Sad news

Just 5 months after the passing of Boz Burrell, Ian Wallace has passed on. Sad news!

Details and tributes can be found on the DGM Live site.

Interesting news

Robert Fripp and King Crimson both have myspace pages now.

And the Porcupine Tree site reports that Steve Wilson will be touring with Blackfield and that the Tree is releasing a new album in April. Unfortunately, the Wilson/Blackfield tour is once again skipping the 3rd coast ;(

Bass Madness

Wow. I saw Bx3 (or Bass times 3) last night at the Flamingo Cantina, featuring Jeff Berlin, Stu Hamm and Billy Sheehan. All 3 soloists were accompanied by Jude Gold and John Mader (basically they were "on" the whole time and extremely versatile).

Going in, I was first and foremost a Jeff Berlin fan. His albums with Bruford in the mid-70's still rank as some of my all-time favorites. The venue was nice, and small enough that I was situated within "spitting" distance of the stage. The show opened up with all 3 doing the Star Spangled Banner with Billy singing.

Jeff Berlin led off. He was a lot more entertaining and funny than I would have expected, and introduced his segment as the "Jazz" section (then immediately and hilariously told the sound man to "lock the doors"). His set was brilliant and he focused on his recent solo material. He declined a request from the crowd for Joe Frazier (Oh well). After seeing that, I decided not to bother him with a plea for 5G.

Seeing Jeff was a little strange for me. I had just recently purchased a copy of "Rock goes to College," a concert recording of Bruford's band from the BBC. It was recorded shortly after they had recorded "Feels Good to Me". In this video Jeff is in his late 20's or early 30's. Since he's now 55, I feel like I missed a good portion of his career. (But I really didn't. He just hasn't toured much ;(

Stu Hamm was 2nd and shifted out of jazz mode and into rock. He did a lot of two handed playing, basically converting his 4 string Bass into a Chapman Stick. One of the songs was a unique Beatles/Beethoven medley. Everything was tastefully done, and his segment was great.

Sheehan was last. I must admit that I had never really been interested in his playing before (and was actually disappointed by his last collaboration with Terry Bozzio). However, seeing him live made me change my mind a little. He was definitely the most energetic of the 3. He played some covers of Kings X Goldilocks and Jeff Beck's Led Boots. His motor never stops, he is quite the showman. His musicianship is much better than I had anticipated.

The night ended with a grand encore with all 3. The encore included covers of Clapton's Crossroads with Jeff singing, and Spinal Tap's Big Bottoms. Most impressive was the fact that the show lasted at least 2.5 hours (great value for a $15 cover).

The coup de grace for the night, was getting to talk to Jeff after the show, purchasing a copy of Aneurythms from him, and getting it autographed. Jeff is just a great person and really easy to talk to.

If you get the chance to go and see this tour, do it! Easily the best show I've seen this year in Austin. (Of course this year is only 5 weeks old).

Robben Ford

Saw Robben Ford perform last night at the Cactus Cafe, with Roscoe Beck and Brandon Temple. Great show, great guitar work, great rhythm section.

This was the same venue that I had seen Al DiMeola recently. It was sort of the polar opposite of DiMeola's show. This time, the music took a front seat to the technique, instead of being sacrificed to the technique.

The night was highlighted by special guest appearances of Eric Johnson and David Grissom. While watching Robben play, it became suddenly apparent that Eric was a big fan of Robben's and had incorporated a lot more of his style than I had realized.

Taylor Campbell opened. He was a singer/songwriter who played acoustic guitar. He had the line of the night when he said, "When I open for Robben Ford, I'm a guitar owner, not a guitar player."

Touched by the Sound

I had the great pleasure tonight of seeing Evelyn Glennie perform with the Austin Symphony, at the Bass Concert Hall. If you've never heard of Evelyn, she is the subject of a documentary film, Touching the Sound. She is a world class percussionist and quite adept at a number of Tuned percussion instruments including the Vibraphone. What is absolutely amazing, is that she has been deaf since childhood.

