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REVIEW: Richard Crandell @ Cozmic Pizza (Eugene, OR – – 9/13/08)

14th Sep 08 (Sun) 2 comments

I had Richard Crandell‘s Mbira Magic (Tzadik 2004) back when I lived in Ohio.  I had no idea that he was from Eugene, OR.  I happened upon a listing of a performance he did earlier this spring at Saturday Market, but a day late.  When I saw that he was playing yesterday at Cozmic Pizza for free… well, I jumped (and bike rode 2+ miles) at the opportunity.

Richard Crandell gave us a solid hour of full on metal.  Well, fingers on metal. :)


mbira: the instrument of choice

He plays the mbira (a “thumb piano” pictured above), and he’s quite good.  His compositions are very melodic, and his technique is quite fluid.  It’s almost as if the instrument is part of him.  He was carrying on a conversation with the sound guy when he ran into some technical difficulties, playing all the while.

Anyway, he played from around 1 to 2pm and played 9 songs… the ones he mentioned the names to are:

  • Bells
  • Missing in London
  • Spring Steel (based on the Japanese pentatonic scale)
  • Ghost Writers in the Sky

all pictures (cc) 2008 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution

One of the songs that he didn’t mention the name had a mbira loop played behind his live mbira, and he used a guitar finger pick to create a nice additional percussion to the loop.  His records are good as well (but mbira is more interesting to see live, IMO)…  his most recent, Spring Steel, features Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista.  Cyro’s fantastic… either with Beat the Donkey, Supergenerous, Electric Masada, Marc Ribot, or many of John Zorn’s pieces…

Richard Crandell’s records

His websites:

~Dan – np: Metallica – Death Magnetic

PS– whoa, completely unrelated, the new Metallica album, Death Magnetic, actually sounds… really… good.  It’s been 20 years since that’s happened… too bad the album cover looks like they didn’t pay their invoices timely to the graphic artist.  It’s crap, as has been expected with Metallica for the past 17 years.  But when it comes down to the music, it’s finally not rubbish.

Categories: Concert Photos, Jazz & Avant, Metal, World Music Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

REVIEW: God of Shamisen @ Samurai Duck (Eugene, OR – – 9/11/08)

12th Sep 08 (Fri) 4 comments

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW are at the BOTTOM

Well, before the show, I was kind of bummed, as Todd Sickafoose (Ani DiFranco’s upright bassinator) was playing a show at Sam Bond’s in Eugene last night as well.  GOS totally won, but Todd would have put on a great show as well.  Anyway, I swung by Sam Bond’s before heading over to the Samurai Duck… to pick up Todd’s new CD, Tiny Resistors.  I figured I might as well support indie jazz artists.  Alas, the doorman told me that Todd had to cancel.  Bummer… well, maybe he’ll reschedule, though I think he’s from New York; so maybe it’s just not meant to be this time around.

a great cartoon GOS by Rulo Barrera

On to the venue… hmmm… what to say about the Samurai Duck.  Well, you can get fried pizza.  Um… ick… I opted for a Blue Moon & a bag of pretzels.  The rest of the menu was faintly “asian,” but nothing I’d really consider to be all that interesting.  This place is definitely a dive metal bar, but they’ve got a decent stage, and the bands got set-up / switched over between sets really quick – which is a major plus, especially for a late night show.

The 1st opener, Deosyl, was really good.  I had never heard of them, but they’re from Eugene.  They were an instrumental rock/metal trio.  They were all very good musicians.  The guitarist seemed to have some great chops, in the vein of Dream Theater’s John Petrucci or Dimebag Darryl or a breed of the two.  Great stuff…

I saw GOS’s Kevin Kmetz warming up with his shamisen in between the openers’ sets…

Shat came on next, around 11pm.  I was a fan of their prior to this show.  I mean, we go way back… we’re the bestest of MySpace friends.  Or something.  Well, I first heard of Shat via the (now defunct) Coma Lilies.  They are connected to Righteous Gabe Records…

Which is absotively-posilutely supposed to confuse you with Righteous Babe Records.  They make music very much unlike Ani DiFranco, though. :)  Very much… crazy, spastic, turrets syndrome-induced rock.  Oh, I think they’re also linked to the international smash hit “Tonight Tonight Tonight Tonight.”  Or maybe just linked via Righteous Gabe…  Anyway, they put on a lively show.  They’re from Portland; so I’ll likely get to see them again.

