduced trio will feature
works by Igor Stravinsky, Franz Schubert, Darius Milhaud and Malcolm
Arnold.
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Mike and Ruthy waltz into The Red Door with a new CD
The
folk tradition runs thick with Ruth Ungar Merenda. Her father Jay Ungar
and stepmother Molly Mason have been playing music together since the
late 1970s and are highly respected acoustic string musicians. Her
mother Lyn Hardy is another accomplished singer-songwriter and
guitarist in the folk and country vein.
Ruth has carried on the family tradition with her husband and
long-time musical partner Michael Merenda, a Durham native. The couple,
known jointly as Mike and Ruthy, just released their second album as a
duo, “Waltz of the Chickadee,” which they’ll introduce to the Seacoast
with a show on Friday, June 5.
Many of Ruth’s family members perform on “Waltz.” Jay Ungar
plays fiddle and mandolin on certain tunes and Molly Mason plays bass
on several tracks. Lyn Hardy adds backup vocals on a couple of songs.
Mike and Ruth both sing and play guitar, while Ruth adds fiddle and
Mike also plays banjo. A number of close friends pitch in other
instruments, like drums, violin and cello.
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piano phenom plays Portsmouth
Sixteen-year-old New Hampshire native Matt Savage brings his
venerated piano talents to Portsmouth on Sunday, June 7. The Matt
Savage Trio makes its first Port City appearance at St. John’s
Episcopal Church beginning at 3 p.m.
A resident of Francestown, Savage began making waves in the jazz world
when he was only 8 years old, playing for Dave Brubeck and jamming with
Chick Corea. In subsequent years, he would play with a number of other
living jazz legends, including McCoy Tyner, Clark Terry and Jimmy
Heath, as well as soul goddess Chaka Khan. He has performed live on the
“The Late Show with David Letterman,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”
and “Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz” on NPR.
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treasure your jazz radio gems
For fans of jazz radio, pickings in the regional market recently
became slimmer. Earlier this month, Boston’s WFNX cancelled Jeff
Turton’s show “The Sunday Jazz Brunch” after 26 years of weekly
broadcasts. The reason for the cancellation, according to an e-mail
Turton sent out, was “budget cuts due to diminished revenues at both
’FNX and at the Boston Phoenix.” Turton also stated that he “wasn’t
surprised,” but was “incredibly disappointed.” As I’m sure were his
many loyal listeners.
Within a week came news that WGBH in Boston would replace its
“Jazz Gallery” overnight hosts—Al Davis, Kevin Ball and Ron Gill—with a
syndicated show taped on the West Coast, called “Jazz with Bob
Parlocha.” The irony is that, at one time, Parlocha was the main
overnight jazz host for ’GBH. By removing the local hosts in favor of a
syndicated show from across the country, ’GBH has eliminated the
opportunity for musicians from the greater Boston region to appear as
guests and promote their gigs and recordings. Fortunately, Eric
Jackson’s show will remain a central part of the station’s early
evening schedule.
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Steve Earle plays solo at The Music Hall
Steve Earle first met Townes Van Zandt in 1972 during a
performance at The Old Quarter in Houston, Texas. According to legend,
Van Zandt heckled Earle throughout the show, repeatedly requesting the
song “Wabash Cannonball.” When Earle confessed that he didn’t know how
to play the tune, Van Zandt was incredulous.
“You call yourself a folksinger and you don’t know ‘Wabash Cannonball?’” the famed singer-songwriter supposedly yelled.
Earle, a relative newcomer to the scene at the time, was not rattled.
He countered by playing Van Zandt’s “Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold,” a
notoriously difficult song with rapid lyrics. With that, the two
musicians formed a lasting bond. Earle even named his son, Justin
Townes Earle, after the late folk icon.
Earle pays tribute to his mentor on his latest album, “Townes,”
which he will introduce to Seacoast fans with a solo acoustic show at
The Music Hall on Thursday, May 28. The new disc, which follows Earle’s
Grammy Award-winning 2007 release “Washington Square Serenade,”
includes 15 covers of his favorite Van Zandt songs.
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local band Murkadee gears up for a farewell show in Portsmouth
Joseph
K Murphy and DeLaine Bennett were still high school classmates in
Epping when they formed Murkadee in 2003. Their previous band Pink
Lemonade had dissolved, and Murphy was eager to embark on a new
project. He approached Bennett with the idea of making an album, and
she quickly got on board.
“We just wanted to do this artsy, weird, pop-rock, folksy thing,” Murphy said recently.
The pair promoted the resulting album in their classes, and it
eventually came to the attention of Murphy’s English teacher, John
Herman. Herman, a local filmmaker and improvisational actor, was
impressed. He encouraged Murphy and Bennett to stick together and play
shows in the area, and they have been doing so ever since.
On Friday, May 29, Herman will introduce the very group he
helped launch at a farewell show at The Portsmouth Pearl. It will be an
evening of mixed emotions for the band and its fans, who will celebrate
the release of a brand new album while simultaneously marking the end
of Murkadee’s six-year run.
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Writers in the Round goes live at RiverRun
Songwriting is sometimes referred to as the oldest form of
poetry. Writers in the Round honors that tradition with performances
that mix live music and spoken word poetry. After a two-year hiatus,
the event returns on Tuesday, May 26, from 7 to 9 p.m., at RiverRun
Bookstore in Portsmouth.
The event’s featured performers include WITR founder and
songwriter Deidre Randall, cellist and spoken word artist Kristen
Miller, Portsmouth Poet Laureate Mark DeCarteret, and Seacoast musician
Thomas D’Amour.
Randall shied away from holding live events for the past two
years due to the birth of her third child. But now that her daughter
has turned 1, Randall looks forward to bringing the event back. A
second show will be held at Gracie’s Diner in Portsmouth on Friday,
July 17, featuring Randall, D’Amour, Nate Laban, Guy Capecelatro and
Ari.
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tasty combo at The Muddy
Area native Matt Jenson will return to the Seacoast on Saturday,
May 16, to perform with his Boston-based Latin dance band Combo Sabroso
at The Muddy River in Portsmouth.
Jenson began recruiting Latino musicians in 1998 and eventually
fixed on the band’s name, which translates to “tasty combo.” Combo
Sabroso seeks to invoke the traditional dance rhythms of Latin jazz and
salsa, as popularized by legends like percussionist Tito Puente and
pianist Eddie Palmieri. Jenson, who now teaches piano and a class on
Bob Marley at Berklee College of Music in Boston, also incorporates
blues and reggae music into the band’s eclectic sound, adding flavors
of traditional American, Jamaican and Afro-Cuban styles.
With Jenson on piano and vocals, the band features a diverse mix
of musicians, including Costa Rican percussionist Manolo Miarena,
Venezuelan timbales player Ernesto Diaz, Peruvian bassist Alex Alvear,
trombonist Angel Subero and the Seacoast’s own saxophonist Matt
Langley, as well as various other players at some gigs.
