Archive
Jones & Fripp’s Crimson Tool
So… King Crimson and Tool have toured together in the past. As posted on Blabbermouth, guitarists Adam Jones (Tool) and Robert Fripp (KC) are… well, read it here…
TOOL guitarist Adam Jones met with KING CRIMSON founder and guitar player Robert Fripp last month in London to discuss reactivating a collaborative album the pair began working on several years ago. Fripp revealed the news about the meeting in a post at his online diary, writing, “A fabbo lunch with Adam covering a wide range of common interests & experiencing, among which: the possibilities of continuing our album, begun in Los Angeles some 5-6 years ago; and go out speaking together.”
Drool.
~Dan – np: George Hrab – Interrobang?!
Steven Wilson Cover Versions boxset
Steven Wilson‘s 6th and final Cover Versions is finally coming out…
It comes with a special box to house all six discs. The CDs are available via Burning Shed or Headphone Dust. CV5 & CV6 will be out on 7″ vinyl from Tonefloat when they’re ready. For those that don’t know Steven Wilson… he’s the frontman of Porcupine Tree, co-leader of Blackfield and No-Man, and involved in many other side projects like IEM, Bass Communion, and more…
Two other quick newsbits…
The Maynard James Keenan (Tool/A Perfect Circle/Puscifer) & Eric Glomski documentary about Arizona wines, Blood Into Wine, is hitting limited silver screens in February. A DVD release is scheduled for May 2010. More info over at Blabbermouth.
Radiohead drummer Phil Selway is branching out and going on a solo tour in Italy/Spain/Portugal in March & April 2010. More info over at Paste.
recent jazz {Jan 2010}
So, I usually don’t do album reviews, but I get tons of music (some comp’ed and some purchased); so I figured I’d do little snippet reviews once a month or so… here are some recent jazz CDs I got recently. All of them were pretty darn fabulous…
Mostly Other People Do the Killing – Forty Fort (Jan 2010) So, I’m a fan of composer Moppa Elliott and trumpet player Peter Evans. Peter’s solo show in Eugene a couple of years ago was an avant-garde delight. MOPDTK is a little more straight forward than Peter’s solo stuff. It’s a fun jazz group… very similar in feel and youthful, party jazz energy as Reptet (up in Seattle). This is their second album that I’ve heard but their fourth released. My favorite tracks are “Nanticoke Coke” and the title track “Forty Fort.” I’m looking forward to more from this killer band ensemble.
http://www.myspace.com/mostlyotherpeopledothekilling
Big Crazy Energy New York Band – Inspirations (Feb 2010) Led by trombonist Jens Wendelboe, BCENYB’s latest record is a delight. The big band lead-off track, “Pleasant Pheasant,” is my favorite. There are a few slower tunes on the record, and even a vocal song or two (of which I’m only “so so” on). It ends strong with a big band instrumental version of the Beatles classic “A Day in the Life.” This record is only available on CD Baby, from what I can tell. Support indie music!
http://www.myspace.com/jenswendelboe
Charles Evans & Neil Shah – Live at Saint Stephens (Dec 2009) Slow and meandering in spots with nice piano, this live recording from baritone saxophonist Charles Evans and pianist Neil Shah touches on the minimalist and sublime. It’s a primarily improvisational and free-jazz in nature. I think it gets a little tedious in parts (too long of movements that I felt didn’t go anywhere), but that’s sort of the nature of the beast with improvisational free-jazz. Charles & Neil end of very strong with “What Worked, What Didn’t, What Wouldn’t, What Would’ve.”
http://www.myspace.com/charlesevansneilshahduo
Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord – Accomplish Jazz (Dec 2009) Moppa Elliott (from the aforementioned Mostly Other People Do the Killing CD) is also involved in this album… via playing bass. Jon Lundbom is a jazz guitarist, and his pieces definitely gear towards that instrument. A meandering piece and a more classical-influenced piece split up the album. My favorite tunes were “The Christian Life” and the more energetic “Baluba, Baluba.”
http://www.jonlundbom.com/
Prana Trio – The Singing Image of Fire (Jan 2010) World music meets jazz… I dug the instrumental pieces moreso than the ones with vocals (that’s the nature of what I’m liking as of the past few years). It features classic poetry from ancient Persia, India, and China – and I’m sure it’ll grow on me fairly well. The music is very fit well with the poetry, very colorful and nuanced.