God of Shamisen went on right around midnight.  I was tired, but doing OK.  I work right across the street; so I had popped over there to get a Coke. :)  God of Shamisen is Kevin Kmetz on tsugaru-shamisen, Karl Schnaitter on guitars, Mark Thornton on bass, and Lee “ninja” Smith on drums.  They played a great set, and it was well worth staying through a late night and two openers to see them play.  I also got to pick up their new CD, Dragon String Attack.  I’ve been listening to it today at work, and it’s great.  My favorite track so far is “The Science Fiction of Ray Bradbury Attack!”

The CD (click the picture for more info):

The Set List: (with adjustments by Mark from GOS*)

  • Traditional (Kevin solo)
  • Bad Dog Attack
  • The Prisoner (called “The Village Attack” on the CD*)
  • Tar Bomb Attack (not recorded yet*)
  • Ripe Fruit Attack
  • Stacie’s Song (for Kevin’s s/o)
  • Dragon String Attack
  • Mary Jane (with Danyl Johnson)
  • The Science Fiction of Ray Bradbury Attack
  • Metallica’s For Whom the Bell Tolls* (with Christian from Shat)

The Appropriate Linkage:

The Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey is on for tonight.  I’m excited.  I’ve been a fan of theirs for a few years, but missed them when they came to Eugene in the spring, because I was at the Ani DiFranco/Judy Grahn/Animal Prufrock show down the street at the same night.  Well, JFJO coming back to town 5 months later is a-OK with me.

~Dan – np: Jeff Ament – Tone

GOD OF SHAMISEN CONCERT PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2008 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution

Categories: Concert Photos, Metal, Rock & Pop, World Music Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

REVIEW: Nellie McKay @ Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR – – 8/15/08)

16th Aug 08 (Sat) 4 comments

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW are at the BOTTOM

Early shows are problematic, especially if you have to drive 2 hours to get to them. Oh, and also if the artist thought they started later. Blame for this goes squarely to the Doug Fir Lounge, in my opinion. Double-booking a night is horrible. Horrible. Nellie McKay* would have likely played much longer, had she been allowed to… argh.

*– for the newbies, her last name rhymes with “McPie”

Anyway, the opener Amorèe Lovell started right at 7pm, and played a stellar 40 minutes. She is from Portland, and plays a mean piano with quirky lyrics and fun banter. I’d say she fits in with the likes of Regina Spektor & Nellie McKay with a touch of Tori Amos. She also brings her own charm & style. She was very entertaining. She played mainly originals, but also threw in some Tom Waits, Johnny Cash & David Bowie. On to Nellie…

Nellie‘s start time was supposed to be 8pm. She didn’t hit the stage until nearly 8:30, due to a mix-up with her start time. Most of the crowd was getting antsy (myself included), as the late show had a “doors open” time of 9:30. Yikes. With that being said, Nellie came on and put on a great just shy of an hour show. She seemed more comfortable and confident, and she was as funny / spunky as usual.

Nellie’s Setlist:

  • Toto Dies
  • Old Enough
  • Mother of Pearl [on uke]
  • story about prince chunky, the 44 pound cat
  • The Dog Song (a fav of the set)
  • Real Life
  • Tipperary
  • Don’t Fence Me In [on uke]
  • Vote for Mr. Rhythm [with Obama tag at the end]
  • Sari (a fav of the set… with Dylan impression at the end)
  • Feed the Birds
  • Politan
  • Don’t Fence Me In [false start… she remembered she already did it] :)
  • Me Gusta Mañana [on uke.. a silly spanish song]
  • explanation about her NPR song “Cavendish”… she didn’t have time to brush up on it, but sometime soon
  • Zombie (a fav of the set)
  • Encore 1: Really
  • Encore 2: Ding Dong

The Appropriate Linkage:

Next show for me?  Radiohead next Wednesday at White River Amphitheatre in Auburn, WA (up near Seattle).  Woot!!