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by various artists
1991, Warner Bros. Records
the sound: “Until the End of the World” is director
Wim Wenders’ ambitious 1991 cyberpunk film. It’s 1999, and a rogue
nuclear satellite is looming over the Earth, its catastrophic reentry
into the planet’s atmosphere predicted. What better way to watch
imminent disaster than to see it played out to the sounds of some of
the world’s most talented musicians? French composer Graeme Revell has
some lovely instrumental bits, but it’s the bands that make this a
powerhouse soundtrack. U2 has the honor of the title track, its
insidious beats and scratchy guitar tamer than the version that later
ended up on their album “Achtung, Baby!” Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
perform a swaggering, saloonish, piano piece, “(I’ll Love You) Till the
End of the World,” as Cave waxes poetic about impending doom.
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Dan Walker and Breakfast Song book CD release shows
A
couple of local acts will unveil brand new albums with CD release shows
this weekend, introducing home-cooked tunes to Seacoast listeners.
Rootsy Americana singer-songwriter Dan Walker will play songs from his
new CD “Beautiful” at the Barley Pub in Dover on Friday, May 15.
Portsmouth-based
duo Breakfast Song will reveal its own new disc, “Ombligo Con Ombligo,”
at The Red Door in Portsmouth on Monday, May 18.
Based in Rochester,
Dan Walker is a guitarist and band leader with a commanding voice
steeped in the Blue Ridge Mountain music of his native Indiana.
“Beautiful,” his third album, advances his alt-country songwriting with
smooth musicianship from band mates Luke Crawley on bass, Roy Wallace
on drums and Charlie Strater on lead guitar and harmonica. Recording in
New Hampshire in July 2008, Walker drew from his own life experiences
on each of the 12 original songs, some lighthearted and peppy, others
wistful and emotional.
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During the band’s extended closing number, the two guitarists and
bassist strolled away from the stage one at a time, leaving drummer
Rodney Holmes to paralyze the audience with an absolute thunderstorm of
percussion. The unaccompanied solo, a throwback to John Bonham’s
lengthy percussive tantrums with Zeppelin, had the crowd slack-jawed
and awed for more than five minutes… But we’ll come back to that.
Project Percolator made the trip to York, Maine, from the band’s
headquarters in New York for two shows at Inn on the Blues on April 30
and May 1. The show was slightly off season for the Inn, which reserves
most of its live music for the busy summer months. But bandleader Jim
Weider, who refers to York Harbor as “a second home,” rarely fails to
draw a crowd in the area.
The bar was mostly full when Weider strapped on his telecaster
guitar and dove into a set of classic instrumental rock in support of
Percolator’s new CD “Pulse.” A veteran performer capable of truly
explosive solos, Weider adopted laboring facial expressions as he hit
the upper registers, demonstrating undiminished passion for his craft.
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native jazz guitarist plays CD release show in Portsmouth
New Hampshire native Nick Grondin will return to the Seacoast on
Sunday, May 10, to unveil his new CD with a show at The Press Room in
Portsmouth.
Grondin is a jazz guitarist and composer who leads his own
septet in Boston. Known as an instrumental storyteller, he incorporates
rock and folk influences into his jazz style, sometimes reinterpreting
songs by The Beatles and Radiohead.
Grondin attended the Edim School of Modern Music in Paris and
later received his master’s degree in jazz composition from the New
England Conservatory in Boston. He composes music for both small and
large jazz ensembles and received the 2008 ASCAP Young Jazz Composer
Award, as well as the 2008 Down Beat Magazine Student Music Award. He
has performed throughout the United States and Europe.
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‘Awake’
by Ameranouche Trio
You don’t have to wait long to get a taste of Ameranouche Trio’s
acoustic string prowess on the band’s latest CD. Opening with the peppy
jazz of “Ameranouche Swing,” guitarist/composer Richard Sheppard burns
up the frets on his acoustic guitar, spitting out rapid-fire notes that
conjure the ghost of Django Reinhardt and echo the rich traditions of
European gypsy jazz.
The acoustic jazz power trio of Sheppard on lead guitar, Ryan
Flaherty on rhythm guitar and Xar Adelberg on bass then strum their way
into a Flamenco-style reboot of the 1957 French classic “La Foule.”
It’s the only non-original composition among the album’s 11 tracks, and
it demonstrates both the band’s respect for tradition and its ear for
inventiveness.
Formed in 2004, Ameranouche received considerable acclaim for
its debut album, “Homage A Manouche,” and enjoyed a highlight last year
when the band opened for Sonny Rollins and Herbie Hancock at the 2008
JVC Newport Jazz Festival. The trio has tour dates in support of the
new CD booked through the summer in New Hampshire and across the East
Coast.
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couple plans to open locally focused bar and restaurant in Newmarket
Concerts
by legends like Richie Havens, Johnny Winter and Loudon Wainwright
still echo between The Stone Church’s walls. But aside from a CD
release show in March, there has been no music performed in the
Newmarket venue since it was sold at auction seven months ago.
That will soon change. Owner Adam Schroadter recently leased the
first floor of the historic building to Christopher McClain and Melissa
Poirier, who aim to open a new restaurant and music venue there in
June. The married couple has not yet settled on a name (they are
considering retaining The Stone Church title), but they have clear
plans for the space.
“It’s going to be a full-service restaurant with as much live,
mostly local music as possible,” McClain said. “We definitely want to
concentrate on local music, because this area has a ton.”
McClain has plenty of experience with area restaurants. He has
previously worked at Portsmouth establishments like Poco’s Bow Street
Cantina, The Library Restaurant and The Portsmouth Brewery. He and
Poirier used to live in Portsmouth but now reside in Rochester with
their three-year-old son.
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This year’s Jazzmouth Festival provided ample evidence of
Portsmouth’s strong artistic community—from the wide range of events
held in various downtown locations, to the performers and fans who came
together to participate in this annual celebration of spoken word and
improvised music.
In turn, Jazzmouth embraces this community. That’s part of the
vision of festival founder and chief guru Larry Simon. “There is an
artistic integrity that has been there from the beginning,” Simon told
me after the Saturday evening performance at The Music Hall. This
integrity, he continued, was essential to developing the festival’s
community spirit.
One way Jazzmouth embraces comunity is by booking shows at
various locales. The festival kicked off late Thursday afternoon, April
23, in the newly renovated lobby of The Music Hall. The venue’s blue,
red and gold lighting enhanced the soft, swinging strains of standards
and blues from guitarist Chris O’Neill and bassist Keith Foley. O’Neill
and Foley, both of the Amorphous Band, displayed a sublime sense of
musical empathy, the kind that comes from years of making music
together in a variety of settings.
After the short set, Festival emcee John-Michael Albert offered
an enthused introduction to the event. Albert has served as emcee since
the festival’s inception in 2005, and his sunny personality and
self-deprecating humor are as vital to the festival as any other
aspect.
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‘I Blame You’
by Obits
label: Sub Pop
genre: rock
suitable for: drinking Schlitz in a parking lot
This is the only record in the column this week with lyrics.
