Concert #647 - Mary Poppins at the Ahmanson Theatre (August 29, 2012)

Less than a year after attending the fabulous Broadway production of Mary Poppins in New York, I couldn't resist the temptation of reliving the experience, so I shelled out the big bucks and got myself three front row seats at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. Unlike in New York, having front row seats was an absolute necessity, as I was planning to bring along my grandson Austin, who at the age of almost eight was certainly old enough to appreciate the whole affair.

Unavoidably and also unfairly, I couldn't help but compare what I saw Wednesday night at the Ahmanson with last year's Broadway show. Although with somewhat different stage setups and all new actors, the two productions were quite similar, so the surprise element was not there Wednesday night. But no matter, I enjoyed both shows in equal measure and I'm happy to report that Austin immersed himself totally into the show and was quite impressed with everything in general and the special effects in particular.

I was hoping to see Gavin Lee once again - his portrayal of Bert on Broadway was nothing short of sensational. Well, there wasn't Gavin Lee, but there was Nicolas Dromard, whose Bert was also great. Rachel Wallace looked and sounded good in the title role. I also liked Michael Dean Morgan and Elizabeth Broadhurst in the roles of Mr. & Mrs. Banks, respectively.

Rachel Wallace & Nicolas Dromard

Michael Dean Morgan & Elizabeth Broadhurst

Come to think of it, I liked all performers, but the actor who stole the show was Q. Smith, who played both the dreadfully mean Miss Andrew and the gentle Bird Woman, two roles that require opposite acting and singing skills.

Q. Smith as the Bird Lady

The kids were played by Julianna Rigoglioso and Eli Tokash and both were up to the task. Interestingly enough, the show's official printed program listed two pairs of kids and neither of them were Julianna and Eli.

The music was great, especially the original songs written by the Sherman Brothers. Of the newer material, "Brimstone and Treacle" was the best, thanks to a great extent to Q. Smith's powerful delivery.

Sitting in the front row was an experience in itself. The stage was not exceedingly wide, so we had no trouble following the action. Seeing everyone's facial expressions just like one would see them on TV was very special and getting to occasionally peek into the orchestra pit was an added bonus.

The Ahmanson Theatre

Curtain call

Curtain call

The Banks Family

The Ahmanson Theatre

The Ahmanson Theatre

The three of us

The merchandise booth

The conductor's book

The orchestra pit

The brass section

Concert #646 - Kelly Hogan at McCabe's Guitar Shop (August 12, 2012)

The motto of Kelly Hogan's concert last night at McCabe's was "Fail with gusto, rather than succeed with timidity", a phrase repeated by Kelly more than once. Yet there was not a trace of failure in anything she touched and how could she have failed with that gorgeous voice of hers and those great songs, most of which came from her new album, "I Like To Keep Myself In Pain", produced by the legendary Booker T Jones.

I got introduced to Kelly's music in the early 2000's, via my interest in Bloodshot Records, Chicago's outstanding alt-country label that is home to a few of my favorite musicians and an endless source of interesting music that is hard to categorize.

The show started with "Dusty Groove" and "We Can't Have Nice Things", the same two songs that also open Kelly's new album. Even without the sounds of Booker T Jones' organ that is featured so prominently on the album, the songs sounded good, thanks to Kelly's outstanding backup band, made up of these fine musicians:

Jim Elkington - Guitars, backup vocals

Casey McDonough - Bass, backup vocals

Kevin O'Donnell - Drums

I particularly liked Jim Elkington's guitar playing. Kevin's subdued drumming and Casey's bass guitar created a groove that was not unlike that of Kelly's studio recordings.

Kelly Hogan with Casey McDonough at McCabe's

Kelly gave credit to each and every songwriter whose tunes she chose to play and there were quite a few big names among them: Robbie Fulks, John Wesley Harding, Robyn Hitchcock, Vic Chesnutt, Jon Langford and Margaret-Ann Rich, also known as Mrs. Charlie Rich. The latter's "Pass On By" was one of the many show highlights, or as my friend Bill put it, "this song by itself was worth the admission price".