I was a pageant gone bad…
~Dan – np: Thelonious Monk & Sonny Rollins – Thelonious Monk & Sonny Rollins

NELLIE MCKAY CONCERT PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2008 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution

Categories: Concert Photos, Jazz & Avant, Rock & Pop, Singer-Songwriter Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

REVIEW: King’s X & Extreme @ Union Center Blvd Bash (Cincinnati, OH – – 8/10/08)

10th Aug 08 (Sun) 14 comments

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW are at the BOTTOM

My wife thinks I’m crazy. I think I agree. I used SkyMiles to fly from Eugene, OR, to Cincinnati, OH, to see two rock bands. I don’t do this often (fly somewhere for a show). Anyway, this time it was for two bands I’ve liked for 15-20 years: King’s X and Extreme. While I love King’s X, I’ve seen them a bunch and they tour a bunch; so the main reason to fly was to see Extreme* – – who broke up 12 years ago.

*– Extreme is much more than that “More Than Words” band (or that “Beethoven jamming in the mall on Bill & Ted’s” band). They wrote great rock songs, great guitars & insightful lyrics, and bordered on art rock in many cases, i.e.- the IIIrd Side (unofficially) starting with “God Isn’t Dead?” and moving into the 23-minute, three-part with orchestration, epic “Everything Under The Sun” on III Sides to Every Story. “Everything Under the Sun” is most likely my 2nd favorite song ever written (Kevin Moore’s “Space-Dye Vest” being #1).

The closest this double-bill tour was coming to me (in Eugene, OR) was Las Vegas… which would mean expensive ticket, expensive hotel, expensive meals, and a city that I find kinda boring (unless you add an expensive Cirque du Soleil show). With that being said, a FREE show with a brother within 2 miles of the festival with a FREE bed to sleep in made this one too good to pass up. [Thanks, David & Alicia!]

The day started with a yummy vegan biscuits & gravy brunch at MELT in lovely Northside and ended with Nuno Bettencourt wailing on guitar in West Chester (home of the Union Center Boulevard Bash). Well, on to the show…

This was my 15th time seeing King’s X. Did I mention I like them? The only thing that’s kept me away from one of their shows within a 200 mile radius would be a wedding. My own wedding. :) Anyway, they put on a great show tonight. Doug Pinnick, Ty Tabor, and Jerry Gaskill are the epitome of a power trio. They put out a wall of sound, heavy, chunky, yet melodic. They were scheduled to play 45 minutes (the ills of a free festival opening slot), but they got a good hour and change to play. Great crowd response, and kudos from Nuno & Co later in the evening. They put on a great set, as usual. And a friend from Nashville texted me unexpectedly while at the show. [It was great to see you, WalruSteve!]


(Doug, Ty, Jerry – not my pic, obviously)

King’s X Setlist:

  • Groove Machine
  • Alright
  • Rocket Ship
  • Black Flag
  • Move
  • Dogman (one of my favs of the set)
  • Pray (with Doug on 12-string bass)
  • We Were Born to Be Loved
  • Go Tell Somebody
  • Looking for Love (one of my favs of the set)
  • Over My Head
  • Encore: King

The spiritually searching lyrics to “Looking for Love” has been a mantra of some sort for me since way back in ’96; so it’s always good when that’s in the set. Doug seemed to be in pretty good spirits. Ty’s hair kept blowing in his face, but that didn’t stop him shreddin’ up the frets. Jerry was killin’ the skins, as usual. The sun was beatin’ down on the band, but they muscled through. Here’s hopin’ this Extreme tour helps them bring some new fans on board.