There are many defunct bands whose members have spawned additional
projects, but there are only a few whose lineages have been 100 percent
awesome 100 percent of the time. Drive Like Jehu, I believe, is one of
them. Formed in San Diego in 1990, the members, specifically John Reis
and Rick Froberg, have since been single handedly improving the chances
of rock music surviving into the next generation. Reis founded Rocket
from the Crypt and is currently in Night Marchers; Froberg, the voice
of Drive Like Jehu, and Reis teamed up again in 1999 as devious punks
Hot Snakes. Now Froberg is in Obits, thank God.
Not a lot has changed in Froberg’s formula here. There’s a ton
of energy, lyrics of little consequence, pure rock posturing and volume
all coming together in brilliant songwriting. Obits, though, is a band
interested in its roots. Overdriven vintage amps and accompanying
spring reverb are like instruments unto themselves on this record.
There is a rockabilly influence throughout, as well, and dig the garage
stomp on the last track “Back And Forth,” one of the most
uncharacteristic tracks I’ve heard on a Froberg-related album. “Widow
of my Dreams,” the opening track, is one of my favorites in the Froberg
songbook to date. Can’t wait to listen to this with the windows down.
Visit www.obitsurl.com.
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Mose Allison, Donald Hall, David Amram, Bob Dorough and others to perform in Portsmouth
Jazzmouth,
Portsmouth’s unique festival of poetry and jazz, celebrates its fifth
anniversary this week. From Thursday, April 23, through Sunday, April
26, the festival will feature its most prominent lineup of performers
to date, with headliners like jazz and blues legend Mose Allison, past
U.S. Poet Laureate Donald Hall, jazz vocalist and pianist Bob Dorough
and the festival’s resident guru, poet and multi-instrumentalist David
Amram.
Spoken word poetry and improvised music will blossom in a
variety of locations around the city, from Breaking New Grounds to
RiveRun Bookstore, from The Press Room to The Music Hall. There will be
a film showcase, poetry readings, jazz music and the main event at The
Music Hall on Saturday, featuring Allison, Hall and Amram, as well as
selected local poets performing their readings to the accompaniment of
Larry Simon’s Groove Bacteria.
Unlike other jazz festivals, Jazzmouth focuses on the
spontaneous nature of the music through the collaboration of music and
poetry or spoken word.
“Although there was already a good jazz festival in the Tom
Gallant/Seacoast Jazz Festival that was happening in the summer, I felt
there was a need for a broader event that tapped into the wealth of
creative musicians in the Seacoast area,” said guitarist Larry Simon,
founder and artistic director of Jazzmouth. “I also felt that with the
large and talented pool of creative writers in the area, that a
collaborative setting would be a unique way to showcase this
creativity.”
After consulting with Richard Smith and Bruce Pingree, Simon
organized a committee and launched the first Jazzmouth festival in
2005. Pingree is still an active organizer for the event, lending his
deep knowledge of American music and poetry to help ensure the
festival’s continued growth and artistic success.
The collaboration of poetry and jazz has been a peripheral part
of the music dating back to the 1950s beat period, notably with poet
Jack Kerouac and David Amram joining forces in the Village area of New
York City. In the ’60s and early ’70s, poets such as Amiri Baraka, the
Last Poets and Gil-Scott Heron would combine their poetry with various
jazz styles, emphasizing their roots in African-American culture.
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‘Gay Bride of Frankenstein’ album release party
Come in costume or come as you are. The release party of the
original cast recording of the musical “Gay Bride of Frankenstein” is
coming up on Monday, April 20, at The Muddy River in downtown
Portsmouth.
Local musicians Tim McCoy, Jamie Perkins, Jon McCormack and
Billy Butler, along with the cast and crew and other guests, will play
songs from the show and other originals and covers starting at 9 p.m.
Doors open at 8 p.m.
“Gay Bride of Frankenstein” puts a new spin on high school
relationships within a classic Halloween story. A group of students are
invited to a monsters’ ball, not knowing that the party game is raising
the dead and that one of them would die on the way.
The show ran around Halloween for two weeks last fall at the
Players’ Ring in Portsmouth. Butler, who wrote the musical with friend
Dane Leeman, said it could have run longer at the rate tickets were
selling, but he’s now looking at other venues. Sales of the album will
help New Theatre Works finance a New York City production of the
musical that started on the Seacoast.
The musical was selected as a finalist for the juried New York
Musical Theatre Festival this fall, which is considered the Sundance of
musical theater, Butler said. He said hundreds of shows were
considered, but only 12 are played. The judges include Tony Award
winning choreographer Sergio Trujillo, composer Robert Lopez, director
Kathleen Marshall, composer and lyricist Jason Robert Brown and
producer Robyn Goodman.
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venue opens its doors for Krystal Polychronis CD release show
With
much trepidation I made the familiar trek up Zion hill toward The Stone
Church on March 21. The Newmarket venue, closed since being sold at
auction in September, was open for a single night—a CD release party
for Hampton-based singer-songwriter Krystal Polychronis. As the wide
doors flung open, I could hear the excited chatter of concert goers
embracing their beloved hall. They, like me, were anticipating a good
show at their favorite venue.
There was no cover charge, but the room was filled with children
holding balloons and doing handstands while someone told a story into
the microphone. My initial impression was part birthday party, part
basement concert and part family reunion, but the Terrapin Station sign
still hung from a reinforced wooden beam and the bar seemed to be open,
so I headed that way.
At this point, an intermission band (apparently Polychronis had
done half her set already) was in the midst of one of its many
covers. Amongst the U2 and Coldplay covers I think I heard “Eagle Eye
Cherry.” The sound system left much to be desired. The mikes were
trebly and far louder than the instruments, resulting in some piercing
sounds whenever one of the singers got a little overzealous. I did,
however, feel my foot tapping every once in a while. The highlight was
the last song, when the band invited some guy in a Superman T-shirt up
to play lead guitar. He proceeded to blow away the rest of the band
during a 15- to 20-second solo.
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triple bill to rock the Muddy River
Boston’s Girls, Guns and Glory will headline a three-act show at
The Muddy River in Portsmouth on Saturday, March 28. Named “Act of the
Year” by the 2008 Boston Music Awards, the band joins area favorites
The Divorced and The Molenes on Saturday night.
Formed in winter 2005, Girls, Guns and Glory began collecting
accolades after the release of its 2007 sophomore album “Pretty Little
Wrecking Ball.” That year, the band won two Boston Phoenix awards and
took the Boston Music Award for Outstanding Americana Act of the Year—a
feat the quartet repeated in 2008.
Rootsy local rock band The Molenes released its sophomore album
“Songs of Sin and Redemption” less than a year ago. Indie folk band The
Divorced, based in South Boston, released its debut self-titled album
last year and is at work on a follow-up for 2009.
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March winds down and April blows in with two notable shows over the
next week and a half. On Sunday, March 22, noted trombonist and Berklee
School of Music instructor Phil Wilson makes an appearance at The Press
Room in Portsmouth at 6 p.m. The Exeter native will be joined by the
Mark Shilansky Trio and superb vocalist and trumpet player Christine
Fawson, a member of Boston-based jazz group Syncopation, for an evening
of mainstream jazz. Wilson, who was a member of Woody Herman’s
excellent band during the early 1960s and later contributed several
arrangements to the band of Buddy Rich (including a memorable version
of “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy”), is often overlooked by the jazz media due to
his ongoing work at Berklee. Sunday will serve as a reminder of what an
accomplished and versatile musician Wilson is.
