tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45752949272846552262024-03-13T07:00:22.312-07:00GenEc DVD ReviewTom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-2573629503034066152012-06-16T16:44:00.002-07:002012-06-16T16:44:33.806-07:00“A Song For Ourselves” (Third World Newsreel)“A Song For Ourselves” is a short (35 minutes) documentary film examining the life and legacy of the sadly-overlooked Asian-American singer-songwriter Chris Iijima (1948-2005). In the eyes of the mainstream music industry, Iijima and the other members of the trio Yellow Pearl hardly registered a blip on the commercial radar. Nevertheless, they played a highly significant role in the raising of Asian-American consciousness during the 1970’s.<br />
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As with many other politically-aware music lovers of my generation, I first became aware of Iijima and singing partner Joanne (more recently known as “Nobuko”) Miyamoto thanks to a 1973 album on the left-wing Paredon label, entitled “A Grain of Sand”. Although Iijima and Miyamoto were originally a duo, they doubtless attracted considerably more attention after adding a third member, William “Charlie” Chin, who had already enjoyed a small, but significant touch of musical notoriety. (I confess I was one of those who took an interest for just that reason, Chin having become a sort of mysterious underground figure for his banjo solo on Buffalo Springfield’s song, ”Bluebird”, and an above-ground figure when he had a Top 40 hit in 1969 as a member of Cat Mother and the All-Night Newsboys.) However, it wasn’t until watching this film that I had any idea as to (a) how influential Yellow Pearl had been among Asian-Americans, and (b) what became of Iijima and Miyamoto. (Charlie Chin is still performing.)<br />
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However, we are told at the very outset that Chris Iijima “changed the face and the landscape of Asian-Pacific America”. But alas, we also learn that Mr. Iijima is no longer with us, as the film begins at a memorial service for him. (Thankfully, Ms. Miyamoto is still with us, running an arts organization in LA.) What made Iijima such an important figure at the beginning of what we might call the “Asian Power” movement is that he expressed political and social opinions in song that Asians-Americans simply did not dare to express in previous times. His consciousness had been raised by the African-American Civil Rights movement, particularly the March on Washington. But he never felt at home in either black or white protest movements - there was very little for him and other people like him at such events. But seeing t.v. coverage of the Vietnam War helped politicize him, as he watched “people who looked like us” getting killed before his eyes.<br />
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We get to see a clip of Iijima and Miyamoto’s folk-jazz-protest performance on the Mike Douglas Show, where they were introduced by no less than John Lennon. But, as Charlie Chim, says in an interview, this was never a “music-driven” band, but existed to deliver a message - that Asian-Americans had a voice, one that needed to be heard and acknowledged.<br />
Despite what could have been a “big break”, Iijima chose not to become a professional musician, as he had no interest in becoming a “star”. He instead chose to become a grade-school teacher. In his 30’s, however, he came to the realization that he needed to reach far more than the handful of students he saw daily. So he went to law school, and went on to teach law at the University of Hawaii. His two bi-racial sons (Iijima’s wife was Anglo-American) were raised knowing nothing about their father’s influential musical activities. We see him continuing his activism, even after contracting amyloidosis, which led to his death at age 57.<br />
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Needless to say, Tadashi Nakamura’s film tells Iijima’s story far more effectively than I can in this brief summary, through interviews with family and friends, rare footage, and discussion. His is a fascinating story of a man who accomplished much and asked for little in the way of recognition for himself, but wanted much for his people. The struggle, of course, continues.Tom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-68587521538980587962012-05-31T16:49:00.000-07:002012-06-01T14:06:20.864-07:00Four Blues DVD’s - Moses Oakland, Billy D. and the Hoodoos, Roy Buchanan, Joe BonamassaI have four blues DVD’s waiting for review, and rather than drag out the process and post four separate reviews, I’ll discuss them all in one longer piece, even though I have no over-arching “review essay” statement to make. Two are by lesser-known artists, one by a major blues star of today, and a major talent of the recent past.<br />
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“Moses Oakland Quartet Live @ Famous Dave’s BBQ & Blues, March 28.2010” (Big Notes Productions) introduces us to a San Francisco-born singer-guitarist-bandleader who has spent over a decade gracing the stages of the Minneapolis blues scene. He is, in a way, typical of the many really solid blues musicians whose reputation remains a local phenomenon despite considerable amounts of talent and know-how, simply because there isn’t a large enough national audience for blues music to support very many bands in a national scale. When I say “typical”, however, I don’t mean to imply that Oakland and company sound like “everybody else”. Rather, it’s the circumstances that work against a skilled local bluesman from reaching a wider audience that are, alas, typical.<br />
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Oakland is very much a contemporary bluesman, with a style that goes beyond blues to incorporate rock, Americana, gospel, jazz, and funk influences, backed by a band that can negotiate this wide range of styles with aplomb. With his long white, Z.Z. Top-length beard and denim overalls, Oakland looks as if he just stepped out of a particularly soulful Grant Wood painting.<br />
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Things get off in funk mode with a song I haven’t thought about since the days of Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, “Captain Bobby Stout” (though I believe it was first recorded by the Jerry Hahn Brotherhood). Bassist Charles Fletcher and drummer Donald “Hye Pockets” Robertson lay down a phat groove. Oakland sings with authority, and both he and organist Jason Craft solo intelligently at such length that I can’t but wonder if there isn’t room for this band on the jam-band circuit. It must be well-nigh impossible to play “The Thrill Is Gone” completely removed from the shadow of B.B. King, but Oakland’s singing and the depth of the rhythm section add more than enough originality to keep it interesting on a high level.<br />
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“Chicken” is a deceptive instrumental in which Oakland’s guitar solo sounds as if it’s trying to fly away out of his control. But since he finds his way back each time a certain part of the tune is reached, one eventually realizes that it was written this way. The rest of the band keeps the fun going in a string of solos. The band lays down a slinky backdrop for “Spoonful”, a song I’ve heard perhaps too many times, to the point where I just could not approach this with eager anticipation. Next thing I knew, I was tapping my foot and smiling, so it obviously won me over. There’s a somewhat lackluster tenor sax solo, but it passes quickly. “I Got A Mind To Give Up Living” slows the pace down to a crawl, getting deep into the emotional core of the music. Oakland’s half-spoken vocal captures the disconsolate mood perfectly. This time, the languor of the saxophonist’s meanderings works to his advantage. The organ produces some intriguing tone colors during an appropriately funereal solo, followed by a soulful, nicely textured Oakland guitar solo.<br />
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The viewer of any concert DVD never really knows how many takes were filmed over how many sets. But if this set is a true indication of what one would hear at a Moses Oakland gig - and I have no reason to suspect otherwise - this is a band which knows how to pace a set in a manner that leaves the audience wanting more. The videography likewise captures a “you are there” quality, as cameras move from one musician to another the way an audience member’s head might move, mixing the sights and sounds together for maximum interest. The 55-minute DVD is available from Amazon.<br />
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Billy D. and the Hoodoos are currently based in Portland, Oregon, after a number of years in Santa Fe. “Somethin’s Wrong: The Music Videos” (self-released) is a visual companion to a CD of the same name. As the title indicates, this is not a concert performance, but a collection of videos for Billy D.’s original songs, shot in a Santa Fe studio. Nevertheless, these have the quality of a live performance, being straightforward filmed versions of singer-guitartist Billy D. and his two bandmates in action, without the distraction of pseudo-plotlines, sexy models, overly busy production effects, and all those other extraneous elements that mar so many music videos.<br />
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Billy D. (short for Desmond) and the Hoodoos are a very tight little guitar/bass/drums combo, with a blues/rock/etc. mix which brings to mind the freshness and excitement many of us felt when we first heard Z.Z. Top, yet with more of a Chicago-club flair (not surprising, as D. grew up on the Chicago blues scene). This is a distinctly middle-age combo, whose years of individual and collective experience are quite audible. But there’s nothing tired-sounding or jaded about their sound and style. There’s little attempt to hit the listener/viewer over the head with empty virtuosity, even though it seems evident that D. could do this quite effectively if he wished to. Fortunately, he doesn’t wish to. There are occasional overdubs and layers of reverb added to the texture of the music, but one gets the distinct impression that if you caught the band late on a Saturday evening, they’d sound just as tough, yet just as controlled as they do here. These are veteran musicians who know exactly what they want to do, and have the chops to do it, plain and simple.<br />
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Most of these songs are straightforward blues or blues-rock, but there are a couple which have more of a nostalgic pop-rock feel, which is equally effective. The one time the DVD makes a complete break from both the musical direction and the studio setting which serves as an austere backdrop for the camera, the change of pace is quite effective. That song, “Blue” is a thoughtful, singer-songwriter-styled ballad, presented as a Billy D. solo and filmed outdoors. The rest of the videos are shot in either black-and-white or color, with red being the dominant color. I confess I find the saturated red of “Miss The Love” a bit garish for my personal taste, but the red works much better on other videos when contrast is added.<br />
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Billy D is a fine singer, with a light, yet very distinctive voice and a well-developed sense of phrasing that allows him to communicate the true meaning of the lyrics. He has mastered a variety of guitar styles, and never plays more than he needs to. The bass player adds a counterpoint which serves as a bridge between the foreground and the the beat, while the drumming is subtle and steady.<br />
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There are twelve videos in all, running a total of 44 minutes. But add in the Bonus Features, and the total package runs well over an hour, including seventeen minutes of interview segments, in which Billy D. discusses his personal background, musical influences, and career experiences. The viewer has the option to watch short snippets on specific topics, but it’s more interesting (and convenient) when one hits the “play all” button. The features also include impromptu performances of slide-guitar classics by Elmore James and Muddy Waters. Available from www.filmbaby.com<br />
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Fans of Roy Buchanan (1939-1988) will certainly celebrate the release of “Live at Rockpalast” (MVD), a 1985 televIsion concert., which MVD has issued in the US at the same time as three other classic concert DVD’s which will meet with great approval among veteran rock fans (Michael Schenker Group, “Hardrock Legends, Vol. 2”; Ian Hunter Band with Mick Ronson, “Live at Rockpalast”, and Public Image Limited, “Live At Rockpalast 1983).<br />
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Buchanan was hardly in the same musical territory as Schenker, Hunter, and PiL, but neither was he strictly a hard-core bluesman, much the same way that the other three artists featured in this review are prone to mix rock and other genres into a base of blues. Unfortunately, as with nearly all of Buchanan’s recorded output under his own name, this is very definitely a good-new-bad-news affair. But the bad news is not particularly unexpected, and is - as always - overwhelmed by the good news.<br />
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The sad fact of the matter is that Roy Buchanan could not sing and should not have sung, ever. Those Buchanan albums featuring other people singing never quite offered fully satisfactory vocal performances, either, so I guess having Buchanan sing all but one song is a bit of a wash in the long run. What’s more, he hardly ever hired musicians who were anywhere near his level of musicianship and originality - few musicians are, to be sure. But his bands often had to struggle up to the level of mediocrity, and this band is no better. Drummer Martin Yule (who would go on to bigger things with Toy Dolls) is, in particular, a stiff, awkward pounder who seems to fall out of rhythm every so often.<br />
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But no one would even consider buying a Roy Buchanan concert DVD for the vocals or the backing band. It’s the unique Roy Buchanan guitar style we want to hear, and there’s tons of masterfully mind-boggling guitar work here, with Buchanan reaching high levels of intensity throughout, fully drawing the listener’s attention away from the sub-par backing. Just as fortuitously, there is a large percentage of instrumentals on this disc, thus keeping his vocal inadequacies from turning the proceedings toward the direction of tedium. He invigorates a number of old instrumental warhorses - “Green Onions”, “Walk Don’t Run”, “Peter Gunn”, “Night Train” - by giving them the special Roy Buchanan interpretive treatment, and does an awe-inspiring version of one of his signature pieces, “Sweet Dreams”, as well as a decent “Messiah”.<br />
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The concert is 71 minutes in length, and the disc comes with an 8-page booklet. The songwriting credits contain a couple curiosities - Henry Mancini’s “Peter Gunn” is credited simply to “Hank”, Both Jimmy Forrest’s “Night Train” and Ray Sharpe’s “Linda Lu” are credited to Buchanan. In the case of “Night Train”, Jimmy Forrest plagiarized the tune from Duke Ellington, so he probably doesn’t deserve the credit anyway. But in the case of the still-living (and, I believe, still-active at age 74) Ray Sharpe, he not only deserves the credit, but could probably use the royalties as well. Perhaps the misspelling of “Linda Lu” as “Linda Lou” complicated the search for the copyright holder.<br />
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Guitarists will welcome the opportunity to study Buchanan’s technique (thumb picking, pinch harmonics, bent notes, et. al.) in close-ups and distance shots alike. Fans will love this, despite the flaws. And Buchanan neophytes should check this out as well, flaws and all, because this is one spectacular musician, whose like we may never see again.<br />
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Joe Bonamassa is, of course, one of the premier blues-rock artists of our time, a point driven home time and time again by the consistently fine music offered on “Joe Bonamassa - Beacon Theatre: Live From New York” (J&R Adventures). This is a two-disc set (concert on disc one, bonus tracks and features on disc two), and worth every penny of the asking price.<br />
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The first disc opens with a blistering acoustic guitar solo played in a subway tunnel. In a “stunt” that brings to mind the famous video of world-renowned classical violinist playing in a subway station, only to be totally ignored, Bonamassa likewise plays his heart out and no one seems to care. Obviously, people going from place to place have WAY too much on their minds these days; smell the roses, folks! Needless to say, no one in the Beacon Theatre audience has their mind on anything but the intense reverberations coming from the stage.<br />
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This is big, dramatic music for the most part, played by a powerful four-piece combo who have fully mastered their craft, their art, and their sense of the theatrical possibilities inherent in the blues format. These players are energetic, demonstrative, passionate, and creative. This isn’t a superstar guitar innovator with a mediocre backup band, as we heard on the Roy Buchanan DVD. This is a UNIT, four musicians who know their individual roles, but with one result in mind. Bonamassa’s style may be very different from Buchanan’s, but he is another guitarist with the skills to easily focus all the attention on himself. But by hiring musicians as fine as himself and rehearsing them to the point of oneness, he has concocted a sound that listeners from many musical backgrounds should (and do) find irresistible.<br />
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In addition to some solid and very appealing original material, the cover repertoire is culled from a variety of sources, not just strictly hard-core blues, everything from Little Walter to Leonard Cohen, stopping to pick up tunes by early r&b giant Lowell Fulson and blues/jazz fusionist Mose Allison. Bonamassa also pays homage to his blues-rock forbears, with songs by Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore, two artists who drew from many of the same sources as Bonamassa, with results entirely distinct from each other, paving the way for the modern “heavy” approach to blues-rock.<br />
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Bonamassa and company also welcome three guest artists, two of whom (John Hiatt and Paul Rodgers) bring their own material with them. Bonamassa and Beth Hart have previously collaborated on tour and on CD. On Bobby Bland’s “I’ll Take Care of You,” Hart lets out an attention-grabbing wail preceding Bonamassa’s intense guitar solo, which may be the single most gripping moment in the entire concert. (Side note - I never realized Brook Benton wrote this song, and would never have guessed it.) Hart’s other feature, Lowell Fulson’s “Sinner’s Prayer”, may not have especially ribald lyrics, but she sure makes them SOUND raunchy!<br />
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John Hiatt’s plugged-in hollow-body guitar adds a folkish Americana ambience to the proceedings. But who’s to say that the melancholic lyrics of “Down Around My Place” are not blues, albeit of a different variety, even before Bonamassa’s solo kicks in. “I Know A Place”, in which Hiatt and Bonamassa share vocal honors, is more definably in a progressive-blues vein.<br />
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The last guest, Paul Rodgers, works out on two songs from his days with Free. His years with Bad Company may have fattened his bank account to a greater degree, but Free remains at the core of Rodgers’ singing, which is just as gritty after 40-plus years. He is STILL “The Voice”, as he just plain dominates the two songs he performs on. By the way, the titles of Rodgers’ two songs are reversed in the booklet - “Walk In My Shadow” precedes “Fire and Water”.<br />