As for Extreme… This was my 2nd time seeing them. I saw them on their Waiting for the Punchline Tour in 1995 (@ Bogart’s in Cincinnati). They broke up shortly afterwards, as Nuno Bettencourt went on to do some solo stuff and Gary Cherone went on to join Van Halen (which turned out to be a poor choice… as, you know, Van Halen sucks ass). Anyway, when Extreme broke up, it was truly amicable. The band had run its course, the landscape of music wasn’t all that into hardrock with solos (but rather flannel and apathy rockin’ the suburbs), and the guys in Extreme all had different opportunities. A reunion was always a possibility, it was just a function of time…

They had their new CD (Saudades de Rock) at the show… even though it doesn’t come out until Tuesday. Only $10, too. Rock on!!


(Pat, Gary, Nuno, KFigg – not my pic, obviously)

Extreme ripped up the stage for almost two hours, playing a good mix of old songs, new songs, hits, fan favs… KFigg did a great job filling in Paul Geary’s drum “shoes.” Pat Badger’s bass playing was superb. Gary’s voice was on. Nuno was Nuno (i.e.- God) — meedley-meedley-meeeeeeeeeeee (Strongbad Email link)…

Extreme X Setlist:

  • IIIrd Side Intro Music (strings)
  • Decadence Dance
  • Comfortably Dumb (new one)
  • Rest In Peace (one of my favs of the set)
  • Star (new one, with Star-Spangled Banner outro)
  • Tell Me Something I Don’t Know
  • 1989 medley: Kid Ego /
    Little Girls /
    Teacher’s Pet /
    Play With Me     (Nuno’s solo ripped — one of my favs of the set)
  • Midnight Express (instrumental — one of my favs of the set)
  • More Than Words
  • Ghost (new one, Nuno on piano)
  • Cupid’s Dead
  • Take Us Alive
  • Am I Ever Gonna Change? (one of my favs of the set)
  • Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee (Nuno’s guitar-only take on Tchaikovsky — one of my favs of the set)
  • Get the Funk Out (one of my favs of the set)
  • Encore: Hole Hearted (one of my favs of the set)
  • Communication Breakdown [Led Zeppelin]

Overall… fuppin’ awesome! I am crazy for music, but I love being crazy. :) Being crazy is what keeps me sane.

The Appropriate Linkage:

Yeah, that’s a lotta links… I took a bunch of pictures of both bands. I hope to have them up soon, once I get back home to Oregon and have a chance to edit and upload ’em…

~Dan – np: Extreme – Saudades de Rock

KING’S X (24 pics) & EXTREME (70 pics) CONCERT PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2008 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
(click to enlarge)

King’s X Band (6):


More band shots: #3, #4, #5, #6

Doug Pinnick (8):


More Doug shots: #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8

Ty Tabor (8):


More Ty shots: #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8

Jerry Gaskill (2):


Sorry, no more Jerry shots.

Extreme Band (19) + Gear (2):


More band shots: Mourning Widows racks, Drums, Band #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, Bow #18, Bow #19

Gary Cherone (7):


More Gary shots: #3, #4, #5, #6, #7

Nuno Bettencourt (21):


More Nuno shots: #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21
Yeah, I’m a bit obsessed with Nuno. :)

Pat Badger (2):


Sorry, no more Pat shots.

Kevin Figueiredo (4):


More KFigg shots: #3, #4

Gary & Nuno (10):


More Gary & Nuno shots: #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10

Nuno & Pat (5):


More Nuno & Pat shots: #3, #4, #5

Categories: Concert Photos, Rock & Pop Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

REVIEW: Secret Chiefs 3 @ Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR – – 8/3/08)

4th Aug 08 (Mon) 10 comments

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM

The Doug Fir Lounge is an excellent venue in Portland. Pretty good sound, big enough stage, and a weird/comforting log cabin motif… a tout les monde aime l’arbre…

Primer: Secret Chiefs 3 was an offshoot from Mr. Bungle (but have now outlived MB). They play middle-eastern-influenced world/progressive metal musics. Secret Chefs 3 (no “i”) is a band that one might say is an homage to the Chiefs, and they play world music/avant-garde songs with instruments made from ordinary household items (see Ken Jacobson‘s creations in the Chefs’ MySpace photos).

