I don’t remember ever having heard the 1979 classic Cruel to be Kind in concert before last month but I heard it twice in the span of a couple of weeks.
The first was at the Nick Lowe show at Town Hall on April 25th. The 63 year old Lowe has aged well and is touring behind last year’s fine The Old Magic which leaves no doubt his vaunted songwriting chops are as strong as ever. Nick must have done some recent reading about Town Hall which was recently designated a national historic landmark as he made references to occupying a stage once inhabited by the likes of Winston Churchill and Melanie. The quote that tells you all you need to know is, “If you cut me open, you’ll find one word – quality entertainment.”
Nick the white-haired crooner effortlessly delivered material he created as an apostle of punk and the Jesus of Cool. Strumming an acoustic and backed by longtime sidemen Bobby Irwin on drums, Johnny Scott on guitar, and Marc Radford on bass; Mr. Lowe pulled out crowd pleasing faves like I Knew the Bride when She Used to Rock and Roll, I Trained Her to Love Me, and Peace, Love, and Understanding. The new material was equally well received however and if anybody had turned up for the show without hearing his latest record, I’d bet they’ve tracked it down since.
The following week, I journeyed to the relatively bucolic Ridgewood, NJ for a solo acoustic Freedy Johnston show as part of the Society Cafe Concert Series. Freedy filled the Unitarian church with tunes spanning his entire satisfying career and was generous with remarks about some of his favorite forebears like Nick Lowe and Marshall Crenshaw. He even covered Someday Someway and, yes – Cruel to be Kind, the latter on a ukulele no less!
While there, I picked up an album that Freedy completed recently with Jon Dee Graham and Susan Cowsill under the name The Hobart Brothers & Lil Sis Hobart called At Least We Have Each Other. These three fine musicians really clicked and the disc sounds like a collaboration rooted in mutual respect and carried off with joy.
Another new album that I’m spending time with is Nameless and Awake by Reuben Butchart and the Millworkers. Reuben, who is the former piano player with Antony and the Johnsons, adapted eight poems by John William Carroll accompanied by seven multi-instrumentalists. It’s a beautiful album that threatens to demand a spot next to albums like Joni’s Ladies of the Canyon and Reading, Writing and Arithmetic by The Sundays in my early morning rotation of faves.
I hosted a session with The Walkmen at The Alternate Side on Thursday, May 3rd. They played three songs off their new album and knocked them out of the park. Â Follow link HERE for session.
Finally, I was at Rose Theater at Lincoln Center for The Music of Jelly Roll Morton this past Saturday evening the 12th. This was a a brilliant event as there was a handful of different kinds of gumbo being served beforehand which served as an apt appetizer to music of the seminal New Orleans pianist and composer. Marcus Roberts was immense throughout and most impressive during virtuoso runs on Freakish and The Chant. Marcus was accompanied by Rodney Jordan on bass and Jason Marsalis on drums as well as a sensational 5 piece horn section that wasted very few opportunities afforded them to shine. When they took a solo, they took it! The only decision I disagreed with trumpeter Alphonso Horne about was his bow tie – his playing was superb. Both he and Ron Westray on bone used plunger mutes to great effect. After having seen Dr.John’s tribute to Louis Armstrong last month – I felt especially fortunate to experience such first class tributes to two New Orleans giants.
