In some narrow circles the backbeat has been given a bad rap. It has been misappropriated into some of the worst music ever — though it shows up in some of the best. It has been frowned upon as lowbrow and pedestrian. Yet the backbeat provides the rhythm for virtually all music. Don’t fear the […]
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Ringing true
You might have to go back as far as John Coltrane’s Stellar Regions (1967) to find an album with as vast a concept as Stefon Harris’ TheGrand Unification Theory. Then again, Harris is not what you’d call a one-dimensional musician. Having placed second to vibes legend Bobby Hutcherson (and first in the Rising Star category) […]
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Of love and train wrecks
Ever since bands like Pavement and Guided By Voices first helped popularize a laissez-faire approach to recording and production values in the early ’90s, popular music seems to have fully embraced the concept of imperfection for its own sake. Early Pavement and GBV recordings — thin, scratchy, often homemade affairs — were full of glaring […]
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The joyous side of jazz
Jane Monheit has good reason to be smiling from the cover of last month’s Down Beat. She recently left the world of indie labels behind to release her latest album on Sony. At a time when jazz is not exactly flying off the shelves at music stores and record labels are dropping veteran players, there’s […]
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Tattooed in A flat
I dug The Franks (is that a cool name or what?) open for The Earl Cram Revue at The Montage a couple of Thursday nights ago (alas, it would turn out to be my last time there). Frontman Dan Frank is another great guitar player here who I’m afraid gets overlooked. It’s the 20th anniversary […]
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Old is new again
“I’m a chance taker, you might say,” says Geno Delafose from his ranch in Eunice, Louisiana. “Traditional tunes are what I do best and nobody else was doing them. I play the music that I love. I believe in myself.” Delafose is talking about a decision that he made in 1994 when he took over […]
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‘It’s Saturday night, it’s you, and it’s them’
Down in the night-life trenches where the real bands slug it out, exposure is the filthy lucre doled out by club owners in lieu of cash — or respect. If you’ve ever ventured into a nightclub clutching an instrument, with a song in your heart, stars in your eyes, and nothing in your pockets, then […]
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Cash Mattock catharsis
A stranger walked up and handed me a package. It was a standard press kit stuffed with CD, photo, and bio. I waited for the big pitch that usually follows, but it didn’t come. “This is not me,” he said simply. Needless to say, I was intrigued. “This is Cash Mattock,” he said. Cash Mattock […]
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Last minute tune-up
Diane Schnier Before Cowboys Basemental Cowboys effectively unseats Ben Folds as the heir to Elton John’s legacy of gorgeous lyrical piano in a pop setting. Unsullied by even a hint of hipster irony, Schnier’s tenderhearted, almost precocious vulnerability is a marvel. Ditto on the sophisticated arrangements. She’s underground, but not for long. Catch her when […]
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Lighten up, hippies
The Chesterfield Kings have obviously learned at the feet of the rock ‘n’ roll masters, as they proved once again to about 500 fans at Water Street Music Hall two Saturdays ago. The show was loud and loose as always, with Paul Morabito laying down some fantastic guitar. They’re finally letting the boy shine. And […]
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‘Prepared to spend a lifetime’
Earlier this year, before the Republican and Democratic parties had selected their presidential candidates, folk singer-guitarist Ani DiFranco talked to City about the dilemma facing those who had voted for Nader in 2000. This time around, there was a growing sense among progressives that they would have to vote practically instead of support the candidate […]
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‘Follow this, bitches’
I dunno. Maybe rock ‘n’ roll lost its punch with the introduction of grammar. As soon as songwriters got clever, or cleaned up their English, or started straying outside the jungle, the primal urge was lost. So the next time you sit down to bang out the next rockin’ ode to whatever, here’s a good […]