1st opener… The Secret Chefs 3 (again, no “i”) is made up of Steve Parris (bass paddle), Julie Baldridge (crutch fiddle), Scott Adams (kettlevina / percussion), Rick Isotalo (drums), and Ken Jacobson (paddle / percussion). They were pretty damn good, but played far too short of a set (20-25 minutes). The drums were trash cans and water jugs. The bass and guitars were oars. There was a violin made from a crutch. Per Ken Jacobson, a string broke on it; so Julie had to switch to a regular violin for the rest of the set. The Chefs were more avant-garde than I was expecting… which was thoroughly entertaining. Trey and many of the other Chiefs came out to watch the Chefs’ set as well.

Secret Chefs 3 Setlist: (per their pre-show MySpace blog)

  • Ritual of the Bowls
  • Advieh (the Spice)
  • Kettlevina Sadaqa
  • Book of Tea: Lapsang Souchong
  • Discotheque at the Gates of Jahannam
  • Fruit of the Zaqqum

2nd opener… Diminished Men were quite good as well. They started out as a trio (guitar, bass, drums) and were joined by a saxophonist for about half of their set. I guess I’d describe their sound as rock instrumental with a heavy touch of exotica/surf guitars. Nice sound, but I couldn’t hear the sax too much in the mix. It may have been due to where I was standing, but I wandered out for a few minutes and didn’t notice much change. They played for about 45 minutes of smoke-machine filled fury… I was right by the guitarist, and got a face full of smoke/steam most of their set. At least it smelled pretty much like water. Great sound, despite the smoke. :)

The Closer… The Secret Chiefs 3 (led by a very bearded and cloaked Trey Spruance of Mr. Bungle “fame”) were fantastic. This was my second time seeing them, and my first time seeing them play a full “headliner” set. WOW… they played without much stopping for around 75-80 minutes. They started out with Jason (bass), Trey (sas) and Peijman (drums) playing “Medieval.” And they didn’t let up much until the ender “Renunciation”… the lineup for the SC3 this time around was Trey Spruance (sas, guitars), Timb Harris (violin, guitar, keys, trumpet), Jason Schimmel (bass, keys), Rich Doucette (sarangi, bass, guitar), Jai Young Kim (keys), and Peijman Kouretchian (drums). Timb and Jason are in a Web of Mimicry/SC3 brother band, Estradasphere. I picked up Jason’s new side-project (as well as the Chefs -EP-), Orange Tulip Conspiracy. Wow… it’s rad.

Secret Chiefs 3 Setlist:*

  • Medieval
  • The 15
  • Vajra
  • Personnae: Halloween
  • Zulfikar
  • The 4 (Great Ishraqi Sun)
  • Bereshith
  • Castle of Sand
  • Fast
  • Assassin’s Blade
  • Dolorous Stroke
  • Brazen Serpent
  • The 3 (Afghan Song)
  • Encore: Renunciation
    *– Outside of a few songs, I’m shit for remembering their song titles. Luckily, I was close enough to Timb’s setlist to take a picture and scrawl the info down.

The Appropriate Linkage:

Great show, all around… if you want to hear some Secret Chiefs 3, check them out on iTunes. I recommend all of their stuff, but I guess for newbies, I could limit it to: Ship of Fools (Stone of Exile), Renunciation, The 4 (Great Ishraqi Sun), Book T: Exodus, Assassin’s Blade, Zulkifar / Zulfikar / Zulfiqar III, Jabalqa / Jabarsa… or check out their Xaphan album on other music shops that may have samples (it’s not on iTunes, yet). Xaphan is my fav CD of 2008, so far.

