MOG - Bryan's Posts

More Fernando....

Bryan — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:07:40 GMT

A great movie about Fernando from his MySpace site (see my earlier post).....Enjoy!

Fernando Viciconte A.K.A Fernando

Bryan — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:07:11 GMT

Last night I braved the 100 degree heat and headed to the local sweatbox /bar to see one of Portland's musical gems, Fernando.

Before I get into it, I want to say that as a music lover I am just so excited to live here in Portland. I am continuosly amazed and impressed by the quality of local artists I have access to here in our little Northwest city. Sure, we get all of the touring bands, even though we often seem to get snubbed when they play midweek, preferring to play Seattle or SF on the weekends. But it is the depth and breadth of the local music scene that makes Portland a thriving artistic city.

Fernando, an Argentine born/L.A raised musician who lives and performs regulary in Portland is a terrific songwriter, mixing in english and spanish lyrics, and is backed by a powerhouse band which includes Lewi Longmire, another of my favorite local musicians (Lewi plays organ, piano, and trumpet in this group!). His tunes range from Beatles-esque pop to Gram Parsons style country to Neil Young inspired rockers.

His newest album came out in 2006, entitled "Enter to Exit". Here is a tune from his 1999 album, "Old Man Hotel".

Check out his website for more info...

http://www.fernandoviciconte.com

Give it a listen and definitely go see him if you get a chance.

PICKATHON Roots Festival in Portland

Bryan — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:00:24 GMT

I had the pleasure of attending the 10th Annual Pickathon Festival this past weekend on Pendarvis Farm on the outskirts of Portland. My wife's band, Crosseyed Rosie, performed a couple of times at the festival, which allowed me to attend gratis and enjoy a wonderful weekend.

I must admit, at first glance, the lineup was not something that overwhelmed me, mainly due to ignorance about the artists. I kept asking myself, "What exactly is 'Roots Music' ? Which led me to some interesting discussions about classification of music and the limits of categorization. What I came away with was that Roots music is everything from folk to country to bluegrass to hillbilly rock to anything with a groove and soul.

By the end of the weekend, I was delighted to have been awakened to many new artists and styles that I might never have listened to.

I highly recommend a trip up to Portland for next years PICKATHON. Besides terrific music, the festival setup is absolutely beautiful. It is set on Pendarvis Farm, a local organic farm that rents itself out annually for the event. With views overlooking Mt. Hood as well as amazing food provided by local growers and restaurants, it makes for a wonderful weekend in Oregon.

Some of my favorites from the weekend were:

Crosseyed Rosie - my wife's band!

Justin Townes Earle - incredible singer, songwriter and performer from Nashville s He's the son of Steve Earle and named after Townes Van Zandt. All good names to be associated with! Check out his stuff!

http://www.myspace.com/justintownesearle

Sean Hayes - my first time seeing this amazing singer/songwriter from San Francisco

Loch Lomond - Portland's own indie group (amazing amazing amazing!)

Crooked Still - beautiful bluegrass/old time/folk group from the Northeast.

Langhorne Slim

David Byrne and Brian Eno - New Single!

Bryan — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:15:36 GMT

I love when things like this happen. I just finished my Trey post and uploading the song "Brian and Robert", which was inspired by the music of Brian Eno and Robert Fripp, and I check my inbox to find an email from David Byrne's website about his new album with Brian Eno; the first they have recorded together since "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" (30 years ago!).

Here is the website of you're interested:

http://www.everythingthathappens.com/

I have uploaded the free tune they are offering...

Trey Anastasio @ Newport Folk Festival

Bryan — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:53:05 GMT

I just finished listening to Trey's set from the Newport Folk Festival from this past weekend and was very impressed with his playing, voice range and overall energy. With all of the "talk" about a Phish reunion aside, I am just psyched to see that Trey has seemingly rebounded quite nicely from his rough couple of years. You can just hear it in his voice how much more healthy he is,physically and emotionally.

Here is sample from the NPR simulcast....I can't help but think this song and lyrics were chosen to reflect on his past year and struggles.