Immediately after delivering Vic Chesnutt's "Ways Of This World", she followed up with an a-cappella rendition of Vic's "Soft Picasso". Very nice. Surprisingly, Kelly also sang "Just Once In My Life" the Righteous Brothers classic penned by Gerry Goffin and his then-wife Carole King.

But Kelly is much more than "just another pretty voice". "Sugarbowl" and "Golden", her compositions from 2001 and 2012, respectively, were at least as good as anything else we heard last night.

Kelly Hogan at McCabe's

Other stand-out songs: Jon Langford's "Haunted", John Wesley Harding's "Sleeper Awake" and the Handsome Family's "The Green Willow Valley", all from Kelly's new album.

One of the set lists

A second set list

 All-in-all, Kelly's show was pure delight, from start to finish. I hope and pray for a return engagement, the sooner, the better.

Kelly Hogan merchandise

The concert room

Concerts #437, 449 - Girlyman at McCabe's Guitar Shop ( April 22, 2007 - October 13, 2007)

Today, Girlyman is a quartet of some renown, but back in 2007 they were a little-known trio that could be best described as multi-gender, multi-ethnic and most certainly multi-talented. When they were first booked to play McCabe's in early 2007, I checked them out on the Internet, liked what I heard, so not only that I grabbed a ticket for myself, but I also talked two good friends, Ralph and Laura, into joining me. We all went home happy. So happy that later that year we caught them in action once again, also at McCabe's.

Featuring three distinct voices and three distinct personalities, Girlyman can entertain on multiple levels. Their style is hard to categorize, but the "folk-rock" label probably suits them best. Here's their 2007 lineup:

Ty Greenstein - Vocals, string instruments, percussion

Doris Muramatsu - Vocals, string instruments

Nate Borofsky - Vocals, guitar

With lots of humor, great vocal harmonies and surprisingly good songwriting, Girlyman won me over in no time. One does not often get to hear songs as good as "Kittery Tide", "On The Air" and "Amaze Me" and who else but the zany Nate Borofsky would think of singing "Rock Me Amadeus" in German?

Singer-songwriter Chris Pureka opened the April 2007 show and I must admit that her music did not touch me at all. On the other hand, my friends Ralph and Laura turned into huge Pureka fans, as they heard something there that obviously eluded me.

Chris Pureka

Five years after my introduction to Girlyman, I still listen to them quite often and I look forward to their next concert in the area, preferably at McCabe's.

Concert #645 - Chatham County Line at McCabe's Guitar Shop (July 20, 2012)

About a year ago, when I first saw the name of the band, I said to myself "What a great name for a bluegrass band". Last night at McCabe's, the stage setup was just as good, with a large North Carolina state flag decorating the wall behind the four proud North Carolinians who call themselves the Chatham County Line. Band leader Dave Wilson promptly reassured the crowd that they had not planted the flag there with any territorial claims in mind and that the flag would be gone as soon as they left town. Indeed, good humor accompanied good music throughout the evening, with pleasing results.

The stage

Band line-up

Dave Wilson - Lead vocals, guitar, mouth harmonica

John Teer - Mandolin, fiddle, vocals, adult humor

Chandler Holt - Banjo, vocals

Greg Readling - Upright bass, vocals

The band plays a style of music that, at least to these ears, is pretty close to classic bluegrass, without an obvious attempt to modernize or innovate, and I don't mean it as a negative. But creative they definitely are, especially when it comes to the handling of their sound. Only the upright bass was plugged in and there was only one mike stand that held three microphones: one on top for voices and two lower ones for the string instruments, with anyone wanting to be heard having to position himself close to the stand. What followed was an endless series of well-choreographed moves, as the four musicians were stepping back, moving up or changing places on the fly, so that whoever had to be near the mikes could actually be there, and yes, there were brief stretches of time when the four of them were bunched up together at the center of the stage.