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Do not, however, get the impression that this is one of those all-star affairs that relies on guest artists to make its impact. There are many other highlights throughout the concert. For instance, there’s a rompin’, stompin’ “You Better Watch Yourself” in which Bonamassa illustrates once and for all why he’s often called “Smokin’ Joe”. He turns in a decidedly prog-rock direction on the driving :”Blue and Evil.” (I would have loved to have heard Robert Plant take this song on in the 1970’s.) There are more ballad-like songs as well, such as “Mountain Time”, with its taqsim-like intro. The concert ends with a rousing interpretation of the Mose Allison/Yardbirds classic, “Young Man Blues”, which contrast Bonamassa’s free-rhythm vocals with powerfully rocking instrumental segments.<br />
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The concert disc generously runs to 1 hour and 55 minutes, twice as long as so many concert DVD’s. The bonus features on disc two include two more songs from the concert, which are not simply filler, some interesting backstage chatter between Bonamassa and David Crosby, who teaches our star a tuning trick or two, and a segment where Bonamassa talks about the busking experience which opened the film. There is also a photo gallery, not all of the pics relating to the concert.<br />
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Musically, and in terms of production, this self-released concert DVD is most definitely on a par with anything on the major music-DVD labels, by far bigger names. Bigger definitely does not equate with better in the world of music, and this is a set that definitely deserves to attract a major-label-sized audience.Tom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-86004126504817873182012-04-15T16:23:00.001-07:002012-04-15T16:24:26.551-07:00“Under The Boardwalk: A Ukulele Love Story” (Nina Koocher Films)Way back in March, 2011, I posted a review of a DVD entitled ”Mighty Uke”, a paean to the ukulele and its marvelous comeback in the 21st Century - http://genecdvd.blogspot.com/2011/03/mighty-uke-amazing-comeback-of-musical.html - In my haste to crowd as much as possible into a manageable space, I did not at that time make reference to the world’s largest ukulele club, the Ukulele Club of Santa Cruz (California). I now have a chance to rectify that omission, by telling you about another, equally entertaining uke film, “Under The Boardwalk”, devoted specifically to the Santa Cruz organization.<br /><br />There are a few spots where this film (understandably) overlaps the other, in giving you a brief look at the instrument’s history and modern-day popularity, and offering additional glimpses into a few of the same people you saw in “Mighty Uke” (most notably the now-deceased Bill Tapia, seen performing with amazing dexterity at age 97). But this is very definitely a film about a specific group of people, focusing on specific members and their unique personalities (musically and otherwise), rather than treading over the same ground the earlier film explored so well..<br /><br />It is to be expected that a film about a ukulele club would feature the ukulele, and of course it does. But filmmaker Nina Koocher realized that the people who play an instrument are just as important to her story as the instrument itself. So we’re given ample chance to meet a number of very interesting people with distinct personalities, but with a common musical interest - to promulgate the ukulele as an instrument people of all ages and states of well-being can have fun with in a social setting. Yes, there are collectors who show off their impressive collections of historical and unique instruments. Yes, there are performances by a number of well-known musicians, including singer-songwriter Jayme Kelly Curtis, 60’s-rockstar-turned-pop-music-historian Ian Whitcomb, guitarist George Kahumoku, and Herb Ohta, Jr., son of the famed Ohta-San, who brought the ukulele to worldwide, major-label audiences in the 1970’s.<br /><br />But mostly we get to see just-plain-folks having fun playing the uke, regardless of their individual skill levels. In many cases, the skill level is quite high, but this is a club open to everybody, so members who merely strum along during the club’s entertaining sing-a-longs are just as welcome as those who can wow the crowds during the organization’s open jam sessions. And as we see people having fun, the infectious sounds they make encourage even the passive viewer to have fun along with them. <br /><br />In case tou’re wondering wqy the film is entitled after a mid-60’s Drifters hit, the song has become one of the staples of the sing-a-longs. The members do a lot of Hawaiian songs as well, both from the islands and from Tin Pan Alley. But they certainly are open to all sorts of music, from Elvis, the Everly Brothers, Tommy James, even a “Hank Williams Night,” to pop songs of even earlier vintage. The idea, after all, is to have fun, not to be “ethnomusicologically correct”.<br /><br />Of course, life is not always fun all the time. One of the most affecting segments is the memorial service for a key member of the club, Gene Galli, whom we first meet singing “On A Slow Boat To China” with his wife Emily. Galli also built a 12-foot pineapple-shaped ukulele for the express purpose of burning during the club’s “Burning Uke” ceremony, patterned after Nevada’s “Burning Man” ritual. So, it’s only appropriate that someone we see depicted as a colorful personality is memorialized by an event more celebratory than mournful. a surfboard-paddling service in which his ashes are dumped into the surf.<br /><br />And that essentially sums up the club and, for the matter, the film - colorful, yet respectful of everyone present; lots of fun, but also thoughtful; championing an instrument and a laid-back way of life, but deserving of being taken seriously, albeit in a playful way. It’s a measure of the special qualities of this film that it makes me wish we had just such a ukulele club in MY town.<br /><br />The main feature runs 74 minutes, but there is a generous offering of Bonus Features as well. Andy Andrews, who pretty much emerges as the main spokesman of the film (though certainly not the only major figure) discusses the derivation of the word “ukulele”. A couple members show us some of the more unusual items in their instrument collections, none perhaps as unusual as Ukulele Ray’s hand-crafted lunchbox ukes. And there are some fine performances, including Herb Ohta, Jr.’s full-length solo uke arrangement of “Over The Rainbow” (excerpted in the body of the film). <br /><br />The DVD does not seem to be available through Amazon, which is instead selling a documentary by the very same title, about the game of Monopoly. I don’t doubt that’s a worthy film, too, but it has nothing to do with this film. Check out the ukulele “Under the Boardwalk” at http://www.NinaKoocherFilms.comTom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-75612871769705147302012-03-22T16:10:00.001-07:002012-03-22T16:13:13.489-07:00Jazz Icons: Series 5 (Mosaic)Mosaic Records is best-known for their jazz completist sets, such as “The Complete (name of label) Recordings of (name of artist)”. And they’ve done a tremendous number of these over the years, performing an invaluable service for collectors, historians, libraries, and just-plain jazz lovers. More recently, they’ve turned their attention to the music-video market, taking over the release of the latest in a series of multi-DVD sets under the overall title of “Jazz Icons”, the first four sets of which had been distributed by the Naxos label..<br /><br />This latest set of six DVD’s, “Jazz Icons: Series 5”, is the first one I’ve seen, but it’s plainly obvious Mosaic has performed another, equally valuable service. It may be an even more valuable service than their audio-CD sets, since most of the music they’ve released in audio form (excepting previously unissued takes) has been previously made available to the public, though generally scattered and in various formats. The music video format, while now a well-established medium, has yet to release many of the treasures which have been filmed and/or broadcast throughout the years. What’s more, many of these treasures have been issued only on the now-disgraced VHS format. (Despite the downturn in DVD sales, I think it may be a while before we can use a similar adjective for the DVD format, since it can be utilized by most computers. I hope I’m not mistaken!)<br /><br />The first of the six DVD’s comprising this set - each disc has its own case and its own liner notes in a 12-page booklet, but the six are only available together as a boxed set - will doubtless sell the box all by itself. “John Coltrane Live In France: 1965” is a 52-minute black-and-white film recorded at the Antibes Juan-les-Pins Festival, with THE John Coltrane Quartet (McCoy Tyner, piano; Jimmy Garrison, bass; Elvin Jones, drums). “Naima“ starts out somewhat tentatively, but it begins to flow in an explorative manner once Trane begins to double time.Watching the master working his way in and out of the changes is to see a man lost in his own special world that not even his sideman could enter. From then on, it’s never-look-back, with intense Coltrane solos that reach for the stars while exploring the nether world between inside and outside blowing, probing modal comping and strong solos by Tyner, robust bass work by Garrison, all over relentlessly propulsion by Jones. Garrison’s finest moment is an extended, unaccompanied tour-de-force in between “Ascension” and “Impressions”, in which he strums the bass like a flamenco guitar, as well as plucking and bowing his instrument.<br /><br />But by far the most important aspect of this disc is that it contains a portion of the one and only live performance of John Coltrane’s masterwork, “A Love Supreme”, which alone makes this worthy of being seen by every living human being who considers him- or herself a music lover. But it’s also the most disappointing aspect of the disc - because, if you’ll read that again, it only has a PORTION of the performance, namely the first twelve minutes of the piece. The original LP version was a four-movement work, but here we have Part 1 (“Acknowledgement”) and a sizable, but incomplete segment of Pt. 2 (”Resolution”). To be sure, this is not something for which Mosaic can be blamed, since the footage of the remaining 2-plus movements simply no longer exists. If ever found, which seems unlikely, it would be a discovery on a par with the mythical Buddy Bolden cylinder. In any case, we must be extremely thankful we have what we have. It strikes me as a surprisingly laid-back and comfortable version of the piece - indeed, Tyner sounds downright playful on Pt. 2. But David Liebman’s liner notes tell us the audio which still exists of the complete performance is highly intense, especially in the third movement. Would we could see it all, but what’s here is well worth savoring, even if it is only partial.<br />_____________________________________________________________________<br />“Thelonious Monk: Live In France 1969” is a completely solo television concert, unhindered by the need to fit in with a band - as if fitting in was ever a major concern of Monk’s. A program of this nature would be hard to imagine on American television during that time period. US t.v. producers like to exert control. But Monk was such an idiosyncratic figure that one never quite knew what to expect from him. And indeed, this set is by no means predictable, which is just what one wants from a Monk performance.<br /><br />The film opens with a rehearsal sequence. If it weren’t for the sounds of the the t.v. crew setting up. it could pass for an official part of the program. From that point on, it’s all Monk, no extraneous narration or song intros, aside from one point where Monk does make the comment that he doesn’t know what to play. Watching Monk carefully pick notes and chords that defy expectations is watching thought transferred to piano keys. It could ALL be “rehearsal”, it could ALL be “performance”, and is really both at the same time. <br /><br />There is no differentiating life from art in Monk’s music, especially on the more static, slow-tempoed pieces. On the moderate-tempoed tunes - nothing is really UPtempo - he flirts with the more entertainment-slanted aspect of jazz, calling to mind stride piano and Art Tatum, though without the latter’s dazzle. But he still makes them sound like an intimate party-of-one. “Epistrophy” in particular is refreshingly spare and playful; Monk even conjures up a bright smile at the end of it. Throughout the set, he plays as if no one would ever be listening. Indeed, at one point, he looks up into the camera as if to say, “What are you doing here?”<br /><br />Since one is never quite certain whether a Monk dissonance is deliberate or a miscue, it’s impossible to criticize any of his playing, aside from the most jarring moments, of which there aren’t many. Just roll with Monk’s flow, and be rewarded. He plays “Monk’s Mood” twice, which I suppose was indeed a reflection of Monk’s mood at the time. There are two ingratiating readings of standards among the Monk originals. The longer the goes on, the more Monk sweats, to the point where one wishes someone had thrown a towel in his direction. But since he doesn’t seem at all comfortable with t.v. cameras trained on him, I doubt any wanted to risk turning his genius off by interrupting him.<br /><br />The main program runs about 55 minutes, but there are several bonus features which extend the disc by some 10-15 minutes. We see Monk and his beloved wife, Nellie, riding in a car upon arriving in France. The footage is not especially interesting, but it does serve to demonstrate that he was every bit as uncomfortable with a camera in his face offstage as well as on. There is a brief soundcheck which preceded the t.t. performance. But the mosty telling bonus is raw footage of a very awkward attempted interview of Monk by Henri Renaud. The interviewer throws Monk off by asking questions in a mix of French and English. Monk’s confused responses are rather inarticulate, and eventually both Renaud and Monk give up in frustration. But of course, it’s the solo performance you’re buying, not the bonus footage, which you will no doubt not care to watch more than once. A 12-page booklet rounds out the package.<br />___________________________________________________________________________<br />As any true post-bop jazz fan knows, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers had what seemed to be an almost constant turnover in personnel throughout its approximately 35-year career (1954 till the end of the 1980’s). Blakey, who died in 1990 at the age of 71, was the combo’s only constant through the years. Well, no, that’s not really true. Blakey’s unwavering commitment to excellence and his ability to continually discover, mentor, and promote new talent, including many players who would go on to make a difference in the course of jazz history, were also constants.<br /><br />Blakey’s variety of jazz was known as “hard-bop”, “bop” because it developed out of the rhythmic, compositional, and arranging innovations of bebop, “hard” because of its driving emotional force and its musical influences from blues, gospel, and r&b, styles regarded as the “earthier” genres of African-American music during the 1950’s. To us, today, hard-bop sounds more like what many people consider to the “mainstream” of jazz, meat-and-potatoes jazz, the way it sounded before the various contradictory levels of avant-gardism, commercialization/”smoothing”, and fusion concepts altered the music and its identity. Jazz used to be one thing at a time, now it has become an umbrella term covering many different things. Blakey’s music represents an era when, looking back from the vantage point of 2012, it seems to have been pretty much all-one-thing, even though people didn’t necessarily think so at the time..<br /><br />The Jazz Messengers seen and heard on the DVD “Live In France 1959” is one of the classic editions of the band, featuring the superb Lee Morgan on trumpet and Wayne Shorter on tenor sax. Morgan would go on to great success as a solo artist (even achieving hit-single status in 1963 wirh his recording, “The Sidewinder”), while Shorter would go on to change the world, during stints with Miles Davis and as co-leader of the pioneering fusion band, Weather Report. Indeed, Shorter is now hailed by some to be jazz’ greatest living composer, Walter Davis, Jr. on piano and Jymie Merritt on bass (Blakey introduces him by pronouncing his first name “Jimmy”; guess I’ve been saying it wrong all my life!) round out the quintet, leaving not a single hole in the process.<br /><br />There is very little inherently visual about this performance, even when the music sounds as if it’s on fire, which is often. Blakey’s facial expressions and powerhouse arm movements on the drums are as close to a visual element as you’ll find here. Shorter is downright impassive, putting all his emotion into his playing, remaining rod-stiff when playing, and standing statue-like during Morgan’s solos. But then, these men are not faux-hipsters pretending to act cool, they are serious artists and very much aware of that fact. It’s all about the music, and the French audience loves every second of it, as well they should. The.crowd reszponds instantaneously to “No Problem”, played at a barn-burning clip. No doubt they recognize it as Duke Pearson’s theme from the French film “Les Liaisons Dangereuses”, which had only recently been released.<br /><br />The main program is 82 minutes long. There is an interesting three-minute interview with Blakey, as well an additional partial performance from the concert, “Nellie Bly”, only a brief portion of which still survives, and that is mostly drum solo. The whole concert is a gem.<br />____________________________________________________________________________<br />Johnny Griffin was known as “the Little Giant”, and the name was appropriate for more than just his diminutive stature, He was a giant in terms of imagination, intensity, and technical virtuosity. While he may not have been the sort of innovative force who broke new ground for jazz, his bold, fiery approach to uptempo tunes - Fastest Sax in the West! - and his sensitive ballad style enriched jazz tremendously for several decades.<br /><br />There are two concerts represented on “Johnny Griffin Live In France 1971”. Both are chock full of creativity and soulfulness. Yes, he could play fast, but these were by no means empty phrases played rapidly to mask a proficiency totally devoid of inspiration, regardless of the speed. The one negative aspect about the first concert presented here (which is actually the later of the two concerts, by seven weeks) is the piano of Vince Benedetti. While he’s a decent enough musician, and probably would fit in nicely with other musicians of like caliber, he simply is not on Griffin’s level. Fortunately, Griffin’s fellow hard-bop expatriate, drummer Art Taylor, an estimable musician with tons of major-name credentials under his belt, is around to take up any slack. The second concert (the earlier of the two) is indeed credited to The Johnny Griffin - Arthur Taylor Quartet, and replaces Benedetti with the far superior Rene Urtreger. Not surprisingly, Taylor gets more solo space on this co-billed concert than on the other. Bass player Alby Cullaz, a French musician little known in the US, but who recorded with such American stars as Hank Mobley, Chet Baker, and Steve Grossman, is a very solid accompanist and a worthwhile soloist as well. The concert with Benedetti finds Dizzy Gillespie making a guest appearance for two songs. While his playing is a bit inconsistent, he seems to inspire Griffin.<br /><br />Both films are in black-and-white, but the camera work on the earlier film is much more imaginative, with many intriguing angles and moody lighting. Griffin’s theme song, “Blues For Harvey” appears in both segments, first as a quartet tune, the second time as a duet with Taylor. Running time for the two concerts together is an action-packed 77 minutes. No extras, but nice liner notes by Don Sickler in the 12-page booklet.<br /><br />__________________________________________________________________________<br />Freddie Hubbard represents the next generation in jazz, which came to the fore at the end of the 1960’s, rooted in hard-bop, incorporating some of the tonal possibilities and techniques of the 60’s free-jazz revolution (albeit in a manner more palatable to the broader jazz public), and extending the music by introducing the more populist elements of funk rhythms and electric keyboard textures.