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Boxing
the Concept Yes, Aimee Mann sang that hit song by 'Til Tuesday. But that was 21 years ago, so get over it. You'll have to move past "Voices Carry" if you want to enjoy Mann's fifth solo offering, The Forgotten Arm. There's nary a one radio-friendly hit among the 12 tracks and nearly 50 minutes of music.
Mann scored an Oscar nomination for her tunesmithing on the Magnolia film soundtrack, and even though she has faced struggle after struggle — from record company fiascos to tour vans being struck by drunk drivers and lightning — she has persevered with a strong solo career. The Forgotten Arm is a concept album about two sorry characters: a boxer, John, who returns from Vietnam with a heroin habit, and his broken girlfriend, Caroline, who hawks at a carnival. The couple meets at a Virginia State Fair during the '70s and Mann chronicles their efforts to escape the dead-end town. The CD case is designed to look like a pulpy paperback novel, complete with vignettes illustrating each "chapter." Mann writes in a monochromatic tone, making the CD seem longer than it is, because there's so little variation between the tunes. That was intentional. She uses lyrical effect to show that the characters are stuck in a holding pattern; not much changes in their lives despite their efforts, and that comes through. On "Little Bombs," she croons "Life just kind of empties out, less a deluge than a drought, less a giant mushroom cloud than an unexploded shell inside a cell of the Lennox Hotel." Each "chapter" is a glimpse into the wounded psyche of these characters and their attempts to keep their relationship going despite the emotional and physical baggage they both haul around. The title is an allusion to a boxing move in which one boxer pins the opponent against the ropes while punching with the left arm. The right arm is between the two fighters, and is "forgotten" in the midst of the left-hooks. The "forgotten arm" moves up for the knock-out punch you never see coming. Mann's talent lies in crafting short stories set to music. Those stories are usually spare and somewhat morose, which is why the somber tale of Magnolia was such a great vehicle for her literary musings. Lately, Mann seems intent on exploring the culture of drug use and abuse that was rampant during her formative years in the '70s. This gives her plenty of room to explore shattered characters and craft stories we want to hear over and over again.
A
Kick Out of Cole It was a dream project: a superbly witty writer (P.G. Wodehouse), one of Broadway's best veteran lyricists (Guy Bolton, who wrote Girl Crazy, among others), hottest composer (Cole Porter, who'd scored Gay Divorce for Fred Astaire), and biggest comedy team, all collaborating on a new musical set on a wrecked gambling ship. Then, two days before rehearsals began, a fire aboard such a ship killed more than 100 people off New York harbor. It would be like a romantic comedy set at the World Trade Center opening on Sept. 12, 2001.
The producers quickly ordered a rewrite from some fill-ins (the original lyricists having moved on to new projects), and somehow, the hurriedly revised musical — completed on opening night and now titled Anything Goes — became the smash hit of 1934. And now it's the centerpiece of the Oregon Festival of American Music's tribute to Cole Porter, which kicks off Thursday with a big band concert at the Hult Center's Silva Hall. The festival continues Friday with two jazz-oriented concerts and Saturday with a jazz sextet and vocal quartet covering tunes from his musical Kiss Me Kate. (See our preview of OFAM's first week shows at eugeneweekly.com.) The big news is OFAM's restoration of Anything Goes, a floating farce of mistaken identity that runs five performances in the next two weeks, conducted by Eugene Opera's Robert Ashens. Subsequent productions cut a lot of songs from the original version, and while these have been restored to recent recordings, this marks the first actual staging to return to Porter's original version. (Alas, this means leaving out a few terrific numbers written for but cut from that original production, like "Easy to Love" and "Kate the Great," which star Ethel Merman declared too dirty to sing in front of her mother.) OFAM deserves plaudits for reviving one of the classics of American musical theater. Here's some highlights of the rest of the festival, all at the Shedd unless otherwise noted. "Let's Do It!" 2:30 pm, Wednesday, Aug. 10 Porter, a mordant wit whose ironic attitude matches today's, could be really funny. This show stars the