The News Review:
- Play With Your Head: Student Unlocks Power f Music For People With…
- Singers find careers open to interpretation
- Country hip-hop and metal side by side
- Garth Cartwright finds the reality of gypsy life a far cry from the…
- Look for `The Real’ in `Passing Strange’
- Review: Kids are all right with Fall ut Boy
Play With Your Head: Student Unlocks Power f Music For People With…
Science Daily – Science Daily (press release) – May 14, 2007
liveros will spearhead the project with a group of Rensselaer students and volunteers from her Deep Listening Institute an organization that fosters a unique approach to music literature art and meditation and promotes innovation among artists and audiences in creating performing recording and educating with a global perspective. Making Sure Rensselaer RocksIn addition to opening musical opportunities for the disabled Van Dusen has also opened the ears of his fellow classmates as activities manager and president of Ground Zero (GZ) Rensselaer’s underground arts and culture club located in the basement of Nugent Hall a residence hall for upperclass students. The group hosts bi-weekly open mike nights – where students perform pop rock rap punk jazz metal and electronic music to a crowd of their peers – and is responsible for recruiting bands to play concerts on campus. Since his sophomore year Van Dusen has been bringing independent artists from all over the United States and Canada to the Institute’s Troy campus. “I knew that many students at Rensselaer would like the bands that I had seen in my hometown in New York City but never would have had the chance to see them play. So I contacted some of these bands found a few student bands to open and then we charged students just $3 admission for the concert to cover the cost of the band’s performance and transportation. Since our concerts typically draw a sizable excited and open-minded crowd GZ has become a fairly well-known destination for underground bands.
Singers find careers open to interpretation
USA Today – May 14, 2007
A diverse group of veterans also is putting out cover albums this spring and summer. Patti Austin pays homage to one of the greatest American songbook composers on the acclaimed Avant Gershwin; Mavericks founder Raul Malo lends his creamy bari-tenor to country classics on After Hours due July 17. Punk poet Patti Smith recently unveiled Twelve songs originally recorded by Jimi Hendrix the Rolling Stones and Nirvana among others. n We All Love Ella:Celebrating the First Lady of Song due June 5 Bublé joins Diana Krall Queen Latifah and others to cover standards associated with Fitzgerald. The recent A Tribute to Joni Mitchell features her songs revived by artists such as Prince James Taylor Emmylou Harris and Bjork. Given the rising profiles of neo-traditional pop and jazz singers such as Bublé and Krall and the multiplatinum success of cover CDs by the likes of Rod Stewart and Barry Manilow it’s perhaps not surprising that artists of all stripes would feel more comfortable revisiting older songs… It’s about feeling. Adds Monheit who released Surrender a collection of ballads and bossa novas in April: “It’s all about being truthful and sincere. If you choose music that allows you to do that you’re telling people as much about yourself as you would if you were performing a song you had written. In jazz and country music where songwriting and interpretive musicianship are more often seen as separate and complementary skills singers who draw primarily on outside writers or older material face less prejudice. “n a jazz label there’s not as much pressure to write” says DeSare whose Last First Kiss showcases originals alongside classics by everyone from Irving Berlin to Prince. “In fact they can get nervous when you write your own material. Alison Krauss’ new compilation A Hundred Miles or More veers from traditional songs to tunes by Elvis Costello and Sting.
Country hip-hop and metal side by side
Vail Daily News – May 14, 2007
That there are more guest stars than ever before on a Bones outing is initially disconcerting but probably necessary to pick up the slack for the absent members. And when they join Layzie Krazyzie and Wish and the group is at full strength fans’ loyalty might really be rewarded. "Because I’m Awesome" is 13 tracks of hook-filled attitudinal girl-garage. Jett did during her heyday they still deliver the rock ‘n’ roll goods. n the roaring title track gden catalogs her awesomeness ("Cuz my brain is really super-sized") to an unworthy suitor and it’s hard to disagree with either her admittedly silly reasons or Cabeza’s infectious riff… Their catalog of songs has grown large enough for the band to record a full-length CD of eight tracks; the result is a self-titled release that neither disappoints nor amazes. Defying Gravity does their darnedest to mix punk and metal in their musical recipe but unfortunately this translates into a lack of focus in either genre and sometimes they lose impact because of this genre mixing. In the grand tradition of metal music most of Defying Gravity’s repertoire is heavy and dark. Long stretches of crunching distorted guitar riffs and capable drumming stay constant even while styles change often throughout each song. They stretch for a sound that is bigger than what they are capable of though; the vocals especially can’t quite escape the small-town feel of their surroundings. It’s as if Defying Gravity hasn’t quite matured yet musically but you can see glimmers of potential once they get a few more years under their studded belts. However these guys get utmost credit for having the guts to play the kind of music that is generally not well-received in a place that covets jam bands and reggae music.
