Reviews
If you're looking for something to do New Year's Eve this year and you're in the neighborhood of Minneapolis, fall by The Boardroom at Trocaderos on Wednesday night for a four-band groove extravaganza on two stages, hosted by local music partiers The Big Wu. Doors open at 7:30 with the first band starting at 8 pm.
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It's a Friday night, and I'm back at the Fox Theatre in Boulder, CO. The moon overhead is as big as it'll be for the next 8 years or so. For the beginning of the weekend it's kind of slow, maybe because it's seriously cold outside. The mood inside seems appropriately low key as well, featuring only three performers in total. Joe Pug is on stage now, and the Boulder born and raised Wood Brothers
Last Saturday night was a regular jamfest down at the Boulder Theater, and something like a showcase of local mountain bluegrass scene. The evening's festivities featured the likes of Great American Taxi, the Emmitt Nershi Band, Oakhurst, the Jefferson Hamer,
Living in Colorado, the chance of an epic snowfall during the winter can be pretty good. One such weather occurrence happened in late 2006 when three straight weekends of blizzards hit Denver and the surrounding Front Range. The city essentially shut down those days, and holiday travels were next to impossible. In the midst of those storms a highly anticipated two-night run of the Stephen Perkins-led project Banyan was cancelled. As fate might have it, out of the darkness came light as a new improv group called PRAANG was born.
The holiday weekend gave most us a chance to enjoy some needed time off from our daily grinds, as well as fill our homes with friends and tons of the usual Thanksgiving feasts. And what better way to work off the turkey and tators than by dancing to the reggae, rock, and hip-hop sounds laid down by Michael Franti and Spearhead, who brought the noise this last Friday to Denver's
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Unlike the raw, folk music I heard during Nathan Moore's thought provoking solo sets on a recent short tour of the Northeast, his latest release, 'You Yeah Smokin' Hot', takes advantage of what the studio has to offer today's musician.
Nearly every performer out there is touting some sort of Christmas or holiday album. Among those that came across my desk was a little gem called The Jewish Songbook: The Heart and Humor of a People (2008). It's a CD compilation from Shout Factory and the Jewish Music Group put together by record producer, recording engineer, playwright, singer, and screenwriter, Brooks Arthur.
On a cold November Sunday night in Philadelphia not too many people were out and about. But at the World Café Live, near the Ivy League campus of the University of Pennsylvania, there was beautiful music happening with or without the crowds. Even the upstairs of venue has a special feel when it's not overly packed. It felt like a jazz night.
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Branches on the tree of music will never stop growing. As soon as someone pioneers a new sound, five others have radiated from it, creating what they see as their own unique niche, slightly different form their predecessors. Unfortunately, such constant divergence creates an intricate web of music where nothing is original and no two sounds can be grouped exclusively under one heading. This has lead to bands describing themselves with more stylistic differences than those listed at a record store. "Rock infused funk with folk and indie influences." What the hell is that?
