Concert #757 - Ray Wylie Hubbard at McCabe's Guitar Shop (October 9, 2015)

Last night, it took me eighty minutes of driving to reach McCabe's. This gave me plenty of time to question my sanity, with thoughts such as "why in the world do you need to see someone for the fourth time, especially since you don't often listen to his music". It's true - while I hold Ray Wylie Hubbard in high respect - I don't find his recorded music compelling enough to make we want to hear it time and time again. Somewhat surprisingly, though, ten minutes into the show, I was congratulating myself for having decided to be there.

Unlike in his previous appearances at McCabe's, Ray performed his entire show without sitting down.  Now that's a minor detail that has little to do with his music, one might say, but to me, this made a universe of difference. Indeed, I had never seen him as youthful and as energetic as he appeared to be last night. Ray's voice was strong and expressive, while his guitar playing made much more of an impact on me than anytime before. I also loved his sense of humor - I found myself laughing out loud multiple times during the concert. Ray knows he's special and maybe that is why he described himself as an "acquired taste that's not for everyone".

Ray Wylie Hubbard at McCabe's

Accompanied by drummer Kyle Schneider, Ray played for us self-penned songs culled from various stages of his career, including his current album, "The Ruffian's Misfortune", plus a couple of covers.

Set List

Rabbit

Snake Farm

Mother Blues

Up Again The Wall, Redneck Mother

Mr. Musselwhite's Blues

Name Droppin'

Train Yard

Drunken Poet's Dream

Down Home Country Blues

Count My Blessings

Stone Blind Horses

Cooler 'n Hell

The Messenger

Crazy Mama (J.J. Cale's song)

Wanna Rock & Roll

John The Revelator

Barefoot In Heaven

You Gotta Move (encore) (Mississippi Fred McDowell's song)

Ray Wylie Hubbard at McCabe's

Ray's show had many highlights, among them "Mother Blues" and the rousing extended medley that consisted of "Wanna Rock & Roll", "John The Revelator" and "Barefoot In Heaven". The sell-out crowd responded with a well-deserved standing ovation. For his one-song encore, Ray brought out an unidentified singer with whom he delivered Mississippi Fred McDowell's "You Gotta Move", which, not unexpectedly, got the crowd standing up yet again.

Special kudos go to Kyle Schneider, whose tasteful drum-playing contributed a lot to the success of the evening.

Ray Wylie Hubbard (with unidentified help) at McCabe's

Kyle Schneider at McCabe's

In summary, I had a fabulous time last night at McCabe's and I'm pretty sure that Ray's path and mine will intersect again sometime in the future.

The merch table

The stage

 

Concert #756 - Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela at the Purpose Church (October 8, 2015)

This was a rare classical music outing for me. The event was part of the LA Phil's Immortal Beethoven Festival and featured a world-renowned orchestra, Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, the same musical institution that also produced Gustavo Dudamel, the LA Phil's current conductor.

The concert took place in the stunning main building of Pomona's historic Purpose Church, previously known as Pomona First Baptist Church. I went with my Better Half and our good friends Deborah and Joe. The program consisted of two of Beethoven's better-known works, namely the Egmont Overture and Symphony No. 7.

Conducted by the highly energetic Joshua Dos Santos, the orchestra impressed me quite a bit, in spite of the relatively young age of the musicians.

By the way, the concert was free.

Joshua Dos Santos conducting Beethoven's Symphony No. 7

Standing ovation

Pomona's Purpose Church

Concert #755 - Dan Bern at McCabe's Guitar Shop (September 26, 2015)

This was my first-ever live encounter with Dan Bern, a singer-songwriter I first heard of over twenty years ago and it's a mystery to me why it took me so long to finally give Dan's music a little bit more of my time. Last night's concert at McCabe's revealed to me a deserving musician who made me thoroughly regret my earlier indifference. About 120 folks came to see Dan's performance.

I showed up at McCabe's after having given "Hoody", Dan's excellent current album, two good listens and, to my pleasant surprise, Dan played the album in its entirety. While the album is remarkably consistent, a few songs still managed to stand out: Johnny Cash's "One Piece At A Time", which Dan made into a tongue-twisting sing-along, and the self-penned "Sky", "Late Show" and "Welcome". I liked Dan's singing style as well as his sense of humor.