What do you like to listen to on road trips?

Bryan — Thu, 01 May 2008 04:22:14 GMT

This is hysterical!!!

John Entwistle a.k.a Spiderman

Bryan — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 17:34:56 GMT

Check out this clip of John Entwhistle's isolated bass line from "Won't Get Fooled Again"....if you ever want to convince a youngster to play bass, I think this is the hook!

Bill Frisell > Floratone

Bryan — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:31:31 GMT

To all those Frisell fans out there (and for those who aren't familiar), check out this video that showcases his newest album, "Floratone".....Bill's a genius and this album further demonstrates his dynamic and relentless energy as a musician and innovator.

Great Portland Rocker!

Bryan — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 02:22:55 GMT

For those of you aware of the great music scene in Portland, OR, here is a sample of one of the towns best talents.

His name is Lewi Longmire and although he hails from New Mexico, he's as Portland as they come. To categorize him is tough. Part country rocker, part classic rocker, part folkster, and at times, a soul machine oozing with funk.

Here is a sample of one of his originals that I think exemplifies his song writing as well as his musical capabilities.

If ever in P-Town, come check him out every Thursday from 6-8 at the Laurelthirst Public House.....

Great Dead

Bryan — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 01:14:17 GMT

Came across this clip today.....The Dead from Buffalo in 1989. Actually found the original version of this song on a Harry Belafonte album. I never knew who penned it....

Rip City

Bryan — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:05:53 GMT

For those who never got a chance to see Phish, here's a great example of them as a straight up rock band. Blistering!

Police Concert @ Key Arena

Bryan — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 17:01:47 GMT

Had a great time at The Police show at Key Arena last night. Was my first and only time ever seeing them but I was a big fan during my early years. I would certainly say they were one of my earliest favorite bands.....

Here's the setlist:

Message in a Bottle Synchronicity II Spirits in the Material World Voices Inside My Head Don't Stand So Close to Me Driven to Tears Walking on the Moon Truth Hits Everybody Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic Wrapped Around Your Finger The Bed's Too Big Without You Murder by Numbers De Do Do Do De Da Da Da Invisible Sun Walking in Your Footsteps Can't Stand Losing You Roxanne

First encore: King of Pain So Lonely

Second encore: Every Breath You Take Next to You

Observations:

1. They were a little sloppy for the first couple of tracks but things gelled nicely after that.

2. Highlights for me were the "Walking in Your Footsteps" and "So Lonely" as I felt they really explored new territories on both.

3. Andy Sumers is old.

4. Stewart Copeland is tremendous fun to watch as his facial expressions run the gamut from ecstatic, pensive, angry (apparently) and goofy.

5. I'm pretty sure both Copeland and Summers tripped over themselves at least once each.

6. T-Shirts were $45. Ticket prices were $100. Does this make sense?

7. If you are seeing them later in the tour, I think you'll be rewarded as they are only going to get better.

Guitar God or Dionysis in Disguise?

Bryan — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 08:53:25 GMT

I'm about a third of the way through a fascinating book that I am positive many of you would find interest.

It's entitled "Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy" by Barbara Ehrenriech.

For many years I have been intrigued by the mystery of the live music experience. Many times I have left shows with an unexplained feeling of oneness and connectedness to the music, the musicians, the people around me and the universe. (smart ass comments aside!)

I have had hours of conversations with friends trying to interpret this phenomenon and have touched on some terrific guesses.

Well, Barbara Ehrenreich takes it a step further and actually researches and explores this very feeling. It's been extremely interesting and I would recommend it to anyone who is mesmerized by the power of music and it's ability to bring people together.

I'd enjoy some discussions on MOG about it as I make my way to the end. A virutal book club, if you will!

Kurt Vonnegut's Passing

Bryan — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 21:26:04 GMT

Whenever I needed to get back into a reading "groove" , I found Vonegut's books to be the perfect remedy.....