The band's microphone stand

To the band's credit, most of the songs they played last night were originals and they sounded quite good. Their two all-instrumental numbers, especially John Teer's "Paige", were well received by the crowd. The band functioned like a Swiss watch, but one would expect that from four musicians who have been together for ten years or so. The vocal harmonies were great,  the chatter was short, funny and informative. The two songs I liked the best were "The Carolinian" and "Waiting Paradise".

PARTIAL SET LIST

Waiting Paradise

By The Riverside
The Carolinian
One More Minute
Birmingham Jail
Born To Be With You
Whipping Boy
Alone In New York
Paige
Speed Of The Whippoorwill

Wildwood
Tear Down The Grand Ole Opry
Route 23

The Chatham County Line at McCabe's

The Chatham County Line accepting the crowd's applause

To sum things up, what I saw and heard last night was enjoyable. If you like traditional bluegrass, this act is for you.

Dave and John chatting with fans after the show

The band's merchandise

 

 

Concerts #167, 177, 212, 450, 451 - Zucchero at the House Of Blues and the Grove of Anaheim (1996-2007)

If you're like me, then your roots are in Europe and you're absolutely crazy about Zucchero, the Italian megastar who conquered the entire Planet Earth, with one notable exception. Yes, you guessed it just right, the exception is the United States, a country that, musically speaking, is pretty much isolated from the non-English speaking world and that's both good and bad news.

The bad news is that most Americans will never get to know the many immensely talented artists who are household names elsewhere. The good news is that devout fans like myself have a chance to catch their idols in more intimate venues, something that would be impossible to do in Europe. Zucchero, for instance, plays the Royal Albert Hall when in London, but when he crosses the Atlantic, you are more likely to catch him at the House Of Blues on Sunset Boulevard, a place where I had the good fortune of attending not fewer than four of his West Coast concerts.

The Zucchero concerts I have attended over the years

• House of Blues (Sunset Blvd.) - April 14, 1996
• House of Blues (Sunset Blvd.) - April 26, 1997
• House of Blues (Sunset Blvd.) - October 2, 1999
• House of Blues (Sunset Blvd.) - October 15, 2007
• The Grove of Anaheim - October 17, 2007

Ironically, the first time I heard Zucchero sing was on American television, where he guested at one of Luciano Pavarotti's star-studded benefit concerts in the early 1990s. I wasn't particularly impressed, so I left him alone for a few years, until one day I saw his name in a list of upcoming HOB concerts. At that time I decided to dig a little deeper, so I got myself a used copy of Zucchero's then-current "Spirito DiVino" album. With monumental songs such as "Cosi Celeste", "X Colpa Di Chi" and "Il Volo", the album became an instant hit with me and, practically overnight, my passion for everything Zucchero went sky high.

The album that opened my appetite for Zucchero's music

If you want to be close to the stage at the House of Blues, all you have to do is get there when the doors open, plant yourself in front of the stage, stay there for two hours until the concert starts, then keep standing there until the curtains come down. That's not a customer-friendly formula, but it's not a big price to pay for the privilege of watching Zucchero in action from just a few steps away.

Some musicians affect me more than others, but few have hit me as hard as Zucchero. His live show is something to behold - he's a masterful performer, in constant touch with his audience, always intense, always radiating joy and always wearing one of his trademark hats.

Needless to say, someone of Zucchero's stature can assemble any back-up band he wants - this gave me the opportunity to watch a few world-class instrumentalists such as Americans David Sancious and Kat Dyson, as well as Italy's Mario Schiliro. I loved the way the band was able to reproduce with good accuracy the rich, multi-layered orchestrations of Zucchero's studio recordings.

David Sancious

Mario Schiliro

Zucchero & Kat Dyson

The great Solomon Burke was Zucchero's unannounced guest in October 2007 at the House Of Blues. Surrounded by his entourage, King Solomon watched the show from the main floor, then at one point he took the stage, seated in a wheelchair, to sing "Diavolo In Me" with Zucchero and it was exhilarating.

