My penpal Sue was back in town and that means several things – good conversation, laughs, good food, and jazz or Broadway. This time Sue, her husband, and their daughters invited me to join them at the Jazz at Lincoln Center to see Chick Corea with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

I’ve been to the Allen Room at J@LC but I haven’t yet been in the Rose Theater, which is their concert hall. It’s the first hall built specifically for jazz. The room is intimate – seats behind the stage help create the intimacy but I can’t say I’d want to sit there. The sound is wonderful. We were in the mezzanine and the orchestra sounded full and you make out every instrument.

They were recording the concert and no photos were allowed. I still managed to sneak this photo during intermission.

The concert was songs from the Chick Corea songbook with new arrangements. I’m not familiar enough with Corea’s work to know what was different about the arrangements but whether a new song or an old song, they all sounded fantastic. With the orchestra you have some of the best jazz musicians in the world:

Also performing were Max Siegel on trombone, Riza Printup on harp, Dan Nimmer on piano, Gayle Moran Correa on vocals, and, of course, Chick Corea on piano.

It took me a while to notice but there was something going on with ties. All the sax players in the front row had on gold ties. The trombone players behind them had red/white striped ties, the bass and drums had red/blue striped ties, and the trumpets in the back row had on blue/gold striped ties. Corea had on a gold tie.

Some of the songs were straight-ahead jazz and other were cacophonous like the beginning of “The Matrix.” Corea introduced “Crystal Silence” as “when a moment is not a moment but is a moment.” Nimmer took over piano for “From Forever (Suite for Big Band dedicated to Herb Pomeroy)” so Corea could conduct. During the piano solo, Corea and Nimmer traded off licks and then played together and it was so much fun. Marsalis was red-faced during his solo he was blowing so long and hard.

“You’re Everything” started with a beautiful melody with just Marsalis and Corea playing. Then Gayle Moran Corea came in for her vocals. Corea introduced his wife as the only vocalist who ever sang for the Mahavishnu Orchestra or Return to Forever (Corea’s jazz fusion group). I wasn’t feeling it though and it didn’t seem like many in the audience were. The melody was lovely though and the song would have made a beautiful instrumental. This was the only song where Moran Corea sang.

Besides the incredible musicianship there were some wonderful humorous bits, especially during some of the solos.

Many people in the audience left during intermission. I’ll never understand that – it happens frequently during New York Philharmonic concerts also. Marsalis and Corea noted that the crowd had thinned out but announced that they’d played for even fewer people in many a jazz club.

During the introductions, Corea reminisced about his career and some of the great musicians he has performed with. Their ghosts were in the hall playing along.

Set I

Set II

When I found out Lucero would be playing at the Shaky Knees Music Festival in Atlanta I immediately tried to figure out a way to get there. They were also playing the Beale Street Festival in Memphis the next day, so don’t think I didn’t try to figure out if I could do both. (I couldn’t.) doderama graciously offered her guest room to me and I was on my way to Atlanta. violaleeblue suggested some bands I might check out at the festival, so I was ready with my list and my rain poncho because they were predicting rain. But I didn’t bring my wellies and I only had one pair of sneakers, which was a big mistake because this is what we walked into on Saturday.

We arrived at 3:30pm on Saturday. doderama and I had already missed Robert Ellis and Vintage Trouble because it was raining so hard that we wanted to minimize our time on the field. When we entered Historic Fourth Ward Park, the North Avenue Stage was to our left. Hanni El Khatib was on stage playing aggressive rockabilly and blues/rock. Next to us was a sandwich sign with a mother and child hiding out underneath trying to stay a little dry. We walked over to the Masquerade Music Park Stage and listened to Moon Taxi. I remember bouncing up and down but I don’t know if it was because I didn’t want my feet to get stuck in the mud or because my feet were cold from walking in puddles and deep muck. When they were done we walked over to the main stage, Old Fourth Ward Park Stage, for The Joy Formidable, a hard-rocking alternative band.

All three bands were very good but the ground seemed to be melting away under our feet. The boards over the big puddles or straw over the mud were sinking down very quickly and I was afraid I was going to sink in the mud like quicksand. The crowd was pretty large for such a rainy day; it skewed young – mostly college age. At one point the sun came out and the crowd spontaneously cheered and scared it away so we only saw the sun for a brief second.

The site had a few food trucks and few more bars. The beer and wine were flowing but barely anyone was eating. The problem was that any food would have melted immediately in your hand. There was one brave soul with a corndog and another with sweet potato fries but I don’t know how long it was before they disintegrated.

Finally it was time for Lucero at the Masquerade Stage. We watched their soundcheck and when they couldn’t get sound for the horns’ monitors, Ben Nichols (vocals/guitar) told the sound people to just let them listen to the side fills. We had a show to get on.

Despite the dampness the boys played a great show. Ben seemed to get a little sentimental. Maybe because it was the next to last date of that leg of the tour or maybe it was the whiskey. Maybe both. He was loving the horns. Jim Spake (sax) and Scott Thompson (trumpet) are forever first rate. He put his head back to take in Rick Steff’s (keyboards/accordion) playing. He smiled widely when Brian Venable (lead guitar) took a solo. The entire band seems more mature but they are just as much fun. Ben’s voice sounds better than ever. No matter how many times I see Roy Berry lightly tap those drums it is a mystery how he gets that big sound. And I loved when Ben pulled out the acoustic (it’s been a while since I’ve seen it) to do some of the newer songs. Listening to “Other Side of Lonesome” I realized how much it reminded me of Dylan’s “You’re Going to Make Me Lonesome When You Go” and I was wondering if that was Ben’s intention or just a happy accident.