Also, his commentary these past years on the current Administration was as right on as any I'd read. Here is a piece he wrote in 2004 that resonates just as clearly today...

Published on Wednesday, May 12, 2004 by In These Times Cold Turkey by Kurt Vonnegut

Many years ago, I was so innocent I still considered it possible that we could become the humane and reasonable America so many members of my generation used to dream of. We dreamed of such an America during the Great Depression, when there were no jobs. And then we fought and often died for that dream during the Second World War, when there was no peace.

But I know now that there is not a chance in hell of America’s becoming humane and reasonable. Because power corrupts us, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Human beings are chimpanzees who get crazy drunk on power. By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East? Their morale, like so many bodies, is already shot to pieces.

They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas.

When you get to my age, if you get to my age, which is 81, and if you have reproduced, you will find yourself asking your own children, who are themselves middle-aged, what life is all about. I have seven kids, four of them adopted.

Many of you reading this are probably the same age as my grandchildren. They, like you, are being royally shafted and lied to by our Baby Boomer corporations and government.

I put my big question about life to my biological son Mark. Mark is a pediatrician, and author of a memoir, The Eden Express. It is about his crackup, straightjacket and padded cell stuff, from which he recovered sufficiently to graduate from Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Vonnegut said this to his doddering old dad: “Father, we are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is.” So I pass that on to you. Write it down, and put it in your computer, so you can forget it.

I have to say that’s a pretty good sound bite, almost as good as, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” A lot of people think Jesus said that, because it is so much the sort of thing Jesus liked to say.

But it was actually said by Confucius, a Chinese philosopher, 500 years before there was that greatest and most humane of human beings, named Jesus Christ.

The Chinese also gave us, via Marco Polo, pasta and the formula for gunpowder. The Chinese were so dumb they only used gunpowder for fireworks. And everybody was so dumb back then that nobody in either hemisphere even knew that there was another one.

But back to people, like Confucius and Jesus and my son the doctor, Mark, who’ve said how we could behave more humanely, and maybe make the world a less painful place. One of my favorites is Eugene Debs, from Terre Haute in my native state of Indiana. Get a load of this:

Eugene Debs, who died back in 1926, when I was only 4, ran 5 times as the Socialist Party candidate for president, winning 900,000 votes, 6 percent of the popular vote, in 1912, if you can imagine such a ballot. He had this to say while campaigning:

As long as there is a lower class, I am in it. As long as there is a criminal element, I’m of it. As long as there is a soul in prison, I am not free. Doesn’t anything socialistic make you want to throw up? Like great public schools or health insurance for all?

How about Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes?

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. …

And so on.

Not exactly planks in a Republican platform. Not exactly Donald Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney stuff.

For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that’s Moses, not Jesus. I haven’t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere.

“Blessed are the merciful” in a courtroom? “Blessed are the peacemakers” in the Pentagon? Give me a break!

There is a tragic flaw in our precious Constitution, and I don’t know what can be done to fix it. This is it: Only nut cases want to be president.

But, when you stop to think about it, only a nut case would want to be a human being, if he or she had a choice. Such treacherous, untrustworthy, lying and greedy animals we are!

I was born a human being in 1922 A.D. What does “A.D.” signify? That commemorates an inmate of this lunatic asylum we call Earth who was nailed to a wooden cross by a bunch of other inmates. With him still conscious, they hammered spikes through his wrists and insteps, and into the wood. Then they set the cross upright, so he dangled up there where even the shortest person in the crowd could see him writhing this way and that.

Can you imagine people doing such a thing to a person?

No problem. That’s entertainment. Ask the devout Roman Catholic Mel Gibson, who, as an act of piety, has just made a fortune with a movie about how Jesus was tortured. Never mind what Jesus said.

During the reign of King Henry the Eighth, founder of the Church of England, he had a counterfeiter boiled alive in public. Show biz again.

Mel Gibson’s next movie should be The Counterfeiter. Box office records will again be broken.

One of the few good things about modern times: If you die horribly on television, you will not have died in vain. You will have entertained us.