On Friday, April 3, the venerable soul band Tower of Power makes
its annual appearance at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom. If you like
to get your groove on, there’s no better outfit than TOP to do it with.
The band is now in its 41st year of stoking audiences with its musical
gumbo of soul and funk with a touch of Latin and jazz spice. Plus, any
chance to hear lead singer Larry Braggs is well worth the price. The
show starts at 8 p.m. Visit www.casinoballroom.com for ticket info.
Lastly, on Monday, April 13, the UNH Traditional Jazz Series
concludes with a performance by Jim Fryer’s Borderline Jazz Band,
featuring Bria Skonberg on trumpet. The show starts at 8 p.m. in
Johnson Theatre in the Paul Creative Arts Center in Durham. Tickets are
$8 general admission, $6 for students and seniors. Call 603-862-2290.
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Pondering Judd and Scalawag rock Biddy’s
Dover-based country-rock band Pondering Judd will follow up an
invigorated performance at Biddy Mulligan’s last month with another
show at the Irish pub on Saturday, March 21. This time, Judd will be
joined by Manchester-based Americana band Scalawag.
Fronted by singer and guitarist Martin England, Pondering Judd
has released six albums since forming in 1993 and has toured across the
nation. The band won three consecutive Spotlight Awards for Best Rock
Band on the Seacoast from 2004 to 2006.
Hailing from such familiar area bands as The Makem and Spain Brothers,
Marty Keystone, Full Tilt Boogie and The Freeks, the four members of
Scalawag have been performing in New England for about 15 years. The
band solidified its sound in 2002 and released its debut album, “Wheel
on Steel,” in 2006.
The show begins at 9 p.m. at Biddy Mulligan’s, 1 Washington St.,
Dover, 603-749-1100. For more on Pondering Judd, visit
www.ponderingjudd.com. For more on Scalawag, visit
www.scalawagmusic.com.
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by Aimee Mann
SuperEgo Records, 2000
the sound: With a voice like candy-infused whiskey,
Aimee Mann really fine-tuned her skills as a singer and songwriter on
“Bachelor No. 2,” her third solo album. More cynical pop than her two
previous releases, Mann is a master of upbeat, sweet tunes with
melancholy lyrics that always feature a little something else to give
them a magical feel. “Nothing is Good Enough” is a plunky piano waltz
in which Mann expresses frustration over her inability to please.
“Driving Sideways” is piano-driven, with an angry guitar riff to
accompany the lyrics. “If you roll down the window you’ll see / you’re
where you don’t belong / and your companion will not help you to
navigate / for fear she may be wrong,” Mann sings. She perfectly
captures the apathetic tone of Daniel Clewes’ graphic novel “Ghost
World” with a song by the same name. “So I’m bailing this town / or
tearing it down / or probably more like hanging around,” she narrates.
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local fiddlers’ new book instructs on how to run a barn dance
Have
you ever wanted to host your own barn dance? Of course you have. Maybe
you haven’t pursued this ambition because you lack the necessary
knowledge and resources. Maybe you’re not familiar with the music
required to initiate a lively dance. Or maybe you just don’t have a
barn.
That’s OK. Contrary to popular assumptions, barn dances do not
actually have to take place in a barn. And a new book by long-time
fiddlers and dance masters Dudley and Jacqueline Laufman supplies all
the information you need to transform an empty room into a bustling
community dance party.
“When most people hear the term barn dance, they envision bales
of hay and folks dressed up like cowboys and cowgirls,” reads the
preface to “Traditional Barn Dances with Calls & Fiddling.” “These
trappings, however, are unnecessary. What really distinguishes a barn
dance from, say, a square dance or contra dance are the dances done by
the participants.”
The book, published this year by Human Kinetics, is divided into
11 chapters. The first four address the history and tradition of barn
dancing and explain the music and instruments associated with it. The
next six chapters discuss different forms of barn dancing, such as
circle dances, longways dances, square dances and contra dances. The
final chapter instructs readers on how to run their own community
dances and encourages teachers and students to keep the traditional
alive.
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blues pro Scott Ainslee in Kennebunk
Blues musician and historian Scott Ainslee will share stories
and songs at the Kennebunk Coffeehouse in Kennebunk, Maine, on
Saturday, March 14.
In addition to playing guitar, fiddle and banjo, Ainslee is an
author, educator and historian studying the African roots of American
work songs, blues, gospel and jazz. He has toured the United States and
Europe and worked with avant garde and Broadway theater productions in
New York. He authored the book “Robert Johnson: At the Crossroads” in
1992, and made the instructional DVD “Robert Johnson: Signature Licks”
in 2005. Ainslee released his fifth solo album, “Thunder’s Mouth,” in
2008.
The concert begins at 8 p.m. at the Kennebunk Coffeehouse in the
First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, 114 Main St., 207-229-0212.
Tickets are $12 in advance or $16 at the door. Visit
www.kennebunkcoffeehouse.com.
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The four members of Boston-based indie rock band Aloud seemed
undeterred by the evening’s obstacles. The band was supposed to split
sets with Portland, Maine’s The Cambiata, who canceled at the last
minute due to illness. The room in the basement of The Muddy River was
mostly empty on this winter weeknight, with a row of attentive patrons
dotting the bar. But the low turnout didn’t stop Aloud from spinning
the adrenaline dial all the way to max.
The band is led by dual vocalists/guitarists Henry Beguiristain
and Jen de la Osa, who have been collaborating as songwriters since
their early teens. Behind the two leads are bassist Ryan Majoris and
drummer Jonathan Schmidt. During their hour-long set, the group
performed several songs from its sophomore album, “Fan the Fury,”
released early last year on the band’s own Lemon Merchant Records.
The four band members demonstrate striking chemistry onstage.
Beguiristain occasionally sidles up to Osa to sing into the same
microphone, and the pair often meet center-stage to play guitar face to
face. Majoris and Schmidt, too, seem to get caught up in their musical
collaborations, often grinning at each other when the beat strikes them
as particularly satisfying.
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by Cecil Taylor Unit
1990, Enja Records
the sound: On June 18, 1976,
pianist Cecil Taylor brought his five-piece free jazz unit to the
Yugoslavia Jazz Festival in Lubljana. Joining Taylor were Ralphé Malik
on trumpet, Jimmy Lyons on alto saxophone, David S. Ware on tenor
saxophone and Marc Edwards on drums. As the concert began, the horn
players repeated a plaintive six-note wail, while Taylor and Edwards
plunked away indiscriminately at their instruments. It seemed like a
prolonged sound check at first, but as the music dragged on, it
gradually swelled in intensity, rising to a climactic cacophony of
noise that continued without pause for over an hour. To the
closed-minded listener of the recorded result, the concert is surely a
maddening wreck of sonic distractions, like an auditorium full of
warped jazz records playing in unison. And yet a finely tuned ear can
discern shifting thematic elements to the music, occasional
call-and-response sequences between instrumentalists that subtly
permeate the subconscious.