~Dan – np: Greydon Square – The CPT Theorem

SECRET CHEFS 3 (6 pics), DIMINISHED MEN (6 pics)
& SECRET CHIEFS 3 (34 pics)
CONCERT PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2008 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution

Categories: Concert Photos, Jazz & Avant, Metal, Rock & Pop, World Music Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

REVIEW: Indigo Belly Dance @ Oregon Country Fair (Veneta, OR – – 7/13/08)

14th Jul 08 (Mon) 5 comments

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM

Rachel Brice, Mardi Love & Zoe Jakes are three tribal fusion belly dancers from San Francisco who go by the name The Indigo Belly Dance Company. I’d heard of them before, and my wife has gone to performances & workshops of theirs in the past when we lived in Cincinnati (at least Rachel & Zoe). Anyway, they were here in Eugene for the Oregon Country Fair (actually closer to Veneta than Eugene). Rachel Brice is pictured here (photo credit: Kristine Adams from the Indigo BDC’s MySpace page):

Here are Zoe Jakes and Mardi Love (photo credit unknown):

Well, on to the Oregon Country Fair ~ We braved the heat, the stinky bus passengers, and the heat (yet again) for the Country Fair this year. All around, the Fair was hot but shady (which was a pleasant surprise). It was also expensive, dusty, greasy and stinky. Alas, it’s a country fair in Oregon in July; so that was all expected. :) We came away with a nice table purchase, but that’ll be for a separate blog later.

We had a good time at the Country Fair… we started out with a fun show with the Stage Left Vaudeville Show. It started strong and, well, we left during the “free-style rap” section. Needless to say, it drifted from its big band flair entrance into something that wasn’t our thing. We went on from that to snag some yummy popsicles (Baja Coffee popsicle for me, i.e.- coffee with cinnamon, and Lemon Ginger popsicle for my wife and our friends Chris & Melissa).

We got to the Gypsy Caravan stage around 2pm for the 3pm show of The Indigo. We got there at just the right time… we scored some nice bench seats in the center of the audience. The Gypsy Caravan band was playing… and we saw some good shimmying from Aziza, Colleena (sp?), Claudia, and some other that I couldn’t remember how to spell or pronounce.

Up next was The Indigo… Their backing band was dubbed something along the lines of the Balkan Brass Band / Brass Menagerie (they were made up of several bands). It was interesting to see bellydance to something different than middle eastern music, and I dig Balkan music…

Rachel, Zoe & Mardi did a trio number to start things off. Then Zoe did a solo song, Rachel did a solo (complete with her quite phenomenal “drop move” – see around 1:17 in that video link), then there was a duet of some sort (Rachel & Mardi then Rachel & Zoe, if I remember correctly… likely I’m not remembering correctly). A special guest, Elizabeth Strong, came out and did a fantastic number with a sword. Then the group came out and did a few more numbers, along with Mardi doing a slow moves solo. They danced for about an hour, or slightly under an hour.

Photos of the performance that my wife took are BELOW…

~Dan – np: Charlie Hunter & Bobby Previte – Come in Red Dog, This is Tango Leader

Gypsy Caravan & The Indigo @ Country Fair PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2008 emobie,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution

From the Gypsy Caravan Stage (Aziza, Colleena) & Misc Other Fair Pics

The Indigo (Rachel, Zoe, Mardi, Elizabeth) Pics

Categories: Art, Concert Photos, World Music Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

REVIEW: Bill Frisell, Eyvind Kang & Rudy Royston @ the Shedd (Eugene, OR – – 6/7/08)

8th Jun 08 (Sun) 7 comments

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM

Last night was my first time seeing all three gentlemen: Bill Frisell, Eyvind Kang, and Rudy Royston. I hope it is not my last.

I’m a big fan of Eyvind from his work with Secret Chiefs 3, Mr. Bungle, solo works on Tzadik & Ipecac (and other indie avant labels). On the upper right of every page on this blog, I have a quote attributed to Eyvind Kang: “I believe that music should be grown on trees, to be plucked like a fruit without the extravagance of harvest.” There’s just something about jazz (and the show last night) where this is most appropriate. Sure, much of Bill Frisell’s music is structured, melodic, and hinting at a modicum of “harvest,” as it were. However, it definitely lives and breathes and is open for exploration within the structure.