The people around us were enjoying the show but were also drinking and talking a lot. I don’t know why they feel the need to shout above the band when they can easily move to a location where they can hear each better.

Set List

Before we had gone to the concert on Saturday, Mr. TFH took us all out to lunch to the Tilted Kilt. It’s a step above Hooters but I still found it difficult to look at the waitress in her short tartan skirt and tartan bra. It made me a little uncomfortable for her. But it is a family place and popular, so they’re doing something right. I did enjoy time with all of doderama’s family – Mr. TFH and I talked about CBGB’s and NYC in the late 70s/early 80s.

doderama and I left right after Lucero. We were soaked to the bone. I could hear Gary Clark, Jr. playing on the big stage as we were leaving and he sounded fantastic. We missed J Roddy and Band of Horses unfortunately but I’ve seen them before. At doderama’s house we had some takeout and sat on the sofa wrapped in blankets.

The rain finally stopped on Sunday at about 11am. My sneakers had been on the porch all night so they were still wet and muddy. I put on a pair of socks, wrapped my feet in saran wrap, and then put on another pair of socks. It actually worked pretty well in keeping my feet warm and dry.

On the way to the festival we stopped off for some Tex-Mex, forgetting that it was Cinco de Mayo. Luckily it was early enough that we were able to get a table and enjoy some good food and I had a big margarita. And again I surprised the waitstaff because I wanted it straight up instead of on the rocks or frozen. Is NYC the only place where people drink margaritas straight up?

What a difference a day makes.

There were a lot more little kids and older folks. It wasn’t very crowded when we got there about 2pm but the park started filling up very quickly. The duo Shovels & Rope were an absolute delight. The two of them managed to fill the big stage by trading off instruments. The woman’s voice reminded me of Charity Rose Thielen (The Head and The Heart) although not as earnest. They covered The Beatles’ “One After 99” and it made me even happier. They are definitely a band I’d like to check out in a good venue.

I left doderama at the big stage while I walked over the Masquerade stage to check out Murder By Death. I’ve seen them live before so I knew what I was getting. I do like the lead singer’s deep voice – unfortunately he was struggling sometimes. They have a Kickstarter album of requested covers. From that album they did a great slightly reworked version of INXS’ “Tear Us Apart.” There’s a cellist in this band and they put her to very good use.

Walking back over to the main stage I stopped off at King of Pops and got a sea salt chocolate ice cream pop for myself and strawberry lemonade for doderama. Delta Spirit live up to their name in every way. Except they don’t. They sound like a Southern hard rock band and when they were talking their accents were so thick we couldn’t understand a word they said. But their bio says they’re from Southern California and live in Brooklyn. Two drummers, long hair head-banging, and accents that put you thick in the delta. But listening to them online and reading about them it seems like there are two totally different bands. I liked the band I saw at Shaky Knees. And I like the band I hear online. But they don’t seem like the same band. The first thing we heard when walking over to the stage was the drumming – the band online sounds more indie than hard rock. But they are the same band just with an apparent split-personality.

Kurt Vile and the Violaters. Everyone keeps writing great things about Vile. People I respect like him. I keep trying, but I don’t get it. The Masquerade stage was super-crowded. I stood off to the side because I wanted to be able to make a fast getaway plus being in the middle of all those people scares me. Vile has this mass of hair and he bends his head down so that all you see is hair. The first song seemed to consist solely of the word, “yeah.” However, I did get the appeal more than I did the last time I saw him live. But I’m still not a convert.

The best part about where I was standing is that I could watch the guitar tech for Drive By Truckers.

The sun was still out but there were grey clouds in the distance and doderama and I decided to leave. The wet grass and mud made it impossible to sit anywhere and both of us were tired of standing.

After we got back to her house it hailed for a very short time but we knew we’d made the right choice. Then we went out for some great burgers.

The next day doderama stopped off at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack on the way to the airport. I ordered a half-slab of ribs, baked beans, and cole slaw. Both the ribs and slaw were delicious. I used the bread to sop up some of the extra bbq sauce. But the baked beans were a revelation. These were the best I’ve ever tasted. I saved that ramekin of beans for last and was so disappointed when the ramekin was empty. They give free refills of lemonade. I would have traded that for free refills of beans. I never knew I could love beans so much.

So even though I didn’t get see a lot of bands that weekend, I still got my money’s worth. This was Shaky Knees’ first year and I think they great job with the lineup. I don’t know if I’ll be able to make down there again, but it’s a music festival I would recommend for anyone.

Saturday was a busy and fun day – saw the Blues for Smoke exhibit at the Whitney, met rtb, violaleeblue, her friend R, and mollyT for drinks at Gallow Green, and then we headed off (without mollyT) to Irving Plaza. A night of blues/rock was the perfect complement to the Whitney exhibit.

Outside the tour bus violaleeblue called her brother-in-law, who is the bassist for JJ Grey. Todd Smallie came out and greeted us all warmly and we got to hang out in the tour bus for a bit and meet some of the other band members and the road crew. One guy took a couple of slugs from a bottle of Makers Mark. Rock and roll, baby!

Inside we were given VIP tags and headed upstairs. There was a counter against the railing and seats and we were one of the first people up there so we sat right above the stage.

The stage was decorated with lots of lamps and I was afraid that some of the musicians were going to bang into them.

