Concert #750 - The Dustbowl Revival at the Levitt Pavilion in Pasadena (July 4, 2015)

This was my tenth time to see the Dustbowl Revival in action, a number that adequately illustrates just how much I love the band and the music they make. I went to the show with my Better Half and two good friends, Joe and Deborah. The concert took place outdoors, at Pasadena's Levitt Pavilion, in front of a crowd that was at least one-thousand people strong.

The Dustbowl Revival

Zach Lupetin (vocals, guitar)

Liz Beebe (vocals, washboard)

Daniel Mark (mandolin)

Connor Vance (violin)

Matt Rubin (trumpet)

Ulf Bjorlin (trombone)

James Klopfleisch (upright bass)

Josh Heffernan (drums)

Fueled by the size of the crowd and the festive occasion - it was the 4th of July - the band pulled all stops and delivered one of their best performances yet. Taking full advantage of the Levitt Pavilion's large stage, the band added mobility to their usual mix of great music and humor. The band's song selection was pure joy, as it brought back "Dan's Jam", "Orange Blossom Special" and "Western Passage", three gems that should never be left out from any of the band's concerts. I particularly enjoyed the extended intro to "Western Passage", which included Ulf's trombone ramblings, James' upright-bass rendition of "Amazing Grace" and Daniel's mandolin versions of "God Bless America" and "Hava Nagila", all very well received by the crowd.

The Dustbowl Revival at the Levitt Pavilion

Partial Set List 

Lowdown Blues
Old Joe Clark
John The Revelator
Feels Good
Ballad Of The Bellhop
No Volvere
Cherokee Shuffle
Riverboat Queen
Dan's Jam
Orange Blossom Special
Western  Passage
Never Had To Go
Mariachi Song (title?)
Lampshade On
Whiskey In The Well
Down By The Riverside

Everything about the concert was great. Zach presided over the proceedings like he always does. Violinist Connor Vance was on fire, he went absolutely crazy on all of his solos. Ulf did his rarely-heard operatic vocal interlude, it was a blast. We all sang Happy Birthday to Josh, the band's drummer. Liz sounded and looked fabulous. Daniel and Connor became Siamese twins as they played each other's instruments. Matt delivered a few impressive trumpet solos. Dozens and dozens of folks got up and danced.

Overall, we all had a fabulous time. My friend Joe, who attended his first Dustbowl Revival concert ever, went home and without wasting a second, bought two of the last remaining tickets for the band's upcoming appearance at McCabe's, later this month. 

Performing on a small side stage, Jenni Alpert (no relation to Herb) performed a decently good opening set. I liked her, and so did the crowd.

Zach Lupetin & Liz Beebe

Ulf Bjorlin (left) & Matt Rubin

Daniel Mark (left) & Connor Vance

Ulf Bjorlin (left) & Connor Vance

Zach Lupetin & Josh Heffernan

Ulf Bjorlin (left) & Matt Rubin

Connor Vance

James Klopfleisch

Liz Beebe

Zach Lupetin & Liz Beebe

Siamese twins Daniel Mark & Connor Vance

Josh Heffernan

Zach Lupetin, the band leader

The end of the show

The venue

The crowd

The dancers

The merch table

Show-opener Jenni Alpert

Concert #749 - Kim Richey at McCabe's Guitar Shop (June 27, 2015)

 

This was my first time to see Kim Richey in concert. Even though I own two of her albums, I went to the show with only a superficial familiarity with her music - somehow, her songs had failed to hook me, most likely because of my lack of trying. It turned out, though, that my lack of preparedness did not prevent me from enjoying Kim's performance.

The concert followed a formula that had worked for me before, namely a singer-songwriter with an acoustic guitar, with electric guitar accompaniment provided by a support musician. British guitarist Dean Tidey handled his supporting role with class - even though he played in a rather subdued manner, his solos clearly proved his worth.

Kim Richey and Dean Tidey at McCabe's

Playing in front of about one hundred people, Kim impressed me primarily with the quality of her songwriting. All the songs she sang for us were new to me, but a few of them caught my attention, especially "Thorn In My Heart", "Wreck Your Wheels", "Dear John" and "Just My Luck". As far as Kim's voice is concerned, I enjoyed the slower songs more than the uptempo ones.