<br /><br />“Freddie Hubbard Live In France 1973” gets off to powerhouse start, with Hubbard’s trumpet searing over a strong drum backdrop by Michael Carvin, before “Straight Life” settles into a comfortable groove laid down by bassist Kent Brinkley. Junior Cook bears down on tenor sax, followed by a subtle George Cables solo on electric piano. At less than eight minutes, this is by far the shortest of the three tunes on the disc.<br /><br />“Intrepid Fox” again opens in a free-jazz vein, before the rhythm section takes us on a sprightly modal ride. Indeed, the three musicians work so tightly that it almost sounds like one mind with six hands. Hubbard’s mastery of his horn and his continually vivid imagination can still bowl a listener over almost 40 years later. Cook approaches his solo with less abandon, more structurally - and one wishes he’s stood a bit closer to the mic - but proceeds to build up to free-jazz screaming emotionalism, before coming down to a somewhat cryptic conclusion. Cables sounds relaxed and melodic in his solo, as Brinkley and Carvin drive the music along. The drummer’s solo is more textural than bombastic, first concentrating primarily on snare fundamentals, mixing in the toms, eventually zoning in on cymbals and kick drum. Someone adds a bit of chanting at one point, as Carvin moves to incorporate his whole kit. The piece lasts about 22 minutes, but it goes by in no time.<br /><br />The 19-minute “First Light” comes from a different program filmed at the same concert. Once again, we’re given a freely improvised opening, before Cables introduces a Latin-jazz-flavored groove. But this is definitely not easy-listening jazz. Hubbard is all over his trumpet, with some awe-inspiring lines strung together into a coherent solo. Cook switches to flute, which he plays melodically, but without the flair he put into his sax solos. Cables utilizes the sustaining capabilities of the electric piano wisely in his too-brief solo. Hubbard’s restatement of the theme has his most subtle playing of the entire concert.<br /><br />This is Freddie Hubbard at his artistic peak - brash, brimming in self-confidence, with all the chops and inventiveness needed to back up the swagger, before Creed Taylor’s studio production formula cooled off his fire (at least on records), and before he became too much the showman in live performance (as implied in Neil Tesser’s liner notes in the enclosed booklet).<br /><br />Only 50 minutes (three songs plus a tag ending), with no extras, but I doubt anyone will go away hungry.<br />______________________________________________________________________<br />Rahsaan Roland Kirk is no longer considered the major figure he looked as if would become when he was first making his mark as a member of Quincy Jones and Charles Mingus aggregations. Though he virtually defined the term “multi-instrumentalist” with his vast array of familiar (tenor sax, clarinet, flute) and unfamiliar (manzello, stritch, and an assortment of folk and home-made flutes), he was so much the entertainer that many critics came to feel his stage presence overtook his musical legitimacy. ”Live In France 1972” confirms the dominance of the showman in his concert presentations, but it also demonstrates that he was one heck of a superb musician as well.<br /><br />On this set, he includes a few well-known jazz standards, giving them straightforward interpretations that are refreshingly low on gimmickry, showcasing the skills of a talented band of rhythm players in the process.The opening “Blue Train” is a particularly ingratiating spotlight for the sprightly and tasteful piano of Ron Burton. Bassist Henry Pearson and drummer Richie Goldberg keep things moving nicely, while Kirk’s tenor offers some fine moments before he stretches out a bit too long; self-editing was never one of his strong points. It’s refreshing to watch Kirk apply the time-honored world-folk technique of circular breathing to the tenor sax. which means his phrases never have to pause unless he wants them to. One wonders, though, if this didn’t encourage him to sometimes play a solo longer than he should have. <br /><br />“Lester Leaps In” is uncommonly calm, and is noteworthy for the way Goldberg plays definite pitches on his tom-toms by blowing air into them through a rubber hose. I would explain further, but I don’t understand it myself! Kirk plays the “Satin Doll” medley on tenor sax and manzello (a variant of the soprano sax) simultaneously, both horns sticking into his mouth at the same time, fingering both at the same time, playing parallel lines and a bit of self-counterpoint. Yes, it’s a gimmick, but one he’s able to pull off with his technical prowess and dexterity. Of the six DVD’s in this box set, this is the one which is most dependent on being seen as well as heard.<br /><br />The fourth track is entitled “For Bechet and Ellington and Bigard and Carney and Rabbit”. Annotator John Kruth seems to think the term “Rabbit” refers to the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, but from the context it seems far more obvious to me that the reference is to Eliington alto saxist Johnny Hodges, whose nickname was :Rabbit”. Despite the composition being obviously based on Ellington’s “Black and Tan Fantasy”, Kirk’s clarinet solo is very much of the then-modern (1972) era. “My Cherie Amour” strikes me as jazz-lite to the point of flimsiness, but there’s no doubt Kirk knew his way around a flute, both played straight and using his influential multiphonic approach of humming into the instrument while he played. He later switches to an array of small flutes and whistles, including a nose flute (makeshift, not the traditional Hawaiian ohe hano ihu) and something that looks like a type of toy harmonica, but sounds more like a piccolo. “One More Winter/Summer” has some humorous multiphonic flute, plus a driving solo by Burton.<br /><br />Kirk plays Dizzy Gillespie’s “Groovin’ High” on the stritch, a cousin of the alto sax. He uses his circular breathing on the awkward-looking horn to play a sheets-of-sound solo, quoting a few familiar tunes (as he does elsewhere in this concert as well), while the rhythm keeps things moving behind him. Kirk remains on stritch for “Soul Eyes”, in which Burton is in peak form, tastefully supported by Pearson. Kirk picks up the tenor and leads into “Volunteered Slavery”, a funk piece featuring a group vocal, as well as the awe-inspiring sight of Kirk playing THREE horns at once (tenor sax, manzello, stritch)., as percussionist Joe Texidor - barely needed through most of the disc - bangs enthusiastically on a tambourine. Kirk’s tenor sax solo may be repetitious to the max, but the longer it goes on, the more effectively it captures the emotions of the moment. The piece ends in a maelstrom of whistles, bass drone, and percussive texture, before seguing into “The Inflated Tear”, which travels between lovely-ballad and noise-exploration.<br /><br />In all, despite my occasional misgivings as stated above, this is overall an impressive and highly entertaining concert, by a musician whose like we may never see again. The film is in color, quite attractive color at that, despite the packaging’s claim that it is “B&W”. 74 minutes, no extras except for the 12-page booklet.Tom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-60061312532160558092012-02-09T16:29:00.000-08:002012-02-09T16:31:22.474-08:00Sounds and Silence: Travels With Manfred Eicher” (ECM)For over forty years, Manfred Eicher has been one of the most heralded, most creative, and most fastidious of all record producers - fastidious in terms of the quality of the music he presents, and equally fastidious in the quality of sound he bestows upon his ;productions. An artist recording for Eicher’s ECM label knows he/she/they will be expected to make exceptionally fine music, and that his/her/their performances will be heard by the home listener to a degree which is as close to in-person perfection as a musician has a right to expect.<br /><br />This nearly-90-minute documentary film allows us to watch Manfred Eicher at work, encompassing the major varieties of music issued by the ECM label - jazz (often, but hardly exclusively, European in artist origin and in style), classical, experimental world-music, and unclassifible. The film is both a visual and audio representation of Eicher’s accomplishments, presenting top international artists such as Estonian composer Arvo Part, Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek, and Argentine bandoneon player Dino Saluzzi, to cite the best-known names here. We do not hear from such famed ECM artists as Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, or Pat Metheny, which may disappoint a few people, but may be just as well. Too many big names might detract from the focus on the producer and his work.<br /><br />Essentially, we see Eicher traveling to several different countries to supervise recording sessions, which are interspersed alongside interview segments with the artists participating in those sessions. We also get an occasional glimpse inside the ECM home offices in Germany. Rather than bogging down the proceedings with an unneeded narration droning on interminably, directors Peter Guyer and Norbert Wiedmer represent Eicher’s travels with views from airplane windows, lights on the highway, etc. We witness Eicher listening, directing, thinking. Listening and thinking may be nebulous activities to try to depict visually, but the directors have captured the sense that this is exactly what we are seeing. There is a great deal of presence to thew music in this film, as befits the subject. What’s more, the film is not afraid to lavish its subject with silence, or at least quietude, dimensions that Eicher’s productions have never been afraid to value alongside the sounds.<br /><br />The interviewees are, of course, ready to sing their producer’s praises. But they also discuss his art as well as their own. Arvo Part tells us a record producer must not only know how to set up mics correctly, he also has to inspire the musicians. Italian reedman Gianluigi Trovesi, a new name to me, relates the backgrounds of his variegated compositions and collaborations in such a manner that I feel the need to sample more of his music. Saluzzi takes cellist Anya Eichner to meet a group of veteran tango musicians, and talks about music as communication. Oud player Anouar Brahem musically explores the borderline between Western and Middle Eastern music. All these insights tell us much about the music, the people who perform it, and the motives and methods of the man who channels it to the worldwide audience. There is one more scene which is a testament to Eicher’s exactitude and need to approach perfection - we watch a piano tuner working on a piano to be used in a Nik Batsch session. The message is simply - Manfred Eicher cares.<br /><br />Bonus features include the trailer and A 6-1/2-minute music video for a 2007 piece by Manu Katche, called “Playground” - very nicely done, as you would expect.Tom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-68934262356577000152012-02-07T15:51:00.000-08:002012-02-07T15:52:22.874-08:00“Fulanito: Greatest Video Hits” (Cutting Records)For those of you who may not follow developments in popular Latin music, Fulanito is a group of Dominican-Americans from New York who emerged in 1997 with a unique combination of the traditional and the up-to-date.<br /><br />Their first hit - and to my mind, still their finest achievement - was a record called “Guallando”, which combined the older, accordion-driven style of Dominican merengue music known as perico ripiao with rap/hip-hop vocals. Merengue is known for its very speedy dance tempo and (originally) accordion and/or (in the more commercial merengue of recent decades) saxophone riffs that circle and swirl around the melody line. The band’s mash-up of not just merengue rhythms with hip-hop elements, but specifically accordion-led merengue was a stroke of genius which caught fire throughout the Latin music world and made them near-instant international superstars.<br /><br />The music video for “Guallando” is here, along with a number of other videos by the group, culled from five CD’s recorded between 1997 and 2004. The group’s star began to fade around that time, but they have since returned to the spotlight, which no doubt encouraged the release of this collection. About half the songs feature the accordion, played usually by Arsenio de la Rosa (their original producer’s father), and those are among the most distinctive tracks heard here. Other songs employ elements of bachata, reggaeton, salsa, and other current Latin pop styles, all combined with both solo and interactive, call-and-response, group-rap, in a style that’s as fresh as it is lively.<br /><br />As with so many music videos, there’s a lot of visual emphasis on sexy girls in bikinis, which many people may find off-putting. I notice that even my college-age students have tired of the amount of emphasis on physical attributes in music video, but Fulanito only occasionally cross the line into the sort of obscenity that has given music video a bad name. I would consider much of this as racy, rather than pornographic. The worst offender is “Take It Off”, the lyrics of which (In English) consist largely of a repetition of the title phrase, which becomes highly annoying before long. Many people may find the cock-fighting scene in “Pecho a Pechuga” more upsetting than the title, which is bad enough. On the other hand, “Asi Es Que Vivo Yo” is a rather imaginative production which seems to portray an Old West Medicine Show in a Dominican village setting - but don’t quote me on that; I could be misinterpreting!<br /><br />The “play all” function plays the tracks in a different order from that printed on the case - the trackss from the “Remixes” CD come AFTER those from “Americanazao”, rather than the other way around. There are two bonus videos (which play immediately after the official twelve in “play all”), including a live version of “Guallando” and a special-effects English-language disco version of “Millenium Cookout”. In all, this is a lot of fun, taking into account the caveats mentioned previously.<br /><br />Total time, including the bonus videos, is about 64 minutes.Tom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-2368728115874301492012-01-31T16:37:00.000-08:002012-01-31T16:38:54.115-08:00“Troubadour Blues” (Tom Weber Films)It would be hard to make any statement to the effect that the singer-songwriter, offering original song material to the accompaniment of an acoustic guitar, has gone completely unnoticed by the commercial music industry. One need only drop such names as Bob Dylan, James Taylor, and Leonard Cohen, to name but a few who have risen from the ranks of the so-called “folkie” singer-songwriters to great mainstream success. But those few names that are known by the public at large are a vast minority. In a world dominated by rock, pop, hop-hop, and now dubstep, the modern-day singer-songwriter has become akin to a prophet crying out in the wilderness.<br /><br />That’s what makes Tom Weber’s film, “Troubadour Blues” a much-needed corrective to mass media’s constant exaltation of the same old insubstantial, uninspiring commercial banalities constantly being exposed on radio and on t.v. competition programs. There are dozens of creative, highly skilled singer-songwriters who have something interesting to say and the ability to say it in a manner that has a great deal of meaning among those listeners open to receiving the message. These performers may be heard on the radio, true, but only if you know when and where to turn, to the “right” station. A few may occasionally pop up on television, but don’t hold your breath waiting to see them, because it doesn’t happen often.<br /><br />“Troubadour Blues” is a documentary look at the singer-songwriter scene of the past decade. It is by no means an exhaustive study of the phenomenon. Many of the artists seen here in performance and/or in interviews - not everyone interviewed is given a performance spogtlight - have devoted regional followings, some are nationally known. They may be heralded in one area of the country, and completely obscure in others. There are many artists whom I might have expected to turn up here who are not mentioned at all, and a few who ARE here whose names I’ve never encountered.Thus is the nature of the world of the “contemporary-folk” or “Americana” artist, to name two appellations used to lump a diverse assemblage of artists into genres for more efficient marketing. One hears influences from folk, country, rock, blues, and the proverbial “much more”, yet they all share a common attribute, the necessity to make their living by traveling from town to town, playing small venues for nowhere near enough money. Weber’s choice of artists is by nature subjective, but there is not one artist here - borderline-famous or mostly unknown - who doesn’t deserve far more exposure than they have received in the past.<br /><br />Weber devotes a considerable amount of space to his major “case study” (yes, it’s a pun), Peter Case. Case, who grew up in Hamburg, NY (not all that far from GenEc’s “offices” here in Fredonia), was at one time a rock star, with the Nerves and the Plimsouls. But he chose to “downsize” his career into becoming a solo artist, with or without additional musicians. Early in the film, there is a striking collage of Case singing the same song in many places over a period of time, making it seem fresh for every new audience, despite the rigors of the road. (Case suffered serious heart problems during the time was being made, but is back on the road. Indeed, as I write this, there’s a report of a Nerves “reunion” making the rounds, albeit not the entire band.) The other “rock star” name here is Dave Alvin, who achieved cult status with the Blasters and X before turning toward a more folk/Americana direction. We also hear from Slaid Cleaves, Gurf Morlix, Amy Speace, to name a few of the more widely-known artists. Tracy Grammer is here, with a short memorial tribute to her old partner, Dave Carter, another victim of the hard life independent musicians must endure.<br /><br />There is a lot to enjoy musically. There is much to learn from the interviews, so that fans of this particular sub-class of music will find this an essential addition to their DVD collections. But with any luck, this disc will reach far beyond the already-committed singer-songwriter audience, to let even those people who may be unfamiliar with ANY of the artists in this film know that there is something very worthwhile, very aesthetically satisfying going on in an underground of sorts that has difficulty attracting large numbers of new listeners. I certainly hope “Troubadour Blues” manages to reach that larger audience, and that the artists in the film can open many new doors as a result.<br /><br />There are no extra bonus features on this disc. But the DVD case lists this as a 91-minute film. Actually, if you count the credits at the end - which most films do - it’s more like 95 minutes. In an era when some commercial DVD companies have taken to adding the total time including bonus features, trailers, photo galleries, and whatnot into the running time of the disc, I find Weber’s under-statement refreshing.<br /><br />The film has its own website - http://www.troubadour-blues.com/Tom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-10310153698667807582012-01-22T16:44:00.000-08:002012-01-23T16:26:52.344-08:00Classic Motown Performances on the Ed Sullivan Show - 3 separate DVD’s (SOFA Entertainment)For those of you who are too young to remember the Ed Sullivan Show, which ran on the CBS television network from 1948 to 1971, it was a variety program very much unlike the competition-style variety shows on-air today (and that means you, “America’s Got Talent”). Rather than present amateur or entry-level pro talent hoping to make it big, which is the raison d’etre of current music and dance shows on t.v., the Ed Sullivan Show featured the very finest and most popular performers of the day - in music, dance, comedy, puppets, vaudeville-style specialty acts (jumping dogs, plate spinners, and a host of etceteras) - you name it, Sullivan had it. To be sure, Sullivan was the quirkiest t.v. host you could imagine, with a tendency to start mumbling if he had to say more than a couple sentences, frequent mispronunciations ans scrambled names (as when he introduced Tommy James as “Tony Jones”) , and a variety of facial expressions and distinctive body movements that made him an easy target for impressionists looking for a celebrity to mock. But darned if he didn’t present some of the finest pop music on the airwaves, during an era rich with music shows featuring top-drawer professional talent. Would we had someone like him today. Television really WAS better when I was a kid!!