The devil is in the details. Mickey Hart, aka former member of Grateful Dead drum duo The Rhythm Devils, entertained a nearly sold-out Stage 48 venue in New York City last Friday night. Born in nearby Brooklyn, the consummate drummer, only months shy of his 70th birthday, Hart still knows how to satisfy his loyal fan base. In addition to his storied tenure as drummer for the world’s all-time greatest jam band, Hart is a multi-Grammy winner, a drum historian and successful author. Upon taking the stage he exclaimed with authority, “Let’s find places known and unknown together!”
As Hart’s five-member band took the stage, the proceedings commenced with Hart’s lengthy cymbal smashing as if a symbolic start to the evening. The band blasted off into the saucy fan favorite, Shakedown Street, the dancing ditty about which Bobby Weir once said in 1979, “we tried to make a disco song.” The predominantly mature crowd paid tribute to Hart and company by clapping, singing and dancing throughout the joyous Shakedown Street romp and subsequent exploratory jam. Some people may have difficulty chewing gum and patting their head at the same time but Hart, hands adorned with white surgical gloves, snapped hard at his gum while working an elaborate varied drum kit that he stood at for the entire performance.
This past weekend the Purple Hatter’s Ball took place at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida. One of the performances we most had our eyes on was a Sunday set dubbed “Roosevelt Collier & Nigel Hall’s Gospel Surprise.” Our friend and Collier’s publicist, Margaret Willard, was so moved by the set she penned a review and we’re honored to run it along with photos.
Words: Margaret Willard Photos: Timothy Borland and Jeffrey Dupuis
Mother’s Day took special meaning this past weekend at the Purple Hatter’s Ball, when a fellowship of musicians uplifted the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park with an emotional Sunday gospel set dubbed “Roosevelt Collier & Nigel Hall’s Gospel Surprise.”
[Photo by Tim Borland]
PHB founder Paul Levine introduced the ensemble shortly after 1pm, with a prelude dedicating the afternoon to Rachel Morningstar Hoffman, whose life is remembered each year at PHB, and to all others who had lost loved ones recently — most notably Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff of Lettuce, who hadn’t performed for a live audience since he lost his mother Rita April 29. The sun shone brightly as the amphitheater stage transformed into a place of kinship and worship, with Smirnoff and the afternoon’s other special guests Lenesha Randolph (Robert Randolph & The Family Band), Pete Shand (The New Mastersounds), Jermal Watson (Dirty Dozen Brass Band), Jonathan Lloyd (Dubconscious) and The Shady Horns - Ryan Zoidis, Eric Bloom and James Casey(Soulive, Lettuce) all joining Nigel Hall (Warren Haynes Band, Lettuce) and Roosevelt Collier (the Lee Boys) for an inspired series of classic covers and old gospel tunes.
They’re a tribute group, yes, and there will always be fans that just can’t get past that as a fundamental flaw. But I’ll say it again knowing full well what I’m in for: Dark Star Orchestra is the band from which I get the most Grateful Dead nourishment out of any touring ensemble these days.
I know what you’re saying, and some days, you’re right. And, look, I like Furthur just fine. And if Phil stops through with just about any group of Friends, I’m in. And Bob will be back soon in fighting shape, I’m sure, and I can’t wait to see what comes out of TRI Studios and Weir Here next. And 7 Walkers has so many great reasons for being, one of which is keeping Bill Kreutzmann out there and playing. And if you haven’t yet experienced the current, space-a-delic lineup of the Mickey Hart Band, you’re missing a group that’s become a must-see – an event – in a very short amount of time.
Last weekend I walked into my local Berkeley coffee shop and Bob Dylan’s Desolation Row was playing on the stereo. I turned to my friend and asked if he had any way of identifying what verse we were at – but neither of us could place how far into the song we were, or how likely it was the song would still be playing when we left. It was, in fact, still playing when we left. Later that night, I saw Wilco at The Greek Theatre open with One Sunday Morning (Song For Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend) – yet another song with numerous (albeit short) verses, and thus was born this week’s B List. Interestingly, both of those songs, and many listed below, share the characteristic of also not having a chorus.
Hurricane – Bob Dylan
There was a time in high school where I could recite all eleven verses from Dylan’s protest song for boxer and accused murdered Rubin “Hurricane” Carter. If I had time to dig through enough songs, we could probably make a B List of only Bob Dylan songs that have eight or more verses. In addition to the mention of Desolation Row in the intro, Tangled Up In Blue, Lily, Rosemary and The Jack of Hearts, the list goes on and on.