great Peplowski, saxman Harry Allen and singer/raconteur Ian Whitcomb in Porter's comic songs. "Porter in Paris" 7:30 pm, Wednesday, Aug. 10 Paris in the 1920s might have been the century's pinnacle of artistic achievement — Stein, Picasso, Hemingway etc. The music of the period was equally magical, and Cole Porter (like Aaron Copland, George Gershwin and so many other Americans) soaked it all up. Igor Stravinsky was among the Russian artistic émigrés living in Paris at the time, and his entertaining little fable about a deal with the devil, A Soldier's Story , is always a kick. James Paul and the American Symphonia also perform music by Martinu and Darius Milhaud, the great French composer who was a member of the informal composer group called Les Six. Pianist Susan Smith performs piano works by all of them. This should be one of the best concerts of the summer, and a must for classical music fans. "I Get a Kick Out Of You" (with Peplowski) 2:30 pm, Thursday, Aug. 11 More jazz takes on Porter classics, featuring one of jazz's finest clarinetists. "Classic Porter" 7:30 pm, Thursday, Aug. 11 Sylvia McNair, one of the world's leading classical singers, has lately turned to pop and jazz, and this concert pairs her with a chamber orchestra drawn from the American Symphonia and conducted by James Paul in Porter arrangements by Dick Hyman. "You're Sensational" 2:30 pm, Friday, Aug. 12 Another recommendation for fans of pop and show tunes, this concert features some of Porter's most romantic love songs. "All Through the Night" 7:30 pm, Saturday, Aug. 13, Cuthbert Amphitheater OFAM wraps up with another big band show with some of Eugene's best musicians and guest artists, and featuring singers Shirley Andress and Ty Stephens.
Get
Dan Jones Now Question: Can a classical trombone player who didn't seriously start playing the guitar until he was in his late twenties grow up to be one of the most prolific and rocking music artists in the Northwest? Answer: Yes, if that guy is Dan Jones. A few weeks ago Dan Jones and his backing band, The Squids, released their latest album, Get Sounds Now, to praise from music gurus near and far. Jones says that the record is shorter and more spontaneous than his other albums, and was recorded in just a few takes. "I like elements of all the albums before this," Jones says. "But I think this one synthesizes everything I learned from Leisure King, and also has the natural feel of For Your Radio. I'd say [Get Sounds Now] is shorter and a bit sloppier, but maybe punchier and more relaxed."
The record definitely does pack a punch. Not the kind of bloody-nose punch that a full blown punk album would give you, but more like a friendly punch in the arm. The music gets your attention with its closed fist of rock 'n' roll, but the hit comes off with a tinge of unexpected tenderness. Jones is like your best friend: the guy you didn't expect to hit you who did. His music is startling and clever, there for you when you need it with poignant lyrics and slower songs, but also there to slap you back into reality with its hard-hitting punk rock. "It's a hard thing to do, to exist in the screamin' punk rock world and also be able to slow it down and tell a story," Jones says. "But I'm not afraid to do that." The bravery definitely pays off not only in the album, but also in the quality of Jones' live shows. Jones says he doesn't like to play the same show twice, and is weary of attempting to fit his music into any specific category. "It's important that people be themselves," Jones says. "There are all sorts of pressure to find this slot or to create a package that's intelligible." Jones also says that he isn't interested in pleasing the masses with his music, but instead wishes to go his own way. "I think the direction I'm going in is probably a little less accessible," he says. "I hope to get weirder rather than more conservative as I get older." If by weirder Jones also means better, he's on the right track.
Old-Time is Not a Crime Thanks in part to wonderful movies like O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the lesser-known Songcatcher, old-time music is hot as an August cornfield. Some revivalist bands are good, some bad. My grandmother calls traditional music "old-timey." She doesn't know what "Americana" means and to her, "roots" are just part of a plant. When an 88-year-old woman who raised her two kids on a fish camp in the deep South talks about "old-timey," it conjures up a rough-hewn image. Words like "modern" and "revisionist" aren't part of the conversation. The Crooked Jades are a band my grandmother would like.