<br /><br />Which brings us to three new DVD’s (actually four, as the anthology has two discs) devoted to Sullivan appearances by some of Motown’s finest artists during that fabled label’s Golden Era. We’ll start with the various-artists set, ”Motown Gold From The Ed Sullivan Show”. This set consists of three “volumes” of 40 minutes each, with Vols. l and 2 on the first disc, and Vol. 3 on the other DVD. (One wonders if these had originally been released separately on three discs or three VHS tapes.) It’s fascinating to watch the Supremes, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Gladys Knight and the Pips, all in their prime all these years later. And, given all we know - from the highest highs to the tragic lows - about what happened to Michael Jackson in his subsequent solo career and off=stage foibles, it’s refreshing to see young Michael and his Jackson 5 siblings so fresh, energetic, enthusiastic, and, um, “normal” at the beginning of their stardom.<br /><br />There is a definite imbalance among the performers, whether due to perceived audience demand or availability of strong performances. But the Supremes and Temptations dominate the proceedings. We see two glimpses of Stevie Wonder, first as a 13-year-old boy genius, singing and playing up a storm on chromatic harmonica, plus a more mature Stevie on “For Once In My Life”. But Wonder’s finest hours post-dated the Sullivan Show. Marvin Gaye has one, only one selection, and that’s not even of one of his better-remembered songs (“Take This Heart Of Mine”, only a #44 hit) - BUT this was Gaye’s ONLY appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, for reasons I don’t know. Likewise Martha and the Vandellas are here only once, looking splendid for “Dancing In the Street”. But we must be thankful for what we do have here. There are no selections at all by the Marvelettes, Isley Brothers, or Jr. Walker - I can’t recall after all these years if any of them ever appeared on Ed Sullivan or not.<br /><br />For the most part, Sullivan allowed his guests to shine without undue interference. They sang, they danced (Motown was very careful to school their artists into being all-around entertainers, not simply singers who stood rock-still around microphones), they dressed well, they were presented in a attractive surroundings, their orchestrations were professionally handled. There were no “Shindig”-style go-go-girls, half-naked models, or embarrassing attempts at singing songs totally unsuited to them. Yes, there are times when Motown’s finest sang covers of other people’s hits and/or jazzy, nightclub-pop songs instead of “The Sound of Young America” - the Four Tops do it twice here - but that was also part of Motown’s concept of grooming artists for what they hoped would be long-term careers. So these atypical songs were not removed from what these artists might do in a nightclub situation removed from their usual Funk Brothers backing. There’s just so much good stuff here, I can’t imagine any fan of Motown, of 60’s music in general, heck, of music period being disappointed by this set.<br /><br />If you’re looking for individual artists instead of an anthology, SOFA has at least two DVD’s by classic Motown groups, though there is a great deal of overlap between these individual discs and the above set (plus some material that appears on the individual discs and not in the set).. “The Best Of The Supremes On The Ed Sullivan Show” not only contains strong performances by three editions of the trio, it shows the original line-up of Diana/Mary/Flo assuming a variety of identities. Unfortunately, it’s not presented in strict chronoloigcal order (the key word being “strict”; it does, however, appear to be arranged in early-to-late order; the clips are undated), but the changes the group underwent through the mid-to-late 1960’s are quite visible.<br /><br />We start in 1964 with “Come See About Me” in black-and-white. (Subsequent clips are all in color.) All three large-haired singers are crowded together as a unit, with Diana’s big eyes and infectious grin showing an innocent delight in getting their big break in the national spotlight. All three seem a bit uneasy, as if their fabled lessons in dance and deportment hadn’t quite taken hold yet. By the time of the second clip., “You Can’t Hurry Love”, from 1966, the hair has been re-styled, eye makeup has been slathered on injudiciously, the wardrobe seriously upgraded, and - most telling of all - Diana Ross has been separated from Mary and Flo, less a unit than a star with backup singers. The grueling dance lessons pay off in “Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart” (also released in 1966), as this is Flo Ballard and Mary Wilson’s most significant contribution to the performance seen here. By the time of “The Happening”, 1967, Florence Ballard seems pushed even further into the background.<br /><br />The move away from the Sound Of Young America to a more polished pop identity in the trio’s nightclub engagements (a move which eventually paid off in Diana Ross’ solo career) is represented in the lushly-orchestrated swing-waltz version of “My Favorite Things”. (Speaking of orchestration, I’m thinking Motown’s touring-unit musicians are absent from these Sullivan shows; backing was probably supplied by Sullivan’s regular bandleader, Ray Bloch.) Pop becomes increasingly prevalent, including an uncharacteristic version of “More”, which begins with unison trio vocals. Flo and Mary show themselves to be much more graceful than Diana in a brief dance sequence. Irving Berlin’s “Always” starts out as pure supper-club, before an ill-fated decision to add a hipper, more “contemporary” uptempo beat to it.<br /><br />Changing fashion finds the Supremes sporting Afro wigs and wearing a ghetto-chic wardrobe for “Love Child”. Flo Ballard is gone, replaced by Cindy Birdsong. One of this second edition Supremes’ last performances on the Sullivan Show, “No Matter What Sign You Are” (an only-modest hit from 1969), finds them in stunning colorful, loose-fitting,reflective, glitter-laden gowns that are far more striking than the cliche-filled, asgrology-themed song. The glitter returns on more conservative dresses for one of the group’s less well-remembered gems, “Forever Came Today” (1968), but the backing vocals by Mary and Cindy are almost hidden.<br /><br />Regardless of staging, wardrobe, hair-do’s, choreography, and all the other changes from clip to clip, the performances are generally first-rate throughout. The one disappointment is a medley of ultra-short snippets of their greatest hits. Indeed, the excerpts are so short and go by so quickly that there is an occasional bit of confusion by the trio. Bit it \’s nice to watch Diana, Mary and Flo interacting as they do here.<br /><br />Ed Sullivan was, in retropsect, an enigmatic television host, without charisma, polished delivery, or apparent talent other than supervising a consistently entertaining collection of diverse acts from week to week. His interviewing skills would often leave his guests bewildered. At one point, he introduces the Supremes as three girls from three different states, to which Diana has to point out that they are all from Detroit. In another clip, the perennially befuddled Sullivan tries to get in on the act by adding a bit of comic dialog and even singing briefly, leaving the viewer wondering why. But we watched him faithfully every week; to those of us who grew up watching him, he remains a cultural touchstone.<br /><br />The program itself is 41 minutes long, but there is a welcome bonus song at the end - “Up The Ladder To The Roof”, the 1970 Top 10 debut of the post-Diana Supremes, featuring Jean Terrell as lead singer. Based on this opening success, the future looked very bright. But within two years, the hits began to dry up. But the highlights of the Supremes’ golden era, as captured on the Ed Sullivan Show, are a testament to one of the greatest singing groups ever. Highly recommended, whether you want to analyze, or simply enjoy.<br /><br />_____________________________________________________________________________<br />The Temptations’ career was also dogged by a variety of soap-opera-like incidents, if the much-debated late 90’s mini-series (based on a book by Otis Williams, the last remaining original Tempt still alive, who is still singing with the group) is to be believed. But the Tempts’ problems were never as public as those of the Supremes, so it’s not as much of a game to try to read things into the performances on “The Best Of The Temptations On The Ed Sullivan Show”. Better to just sit back and enjoy! <br /><br />This DVD includes both the “David Ruffin Temptations”, so to speak, and the “Dennis Exdwards Temptations”, though of course the group was much more eager to spread lead-vocal chores around than the Supremes ever were. Oddly enough, the earliest performances seem rather tentative, Ruffin in particular seeming much more under wraps than one would guess from his soulful singing on the corresponding records. But Eddie Kendricks and the choreography combine to rescue them. Thank goodness, Ruffin’s jitters - if that’s what the problem was - settled down on later Sullivan appearances. No such problem with Dennis Edwards, however, who is consistently emotional and professional at all times.<br /> <br />One of the definite highlights of the disc is a “duet” (if you can consider eight people in two separate groupings a “duet”!) with the Supremes, singing each other’s hits. Diana Ross sounds especially fine on “My Guy” (i.e., “My Girl”), while Ruffin comes to life on “Stop! In The Name Of Love”. Ross and Ruffin share “I’m Losing You,” which includes some energetic dancing by all eight.<br /><br />“Runaway Child Running Wild” has some clever stasging, while “Psychedelic Shack” has some unusual visual effects. (Sullivan calls U.S. Congressman John Conyers to the stage at the end of “Shack”, as he had just honored the Temptations in the Congressional Records.) Eddie Kendricks is especially mellow on “Just My Imagination”, which the group uncharacteristically sings while sitting down. It’s to the credit of the Sullivan Show’s production staff that they could continue to come up with new ways of showcasing groups who appeared on the program multiple times.<br /><br />The most unexpected example of that phenomenon may be a pop version of “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” (not usually thought of as a Motown song even though it was co-written and originally recorded by Motown artist Brenda Holloway). The Tempts sing to, then dance with five beautifully dressed female dancers, in a style suited to a number of other variety shows but not often seen on Sullivan. It’s a very entertaining segment, choreographed by Louis Johnson of “The Wiz” fame. The Temptations were always one of the most versatile of all Motown groups, as witnessed by their many stylistic changes throughout the years (and notable here). So it’s not surprising that a medley of “Ain’t No Mountain High enough” and “My Sweet Lord”, done in a nightclub style, works as well as it does, even though the Tempts fail to put their own identifiable stamp on the tunes.<br /><br />The body of the program lasts a somewhat scanty 35 minutes, but there are two bonus clips, both in the Copa vein - a jazzy, finger-snapping “Hello Young Lovers” (from the Ruffin era, sung primarily in unison), and a bossa nova-tinged “Autumn Leaves” (from the Edwards period). Both are well worth including, to round out this glimpse of the most beloved American group vocal groups in their prime (no pun intended).<br /><br />If you buy the individual discs, you will already own a sizeable chunk of the anthology. It’s up to the individual purchaser to decide if you want to concentrate on particular artists or the overview.<br /><br />http://www.EdSullivan.com<br />http://www.facebook.com/EdSullivanShow<br />https://twitter.com/#!/EdSullivanShow<br />http://www.youtube.com/user/TheEdSullivanShowTom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-34265327996428892782011-12-15T16:17:00.000-08:002011-12-15T16:19:22.695-08:00“Celtic Angels at Christmas” (Newvideo)/”Celtic Crossroads: World Fusion” (DPTV)It’s that time of year, when I make my seasonal-music DVD recommendation for last-minute shoppers, perhaps looking for something special for the somewhat older member of the family. (Of course, you may feel free to buy it for yourself as well.). Last year, it was Andy Williams, this year it’s a marvelous collection of smooth Celtic Christmas music from the heavily Scottish island of Cape Breton, off the coast of Nova Scotia in the Maritime region of eastern Canada.<br /><br />The Celtic Angels are not so much a “band”, as they are an ensemble of six women (including four from Nova Scotia, one from Prince Edward Island, and one from and island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland),. who perform solo and in small groupings, never all six at one time. The Angels perform on harp and fiddle as well as vocals, and are backed by a handful of (male) musicians on guitars and keyboards. The mood is very placid and peaceful, even on uptempo tunes, the performances polished to a very fine sheen. Even so, there is a lot of the Celtic tradition and of the earth in these moving renditions of centuries-old songs.<br /><br />The tunes in this American release of a Canadian television special include several tunes that will be familiar to everyone - “Ave Maria” played by fiddler Gillian Boucher, “O Holy Night” by Kendra MacGillivray, ”The Holly and the Ivy” sung by Patricia Murray, and a bilingual (English and Gaelic) interpretation of “Silent Night”. “Winter Wonderland” is notable for the graceful step-dancing of Sabra MacGillivray and a few talented children, while Boucher ends the program by combining “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear” with an Irish jig.<br /><br />But rather than simply perform the old popular favorites, the Angels also delve into the traditional folk repertoire. Cape Breton singer Stephanie Hardy opens the proceedings with “The Holly Bears & Berry”. Murray gives us the beloved Irish “Wexford Carol”, while Hardy travels south to Appalachia for an uncharacteristically perky reading of John Jacob Niles’ “I Wonder As I Wonder”. There are spirited fiddle tunes both by the MacGillivrays and by Gillian Boucher. But the finest selections of all may be the Gaelic hymns sung in the old tongue by the classic Scottish singer Maggie MacInnes (daughter of the acclaimed traditional singer Flora MacNeil), to her own accompaniment on the clarsach (Celtic harp). <br /><br />There’s hardly a misstep to be found in any of the arrangements. The production is an ode to the effectiveness of simplicity - nothing fancy, nothing extraneous, hardly anything in the way of sets or visual hooks, nothing to detract from the music itself. There are short spoken introductions to put the songs into a context, but these are helpful rather than intrusive.<br /><br />At only 48 minutes, the performance is rather short, no doubt a length dictated by the absence of commercials, which would have stretched this to fit an hour-long t.v. time-slot. (The commercials are far from missed!) But the 48 minutes are jam-packed with fine music, lovingly performed. I notice Amazon is selling this for less than $12, so the short length seems reasonable enough. A very nice addition to the growing catalog of Christmas music on DVD.<br />______________________________________________________________________________<br />The DVD by Celtic Crossroads is not a seasonal disc by any means, but would doubtless make a greatly appreciated gift for the Irish-music lover on your gift list. Where the Celtic Angels aim for serenity, the 9-member Celtic Crossroads touring ensemble (seven musicians/singers playing over twenty instruments, plus two dancers) heads in the direction of visceral excitement. Both groups do a fine job of representing Celtic traditions (Irish in the case of Crossroads); the choice will depend on which mood you’re in at the moment.<br /><br />The performers on this PBS special are all young in years (most look to be in their 20’s), but with a solid awareness of traditional Irish music and the history behind it. But they also like to add contemporary elements into the mix. For the most part, the ensemble sound has audible origins in the small group; of neo-traditionalists who popularized the old dance, air, and ballad repertoire during the 1970’s, bands such as De Danann, Planxty, and the Bothy Band. Like those iconic bands, Celtic Crossroads features the “classic” melodic instruments, such as fiddles, uillean pipes, wooden flute, tenor banjo, and accordion, adding a Celtic harp to conjure up comparisons to the Chieftains. But - also like the neo-traditional bands just mentioned, they add strong, rock-tinged accompaniment on acoustic guitar, bouzoukee, mandolin, and mandola, instruments rarely encountered in more rigorous performances by the hardest-core traditionalists. <br /><br />They also essay some strictly contemporary songs - Andy Briggs’ “Last of the Great Whales”, Americana songwriter Steve Earle’s “Galway Girl” (which, to be sure, sounds as Irish as an Americana song possibly can), and - the most radical choice of all, “U2’s “With Or Without You”. But before you get to thinking they’ve jumped the shark with that last selection, I quickly point out that it’s given a lush, lyric-ballad treatment built around Celtic harp and flute (plus folk-style vocal). Viewers of all ages - and the live-concert audience skews toward gray - should be able to easily tolerate, even enjoy it. The title of the concert, “World Fusion”, is a reference to the fact that the group also performs some distinctly non-Irish pieces, such as Italian composer Vittorio Monti’s famous violin piece, “Czardas”, written in the style of Hungarian gypsy music; a medley of US fiddle favorites, “Cotton-Eyed Joe” and “Orange Blossom Special”; and a piece curiously entitled “Cajun Blues”, which doesn’t sound especially Cajun to me, perhaps because it’s played on the tenor banjo. These non-Irish pieces are played with a showier, virtuosity-for-virtuosity’s sake abandon, less controlled than the pieces from their own tradition, but are entertaining as showpieces nonetheless. (When I say “their own tradition”, let me not overlook the fact that there’s an American and a Norwegian in the line-up.)<br /><br />What separates Celtic Crossroads from other neo-traditional bands is the excellence of the dancing. Dancers Marcus Donnelly (who shows his agility on an old “brush dance” or “broom dance”, in which he dances with and around a broom) and Charlene Morrison are championship caliber, thus helping to make the Celtic Crossroads show a “complete package”. The singing is fine, the musicianship is intelligent - as a former bodhran player, I particularly appreciate Diarmid Hurley’s skill and inventiveness on the goat-frame drum - the arrangements true to their roots. It’s the “real deal”, for sure, but it’s a contemporary version of the real deal, not a preserved museum piece.<br /><br />The concert itself lasts about 80 minutes. There is also a bonus feature in which the producers of the entourage talk bout the background of the show and its participants. Newcomers to Irish music, in particular, may learn quite a bit, while I found it held considerable interest throughout its 23-minute length. The sponsor of the concert and disc, Tourism Ireland, has appended three short promotional travelog segments plus a few seconds of several other promotional more clips, presented in such an ingratiating manner that one almost forgets one is looking at a commercial.