 |
  |
|
 |
||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||||||
Get
Thee to the Bar
Twnty years ago, Monti Amundson was touring across the country and Europe with the Blubinos. These days, he's playing a little closer to home in support of his first CD in six years, Big Monti, a compilation of older songs from out-of-print and hard-to-find albums and a few new tracks. Amundson's renown across the Atlantic can make it a little difficult to learn much about him — a good number of his 1,600 Google hits are in foreign languages. He's been compared to Stevie Ray Vaughn and Johnny Winter, but "My American Dreams," Big Monti's first song, seems to have more in common with the hits of '80s rock radio: big arena-rock drums, one simple guitar riff repeated until the inevitable solo, and Amundson's conversational, vaguely country-tinged vocals. Throughout the album, the production is glossy, the guitars thick, the drums straightforward and solid. But later tracks with their repeating lyrics, requisite "blue notes" and chugging rhythms, call up images of smoky bars frequented by sultry women and men with slicked-back hair. And that's the thing about a blues record: Is it really meant to be listened to on iTunes while sitting at a desk on a just-turning-sunny afternoon? Something about that scenario just doesn't seem right. But a few beers into a weekend evening, perched on the edge of a vinyl barstool trying to get the bartender's attention for another drink — maybe a JD on the rocks this time — then, a good blues-rock soundtrack to your night would be an entirely different thing. Since Amundson's hearty voice promises to be more engaging in a live setting, and his quirkier songs suggest an entertaining personality, Mac's might just be the place to do your Saturday night drinking.
Soulful
Songs Of all the musicians to emerge from the fertile musical breeding ground of Austin in the past couple of decades, maybe the most promising was Alejandro Escovedo — and that's saying a lot when you consider that the town spawned or attracted immense talents such as Lucinda Williams, Joe Ely, Nanci Griffith and dozens more. His songwriting is as sensitive as his musical range is wide, ranging from punk (in his 1970s San Francisco band the Nuns) to garage rock (Buick Mackane) to cowpunk (Rank & File), to folk rock (True Believers) to orchestral rock to musical theater (his multimedia stage show By the Hand of the Father, which combined songs, monologues, stories and images to chronicle the Mexican American immigrant experience).
He comes from a musical family (his father and brother, Pete and Coke, played with Santana; his niece is percussionist and Prince protègée Sheila E.) and has earned critical raves musicians would sell their amps for; the bible of alt country, No Depression magazine, named him Artist of the Decade for the 1990s. Yet Escovedo's career has been plagued by setbacks from record company politics and collapses, a painful divorce and subsequent suicide of his ex-wife, the Austin disease (i.e. working in a musically rich territory that crosses rigid radio station and corporate music categories), and, most recently, hospitalization due to hepatitis C; a tribute album to help with his enormous medical expenses featured John Cale (who played one of his songs here last year), Steve Earle, and many other stars. Now he's back onstage and headed for The Shedd on Wednesday, April 6, and if you like rock, country, folk, or just music, do not miss this chance to hear one of the great songwriters of our time. The next two evenings, The Shedd returns to its classical roots when the American Symphonia and Eugene's favorite soprano, Maria Jette, perform seldom heard music of Samuel Barber and Benjamin Britten. Transatlantic musical soul brothers (both wrote tonal music considered conservative by mid-20th century critics, both chose musicians as romantic and creative partners — the tenor Peter Pears for Britten, the composer Gian Carlo Menotti for Barber — both were inspired by poems, prose, and stories, etc.), each found ways to incorporate modern musical developments without alienating romantic and classical music fans. The April 7 concert features Barber's last work, the elegiac Canzonetta for oboe and strings, and Jette singing Britten's setting of Artur Rimbaud's prose poems, Les Illuminations, along with his tribute to his teacher, Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, and one of Bridge's own songs. The April 8 show pairs Barber's playfully pastoral wind quintet, Summer Music, with Britten's Winter Words, a setting of Thomas Hardy poems featuring Jette, who also sings Barber's settings of poems by Rilke. Some rarely heard works by both composers round out a program that should appeal to fans of art song and chamber music. Since The Shedd began hosting the biggest names in jazz a couple years ago, we've been treated to some terrific shows by Wayne Shorter, Jason Moran, Bill Frisell, Dave Douglas, Tomasz Stanko and more. But none burned quite as brightly as the incendiary set by Dave Holland's quintet. The veteran bassist/composer and his superb band connected in a way that jazzers always seek but too seldom find. On April 10 