Eric Krasno (Soulive) opened the night with Alecia Chakour (vocals), Alex Chakour (guitar), Eric Kalb (drums), Ron Johnson (bass), and Pete Levin (keys and organ). Krasno sang and played lead guitar. The drums were over to the side and the Johnson was hidden behind the line array and I was hoping that Todd wasn’t going to be standing in the same place. Krasno plays wailing blues/rock and several times when the drums came in I thought they were going to do “Move Over,” especially since Alecia sounded like a poor woman’s Janis Joplin. Turns out they have a lot of songs that start out that way but when they finished the night with “Move Over” I knew it was going to be that song for sure.

The band made me want to sing again – right away – not only because of Alecia but because of Krasno’s singing and his guitar’s singing.

The last time I saw JJ Grey and Mofro a fight broke out right next to me in the crowd. This time I could watch from upstairs as people got drunk and there were some almost-fights. Unfortunately Todd was behind the array but every so often he peeked out.

Along with JJ Grey on guitar, harmonica, vocals, and organ and Todd on bass were Art Edmaiston on saxophone, Dennis Marion on trumpet, Anthony Cole on drums, Andrew Trube on guitar and pedal steel, and Anthony Farrell on keys and organ. Grey is charismatic and, even if the audience didn’t know all the words to his songs, he had everyone eating out of his hand. New songs like the title track from The River were as well received as “Georgia Warhorse,” “Orange Blossoms,” and “Blackwater.” Each band member was given an opportunity to shine and Krasno joined them for the encore. This is a tight fun band and this was one of my most favorite concert experiences. There was blues and funk and Southern and love and going to hell and being saved in church all at once.

While on the second floor of the Whitney, I saw that a movie was playing. Bruce Conner’s The White Rose is a short film detailing the removal of Jay DeFeo’s “The Rose” from her apartment. I had seen the “The Rose” at the Whitney a few years ago at a Beat art show. I found the sculpture overwhelming. It was at the end of a long hallway and the sight sent a bolt of electricity through me. The plaster sculpture is solid, heavy, fragile and light.

DeFeo worked on “The Rose” (called Death Rose and White Rose at various times) for eight years. The sculpture blocked her front windows and the only light came from side windows. When finished the piece was over 2000 pounds of plaster and Bekins movers had to carefully wrap it and cut out one of her windows to lower it down to a truck and then a gallery. The reason it had to be removed was that DeFeo’s rent was going up and she had to move. Who knows how much longer she would have worked on it?

The sculpture was acquired by the SF Academy of Art and placed in their new conference room. The Academy lacked the money for maintenance so the painting was wrapped and then walled in behind sheetrock for its protection. No one saw the piece for years except for the film. Finally the Whitney rescued “The Rose” and it is part of their permanent collection.

I hurried up to the fourth floor to see the other pieces. In her earlier work there are sculptures of metal wrapped in tape and plaster. Wire jewelry with delicate circles. Paintings and collages of different types crosses. And early drawings of the outside in.

Then you turn a corner and at the one end in a darkened area of the room is “The Rose” still as breathtaking as the first time I saw it. It’s lit from the sides just as it was in DeFeo’s apartment. On either side are works DeFeo did just before, which are layered paintings but the layering is done with oil paints.

Later DeFeo worked with photography, sometimes in collages, in addition to painting. There was a series done with her dentures, which were fun to look at.

This exhibit will be open until June 2nd and I think it is worth seeing.

There was an exhibit at the Whitney Museum of American Art that I wanted to see and another at the Met. Deciding that I can only afford one, I went to the Whitney since Blues for Smoke was closing the next day.

It was a beautiful spring day and crossing Park Avenue was not only the view of red tulips covering the mid-street island but the delightful smell was overwhelming and it felt like I was in a field of tulips.

I arrived early enough so that the Whitney wasn’t crowded. As I was leaving the line to get in was out the door of the museum.

One part of the exhibition is on the first floor. You walk into a dark room with a screen floating in the middle of the room. A film is playing of a group of jazz musicians. It’s the same musicians on both sides of the screen but different POVs. The film, Stan Douglas’ Hors-champs (a French film term meaning off-camera or outside the scope), show the trombonist, saxophonist, bassist, and drummer (both black and white musicians) improvising on “Spirits Rejoice” by Albert Aylers. The music is strong and fierce. And there are elements that seem political (there is a riff from “La Marseillaise”). Obviously this show was not going to be just blues but also jazz and other music that owed its existence to blues.

When the elevator doors open on the third floor the first thing you see is David Hammons’ installation “Chasing the Blue Train” taking up an entire room. There are several overturned grand piano lids, three boomboxes are playing – each a different song – songs by John Coltrane, James Brown, and Thelonius Monk. There’s a little blue train (sitting still) on small tracks and a huge pile of coal (get it? coal + train).

I wasn’t sure what this installation meant but I was sure that the exhibit was not going to be my definition of blues. The exhibit was not music (although there were headphones in every room playing music for you to listen to while looking at the art) but blues as a state of mind. Art could be blues and since the majority of the artists were African-American it seemed that the curators felt that that state of mind belonged to a particular group. I think most (if not all) of the white artists represented were gay. So the works were mostly about oppression and racism and homophobia.