<br /><br />Relevant websites are http://www.newvideo.com and http://www.dptvmedia.orgTom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-79896373576121911552011-11-23T16:20:00.000-08:002011-11-23T16:22:52.824-08:00“Afro-Latino Music” (Facets/ArtMattan Productions; 2 DVD’s)The first thing that needs to be pointed out is that “Afro-Latino Music” is not an overview of the entire subject of Afro-Latino music, nor does it claim to be. It would doubtless take many, many more than 2 DVD’s to do justice to a topic that broad. What this is, however, is a set of two discs comprising two very fine films on very specific topics within the overall category of Afro-Latino (specifically Afro-South American) music, one on a Colombian phenomenon originally known as Terapia Criolla, but now more often referred to as champeta, the other on the Peruvian percussionist Chocolate Algendones. <br /><br />The first film, “Sons Of Bemkos” - the title refers to an African King who was forced into slavery in Colombia; he escaped and founded the “first free town in America”, Palenque, in and near which much of the film was shot - looks at a couple aspects of African-rooted music located along the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Thus, the marimba-based music known as currulao is not covered, since that genre is centered on the Pacific coast of Colombia. In both cases, however, we are confronted with a musical tradition that is very deeply rooted in Africa, owing relatively little to the Spanish colonists of Colombia. <br /><br />Interestingly, this description fits not only the traditional music of the area, but its contemporary pop form as well, about which more below. The traditional village music has a very deep African flavor. We see workers in the fields singing work songs to pass the time. A group of professional mourners known as “Happy Ambulances” help a corpse on its way by singing, dancing, and drumming over it, as part of a ritual based on the spirit religion known as lumbalu. (A warning for the squeamish - the actual corpse is on-screen for an extended period.) Small ensembles are shown consisting entirely of voices backed by percussion instruments - drums, scrapers, maracas, claves, and the giant bass thumb piano known as the marimbula. These scenes of a local music little known to the outside would alone justify multiple viewings of this film.<br /><br />But the filmmakers have another surprise up their sleeve. For many years, the popular sounds of this area long included merengue, salsa, and the whole gamut of Afro-Caribbean styles. However, in a phenomenon not known (by me, at least) to have occurred elsewhere in Afro-Latino musical circles, the musicians of the nearest large city, Cartagena, began to alter their music under the influence of recordings of soukous and other African dance music imported from the Congo. Similarly, the local music known as bullerengue also began to be combined with mbaqanga music from South Africa. The musicians of the area re-Africanized their popular music to such an extent that someone hearing this music - Terapia Criolla (“Creole Therapy”) or champeta - for the first time, watching people dance to it as it booms from the speakers of a mobile sound system, might well question which continent’s music one is hearing. <br /><br />The film introduces us to the Caribbean Stars, who claim to have been the first to play terapia. The band toured internationally at one time, but feels most comfortable around Palenque. We also see the beginnings of the commercial exploitation of champeta, as record companies attempt to operate as inexpensively as possible by bringing into the studios raw talent off the streets to sing about the everyday life of poor people, to the beat of Congolese rhythms.<br /><br />We also see excerpts from the San Basilio Festival, a patronal festival held every June 12, a 3-day reunion of Palenqueans past and present. We see Cuban -influenced music played for a Roman Catholic church service, as well as a procession with a small version of the ubiquitous Latin American brass band. It makes for a fascinating contrast to the lumbalu and champeta scenes, and is every bit as authentic.<br /><br />“Sons of Bemkos” has an English narration, with subtitles for the interviews, which are in Spanish. The running time is 52 minutes.<br /><br />The second film, “Hands Of God”, focuses on a specific musician, a musical icon in his own country but little-known to Americans, percussionist Julio “Chocolate” Algendones (1937-2004; some sources say 1934). But it also serves to introduce Americans to a musical scene most of us either only recently became aware of or have yet to discover - that of Afro-Peruvian music. Those of us of a certain age have become so used to the “Andean ensembles” playing huaynos on instruments such as the quena, zampona, and charango that we’ve come to think of them as representing ALL of Peruvian music. Nothing could be further from the truth.<br /><br />Jazz fans have begun to discover Afro-Peruvian rhythms such as the festejo and lando, thanks in part to singer Susana Baca. And it would appear from this film that Afro-Peruvian rhythms and jazz have a close and comfortable relationship in Peru as well, judging from Chocolate’s performances with the combo Peru Jazz and in back of the singing of a number of guest artists in this film, such as Jose “Chaqueta” Piaggio and Pepita Garcia Miro. Chocolate was skilled and sensitive to easily travel between the worlds of tradition and contemporary music.<br /><br />But the Afro-rooted traditions Algendones explored were not solely Peruvian. He was a master of both the congas and bongos, both associated with Caribbean music, and claims to have picked up a knowledge of the intense rhythms of santeria while on tour in Haiti. (I confess I had to do a bit of research on this point. My impression was that the Yoruba-rooted spirit religion known as santeria (or lucumi) was found in the Spanish Caribbean, specifically Cuba and Puerto Rico. Most of the sources I checked seemed to confirm that there was no santeria in Haiti. I was beginning to wonder if Algendones was confusing Cuban santeria with Fon/Ewe-rooted Haitian voodoo. Digging deeper, however, I find there are a few online sources that would seem to confirm the contention that santeria does indeed exist in Haiti.) Algendones is considered to have been the only Afrfo-Peruvian musician to utilize santeria rhythms in his music, which he did with authenticity and artistic authority.<br /><br />But Chocolate’s primary instrument was the cajon, that increasingly-familiar wooden box which percussionists sit on, pounding our rhythms on the front of the instrument. Cubans sometimes claim the cajon as their own, and indeed many Cubans have mastered the deceptively simple-looking instrument. However, most sources that I’ve come across are quick to credit Peru as the true origin point of the cajon. Certainly, a concept as elemental as banging out a rhythm on a fruit crate or shipping box could well have developed independently in two different places. But at the very least, the cajon has achieved a position of prominence in Peru far beyond its role in Cuban music. It’s a treat to watch Algendones play the cajon, as he doesn’t pound on it as so many lesser drummers do, but deftly manipulates it with his powerful fingertips.<br /><br />Jose “Chocolate” Algendones was such a unique percussionist, from the cross-cultural way in which he combined various rhythms into a fully-formed and unique style, to the seemingly casual ease of his complex performance technique, that we are indeed very fortunate to have this audio-visual documentation of his playing in a wide variety of contexts. There is no narration per se, but the interviews are in Spanish, with easily readable English subtitles. Running time is 54 minutes.<br /><br />Both of these films are required viewing for anyone interested in African-rooted musics in South America and should have as much appeal to just plain fans as to scholars. More info may be found at http://www.AfricanDisaporaDVD.comTom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-44122668881196077452011-11-21T15:31:00.000-08:002011-11-21T15:33:00.376-08:00“Bryan Beller: Wednesday Night Live” (Onion Boy Records)For those of you don’t follow contemporary instrumental music closely (alas, that would seem to include the great majority of people under 35), and may not know who Bryan Beller is, he is one monster of an electric bass player, best-known for his work with Steve Vai. This point is driven home by the audio mix of this DVD, which allows the bass lines to burrow deep inside of you, grab hold of your viscera, and refuse to let you go.<br /><br />This alone might serve as recommendation enough for some of you, but the rest of the band is worth making a fuss over as well. This is one inventive quintet, not just a super bass player with four other guys. Guitarists Griff Peters and Rick Musallam (each of whom plays lead on particular types of songs), keyboardist Mike Keneally (who also picks up a guitar), and drummer Joe Travers make up the rest of this finely-honed unit. It quickly becomes clear that these are musicians who work together a lot, and have done so for quite some time. Indeed, this is not just Bryan Beller’s band, it is also Mike Keneally’s band, and the two have been known to play together at the same place on the same night.<br /><br />Stylistically, I would call this jazz-rock fusion from the rock point of view, more compositional and structural than flights-of-fancy improvisational., though there’s still quite a bit of spontaneity to it. Although the band’s sound does tend to be a bit bass-centric, the other players certainly get ample opportunity to show up their prodigious chops as well as their creativity, interacting with each other with taste and a great deal of respect. The music is erudite without being pedantic or sterile, engaging the listeners’ emotions as well as the mind. It is,m after all, entertainment, not just a lesson in technique.<br /><br />With the emphasis being on musicianship rather than showmanship, the camera work is crucial to keeping the viewer’s interest up throughout. We see five musicians and their equipment crowded together on a rather small stage, but the multi-camera set-up and sensitiive direction (by Dave Foster) keep it from ever becoming claustrophobic.<br /><br />In addition to the top-notch main concert, the DVD is rich in bonus footage, which must double the length of the disc. There are performances featuring other editions of Beller’s band, with slight, but significant personnel changes, a jazz-flavored tune with Beller on piano, a guest appearance by saxophonist Scheila Gonzalez, videos of performances filmed at CD release parties, and other musical clips, both video and audio-only. There are also substantial interviews with.each of the current members of the quintet to help place the music in perspective. If that’s enough, Beller has supplied “very, very extended liner notes” at http://www.bryanbeller.com/cms/index.php?page=soloalbums_wnllinernotes<br />(This is an instrumental musician who loves to write words as well as music, judging by the amount oif verbiage to be found on his website, http://www.bryanbeller.com/cms/ )<br /><br />Well worth checking out by fusion fans, prog-rockers, and just plain music lovers.Tom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-77842362082117647512011-11-12T15:33:00.000-08:002011-11-12T15:35:10.725-08:00“Stylistics Live In Norfolk 2005” and “Chi-Lites Live In Norfolk 2005” (both from San Juan Music)These two concert DVD’s by classic 70’s soul-ballad groups seem to have been around for a few years under different titles - in both cases, “Live At The Convocation Center”, named for the Norfolk, VA venue where these performances were both filmed. Both discs, however, are deserving of reissue.<br /><br />Of the two, I personally prefer the Styllstics concert, which by no means is intended to denigrate the Chi-Lites’ disc. I happened to see this line-up of the Stylistics about 10 years ago, at Shea’s in Buffalo (on the same bill with The Main Ingredient and Blue Magic), soon after Harold Eban Brown replaced the seemingly irreplaceable Russell Thompkins, Jr. as lead singer. I swear most members of the audience probably had no idea whatsoever that Thompkins was missing, Brown sounds so much like him. One look from the front of the balcony, however, told me that either Thompkins had discovered the Fountain of Youth (Brown is over twenty years younger than Thompkins), or the group had discovered an absolutely ideal new lead voice. <br /><br />The group, resplendent in red suits, was already in their 50’s by 2005, aside from the then-33-year-old Brown. But if they move a little less athletically than they might have in younger years, they sound just fine. Their smooth ballad style was never really suited to a shake-’em-up-and-down stage show anyway. It’s obvious from the intro to “You’re A Big Girl Now” that they (realistically) now think of themselves less as a current group than as finely-honed purveyors of nostalgia. Indeed, there is something about the atmosphere of this concert - perhaps it’s the audience - that is oddly reminiscent of a PBS “oldies” fundraising special. (I almost hesitate to say that, because when PBS DID bring on a rival Stylistics group, it turned out to be Russell Thompkins’ Jr.’s “New Stylistics”.) The “real” Stylistics still had the skills in 2005, no doubt, but certainly the audience wanted to hear the groups’ hits of the 1970’s performed by the original group (or at least a quartet which had an unbroken continuity dating back to their Golden Era) in the original arrangements. And that’s what they get.<br /><br />In any event, the Stylistics remain a living entity, not simply a group of aging singers going through the motions. They always were a group whose identity was heavily dependent on the timbre of their falsetto lead vocals. In this department, Harold Eban Brown is virtually the equivalent of Russell Thompkins, Jr. All the songs you might wish to hear at a Stylistics’ concert - both the super-hits and the lesser successes - are here, in well-executed arrangements that are essentially smaller-scale, stripped-down, but easily recognizable versions of the original Thom Bell-produced Philly Soul backing tracks. The songs tend to segue one to the other in a sort-of medley form, yet most are done at full-length, not the “and then we did” tiny snippets some “nostalgia acts” prefer.<br /><br />Brown is not the most captivating front man, but hIs voice more than makes up what he may lack in charisma. I would suggest that any Stylistics fans would find this concert every bit as satisfying as I did. There is no wasted time, no frills, no bad-joke-filled attempts at humor (okay, one modest attempt), just 57 minutes of Stylistics’ sweet-soul music. That should be good enough for anyone.<br /><br />Bonus features include a 4-minute ”Behind The Scenes” featurette, showing how the concert was set up, as well as a 5-1/2-minute interview segment.<br /><br />___________________________________________________________________________<br />The Chi-Lites’ DVD follows the same basic format, and indeed appears to have been filmed at the same package-tour concert in Norfolk. <br /><br />Once again, we are treated to straightforward renditions of the group’s hits, accompanied by a solid band. The differences between the two concerts, though, are telling. For one thing, the Chi-Lites are less dependent on a single dominant personality. They require strong lead vocals by all three up-front members and, with a few jarring exceptions, they deliver. Their stage act features more razzle-dazzle than that of the Stylistics. Whereas thje latter prefer to soothe their audience, the Chi-Lites’ attempt to rouse theirs, even in a ballad medley.<br /><br />The Chi-Lites charted often between 1969 and 1984, and scraped the bottom of the charts again in 1997-98. Nevertheless, the group’s hits seem by and large to have received less continued exposure through the years than the Stylistics’ songs. I may be wrong, but I’m inclined to think that, only “Oh Girl” and “Have You Seen Her (which are saved for the end of the show) may resonate with the casual listener. But songs like “Toby” and “The Coldest Days Of My Life” definitely deserve their return to the nostalgia spotlight. <br /><br />Though we only see three Chi-Lites upfront, the harmonies are enhanced by a fourth vocalist, a woman who stands in the background as if she were not an official member of the established all-male lineup. But a little research reveals she is indeed an “official member”; must be a macho image thing. Sadly, most of the original Chi-Lites’ line-up (including Eugene Record) are now deceased, but Marshall Thompson and Robert “Squirrel” Lester” (since deceased as well) appear on this disc.<br /><br />The bonus features mirror those of the Stylistic disc. Indeed, the backstage set-up featurette looks very much like that on the Stylistics’ DVD, understandable when you consider they were recorded at the same place at the same time. Again,. there are interview excerpts in which the group talks about their biggest hits.<br /><br />Anyone with a live for sweet 70’s soul vocal groups should have a marvelous time turning back the clock and tossing out the calendar, while watching these two fine concerts.Tom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-17840565935191077712011-11-01T16:46:00.000-07:002011-11-01T16:47:34.383-07:00“Live From Tokyo” (MVD)Contemporary Japanese popular music, if known to most Americans at all, is associated with teen-girl-sounding J-pop, boy bands, Visual Kei arena-rock/hair-metal bands, and so on. And certainly that imaged is by no means totally inaccurate, it is simply very incomplete. “Live From Tokyo” is a fascinating documentary look at the ”underground” side of modern Japanese music, featuring clips of and interviews with a lot of people you’ve never heard of, but whose musical acquaintance is well worth making.<br /><br />The point is made by a number of interviewees that young Japanese people are bombarded with information and influences - aren’t we all? - which then come together in a wide variety of unexpected ways, from J-pop on one hand to various sorts of progressive/experimental sounds. The latter, rather than J-pop, are the focus of this film. The problem is that there are so many bands in a shrinking scene that no one is being financially rewarded the way they used to be. One could make the same observation about progressive music anywhere, to be sure. But at least the Japanese musicians have apparently decided that since they’re not going to become wealthy anyway, they may as well do what they want to do, in the way they want to do it. Thus, the lack of monetary enticements has made for a scene that is very healthy from a purely artistic viewpoint, resulting in fresh, new sounds far from the pop-music norm.<br /><br />We get to sample a goodly number of these artists and hear a wide array of styles, most arising out of recognizable starting points, ranging from post-punk rock to jazz-rock fusions, which then head off in highly individual directions. These bands thrive on the Internet, where they have no need to wait to be “discovered”, no need to wait for a record contract. Instead, they can quickly and inexpensively disseminate their music far and wide.Thus, while the mainstream record industry continues to recycle the same few sounds over and over again, the Japanese underground bands can dare to be daring. <br /><br />There’s a lot of fascinating music heard in this DVD, much of it utilizing machine-like repetition in a techno sort of way; not surprising for a country heralded for its technical know-how. There is also a considerable reliance on visuals interacting with music as an integral part of some of the stage shows shown here. It is worth noting that there is no narrator to set up contexts for the music,or to tell us what we will be hearing. This may well the ideal way to produce a film of this sort, as the viewer may experience each new band without having ready-made expectations set up before. We thus approach this music in a tabula-rasa manner, and can judge it on its own terms.<br /><br />We are also given insight into the Japanese way of presenting live music. Japanese live bands are required to pay the club-owners in advance, then sell the tickets themselves. This, of course, negatively impacts many artists, as they need to attract a sizable following on a steady basis in order to simply survive. Ticket prices tend to be high - it can cost $25-$30 to go see a band no one has ever heard of. Thus, while there is no pressure to make commercial music that will sell to the masses, it is also difficult for bands to stay together long enough to reach their full artistic potential. A couple venues are profiled in some depth. However, these cannot be considered typical, as their colorful owners seem much more open than most, and less profit-motivated.