And what did the great British historian Edward Gibbon, 1737-1794 A.D., have to say about the human record so far? He said, “History is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind.”

The same can be said about this morning’s edition of the New York Times.

The French-Algerian writer Albert Camus, who won a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957, wrote, “There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide.”

So there’s another barrel of laughs from literature. Camus died in an automobile accident. His dates? 1913-1960 A.D.

Listen. All great literature is about what a bummer it is to be a human being: Moby Dick, Huckleberry Finn, The Red Badge of Courage, the Iliad and the Odyssey, Crime and Punishment, the Bible and The Charge of the Light Brigade.

But I have to say this in defense of humankind: No matter in what era in history, including the Garden of Eden, everybody just got there. And, except for the Garden of Eden, there were already all these crazy games going on, which could make you act crazy, even if you weren’t crazy to begin with. Some of the games that were already going on when you got here were love and hate, liberalism and conservatism, automobiles and credit cards, golf and girls’ basketball.

Even crazier than golf, though, is modern American politics, where, thanks to TV and for the convenience of TV, you can only be one of two kinds of human beings, either a liberal or a conservative.

Actually, this same sort of thing happened to the people of England generations ago, and Sir William Gilbert, of the radical team of Gilbert and Sullivan, wrote these words for a song about it back then:

I often think it’s comical How nature always does contrive That every boy and every gal That’s born into the world alive Is either a little Liberal Or else a little Conservative.

Which one are you in this country? It’s practically a law of life that you have to be one or the other? If you aren’t one or the other, you might as well be a doughnut.

If some of you still haven’t decided, I’ll make it easy for you.

If you want to take my guns away from me, and you’re all for murdering fetuses, and love it when homosexuals marry each other, and want to give them kitchen appliances at their showers, and you’re for the poor, you’re a liberal.

If you are against those perversions and for the rich, you’re a conservative.

What could be simpler?

My government’s got a war on drugs. But get this: The two most widely abused and addictive and destructive of all substances are both perfectly legal.

One, of course, is ethyl alcohol. And President George W. Bush, no less, and by his own admission, was smashed or tiddley-poo or four sheets to the wind a good deal of the time from when he was 16 until he was 41. When he was 41, he says, Jesus appeared to him and made him knock off the sauce, stop gargling nose paint.

Other drunks have seen pink elephants.

And do you know why I think he is so pissed off at Arabs? They invented algebra. Arabs also invented the numbers we use, including a symbol for nothing, which nobody else had ever had before. You think Arabs are dumb? Try doing long division with Roman numerals.

We’re spreading democracy, are we? Same way European explorers brought Christianity to the Indians, what we now call “Native Americans.”

How ungrateful they were! How ungrateful are the people of Baghdad today.

So let’s give another big tax cut to the super-rich. That’ll teach bin Laden a lesson he won’t soon forget. Hail to the Chief.

That chief and his cohorts have as little to do with Democracy as the Europeans had to do with Christianity. We the people have absolutely no say in whatever they choose to do next. In case you haven’t noticed, they’ve already cleaned out the treasury, passing it out to pals in the war and national security rackets, leaving your generation and the next one with a perfectly enormous debt that you’ll be asked to repay.

Nobody let out a peep when they did that to you, because they have disconnected every burglar alarm in the Constitution: The House, the Senate, the Supreme Court, the FBI, the free press (which, having been embedded, has forsaken the First Amendment) and We the People.

About my own history of foreign substance abuse. I’ve been a coward about heroin and cocaine and LSD and so on, afraid they might put me over the edge. I did smoke a joint of marijuana one time with Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead, just to be sociable. It didn’t seem to do anything to me, one way or the other, so I never did it again. And by the grace of God, or whatever, I am not an alcoholic, largely a matter of genes. I take a couple of drinks now and then, and will do it again tonight. But two is my limit. No problem.

I am of course notoriously hooked on cigarettes. I keep hoping the things will kill me. A fire at one end and a fool at the other.

