Author Archive
HEAD BACK TO SCHOOL WITH ALAN PARSONS AT LEHIGH UNIVERSITY
Author: Jeff Boule
How often does one of your favorite artists play a concert in your backyard? Never, right? Oh sure there are those contests where you can win and have the band play in your yard. How many times do people in apartment buildings win and can’t have it happen? How many times does the band set up in the backyard and the old neighbors call the cops after one song and they break it up before the band can play five songs? How many of these contests are bogus and no one really knows who wins if anyone?
A pipe-dream, right?
read comments (1)FALL INTO A CORNUCOPIA OF DIVERSE ACTS AT WORLD CAFÉ LIVE, PHILADELPHIA
Author: Jeff Boule
I know after at least one of my previous posts, I ended by saying “It never stops”. Someone even commented on it. But at the World Café Live, it literally can never stop.
And they don’t.
ISN’T IT TIME YOU HAD SOME FUNKY KNIGHTS?
Author: Jeff Boule
Every once in a while you gotta take a leap of faith. Just give something a listen to that may not be up your alley. For me, that leap of faith was The Funky Knights. I have some R&B appreciation in my background. One of the slickest produced artists I remember (and just plain old liked) was the late Luther Vandross. His albums were always clean, tight and had that smooth sheen.
I have to say, The Funky Knights come awfully close. At least when it comes to the instrument production.
No, no fancy pictures, but there are links you should follow. Only if you want to walk away from a show saying to your cohorts, “Wow, that was one un-friggin’-believable show, they actually pulled that off!” I’ve barked up this tree before, but I have received some disturbing news! Now no one is more aware of the failing economy than I am. Both I and my best-thing-to-ever-happen-to-me are living on the government dole. But we still pay to go to these shows that I report on. I don’t take freebies (Kasim Sulton offered, I have yet to take him up on them) so my reviews are objective. I haven’t flinched when my favorite artists screw-up a lyric, a part, or makes a mistake live, I have notated it. It’s those flaws I tend to zero in on. That’s what makes the live performance a true pearl.
The humanity.
Anderson and violin set the stage for some democracy in action. Photo by Lynn Vala
If you attended or read about the Adrian Belew Painting With Guitar show at the World Café Live July 1st, you saw or heard about posters for the Laurie Anderson Another Day In America show. This show was only advertised at the Belew concert, World Café Live was banking on the fact that they could draw from Belew’s audience to help fill the room for Anderson. Belew had worked with Anderson on some projects so the logic was sound.
Anderson didn’t need the help.
They even set the seating up to accommodate a more attentive, mature and dare I say it, refined crowd. There was less open space, three rows of seats, a couple of rows of tables, and then the remaining usual seating around the bar and in the upper mezzanine. I managed to get some front row seats and a photo pass for this show, so get ready, with my trusty photographer and my abysmal narrative, I will take you through…
Another Day In America.
Gonna be a killer show.
An important album from an important artist. Cover reprinted with permission of Nonesuch records.
You’re reading a review.
About someone you’ve never heard of.
But…
You should know her.
You should know her work.
You should know her work is.
You should know her work is for… YOU!
She is a performance artist, music, dance, theater, comedy, drama, love, hate, technology… She is a political activist. But I don’t go near politics and I don’t go near music artists when they sit between their wives and ex-wives.
"Fabulous babe" Julie Slick bids adieu to the hometown crowd at World Cafe Live. Photo by Lynn Vala
Her last track, which I missed the name of, is another manic track. With eerie synths, this time the track is louder than the bass, even with the harmonizer on the bass. Even a fake-out stop can’t break her concentration; she counts it off, comes right in on time and wails to the end.
Ever shoeless, the thanks us and exits the stage having conquered it. During the intermission she disappears into the crowd.
After a brief change over to remove Slick’s equipment for the most part, Daniel Rowland comes out and starts the show with a midi-generated track, but no Belew???
One guy, a ton of equipment, and an even bigger sound. Photo by Lynn Vala
Belew then announces that his album e will be performed by an orchestra in Amsterdam. He then attempts to play “d” from his e album. After two times he gets his loop right. After that, flawless.
He seemed pleased with it.
Adrian Belew brings his art and music together in one place, The World Cafe Live. Photo by Lynn Vala
Philadelphia PA – I had seen the warnings on the suburban Philadelphia news channels. But no one told me JUST how bad the highway construction was going to be getting down to Philadelphia. I had seen multiple automobile accidents, right from the time I left my house before I even got on a highway, a few blocks from home was a triple-car rear ender. I knew the show was going to be worth the delays, I hoped it would be worth the apparent danger.
We were basically dodging bullets to get there.
Maniacal bassist and, as Dave Letterman used to say, "one fabulous babe," Julie Slick. Photo by Lynn Vala
Apparently my fears were not founded, or perhaps Belew has advised her that I have found evidence to support his claim that, he too, was on the outside of the truth about King Crimson’s demise, as she was very friendly, personable, even after letting her know that I was NOT the person she thought was connected to the Paul Green School Of Rock. A very nice woman, I only hope she continues to allow me to call her Birdwoman as it is a term of endearment and not derogatory (Robin, bird, Birdwoman, I couldn’t call her birdgirl as the producers of Harvey Birdman Attorney At Law would have my head) but I rarely refer to people by their names if they frequent my blog, I prefer to maintain privacy for people. If she has a complaint about it, she has my contact card and can stop me if she wishes. She’s so nice, I would for her.
