Concert #760 - Mary Fahl at McCabe's Guitar Shop (November 13, 2015)

I first saw Mary Fahl's name in print a couple of months ago, when her concert was added to the calendar of my favorite venue. My instant reaction was Mary Who?, and I probably wasn't the only one to say that. Still, I bought my tickets almost immediately, after watching no more than one or two persuasive YouTube videos.

Friday night I witnessed one the finest shows one could ever catch at McCabe's: Mary's performance left me mesmerized and in awe of an artists who supplements her incredible vocal prowess with a pleasant personality, humility, good looks and a sense of humor. The timbre of Mary's voice is something to behold and I do disagree with author Ann Rice, one of Mary's best fans, who feels that  Mary's voice has an androgynous quality to it - to these ears, Mary's vocals are decidedly female, but of a unique nature.

Mary Fahl at McCabe's

A self-proclaimed "unabashed francophile", Mary Fahl opened her show with a few words about the day's tragic events in Paris, followed by a heartwrenching rendition of "La Vie En Rose", the world-famous French song first recorded by Edith Piaf in the 1940s. The show continued with a mix of numbers culled from Mary's solo repertoire, her days as the front-woman of the October Project and a handful of outstanding covers. I loved everything I heard, so I won't even try to single out any highlights.

The hand-written set list does not show Nina Simone's "Wild Is The Wind", Mary's own "Like Johnny Loved June" and "Exiles (The Wolves of Midwinter)" and Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now", which were performed by Mary at various points during the show.  We also heard a short snippet from Blind Willie Johnson's "The Soul Of A Man".

The set list

The show ended with Mary summarizing her own appearance at McCabe's as "pure delight", which happen to be precisely the words I would use to describe the time I had watching Mary Fahl perform.

Mary Fahl at the end of her show

Mary Fahl getting ready to meet fans and sign autographs

The stage

The merch table

Concert #759 - Jackshit at McCabe's Guitar Shop (October 30, 2015)

We are spoiled rotten out here in Los Angeles. When unannounced guest Jackson Browne took the stage two Fridays ago at McCabe's, most of us rolled our eyes and said "Oh no, not him again!". Then we sat back, relaxed a bit and witnessed yet another thoroughly enjoyable performance of a musical legend who quite often shows up at McCabe's to play with Jackshit, the phenomenal band (actually a side project), that is much loved by everyone lucky enough to have been exposed to their live shows. Jackson was supposed to sing only three songs, but he felt good and, at guitarist Val McCallum's urging,  he stayed on for three additional song and they all sounded great: "Yabba Dabba Do", "Shakey Town", "Redneck Friend", "Call It A Loan", "Take It Easy" and "Our Lady Of The Well".

Val McCallum (left) and Jackson Browne having fun at McCabe's

Val McCallum (left) and Jackson Browne at McCabe's

Jackson Browne was not the evening's only guest - introduced as the Soul Shake, Pammy Armstrong and Jimmy Faragher delivered an exceptionally dynamic mini-set consisting of "Shame, Shame, Shame" and "Soul Shake", complete with great vocals and provocative dance moves, it was a blast. The former song was an international hit for Shirley & Company in the mid seventies, while the latter was a US hit for Peggy Scott & Jo Jo Benson in the late sixties. By the way, Pammy and Jimmy are Shorty Shit's siblings.

The Soul Shake, a.k.a. Pammy Armstrong and Jimmy Faragher

The band's set list was a fluid affair, with quite a few detours from the printed list. The band tried out a few new songs, the one I liked the best was Lee Hazlewood's gorgeous "Sundown, Sundown", where the Boys from Cochtotan took some poetic license with the lyrics and sang "Beau Shit, I love you Beau Shit" in lieu of Lee's original "Sundown, I miss you sundown".

The set list

The Shit Horns also made an appearance, this time as a trio. It took me some time to get the information, but finally I can post the names of two of these fine trumpet players who always add color to Jackshit's concerts: Sarah Kramer, who can play the trumpet and laugh her head off all at the same time, and Darrell Leonard, who played with a mask on his face.

The Shit Horns

 For their encore, the band played their version of "Ugly And Slouchy", which of course turned into an exhilarating rock & roll medley that brought everyone to their feet - what a way to cap a fabulous evening! The band played for over two hours, it was one of their longest sets and we all went home completely satisfied. Can't wait to see them again.