Evelyn performed two pieces

1. Schwantner's Percussion Concerto - An interesting piece with 3 movements. Evenlyn had a large array of instruments both in the front (Vibraphone, Timpanis, Gongs, Triangles and a Large Bass Drum) and the back (Marimba, Toms and Bass Drum) of the stage. It had a very 20th century feel and ostinatos clearly borrowed from or influenced by Javanese/Balinese Gamelan music. There were at least 6 or 7 other percussionists on stage playing Bass Drum, Tubular Bells, Xylophone, playing with her for the first movement. The last 2 movements were filled with extensive soloing and did not disappoint.
2. Evelyn's arrangement of Vivaldi's Piccolo Concerto - Played with a smaller string ensemble, harpsichord and Evelyn playing Vibraphone. This was absolutely incredible to watch. It was performed flawlessly at a very fast tempo, with considerable variation in the dynamics.

She performs barefoot, which I assume provides some additional tactile feedback for her. I also spent considerable time trying to comprehend how she manages to play so impeccably, given her challenges.

Bottom line: If you have the chance to watch the film or better yet, see her live. Do it. If I didn't already have tickets to go see Robben Ford tomorrow night, I might be tempted to go catch tomorrow night's show, as well.

KWS, Double Trouble and others at Antones

I went to go see this show at Antones with Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Double Trouble (SRV's rhythm section), and guests Bryan Lee, Hubert Sumlin and Pinetop Perkins.

I probably should have gotten tickets in advance since there was quite a line outside of Antones, forcing me to miss most of the opening act, Carolyn Wonderland. Fortunately, I was able to get in when someone on will-call had an extra ticket.

The show started with them running a trailer for a documentary film, 10 Days Out - Blues from the Backroads. KWS and DT went driving around the South looking up various Blues legends and jamming with them. An interesting concept, and I will try and catch it.

General observations:

Layton and Shannon are tight. (Nothing has changed since seeing them with SRV over 20 years ago). They are always in the pocket.

KWS and his band don't seem to have any new material. They're still playing material from Trouble Is, which is now 10 years old. It may just be me, but I don't think you should be doing a Greatest Hits/State Fair tour if you only have one legit album. Everything was performed well, but you like to see an artist progress over time.

Bryan Lee and Hubert Sumlin did a great job, but they exclusively did Blues "standards." Lee had a strong Cajun twist to his music; understandable since he is from New Orleans. Hubert had played with Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf.

It was also great to see Pinetop. He's over 90, not quite as lucid as Eubie Blake was at that age, but still able to perform. Unfortunately, none of the younger musicians could figure out how to accompany him without stepping all over his toes.

Good show, not awe inspiring.

It's sleeting down in Texas, all the telephone lines are down

Well, central TX was hit by ice and sleet storms today. My employer wisely postponed work until 11AM tomorrow. (Bubba's pickup doesn't handle too well on ice ;)

Spent a good part of the day listening to podcasts, reading blogs and watching "A Scanner Darkly."

Submarine surfacing

Well it's been 3 years since my initial postings here. During that timespan, I have returned to Austin and am quite happy about that. I am relatively unhappy at this particular moment for two reasons:

1. My Ravens lost their divisional playoff game to the hated Colts. The damn Manning love fest will continue.
2. It's 28 degrees here in TX and in the 60s in Baltimore. (I thought this was the Sun Belt ;(

At the present time, I am busy with work and all things related to Basil Records. I am quite excited about what the coming year brings. I listened to my usual cycle of music related podcasts today, and stumbled across info about Joseph Vella on the Music Pro Show site. At last, well produced Jazz podcasts! Listening to the Traneumentary and Christian McBride podcasts. Very well done. Can't wait for more.

Zappa plays Zappa in Dallas

I'm presently listening to Frank Zappa's, "One Size Fits All". I'm feeling pensive, as I think about what we all lost when Frank passed away.