AUGUST INDEE HEAT WAVE BRINGS MAJOR NAMES TO PHILLY’S WORLD CAFE LIVE
Author: Jeff Boule
Who brings you to the hottest, latest breaking news on your favorite artists? Everybody BUT me, I know I know… But this time I am going to let you find something for yourself that you like. Check out the various acts coming to the hippest Philly nightclub (don’t care where you live, this place is worth the drive, two different stages, a club with a killer restaurant and radio station all in one!).
Be forewarned, with two of my next three posts coming from the World Cafe Live, you might get sick of hearing about it. I highly doubt it, I have been to this place coming up on double digits and there is always something new, something appetizing, and I ALWAYS seem to bump into the artists themselves there.
This place is laid back with top names coming in all the time. If you’re passing through, you must check it out:
Blue is the new red for THIS year's energy dome. Let's hope there will be more NEW Devo albums like Something For Everybody! Cover reprinted with permission.
De-evolution is real! De-evolution is the condition under which a society returns to its roots. When individuals devolve, the basic human instinct kicks in and makes us want to drag our knuckles on the ground, carry a thigh bone of some sun bleached carcass, and appear disgruntled in Geico commercials.
When music devolves, its top performers appear in their underwear flipping the bird at a major league baseball game. (To Lady “MessMess”, I am a Mets fan, I hope every Mets fan that sees you in concert, on the street, with your parents, flips YOU the bird. The Mets will be around long after your 15 minutes of nudity are over!)
It’s time for common sense, it’s time for transparency in the music business, we are long overdue for some good music, and it is most definitely time, once again, for Devo…
Belew motions for you all to come out to one of his shows and see his music. Photo courtesy Coming Age
In case you readers in the South East region of Pennsylvania don’t know about it, there is a wonderful multi-level music club/eatery/radio station near the 30thStreet Train Station called World Café Live. I have been there several times and even blogged about a couple of those experiences. It is a really nice venue for artists who don’t require the impersonality of a stadium. It is an intimate performance space capable of handling the loudest metal band to the most introspective and demure acts.
I’m positive Adrian Belew will plunk us somewhere right in between those two extremes.
It isn’t often a small rags-to-rags magazine operating out of a one-room office in San Francisco grows into a monolithic industry-influencing powerhouse that Rolling Stone has become. This all falls on the shoulders of one Jann Wenner. To say a rock and roll magazine toppled an active-duty military General is unfair.
Stanley McChrystal brought himself down by being honest.
The Gateway to a wide-open dimension of contemporary, no-nonsense musical education, The Players School Of Music in Clearwater Fl.
Tony Dancy (l), Craig Fairchild (c) and Lanny Hale (r) are the Tygers in human form.
In my course of searching for that ever-elusive new music, sometimes you come across something unique, different, and if you’re lucky, sometimes you come across something with a gimmick to latch onto.
Never mind two!
Berlin poses with a neon copy of his Dean bass. A sweet sounding instrument as evidenced on his new album, "High Standards".
There used to be a blogger I worked with a while ago. Anthony Medici, whom I admired for his tenacity, work ethic and integrity. I especially respected him once he started to take on the major jazz publications and took them to task! He also had some harsh words for a local public radio outlet near his hometown (Washington DC area). But he knew his stuff about jazz, and were he still working for the blog, I would ask him to review Jeff Berlin’s new disc, and most likely ask him to do this interview.
It isn’t as though I am totally foreign to Berlin’s work. I was first exposed to Jeff Berlin during his tenure with Bill Bruford’s fusion band, Bruford in the late 70’s. Having recently purchased the “Bruford – Rock Goes To College ” DVD, I was able to watch a young Jeff Berlin toss around riffs with the likes of Bruford, Allan Holdsworth, among others.
Berlin has come a long way…
DANGER DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! BOULE REVIEWS BELEW’S “e”! DANGER, DANGER!!!
Author: Jeff Boule
Sorry, my copy of Belew's e was written all over... BY THE BAND!! (Reprinted with permission from Adrian Belew Presents)
Hi! Remember me? I’m the guy who broke the story that King Crimson was rumored to be over because a player in the scenario affixed situations to realities and created a rumored scheduling rift between when Fripp had wanted to do Crimson dates and the subject of this review, the Adrian Belew Power Trio had dates scheduled during that time. When Fripp became aware of the scheduling rift, he took it as Belew not being as committed to KC as Fripp would have wanted.
Or so it is alleged. I am not sticking my neck onto that chopping block again…
1974's Todd (l) and 1981's Healing (r)
The grand folks at Rundgren Radio (the illustrious Doug Ford and iridescent “Cruiser Mel”) are doing it again, only this time, we’re on the inside, blogites!!! You’re going to get a regal preview to what is GUARANTEED to be as entertaining as previous Peter Gabriel tours (his latest being of little interest to me as I prefer Gabriel to rock and power through grandiose shows, not just him, a piano and orchestra, it does NOT top he and his daughter singing suspended upside down and being able to circle above the circular stage for his previous UP tour).
Rundgren and company will entertain the hell out of you for less than half the price of a Gabriel show OR EVEN LESS!
BOSCH ARE MORE THAN GERMAN CAR PART MANUFACTURERS. MUCH MORE!
Author: Jeff Boule
BOSCH are (from l to r) Christopher Brown, Charles Greenleaf, and Kevin Sims. I dig `em daddy-o!
I find it hard to find new music I LIKE. Yeah, yeah, there are satellite channels, pay-radio, web-radio, TV “music” channels, friends, etc. But just because there are multiple sources of input does not necessarily yield categorical output.
I like BOSCH.