REVIEW: New York Times on the “poignancy” of Bill Charlap and Tony Bennett’s “The Silver Lining”

THE NEW YORK TIMES –

There’s a track on Tony Bennett’s new album, “The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern,” that suggests a return to form: “I Won’t Dance,” which recently served as a his-and-hers set piece in his marquee collaboration with Lady Gaga.

This new version of the tune, arranged as a springlike waltz, features Mr. Bennett alone on vocals, with a sparkling piano trio. He sounds crisp but at ease, maybe a touch relieved — like someone given the chance, at last, to trade klieg lights for candle-glow.

(9/23/15)

PREVIEW: Elvin Bishop headlines Edmonton Blues Fest

Roger Levesque for The Edmonton Journal

Bishop’s story isn’t the first in which the musical explorations of a curious teenager led to a lifelong career. But at 72, this veteran guitarist and singer can’t think of a better way to stay busy than playing the music he loves. He still jets out to perform somewhere nearly every weekend.

Born in California but raised in Iowa and Oklahoma, Bishop was an easy convert to rock ‘n’ roll before he heard the blues. A five-year stint with the famous Butterfield Blues Band during the mid-1960s helped launch his career before he hit the pop charts leading his own band on Fooled Around And Fell In Love in 1976. More recent sets for have won him renewed popularity with blues fans.

Last year’s release Can’t Even Do Wrong Right (his 20th studio album) found the bluesman in excellent form, reunited with old friends, using his slide technique and good humour to garner seven Blues Music Award nominations (he won for Best Album, Best Song and Best Band), and winning the Living Blues Award for Best Album. He was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last spring as part of the Butterfield band.

Read the full preview and Q&A at The Edmonton Journal
Elvin Bishop on TKA

REVIEW: Walter “Wolfman” Washington Live at d.b.a

Keith Spera for NOLA.com

Walter “Wolfman” Washington closed out 2013 at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy, far from the New Orleans music clubs that are his natural habitat. But, he happily reports, his Roadmasters had no trouble translating his distinctly Big Easy hybrid of funk, soul, and rhythm & blues for the Italians.

He is one of the living legends of New Orleans music, an especially soulful singer and guitarist who has haunted the city’s clubs and festival stages around the world for 50 years. He cut his teeth as a sideman to Lee Dorsey, Ernie K-Doe and crooner Johnny Adams before founding the Roadmasters 28 years ago.

“I lead the band with my movements. You never know what I’m going to do on the bandstand. Every night I do something different with each song. If I was to play a song the same way every night, everybody would get bored. Even me. So I try to do something different just to keep it alive.”

The current Roadmasters may be his tightest unit yet, he says, “because all the cats are older now, more settled. Five pieces, and they sound like 10. The connection we have with each other is good.”

FEATURE: From Bollywood to Brooklyn: Red Baraat

Amelia Mason for 90.9FM WBUR

Red Baraat does not aim to mimic Indian baraat bands so much as harness their energy and allow other influences to permeate. When he founded the band, Jain purposefully recruited a group of players with diverse musical touchstones. Among its eight members, Red Baraat includes a trombonist who grew up on gospel music in the African-American church, a Sikh trumpet player with background in ska and reggae, and a sousaphone player who likes to rap.

The result is strutting, hyper-rhythmic music inflected by hip-hop syncopation and the sinuous minor-key Punjabi melodies of Jain’s childhood.

Read the full feature at 90.9FM WBUR
Red Baraat on TKA

REVIEW: Roy Haynes at 90

Stanley Abraham for Elmore Magazine

The combination of wisdom and experience enhances anyone’s ability to perform. On a beautiful summer night at the Blue Note in NYC, Roy Haynes displayed those qualities, touching the hearts and souls of the audience with his showmanship and musical abilities.

Accompanied by Jaleel Shaw on sax, David Wong on bass and Martin Bejerano on piano, sublime musicians who have been with Roy for a minimum of nine years, Haynes’ set consisted of “Grand Street,” “We’ll Be Together Again,” “Bemsha Swing,” “Question and Answer” and “Summer Night.” Listening to them play together was a testament to their individual talents, as well as their ability to create a unified sound that was fun to follow and easy to enjoy.

Read more at Elmore Magazine
Roy Haynes on TKA

REVIEW: Bettye LaVette Proves Her Worth

Joann D. Ball for Grateful Web

Bettye LaVette and bandmates; Alan Hill (music director, keyboards), Darryl Pierce (drums), James Simonson (bass), and, Brett Lucas (guitar) treated the packed house to a deep and thorough exploration of her new album. She shared stories about how she discovered and personally connected with the songs, then sang them from her heart and soul. She also gave credit where it was due, and identified the songwriters of all of the record’s 11 tracks.

Ms. LaVette lets the music move her throughout the evening. She danced her way through “Complicated” by the Rolling Stones. She was wistful and reminiscent, however, when she introduced “What’s It Like” as the type of conversation she’d have with her beloved older sister who died years ago. After covering the entire new CD, she took requests from the audience and responded with a fiery version of “Joy” by Lucinda Williams. A reworked and almost unrecognizable version of the Beatles’ “Blackbird,” and a celebratory “Before the Money Came (The Battle of Bettye LaVette)” followed.

At the end of the upbeat tale about beating the odds, LaVette left her band onstage. Singing “until the money came,” she took a well-deserved victory lap around the venue and through the backstage door.

Monthly Archives: September 2015