Antibalas will be the house band and twenty artists will perform the songs of Aretha Franklin on Monday, March 6th at Carnegie Hall in the 14th annual tribute concert to benefit music education programs. Here’s the lineup: Melissa Etheridge, Kenny Loggins, Ann Wilson, Todd Rundgren, Sarah Dash, Glen Hansard, Rhiannon Giddens, […]
Rock
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The Chili Peppers doing a pretty killer show at The Garden is hardly surprising. The Chili Peppers doing three distinct pretty killer shows however may be eyebrow-raising. They busted out covers like Simon & Garfunkel’s The Only Living Boy in New York and Search & Destroy by Iggy and The […]
John Fogerty Recalls Robert Johnson Leading Him Back To CCR – February 14, 2017 The first time I saw John Fogerty was in 1986 on the Eye of the Zombie tour. It was fab but it was also strange as he didn’t play any, not one, song that he wrote […]
New Documentary Film & Book On H.R. Of Bad Brains – Event at Saint Vitus Bar on January 24, 2017 One of the Bad Brains CDs in my collection has a sticker on it with two well chosen quotes about the band: “If you want to hear real excitement, real […]
The latest album by Andrew Bird represents, as the artist phrased it in an interview conducted last month at Carnegie Hall, an attempt to go top shelf all the way. That is, he didn’t start recording until he had explored myriad permutations of each song. He turned them upside down and […]
Anything Could Happen: Tommy Stinson Talks Bash & Pop 2.0 – Anything Could Happen by Bash & Pop released 1/20/17 Nothing not to like about the new Bash & Pop record. Tommy Stinson, now safely nestled upstate in Hudson, got some pals together in his home studio with the intention […]
Alejandro Escovedo Hits City Winery, Talks Triumph Over PTSD – January 19th, 2017 (Also 20th & 21st at City Winery NYC) Alejandro Escovedo celebrated his 66th birthday earlier this month and no one is more deserving than him of the late career success he is currently enjoying. The guy is […]
Jake Clemons Steps Off E Street To Deliver Solo Debut – Fear & Love released 1-13-17 Jake Clemons has performed more than admirably since stepping into the oversized shoes of his Uncle Clarence in 2012 as sax player in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. The Boss’s crew draws heavily on the personality […]
Gift Ideas: Reich, Jarrett, Elvis, Queen, Depeche Mode & Otis – December 13, 2016 Countdown to Santa’s arrival is a mere twelve days! Here’s a grab bag of goodies across genres to stimulate your giving gland… The ECM Recordings from Steve Reich offers a kind of Reich 101 course in […]
Gorgeous Gift Boxes For 2016 Holidays – December 6, 2016 Another year almost in the books and a fine crop of holiday box sets has emerged. These creatively and lovingly packaged collections are anchored by knob turning prowess that has this timeless music sounding better than ever. The Bad […]
The Hold Steady Bringing Anniversary Reissues & Residence; Brooklyn via Minneapolis Band Marks Ten Years On Boys And Girls In America with Deluxe Version Plus Sexy Reissues of Almost Killed Me & Separation Sunday – The Hold Steady have become an essential New York band since coming together in Brooklyn about thirteen […]
Helmet Kicks Ass At Highline Ballroom In Return To NYC; November 12, 2016 Regarding the first album by his group in six years, according to Page Hamilton: “People who hate Helmet are not going to like the record…and the people that love Helmet; some of them may take a minute […]
Dweezil Keeps Zappa Flag Flying At Beacon Theatre 10-30-16 I think Frank Zappa would be very proud of what his son Dweezil has done and what he is doing in regards to keeping his music alive on stages around the world. He plays it with skill and passion and is […]
Tricky Gets Personal At Webster Hall – 10/28/31 When I spoke to Tricky a few hours before his show last Friday, he explained how people had mentioned to him that when he’s on stage there is a tension and a vibe that would be welcome in larger doses in his […]
The Damned Celebrate Forty Years At Gramercy Theatre – Saturday 10-29-16 as well as Sunday 10-30-16 The Damned vini, vidi, vici’d two sold out shows at a grand old theatre. The interview occurred in between sets on Saturday night which is the most manic time imaginable to conduct an interview. […]
Steely Dan Fall ’16 Beacon Residency Underway – October 18th, 2016 The boys are back in town! Donald Fagen and Walter Becker have led Steely Dan through extended runs at The Beacon Theatre in five of the last seven years but they’ve topped out this year with ten shows. The […]
New Morphine Documentary, Vapors Of Morphine Shows in Brooklyn This Saturday 10-15-16 Oh the joy Morphine has given me! One of the bands I have played the most in various living rooms of apartments I’ve lived in. Always there to create a very cool vibe. As he said near the […]
Derek Trucks Talks Listening In The Tedeschi Trucks Band Tonight – Saturday, October 8th 2016 – marks the nineteenth show for the Tedeschi Trucks Band at The Beacon Theater. It caps a six night Fall ’16 residence for the twelve piece group that included three nights of support from Jorma […]
First Ever Roots Picnic NYC Is Happening 10-1 & 10-2 This upcoming weekend’s festivities also involve many stars but will not allow non-musicians on stage. The Roots were in wicked form in July at one of my fave annual events – the Lowdown Hudson Music Festival. ROOTS PICNIC: NYC AT […]
5th Annual Global Citizen Festival 9-24-16 Saturday was a mad scene in Central Park as 60,000 turned up to see, by any standard, an impressive lineup of talent. The musical parade in the early going in the afternoon included Demi Lovato, Ellie Goulding, and Major Lazer as well as special […]
Donovan & Brian Wilson Celebrate Fifty Year Anniversaries – Sunshine Superman and Pet Sounds were both released in 1966 and both the Glasgow born troubadour and American genius are marking the landmark releases with tours visiting New York City. Donovan played Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall on Thursday September 15th, […]
Peter Wolf Brings A Cure For Loneliness To City Winery – September 8th, 2016 Also September 9th & tonight (September 10th) Peter Wolf’s A Cure For Loneliness is one of my favorite albums of 2016 and he is the kind of performer who I want to see regardless of the […]
As it always is with that most exciting of trios, it was my pleasure to take in the Soulive show a few weeks as part of the Louis Armstrong Wonderful World Festival at Flushing Meadows Park. At that time, Eric Krasno revealed in an interview that he has a Central […]
Springsteen Reaches New Heights (& Lengths) In Jersey (8-23-16) 8-25-16 & Tonight at Metlife Stadium. “I want to hear that satisfied sound!” – Bruce speaking to the audience at approximately the 3 hour, 50 minute mark of Thursday’s show shortly after refreshing himself by squeezing a sponge over his head. […]
Living Colour Covers Biggie In Stand Against Gun Violence – Who Shot Ya Mixtape Coming Next Month Living Colour have offered a sneak peek at their new video that will accompany their song Who Shot Ya to be released on September 9th as part of an Andre Betts produced mixtape […]