Last Thursday night McNear’s Mystic Theatre in Petaluma, California hosted Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers. The historic Mystic Theatre, a venue in the heart of downtown Petaluma, was erected in 1911 and fits 550 guests. It’s a mere 45 minute drive from San Francisco and is one of the best venues I have been to in the area.
Bluhm and her band are touring behind the release of two new tracks, Ravenous and Little Too Late, off their upcoming album. As with many, I first heard of this band thanks to their ingenious “Van Sessions” series of videos which show the Ramblers on the road playing songs in their van. After one view I was immediately hooked. The new tracks from the upcoming album are more edgy on bass and rhythms than her 2011 album, Driftwood.
{note: all of my 2013 picks can be found in a single Spotify playlist, updated weekly: RecommNeds 2013, enjoy!}
1939 Ensemble: Howl & Bite
Equal parts haunting, beautiful and funky, 1939 Ensemble are an instrumental duo comprised of vibraphone and drums. Yes, you read that right and if that doesn’t intrigue you a little bit, I don’t know what will (hey, would Neddy steer you wrong?). Floating between rock, pop, jazz and groove with lots of added horns and other percussive noise this album is a treat. These guys are definitely on my watch list.
True artistic expression comes from within and, like the music of the Allman Brothers, Widespread Panic and their friends on the lineup of this year’s Wanee Music Festival, stands the test of time.
In our modern world we have been trained by the continual replacement and updating of our electronics, knowledge base and even our food (Try our new BLUE tacos! They’re X-TREME!) to the point where anything more than a year old gets a suspicious eye towards its merit. Some things, however, can not be denied, such as the raw emotion evoked when the first guitar strains of In Memory of Elizabeth Reed cut through to your very core. The tens of thousands of visitors to the annual party hosted by the Allmans and some of southern rock’s heaviest hitters know what they like, and once again left with their socks rocked straight off by massive walls of dueling guitars, heavy organs and funky horn blasts that echoed in their hearts long after the last encore.
Back on October 10th Phish fan Myke “LawnMemo” Menio started a project called The Daily Ghost in which he would listen to and the write about every version of Ghost Phish has played since its debut on June 13th, 1997. Recently, Menio completed his project after detailing all 112 Ghosts the quartet performed up until this past New Year’s Eve at Madison Square Garden.
Myke’s passion came through in each of his posts and we were impressed at how he methodically analyzed the Phish fan-favorite as he seemed to learn from each previous article. We asked LawnMemo to share some thoughts about what he learned, not only about the song but also from the process of listening to and writing about 112 Ghosts. He put together this list detailing 10 of those things.
1. Ghost is an incredible jam vehicle. The sheer amount of fantastic jams blew me away. There is a lot to take away from just about every version. When the song Ghost starts up during a show, chances are it is going to be memorable. My top 10 list has to be a top 12 because there are just too many outstanding versions.
The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival finished its first weekend of action on Sunday at the Fairgrounds in the Crescent City. Sunday saw performances from the likes of the Dave Matthews Band, Calexico and the Gypsy Kings as well as New Orleans royalty The Nevilles, Kermit Ruffins and Big Sam.
This week, I have a handful of great gadgets to review that I have been using over the last several weeks. If you’ve ever run out of power on a mobile device – then you’ll definitely want to read on. Likewise, if your fingers have ever gotten tired of tapping on hard glass, then you’ll also want to check out a couple of great mobile accessories. There’s five devices in total and I bet at least one would be great for you! Read on and see!
The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is well underway at the Fairgrounds in the Crescent City on this first weekend of the two-weekend event. Yesterday saw performances from the likes of national acts such as Billy Joel, Andrew Bird, Jill Scott and Charlie Musselwhite and Ben Harper as well as New Orleans legends Allen Toussaint, Michael White, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk and Jason Marsalis.
With a debut album entitled The Year of Hibernation and a follow-up entitled Wondrous Bughouse, a blind assumption regarding the artistic direction for Youth Lagoon’s Trevor Powers would probably be accurate. The title, Wondrous Bughouse, certainly suggests a sojourn to the fantastical and that’s very much what happens on the new record. Similarities exist between the two albums, but Wondrous Bughouse is more experimental, more psychedelic, more demanding, and generally weirder. If The Year of Hibernation was Pixar, Wondrous Bughouse is Tim Burton.