The pieces that looked like painted music, such as “Black Table Setting (Homage to Duke Ellington)” by Jake Whitten (below) or another artist’s piece with painted ridges where I could kind of make out portraits of musicians underneath (not sure if they were really there or if it was my imagination) I liked a lot. Another (didn’t get the name of the artist or the piece) is three 11×14 unlined pages, which look like music notation paper, are ripped out of notebook and taped together vertically and it is a list that starts “She is born” and ends “She dies.” In between are first steps, school achievements, college, marriage, pregnancy, and seeing her children marry. An ordinary life that reads like a symphony.

“Garden of Music” by Bob Thompson has nude musicians (Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins) playing in a field. “Souvenir IV” by Kerry James Marshall is a grey piece with angel musicians. There were several portraits by Beauford Delaney of both famous and anonymous musicians – all of them colorful and proud. Rachel Harrison’s Amy Winehouse portraits viewed her seen through Picasso’s eyes.

I don’t know what white gay artist Zoe Leonard originally meant with her line-up in the middle of a room of a lot of blue suitcases but I overheard a tour guide describing it as representative of the Great Migration (southern black sharecroppers moving to the urban north). Next to it was Martin Wong’s “La Vida” showing a happy view of ghetto life – in other words ghetto life is not all about the blues.

A highlight for me was a room filled with videos. There were several videos of music and Richard Pryor, which you could listen to through headphones. Two films had the audio playing out loud. Despite them being two different pieces of music it was complementary. One was a live performance by the Art Ensemble of Chicago. The other was a short film of Duke Ellington and Orchestra playing his “Symphony in Black.” The symphony has several movements – one movement, “Triangle,” was divided into “Dance,” “Jealousy,” and “Blues.” The first part of the movement shows a happy couple dancing through an apartment window. A woman watches from the street (a woman? She’s Billie Holiday!) and she confronts him as the couple walks by. He pushes her off of him and she falls to the street. And then she sings. So glorious.

Renée Green’s “Import/Export Funk Office” installation makes fun of how African-American culture is viewed through German eyes. Words like homey were postered around the room with the definitions both in English and German. Steel shelves held books from the 1960s by African-American authors and videos played Germans explaining African-American culture.

Rodney McMillian created an all red vinyl church in “Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe,” showing the roots of the blues both in heaven and hell.

Senga Nengudi shows splayed pantyhose further stretched by sandbags giving a woman balls while stretching her to a point of no return.

There were familiar collages by Romare Bearden and small graffiti pieces about racism and oppression by Jean-Michel Basquiat.

The last room held two powerful pieces. There was Melvin Edwards’ metal sculptures where you can’t think of anything but chains and Leonard’s “Strange Fruit” that is a piece about AIDS but the title, of course, is a reference to Holiday’s anti-lynching song. In 1994 while watching her friends die of AIDS Leonard saved the peels of all the fruit she ate. She then sewed the peels back together to try to make them whole again. After so many years the original pieces are now desiccated but still whole.

I walked down to the second floor to see I, You, Me. The exhibit looks at works from the 1980s and 1990s and how art that is personal and was overlooked at the time is still relevant today. There was Mark Morrisroe, Cindy Sherman, Robert Mappelthorpe, Richard Avedon, and Basquiat among a lot of artists with whom I’m not familiar. The artwork spoke about AIDS, race, and sex and I could have seen a lot of them in the Blues for Smoke exhibit.

Just before the last song I turned to rtb and said, “Why aren’t we following the Carolina Chocolate Drops around the country?” and rtb didn’t know why. It’s a mystery – this is a band I’d happily give my life to. mollyT said that YouTube does not prepare you for just how great this band is. I didn’t get a chance to ask melisub or violaleeblue what they thought but it sure looked like they enjoyed themselves. And thank you! Kenny for reserving two tables for us so we could really enjoy this show far from the sold-out crowd. rtb and I were there early and it was fun watching people trying to score a table and trying to figure out why we rated. In one case someone came right up to me and asked. I was disappointed that they didn’t think I was a celebrity.

Openers Bombadil made a ghostly entrance in their blinding white suits. They are also from North Carolina and they also switch instruments throughout their set. The music is different than CCD – it’s based more on their vocal harmonies but still fit into the folk genre. Everything on the internet indicates that the band has four members but there were only three musicians performing last night. An interview I found with (drummer/producer) James Phillips confirms that Bryan Rahija (guitar) is going to graduate school and is now a satellite member, so he was the missing person. The rest of the band is Stuart Robinson (keyboards) and Daniel Michalak (electric bass). But, as I said, they switched instruments – there was also a ukulele in there – and they sang a cappella for one or two songs with some very nice harmonies. The songs were funny and sweet – about awkward love, the laundromat, and the South and sweet tea.

The last time I saw The Carolina Chocolate Drops headline was in February 2011 but they made such an impression on me that I hadn’t realized it had been so long. At that show it was announced that the absolutely marvelous Justin Robinson was leaving the band and Hubby Jenkins (who also played that night) would be replacing him. Jenkins (guitar, mandolin 5-string banjo, bones) is from Brooklyn and newest member Leyla McCalla (cello, banjo) is from Queens (now lives in New Orleans) and both are very good fits. McCalla’s family is Haitian, so she sang a creole song with Rhiannon Giddens adding a beautiful harmony. The cello adds a nice bottom to the twangy North Carolina sound. Giddens (5-string banjo, minstrel banjo, fiddle, kazoo) sang a beautiful Gaelic song. I don’t know if her accent was accurate but her voice was pure and you could almost smell the heather. Other original member Dom Flemons (4-string banjo, guitar, harmonica, bass drum, bones) danced with his guitar and gave short history lessons for a lot of the songs. I would have loved if they had had hours to play just so he could give complete stories about each song and their histories.