Jackshit with guest Jackson Browne at McCabe's

Davey Faragher, a.k.a. Shorty Shit

Concert Director Lincoln Myerson announcing the band's Halloween show

Davey Faragher and Val Mc Callum after the show

Pete Thomas with my friend Steve

Val's guitars and Pete's drums

My autographed CD

Concert #760 - Renaud Capucon at the Walt Disney Concert Hall (November 1, 2015)

I seldom attend concerts of classical music, and when I do, the concert is either free, or a free ticket is involved. It's not that I don't appreciate classical music, but I just don't appreciate it enough to justify shelling out the kind of money such tickets cost. Long story short, last Sunday I showed up at the gorgeous Walt Disney Concert Hall with a ticket that had been gifted to me by a season ticket holder who couldn't attend, namely My Better Half.

The program consisted of two pieces of music, and - just like I expected - I liked one of them very much, while the other left me cold. I knew Mendelssohn's Violin Concert almost in its entirety, which goes back to my classical-music-filled childhood. French violinist Renaud Capucon was quite impressive, as he breezed flawlessly through the concert's most difficult parts.

While Strauss' Alpine Symphony was not a hit with me, nor was it with my friends Joe and Deborah, I still had some fun checking out LA Phil's 100-piece orchestra and some of the unusual instruments it featured, such as the industrial-looking wind machine.

The concert's conductor was Semyon Bychkov, a naturalized American citizen with an impressive resume.

LA Phil playing Strauss' An Alpine Symphony

The Walt Disney Concert Hall

Concert #758 - Peter Asher & Albert Lee at McCabe's Guitar Shop (October 10, 2015)

Last night I caught not one, but two legendary musicians, Peter Asher and Albert Lee, performing together as a duo in the intimate backroom of my favorite venue. The evening turned out to be pretty much as I expected. On the musical front, we heard a few landmark songs from the 50s and 60s, a handful of Peter & Gordon hits, plus a few unexpected numbers, such as Cliff Richard's "With A Girl Like You", Glen Campbell's recent "Better Place" and Green Day's "Good Riddance". The music was fine, but to me, the evening was carried by the many captivating and often humorous stories shared by Peter and Albert, two artists whose undisputed credibility gives them the license to drop as many names as they want, without sounding pretentious at all. Lots of names were mentioned, some in passing, others in more detail - Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, Del Shannon, Buddy Holly, Emmylou Harris, James Taylor, the Everly Brothers, Brian Epstein, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Webb, Elvis Presley, Glen Campbell, the Crickets, Cliff Richard, Frank Sinatra, Dave Edmunds, James Burton, Hank B. Marvin, Nelson Riddle, Natalie Merchant, the Searchers ... the list goes on and on.

Peter Asher & Albert Lee at McCabe's

Peter named Linda Ronstadt as his all-time favorite female singer. Also spoke with admiration about Carole King's talents as a songwriter, singer and piano player. Albert talked about the fortunate circumstances that made him a long-time associate of Emmylou Harris and the Everly Brothers. Also spoke about one of his earlier bands, Heads Hands And Feet.

When it came to singing, Peter and Albert both had their solo moments, but most of the time they performed as a duo. There were no other musicians on the stage, as Peter played his acoustic guitar, bass guitar and the banjolele, which, you guessed it just right, is a cross between a banjo and a ukulele. Albert played the keyboards and acoustic guitar. None of their vocals were thunderous, and they did not have to be.

Overall, the show was heartwarming, thoroughly enjoyable and most certainly unforgettable. With a combined age of 142 years, Peter and Albert still have what it takes to entertain.

Peter Asher & Albert Lee at McCabe's

 The Set List

Bye Bye Love

Crying In The Rain

Handy Man

A Girl Like You

Sweet Little Lisa

That's Alright Mama

Highwayman

I Go To Pieces

Well Alright

Better Place

Good Riddance

World Without Love

Encore

Lady Godiva

Let It Be Me

Peter Asher telling stories

Albert Lee having fun at McCabe's

Peter Asher's final bow

The stage

Albert Lee reporting to work

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