This was probably spurred on by my trip to Dallas this weekend. For over 3 hours this past Saturday, I was lucky enough to witness a true musical spectacle.

Dweezil Zappa was in Dallas with 7 other amazing musicians including Zappa alumnus, Napolean Murphy Brock for the Zappa plays Zappa tour. By his own admission, after a years practice, Dweezil had only managed to learn 40 songs from his prolific father's 70 plus albums of material. One can only hope that Dweezil follows through with his promise of more material and tours!!!!!

All I can say, is WOW. I'm willing to say this may have been the best 8 musicians I've ever seen on stage together at one time. Then the number miraculously swelled to 10 as they were joined by both Terry Bozzio, and Steve Vai.

For me, this show can only be described as an Eargasm! Of course, the Muffin Research Center is alive and well

Al DiMeola @ the UT Cactus Club

I love this venue and have seen numerous shows here.

Al DiMeola was in town with a 5 piece (keys, bass, drums, percussion and of course guitar). After seeing how long the lines can be, I got to this show early and was able to get a front row seat.

From this vantage point, I was able to see what is undoubtedly one of the fastest left hands in the business. Unfortunately for me, I had just recently seen McCoy Tyner (which set a standard for improvisation) and I have probably listened to too much of Al's era material in my younger days (Tour de Force stuff with Jan Hammer).

Bottom Line: It was one of those shows where I was dazzled by the technique but underwhelmed by the music. The band was tight, but it was a pale imitation of the band with the Hammer, Gadd and Jackson line-up. The new songs and compositions just didn't do it for me.

The Real McCoy

McCoy Tyner (one of my idols) played the Hogg Auditorium at UT on this night.

Prior to moving to TX in '93, I used to go see McCoy's trio play several times a year. The shows were usually at one of two venues, Sweet Basil in NYC or at the Towne Crier in Brewster, NY. My memory is probably failing me now, but typically he was accompanied by Louis Hays and Avery Sharpe. Obviously, I went to the show with certain expectations after waiting over 13 yeras.

The show this evening, featured a septet. (Piano, trumpet, alto, trombone, tenor, bass and drums). The horn players with the exception of Steve Turre on trombone, were all fairly young. Good and solid, but obviously still searching for their voices. McCoy seemed to be mentoring some of them in manner reminiscent of the way that Miles did with his bands, in his final years.

McCoy himself was great, he still has it. I am worried now however, that his health may be failing. I've already made a mental note to try and catch him as often as possible in the future. The show is part of an anniversary tour commemorating Impulse records, and included songs exclusively from their catalog. Their rendition of Coltrane's Impressions was fantastic. I was disappointed however, that although they played several Duke Ellington songs, Caravan was not one of them. (Seemed like it would have been the perfect septet piece).

The highlight of the night was the rhythm section, Eric Gravatt on drums and Charnett Moffett on bass. Eric reminded me of Elvin Jones, 'nuff said. Moffett stole the show (which may explain why he didn't solo until the later in the evening. Moffett clearly plays acoustic and electric bass, and plays both well. He has this unique way of back integrating electric bass finger technique on the upright. All I can say is "it was a sight to behold." And, it was done in a way that the musicianship was not compromised.

Bottom Line: Can't wait to see McCoy again in the near future and I will probably be on the lookout for Charnette Moffett.

Adrian Belew Power Trio

I saw Adrian Belew at the UT Cactus Cafe. He was accompanied by the Power Trio consisting of brother and sister pair, Eric and Julie Slick (both graduates of Paul Green's School of Rock).

Great intimate venue that holds no more than about 75 people. The band played a mix of Belew's solo material and then finished up the night was a set of King Crimson songs including Thela Hun Ginjeet, Dinosaur, TOAPP, and others.

Since this show was in Austin, King Crimson drummer Pat Mastelotto was in the audience. He didn't get up on stage however.

Great show for Belew and Krim fans.

Here we go

I'm trying out a number of blogging services to see how they fit.