Grammy's Got a few right

I always found the idea of music awards show a little on the lame side. The Grammy's are supposed to be given on artistic merit regardless of chart position or number of units sold. This is rarely the case. Many times it's the flavor of the moment or in more recent years awards are given to aging rockers(Bonnie Riatt, Santana, Eric Clapton to name a few few) whose best records were 25 years ago. One of my first memories of the Grammy awards was in the late 70's when Fleetwood Mac cleaned house with the Rumours album a(a great record if I may add). I vividly remeber a very sexy Stevie Nicks and her gaggling cast of charcters.

This year's awards however produced some very noteworthy results. In what is being called the biggest upset in Grammy history, Espernanza Spaulding won Best New Artist. She beat out Beiber. I've have watched Espernanza's career for awhile now, she's a killer bass player, composer and singer. She has been working in it hard for some time and it is great to see such a fabulous talent prevail. Here is a clip of her on the David Letterman show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Latnl1iMnnA There is a Narrows connection in this clip, the harmony singer closest to Espernanza is Gretchen Parlatohttp://www.gretchenparlato.com/. We just booked Gretchen for April 6. Hopefully, Espernanza's win will turn some people onto some great jazz. I've always been a believer that if you turn people on to really great music they will usually dig it. The problem is most people get their music fix from some bogus radio station. We can discuss this issue in a later post.

Other noatable winners were Mavis Staples for Best Americana Album "You Are Not Alone" This was a collaboration between Mavis and Jeff Tweedy of Wilco. I personally love Jeff Tweedy and Wilco. The guy has the midas touch and knows how put together great records and a killer band. Here's a clip of Mavis and Jeff doing the title track acoustic.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW0kE6mucFY Mavis along with her dad Pop were not only great musical talents. They were also at the forefront of the Civil Rights movement. Mavis has carried that torch for over fifty years. She and her band played a great show at the Narrows in 08. Suprisingly it was poorly attended.

It was also great to see The Ramones get the Lifetime Achievement award. The Ramones had a huge influence on thousands of bands and they flat out rocked. I am sure many of you remeber some great Ramones shows at the Living Room and Lupos in the 80's. Kudos to the Black Keys for taking three awards. They have a great new record "Brothers", that is very groovey and ultra hip

So thanks, to the Grammy voters for getting a few right this year

Essential listening and watching Jessica Lea Mayfield She has a great new record Our Hearts Are Wrong. she's only 20, check this clip out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWyjeqkarxQ&feature=player_embedded

Essential Reissue: The Best of Faces. Classic British blues rock, good tunes great interplay. This is when Rod Stewart was on top of his game. Group also included Ronnie Wood(replaced Mick Taylor in the Stones), Kenny Jones(replaced Keith Moon in The Who), Ronnie Lane and Ian Mclagan(playing at the Narrows June 15)

The Wax Museum Mesmorizes

Last Saturday night, David Wax Museum http://www.davidwaxmuseum.com/ played one of more inspiring shows the Narrows has seen in quite some time. This troupe(not just a musical band) mixed deft songwriting, very cool instrumentation and brilliant showmanship in crafting a great night of music. We knew David was a talented guy, he opened for Rhett Miller at the Narrows in March. He played solo and impressed Rhett to the point of him taking David on the road with him. They played Newport Folk last year to  rave reviews. But this show really blew me away.

The core of the band is David Wax who generally plays a jarana (a Mexican instrument that looks and plays like a guitar) and Suz Slezak who plays fiddle and a percussion instrument called quijada (it's a donkey jawbone). It sounds a little whack and it is but the music is very accessible in a good way. They mix Mexican Folk, Americana and pure pop to craft their own unique sound. At the Narrows show(which is now being streamed here http://www.mvyradio.com/music_info/narrows_center.php) they were augmented by three other musicians who moved easily between accordian, piano, drums, bass and guitar.

The show had a cabaret element. During one number the band left the stage and paraded through the crowd playing and singing in a most joyous state. The group separated and David was singing in the gallery while the band played in various areas of the performance space. They shifted very dramatically to a duo piece with David at the piano singing the beautiful balled "Lavender Street" which contains the heartfelt lyric "I need you you like the ground needs the rain, how it pours when you say my name". Then have a great new cd "Everything is Saved" which they drew liberally from. Do yourself a favor and check these guys out. We look forward to a return sometime in the fall.

Essential listening: Justin Townes Earle- Harlem River Blues  It's a killer record with a mix of hillbilly, blues, and folk tunes. The title track romps with a Johnny Cash beat and Justin joyously singing "I'm going up to the Harlem River to drown, dirty water going to cover me over and I'm not going to make a sound" It sounds macabre but it is actually quite liberating.

Reissue- Love-Forever Changes -classic psychedelic pop, a forgotten record that needs to be heard