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Video Game Orchestra to perform music by local composer Duncan Watt and others in Boston
The
evolution of video games, from “Donkey Kong” and “Pac-Man” to “Final
Fantasy” and “Halo,” has involved an array of technological advances
that goes far beyond computer graphics and fancy controllers. As gaming
continues to grow as the nation’s most profitable entertainment
industry—surpassing even films in recent years—the skill sets required
to produce popular games is spreading to a wider workforce, and
musicians are getting in on the action.
Local musician Duncan Watt, who runs Fastestmanintheworld Music
out of his home in Exeter, has been composing scores for video games
since 2005. Watt and Ed Lima co-composed the orchestral score for
“Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway,” which was released for Xbox 360,
Play Station 3 and PCs last fall. Instead of using virtual
orchestration and synthesized instruments on computers, the pair
traveled to Prague in August 2007 and recorded the score with a
60-piece orchestra and 40-piece choir.
On Thursday, March 5, the Video Game Orchestra will perform
excerpts from “Brothers in Arms” and other video games at the Berklee
Performance Center in Boston. Other composers who will be present at
the show include Gerard Marino (“God of War”), Keith Zizza (“Caesar IV,
Sim City Societies”) and Jack Wall (“Mass Effect”).
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A flood of area RPM participants hand-delivered their completed CDs
between Friday, Feb. 27 and Sunday, March 1. By noon on March 1, more
than 160 glorious new albums sat stacked in RPM headquarters at The
Wire office in Portsmouth. Hundreds of others arrived by the crateful
over the next few days from all over the world, all postmarked no later
than Monday, March 2. The final days before the end of the month found
many participants scrambling to polish off their 10 songs or 35 minutes
of original music. What follows is a sampling of unedited statements
posted on the RPM discussion board at www.rpmchallenge.com. Local
listening parties will take place on Saturday, March 28, beginning at
The Music Hall in Portsmouth at 6:30 p.m. Congratulations to all those
who saw the 2009 Challenge through to the end.
Finishing if it
kills me. I’m being a cheap bastard and using the bonus postal holiday
to finish the remaining five tracks. That’s right. Five tracks. Because
I’ve been living on antibiotics and an inhaler the last 3 days. As it
is I still sound like ass, but maybe I’ll just switch up my songs to be
Dylan-esque and it’ll work for me? —girl named sam, TX
Didn’t think last night I’ve even get this far. Nuff Said. —Michelangelo, Plano, TX
And an album appeared... We have crossed the finish line. It’s been an
incredible experience and our end product is something we can be proud
of. —Vitamin N, St. John’s, NF
Break out the sled dogs... or the snowshoes. However, the post office
is under 2 miles away—I guess I can always walk if I have to. —Cville Ramblings, Crozet, VA
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local musician Craig Werth tours Australia with David Francey
It’s
been close to three years since Newmarket-based musician Craig Werth
took an unpaid leave of absence from his teaching job at the University
of New Hampshire and embarked on his first tour with Canadian folk
singer David Francey. When Werth accepted the gig as Francey’s sideman,
he was not sure how long the collaboration would last. But he’s still
touring and recording with the three-time Juno award-winning artist,
making music his full-time occupation.
Werth co-produced Francey’s last studio album, “Right of
Passage,” and played several instruments on the disc, including
guitars, bouzouki, mandolin and mountain dulcimer. Last year, “Right of
Passage” won a Juno (the Canadian version of a Grammy) for best album
in the roots and traditional solo category. “I have a Juno statue in my
living room as co-producer,” he said, as if still slightly surprised to
have the object in his home.
Werth has now performed with the Ontario-based Francey in every
Canadian province and around North America. The two toured the British
Isles last fall, playing gigs mainly in England and Scotland. They have
performed for audiences ranging in size from about 100 patrons at small
pubs to around 10,000 people at the Vancouver Folk Festival. And they
have shown no signs of slowing down.
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Jim Weider’s Project Percolator hits the Seacoast
Prolific blues-rock guitarist Jim Weider will bring his New
York-based band Project Percolator to York, Maine, for a concert at
York Harbor Inn on Friday, Feb. 27 at 8 p.m.
Born and raised in Woodstock, N.Y., Weider is a veteran
telecaster guitarist with a long list of accomplishments under his
belt, including a Fender endorsement. From 1985 to 2000, Weider served
as lead guitarist for The Band, replacing the legendary Robbie
Robertson. He has performed or recorded with an impressive array of
famous artists, including Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Doctor John, Taj
Mahal, Bob Weir, Paul Butterfield, Hot Tuna and Los Lobos.
Weider has also led a number of his own bands since the late
1980s and has released several solo recordings. His Project Percolator
band mates include Rodney Holmes on drums, Mitch Stein on guitar and
Steve Lucas on bass. In York, the band will perform songs from its
latest CD, “Percolator.”
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‘95 North to Maine’
by Curt Bessette
Singer-songwriter Curt Bessette has been
a fixture of the Seacoast music scene for a solid quarter-century. The
York Beach resident hosted an open mike night at Biddy Mulligan’s in
Dover for well over a decade and has performed regularly throughout the
region with a number of other familiar folk faces. With the release of
his fourth album, “95 North to Maine,” Bessette pays tribute to the
homeland that has fostered his music career.
The CD
includes 11 original songs and one Everly Brothers cover, all featuring
Bessette’s soft vocals and smooth guitar playing, plus some occasional
mandolin picking, accompanied by harmonies and instrumental bits from
an array of area artists. The soft-rock folk tunes have a North Country
flavor that often evokes images of Maine rivers and woods, like a local
incarnation of James Taylor, John Denver and Willie Nelson.
The
album’s subject matter ranges from World War II to the story of Ray
Chapman, the only Major League baseball player ever to be killed by a
pitched ball in 1920. But Bessette also injects his trademark humor,
spoofing Maine’s busy tourist season in the song “My Summer Vacation in
the Great State of Maine.” “Those locals are backwards…They’re not
quite right / They’re not like us dear…They’re not half as uptight!” he
sings.
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It’s the final countdown. As February nears its inevitable
conclusion, musicians around the globe are scrambling to complete their
albums for the 2009 RPM Challenge. What follows is a sampling of
unedited statements posted on the RPM discussion board at
www.rpmchallenge.com. The general tone reflects a healthy balance of
panic and optimism. Good luck out there.
i know i can do it, and i think this album will be pretty good! —David Richardson, Colorado Springs, CO
My goal is to have everything done by next Thursday at the latest so my
friend who owns a pro recording studio can throw a quick master on
it. Good times, very exciting. Good luck to all down the home
stretch... —J TEMP 13, Cleveland, OH
Only 8 days left.....sigh. I think I’m close to having 10 tracks...but
nearly all need work. Some need a lot more and some need a great deal
more...lol. I’m trying to concentrate on things like album titles and
artwork...and have I actually got the correct address to send the final
product to? I’m quietly panicking...so I guess I’d better get back to
it. —eshar, Reading, UK
Got 8 songs down the 1st week and thought I was doing pretty well. I’ve
hit a wall since then, have a couple ideas but still need to get some
things together. Don’t want to think about mixing yet. —Lintybits, Saco, ME
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It’s a big weekend for jazz on the Seacoast with several
performances taking place Friday, Feb. 27 through Monday, March 2,
combining for one of the most active jazz oriented weekends since last
April’s Jazzmouth Festival. Here’s a preview of upcoming shows.