But I’ll tell you one thing: I once had a high that not even crack cocainecould match. That was when I got my first driver’s license! Look out,world, here comes Kurt Vonnegut.

And my car back then, a Studebaker, as I recall, was powered, as are almost all means of transportation and other machinery today, and electric power plants and furnaces, by the most abused and addictive and destructive drugs of all: fossil fuels.

When you got here, even when I got here, the industrialized world was already hopelessly hooked on fossil fuels, and very soon now there won’t be any more of those. Cold turkey.

Can I tell you the truth? I mean this isn’t like TV news, is it?

Here’s what I think the truth is: We are all addicts of fossil fuels in astate of denial, about to face cold turkey.

And like so many addicts about to face cold turkey, our leaders are now committing violent crimes to get what little is left of what we’re hooked on.

Pilaseca - Mexican Funk-Electronica

Bryan — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 20:32:06 GMT

While traveling in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico in 2001, I popped into a bar late night and caught a show by a band called Pilaseca....their music was a blend of hip hop, funk and electronica and their lyrics were a blend of spanish and english. I was blown away and totally psyched that this kind of music was going on in Mexico.

I asked them if they ever make it to the states and they mentioned an appearance at SXSW festival in 1999. Anybody ever seen them in the states? I'm very curious...

I picked up their album that night (Humo de Cigaro) and just recently came across it while fishing around this weekend.

I was pleasantly surprised to see they are still playing and have a band website and a MySpace site.....check them out and tell me what you think.

http://www.pilaseca.com http://www.myspace.com/pilaseca

New Year's Eve Celebrations

Bryan — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 19:14:10 GMT

Was forwarded this great article on the relationship between live music and New Year's Eve....check it out.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB116735508200362090-lMyQjAxMDE2NjI3OTMyNTk1Wj.html

What are your best musical New Year's Eve experiences? Do you look for musicians and entertainers to bring in your new year or do you think new year's concerts are overrated?

Personally, NYE for many years meant one thing, Phish. They provided me with so many wonderful NYE memories....now, nothing seems to compare, musically, that is.

Share your experiences......Let's hear it!

Litlte Monster Records....music for children

Bryan — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 01:14:20 GMT

Seems as if a company called Little Monster Records is going to be producing albums with some cool artists that are geared towards kids. Check out the story...

Little Monster Records will release 'All Together Now'

V2 Music announced the launch of a new family music label, Little Monster Records. The label will feature new family-friendly music releases by some of today's top artists in a range of musical genres. They'll launch November 7th with a Beatles tribute CD/storybook called "All Together Now" (featuring Marshall Crenshaw, Rachael Yamagata and artists from Grandaddy and The Bangles singing with a natural-sounding children's chorus).

All Together Now will debut exclusively at all Barnes & Noble Stores in North America before becoming available to other retail outlets in May 2007. The CD will be packaged with a together-time storybook with colorful illustrations, poems and interesting Beatles facts, designed so that parents can share their experience of the Beatles with their children.

This parent-child musical sharing is key to the mission of Little Monster Records, says Hyman. A host of forthcoming music and DVD releases point to the sophistication and all-ages appeal of their musical choices.

In first quarter 2007, Little Monster will release a Medeski, Martin & Wood children's CD, "Let's Go Everywhere", a collection of high – energy tunes for singing and jamming along. Next up will be an animated music DVD "Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World" by Morgan Taylor. "Soulville" a collection of classic R & B and soul, featuring singers Ray Frazier, Tabitha Fair, and Chocolate Genius (again accompanied by children singers) will also be released next year. The label is talking with other artists and bands for future releases, and just signed Robert Schneider of Apples in Stereo to record a CD under the moniker of Robert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine.

What sets Little Monster Records apart from the current onslaught of children's music releases is its high production quality and the way each release is designed for sharing by grown-ups and adults. "It's all about the music", notes Hyman. "Music is regarded as a necessity in our home, not something we take lightly. We are carefully choosing artists and projects that offer great music that doesn't talk down to kids."