Garth Cartwright finds the reality of gypsy life a far cry from the…
New Statesman – May 14, 2007
The festival has been a great success ever since it was first held in 2000 but experience suggests that our present enthusiasm for gypsy music does not necessarily equate with a more concerted attempt to understand Europe’s largest (and most marginalised) minority. The people first mistaken for Egyptians when they arrived in Constantinople in 1068 have long been celebrated for their musical talent: classical composers from Niccol?ganini and Franz Liszt to Georges Bizet and B? Bart?have drawn inspiration from the joyous turbulence of gypsy music. Pop musicians from Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan to the contemporary New York punk band Gogol Bordello have evoked the wild and free spirit with which gypsies have been associated for generations. But to what extent are we prepared to look beyond such stereotypes? The same tired old clich?are as current today as they ever were as evidenced in the colourful feature films of Emir Kusturica and Tony Gatlif. I have come across gypsy bands that have been encouraged by their non-gypsy managers to play up to audiences’ expectations of them – much as producers once encouraged African-American performers to devise minstrel routines. The reality of gypsy life is as multifaceted as it is for any other community. If there’s one thing that it certainly involves it is hard unyielding existence… When in north-eastern Romania I walk the dirt streets of Zece Prajini an “invisible” village (it does not appear on any map) that is home to the extraordinary Fanfare Ciocarlia the contrast is obvious. No matter what is achieved internationally by these musicians their people still move to an ancient seasonal cycle: crops are harvested animals slaughtered churches attended sons (and only sons) taught musical instruments. Making music remains a major part of gypsy life and because the people are aware that it is possible for gifted artists to earn handsomely from it they take it seriously. In the Balkans today with poor wages and endemic unemployment the opportunities that music brings are more valued than ever. Romantic outsiders like to think as do many gypsies themselves that the musical talent of the community is “in the blood”. But the reality is prosaic: an apprenticeship starts in childhood. Boban Markovic the premier Serbian gypsy trumpeter has told me that his father would get home from work at night wake him and make him play what he had learned that day.
Look for `The Real’ in `Passing Strange’
San Francisco Chronicle – May 14, 2007
The show which opened Monday at the off-Broadway Public Theater was created by the singer-songwriter known as Stew a popular club performer at the Public’s next-door music venue Joe’s Pub. Stew was commissioned to develop the musical by the Public and the Berkeley Repertory Theatre where it first appeared. He wrote the socially charged book and lyrics and composed the music with Heidi Rodewald his collaborator of nearly a decade in the bands The Negro Problem and STEW. Rodewald also plays bass in “Passing Strange. The show takes us on a young black man’s journey of escape and exploration. The main character who is not referred to by name is played with lively energy and humor by Daniel Breaker. His odyssey begins in Los Angeles where he decides to quit the Baptist choir and leave his single mother (Eisa Davis) to search for “The Real” — a euphemism for truth and meaning… His odyssey begins in Los Angeles where he decides to quit the Baptist choir and leave his single mother (Eisa Davis) to search for “The Real” — a euphemism for truth and meaning. He sets out for Europe where he settles into bohemian scenes in Amsterdam and Berlin and immerses himself in orgies of art sex and drugs — though not necessarily in that order. As the show unfolds Stew — armed with an electric guitar and a strong expressive voice — leads a five-piece band performing a range of blues funk gospel punk and ballads. His strongest appeal as an artist may be his refreshing originality. He cannot be neatly pigeonholed into any single genre. His writing brings to mind the sardonic lyricism of Randy Newman. His singing style echoes the wry conviction of Cat Stevens.
Review: Kids are all right with Fall ut Boy
Denver Post – May 14, 2007
The Chicago act kicked off the opening date of the Honda Civic Tour by headlining a set including like-minded groups +44 (a spinoff of blink-182) Paul Wall The Academy Is and Cobra Starship. The mostly teenage crowd began chanting for Fall ut Boy 20 minutes before its set erupting into piercing high-pitched screams the instant the stage went dark. This did not abate as the night wore on as merciful as that would have been… His self-righteous borderline incoherent statements barely caught the ears of the crowd through the shrillness that greeted his every utterance. h yeah – there was music too. Fortunately that provided enough substance to justify the ear-shattering response. The band an exceedingly tight quartet seemed both rested and energized after its recent postponement (due to “personal issues” following its European tour) and tore through its songs with a nervy vigor. After an impressive video display pyrotechnics and exploding silver streamers the band dug in with tunes like “Sugar We’re Going Down” “Hum Hallelujah” and the clunky “Tell That Mick He Just Made My List of Things to Do Today. ” The sound was often mangled by gusting wind and a few ill-timed whirling stage jumps seemed to take something out of the Wentz but overall Fall ut Boy delivered a solid set.