The headline event will be a performance by the Russell Malone
Quartet in the UNH Traditional Jazz Series on Monday, March 2 at 8 p.m.
in Johnson Theatre at the Paul Creative Arts Center in Durham.
Guitarist Malone will be joined by Martin Bejerano on piano, Tassili
Bond on bass and Jonathan Blake on drums.
In a world where most contemporary jazz guitarists seek to clone
artists like Pat Metheny and John Scofield, Russell Malone stands out
as a purer and more singular voice on the instrument. Malone
incorporates elements of guitar masters like Kenny Burrell, Grant Green
and George Benson into a fluid, melodic and swinging approach that is
distinctly his own. Malone’s guitar work has been heard in a variety of
contexts, most notably with singer-pianist Diana Krall, pianist Benny
Green and bassist Christian McBride. A Maxx Jazz recording artist,
Malone has made two stellar recordings, “Live at the Jazz Standard”
volumes 1 and 2, with his quartet.
Tickets for the performance are $8 for the general public, $6 for students and seniors. Call 603-862-2290.
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Casino Ballroom announces opening weekend
Spring may still seem a long way off, but the Hampton Beach
Casino Ballroom is already gearing up for its 2009 season. The Ballroom
recently announced three acts for its opening weekend of shows,
beginning with Philadelphia-based trio G. Love & Special Sauce on
Thursday, April 2. Soul legends Tower of Power will follow on Friday,
April 3, and Florida-based rock band Shinedown will wrap up the weekend
on Saturday, April 4. Tickets are on sale for all three concerts.
Composed of G. Love on guitar, vocals and harmonica; Jeff
Clemens on drums; and Jim Prescott on upright bass, G. Love &
Special Sauce released their first album in 1994 and quickly won a
following with the hit song “Cold Beverages.” The group’s blend of
laid-back blues, R&B and rap helped pave the way for acts like Jack
Johnson and Ben Harper. Tickets are $20.50 to $33.50.
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As of Feb. 15, more than 2,300 participants had signed up for the
2009 RPM Challenge. Musicians from around the globe hvae reached the
mid-month hump. Some are well on their way to completing their RPM
albums, while others are experiencing the onset of panic. What follows
is a sampling of unedited statements posted on the RPM discussion board
at www.rpmchallenge.com.
That 15 day counter on the page might
strike fear into the heart of some.. especially someone that is yet to
complete a song.. but I am not worried! —I Have Read Other Books Besides Catcher in the Rye, Athens, GA
Big
weekend ahead! It’s not a make or break situation or anything like
that, but it will decide if this will be a nice, relaxing end of the
month ... or a hectic pulling out the hair, gnashing of teeth type of
ending. —Cville Ramblings, Crozet, VA
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Walter Tore’s Spontobeat takes the RPM Challenge 28 steps further
It’s
not Walter Tore’s intention to belittle any other musician
participating in the 2009 RPM Challenge. But for a man who says he
records an average of 300 spontaneously composed CDs per year,
recording one in a month just isn’t much of a challenge. That’s why
Tore’s one-man band Spontobeat has set a goal of recording 28
full-length CDs during the month of February—one album per day.
As of Feb. 10, Tore said he had already completed 14 CDs and
expected to easily exceed his goal for the month. But that doesn’t mean
every CD will be a masterpiece. Tore’s approach of spontaneous creation
leaves little time for post-production work. As soon as he finishes a
disc, he looks forward to starting over again with a clean slate. He
said he can’t imagine spending an entire month perfecting a single CD.
“I’d be bored to tears,” Tore said during a recent phone
interview. “It often intrigues me how people can put so much effort
into a song. I just, I don’t know, I couldn’t do it because there’s too
much coming out.”
By mid-month, around 2,300 participants from around the world
had signed up for the 2009 RPM Challenge, each vowing to write and
record 10 songs or 35 minutes of original music in February. A resident
of Granville, Ohio, Tore is taking part in his third RPM effort. He
made a total of four bluesy Americana albums during the 2007 and ’08
challenges.
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The 2009 RPM Challenge is underway. What follows is a sampling of
unedited statements posted on the RPM discussion board at
www.rpmchallenge.com on Feb. 1. Remember, it’s not too late to sign up.
Midnight! Right. I’m off to write songs. Later! —Colin Garvey, Liverpool, UK
I set up my gear today and made sure everything works. Tomorrow will be
the first day of Feb 2009! I’ve never done the challenge before, but
always wanted to. Here we go... —wisteriax, Lowell, MA
Shit! I just forgot everything I ever knew about music! My guitar has
these 6 long ... “stringy” ... things, running down the length of it.
What am I supposed to do with those? It does has something to do with
music, right? Oh, and about minor chords ... They’re the same as
“major” chords, just not as loud, right? Oh shit I’m screwed. —The Checkers Speech, The Colony, TX
damnit, chronology. 2 more hours? I feel like we
west-coast-north-america folks are getting the short end of the stick.
Or maybe karma put us here because we need to refine our patience. Yes,
that must be it. Patience... —Poiesis, San Francisco, CA
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Ted Sink unveils new CD in Portsmouth
Guitarist and singer-songwriter Ted Sink will celebrate the
release of his third CD with a show in Portsmouth on the auspicious
date of Friday, Feb. 13. The concert takes place at the new GreatWaters
Bank at the corner of Fleet and Congress streets, former location of
Pars Oriental Rugs, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Sink is a solo artist and long-time member of several Seacoast
bands, including Baseline, Grizzly, The Benders, The Suspenders and Big
Night Out. The new CD, titled “Nothing Changes,” includes nine original
songs and two covers. Like his two previous efforts, the new disc
showcases a jazzy blues style similar to Steely Dan or Mose Alison. But
Sink also delves into slightly newer territory with a few tunes that
flirt with genres like hip-hop, reggae and soul.
The release show will also feature Kent Allyn on bass and piano;
Andy Happel on violin and keyboards; Carri Coltrane on vocals; Bruce
Derr on pedal steel; Rob Coffin on lead guitar; Tim Sink on saxophone;
and Jamie Decato on drums. The suggested donation is $10, or $15 for a
copy of the disc, but no one will be turned away. For more information,
visit www.tedsink.com.
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Simone pays tribute to her mother at The Music Hall
There
came a moment while Simone was recording a reworking of “Feeling Good,”
one of her mother’s classic and memorable tunes, when her entire
musical career path finally seemed to click into place.
She had been hesitant to approach the song made famous by late
jazz and soul sensation Nina Simone, putting it off until she had
finished all the other songs on her 2008 tribute album “Simone on
Simone.” But when she began to sing the familiar lyrics, her
reservations gradually melted away. By the time she sang the final
lines—“Oh freedom is mine / And I know how I feel”—Simone felt
liberated.
“I began to tell my story,” she said in a recent interview with
The Wire. “You feel it, you hear it, and there’s no doubt that I take
(the song) somewhere that’s totally mine.”
