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Monday, October 17, 2011
Live Reviews Live review: Before the Eyewall at the Milestone (10/12/2011)
Posted By Jenny Lou Bement on Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 10:30 AM
Pig Mountain, Before the Eyewall, Musket King, Homewrecker
The Milestone
Oct. 12, 2011
Arriving to the Milestone in a van full of touring musicians is always an interesting start to the night. Before the Eyewall caught my attention while they were touring through Philadelphia — I happened to be in town and caught their show in a dingy basement. As promised, I gave them a place to crash when they came to Charlotte. As we arrived early for their load in and sound-check, I was anticipating the culmination of when they would take the stage and show the Queen City what I had been raving about for weeks.
It's always a different experience arriving with the bands. You get the full spectrum of what it takes to operate a show. From set-up and sound-check to watching the door open up and people file in, there's a whole lot of elbow grease put into shows that is seldom recognized by those who haven't ever experienced this perspective. It makes you appreciate the show in an entirely different way.
Before the Eyewall began setting up while everyone gathered in anticipation of the band those of us that were fortunate enough to witness kept bragging about. Playing a 35-minute set consisting of one 25-minute and one 10-minute song, you might think most people wouldn't be able to pay attention, but with the energy expressed, it would be impossible to look away. The band's psychedelic, sludgy beauty took us to a place most would covet, getting lost in a trance of the many, well-orchestrated layers the music provides. The crowd flung their bodies with every note, satisfied to an almost incomprehensible degree. I believe after this experience, the story will spread and carry on — the tale of that crazy, talented music from Columbus, Ohio, that melt faces by the bunches.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
CD Reviews CD review: Charles Lloyd and Maria Farantouri's "Athens Concert"
Posted By Perry Tannenbaum on Fri, Oct 14, 2011 at 4:09 PM
Charles Lloyd/Maria Farantouri
Athens Concert
ECM; Release date: Sept. 13, 2011
It’s been upwards of 30 years since anything like the Charles Lloyd New Quartet hit the jazz scene. Back in the early '80s, Wynton Marsalis became a superstar in the bosom of septuagenarian drummer Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers. Now it’s a MacArthur Genius, pianist Jason Moran, sitting at the feet of 73-year-old reed master Lloyd, whose first LP as a leader on the Atlantic label dropped in the mid '60s.
There’s a big difference between Blakey-Marsalis jazz orthodoxy and the arms-open-to-the-world eclecticism of Lloyd, who plucked a young Keith Jarrett from the Blakey band decades ago to tour Europe and Russia during the LBJ Era. Add two or three guest artists to the mix and it’s hard to predict what you’ll hear from Lloyd’s New Quartet. Back in January, when I saw the band in a Jazz @ Lincoln Center concert, Moran’s wife, vocalist Alicia Hall Moran, added a cluster of Negro spirituals to a program that already had branches in Eastern mysticism, free jazz, Tin Pan Alley and the Beach Boys.
Athens Concert chronicles more than a journey to Greece in 2010. It is the distillation of Lloyd’s absorption of Greek poetry and music, abetted by the keening, unabashedly tragic vocals of Maria Farantouri. Remember Morgana King? This Athenian diva wipes the floor with her. Wave after wave of lyricism washes over us as Lloyd and Farantouri’s primal voice sing — sweetly, solemnly, and grandly. Moran is ever-present in the background, adding color and poignancy, but listen to him swing out between Farantouri’s mournful vocals on “Requiem,” a Lloyd melody dressed with Greek lyrics by Agathi Dimitrouka.
On TV / Awards Avett Brothers win at Americana Music Awards
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Fri, Oct 14, 2011 at 9:45 AM
The Avett Brothers picked up their fourth Americana Music Award last night, winning the Best Duo/Group of the Year for the third time. They previously won the award in 2007 and 2010. In 2007, the band also won an AMA for New/Emerging Artist of the Year.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
CD Reviews CD review: Nicole Atkins & The Black Sea's "...Till Dawn"
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 3:00 PM
Nicole Atkins & The Black Sea
...Till Dawn
Razor & Tie; Release date: Oct. 6, 2011
Former Charlotte resident Nicole Atkins has been busy since releasing her sophomore album, Mondo Amore, in February of this year. With so much time spent on the road, a live album makes sense.
...Till Dawn, a free-for-download EP, offers five songs from Amore in all of their live glory — full of energy and Atkins' powerful vocals. Where her studio efforts have been a bit reserved in their approach, Atkins unleashes her voice on the stage.
Recorded in July in Brooklyn, N.Y., the EP starts with the slowly building "This Is For Love" followed by "You Come To Me" with Atkins sounding more like Grace Potter in her howls than the timid girl heard on her 2007 debut, Neptune City. Instead of sitting idly as the words flow by, Atkins delivers them with strength and conviction.
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Live review: Iron Maiden, Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, 6/21/2012 10
Band kicks off 2012 tour in Charlotte.
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Congrats to the Avetts!