Holland brings back the quintet, augmented by the other players in his multi-Grammy award winning big band, for another Shedd concert. Ever since Miles Davis brought Holland over from England to join his legendary band, he's been at the forefront of jazz, working with Stan Getz, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock as well as younger stars, and garnering reams of deserved awards. This is a top recommendation for jazz fans. For something a little farther out, try the April 12 Shedd show featuring sax/clarinetist Phillip Greenlief and cellist Theresa Wong. The duo incorporates text and graphics into their performances, and have scored films and theater works. They're as likely to embark from the music of Pauline Oliveros, Morton Feldman, and Igor Stravinsky as Thelonious Monk. Still more adventurous improv for guitar, voice and other instruments happens at DIVA on April 9, when Eugene's SIECOX joins Speedy Weaver of the Canadian new music collective Set Fire to Flames. Speaking of jazzy duos, the UO faculty team of percussion masters Charles Dowd and Tracy Freeze will celebrate the release of their new CD with an April 7 concert at the UO's art museum, including originals by Dowd and covers of Chick Corea classics. Their often playful, virtuosic vibraphone and marimba duets are as colorful as the Andy Warhol screen prints on the walls behind them. Great chance to hear some swinging music and experience the splendid new setting of our community's crown jewel of the arts. The UO faculty jazz septet plays Beall Hall on April 1, while you have another chance to check out our local creative musicians on April 10 when Beall hosts performances of original works for percussion, brass, piano, strings, flute, clarinet, and sax by another UO faculty pair, retired profs Hal Owen and Victor Steinhardt. On April 13, Beall will also host the Ukrainian choir Cantus and the University Singers in contemporary American and Ukrainian music.
The
Duality of Blowfly
I had a feeling Blowfly, the original porno rapper, knew I wasn't white when he picked up the phone. "You jus' made the biggest mistake of your cracker life!" he warned in a raspy Southern drawl. "But I'm not a cracker," I replied. "I'm Japanese … dude." "Tom!" (Tom is his manager) "He says he's not a cracker! Oh, I'm sorry, the interview is over then!" We both burst into laughter. There's something incredibly un-PC about laughing at anything Blowfly says. Nearly every word out of his mouth is graphic and foul, though laced with sarcasm. When I suggested we grab some barbeque when he gets into town, he in turn suggested that we eat something else, something dripping, which I can't print. Plus, with songs entitled "The Sperm is Gone," written to the tune of "The Thrill is Gone," and "My Baby Keeps Farting in My Face," mocking the melody of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head," you can see why his records were sold surreptitiously in the back rooms of records stores during the '70s However, it is liberating to acknowledge and indulge that sophomoric side in all of us. It's even more liberating to know that when it's all over, when Blowfly steps off stage, I can again resume my everyday life with all my crude thoughts locked away, and all of my social sensitivities again pinned securely on my sleeve. It is humbling to also know that Blowfly is simply an act. Like Freddy Krueger, he could be your worst nightmare — if you let him. But when as a kid you discover it's scrawny, widow's peak-laden Robert Englund under the Freddy mask, the boogie-man just isn't as scary anymore. He is still frightening, but suddenly it becomes entertaining to be frightened. Blowfly follows the same formula. He is the alterego of Clarence Reid, a God-fearing Christian who swears he never drinks, smokes or does drugs. In the '60s and '70s, the musically gifted Reid penned chart-topping tunes for R&B legends such as Gwen McRae and Betty Wright. Now, there remains a part of me that wants to tell the world that Clarence Reid is a gentle, considerate and wise grandfather-like figure. But as a staunch disciple of all the old schoolyard commandments, I can't "blow up the spot." No pun intended. His true identity should remain as secret as Superman's was to the people of Metropolis. Besides, I'm sure he's already angry enough over me calling him "grandfather-like." But he is 60, and getting there. Plus, I think he deserves a good ribbing over what I had to endure over the telephone! So, to endorse the man's career-reviving rocket to indie-stardom via the Alternative Tentacles express, to quell the fury of a future Blowfly song being written about me, and to rally Eugene's activist population to arms, here's the low-down on Blowfly. He is the nastiest, crassest, rudest, dirtiest, most shocking, most offensive, most sexist old man on the face of the Earth. He is the ORIGINAL porno rapper. He will send the uninitiated running out the door, screaming and scolding this foul-mouthed abomination dressed in a shimmering Luchador outfit. And I couldn't be more elated that he's performing at John Henry's in support of his new album Blowfly for President, which is being released on Alternative Tentacles.