Simone puts her unique stamp on all 13 tracks on her debut solo
album, each hand-selected from her mother’s prodigious repertoire and
conducted with the backing of a 19-piece big band. She will perform
songs from the album, along with some original material and other
covers, at The Music Hall in Portsmouth during a Valentine’s Day show
on Saturday, Feb. 14.
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The Manhattan Transfer and ‘Three Girls’ get intimate at TMH
The Music Hall’s Intimately Yours concert series will present
two star-studded shows in Portsmouth during the coming week. Trio of
songstresses Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin and Patty Griffin will be in
town for a sold-out show on Sunday, Feb. 8. Vocal quartet The Manhattan
Transfer will arrive a few days later on Wednesday, Feb. 11.
Known for mixing jazz, big band, R&B and pop harmonies, The
Manhattan Transfer has garnered international acclaim. Born in 1972,
the quartet now consists of vocalists Tim Hauser, Janis Siegel, Alan
Paul and Cheryl Bentyne. The group built a cult following in the New
York club circuit in the early ’70s and cut its debut self-titled album
in 1975. Since then, Transfer has released around 25 recordings and won
several Grammy awards in the pop and jazz genres.
Transfer’s 1985 album “Vocalese,” which applied original lyrics
by Jon Hendricks to a number of previously recorded jazz instrumentals,
received 12 Grammy nominations and won in two categories. In more
recent years, all four band members have released solo albums,
including Hauser’s 2008 effort “Love Stories.” The group was inducted
into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998.
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It’s been almost two years exactly since Jake Mehrmann self-released
his first Tan Vampires record “I Can Hear Them in the Dark,” an RPM
Challenge record that scored him a loyal brood of fans. After years of
playing solo shows, Mehrmann recently roped in a cast of local
musicians to play and write music as a full band and the results are
worth checking out as soon as possible. The revamped Tan Vampires have
played a handful of shows in the area recently, including gigs at the
Barley Pub in Dover every fourth Wednesday of the month, and a show on
Saturday night at The Muddy River in Portsmouth with Boston-based
pop-rock band The Honors.
“We’re still working out a lot of things,” Mehrmann said before the show.
But it wasn’t obvious at The Muddy on Saturday night. A good
crowd, including many who were familiar with Mehrmann’s songs, if not
the new arrangements, was dazzled as the five band members behind him
fleshed out songs that were stark with atmosphere and solid rhythms.
Guitarist Nick Phaneuf, formerly of The Sixth Root and The Texas
Governor, took a lot of this on himself, running his guitar through a
live computer program and emitting lush tones to complement Mehrmann’s
strong voice. Keyboardist Mike Effenberger, playing a Fender Rhodes and
a synthesizer, and trumpeter Chris Klaxton were also great additions.
There was a real ease between all the musicians onstage, probably
because most have played together in some form over the years. It’s
really a small, incestuous world for musicians on the Seacoast.
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Longtime Seacoast musician Don Fancy performs for the crowd at The
Oar House in Portsmouth every Thursday and Friday night, and this week
will be no exception, despite the fact that Friday is his birthday. And
it’s a big one.
“I’m turning 80,” the pianist readily admits.
Fancy has been tickling the ivories of The Oar House
restaurant’s grand piano for the last 25 years. Planting himself on the
bench from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m., Fancy sweeps his well-trained fingers
across the keys and turns notes into melodies for the enjoyment of
drinkers and diners.
Fancy has played for Ray Guerin, owner of The Oar House, since
Guerin bought the Ceres Street restaurant 14 years ago. Guerin says
Fancy’s style of piano playing is a good match for the restaurant’s
setting. “It fits everyone’s mood and it’s great for background during
dinner,” he says.
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pianist Jim Brickman heads to ROH
Music fans looking for some pre-Valentine’s Day romance can
catch pianist and songwriter Jim Brickman at the Rochester Opera House
on Wednesday, Jan. 4, beginning at 8 p.m. His appearance in Rochester
comes just a couple of weeks after the release of his latest CD,
“Ultimate Love Songs: The Very Best of Jim Brickman.”
Brickman is known for his pop-style piano and romantic
compositions, including chart-topping recordings like “Valentine,” “The
Gift,” Love of My Life” and “Peace.” Over the course of his career,
Brickman has released six Gold and Platinum selling albums. He has had
a number of adult contemporary radio hits and received a Grammy
nomination in 2003. Brickman has collaborated with such artists as
Martina McBride, Kenny Loggins, Carly Simon, Herb Alpert, Michael
Bolton, Olivia Newton-John and others. He has now released more than 20
albums, every single one of which includes a large picture of him on
the cover.
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The University of New Hampshire’s Traditional Jazz Series will
continue on Monday, Feb. 2, with a performance by Derry-based
vibraphonist and pianist Ed Saindon and his quartet, featuring renowned
saxophonist Dave Liebman. Joining Saindon and Liebman will be Dave
Clark on bass and Mark Walker on drums. The group will perform music
from its CD “Depth of Emotion,” on the World Improvised Music label.
This should be a superb show featuring music of varied colors and
textures rendered by a group of musicians who can take the music in
numerous directions. The show also marks the Seacoast debut of Liebman,
one of the most prolific and imaginative musicians in jazz today.
To use a cliché, Dave Liebman is a “musician’s musician.” Fluent
on tenor and soprano saxophones as well as flute, alto flute, keyboards
and drums, Liebman has carved a highly creative career that has spanned
more than 40 years and has crossed genres from contemporary rock with
Ten Wheel Drive to the bands of jazz greats Elvin Jones, Miles Davis
and Chick Corea in the 1970s.
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by Cowboy Junkies
1996, Geffen Records
the sound: Every album from
alt-country band Cowboy Junkies is dark and lovely, but “Lay It Down,”
the band’s seventh, is the most ominous and beautiful. Driven by heavy
bass lines to match singer Margo Timmins’ low, lush voice, the album
plays like a Flannery O’Connor story, full of bittersweet lyrics
bemoaning the hardships of love and life. The songs are almost
anachronistic, conjuring images of dust storms, flat plains and cars
with long running boards. The opening track, “Something More besides
You,” has a woman questioning what life would be like if she wasn’t
trapped in her marriage. “A Common Disaster” is one of the album’s few
up-tempo songs, with three chords resonating over and over as Timmins
sings of the lull of temptation. “Going to find me someone to share a
common disaster / Run away with me from a life so cramped and dull /
Not worry to much about the happily ever after / Just keep the Caddy
moving till we’re well beyond that hill.”
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Halperin celebrates 30 years of blues
It was 30 years
ago this month that blues guitarist and singer Bob Halperin played his
first solo gig at The Press Room in downtown Portsmouth. He will
celebrate those three decades of performance with an anniversary show
on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 9 p.m.
Now a veteran staple of the Seacoast music scene, Halperin drove
up from Cambridge, Mass., for his first Press Room gig in January 1979.
He moved to Portsmouth permanently in the mid-’80s and has since played
in more than half a dozen area bands, including Thingvalla, Homeless
Bob and The Living Room Gypsies, The Bob Halperin Blues Band, The
Working Band, Li’l Anne and Hot Cayenne and Late Great Scott. He
remains active as a solo artist and as a member of his latest band
Wooden Eye.