Kim Richey at McCabe's

The set list

Kim Richey at McCabe's

Overall, the concert was good, but not earth-shattering. In my opinion, Kim Richey definitely belongs to a category of fine female singer-songwriters that also include Catie Curtis, Tift Merritt, Patty Larkin, Carrie Newcomer, Cheryl Wheeler and other artists whom I have enjoyed seeing, but without feeling compelled to catch them every time they come to town.

Concert #748 - Dan Penn at McCabe's Guitar Shop (June 26, 2015)

Dan Penn's first-ever appearance at McCabe's turned out to be exactly as I hoped it would be. With his singing and story-telling, Dan took us back to the sixties and seventies, to the time when he wrote or co-wrote most of his best-known songs and, needless to say, I cannot think of a better backdrop for such a special event than the concert room of my favorite venue, Santa Monica's McCabe's Guitar Shop.

About 125 fans showed up for the event. Seated at the center of the stage and playing his acoustic guitar with no one else in tow, Dan delivered his music and stories with humility and occasional humor. Intentionally or otherwise, he played most of his big hits before the intermission, yet paradoxically, I found the second half of the show, with its many lesser-known songs, to be at least as enjoyable as the first.

Dan kicked-off the proceedings with four heavy-hitters (see set list below), but then he strayed away a bit from his hand-written list. Later in the show, he even threw in a few "unlisted" songs, such as "Junkyard Junky" and "Way Back". Both sounded great. A third "unlisted" song, Percy Sledge's "It Tears Me Up", served as the evening's one-song encore.

Dan Penn at McCabe's

The set list

To my ears, the best songs of the evening were "You Left The Water Running", "A Woman Left Lonely" and "Cry Like A Baby", three gorgeous songs I first heard decades ago with Otis Redding, Janis Joplin and the Box Tops, respectively.

Dan Penn at McCabe's

Dan Penn having fun at McCabe's

At the respectable age of seventy-four, Dan no longer sounds like he did on his incredible Muscle Shoals recordings from the mid-sixties, but he still has plenty of soul in his voice and can still hold an audience captive with nothing more than his vocals and an acoustic guitar. His story-telling was top-notch - with unquestionable credibility, Dan spoke about his work with Aretha Franklin, Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd, Otis Redding, Joe Simon and a few others. There were also frequent references to Spooner Oldham, his long-time songwriting partner.

At one point during the show, Dan acknowledge the presence in the room of a good friend, Mark James, the songwriter responsible for such mega-hits as "Suspicious Minds", "Always On My Mind" and "Hooked On A Feeling".

I went home totally happy, knowing that I had attended a truly special event.

Dan Penn at the end of the show

The stage

Fans lining up before the show

Concert poster

Concert #747 - Smooth Hound Smith at McCabe's Guitar Shop (June 20, 2015)

Self-described as an "American roots duo", Smooth Hound Smith consists of singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Zack Smith and vocalist Caitlin Doyle, the same attractive singer whom I have seen a few times before, when she was with the Dustbowl Revival. The duo's music is a mix of a lot of things, so in the absence of a single word that can adequately describe their repertoire, I will use the term "American roots music", a category that is wide enough to cover pretty much everything they played at McCabe's last Saturday night

About 120 folks showed up to see the duo in action. It was an interesting crowd, with the usual helping of older fans, the kind you often see at McCabe's, but also quite a few youngsters.

With complementing skills, Zack and Caitlin put on a great show that had plenty of variety, good humor and outstanding musicianship. Even though I was unfamiliar with their music, my mind did not wander away from the proceedings, not even for a second and I was struck by how well-balanced their act was, with neither of them attempting to steal the spotlight or upstage the other.

Zack Smith & Caitlin Doyle at McCabe's

Zack Smith & Caitlin Doyle at McCabe's

Clocking in at one-hour-and-fifteen-minutes, Zack and Caitlin's set was dominated by what I assume were their own compositions and they all sounded good. But they played a few covers as well, the ones I recognized were the classic "Hi-Heel Sneakers", Nina Simone's "Be My Husband" and Jim Croce's "You Don't Mess Around With Jim". Zack offered a free CD to anyone who could name the composer of "Hi-Heel Sneakers", but no one came up with the name. By the way, the correct answer is Tommy Tucker, and thank you, Google, for knowing it all.