From
the Ground Up The Oregon Country Fair (OCF) "villagers" filled the room in the old Whiteaker School at their monthly meeting, planning for next summer and trying to figure out how they're going to fix their condemned booths. When one of the speakers announced that the OCF powers that be are requiring the Community Village to build the new booths using lighter, more portable materials and completely redesign the booths so they're removable, low impact, Earth-friendly and more creative, you could feel half the room groan.
Money's tight. Even though the OCF board allocated a big chunk of change for the booths, the $3,000 they're getting is probably much less than what it will actually cost to fix or rebuild them. But that's not the real issue. The real issue is change. Some of the Community Village folks have been hosting their non-profits, promoting their causes and, during the OCF's run, sleeping in the communal lofts above the existing booths, for decades. But this is a forward-looking group and when the same speaker went on to talk about how the mandate could be an opportunity for the Village to lead by example, the energy in the room shifted to a buzz of excitement. To accomplish that feat in the next few months, the Community Village is teaming up with students from the Ecological Design Center at UO. The result of this partnership could be a truly innovative design that sets the standard for booths used at similar events. "It gives us the opportunity to create a new, environmentally progressive model that lessens our impact on the fair site and brings in a balance between our construction and the environmental needs," said Daniel, a member of the Community Village Council. "In many ways the village was started as a depot or oasis of environmental or social change. So this fits in perfectly with the philosophic underpinnings of the Community Village and allows us to manifest our ideals." To help raise the money they'll need to make it happen, they're holding a benefit at Cozmic Pizza Sunday with folk rockers Joules Graves, Higher Ground and Jupiter Hollow. The event is also an open house for the members of the Community Village, many of whom will be on hand promoting their causes from alter-able access to peace activism. So even if you never plan to go to the Oregon Country Fair, you can get a taste of its more political side this Saturday.
ART OF EVERYTHING All
Ages AX BILLY GRILL & SPORTS BAR BLACK FOREST
CAFÉ PARADISO CLUB TSUNAMI COUNTRY SIDE RESTAURANT COUNTRYSIDE COZMIC PIZZA@THE STRAND All Ages DA HOUZE DOWNTOWN LOUNGE DUCK INN GOOD TIMES JO FEDERIGO'S JOE'S BAR & GRILLE JOGGER'S BAR & GRILL
JOHN HENRY'S THE KEG KELYNSKI'S LAVELLE'S WINE BAR & BISTRO LONE STAR BAR & GRILL LUCKEY'S CLUB CIGAR LUNA MAC'S AT THE VET'S
MCDONALD THEATRE MONROE STREET CAFE THE O BAR & GRILL OREGANO'S GRILL OREGON ELECTRIC STATION OVERTIME GRILL PEABODY'S PERUGINO QUACKER'S RAMADA INN RED LION INN ROSE'S DINER All Ages SAM BOND'S GARAGE
SAM'S PLACE SAMURAI DUCK SPIRITS STACY'S COVERED BRIDGE SWEETWATER'S TAYLOR'S BAR AND GRILL TINY TAVERN WOW HALL All Ages
CORVALLIS AJ'S IOVINO'S RISTORANTE MURPHY'S PLATINUM NIGHT CLUB SQUIRREL'S TOMMY'S PEACOCK
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