CCD opened with “Old Black Annie” and the dancing (whether standing or sitting) never stopped. Giddens didn’t do any solo dancing, unfortunately, but since she just had a baby she is forgiven. Her 4yo was in the back for part of the set delighting the audience with her dancing. When Flemons went to take her off stage the entire audience protested.

You can see her here if you look closely – sort of a ghostly figure in the back:

Flemons did a dirty ragtime song that had been written during the early career of gospel songwriter Thomas Dorsey. Giddens and Flemons performed a smoking version of “Jackson” that will be in a PBS special about Johnny Cash. We got to sing the chorus for a couple of songs including “Sourwood Mountain.” They did a one-song encore – “Read ‘Em John” – about celebrating the Emancipation Proclamation.

Giddens voice is otherworldly and everyone on stage is such an over-the-top great musician. This is a band that needs to be seen live and needs to be seen by everyone.

Foot-stomping, singing along, musicians in the crowd – an all-acoustic evening of Americana and post-punk. The Revival Tour hit the Bell House and all of Brooklyn was rocking.

This is my second year seeing the Revival Tour and my only disappointment is that I didn’t know about this sooner. Chuck Ragan leads a band of young musicians with backgrounds in punk, hardcore, Americana, and folk in an all acoustic blow-out of familiar and new songs.

It was Saturday afternoon and I decided to check if the doors for the Bell House would be 7pm or 8pm. Imagine my surprise when I saw it was doors at 5pm and show at 5:30pm. (There was a late show for another act at 10pm.) It was now 4pm and I rushed out to get there on time. The tour buses were out front and the tables and chairs were outside the club but the doors were not open. There were only two or three couples when I arrived but soon the sidewalk started filling up and I was thinking that this was going to get ugly if they didn’t open the doors soon.

The doors opened, a line formed, and then I had to get on the line inside because my tickets were will call. Confusion reigned because some of us bought our tickets through the Revival Tour site in January and others bought their tickets later through the Bell House. It was a sold-out show and I did not want to stand, so I was getting anxious about being able to secure a seat inside the club. Once inside I could see that the one of the usually reserved sides next to the soundboard was taken up by a makeshift bar. The other side was reserved. No sofa. Two tables near the bar with four stools – all taken. I decided to lean against the front of the stage, which turned out to be a great spot for the show. Not such a great spot before the show because I had to listen to this guy talk to the two women with him. He was explaining the monitors to them (They had no idea what they were. Or what a mandolin was.) In his explanation it was obvious that he didn’t know that the monitors and house speakers provide different mixes. Also that spilling your drink into the back of the monitor can be as bad as spilling it into the front.

While we were waiting for the show to start, I could see a framed picture. I use talismans on stage when I sing, so I found this interesting.

The set list was taped to the floor. These were the opening and closing songs for when all the musicians are on stage. When they sing individually, the musicians can go wherever their heart leads them.

The house was playing music from past Revival Tour participants so we were listening to a lot of Frank Turner and Ben Nichols. Happy Happy was I. The song leading in to their appearance on stage was Jay Farrar’s “Windfall.” Everyone came out on stage and sang Ragan’s “On the Bow” a cappella. Singing back-up at the start and close was a red-haired woman. Ragan’s introduction sounded like Terri Gooseberry, which I’m sure is incorrect. Also on stage providing great back up were Addison Burns (who also was roadie) on drums, Joe Ginsberg on upright bass, and Jon Gaunt on fiddle. All were fantastic.

After each musician got a song with everyone on stage, Toh Kay (Tomas Kalnoky of Streetlight Manifesto) did his solo turn. His acoustic guitar had the sound hole covered in masking tape. Everyone around me knew the lyrics to his songs and were singing loudly. The lalalas he added to his (and to others’ songs) made me think he was Israeli but it turns out he is Czech. His set list was written on his forearm so he kept lifting it up to check. It was a very lively set.

When Jenny Owen Youngs called out to her fellow musicians to join her on stage after singing some songs alone, she referred to them as her bearded companions. She opened with “Your Apartment” and included “Ring of Fire” in her set. She told a story about the songwriter of “Jackson” (Billy Edd Wheeler) coming to see Ragan and the show and he complimented her on her version of “Ring of Fire.” He also gave her alternate lyrics to “Jackson” that use the word twine – as in holding up your pants twine. For one of her songs, they switched instruments around, with Ragan on bass and Ginsberg on mandolin. Ragan provided mandolin, guitar, or harmonica in addition to back-up vocals for everyone at some point.

Rocky Votolato also did a cover but his didn’t fare as well. He forgot the lyrics to “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” and was hoping the audience would help out. Youngs came on stage with the lyrics on her iPhone. His set was not as low-key as Youngs’ but not as high-energy as Kay’s.

It looked like Dave Hause (The Loved Ones) was the musician a lot of people came to see. I was standing right underneath him and I was surrounded by guys (they were all guys) singing along loudly and constantly shouting out requests. “Pray for Tucson” was one request he played. Other songs were “Heavy Heart” “Autism Vaccine Blues” “The Shine” and one where he changed the lyrics at the end to add the names of other musicians. For the new song he jumped into the audience, leaving the rest of musicians singing on stage.

Ragan (Hot Water Music) started with “Geraldine” and covered “Coal Tattoo.” Out of all the foot-stomping on stage, his was the loudest and I could almost feel the stage shaking.