Salem has worked closely with artists and children singers in the studio and says he's setting the production standards high. "I don't like to make records that people can talk over -- I want to challenge listeners a little." He notes that artists are eager to participate. "It's something about the innocence and joy of children's music that appeals to them -- and to us", he notes. "This is music that will make you smile, as it did the day we recorded it."

Little Monster Records releases will be marketed and launched in innovative ways, according to V2's Greg Barbero. "We went into this understanding how children's music has to be marketed. It's great not to be bound by the standard operating procedures. But on the other hand, you have to search out new landscape, and that is a much less quantifiable journey. In this market, you have to offer something original when you're launching children's music at retail. The nontraditional packaging and recognizable talent are part of what will set this CD apart." Barbero suggested the unique book/CD package to Scott Hueston, the head of the V2 sales department, who arranged the label's exclusive rollout of All Together Now with Barnes and Noble.

V2 Music CEO Andy Gershon is offering strong label support to the launch of Little Monster. He is excited by the prospect of fostering a new imprint devoted to high quality music for all ages. "Little Monster is the obvious musical genre for a label like V2. We realized that teaching kids to listen to good quality music must start at an early age. In order to stamp out the Jessica Simpsons and Britney Spears of the world, kids must be exposed to quality and that is the sole mission of Little Monster, as well as having fun of course. There will be no Mouseketeers on this label."

For her part, Hyman wants to build Little Monster into a classic children's music brand that parents know and trust. "Children's music is not a fad. We want these recordings to be around for a long time, and for people to come to recognize Little Monster as a brand offering quality music. That will be a reason to buy these CDs."

V2 Music is a New York City based independent record label. V2 was originally formed in 1995 by Richard Branson. Sheridan Square Records purchased V2 earlier this year, joining its forces with Artemis Records. The label's multiplatinum selling artists include the White Stripes, Moby and the Raconteurs.

Bill Frisell show at Prospect Park Bandshell, Brooklyn

Bryan — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 20:28:35 GMT

For those who know me, they are aware of my passion for Bill Frisell. For those who don't know him, I beg of you to check him out. This past week, I saw him out at a free concert in at the Bandshell in Prospect Park, Brooklyn and can honestly say it was the most impressive performance I have seen of his to date. Not so much because of the music but more so for the complete artistic experience.

The uniqueness of this show was due to the format. Frisell's trio, featuring himself, Kenny Wolleson on drums and Tony Scher on electric bass, played essentially in the orchestra pit in front of a movie screen which played various animations by Seattle based artist Jim Woodring (www.jimwoodring.com) as well as two hysterical films featuring Buster Keaton. The amazing thing about this production was the synchronicity that existed between the trio and the screen. From what I could tell, all of the music was written and choreogrpahed specifically for the featured films; right down to the gun shots sounds/snare shots during the Keaton movie. The incredible thing was that the musicians did not look at the screen once!

As a long time Frisell fan, I was blown away. It was a jaw dropper. I couldn't decide whether to watch the movies or listen to the music or both. When I did both, I felt like I was cheating myself by not listening just to the music!. What wonderful choices!!! Frisell is a veteran of movie soundtracks, most notably "Finding Forrestor" and the recently released story of Johnny Cash's life "Cash" (his music is all over the transitional scenes in the fim).

Anyways, if you're a Frisell fan, you know what I mean. I truly believe he's one of the most important and original musicians on the scene today (and for the past 20 years). If you don't know him, please do yourself a favor and check him out. I would start with one of the following albums:

Nashville Good Dog, Happy Man The Intercontinentals Unspeakable (Grammy Winner for Contemporary Jazz Album)

If you are a fan, speak up! I want to hear what you have to say.....

Trey Band @ Aspen Jazz Festival

Bryan — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 23:15:07 GMT

I just listened to the Aspen Jazzfest show that is now available on LivePhish and was totally blown away by it, particularly the last 4 or 5 songs. The new linuep, sans Les Hall, seems to really have jelled into a UNIT. I was particulalry struck by how balanced their sound was and how much Trey's guitar work meshed into the overall sound they were producing, instead of being the focal point of the sound. Also, the drumming is totally off the hook!

