September 2009 Archives

A few of my coworkers have started referring to the Market Basket on Fletcher Street as "the scary Market Basket." I'll admit getting in and out of the parking lot is always scary. And yesterday there was a scary looking dog tied to the rail inside the automatic door leaving the store. And then there's the scary realization that not everyone in this world should be having children.But hey, where else can you buy a bag of day old rolls for 65 cents or a roasted chicken for $3.99? And have you ever heard the guy who does the car alarm imitation? And when the Left Banke's 1967 baroque pop classic, "Pretty Ballerina", chimes from the ceiling speakers, don't you just have to smile?

Friday, October 2nd, master of the baroque pop genre himself, Rufus Wainwright, brings his evocative melodies, glitzy piano playing and his road weary voice to the newly renovated Portsmouth Music Hall. Son of Loudon Wainwright and Kate McGarrigle, his 1998 self-titled debut immediately separated Rufus from other second generation musicians with its poignant lyrics and sophisticated arrangements. Elton John called him "The greatest songwriter on the planet." However, on his 2007 release, Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall, Wainwright paid homage to the Tin Pan Alley greats who came before him performing Judy Garland's 1961 concert at Carnegie Hall in its entirety.

The Portsmouth Music Hall continues to book some impressive shows as part of their Intimately Yours series and Rufus Wainwright is no exception. Should be a great show.

Was in line at the Rite Aid on Broadway in Lowell to buy my sister Andrea a 40th birthday card when the girl at the register told me they were taking 20% off everything in the store. With my bad habit of thumbing through the limited CD selection of mostly Spanish artists and the occasional "Abba's Greatest Hits", I had already noticed remastered copies of Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Pepper, and Abbey Road. Fortunately, the $13.99 price tag prevented me from stooping so low as to buy CDs of the band who taught me everything I know about music and who provided me with endless hours of musical ecstacy from a middle of the road drugstore chain. I politely asked the girl, "Twenty percent off everything?" Before you could say Maxwell's Silver Hammer, I was bolting for the car tightly gripping my new copy of Abbey Road.

With my trusty AKG headphones snug on my head, I waited for the opening bass line of "Come Together" to start the evaluation process. Let's just say the hype is justified. Totally justified. Beautiful packaging aside, these remasters sound unbelievable. Crisp and clean. You will hear things you never heard before.

Just got back from my second trip to Rite Aid in twenty minutes. I'm now the proud owner of remasterd copies of Rubber Soul, Revolver and Sgt Pepper as well. And at $11.19 a CD, I may one day forget the fact that I bought them at a drugstore chain. The green apple on the Abbey Road CD, same as my long lost album of 40 years ago, is already helping.

After playing in his native Cuba for nearly all of his adult life, jazz trumpeter extraordinaire Arturo Sandoval defected to the US in 1990 with his wife and child. His first American album, Flight to Freedom, featured supercharged bebop laced with Afro-Cuban rhythms. His explosive playing has dazzled audiences worldwide and he has shared the stage with mentor Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Bennett, Justin Timberlake and Alicia Keys to name a few.

Arturo Sandoval returns to Scullers Jazz club for three night beginning Thursday, October 1st. Even if you're not a jazzer, Sandoval is guaranteed to blow your socks off with his high octane, bebop flurries. Whether he's exploiting the trumpet's high register or flying all over the piano keyboard, Sandoval will leave you smiling for days with his virtuoso playing and his infectious passion and love of all things music.

I've seen Arturo Sandoval perform three times. Each time I've been reborn.

I'll admit it. I hadn't given much thought, if any, to country rock duo Loggins and Messina over the past twenty years, at least not until a month ago when a friend purchased six tickets to their reunion show at the Hanover Theatre in Worcester. I got turned off by Kenny Loggins' Footloose pop of the 80's and I never fully recovered enough to explore the Loggins and Messina catalogue. Big mistake.

After playing on the last Buffalo Springfield album, Messina went on to form Poco, predecessor of the country rock sound that took southern California by storm with acts like CSN and The Eagles following in their footsteps. A few years later Messina gave up the road and was hired to produce new comer Kenny Loggins. Sittin In, the duo's first collaboration, was billed as a Kenny Loggin's solo album with Jim Messina. Loggins and Messina then went on to become the most successful duo of the early 70's recording seven solid albums in five years.

Last night at the beautifully renovated Hanover Theatre, the pair rocked their way through all the hits including a twelve minute jam on "Angry Eyes" highlighted by dueling saxes and a ripping organ solo by keyboardist Gabe Dixon with Messina providing some tasty licks on his Fender Strat. Loggins was in great voice appearing shy and humble as he let the confident Messina take and hold the reigns. And there lies the source of the duos success: they complement each other in ways that reach far beyond their musical abilities. Messina provides the seriousness and the edge. Loggins, in return, provides the buffer for that edge.

I went to the show to watch an obsessed friend drool over Kenny Loggins. I left with a new found appreciation for one of the great duos of the last thirty years.

Back in the late 80's a friend of mine was working as an assistant engineer at a Boston recording studio. One Thursday night he dragged me to Christopher's in Porter Square to hear a new acoustic duo he helped record promising they would blow my mind. They did. Song after song, harmony after harmony, great lyric after great lyric, I was completely captivated as I listened to the two voices weave in and out as they unraveled one story after the next. I kept leaning over to my friend asking, "Who are they again?" For some reason I couldn't get beyond the name. I kept hearing Jonathan and Jennifer until it finally hit me. Jonatha and Jennifer.

During the next few years I followed the two Amherst College grads to every coffee house in New England as they continued to push the boundaries of their particular blend of folk and pop. By the time their debut Grace and Gravity was released, I was a groupie. A few short years later they were playing to a sold out crowd at Johnny D's while the line of people trying to get in wrapped around the corner onto College Ave.

The other day I was in the Nashua Newbury Comics when I noticed a used copy of The Angel in the HouseJonatha and Jennifer's second release as The Story, selling for $3.99. If you haven't heard it, pick it up. For less than a coffee and doughnut you'll get enough personal insight to survive any family/relationship disaster. And then there's Duke Levine's masterful guitar work.

Sarah McLachlan, Alanis Morissette, Fiona Apple. And that was only the tip of the iceberg of talented but often angry female singer/ songwriters who were grabbing all the hype during the 90's. Still, even at the height of her popularity Jonatha Brooke never received the same kind of attention even though her songwriting, most notably on her first two solo albumsPlumb and 10 cent Wings, was and is superior in every way.

Jonatha Brooke plays Tupelo for two shows on Saturday night, September 26th. Don't miss the opportunity to see one of the best in this intimate setting. You won't be disappointed.

Last chance to catch The Eilen Jewell Band before they begin a European tour which has them playing eight shows in the Netherlands before hitting Belgium, Germany, and Spain. After a thirteen show jaunt through the UK, the band will finish up in Sweden before heading back to the States in November. Touring behind their latest release, the twangy Sea of Tears, the Eilen Jewell Band continues to wow audiences wherever the international back roads and main streets take them. Letters from Sinners and Strangers, their swanky 2007 release, found the band firmly esablishing themselves as masters in the over crowded field of Americana artists. Sea of Tears, however, finds the band paying homage to the country/folk rock sounds of the late 60's with long time EJB guitarist, Jerry Miller, ripping through one reverb laced lead after the next.

You can catch the Eilen Jewell Band tonight at the Precinct, former home to the Somerville Police Department. Sharon LeVesque opens with EJB taking the stage at 10:00. Promises to be a great show.