Everyone came out again and each took a turn at a song. Hause broke a string while singing Pearl Jam’s “Got Some” and handed his guitar off to an audience member. (He did retrieve it when the song was over.) And there was a guy stage right wearing a red leather almost Michael Jackson Thriller jacket that Hause borrowed while Youngs was singing. When everyone on stage was laughing at Hause he shouted out, “Rock and roll!”

When everyone ended with Ragan’s “Revival Road” the audience started echoing back lyrics turning the Bell House into a real revival show and Ragan and Hause broke out in huge grins.

What a great show. The musicians are wonderful and there is such camaraderie on stage – it is how you imagine it always is when a bunch of good musicians get together.

Bell House had a guy selling some food by the exit so I grabbed a pulled pork sandwich and ate it outside. And on Third Avenue I saw there is a new restaurant (BBQ) that I will have to try in the future.

Sometimes, just some times, when you are good then good things happen to you.

Mrs. Devereaux had tickets for Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell with Richard Thompson opening at the Beacon Theatre and she gave one to me. So I got to spend an evening with a lovely person, in a wonderful venue, listening to some of the best musicians around today.

Richard Thompson is one of the best guitarists and songwriters around today. His guitar sings the lyrics even better than his voice does. He gets this gorgeous tone with effects that add beauty to the sound. Currently he’s touring with Michael Jerome (drums) and Taras Prodaniuk (electric bass), both of who also provide background vocals. His current cd was recorded and produced by Buddy Miller in Nashville. Although his new cd is not pure country – the Celtic background of Americana was very strong – Thompson’s dark lyrics and music would fit easily on any pure country or Americana album. Thompson’s guitar solos are otherworldly. It wasn’t a sold-out crowd but you could tell that a lot of people were there specifically for either Thompson or Emmylou. I joked to Mrs. Devereaux that every apartment in the Upper West Side must be empty – the now white-haired children of the Sixties were there as well as some of the slightly younger (like my age group) professionals.

Thompson concentrated on songs from Electric and before he started in on the older songs there were shouted requests from the audience. He joked with us and said he would play some of those favorites that we drove so far to hear. Highlights from the new songs included “Good Things Happen to Bad People” and from the older songs “1952 Vincent Black Lightning.” He ended his set with “Tear Stained Letter,” with the audience singing along.

Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell have just released Yellow Moon but they have a long history. Crowell used to play in Emmylou’s band and the first song on her first album was one he’d written (“Bluebird Wine”), which they’ve redone on the new cd. Emmylou said the new cd was 40 years in the making. Crowell introduced Emmylou as having the soul of a poet, the voice of an angel, and the heart of a cowgirl. I don’t know anyone who would disagree.

The new cd is very twangy-country. Emmylou asked us if we remembered country music and there was a resounding yes. The set was a mix of old, new, and covers. We heard songs from Gram Parsons (“Return of the Grievous Angel”), Kris Kristofferson (“Chase the Feeling”), Ray Price (the honky-tonk “Invitation to the Blues”), the soundman Donivan Cowart with Hank DeVito (“Black Caffeine”) plus Townes Van Zandt and Waylon Jennings. Emmylou’s version of Matraca Berg’s “Back When We Were Beautiful” almost brought me to tears – “I hated when they said/I’m aging gracefully/I fight it every day/I guess they never see/I don’t like this at all/What’s happening to me?” These songs mixed wonderfully, as did their harmonies, with some of the newer ones like “Old Yellow Moon” and “Tragedy.” Crowell took the lead on “Earthbound,” “’Til I Gain Control Again,” and “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight.”

Thompson joined them for “I Ain’t Livin’ Long Like This” trading off guitar solos with the wonderful Jedd Hughes, who played lead guitar. This was the highlight of a fantastic evening. It’s a shame they only invited him out for one song. Steven Fishell was also great on pedal steel and dobro. They did introduce the rest of the band but I can’t find their names anywhere. There was a keyboard and accordion, electric and acoustic bass, and drums – all were fantastic musicians.

Someone called out a request and Emmylou said, “Elvira!?! I’m glad you know it so we don’t have to sing it.” Emmylou said that sad songs make her the happiest and she and Crowell ended the night with “Love Hurts.” It didn’t have the poignancy of her duet with Gram Parsons (what could?) but it was pretty near perfection.

New (to me) venue, new (to me) band, favorite band, and good friends – I was hoping this evening out would be the cure to my curious sleeping sickness. A combination of physical and mental ailments have prevented me from getting any rest or my sleeping at odd hours or from even leaving the house for full week. Maybe music will heal me once again.

The Capitol Theatre is in Port Chester, a suburb of NYC in Westchester. violaleeblue was meeting her friend there so rtb and I made arrangements to meet in Port Chester for dinner before the show. I got to Grand Central Station early and was, as always, overwhelmed by the number of people and how confidently they walked. I bumped into rush-hour commuter after commuter as I attempted to buy tickets at the machine and then figure out what track I needed to be at. We were supposed to take a 5:30pm train but it was only 5pm so I got on the 5:15pm train just to get the hell out of Grand Central. The car was half-empty and I couldn’t tell which way was facing front – half were facing one way and the other half the other way. I choose the wrong way. Just before we left the train was packed – a lot of husbands with flowers and almost everyone had a drink or a beer. I was sitting in a corner and a guy sat next to me and immediately said hello and asked how I was doing. We were still in NYC – did I have to put up with friendliness already?