This was the last time they played this summer before Trey split for the East Coast Phil and GRAB shows, and it certainly sounds like they were lettting it fly. I am catching their first show back when they open for Tom Petty in Portland. I am now very very excited for that one....

I also got a chance to listen to GRAB for the first time as they made a Mr. Completely from Philly available on Trey.com. I am very impressed by the energy but what struck me the most is just how amazing Mike's playing is, as always. When him and Trey get together, magic happens.

Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

PDX Bluesfest

Bryan — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 21:41:05 GMT

Portland hosted it's annual Waterfront Bluesfest this past 4th of July weekend. It's turned into quite the event and now spans over 5 days and features music for 12 hours a day as well as a multitude of "Blues Cruises" on the Willlamette River throughout the course of the weekend.

I only managed to attend a few things but what I saw is why I'm posting.

First off, Ivan Neville's Dumpstafunk was a barrage of swampfunk and some of the most politically charged lyrics I've heard in a long while. I guess it's hard not to be charged and pissed off if you hail from NOLA. You could feel the agnst and release of the city in their music. The band features Ivan Neville and Ian Neville (another generation comes of age) as well as Ron Weber and Tony Hall in the rythym section (you can also find those two in Trey Anastasio's current incarnation of his 70 Volt Parade band).

The highlight of the weekend for me had to be the Blues Cruise that featured a twin billing of The Rythym Council (Papa Mali, Henry Butler, Kirk Joseph and a ridiculously good drummer I was not familiar with) and PBS (Porter, Baptiste and Stolz); basically 3/4th's of the Funky Meters.

Holy shit! This had to be the most insane 2 1/2 hour voyage of all time! The Rythym Council was terrific as they put together a nice blend of instrumental jams and New Orleans classics. I'd never seen Papa Mali but have heard much about him and I was very impressed. Henry Butler, if you have not seen him, is as good as any pianist out there. Plain and simple.

As for PBS, here it is.....George Porter is one of the 5 most important musicians on the planet. He makes me move like no one else. The t-shirt that I see all over New Orleans during Jazzfest sums it up....."George Matters"...a lot!

I imagine that next years' Bluesfest will be even better..come out and check it out! (however, I doubt you'll get a sunset/cloud formation like this one again!)

Rockstar Supernova?

Bryan — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 05:00:55 GMT

Alright, who watched this? I don't really do the reality TV thing but I read about a singer from Portland who was going to be on it so I checked it out....what is the difference between these lip-synchers and American Idol? Because they have tattoos and WILD hair?

Also, you know Tommy Lee is not picking a guy to be in his band (need I say why?)

That being said, if you do watch, vote for Storm Large......she's pretty rockin and her band's name in Portland is The Balls. Storm and The Balls? enough said.....

Old U2

Bryan — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 15:49:53 GMT

Having recently uncovered some old vinyl, one of my first was U2's "War"....I now remember why I used to love this band so much. They played ROCK and ROLL!!!

"War" and "Unforgettable Fire" are brilliant albums that really showcase their talents......it's too bad Bono had to fall into the world of SUNGLASSES.

Side 2, 1st track of "War", "Refugee" is my current favorite.

thoughts?

The Cannonball

Bryan — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 12:33:26 GMT

We all remember this movie being funny but I highly recommend watching it again. The cast of characters and plethora of ridiculous lines in this movie is overwhelming. I mean, how can you beat a movie where most if not all of the cast is carrying full rocks glasses of bourbon throughout the entire movie (see Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.)? And you know that ain't corn syrup in those glasses!

Bonnie Raitt, Philly Radio Show

Bryan — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 13:13:18 GMT

This live Bonnie Raitt show I got from a friend in NY has been blowing me away for two years now. I can't get enough of it. Her voice is absolutely perfect; it's as if this is what good voices were always supposed to sound like. Track #3, "Any Day Woman" is a tear jerker.