The San Francisco-based band of three men and two women who all share singing duties has an air of authenticity that music purists will appreciate. On stage, dressed in period garb from the '80s — the 1880s, that is — they cluster around one microphone and burst forth with 150-year-old songs that sound more relevant than most pop produced yesterday. It doesn't sound like these vocalists took any voice training. Their voices are unpolished, nasal and maybe even a little irritating, which is as it should be. Old-timey music is hot, dusty and lonesome, not always pleasant and nice. Their picking and playing capabilities are unquestionably first-class. Band leader Jeff Kazor, who is an avid collector of vintage old-timey vinyl, formed The Jades in 1994. His interest lies in reproducing old-timey music from before the dawn of commercializing radio, meaning approximately 1880 to 1930. His vast repertoire of traditional songs and vintage instruments means the band always has some obscure gem lying in wait. They do write their own original material, and though the songs might lyrically be about a modern event, they sound like they were written for another era. "Black Eyed Susan," from 2004's five-song self-titled disc, is a barnstormer. Fiery and proud, it's a traditional tune you just have to clap and hoot along with. "Gabriel (World's on Fire") belongs in a revivalist tent. The singers are accompanied only by hand clapping and some slide guitar. The soulful, call-and-response form reveals an ancestry of African gospel. It's so good it gives you chills. Kazor's revamped touring band includes Adam Tanner (fiddle), Erik Pearson (banjo, slide), Megan Adie (bass) and Jennie Benford (mandolin, guitar) of Jim & Jennie & The Pinetops. The Crooked Jades play at 9 pm Wednesday, August 10 at Sam Bond's. $5-$10 sliding scale. —Vanessa Salvia
A Torrid Country Music Heritage Nearly nine years into his own professional country music career, Shelton "Hank" Williams III says he's finally through shooing away the expectations set upon him by fans of his namesake. "Back in the day, I had people booking me expecting a Hank Williams show," Hank III says over the phone between hurried conversations with his bandmates about their upcoming Dallas gig. "We're not really a family show," he continues.
Although Hank III was born into country music royalty, he strayed from the family legacy at a very young age. Entrenched in his country music heritage, surrounded at home by his father's music and the music of Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash, the classic country twang undoubtedly had its effect. But as Hank III explains, playing country was the last thing on his mind. "I've always been drawn to the farthest thing from country," he says. "Growing up I always had a love for it. But I always wanted to rock out first and then grow old with country." As a teenager, Hank III honed his live music chops as a drummer for different rock outfits across the Southeast. While living in Atlanta, Georgia, he would often listen to 88.5 FM, Georgia State's college radio station, an experience that crammed his teenage ears with the hard-edged sounds of the Dead Kennedys, The Misfits and Slayer. Behind the drum kit, all he wanted to do was play harder riffs and faster beats. In his early 20s, a one night stand came back to haunt Hank III in the form of enormous child support payments. He says he was up against the law and the judge told him that playing live music was not a real job. So he approached Nashville's monolithic Curb records (home to Hank Jr., Wynonna and Tim McGraw) with his lanky frame and uncanny Hank Sr. resemblance, and told them he was ready to go country. "I knew the [Hank Williams] name had a lot of lineage, and I never used that power until that judge fucked with me," he says. After just one album, the resulting deal saw Hank III locking horns with the heavily conservative label over his rebellious lyrical content and hillbilly country style, something nearly unmarketable in today's good ol' boy, new country landscape. "They're real Bible belt oriented," he says, explaining the strain in his relationship with Curb. The label has postponed the release of a new Hank III record and denied his request to put out any kind of official Assjack record. (Assjack is his punk band; his live sets are half country, half punk). But, as Hank III cautiously confirms, Curb has set a September 13 release date for the third Hank III record, Straight to Hell. He says although Curb finally stepped back and offered him the chance to make the record he wanted to make, the label was a little shaken when Wal-Mart decided against carrying a clean version of the album. What Wal-Mart customer is going to buy a Hank III record anyway, right? You can witness the offspring of country greatness or simply get down with some cow-punk country as Hank III performs with both his country band, the Damn Band, and Assjack at 10 pm Saturday, Aug. 6 at John Henry's. $15. —Steven Sawada