Port Chester’s village center and main streets look like that of many small towns – a little rundown, some empty storefronts, established businesses, and some newer businesses from the latest immigrant community. In this case, Brazilian and Peruvian. I found what appeared to be a Brazilian restaurant (at least that’s what it said on the outside) and texted rtb where to meet me. I opened the menu and discovered I was at a Peruvian restaurant. That was okay because we both enjoyed our meals.

We walked a few blocks over to the Capitol. It’s a Thomas Lamb designed theater that was used for vaudeville and then movies so it has that beautiful classic palace look. My ticket was in my office so all I had was the pdf on my smartphone. The door person told me to go to the window. Where the clerk was restarting his computer so he told me to go to the other window. They were helping someone who had the same problem as me (no printer at home) and the female clerk was scolding the customer for choosing ‘print at home’ when he didn’t have a printer. I turned to the customer and said, “Don’t you love when people in service industries scold you?” The male clerk suggested I try the other window and I told him that clerk had told me to come here. The customer was very good-natured about it all and then the female clerk told me that some venues would make you go home instead of re-printing the ticket. I told her that that had never happened to me and she responded that it had happened to her and said Live Nation. Oh no, she didn’t. I told her not to diss Live Nation; they are number one when it comes to customer service. When the female clerk was done with the male customer, she ran out and left the male clerk to deal with me. He printed my ticket and I thanked him.

Inside the lobby were violaleeblue, her friend, and rtb waiting for me. I was still a little pissed so I immediately went into what had just happened, realized I’d never met violaleeblue’s friend before, turned to her and said, “By the way, I’m Carene,” and went on with my righteous indignation.

We went inside the venue. The show was not sold-out and there was plenty of room around us. The show was starting soon and I had purchased a seat up in the Loge – first row, center – and I was just sitting in my seat when The Old 97’s were taking the stage.

Rhett Miller (lead vocals, guitar), Murry Hammond (bass, vocals), Ken Bethea (lead guitar), and Philip Peeples (drums) went right into “Barrier Reef” and the show was pretty much high-energy music for their entire set. There was very little talking. Ken did a signature leap or two and Rhett looked for someplace to leap from for “Timebomb” and when he couldn’t find one he just jumped up into the air. Rhett did mention that they will be releasing a 7” of songs they recorded with Waylon Jennings. Murry gave a shout-out The McCoys and “Hang On Sloopy,” which is one of my favorite songs of all time.

Their set was an hour and 15 minutes of great music. Ken’s playing was preternaturally fast, Murry’s electric bass sounded like an upright, Philip’s drumming was tight, and Rhett’s vocals were loud and sincere. I don’t know what else I can say. You know that I love them and you know why.

Set List

The sound in the theater was a bit muddy and obnoxiously loud upstairs. I didn’t mind the muddiness so much for the 97’s since I know the lyrics but I knew it would be a problem with the Drive-By Truckers since I’m not familiar with their music. The band has gone through several line-up changes through the years and, despite the consistency of founder Patterson Hood (vocals, guitar) and co-leader Mike Cooley (vocals, guitar), I think you can hear the influences of many of the past members. In addition, you can hear Southern rock, The Replacements, The Hold Steady, and Lucero in their music. DBT’s position as pioneers of the alt-country movement means that the influences run strongly both ways. The current line-up has Matt Patton on electric bass, Jay Gonzalez killing it on guitar, keyboards, and organ, and Brad Morgan on drums.

The crowd upstairs was not as enthusiastic as the crowd on the floor. There was little clapping or movement for the 97’s or DBT. Sometimes I felt like I was the only person clapping and yelling. At first, all the DBT songs sounded the same to me – we were dangerously in jam band territory – and I wasn’t happy. “Tornadoes” and “Birthday Boy” are two songs that stood out for me during the latter part of their set.

At one point there was some tension in the crowd as a fight started its buildup. The roadie saw it from the stage, alerted the venue staff, who located the trouble, and it was broken up and handled before it even began. I was very impressed.

They ended their set with “Hell No, I Ain’t Happy” and when the roadie came on stage to tune the instruments he had to encourage the crowd to clap loudly for an encore. The people who were there were definitely into the band. It’s just that there weren’t a lot of them.

There was a lot more singing along for the encore songs (songs that I enjoyed a lot more). “Gravity’s Gone” “The Night GG Allin Came to Town” “Panties in Your Purse” “Let There Be Rock” and “Marry Me” were all big winners with me and the crowd.

At the end Hood had his guitar laying on the stage he was swatting it with a towel. He let it echo on and on as each member did similar things with their own instruments until there was only Morgan keeping the beat. At the end it was only the instruments playing themselves.

rtb and I caught the last train to Grand Central. Then I waited for the 6 to take me one stop. That was a mistake. The train skipped my stop and I had to walk to the 53rd Street station anyway. I should have just walked there in the first place and saved myself 45 minutes. When I got home I took off my Converse and my feet were killing me. Since I’d sat most of the night that didn’t make any sense.

So the music didn’t cure me but it sure as hell made life a lot better.

Michael Dorf has done it again. Another wonderful tribute concert at Carnegie Hall to raise money for music arts education. This time he gathered musicians together for a tribute to the music of Prince. One thing that became very clear – Prince’s music is so over-the-top fantastic that it almost doesn’t matter who is singing, especially when you have a band like The Roots as the house band – with Wendy Melvoin (The Revolution) on guitar and backing vocals for some acts! One of the surprise guests was Eric Leeds (from The Family and The Revolution) on sax, who played on several songs.