Dan Bern at McCabe's

After performing ten of Hoody's eleven songs, Dan took a short break, then came back with a few more numbers: "Black Tornado", "The Golden Voice Of Vin Scully", the hilarious "Talkin' Canadian Blues", "Jerusalem" and "Late Show", the eleventh song from "Hoody".

Throughout the show, Dan was accompanied on drums by Adam Busch, who also provided a few brief vocal interludes.

Dan Bern at McCabe's

Dan Bern at McCabe's

The evening was kicked-off by Alex Minoff, an employee of McCabe's. His five-song set was quite listenable. I particularly liked the lower half of his vocal range.

Alex Minoff at McCabe's

Concert #754 - Leftover Cuties at the Levitt Pavilion (September 4, 2015)

This was my first time to see the Leftover Cuties in actions. Initially, what attracted me to their music was their occasional association with the Dustbowl Revival. The concert was attended by about four hundred people, and - by the way - it was a free event.

Appearing as a quartet, the Cuties put on a good show, with excellent vocals, lots of quality songs and good musicianship. Still, overall, in spite of all these positives, the band was a bit less exciting than the Dustbowl Revival - but then again, I could say that about most any other band.

Band line-up

Shirli McAllen (vocals, ukulele)

Mike Bolger (keyboards, trumpet, accordion, etc.)

Stuart Johnson (drums)

Ryan Feves (upright bass) (subbing for regular bassist Austin Nicholsen)

The Leftover Cuties at the Levitt Pavilion

Although there was plenty of talent everywhere on the stage, the unmistakable star of the show was Shirli McAllen, whose outstanding voice and singing technique kept me hooked throughout the evening. And she's a good songwriter as well - her composition titled "Half Gone" was, in my opinion, the highlight of the show.

Shirli McAllen

The band's set consisted of mostly songs written or co-written by Shirli, plus a few covers and they all sounded great.

 

The Set List

Smile Big

All Of Me (the well-known classic)

Clarity

You Are My Sunshine

By Morning

Everything I Got

Should've Left You

Fidelity (Regina Spektor cover)

What's The Matter

If You Want The Rainbow

Happy Song

Poker Face (Lady Gaga cover)

Movin' On

Sunnyside

Half Gone

Sweet Pea (Amos Lee cover)

Thick And Thin

One Heart

Places To Go

Once Again

When You're Smiling (Encore)

Shirli McAllen & Ryan Feves

Shirli McAllen & Mike Bolger

Mike Bolger

Stuart Johnson

Concert #753 - Little Willie G. at McCabe's Guitar Shop (August 22, 2015)

Take a look at the above concert poster and most likely you will notice that "Little" was spelled with three T's. No big deal, of course, just a small spelling error, but other than that, everything else about the concert turned out just fine. At the age of sixty-nine, Little Willie G. put on an outstanding show that brought to mind the equally great performances delivered by Garland Jeffreys, a senior citizen of rock & roll himself.

I can't call myself a connoisseur of the music of Thee Midniters, nor can I claim that I often listen to the music style that has brought them recognition, but listening to the very same music in a live setting is a different experience altogether. From the moment I walked into the concert room, I knew that I was in for something I had not witnessed before, certainly not at McCabe's. The venue's tiny stage had been built out to accommodate eight musicians and their gear, while five music stands belonging to Willie's brass section were placed on the floor, in the space usually taken by the first two rows of seats.

The left-side of the stage

The right-side of the stage

The brass-section's music stands

Without a doubt, Little Willie is one of the most soulful singers I have seen in recent years. I was very impressed by the quality of his voice, his passionate delivery as well as his expressive body language. Equally great was his band, but sadly, I can recall two names only: Jacob Garcia (Willie's son), who played the drums and sang backup and Larry Rendon, one of the original sax players of Thee Midniters.

Little Willie G. at McCabe's

Little Willie G. at McCabe's

Little Willie G. at McCabe's

Little Willie G. & Larry Rendon at McCabe's

Other than the show opener, Solomon Burke's "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love", I was totally unfamiliar with Willie's set list, yet I found most of his material quite accessible. The songs I liked the best were "Across The Bridge In East LA" and "I Found A Peanut".

The set list

As I write this post, one week after the show, the sounds of Little Willie's outstanding five-piece brass section still resonates in my brain. The contribution of these musicians cannot be overstated - with their two saxophones, two trumpets, a trombone and, occasionally, a flute and clarinet, they produced a sound I had never heard at McCabe's. Just as enjoyable were the three drummers and percussionists - yes, you read it right, Willie's band had not one, but three musicians in charge of providing the beat, which they did with power and precision.