<br /><br />In all, this 78-minute film is an eye-opening - and generally quite ear-satisfying - glimpse at a scene most of us know nothing about, featuring many creative musicians most of us will never get a chance to hear otherwise. As such, I recommend it highly.Tom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-20876641798638151352011-09-26T16:43:00.000-07:002011-09-26T16:44:08.457-07:00“B.B. King Live” (Image Entertainment)Ten days ago, Mr. Riley B. “Blues Boy” celebrated his 86th birthday. He’s elderly, he’s infirm, but darn it, he can still sing and play the blues on his electric guitar, “Lucille”, better than most folks a third of his age. Yes, he has understandably slowed down, and he has to sit throughout the proceedings - but then, the old pre-WW2 blues singers sat down when they played anyway. Even so, this concert from the PBS “Soundstage” series, filmed in 2009, certainly serves as a prime example of the Blues Boy in his late-in-life prime.<br /><br />As a matter of fact, the opener, “Everyday I Have The Blues”, finds him virtually as energetic and soulful as ever. One should not expect innovation or fresh approaches at this late date - he has long since made his most impactful contributions. But this is not simply an elderly icon going through the motions, but a compelling performer and viable entertainer who can still summon up the old fire and put on one heckuva show for his fans.<br /><br />The songs are largely familiar. However, the Blind Lemon Jefferson standard, “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean”, was a recent addition to the B.B. King repertoire at the time of this performance, having served as the de facto title song to his 2008 CD, “One Kind Favor”. Since it is no secret that Jefferson was a seminal influence on the young Riley King - a fact he has always acknowledged - it’s quite a treat to hear him adapt the old song to his big-band-blues format. What may seem another lesser-known title, “Downhearted”, is actually a re-titling of B.B.’s classic “How Blue Can You Get”, the stop-time bridge of which is always an audience favorite.<br /><br />As is the case with so many televised specials featuring performers “of a certain age”, the producers have decided to sprinkle in guest performances by younger, non-blues performers who they no doubt feel will bring their fan bases to the table, thus increasing ratings. Frankly, I find that a deplorable practice, particularly when the older performer is as famous and still highly skilled as B.B. King. He simply doesn’t need them. But the truth is, fortunately they do not cause irreparable harm to the overall quality of the program. <br /><br />In fact, actor Terrence Howard may actually add to it. He informally trades verses with “B” on “I Need You So”, acquitting himself surprisingly eell as a blues balladeer somewhat on the order of King’s erstwhile touring partner, Bobby Bland. Howard (who released a CD of his own in 2008) gets to sing most of “ I Got Some Help I Don’t Need” by himself, with B.B. and the band. Howard and King display a marvelous rapport during some in-song dialogue.<br /><br />Less successful is Solange Knowles (Beyonce’s younger sister) who joins B.B. for an under-developed version of his signature hit, “The Thrill Is Gone”. I’d like to hear her do this song about ten years from now, but her voice doesn’t yet have enough of a lived-in quality, and she’s weak on top. Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora (whose name King consistently mangles) tears off a few burning licks on “Nobody Loves Me But My Mother”, but B. is dissatisfied and switches to the uptempo “Let The Good Times Roll”. The two still fail to gel. The pairing works better when King reprises “the Thrill Is Gone,” this time handling the vocal chores himself, with Sambora playing an effective lead guitar.<br /><br />B.B.’s band is fine throughout. They feature a full-bodied four-piece horn section that sounds like more. One does occasionally wish they were more prominent in the mix. The rhythm section cooks. B.B. and the band get into a downhome gospel groove on a rousing closer, yet another version of :”When The Saints Go Marching In”. And while I could happily live out my days without hearing that overworked song again, this group effort by B, Howard, Knowles, and Sambora is downright agreeable. It may not be the most important piece of art B.B. King has ever been involved with - “Live At The Regal” its not - but it will certainly set your toes to tapping.<br /><br />In all, unless you are really turned off by the idea of B.B. King having to share the stage with guest artists (and I know for a fact some of you would be!), this is a very enjoyable hour with the Master.Tom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-35537714958181236722011-09-18T15:48:00.000-07:002011-09-18T16:07:08.771-07:00“Cuba: Island of Music” (MVD)I confess to being somewhat ambivalent about this documentary on Cuban music from filmmaker Gary Keys (whose films on Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Dizzy Gillespie were reviewed in this blog at http://genecdvd.blogspot.com/2011/09/duke-ellington-reminiscing-in.html<br /><br />First, the good news. There is a lot of very good Cuban music here in a variety of genres, both traditional and contemporary. The visuals give us a rare glimpse of Cuba as it was at the end of the 20th century. There is also something of an alternative political viewpoint espoused here, in that we are given the distinct impression that people in Cuba during the late Castro era were really pretty happy with life, by and large (despite the nay-saying of American politicians with an agenda to support). And the commentary by Cuban natives Chico O’Farrill (who died in 2001) and percussionist Candido Camero, balanced by some less thoroughly informed yet still insightful commentary by the late, great Dr. Billy Taylor tells much of the story of Cuban music when the narration fails to do so.<br /><br />But there are problems. First off, it’s a little too obvious that Gary Keys made this film in the wake of the astounding success of “Buena Vista Social Club”. Whereas in the latter, Ry Cooder and his son Joachim tooled around Havana in a motorcycle with attached sidecar, Keys tools around in a vintage convertible,witnessing (much as the Cooders did) the people and the architecture of the island. In addition to that superficial, yet blatant similarity, one might be convinced that Ry Cooder and “Social Club” director Wim Wenders got the cream of the Cuban-music crop to appear in their film, leaving Keys with the leftovers. But I know through hearing CD’s that were issued in the US around this time period that there were many more first-rate musicians left that Cooder didn’t record, whom Keys also seems to have bypassed in his search. Thus, as I said in the last paragraph, this is “very good Cuban music”, but there’s an inconsistency to Keys’ selections which keep it from being a film about Great Cuban Music.<br /><br />The problem lies at least in part in the film’s premise. Keys discovers Cuban music from a distance (New York), then travels to Cuba to learn more about it and to see what else he can find. This film is an honest documentation of his quest, but it probably would have worked a lot better - and contributed much further to our understanding of Cuban music at the turn of the 21st Century - if he had done more research. This would have given him a more informed idea of what he could uncover and where he could uncover it. His quest seems a bit haphazard, making accidental discoveries which - while certainly authentically Cuban, and thus representative of certain aspects of what was going on there at the time - do not strike me as the best of all available artistic treasures deserving of much-needed American exposure. What we have, in essence, is a fascinating, very personal travelogue which says, “I went to Cuba - this is what I saw, this is what I heard”. And that’s fine, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that approach, but it isn’t necessarily the ideal way to introduce or represent the music of a nation which was culturally cut off from American music lovers over several decades.<br /><br />Another problem is the lack of a coherent narrative, which would have gone far to more effectively explain to a novice listener what one is seeing/hearing. Keys’ folksy chatting from behind the wheel of a car lacks depth and explication. There is an attractive young woman who is assigned the task of providing more information, but this turns out to be more of an opportunity for the young lady to appear on-camera than a significant exposition of the important points which should be made about music in Cuba. Do I expect ethnomusicological analysis? Not necessarily, but a more knowledgable descriptive account of the musical proceedings would have been very welcome.<br /><br />Despite these problems, I think there is enough of value here in terms of music and variety to recommend this disc to readers with an interest in Latino music in general, so long as you have a good idea going into it of what this film and what it isn’t.Tom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-37731227988846530892011-09-11T15:45:00.001-07:002011-09-11T15:45:56.620-07:00“David Lanz: Liverpool - Re-Imagining The Beatles: An Inside Look”The music of pianist David Lanz has been lumped in with New Age, smooth-jazz, fusion, semi-classical, and no doubt a few other categories. However, his distinctive blend of instrumental idioms really falls into no single genre, yet hints at several. It is within that spirit of stylistic eclecticism that Lanz recorded an album of Beatles songs, “Liverpool - Re-Imagining The Beatles”, arranged in his typically atypical manner. This DVD offers insight into the artist’s creative process as well as three music videos of tracks from that CD.<br /><br />Lanz tells us he purposely stayed away from the most famous Beatles songs, such as “Yesterday” and “Hey Jude”. But since there are relatively few truly “obscure” Beatles songs (aside from a handful of B-sides), the melodies will pretty much all be familiar to those listeners who were around during the 1960’s. It’s to Lanz’ credit that he makes them sound fresh all over again, and even manages to throw you off the scent on a few, so that their identity is not immediately apparent. We get to see candid footage of Lanz and his fellow musicians in the studio as they bring these magical sounds to life. His cohorts include regular Lanz collaborators Gary Stroutsos on an end-blown Chinese bamboo flute called the xiao, and ex-Kronos Quartet cellist Walter Gray, as well as the late Bread keyboardist Larry Knechtel on organ for one piece.<br /><br />The interview segments include a discussion by Lanz and Stroutsos (who bears a decided resemblance to Robert DeNiro) on the impact the Beatles’ music made on them. Lanz in particular calls them “my mentors”. They also discuss the songs chosen for the album, the collaborative process, Lanz’ compositional methods (starting with the melody and developing upwards from there, rather than constructing a tune from an existing harmonic structure; for this reason, the Beatles’ songs appeal to him because of their strong melodies), and his wish not to do “cover versions” per se, but to make the songs his own. A few brief portions of the Lanz/Stroutsos discussion are used more than once on the disc, when deemed relevant.<br /><br />There is also an interview with “Mythodrama” leadership guru Richard Olivier (son of the great British actor Lawrence Olivier; Richard does a voice-over on the CD) concerning the mythology of the Beatles, as well as the affect they had on audiences in both the UK and USA. Perhaps it is because I am totally unfamiliar with the Mythodrama concept, but I confess to not getting much out of this segment. <br /><br />I can’t help but think this DVD would have been more effective if it had been packaged with the “Liverpool” CD in a CD/DVD combination package. Nevertheless, I would think that most Lanz followers who already own the CD will find this disc to be a welcome enhancement to their listening experience. If you’re unfamiliar with the CD, I would start with that first.<br /><br />62 minutes. Both CD and DVD are available through http://www.liverpoolcd.com/index.htmlTom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-66542452176777630202011-09-07T16:37:00.000-07:002011-09-07T16:38:00.044-07:00“Sonia - Who I Am” (Disappear Records)Sonia (Rutstein) is a singer-songwriter from Baltimore who is perhaps most associated with her various performing and recording units known as “Disappear Fear”. The name was applied in the 90’s to what might be termed an electric punk-folk band, but has been used more recently as the name of the duo in which Sonia and her sister Cindy Frank sing Phil Ochs songs (check out their CD, “Get Your Phil”). (Cindy was with the earlier band as well.)<br /><br />This nine-song DVD collects Sonia performances from over a 16-year period, 1994 to 2010, from the days of the earlier Disappear band to more recent solo performances. These range from straight-out live performance clips to more produced music videos. There’s quite a bit of variety, from a song sung in Hebrew and English to protest/topical songs to blues. Most of the songs are Sonia’s own compositions, though there is one Phil Ochs song (“No More Songs, filmed in 2004, not by the current duo) and one (“By My Silence”) written by fellow singer-songwriters Ellen Bukstel and Nick Annis.<br /><br />Though I personally tend to prefer the solo concert clips, there’s some more “arranged” material that sounds quite nice. Visuals range from photo-collage to the John Densmore-directed video for the disc’s title song, which features a young solo dancer in a rehearsal studio. It’s gratifying to see and hear Sonia in a number of different settings over a period of years, thus giving the viewer/listener a better chance to experience the various aspects of the artist’s musical offerings.<br /><br />This DVD will probably have the most immediate appeal to Sonia’s sizable fan following. But since it’s being sold on her website - http://www.soniadf.com/shop_details.php?productcategory_id=1 <br />for less than the price of one of her CD’s, it should make for a most agreeable introduction to the artist’s work. You might click the link to her paintings as well. A woman of multiple talents!Tom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-50993653896131326452011-09-04T07:47:00.000-07:002011-09-04T08:15:33.236-07:00“Duke Ellington: Reminiscing In Tempo”/“Count Basie: Then As Now, Count’s The King”/“Dizzy Gillespie In Redondo” (all MVD)The common factor here is that all three films are the work of filmmaker Gary Keys, whose work is currently undergoing a revival of interest and exposure thanks to the folks at MVD. These are but three of several Keys films recently brought to DVD by MVD.
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<br />The Ellington film combines elements of the concert-film genre with documentary. A group of Ellington’s friends, associates, and fans were gathered together for a memorial birthday party by Duke’s sister, Ruth Ellington Boatright. They share reminiscences of Ellington the man, the composer, the pianist, the collaborator. Some, such as Bobby Short, Al Hibbler (who alas was WAY past his prime), Billy Taylor, Brooks Kerr, Hiromi, and Adam Makowicz, offer musical tributes as well.
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<br />Keys intersperses this with footage of a 1968 concert done in Mexico by Ellington and his band. Though the concert is from late in Duke’s career, the music is still solid, the re-considered arrangements fresh, and the soloists (who include such Ellington stalwarts as Lawrence Brown, Harry Carney, Johnny Hodges, and Cootie Williams, among others) still distinctive.
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<br />The highlight of the concert is the rarely-performed “Mexican Suite”, which was never commercially recorded. (It was later expanded into the “Latin-American Suite”, which WAS recorded). The presence of this suite would alone justify purchase of this DVD by the Eliington faithful. While I personally would have preferred that the suite be presented straight, without the travelog photography Keys mixes in, the visuals are fascinating in their own right.
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<br />I should mention that a discussion of race relations in America includes a few graphic images which many may find disturbing. Otherwise, this is a very agreeable release, although I wouldn’t recommend it as someone’s first intro to Duke Ellington.
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<br />Gary Keys’ Count Basie film is similar in that it juxtaposes footage, recordings, and photos of the band with spoken reminiscences by people who knew Basie well. But whereas the Ellington footage came from a single concert, the Basie film incorporates film and television footage from the 1950’s and later. The Ellington reminiscences came from interviews of a grouping of sophisticates who were all too aware of the camera, but the roundtable discussing Basie is far less formal, displaying a great deal of camaraderie and gentle ribbing, all in good fun.
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<br />The participants in the panel include Frank Wess, Frank Foster, Joe Wilder, and Benny Powell, all long-established Basie-ites, trombonist George Lewis (who was briefly in the Basie band in the mod-1970’s; he is mostly context to listen to and learn from the old-timers), and a holdover from the Ellington film, critic Ira Gitler. Gitler is heard so little, one might speculate that his actual role may have been off-camera, feeding ideas to the participants. They talk about Basie the bandleader, the personality, and the musical force. They recall incidents involving some of their fellow classic Basie musicians, and enjoy chatting about their own experiences as members of the Basie entourage. In all, it’s a very enjoyable, one might even say invigorating discussion.
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<br />The early Kansas City days are given short shrift in the selection of film clips, though there is a small-combo version of “One O’Clock Jump” from the early 50’s, most likely the earliest fooitage seen here. There are a number of other Basie standards from the 50’s band, such as “Midgets” (with a sprightly Frank Wess flute solo), “Corner Pocket”, and a version of “Li’l Darlin’” which seems to date from the period after Frank Foster took over the band. Billie Holiday is accompanied by Basie on two songs from 1952. We also get to hear from the great singer Joe Williams on “Alright Okay You Win” and “Everyday I Have The Blues” (the latter introduced by Dionne Warwick).
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<br />A couple performances might best be termed “Basie-related” - Frank Foster playing with Dizzy Gillespie in the 1980’s, and a clip of the Billy Eckstine big band of the 1940’s, which only becomes Basie-related when we get to hear a later sample of Eckstine and Basie together. There are also three clips which illustrate Basie’s impact on Hollywood. Jerry Lewis mimes to Basie recordings on excerpts from “Cinderfella” and “The Errand Boy”, while Keys was lucky enough to be able to include the incongruous performance of “April In Paris” from “Blazing Saddles”.
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<br />Frank Foster offers a lengthy poem (split into segments) on Basie’s life and career. Indeed, Foster is shown to be a “real character”, and is very much the “star” of the panel. In all, this is very entertaining stuff, and can easily be recommended as an introduction to the post-1950 Count Basie Orchestra.
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<br />Unlike the Ellington and Basie films, Gary Keys’ Dizzy Gillespie offering is a concert film, apparently part of a t.v. series called “Jazz in America”. I’m not going to beat around the bush - this is one VERY captivating concert film, skillfully assembled.
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<br />There are only four full-length performances in this hour-long club date, filmed in 1981. (The fifth title listed, “Jazz America”, heard briefly at the end, would seem to be the series’ theme song.) Even so, it pretty much encapsulates the range of Dizzy’s long-term contributions to the well-being of jazz. Some critics have implied that Gillespie did the great bulk of the innovations one associates with his name during the mid-to-late 1940’s, and that he pretty much coasted the rest of his career - which lasted till around 1990; he died in 1993. I will not argue this point, but innovation is not the only factor that matters. In his mid-60’s, he could still blow up quite a firestorm on this disc, proof positive that he remained an imaginative improviser as well as a first-rate entertainer well into late career.