Before the show I’d read the story of how Prince borrowed Captain Kirk Douglas’ guitar and then smashed it on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. It seemed so out of character and it made me dislike Prince just a little. But then The Waterboys came out and played an electrifying version of “Purple Rain” with Steve Wickham’s violin solo replacing the guitar solo that sent a shock through the entire audience, which was so strong that I didn’t think we were going to survive until the end of the night. And this was just the first song.

As in previous years, Rita Houston from WFUV did the introductions from backstage. She bunched them up so sometimes it was difficult for me to remember who was up next, especially since I wasn’t familiar with a lot of the artists. It didn’t help that the surprise guests weren’t announced at all. We were sitting way up in the balcony in restricted legroom seats. You would think that someone as short as me would not have a problem with restricted legroom. Guess again. When I sat down my knees were pressing so hard against the metal railing that I was in real pain. Luckily the guy behind me was very very tall so I could sit on the edge of my upturned seat for part of the show. That became uncomfortable so I put the seat down and then I had to put my coat between my knees and the railing so as not to cry out in pain. The show was sold out so there was nowhere else to go. I’m not sure how violaleeblue was able to stand it. rtb had a seat next to railing so she was not squished but it still wasn’t a comfortable seat.

Leeds joined the Roots for “Ten” and then PRINCEss joined both for “I Wonder U,” with Melvoin also on vocals, and had me swaying and rocking in my seat.

Next up Fred Armisen recited the lyrics to “Let’s Go Crazy.” He was one of the surprise guests and we were so far up that rtb didn’t recognize him. Somehow I did – one of only two people I could really recognize all night. Most of the rest I got wrong.

The Young Audiences New York Youth Choir were joined by Diane Birch for “Raspberry Beret.” One of the girls in the choir was wearing a raspberry beret. Booker T. Jones was put to extremely poor use here – you couldn’t hear his keyboards. But the percussion was nice and loud. Extra disappointing because this was the only time Booker T was onstage (except for the encore).

Nina Persson (lead singer for The Cardigans performed a rendition of “Nothing Compares 2 U” that was pretty faithful to Sinead O’Connor’s version. This means that fDeluxe did not get to sing the song they had originally recorded when they were The Family. Instead Susannah Melvoin, St. Paul Peterson, and Leeds gave us sexy hot versions of “High Fashion” and “Mutiny.” Melvoin danced all over the stage in a gorgeous white pantsuit and white heels. At one point she removed the jacket and threw it on the floor. She is still the sexy woman that Prince was once engaged to.

One of the highlights of the night was Sandra Bernhard’s “Little Red Corvette.” I know that she used to perform this in her routine years ago and I’d always wanted to see it. Bernhard starts slowly with a poem that is parts funny and sexy. There were shout-outs to all of Prince’s women – Apollonia, Sheila E, Vanity, Wendy & Lisa – and then she started an almost spoken rendition of the song that oozed sex. She hit high notes and then went very low – as did her body as she bounced ‘down to the ground’ and showed us how funny and gritty the song is.

DeVotchKa performed an gypsy-influenced version of “Mountains” with acoustic guitar, woman on tuba, horn, sax, violin, and percussion. There was no funk to be found.

One big surprise for a lot of the audience was Bhi Bhiman on “When Doves Cry.” Bhiman came out with his acoustic and was alone on stage. There was a smattering of applause with the loudest coming from rtb and me. He totally transformed the song. Gone was the R&B wailing and funky beat. Instead we got a pure Americana ballad. The audience exploded when he was finished. It was so exciting to witness the moment when Bhiman may have moved up several rungs on the star ladder.

Kat Edmonson did a gorgeous version of “The Beautiful Ones” accompanied only by piano. Her voice is beautiful and reminded me a little of Kate Bush.

The Blind Boys of Alabama (of which there seems fewer every time I see them) took us down the gospel path with “The Cross.” The song fit their style beautifully. Afterwards, rtb said Armisen was playing drums for them. Another thing I missed.

Alice Smith and her new husband Citizen Cope performed “Pop Life,” which would have sounded a lot better if there was some bottom on her vocal mix. Instead she sounded screechy with the poor mix.

Talib Kweli rapped and sang “Annie Christian” and besides the song’s shout-out to Lennon, Kweli included Trayvor Martin and Tupac Shakur. It was very compelling.

Bilal killed it with “Sister.” Slow start, falsetto to bass – he used his body and voice to sell that song and if you didn’t listen to the lyrics you would think it was a very sexy song.

Surprise guest Chris Rock imitated Prince with a spoken word “If I Was Your Girlfriend” that was dramatic and sincere and funny.

What can I say about Bettye LaVette? She did one of the sexiest versions of “Kiss” that you’ll ever hear. She danced and sang in a purple jacket and black pants with heels and looked a little like Prince up there.

PRINCEss is Maya Rudolph’s and Gretchen Lieberum’s Prince cover band. Rudolph’s pregnancy did not prevent her from dancing and sexing it up with “Darling Nikki.” It was an outrageously appropriate version and I’d love to see their full act. They also sang back-up for Elvis Costello on the unreleased “Moonbeam Levels.” Now I know why it was so unfamiliar and why it sounded more like an Elvis Costello song.

We didn’t get Prince to make an appearance but ending the night with D’Angelo was almost as good. “It’s Gonna Be a Beautiful Night” rocked and funked and souled and drove everyone to their feet. Even Armisen joined in on the vocals and PRINCEss and fDeluxe sang back-up. By the time everyone came out for “1999” Carnegie Hall’s roof was raised muddafukka.