The set list

The three covers sounded great, especially the Jim Croce number - instead of following the original arrangement, Zack & Caitlin reworked this gem of a song to make it their own. Other songs that caught my ear: "California Sway", "Stop-Gap Woman Blues" and "Sweet Tennessee Honey".

A few things stayed with me for many hours after the show: Zack's guitar-playing skills, Caitlin's singing voice and, most of all, her irresistible smile. I always liked her contribution to the success of the Dustbowl Revival, but now that she is part of a duo, her many talents are far more apparent. Great green dress, too!

Caitlin Doyle having fun at McCabe's

Zack Smith at McCabe's

Caitlin Doyle at McCabe's

Zack Smith playing the banjo at McCabe's

The end of the show

The evening kicked off with six songs delivered by Matt Bradford, a singer-songwriter of some promise. Except for one up-tempo number, everything Matt played was slow and, at first blush, sounded a bit monotonous. But he impressed me quite a bit with his superior dobro playing skills, especially on "Ain't Ready To Stop".

Matt Bradford at McCabe's

The stage

Smooth Hound Smith merchandise

T-shirts

Concert #745 - Trio Dinicu at the Coffee Gallery Backstage (June 9, 2015)

Only about forty folks were inspired enough to show up Tuesday night at the intimate Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena to see Trio Dinicu in action. While most people would legitimately ask "Trio Who??", I had no trouble placing the trio in Central/Eastern Europe, right where my own roots are. Pronounced Dee-NEE-Koo and named after Romanian composer and violin virtuoso Grigoras Dinicu, the band consists of three outstanding musicians hailing from three different countries, none of which are Romania:

Luanne Homzy (violin) (Canada)

Tommy Davy (guitar) (USA)

Frank Anastasio (upright bass, guitar, vocals) (France)

Trio Dinicu at the Coffee Gallery Backstage

Playing a mix of jazz, classical, folk and gypsy music, the trio put on a show that was nothing short of dazzling. Luanne is a formidable violin player who tackled with confidence musical pieces of high difficulty and I'd say she didn't hit a single bad note, no matter how fast she played. Her rendition of ethnic Hungarian, Romanian, Russian and Gypsy music sounded quite genuine to these ears. In spite of her unquestionable musical prowess, Luanne appeared to be exceedingly shy - she never addressed the crowd and did not mingle with the fans during intermission, nor after the show.

Luanne Homzy at the Coffee Gallery

Luanne Homzy at the Coffee Gallery

Guitarist Tommy Davy is a whole lot more than just a support musician. His guitar playing skills were impressive - he took the lead on a few songs and knocked our socks off with his incredibly intricate finger work - his rendition of "Tiger Rag" will be hard to forget. With Luanne limiting herself to just playing music, Tommy also assumed the role of band spokesman, as he introduced the members of the band and spoke briefly about each and every song they played.

Tommy Davy at the Coffee Gallery

Bassist, guitarist and vocalist Frank Anastasio was equally impressive. I loved watching his various styles of playing the double bass and enjoyed hearing him sing on "Two Guitars" and "Dobri Dien", which happened to be the only two songs of the evening that featured vocals.

Frank Anastasio at the Coffee Gallery

Trio Dinicu deserves special kudos for having brought so many different musical genres under one roof, literally obliterating the boundaries that separate these otherwise distinct styles. I particularly enjoyed their medleys, although I'm yet to understand the presence of Soloviev-Sedoy's "Moscow Nights" right in the middle of the Schubert medley.

Given the consistently high level of the trio's performance, I find it difficult to pick highlights, but I will go ahead and mention Brahms' "Hungarian Dance No. 5", Monti's "Czardas", "Tiger Rag" and Dinicu's "Whistle Hora" as some of the evening's finest.

The set list - Part 1

The set list - Part 2

With Luanne Homzy being based in Los Angeles, I'm pretty sure that I will attend many more Trio Dinicu concerts. I can't wait.

Luanne Homzy at the end the concert

The stage

Concert promoter Bob Stane