A quarter of a century ago, Dr. Lonnie Smith was enjoying the attention of music notables such as John Hammond, Sr., (who signed him to a contract with Columbia and arranged his first appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival). Downbeat magazine was declaring him Organist of the Year. He was…
Once upon a time a not-so-sought-after Lyle Lovett went to Nashville’s Opryland to hawk his act at a talent-buyers showcase. Not yet the Grammy-getting, style-setting Hollywood property he’s become, he hoped to impress the promoter-packed audience. And he did. “Afterwards we heard someone say he felt sorry for that fella…
“Welcome to Club Bravo, home of…the extremely bright light that’s shining in my eyes. That was supposed to be a hint, bro.” Delfeayo (pronounced DEL-fee-yo) Marsalis is doing what he’s supposed to: charming the pants off this somewhat stodgy, tanned and blazered crowd of arts patrons, cable moguls, and assorted…
Plenty of artists know in their hearts that the driving force in their lives is musical expression. What they don’t always know is how to get the music industry A and thereby the masses A to sit up and take notice. Three states, a half-dozen band-name changes, two record companies,…
Can’t get enough of those classic hits? Keeping a vigil until every last member of AC/DC has gunned it down that Highway to Hell? Please take a moment from your obviously busy schedule to fill out our Klassic Hits Kwiztm. Please use a No. 2 pencil. Answers and scoring chart…
“Satisfaction” Rolling Stones, 1965 “Stairway to Heaven” Led Zeppelin, 1971 “Money” Pink Floyd, 1973 “Dream On” Aerosmith, 1973 “Hotel California” Eagles, 1976 “Cocaine” Eric Clapton, 1976 “Night Moves” Bob Seger, 1976 “More Than a Feeling” Boston, 1976 “Dust in the Wind” Kansas, 1977 “Renegade” Styx, 1978 Honorable mention: Anything else…
Schascle “Twinkle” Yochim is typical of so many unsigned talents, a tough-voiced belter of bluesy rock with tons of melodic skill. She writes big, memorable songs, captured neatly on a demo, and has been touring the club circuit from her Sarasota base for several years. Your standard dreamer who deserves…
He’s the self-proclaimed, mail-ordained (or disdained, as he puts it) minister of the First House of Polyester Worship. His powers are so great his followers, when commanded, gleefully pound the drum part to “Wipe-Out” on the walls where he performs, while he knocks honky-tonky hell out of his electric keyboards…
Though the Parliament/Funkadelic empire has been officially silent since 1983’s Trombipulation, true followers of George Clinton’s visionary menagerie haven’t exactly gone dry during the nominal drought. Every year or so, Clinton, first lieutenant Bootsy Collins, and assorted friends drop by at this or that recording session, turning otherwise minor P-flavored…
Jimmy Scott Lost and Found (Atlantic/Rhino) They’re a select group, a handful of singers that can pull up emotion and hurt so palpable that it’s almost painful to listen to, but you want to listen anyway: Billie Holiday, Neil Young, Otis Redding, come immediately to mind. Add to their number…
Oh, yeah, they’re out there. Is anybody listening? Oh, yeah! Here we go again. The recording artists calling Miami home are steppin’ to it, and we’re kickin’ what they’re droppin’. Please join us. Mary Karlzen Hide (Y&T Music) “Hey, don’t I know you? You look familiar….” It takes less than…
The postmidnight hour’s when jazz clubs hit their groove. Aficionados huddled near the stage at O’Hara’s Pub in Fort Lauderdale, drinking from long-necked beer bottles and brandy snifters, know that. Singer (she says “jazz vocalist” is too confining a description) Juanita Dixon prefaces a ten-minute-plus rendition of Marvin Gaye’s classic,…
I plead ignorance. I beg forgiveness. On behalf of the entire music industry. I first saw Mother’s Finest live in early 1980 at the cavernous and generally worthless Hollywood Sportatorium as opening act for Aerosmith. It was weirdness, a racially different (and mixed) gang playing fried, get-it rock as sloppily…
While the new Bad Company follows the pack of Nineties bands spewing another mouthful of mainstream pop, one Brit-rockin’ black sheep has gotten the flock out of the commercial scene to explore his roots in the blues. Ex-BadCo singer Paul Rodgers is moving backward to a time when the music…
“I didn’t like the way he cocked his hat and he wore his gun all wrong” A Joe Ely, “Me and Billy the Kid” Heroes are hard to find, or so the saying goes, which makes it all the more important that we appreciate them when they do come around…
It’s been a long and winding Drive for these inside outsiders Leonard likes ’em. And how many local bands can say that? For Drive Choir — of whom the Miami Herald’s Leonard Pitts, Jr., once wrote, “they certainly sounded good” — praise is not unusual. For a critic at this…
Although the “big” acts at the Chicago Blues Fest may continue to ring in your ears long after the fact, it’s often the sidewalk musicians or the back-alley bar bands that leave the most lasting impressions. Sure, Albert Collins grinded his ax with his teeth, but that dude with the…
So this man arrives in heaven, natty in a white suit coat and shoes shined to glare, and the security guard at the pearly gates greets him with a clipboard and a pen. “Name?” “James Brown,” says the man. “Yeah, right, and I’m St. Peter.” “My name,” the man repeats,…
Like Athens (Georgia, that is) in the Eighties, Seattle in the Nineties has been scooped and hyped ad nauseum as the Scene of the Minute. The airways are rife with some thing called “the Seattle Sound,” and the runways are featuring the bold, new look of “grunge” (as if Seattle…
The sinewy young tough with the skull tattoo etched into his bicep is beating a hasty retreat from Washington Square. On his way to the door, he passes under the white board across which is scrawled, in multicolored lettering, “Wednesday, March 3, Worst Band in America!” “What’s the hurry?” someone…
Tragically Hip Fully Completely (MCA) By Steven Almond We don’t honestly expect this band’s third full-length to score their deserved breakthrough, particularly if Americans prove as lazy and gullible as usual (did someone say “Donny Osmond comeback”?). But hey, Michael Jackson’s face is still structurally sound. Anything’s possible. Less insistent…
Come all ye faithful, be ye friend or be ye foe, and throw down your weapons, toss out your prejudices, shred your inhibitions, lift up your arms and rejoice. For there’s a new and pure and mighty sound on the horizon, and it knows no color other than kaleidoscopic, and…