http://www.brianadler.com/prana.htm
Next up will be the January 2010 Tzadik & Franck Smith/Zn’shñ releases – which I just got and need to find some time to digest (soon)…
~Dan – np: John Zorn/Mike Patton/Ikue Mori – Hemophiliac
PDX Jazz Fest :: Dave Holland Quintet
Well, the PDX Jazzfest in Portland, Oregon, is about 3 weeks away. You won’t want to miss it. There are many fantastic local and national acts, including these great headliners:
Thursday, February 25 – Luciana Souza
Friday, February 26 – Mingus Big Band
Saturday, February 27 (3pm) – Trygve Seim & Frode Haltli
Saturday, February 27 (7:30) – Dave Holland Quintet
Sunday, February 28 (3pm) – Pharoah Sanders
Sunday, February 28 (7:30) – Dave Douglas Brass Ecstasy
As we lead up to the event, I’ll focus on one of the headliners a week… next up the Dave Holland Quintet.
At the pinnacle of his career, Dave Holland has settled into the unassuming role of jazz master. The multi-award and poll-winning bassist, composer, arranger and bandleader leads two of the most vibrant groups in jazz: the Dave Holland Quintet and the Dave Holland Big Band. He has collaborated in two of the top jazz collectives of the decade: the ScoLoHoFo quartet comprised of Holland, John Scofield, Joe Lovano and Al Foster and the Herbie Hancock-piloted all-star quartet including Wayne Shorter and Brian Blade.
Though he’s too busy to be fully engaged in outside projects, Holland has played on recent Roy Haynes albums and recorded trio dates with such leaders as Geri Allen and Kenny Wheeler-all outings that he says he could not pass up. He even has taken his recording career into his own hands, launching his own label imprint, Dare2 Records in 2005.
A onetime sideman with two titans of jazz, Thelonious Monk (a short tenure) and Miles Davis (a seminal experience during the trumpeter’s Bitches Brew era), Holland made his debut as a leader in the early 1970s. He broke in as a leader with Music for Two Basses (1971) with Barre Phillips and Conference of the Birds (1972) with a band featuring Sam Rivers and Anthony Braxton. Holland also expanded his work as a side musician to include recording with a diversity of artists such as Bonnie Raitt (Give It Up, 1972), John Hartford (Morning Bugle, 1972) and Lee Konitz (Satori, 1974).
In recent years, his recording career has continued to flourish, recording such milestone albums as his quintet CD, Extended Play: Live at Birdland (2003) and two Grammy-winning big band discs, What Goes Around (2002) and the potent follow-up Overtime (2005). Continuing this impressive creative streak into 2006, Holland released a new quintet album, entitled Critical Mass. The album is the first new studio recording by the Dave Holland Quintet to be released in over five years and marks drummer Nate Smith’s debut recording with the band.
In regards to his quintet, Holland sees his band as representing the evolution of different types of rhythmic structures and forms that has been transforming the face of jazz in the last two decades. In his search to keep the music vital, Holland says the band has delved into the rhythmic traditions of Africa, India, South America and the Caribbean, as well as the innovations in contemporary music in the hip-hop and R&B worlds.
Webpage: http://www.daveholland.com/
FOR INFO & TICKETS: http://pdxjazz.com/tickets/
~Dan – np: Yuka Honda – Heart Chamber Phantoms
Jónsi Tour Announcement
Sigur Rós frontman Jónsi Birgisson‘s debut solo album GO got pushed back a couple weeks to the week of April 5th (no worries). Here’s the delicious-looking album cover…
Today he announced tour dates to coincide the release of the album…
- april 6 vancouver, canada vogue theatre
- april 7 vancouver, canada vogue theatre
- april 9 seattle, wa the showbox sodo
- april 10 seattle, wa the showbox sodo
- april 13 portland, or roseland theatre
- april 15 berkeley, ca zellerbach auditorium
- april 16 san francisco, ca palace of fine arts
- april 18 indio, ca coachella
- april 21 denver, co paramount theatre
- april 22 lawrence, ks liberty hall
- april 24 minneapolis, mn pantages theatre
- april 25 minneapolis, mn pantages theatre
- april 26 milwaukee, wi the pabst theatre
- april 27 chicago, il vic theatre
- april 28 chicago, il vic theatre
- april 30 toronto, canada sound academy
- may 1 toronto, canada sound academy
- may 2 montreal, canada metropolis
- may 3 philadelphia, pa electric factory
- may 5 boston, ma house of blues
- may 6 boston, ma house of blues
- may 8 new york, ny terminal 5
- may 9 new york, ny terminal 5
from Jonsi’s website:
The shows which start in North America in April, will feature a brand new band and a stage set designed by 59 Productions. Both these things promise to be drop-dead amazing. The idea of the stage collaboration with 59 Productions is to bring together the worlds of theatre and music in a new and hopefully unique way, in order to create something other than the hoary old cliches that pass for innovation in rock’n’roll. The ideas remain very much “in development”, but there will be some surprises, for sure. Here’s a maquette of how things might appear. Cute, huh?