It’s always a question of which way musicians will lean after releasing a widely acclaimed album. The Year of Hibernation was easily palatable yet sophisticated enough to avoid being deemed catchy, but what comes next? Stick with the formula? Reverse course? Thankfully, Wondrous Bughouse pushes the envelope in all the right directions. It’s well-produced; the attention to detail allows the depth to reveal itself in layers and the overall level of accessibility is tastefully reduced. It’s a more mature project that disregards immediate gratification and asks more of its listeners.
Hidden Track: Relative to the Year of Hibernation, the new album has a more psychedelic feeling to it. Were there any clever aproaches that you took in the studio to get some of those more experimental ambient sounds?
Trevor Powers: I wanted the music on this record to reflect a feeling of uneasiness. Taking sounds that are foreign but then applying them in ways that still make a bit of sense. A lot of time writing was really spent on exploring the sonics behind everything. Sometimes making music almost feels like some sort of science experiment, only it’s hard to ever feel content with it. There always seems to be more ways to tap into a certain idea. I don’t like recording in traditional ways. I like doing things I’m not necessarily comfortable with because I feel like it bleeds out through the music. It’s strange to look back at a completed work of music because your memory always seems a bit fuzzy about it. Like you concentrate so hard while you are creating that after something is created, you don’t even really know yourself how exactly it was achieved.
Now’s the time that we need to share…(new EP’s from three 2012 RecommNeds picks)
Zeus: Cover Me
Zeus is a band I am constantly trying to turn people on to, cuz… they’re awesome. Maybe this will convince you: as part of the “deluxe edition” to last year’s fantastic Busting Visions album, they’ve added an all-covers EP. This includes a killer studio version of their live-concert staple cover of Genesis’ That’s All, but also gotta-hear takes on the Flaming Lips, Michael Jackson, R. Kelly and more. Have fun figuring out which is your favorite!
Saturday, April 20th was a date many marked in their calendar for a variety of reasons. For many music-lovers in New York City that marked the date on which keyboardist Marco Benevento would finally bring his to the Brooklyn Bowl. Benevento was joined by his frequent trio of drummer Andrew Borger and Ween bassist Dave Dreiwitz for his debut at The Bowl. Diamond Doves and The Mike Dillon Band warmed up the crowd before Marco’s main course.
[All Photos by Andrew Blackstein]
Marco offered a career-spanning set that included four songs from his most recent album – TigerFace. The trio was joined by Benevento’s Garage A Trois band mate Mike Dillon on percussion for The Real Morning Party and worked a cover of The Bangles’ Walk Like An Egyptian into Two of You. With Dave and Andy laying down heavy soundscapes Marco was able to enjoy the luxury of interacting with the Brooklyn faithful. Whether it was lounging on his piano seat, wearing a plush tiger mask or inviting his friend Karina Mackenzie to dance on stage, Marco and his band were visibly enjoying the festivities.
Here’s a look at the setlist and photos from Marco’s performance at the Brooklyn Bowl…
As I sit outside of his brightly lit, music-memorabilia filled, corner office at the headquarters of Relix Magazine, a publication he’s partially saved from the brink of extinction, and just one of his ventures we will eventually chat about, Pete Shapiro is talking loudly on a conference call with someone from one of his many project managers to bonafide rock royalty. Shapiro is exuding a palpable energy that I can feel through the closed door. I find myself nervously checking my recorder and rehearsing questions over in my mind, despite having written for Relix and attended numerous parties and functions here, knowing that for a number of years THIS was the interview I’ve truly been dying to do.
From my days as a scraggly, long-haired teenager who used to frequent The Wetlands Preserve, the now-defunct hippie haven in TriBeCa, to becoming a frequent at his newest venues of Brooklyn Bowl and The Capitol Theatre, I also realize that Shapiro has essentially grown up, in the musical sense at least. The funny thing is though, I’ve watched him grow up, too.
Shapiro is not only the proud owner of Brooklyn Bowl and The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York; but as he will talk about, is also the publisher of Relix Magazine and runs numerous other ventures. One other such venture is The Hoodie Shop, a store on Manhattan’s Lower East Side that sells just that: hooded sweatshirts. But, as you will see, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In short, the man seems to have more arms than an octopus.