Probably the best proof of this with regards to last night’s show was that Eyvind (viola) and Rudy (drums) had only met 4 or 5 hours prior to the show. This was the world premiere of the Frisell/Kang/Royston trio. Judging by how they played so well together, I would have thought they met at least 7 hours prior. ;) No, seriously, they seemed like long-time jam partners. It was great to see the immediacy of the musical “fruit plucking.”

The trio played just over 90 minutes straight-through (with one short break prior to an encore piece), probably anywhere between 6 or 8 pieces. They started with 5 minutes or so of experimental flexing, bordering on avant-garde. By the next piece, Bill Frisell began laying down the melodies that worked well with this trio setting. Many times Eyvind and Bill mirrored each other’s melodies, but Eyvind still was able to cut loose on his own. Rudy knew how to play subtly, but he did let loose a few times as well, especially near the end of their set.

I just got Bill’s new one (History, Mystery); so I don’t know if the songs were from that or not, or just base melodies with improvisation. The set as a whole was very melodic, yet explorative. At several times, Bill pulled out what I thought was an e-bow, but it ended up being a music box that he was playing near his guitar pickup then through an echoplex-type looping device. Very harmonic tones… which would have been intriguing to have gotten from using guitar harmonic picking and an e-bow… alas, I was wrong.

Odd note: again, this was my first time seeing Bill Frisell. Does he always avoid facing the audience? He seemed to be facing towards Eyvind the whole night (so slightly away from the crowd). I never saw his hands or the front of the guitar all night. Odd, but at least the sound was sublime.

This was Bill’s fourth show at The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts over the years. That’s a good indication that he’ll be back. To that I say, “yay!” I hope he brings Eyvind and Rudy with him.

The appropriate links:

In completely unreleated to Frisell/Kang/Royston news, but posted here since I didn’t want to add another post to “the pile”… you can listen to Sigur Rós‘ upcoming album (Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust) streaming here before it comes out in a couple of weeks: medsud-dot

Enjoy!

~Dan – np: Ken Laster – Jazz & Beyond podcast (link)

FRISELL / KANG / ROYSTON PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2008 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution

(click for larger)

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Categories: Concert Photos, Jazz & Avant Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

REVIEW: JUDE Christodal @ Aladdin Theater (Portland, OR – – 6/6/08)

7th Jun 08 (Sat) 5 comments

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM

Before I begin… any tapers at the PDX show? If so, email me.

OK, well, I try to see Jude Christodal every time he comes by. Trouble is… the last time I saw him was at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN, around Memorial Day in 1999. That was, in fact, the first time I saw him, too. He was opening up for Ben Folds Five… and he blew me away (just as BFF did), and I went to Best Buy and bought his Maverick debut, No One Is Really Beautiful, the very next day.

Anyway, he’s now pretty much 100% independent in the U.S. (and on Naïve Records in France). Being from L.A. and on a French record label, he seems to either only tour the West Coast or France. He also writes for TV shows and whatnot… you, all, and everybody may have heard his song on LOST (the… um… pretty bad “poppy rock song” by the hobbit’s band) and his song on the City of Angels soundtrack (“I Do”)…

“You All Everybody” ain’t his normal fare, mind you. His normal fare is oft-dramatic, oft-comedic, oft-falsetto, oft-witty, oft-poetic singer-songwriter extraordinaire. He’s on the short list* of acoustic singer-songwriters who’ve broken through this metal heart… in short, Jude rocks. If you haven’t heard him, you’re doing yourself an injustice, IMO.