Little Willie and some of his cohorts

Four of the five brass players

Little Willie and some of his band members

The stage

Concert #752 - Jill Sobule & Tammy Faye Starlite at McCabe's Guitar Shop (July 17, 2015)

What was expected to be a typical McCabe's evening - first a short opening set, followed by the headliner - turned out to be an outstanding double-header, with the two protagonists, Jill Sobule and Tammy Faye Starlite, delivering performances that were as entertaining as they were dissimilar.

Taking the stage first and appearing as a faux Marianne Faithfull, Tammy Faye impressed me with a performance like few others. No, she did not attempt to replicate Marianne's gentle voice from the sixties, nor what was left of her vocal cords after years of heavy smoking. Instead, Tammy used her own voice and her own phrasing to perform ten of Marianne's best-known songs, and - to Tammy's credit - her renditions still sounded a bit like Marianne's originals.

Tammy Faye Starlite at McCabe's

While playing the role of Marianne Faithfull, an artist not known for stellar vocals, Tammy Faye managed to impress me, paradoxically, precisely with the quality of her voice. Everything she sang sounded great to these ears - actually she sounded so good, that I gave her a pass for her overly frequent use of the F-word. With so many great songs, there's no way I can pick a concert highlight, but I will mention Leonard Cohen's "Tower Of Song", Shell Silverstein's "The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan" and John Lennon's "Working Class Hero" as some of the evening's finest. 

Tammy Faye Starlite's set list

Note the inclusion of "Why'd Ya Do It", a three-minute song with lyrics of a vulgarity I had not heard in my twenty-six years of frequenting the venerable McCabe's Guitar Shop. But don't blame Tammy Faye - she was just channeling Marianne Faithfull's work, and yes indeed, Marianne is credited to be one of the co-writers of the song. Interestingly enough, another co-writer, Barry Reynolds, was right there on the stage with Tammy Faye, providing able acoustic guitar accompaniment. Tammy's exceptionally intense rendition of this controversial song will be hard to forget, that's for sure.

Throughout the evening, Tammy Faye's outstanding performance was further enhanced by musicians Kevin Salem and Barry Reynolds, who played their acoustic guitars with great skill. Barry is known as Marianne Faithfull's long-time collaborator as a guitarist and songwriter.

Barry Reynolds at McCabe's

Tammy Faye's opening set went on for seventy minutes and, as far as I was concerned, her time on stage  just wasn't long enough, that's how much I enjoyed her portrayal of Marianne Faithfull. 

Tammy Faye Starlite at McCabe's

Tammy Faye Starlite at McCabe's

After a short intermission, Jill Sobule entered the concert room from the back and, with support from guitarist Kevin Salem, she sang "Almost Great" while standing right in the middle of the audience.

Jill Sobule and Kevin Salem kicking off the evening's second set

As expected, Jill sang some of her best-known numbers, such as "Palm Springs", "When They Say We Want Our America Back", "Where Is Bobbie Gentry", "I Kissed A Girl", "Supermodel"  and "Mexican Wrestler". At one point during her show, Jill brought out composer-producer-arranger Steve Weisberg, who accompanied her on the piano on "Party Girl" and a few newer numbers Jill wrote to the play of "Yentl", one of Isaac Bashevis-Singer's best-known pieces of work. Not having fully memorized her own lyrics, Jill asked for someone to come up to the stage and hold her iPad so that she could read the words - long story short, I ended up on the stage clutching her iPad while trying to remain as motionless as I possibly could. "I Hate Girl Things", "Jonathan And David" and "What Have I Done (Oh Shit)" were the three Yentl songs Jill sang while I was on the stage. Later in the show, Jill asked me to hold her iPad once again - this time she sang "I Hate Horses", a song that appears on "Dottie's Charms", her latest album.

Jill Sobule at McCabe's

Jill Sobule at McCabe's

Steve Weisberg at McCabe's

Yours Truly helping out with the lyrics

Jill wrapped up her show with "One Of These Days" and "Good Life", which turned into a joyous sing-along. All-in-all, I had a heck of a good time. I know Jill will be back, not so sure about Tammy Faye, but if she ever plays McCabe's again, you bet that I'll be there.