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<br />Dizzy the waggish entertainer gets the proceedings off to a congenial start by “introducing the band”, at which point the musicians shake hands, pretending as if they were meeting for the first time. It may be a standard musicians’ joke, but Diz and the band carry it off so affably, it’s funny again, no matter how often you may have seen it. The band is a top-notch one, so now it’s my turn to “introduce the band”. Alto saxist Paquito D’Rivera burns on the opener, ”Be Bop”, with such assurance, you might think he was one of the originators of the bebop style, rather than a Cuban latecomer. Ed Cherry (misidentified here as “Ed Sherry”) is a deft guitarist who can work his way through a variety of styles with aplomb. Tom Macintosh is a low-key trombonist with a fine sense of rhythmic pacing. Pianist Valerie Capers is aggressive when she needs to be, sensitive when the moment calls for it. There are two bass players, each of whom has a well-defined role. Ray Brown, on stand-up acoustic bass, was born to play with Dizzy Gillespie, while electric bassist Michael Howell, is featured on the more contemporary, funk-flavored tunes. Drummer Tom Campbell, I confess, is a new name to me, though a quick Google search reveals he has solid credentials. In any event, he easily holds his own in this august company.
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<br />The repertoire includes not only fiery bop (“Be Bop”) and cooler bop (“Birks Works”), but funk (“Kush”) as well. But the piece de resistance may be a down-and-dirty blues, identified as “Dizzy’s Made Up Blues” on the DVD carton, and “Hard Of Hearing Mama” in the film itself. Both titles are apropos. The lyrics are blissfully off-the-wall in an Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson sort of way. Macintosh’s solo could have been somewhat nastier in this context. Cherry’s solo starts out well, but he loses himself in repetition. Howell, though, pulls things back together with a blues-guitar-like bass solo, while Capers’ piano solo makes far better use of repitition and rolling blues riffs. In all, a highly entertaining performance, Cherry’s stumble notwithstanding.
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<br />Anyone other than a musical curmudgeon should find much to delight in on this disc.
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<br />Tom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-41590213926943813282011-08-22T16:31:00.000-07:002011-08-22T16:32:32.642-07:00“Bob Lind: Perspective” (self-released DVD)Singer-songwriter Bob Lind is remembered today primarily for his 1966 Top 5 hit, “Elusive Butterfly”. Over a five-year period ending in 1971, he released a small, but significant body of work that was the equal of virtually any other singer-songwriter during that busy period, yet it went under-recognized at the time, and is sadly largely forgotten today. And then he disappeared.
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<br />Four decades later, we find out that not only is Bob Lind alive and musically active, he still sounds as good as he ever did, and is still writing first-rate songs that deserve to be heard by a much, much wider audience. But not only does this recently issued DVD include a number of fine live performances of songs from his recent output in the company of a small, but sensitive combo (as opposed to the lush orchestration that framed his songs back in the 60’s), there are documentary segments that go a long way towards explaining “whatever-happened-to-Bob-Lind”, and why he seemed to fall off the face of the earth for so long.
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<br />It turns out that Bob Lind had what we now call “issues”- drinking issues, drug issues, anger-management issues, self-esteem issues. His travails reached the point where nobody in the music business wanted to work with him anymore. Subsequently, he lost his enthusiasm for the music business (though not the music), so he dropped from sight and lived off his songwriting royalties. Eventually, he took a job making up wacky stories about Martians and Bigfoot for the supermarket tabloid “Weekly World News”, and began to enjoy life a bit more. He talks openly and honestly about his problems during the interview/conversation segments on this disc. And while he feels he’s in a “much different place” now, and has become virtually a different person, he confesses to still having a few demons to conquer (anger mixed with sadness), but at least he’s made it back in one piece.
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<br />The fact of the matter is, in his late 60’s, he doesn’t sound a whole lot different from the way he did in his mid-20’s, which is an achievement in itself. His voice is instantly recognizable, his new lyrics still thoughtful, richly creative, and personal, the music still polished, but now showing a wider range of influences ranging from country-rock to jazz, as well as folk. Interestingly, on the jazz-tinged pieces, he doesn’t sing in an overtly jazz-vocal style, but the melodies have a bit of a swagger and the band swings in turn. He’s a new Bob Lind, but in ways that should have no difficulty appealing to fans of the old Bob Lind; hopefully this disc should bring in some new supporters along the way as well.
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<br />The good news is that he presents current versions of a few old favorites, including “Cheryl’s Going Home” (adding a little scat to the arrangement) and “Elusive Butterfly”, which now sports a surprisingly effective Latin-inflected beat. Unlike some artists who try very hard to avoid performing their old classics, Lind is willing to accept that there are people who will come to see his cocnerts because of their love for “Butterfly”. But the better news is that the new songs are certainly well worth hearing, whether he accompanies them on guitar or piano, an instrument which adds which adds an entirely new dimension to the Bob Lind sound. Yes, his music has undergone some changes, but it is still accessible, fulfilling, and of a high quality.
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<br />Bob Lind is not an “oldies act”, nor a simple purveyor of nostaligia. He has not stood still, and there is no reason he should have stood still. He is not a relic of the past, but a viable current artist with something to say that’s well worth listening to. Welcome back, Bob Lind!
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<br />“Bob Lind - Perspective” is 93 minutes long. For more information and a sample, visit http://www.boblind.com/LindDVD.htmlTom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-50405649093010096272011-08-14T16:06:00.000-07:002011-08-14T16:08:44.645-07:00“The Other Side Of The Water: The Journey Of A Haitian Rara Band in Brooklyn” (Third World Newsreel)The phenomenon known as “rara” is a highly localized one native to the country of Haiti (aside from a bit of spillover into the Dominican Republic, where it is known as “gaga”.) It is intimately connected to the Haitian spirit religion known as vodun (or “voodoo”). Voodoo as practiced in Haiti is very much unlike the sort of madcap, stick-pins-in-dolls silliness seen in Hollywood movies over the past 70 years, the first thing Americans think of when they hear the term “voodoo”. Even given that statement, rara is not so much a religious ritual (though it certainly has aspects of one), as it is a Carnival-like procession, with music, dancing, and a variety of carryings-on, combined with ceremonies at graveyards and crossroads. It is an event that takes place on a virtually daily/nightly basis along both the rural and urban thoroughfares of Haiti during Lent, escalating in the days leading up to Easter. It has a reputation for being loud, disruptive, and, er, impolite, but its religious and cultural connections have made it a vital part of Haitian identity, much to the dismay of many Haitians.
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<br />This fascinating documentary allows us a glimpse into a new setting for this old event (which is thought to date back to the Colonial era), the Haitian community in Brooklyn, NY. The Haitian-American community is one of the “hidden” ethnic treasures in the US, perhaps because many of the members of this community have done little to assimilate into American culture, while others have tried to blend in totally. The latter have become invisible, while the former tend to think of themselves as being Haitians in exile, living here only temporarily, having come to escape political oppression and poverty, even long before the earthquake of 2010. Many manifestations of Haitian culture (such as konpa music) survive in the US, even though hardly anyone outside the Haitian-American community is aware of their existence.
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<br />But this film focuses on the specific example of rara, which is not even accepted by many Haitian-Americans. It is particularly despised, even feared, by those who profess themselves to be Christians, and are convinced that any phenomenon associated with voodoo is Satanic and therefore unsafe for the community. (It should be pointed out that Satan per se, in the Judeo-Christian sense, is not a major focus of voodoo, one of many misconceptions that pervade the religion, even among Haitian non-followers.) This has made it especially difficult for the film’s main figure, Pe Yves, to establish and subsequently maintain the longest-running rara band in the United States, DJA-Rara.
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<br />The film follows the band’s history from its formation in the early 1990’s to the present, through a series of interviews with Pe Yves, as well as present and former members of the band, family members, supporters and detractors. There are also rehearsal and performance footage, short video clips of Haitian bands, radio appearances in which Pe Yves openly discusses the negative stereotypes people have of the music, and expert opinion on both cultural and Haitian political matters. Parts of the film are in the Kreyol language, with subtitles, but the rest is in English. We see rara used as an energetic source of fun at times, but it is also shown to be used as an outlet for protest. In both cases, DJA-Rara intends it to be a force of unity among the Haitian population of Brooklyn, though it doesn’t always turn out that way.
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<br />The music of Rara is very strong rhythmically, but traditionally has been comparatively simple melodically. The primary melodic instruments are bamboo “vaksin” horns and a cylindrical metal trumpet called the “konet”. (The spellings of both instruments varies, since Kreyol has traditionally been a spoken language more than a written one.) Each of these instruments plays only one note. If you want to construct a melody which has, say, two notes, you need two horns pitched differently. For a three-note melody, you need three horns, each of which plays a different pitch. This works fine for religious purposes and if your primary purpose is to make noisy entertainment while marching/dancing through the streets. But in more recent times, saxophones and trumpets have been added to the parade. Or - if you want to restrict your rara band to traditional Haitian instruments - one can add more one-note bamboo or metal horns, each with its own pitch, in order to play a full scale.
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<br />This latter concept originated in Haiti, but has been adopted by DJA-Rara, which led to pressures within the band itself, as Pe Yves felt the need to downplay the musicians’ rowdy, celebratory enthusiasms and to professionalize and modernize the band’s approach, as detailed in the film. Subsequently, DJA-Rara became the first American rara band to record a CD, in 2008. The band celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2010. However, what would normally have been cause for jubilation was greatly tempered when everyone in the band lost friends and family members in the earthquake.
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<br />We see rara music used outside of its strictly voodoo context, to entertain children at a Christmas party, to cheer on a soccer team, playing at a street fair, and for a very appreciative ethnomusicology class at Amherst College. And, in what I find to be one of the most encouraging scenes near the end of the film, we hear from one little girl who is already thinking of the day when the band members get older, and it will be up to her and her generation to take over for them, and keep the music alive. Pe Yves and DJA-Rara may have struggled through those first 20 years, but it would appear they have laid the groundwork for the continunace of the rara tradition in the United States.
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<br />Thge film is 52 minutes long. More info, as well as a few clips from the film, may be found at http://www.othersideofthewater.org/ Third World Newsreel is at http://www.twn.orgTom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-21157271080078199212011-08-03T16:47:00.000-07:002011-08-03T16:48:18.254-07:00“Complaints Choir” (Fine & Mellow)Complaints. We all have things to complain about, we all make complaints. They allow us to let off steam, to deal with our problems by sharing them with sympathetic friends, to shout out our frustrations on Facebook to a world that may or may not care. Or we can write them into songs and sing our complaints away. To be sure, this is not a new concept. It’s what the entire genre of music we call “blues” is all about, catharsis through the writing and singing of our complaints arranged as song lyrics. But now, here’s a new way to sing our troubles away - through a phenomenon called the “Complaints Choir”.<br /><br />This documentary DVD with three accompanying CD’s will tell you most everything you need to know about Complaints Choirs. It turns out that there are several dozen such choirs throughout the world, the majority in Europe, but quite a few in North America as well. The film follows the originators of the Complaints Choir concept as they attempt to put together new choral groups in Chicago and Singapore. Though not a “how-to” instructional video, it will show you just what you need to do to put together your own Complaints Choir, and what not to do, particularly if you live in a repressive society such as Singapore.<br /><br />The Complaints Choir concept is the brainchild of Finns Tellervo Kallleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen, who are featured throughout the film. Their original concept had less to do with the aesthetics side of choral singing per se, but was instead a unique form of participatory performance art. When the pair decide to open a branch of their Complaints Choir concept in a new location, they put out the word through local media of what they intend to do, and when and where the first rehearsal will be. People may read it, find it to be of potential interest and show up. The Finns never know who will show up, how many will show up, or if indeed anyone will come at all. The first meeting isn’t actually a rehearsal as such. The Finns tell people to write down their complaints, anything that may bother them enough that they feel the need to turn it into creative energy. Certain particularly interesting complaints are collected, and a song lyric is formed from the combination of several such unconnected lines and sentences. A songwriter is then called in to set them to music, and the choir then rehearses the song for public performance.<br /><br />What we see in the film is the entire process from start to finish. People talking about their lives and voicing complaints, the process of those complaints becoming son g lyrics, interviews with the melody writers/accompanists, choral rehearsals, public performance. We hear what people are frustrated about, what it is they hope to gain from their participation in this art project, how the Finns react to the process they set into motion, and what the audience reaction is like. This may sound straightforward enough, but occasionally there are definite complications. Things go very wrong in Singapore, where people are strongly discouraged from expressing any sort of complaint in public. Compromises with government officials are attempted, including a self-censorship attempt that ruled out certain topics, and a rather odd situation in which the government would allow the Singaporean natives to sing, but not the foreigners temporarily residing in Singapore as “guest workers”. <br /><br />The film, by director Ada Bligaard Soby, gives the viewer a real feel for the pettiness under which repressive governments operate, and how it affects the lives of the innocent amateur performers who simply wish to participate in a novel art project-cum-choral performance. It also affordsa a fascinating glimpse at a creative process which is quite a bit less formal and less traditional than a more academically-oriented process of readying a recital or choral concert. It demonstrates quite effectively that, in the long run, the Finns do not control the entire process, but simply set it up, act as referees (one likens her role to that of “party host”), then let the process carry on in its own way, at its own pace. Thus, the results will be different wherever a Complains Choir is attempted. There are also a few scenes intercut into the film of a minster who has developed a totally different way to help members of his flock eliminate complaints from their lives. These segments are interesting enough, but they are not really relevant to what the Finns are doing, and could have been edited out of the film with no great loss. <br /><br />The film is 56 minutes long. DVD bonus features include a trailer, clips of other Complaints Choirs, a discussion of the Finns’ philosophy behind their concept, and excerpts of a few of their other, very different art projects (mostly involving Tellervo by herself). The 3 CD’s include full-length performances by a number of Complaints Choirs, both official and “DIY” choirs, from many areas of the world, in a highly impressive variety of musical genres. The performances may range from rank amateurism to polished semi-professionalism, but the real point of these projects is more the artistic process rather than achieving an aesthetically pleasing result.<br /><br />More info may be found at http://www.complaintschoir.orgTom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-19407753000297221702011-07-23T16:19:00.000-07:002011-07-23T16:20:42.965-07:00“Wheedle’s Groove: Seattle’s Forgotten Soul Of The 1960s and ‘70’s (Cinewax)It seems popular music is much more homogeneous in the 21st century than it was through much of the 20th. There used to be many more local/regional scenes than there are now. You used to be able to tell which records came from Memphis, or Miami, or South Texas, just to name a few of these scenes. Some of the old regional-music scenes going back over a half-century struggle to survive, but survive they do, such as swamp-pop from Southwestern Louisiana, or beach music from the Carolinas. A few of these scenes managed to achieve national prominence, even dominance, such as Motown (which often used singers from outside Detroit, but the Funk Brothers backup band who really defined Motown were largely local), San Francisco psychedelia, or New York-style doo-wop.<br /><br />But then there were scenes which - important as they may have been to the locals - never attracted attention outside their area. Go-go music from Washington, D.C. comes to mind. Cleveland sure seemed like a hot rock town in the 60’s, provided you lived close to the Lake Erie shoreline, that is. And, as this documentary DVD illustrates, there was a lot of great soul music in Seattle in the 1960’s and 70’s. Seattle? Soul music? Yes, indeed. But hardly anyone outside the area, including myself, had any inkling that something special was happening there. The Pacific Northwest - Oregon/Washington/Idaho - had already spawned the Ventures, the Wailers, the Kingsmen, the Sonics, Paul Revere and the Raiders, etc, but that wasn’t specific to one city, and for that matter nearby Tacoma was more significant to that scene than Seattle was. Grunge, of course, came out of Seattle as the 80’s gave way to the 90’s, but that was hardly soul music, either, though a few Seattle rock musicians are shown in the film saying nice things about what happened before their era. Let’s face it, you just don’t think of Seattle as being a hotbed for black music of any kind.<br /><br />Nonetheless, during the 1940’s in particular, Seattle was a jumping jazz town. Both Ray Charles and Quincy Jones spent important developmental years in Seattle. The producers of “Wheedle’s Groove” (the “wheedle” being the mascot of the Space Needle, used to symbolize Seattle as a whole) were fortunate enough to get Quincy Jones to give his insights on the Seattle scene as it was during and after World War II. In more recent years, Sir Mix-a-Lot (who also participates in this film) has represented Seattle on the national urban-music scene.