So… excited…
~Dan – np: That1Guy – Packs a Wallop!
American Carnage Rescheduled!
So, the aforementioned postponed-due-to-Slayer-back-surgery American Carnage Tour with Megadeth, Slayer & Testament is back on!
JULY
23 – Pavillon de la Jeunesse, Quebec City, QC Canada
24 – Heavy MTL, Parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal, QC Canada
26 – Metro Centre, Halifax, NS Canada
27 – Moncton Coliseum, Moncton, NB Canada
29 – Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, ON Canada
30 – John Labatt Centre Center, London, ON Canada
(Slayer European festivals)
AUGUST
11 – Glens Falls Civic Center, Glens Falls, NY
12 – Izod Center, East Rutherford, NJ
14 – Tsongas Arena, Boston, MA
15 – Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ
16 – Chevrolet Theatre, Wallingford, CT
18 – Tower City Amphitheatre, Cleveland, OH
19 – Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI
20 – UIC Pavillon, Chicago, IL
21 – Roy Wilkins Auditorium, Minneapolis, MN
23 – Cap Fed Park @Sandstone, Kansas City, KS
25 – Magness Arena, Denver, CO
26 – Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque, NM
27 – Dodge Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
29 – Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre, San Diego, CA
30 – Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA
31 – Cow Palace, San Francisco, CA
SEPTEMBER
1 – Arco Arena, Sacramento, CA
3 – Wamu Theatre, Seattle, WA
4 – Washington County Fairgrounds, Portland, OR
The Portland show is now last instead of near first… heck, I’m glad about any! \mm/
~Dan – np: Feldman & Courvoisier – Oblivia
REVIEW: Popovich Comedy Pet Theater @ the Hult (Eugene, OR – 1/31/10)
FYI… A FEW PICTURES from the HULT SHOW at the BOTTOM
So, we got the flyer for the Popovich Comedy Pet Theater in the mail and had to go. It’s sponsored by Greenhill Humane Society – a great pet-friendly organization in Eugene. The show started at 2:30pm and was the same day as the Oregon Truffle Festival. Ack! Quandary! We opted hit the OTF 2010 beforehand. Amazing time at OTF, as usual. Check out my review of last year’s Oregon Truffle Fest, including the Lagotto Romagnolo (truffle dog) demo.
Anyway, back to Popovich… or as I like to call it… Pupovich…
Gregory Popovich has been featured on tons of television shows (Leno, Letterman, America’s Got Talent, et cetera), featuring his amazingly trained pets (all rescue animals – even the geese). Most notably, he has actually managed to train house cats to do tricks.
Let me let that sink in for you.
House cats. Here’s a USA Today article/interview with Gregory with a cat-training Q&A.
The show started shortly after 2:30pm… with a little doggie announcer (see video below). The first set was about 45 minutes until the intermission. It was jam packed with juggling, acrobatics, tight-rope walking animals, and more. Some of my favorite bits were the train intro (cute stuff going on), the snowy park scene, and the class scene (full of about 8 dogs). The end of the train scene with the dog dressed up as an elephant was hilarious. I’m more of a dog fan; so the way they were all working together with Gregory in the class scene was really cute. The dog & cat interaction during the snowy park scene was also really endearing.
(more pictures below)
The second set (about 30 minutes) started off with a cute doggie balloon soccer game. Up next was an adorable doggie medical clinic set, followed by impressive human rope jumpers. The finale was the cat show… about a dozen cats climbing posts, jumping through hoops, tight rope walking, parallel bar work, and all around being cats! At the end one of the cats didn’t want to leave; so Gregory brought out a dog and it got on its hind legs, and then the cat jumped on its shoulders and rode away on the walking dog.
Overall, the afternoon was highly entertaining and adorable! If you are in Vegas or if the Popovich Comedy Pet Theater comes to your town… go!
The Promo Reel:
Now, we need to get our cute, but lazy, dog to do some tricks…
The Appropriate Linkage:
- Popovich Comedy Pet Theater
- Greenhill Human Society (Eugene, OR)
- The Hult Center
- The Oregon Truffle Festival
~Dan – np: Mycale play John Zorn’s Masada Book Two: Book of Angels, Vol. 13 – Mycale
POPOVICH COMEDY PET THEATER PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2010 Margaret O’Brien,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
(click for larger)
Limited to 1200 pixels wide or tall (8 pics)
-Eyvind Kang
-Frank Zappa
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