Floater: Boys to Men Hard working trio Floater has come a long way. Probably the only local band that can get away with selling a hoodie for $45 (including shipping), the band got its start right here in Eugene. But they ain't finished, not yet. Ten years, six studio and two live albums later, Floater is now a nationally known act. Pretty good for folks who name the UO beer garden as one of their starting points. Now based in Portland, the members of Floater have recently redefined their sound. Their first album, Sink, was released in 1994, the same year they were selling out show after show at the WOW Hall. Sink featured the heavy art rock that would become the band's trademark. Quality lyrics hidden beneath washes of guitar and bass, soulful melodies and passion were staples of early Floater. While touring colleges across the country Floater released their second album, Glyph, which included "Danny Boy," a single that hit with college kids and critics alike. Floater's next two releases concentrated more on songwriting and musical versatility. This led to "Acoustic Floater," where the band would play an acoustic set before their electric blowouts. Then it all came together. 2002's Alter was a showcase for exactly how far the band had come: strong songs, differing musical styles and a passion as fervent as ever characterized the album. No longer relying on the denseness of their instrumentation alone, the band had taken a chance. The Floater boys were maturing before our very eyes. 2004 brought both Acoustics and the double-disc live-recording reissue Floater Lives, which included The Great Release and Live at the Aladdin. Acoustics, an all-acoustic album, gave singer and bassist Robert Wynia's vocals a chance to shine, while showcasing Dave Amador's guitar prowess. Drummer Peter Cornett and the rest of the band contributed piano and strings, lending a more subdued feel than previous efforts but retaining that quintessential Floater sound. This show, then, should be a landmark for these guys. While Floater shows are usually confined to indoor venues such as the McDonald Theatre or the Crystal Ballroom, the Secret House is decidedly outdoors. How will their big sound stand up to all that wine and open space? Will they bust out with "Kumbaya"? Come down and see. Floater plays at 7 pm Saturday, Aug. 6 at Secret House Winery. $15, $18 day of show. —Jeff Winicour
Shake, Rattle and Drum Thanks primarily to the Kutsinhira center, Eugene is lucky to have a sizable contingent of musicians who study and play the sounds of the Shona people of Southern Africa. On Saturday, Aug. 6, the WOW Hall hosts a troupe of Zimbabwean master musicians and dancers, the Chigamba family, along with the California's Chinyakare Ensemble (founded by one of the Chigamba daughters). They'll be singing, dancing (with pots of water balanced on their heads) and playing metal and gourd harp-like mbiras, marimbas and various other percussion instruments. The family's music and dance heritage stretches back for generations, and they have taught and performed for decades. Zimbabwean music is some of the most ebullient on the planet, so this should be a euphoric evening of music and dance. The Chigamba Family with Chinyakare Ensemble performs at 8:30 pm Saturday, Aug. 6 at the WOW Hall. $8 adv., $10 day of show. — Brett Campbell
BADA BING'S BEANERY All Ages BLUE LUNA CLUB CHARLIE MAC'S CLUB TSUNAMI CORNUCOPIA All Ages COUNTRY SIDE BAR & GRILL COUNTRYSIDE PiZZA & GRILL COZMIC PIZZA@THE STRAND•All
Ages DIABLO'S DOWNTOWN LOUNGE EMBERS SUPPER CLUB EUGENE WINE CELLARS GOOD TIMES JAXX THE JAZZ STATION
JO FEDERIGO'S JOE'S BAR & GRILLE JOGGER'S BAR & GRILL JOHN HENRY'S KELYNSKI'S SPORTS PUB LAVELLE'S WINE BAR & BISTRO LUCKEY'S CLUB CIGAR
LUNA MAC'S AT THE VET'S MCSHANE'S BAR & GRILL MONROE STREET CAFE All Ages MULLIGAN'S PUB O'DONNELL'S IRISH PUB OREGANO'S GRILL OVERTIME GRILL PEABODY'S PERUGINO QUACKER'S RED LION INN ROSE'S DINER
SAM BOND'S GARAGE SAM'S PLACE SPIRITS STACY'S COVERED BRIDGE TAP 'N' KEG TAYLOR'S BAR AND GRILL TINY TAVERN WETLANDS WORLD CAFÉ All
Ages
WOW HALL All Ages YUKON JACK'S CORVALLIS AJ'S IOVINO'S RISTORANTE karaoke TH: The Cooler, Countryside Pizza (River Rd.),
Da Houze, Duck Inn
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