<br /><br />But our primary concern here is the golden era of soul and funk. Sadly, hardly any footage of black Seattle bands from this period exists, which would seem to bode ill for a documentary film focusing on unknown artists.. (There IS a brief clip of a group called the Majestics, who are otherwise hardly mentioned here.) But by combining old still photos, shots of record labels, a number of audio tracks of several of the relatively few 45’s recorded by Seattle soul and funk bands (not one of which will sound familiar to anyone from the “outside”), and extensive modern-day interviews with many of the significant musicians active on the scene, director Jennifer Maas has come up with a compelling and both visually and musically satisfying document of a scene that was ill-served by those people who really should have taken the time to document it while it was happening.<br /><br />We get to hear excerpts of 45’s by such local stars as the Black On White Affair, Cold Bold and Together, Ron Buford with singer Ural Thomas, Patrinell Staten (whose “Little Love Affair”, became a British cult favorite decades after the fact), Cookin’ Bag, Robbie Hill’s Family Affair. All these artists may now be heard on Youtube, by the way, though without the context, discussions, and interviews provided by the film. Only one superstar emerged from the scene, one Kenneth Gorelick, known to the world as Kenny G, who has wonderful things to say in the film about the experience he gained by being a member of Cold, Bold and Together. Humorously, Kenny G credits the rainy Seattle weather with keeping him inside the house to practice. CB&T also featured keyboardist Philip Woo, who remains a known quantity on the international jazz scene to this day.<br /><br />As the film describes, the scene was a healthy one for several years, with a lot of work for everyone, albeit not necessarily well-paying. There was also a lot of cooperation among musicians, which is always conducive to creativity. Local radio station KYAC was strongly supportive of the scene, not generally the case with local radio in more recent times. (Several excerpts of an interview with DJ Robert Nesbitt add very insightful comments on the scene..) The fan support was strong, also. So, while no one became rich or famous at the time, the consensus seems to be that it was a great time and place to be a musician. White and Asian musicians (such as Gorelick and Woo) were reradily accepted - if they could play - despite the influence of the Black Panther Party on the scene. The clubs, however, were more segregated. The lack of gigs in white clubs no doubt worked against the bands’ greater acceptance and financial rewards. Another factor working against the bands is that Seattle was not a media center, and the bands couldn’t afford to promote their record themselves outside the area. <br /><br />Quincy Jones and Jimi Hendrix had to leave Seattle before even attempting to “make it”. In fact, Black on White Affair did manage to contact Quincy through his brother, but nothing came of it. Ural Thomas signed with Uni, once again with no breakthrough in the offing. Indeed, it seems the mere process of trying to break out of Seattle was the downfall of a few bands. Disagreements among members didn’t help, either, then disco nailed the lid on the coffin. The more people wanted to dance to recorded music, the less work there was for live bands. The fact that Seattle’s economy took a nosedive in the dark years between Boeing’s downturn and the birth of the high-tech industry led to hard times for music as well. <br /><br />Several of the participants talk about what happened to their lives . Patrinell Staten Wright became successful in gospel music, others became teachers, musicians, and white- and blue-collar workers. The scene evaporated, but thanks to this DVD, it lives on in memory, in photos, and on those precious 45-RPM records. After a long fallow period, a CD compilation of a few of those 45’s sparked renewed interest in the Seattle soul and funk scene, which eventually set the wheels in motion for the production of this film. A number of the original Seattle soul musicians got together to play at the CD release party, sounding as fine and funky as they did 30-40 years earlier. We get to see excerpts from their modern-day concerts and recording sessions. If I have a complaint about the DVD, it’s that more performances, and at full-length, should have been included, if not in the film, in the extras. (I should mention that the recording engineer who has helped preserve these new performances is the same man who recorded<br /> many of the originals, Kearney Barton, who also recorded the Kingsmen and the Sonics back in the day. He is also interviewed in the film.)<br /><br />The point is made at the end of the film that the bands featured here are only the tip of the iceberg. A long list of many, many more is shown preceding the final credits. I’ve got my fingers crossed for a Volume 2!<br /><br />There are a number of deleted scenes, interviews, performances, etc. in addition to the original 87-minute film. The movie has done deservedly very well on the Festival circuit, and is still bering shown on the big screen. But the DVD is available now from http://www.wheedlesgroovemovie.com/ This is the good stuff!Tom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-87416430813819530102011-07-20T16:44:00.000-07:002011-07-20T16:45:38.673-07:00“Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune” (First Run Features)I’m always a bit confounded whenever music fans of my own (baby-boomer) generation, including many whom I feel should know better, fail to recognize the name “Phil Ochs” when I mention it. Certainly, I’ve given up expecting anyone under the age of 40 to have heard of him. But baby boomers? Come on, this man was (in my opinion, to be sure, but I’m far from alone) the greatest singer-songwriter to come out of the 1960’s following the emergence of Bob Dylan. It seems the enormous shadow of Dylan has long since dwarfed such once-vaunted figures as Bob Lind (whose new DVD will be reviewed soon), Eric Anderson, David Blue, Fred Neil, David Ackles, Patrick Sky, and the various Tims (Hardin, Rose, and Buckley), to such an overwhelming extent that even Tom Paxton and, yes, Phil Ochs do not have anywhere near the name recognition value that they deserve.<br /><br />Nevertheless, Phil Ochs still has a considerable following, albeit a specialized one, but large enough that the theatrical release of Kenneth Bowser’s biographical documentary “Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune” in 2010 was hailed as a major event among us old-folkie types. With the film’s release on DVD taking place this week, everyone can now see what all the fuss was about. This is one marvelous piece of work, a loving, skillfully-assembled, no-holds-barred portrait of a man who was misunderstood by so many people, including himself. It’s a tragic story, a tale of disillusionment, mental illness, alcoholism, dashed hopes, unfulfilled dreams, and eventual suicide, but one with a brilliant soundtrack of poetic lyrics, memorable melodies, and a one-of-a-kind voice.<br /><br />Bowser has Included a wealth of interview clips, including many of the people closest to Phil Ochs - family (Phil’s famous photo archivist brother, Michael Ochs, who was one of this film’s producers; Phil’s well-known folk-music disc jockey sister and keeper of the Phil Ochs flame, Sonny Ochs; Phil’s wife and daughter), close friends (most notably Jim Glover of Jim and Jean, who was responsible for politicizing Ochs), musical associates (including early supporter Pete Seeger, Peter Yarrow, Judy Henske, Van Dyke Parks, Lincoln Mayorga, Joan Baez - who recorded the best-known version of Ochs’ song “There But For Fortune” - and on film, Dave Van Ronk), political associates (Tom Hayden, Fugs members Ed Sanders among them), record industry associates (Elektra’s Jac Holzman, A&M’s Jerry Moss) - an incredible array of people important to Phil Ochs’ life and career. The result is a well-rounded selection of opinions, reminiscences, and emotional responses, chronologically arranged. One might wish that some of the clips had been longer, but that’s because Ochs himself had such an engrossing life.<br /><br />It would seem Bowser didn’t miss very much. We hear about Ochs’ upbringing by a Jewish father who came back from World War II mentally unstable and a Scottish mother who refused to hide her unhappiness. We see photos of Phil growing up conservatively in small-town 1950’s America - local readers of this blog may not be aware that some of this growing up took place in nearby Perrysburg, NY, and that Ochs played clarinet at a SUNY Fredonia summer music camp; there’s even a vintage still of Gowanda’s Hollywood Theater. We find him dropping out of Ohio State University, discovering his first great political cause in the Civil Rights movement, finding hope in the presidency of John Kennedy, having his illusions shattered by Kennedy’s assassination and America’s increasing involvement in Vietnam. We learn how Ochs was browbeaten by his songwriting role model, Bob Dylan, which did not sidetrack Ochs’ unrealistic but fervent determination to make it big in show-biz through the writing of liberally-oriented (yet hardly doctrinaire) protest songs. As times change, we see him expanding (as did Dylan, of course) into more personal, less purely folk-style songs, moving beyond acoustic guitar backdrops to a more “produced” type of recording. (However, Ochs was not interested in folk-rock, but surrounded his songs with classical and orchestral influences. The results were superb, but decidedly non-commercial.) We follow his increasing involvement with the counter-culture taking unexpected turns, leading street-theater-of-the-absurd demonstrations which celebrated the end of the Vietnam War years before it actual ended. We feel impending disaster as he fatefully becomes involved as a key member of the Yippies and serves as a catalyst in the catastrophic demonstrations at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. We puzzle at his dressing up like Elvis Presley in gold lame for his career-destroying Carnegie Hall concert, which lost him the support of many of his long-term fans. A journey to third world countries leads to a meeting with nueva cancion icon Victor Jara in Chile, two years before the coup against the Allende government and Jara’s execution. His travels also take him to Africa. where Ochs is attacked and robbed in an incident in Tanzania that ruined his vocal cords. All this while, he is increasingly falling victim to bipolar disease, exacerbated by finding far too much solace for his depression in alcohol dependence. His growing combativeness begins to offend even his friends. Eventually, he falls off the deep end mentally, and announces the demise of Phil Ochs, replacing him with an obnoxious alter-ego named John Train. And then come those sad last days of 1976. To sum it up - it’s all here, it’s all examined in some depth, and it’s all put into comprehensible contexts.<br /><br />We see short video clips and hear audio excerpts of many songs from every stage of Phil Ochs’ career. I find it particularly revealing to hear live performances from after the Tanzanian incident. Yes, his voice has suffered and has lost its consistency. But the voice and style are still recognizably that of Phil Ochs. I truly believe that, if he had been so inclined, he could have continued his career well past this point. But it wasn’t Phil Ochs the singer who had been mutilated, it was Phil Ochs the man.<br /><br />“Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune” is, then, both a celebration of and eulogy for this important 20th-century artist. It would be easy to disparage him for what he became in the 1970’s, but I prefer to remember Phil Ochs as he was in the 1960’s. This film allows for both interpretations, and each viewer may take from it the Phil Ochs they wish to recall. Highest recommendation.<br /><br />The film runs 97 minutes, plus a text bio of the director, and a photo gallery.Tom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-44007365951309394082011-06-22T16:48:00.000-07:002011-06-22T16:49:56.852-07:00“Chieli Minucci & Special EFX: Live At The Java Jazz Festival” (Platinum Records)It would not surprise me if some people were to think there are two Chieli <br />Minucci’s. One is a highly-regarded composer for television, winning three Emmy <br />Awards for his music for “The Guiding Light” and themes for other programs, as <br />well as special “hold” music for Verizon. The other is an eminently skilled and <br />highly creative jazz guitarist/composer and leader of the band Special EFX, who <br />had a long run of recording success in the 1980’s/90’s. Of course, they’re the <br />same person, who happens to have developed two very different musical <br />identities.<br /><br />This live-concert DVD presents the second of the two Chieli Minucci’s, a very modern <br />jazz guitarist who himself is more than capable of changing musical identities, <br />ranging from Wes Montgomery-rooted mainstream guitarist <br />to McLaughlin/DiMeola-flavored jazz/rock/world-music fusionist, and beyond. But <br />don’t get the idea that he’s an imitator, as he does all manner of interesting <br />things to transform his influences into something solidly original. Moreover, <br />he’s smart enough to surround himself with four other musicians, who likewise do <br />new things within settings comfortable enough to be appealing to a wide range of <br />listeners, from smooth-jazz fans to rockers to mainstream jazz purists, and all <br />points throughout that wide spectrum.<br /><br />The concert was filmed in 2009 at a festival in Jakarta, Indonesia, a country one <br />might not automatically associate with contemporary-jazz. But as the fusion band <br />Krakatau has long demonstrated, there are some exciting things happening in that <br />island nation, even though Americans seem only to hear of it when there’s a <br />massive natural disaster of some sort. (Side note - I seriously doubt James <br />Brown appeared at the 2009 Java Jazz Festival, despite what it says in the liner <br />notes, as James died in 2006.)<br /><br />Minucci’s style is, as I’ve indicated rooted in earlier aspproaches to jazz guitar,styles, <br />but his rhythmic sense and textural explorations clearly mark him as a <br />contemporary equal of a Charlie Hunter (albeit without the latter’s independent <br />bass lines.) He deftly works his way from the early Miles/Chick brand of <br />jazz-rock, through "pre-dolphin" Winter Consort, a lovely Stevie Wonder ballad <br />(the only cover on the disc), Afro and Afro-Brazilian, all th way to <br />funk, through the course of seven tastefully arranged tracks, each of which is <br />of a substantial enough length (averaging around 10 minutes or so) to develop <br />through a number of changes and mood shifts.<br /><br />Each of the members of Special EFX is a a creative force in his own right, and keeps <br />a cohesive groove going as a unit. Percussionist Philip Hamilton adds wordless <br />vocal melodies and interjections which contribute a world-music flavoring to <br />several tracks. Keyboardist Jay Rowe adds lovely cushions under Minucci’s <br />playing and solos with such joy that the listener can’t help but be caught up in <br />his exuberance. Drummer Lionel Cordew always seems to know what’s appropriate, <br />while bassist Jerry Brooks has a popping, crackling approach that enlivens the <br />rhythm section and intensifies his solo breaks.<br /><br />Sound and picture quality are excellent. No bonus features, but there’s 75 minutes’ <br />worth of music, with virtually no wasted time in between tunes. It's all music, <br />very little chat, which is an important factor when it comes to repeated <br />viewing. I simply can’t imagine anyone walking away unimpressed by this concert <br />disc.Tom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4575294927284655226.post-62290314886340577832011-06-21T16:51:00.000-07:002011-06-21T16:52:20.051-07:00“These Magnificent Miles: On The Long Road With Red Wanting Blue” (Davenport Motion Pictures)What is the true measure of success? Stardom? Money? A record deal/book contract/movie-studio greenlighting? The satisfaction that many people appreciate your work, even though the size of their audience pales in comparison to, say, Lady Gaga’s? A loving family? Food on the table on a regular basis?<br /><br />The members of indie-rock band Red Wanting Blue have enjoyed a few of those measures of success for some years. Over the course of their first fourteen years as a working unit, they had the support of family and friends, they ate and had rooves over their heads (even if it was thanks to working day jobs unrelated to their aspirations to be full-time professional musicians), and yes, they had the adoration of thousands of devoted fans over a wide geographical area. But the members of the band (hereafter referred to as RWB) were long frustrated by their failure to secure a recording contract. True, they released 8 CD’s on their own and toured nationally to great acclaim, hailed by both audiences and critics. Still, the brass ring always managed to elude them.<br /><br />Goodness knows it was not for lack of trying, because - as this documentary film by producer-director Ken Davenport illustrates - the members of RWB have been bona fide road warriors, touring incessantly and gaining followers everywhere they’ve played. Goodness also knows it was not for lack of merit, as the performances shown on this DVD - featuring the distinctive,. emotion-laden baritone voice of Scott Terry - are uniformly fine. The band is tight, the songs are suitably melodic, with lyrics that often verge on the anthemic, the arrangements are accessible, yet creative. They would seem to be doing everything right. Even a recording executive who was interviewed for the film acknowledges the quality of the group. He just didn’t feel that what RWB offered could translate into major mainstream national success - yet, their faithful fan base continued to grow.<br /><br />Davenport wisely lets the band tell their own story, of good times blending with hard times, of great gigs, long drives, musical satisfactions and frustrations, personnel problems and solutions, of a group of musicians in their late 20’s and early 30’s worried that time has already past them by. We see footage of the band throughout their long career, dating back to the days when OAR opened for RWB in Columbus, OH. But OAR took off, and RWB didn’t. We get interviews with family, friends, and fans, all of whom are mystified by tthe band’s lack of mainstream attention.<br /><br />The film doesn’t beat you over the head - as some documentaries do - with manic shouts on the order of “You gotta love this band! You’re a fool if you don’t love this band”, because it doesn’t have to. The evidence is there, in plain sight and sound. This band should be as big as, oh, Matchbox 20 ten years ago, or Maroon 5 - what did they have that RWB lacks? Yet despite that national fan base and a trail of critical raves, no one would so much as give them a chance. <br /><br />Thus,, we see them involved in the mundane tasks which they feel a recording contract would relieve them of - putting CD’s into envelopes, stuffing envelopes into boxes, hauling boxes to the post office. Tasks that a record company can hire underlings to take care of. Tasks that a 14-year veteran band with a national following should in theory not have to devote time and energy to. <br /><br />Atrthe end of the movie, we learn that since the original filming, the band finally was signed to a record deal, not with SONY or Warner, but with Fanatic, whose boss saw in RWB the potential that other record execs inexplicably missed. Since that time, the band has yet to crack the upper reaches of stardom, but their time may yet be coming.<br /><br />“These Magnificent Miles” - the film is named after their most recent CD - is well-filmed, intelligently edited, thoughtfully paced. But its most noteworthy accomplishment is that it features a number of full-length concert performances and scenes shot in recording studios to give the viewer a very real sense of what this band does and what level of excellence RWB has attained. In the end, you’re left rooting for the band to make it. Ken Davenport has thus done his job.<br /><br />The film itself is an hour long. There is an unnecessary deleted scene, plus two music videos. Check out the films website, at http://www.redwantingbluemovie.com/Tom Binghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01875117894021172964noreply@blogger.com0