*-others on the singer-songwriter shortlist: Elliott Smith, Peter Mulvey, Glen Phillips, Sufjan Stevens,… and some Cincinnati locals like Ash, Ryan, Jason, Kim, Kelly…

Living in the Midwest up until last fall, I didn’t get a chance to see him again… until last night. I made the ~2 hour drive up to Portland from Eugene last night to the lovely Aladdin Theater (SE side of PDX). It’s a quaint old movie or play house… old, but still cute… not in total disrepair like many of these types of venues I’ve witnessed. Great concessions, too… goat cheese, mushroom & sundried tomato pizza and Fat Tire Amber, Deschutes Mirror Pond & Pyramid heff on tap (score!).

The opener, Ryan Andrew (from Castella), was good. He didn’t get warmed up himself until about the third song. Good voice and interesting songs. He played about 30 minutes, which consisted of:

  • I Ain’t Comin’ Home Tonight
  • It Hurts Like Hell
  • The Only One (fav of set)
  • When She’s Gone (guessing on name)
  • Wonderwall (great version of Oasis tune… another fav of the set)
  • The First Time

JUDE came on just after 9pm, and played with basically no break until about 11:15 and then came back out for a 4 song encore, wrapping up around 11:30… two and a half hours of quality Jude…

One of the funniest things (and there were many) was a girl named Molly brought up a sequined duck to the stage as a gift for Jude. “The prettiest thing a stripper ever owned,” gasped Jude. Then he quickly back-peddled, as to not seem unappreciative. “I mean at some point the dresses don’t fit anymore… I’m gonna sequin ducks.” He even serenaded it with a song later in the night (see pics below).

The crowd was very lively / rowdy / talkative / chatty / request-y. Jude fulfilled most of the requests. Some, though, he just couldn’t remember (his own “Charlie” and the chords to Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy“). He played over 30 songs, 2.5 hours, great concert all around. He also had many crowd interactive sing-a-longs. The best was the “drunk singing choir” for “Everything’s Alright.” It was hilarious… because it was true.

“The Minnesota people” were a bit too loud, but eh… it was all fun.

Oh, and Jude mentioned that the long-promised Cuba CD is on its way. Finally!! Apparently, it’s already done, in the can, what have you…

Here’s what he played:

  • Out of L.A.
  • I’m Sorry Now
  • Mayfair Market
  • Indian Lover (here’s where the duck was gifted)
  • Break Up Song
  • Run to My Room
  • Rick James
  • I Know (one of the best songs of the long night)
  • In Between
  • I Do
  • Distance contest: Eastern Washington was the winner after a few disqualifications… namely Detroit (Oregon) and Minnesota (moved here from, not travel for show)
  • Gay Cowboy (he wrote this before Brokeback Mountain… but check out this unofficial video)
  • Prophet
  • toying with “Crazy“
  • Brad and Suzy
  • Everything’s Alright (I Think It’s Time)
  • Black Superman
  • The Asshole Song
  • Baby Ruth in Atlanta
  • You Mama You
  • Madonna (another one of the best songs of the long night)
  • Love Letters / Ain’t No Sunshine (or maybe Love, Love, Love / Ain’t No Sunshine… or maybe all 3 songs…)
  • Calling All Friends
  • End of My Rainbow
  • Cuba
  • Fallen Angel (aka Fly Again)
  • Money
  • Your Eyes
  • Encore: On the Dance Floor
  • I Want a Duck (improv)
  • Paper Towel
  • Taking More and Giving Less

Note: I’ve got some pics from the show at the bottom of this blog post. Some of them are “artistic” (meaning: fuzzy).

Go check out his music on iTunes, Amazon… or CDBaby (you can sample songs there, too). My fav albums of his (though all are good) are Sarah (4th album, blue cover) and No One Is Really Beautiful (2nd album, greenish cover).

The appropriate linkage:

Cuba CD coming soon

I’m going to the Bill Frisell & Eyvind Kang show tonight in Eugene (I’m stoked)… that’s all for now…

professional teller machine user,
~Dan

np: Various Artists – You Gan’t Boar Like an Eabla When You Work With Turkrys

JUDE CONCERT PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2008 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution

(click for larger on photos below)


OK, judefuzz04 isn’t my photo… ::blush::

Categories: Concert Photos, Rock & Pop, Singer-Songwriter Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,