Solomon Burke & Zucchero

In April 1996, Zucchero was joined on stage by Corrado Rustici, his brilliant producer. An accomplished guitarist, Corrado dazzled me with his funky guitar playing, as he was standing directly in front of me. Corrado is little known in the States, in spite of his impressive resume that includes collaborations with the likes of Elton John, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Andrea Bocelli, Sinead O'Connor, Eric Clapton and countless others.

Corrado Rustici

For Zucchero's appearance at the Grove Of Anaheim in October 2007, I managed to grab two front row seats. The sound wasn't the best there, but being once again "right there" was priceless. Toward the end of the show, I stood up and advanced to the edge of the stage, along with other fans and that gave me the opportunity to shake hands with the master, then seconds later, exchange a high-five with him. Unforgettable!

Here's a partial list of the songs performed by Zucchero at the concerts I have attended:

Cosi Celeste

Madre Dolcissima

Diavolo In Me

Datemi Una Pompa

Il Volo

Pane E Sale

X Colpa Di Chi

Miserere

OLSMM

Cuba Libre

Nel Cosi Blu

Un Kilo

Music In Me

Rossa Mela Della Sera

Baila

Diamante

Senza Una Donna

Hai Scelto Me

Nice Che Dice

I'm fortunate for having discovered Zucchero, in spite of his lack of exposure to the general public here in the States. His music has given me countless hours of immense pleasure and if he ever comes back to these shores, you can bet your life I'll be there. 

Concert #452 - Mavis Staples and the North Mississippi All-Stars at the Malibu Performing Arts Center (October 18, 2007)

The Malibu Performing Arts Center is sixty-five miles away from my home. Getting there after work, on a weekday, is no easy feat, yet there I was to attend a concert that brought together two of my favorites, Mavis Staples and the North Mississippi All-Stars, plus veteran bluesman Charlie Musselwhite and someone who was new to me, Joe Krown. The gig was part of their Solid Blues Tour, with stops in multiple cities across the country.

The evening kicked off with an all-instrumental set delivered by New Orleans pianist Joe Krown, four songs in all, all very good. Then out came the heavy-hitters. First, the All-Stars played a mostly acoustic set that closed with an electric version of "Po' Black Maddie". I particularly liked their acoustic treatment of "Goin' Home, Part 1" and "Make Me Down A Pallet On Your Floor". Here's the set list of the All-Stars:

 Ragged But Right
  Mean Old World
Make Me Down A Pallet On Your Floor
  The Dock Of The Bay
Will the Circle Be Unbroken?
Goin' Home, Part 1
Po' Black Maddie - Skinny Woman - Po' Black Maddie

A bootleg recording of the above set can be enjoyed at:

http://archive.org/details/nma2007-10-18.mk4.flac16

Luther and Cody Dickinson (from left to right)

After the intermission, the North Mississippi All-Stars took on a new role, that of a back-up band. First they played with Charlie Musselwhite, who was his usual self, telling stories, singing and playing his harmonica with competence. Then the band, which now included Charlie Musselwhite and Joe Krown as well, brought out Mavis to a rousing crowd reception. As expected, she sang "The Weight", a song that also appears in the repertoire of the All-Stars. "I'll Take You There" came complete with Mavis' moans and groans and lots of crowd participation. Joe's organ sounds were a welcome addition to the church-like fervor that Mavis brought to the show.

At the not-so-tender age of sixty-eight, Mavis was in good vocal form and one could easily tell how much she enjoyed performing for us.

Mavis Staples and All-Star Chris Chew

Okay, so the music was great, but for me, the highlight of the evening was my getting to shake Mavis' hand. It was a spontaneous act made possible by my front-row-center seating. Toward the end of the show, when Mavis came real close to the front of the stage, I just reached out my hand, Mavis saw it and took it with a smile, while my starstruck self could only manage a timid "thank you". Unforgettable!

From left to right: Luther, Mavis, Charlie, Joe, Chris, Cody