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Dead Season rises to the top of Maine’s metal scene
Last
year did not start off well for Matt and Ian Truman, founding members
of Maine-based metal band Dead Season. A year after losing an uncle to
cancer, they watched helplessly as their mother’s five-year battle with
ovarian cancer took a turn for the worse. The brothers lost their
mother in February.
So when you hear Ian Truman screeching ferociously about black
tumors and chemotherapy in “Cancer,” the second track on Dead Season’s
2008 album “When Everything’s Lost,” it’s not just a morbid goth-metal
anthem. Nor is Matt Truman just going through the motions when he rakes
a pick over his guitar strings.
Both performers unleash their emotions in an anguished but
inspired display of heavy metal catharsis throughout their sophomore
album, much of which was written shortly before their mother died.
“We were still finishing up the album when she was really having
a hard time,” Matt Truman said. “There’s a lot of our emotions and what
we were going through definitely tied up in the album.”
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Bull Moose recently announced its bestselling items from 2008,
providing top 10 lists in a number of CD and DVD categories. The lists
reveal some curious trends. For instance, the top 10 used CDs Bull
Moose sold and the top 10 CDs sold back to the store are nearly
identical and feature discs released almost exclusively in the 1990s
(with the exception of one released in 2000). Bull Moose reported heavy
sales of local artists during the holiday rush, and Maine-based metal
band Dead Season even finished the year at number 5 among all new CDs
sold during the year. Bull Moose has 10 total locations in Maine and
New Hampshire.
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guitar prodigy hits the Seacoast
Teenage guitar phenom
Luke Mulholland will demonstrate his highly touted six-string skills
during upcoming shows in Dover and Portsmouth. The 19-year-old Canadian
native will be at the Dover Brick House on Saturday, Jan. 17 and at the
Muddy River Smokehouse in Portsmouth on Friday, February 20.
Mulholland has garnered a reputation as an emerging blues guitar
sensation. After taking up the instrument at age 10, he recorded his
first solo album at 14 and formed his band, Mulholland Drive, at 15.
While opening for Bon Jovi in 2006, he complemented his Stevie Ray
Vaughan-esque voice with a screeching behind-the-head solo during a
performance of Jimi Hendrix’s “Red House.”
Mulholland is kicking off a tour in support of his 2008 release
“Further.” The album features a mix of originals and classic rock and
blues covers. His deep and often growling vocals and intensely bluesy
guitar licks reflect a wealth of influences that includes Hendrix,
Clapton and Zeppelin. Other dates on the tour will feature performances
with such established stars as Dickie Betts, The Marshal Tucker Band
and The Fabulous Thunderbirds.
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On Thursday nights, the basement bar at The Grog in Newburyport,
Mass., rewinds in time to transform into a late-1960s San Francisco
nightclub, complete with a haze of smoke and neo-hippie dancers. But in
place of The Grateful Dead or Jefferson Airplane, the stage is occupied
by modern psychedelic bands Maganahan’s Revival and Soul Robot.
On a recent Thursday, Robot and acoustic trio Starship Destroyer
prepped the crowd for a closing set from Maganahan’s. The headliners
opened with “Hard to Handle,” a tune originally recorded by Otis
Redding but commonly found on Dead playlists and later revived by The
Black Crowes. Front man Tim Souza’s knotty dreadlocks dangled past his
belt as he strummed rhythm guitar and spouted familiar lyrics into the
microphone. Guitarist Andrew Edmondson shortly unleashed his electric
prowess, waiting out a couple of refrains before ripping an ecstatic
solo that turned all eyes to the stage.
The band followed with “Hey Pocky Way,” another live Dead
favorite originally recorded by The Meters. Organist Max Chase stomped
his foot as he fingered the keys and Erik Britton improvised freely on
a six-string bass, keeping the instrumentals fluid with his rhythmic
meanderings. Drummer Brandon Hill stayed busy on the skins and kept the
jam rooted to a central beat.
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by Charles Mingus
1961, Atlantic Records
the sound: Like most of Charles
Mingus’ recordings, “Oh Yeah” consists of jazz compositions stemming
heavily from old blues and gospel roots. Unlike most of his recordings,
Mingus plays piano instead of bass on the disc. He also sings and
shouts in hoarse, often stream-of-consciousness vocals on several
songs, expressing both his untamed musical exuberance and his dark but
jocund sense of humor. With Doug Watkins ably covering for the leader
on bass, long-time Mingus drummer Dannie Richmond beating the skins and
mad genius Rahsaan Roland Kirk making all kinds of noise, the album is
a real treat to hear. Kirk plays tenor sax, flute and a variety of less
conventional instruments, while Booker Ervin adds more tenor sax and
Jimmy Knepper plays trombone. The album instantly adopts a tense and
blood-pumping tone with the opening track, “Hog Callin’ Blues,” and
Mingus’ tongue-in-cheek paranoia later finds an outlet in “Oh Lord,
Don’t Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me.” The music gets a little
more lighthearted with “Eat That Chicken” but ends on a heavier strain
with “Passions of a Man.”
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Idina Menzel and Ani DiFranco at The Music Hall
Tickets will soon go on sale for two more Intimately Yours
performances at The Music Hall in Portsmouth. The Intimately Yours
concert series will bring actress and musician Idina Menzel to town on
Wednesday, March 18, as well as iconic singer-songwriter and guitarist
Ani DiFranco on Tuesday, April 14. Tickets for both shows go on sale to
Music Hall members at noon on Saturday, Jan. 10, and to the general
public one week later on Saturday, Jan. 17.
Menzel is a Tony Award winning performer who rose to stardom
after playing lead roles in the Broadway hits “Rent” and “Wicked.” She
was nominated for a Tony for her portrayal of Maureen in “Rent” and won
the award for her part at the green witch in “Wicked.” Known for her
powerful voice, she will be touring in support of her debut album, “I
Stand.” Tickets to Menzel’s show on March 18 are $36 to $48.
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‘Shallow Grave’
by The Tallest Man on Earth
label: Gravitation Records
genre: folk
suitable for: saying goodbye to 2008
A
totally stirring album by this Swedish folk singer, “Shallow Grave” was
released earlier this year overseas but did not see wide release in the
United States. I wonder if that’s because The Tallest Man on Earth,
a.k.a. Kristian Matsson, plays American roots music better than any
American in recent memory. There’s plenty of pluck and twang on these
lo-fi recordings, making Matsson’s songs more Mississippi than
Scandinavia, but most of all there is a ton of soul. With a booming,
gravelly voice, Matsson rips through 10 tracks with grit and wisdom,
just like the best bluesmen, and ends up with some of the most
emotional music of the year.
This is one of the best albums I heard
this year. It has the feel of a contemporary indie-folk record (he
toured with Bon Iver earlier in the year) but nails the sound of the
old South without sounding archaic. Kind of stunning, actually. Limited
edition label Mexican Summer is issuing an LP version of “Grave” in
early 2009. Can’t wait.
Visit www.thetallestmanonearth.se.
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