Yours truly has been all about myself of
late, which is why I am behind on record reviews and most everything
else, but I do have a new batch of recordings, starting with
"Betty from Memphis", a tribute to stable types such as
my actual Aunt Betty (Olita) in Memphis (not shown here), as well as to
all those weary road warriors out there playing the soundtracks to
everybody else's movies.
Call it
"creative destruction", like Mitt Romney does. "Until Sam
Walty's Dead" is a cowboy yarn about a villain -
personified by the late and wonderful Warren Oates (below) - who
has left an unfortunate legacy for himself (see chorus...). Walty is my
metaphor for early 21st Century predatory capitalism, a force that must
be dealt with so that honest souls can carry on.
Glory be unto Angie Omaha, whoever
she is, pictured below on the cover to my next- generation version of
"The Glow
of Your Dark Eyes", introduced several years back
as a tune about "the dark side of loving a dark soul". Our girl Angie
may not let me exploit her in this way for long, but as long as she does
isn't she perfect? I mean, for this song?
"Just Eleven
Minutes" comes from a few years back, and from the same
box as "The Glow of Your Dark Eyes", but the versions provided below
come much closer to my ambitions for this story of a booze-fueled
cuckold speeding toward a crime of passion and revenge. The song is
almost entirely played around the single chord of E, with occasional
transitions through A-B, for those keeping score. The "psycho" version
was the original inspiration, but the Nashville chicken-pickin' version
has some nice qualities. Unfortunately it also shows that as a guitar
player I am no Randy Barker, though I hope to be when I grow up.
(Randy Barker played with Michael Woody and
the Too High Band, which in the end gave him way too little
exposure, but those who heard him play remember it even 30 years later
as something special.)
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IN THIS EDITION
Icon
Power- RAR waxes on the powerfully unique qualities that
trigger our emotional responses
The
Edited Trio - Douglas Strobel offers a House Concert Review
Lookout!
Records - Video tribute to Berkeley's iconic punk music
label, now ending its historic run
New Releases on
RARadio:
"Darkness" by
Leonard Cohen; "Sweetbread"
by Simian
Mobile Disco and "Keep You"
from Actress
off the Chronicle movie
soundtrack;"Goodbye to Love" from
October Dawn; Trouble in Mind 2011
label sampler;
Black Box Revelation Live on
Minnesota Public Radio;
Apteka "Striking Violet";
Mikal Cronin's "Apathy" and "Get
Along"; Dana deChaby's
progressive rock
RAR NOTE:
Signel-Z is the brainchild of bassist/guitarist Steve
Ignelzi, who has recently released his jazz collective's first CD
io Rise, available on iTunes and elsewhere.
The techie allusion within the
title of the CD should be a tip-off to what you are dealing with here, which is
stuff too smart for some rooms. (It is not, however, the sort of electrical
switch open/switch closed product implied by the title - it is all real
musicians on real instruments.) This is a jazz fusion, which won't appeal to
those who don't appreciate that form, but for those who do this is a real
pleasure. It is a series of wonderful original compositions, performed with a
live energy, feel and sound that is unusually anarchic for a form that really
exists as a tribute to the traditional jazz forms that came before. There is a
thing going on with East Coast underground jazz that seems to be captured in the
horn work of this band from Boulder, a sort of revolutionary vibe played out
through the bleat of sculpted brass and the peppery accents of 16th-note bursts
of jazz guitar.
Steve Ignelzi is one of the more
interesting artists at work anywhere today, in part because he does so much.
Rather like a model for Buckaroo Bonzai, Ignelzi is a chemist by day - a
discipline he has now maintained for decades - and a working musician by night,
playing in Signel-Z, the adventurous Martian Acres, Girls on Top, and
from time to time a big show band with horn section. And somehow he has raised a
family, and sent a kid to college, while another son performs on drums with
Signel-Z. He has maintained a long marriage, often working with his wife Chris,
who is an excellent vocalist. And Ignelzi does all this with a disarming charm,
a sort of low profile boyishness that seems outwardly void of any personal
obsessions, other than enjoying the most minute details of musical expression,
production and engineering. Just read the marketing promo below and you'll get a
good feel for the Steve Ignelzi approach, which is smart without pretension.
"Signel-Z has been evolving as a band, as composers and players. The ability
to listen hard is valued as highly as the ability to play dramatically. The
balance between structure and improvisation is the playing field upon which the
original compositions are expressed at each live performance. The album was
tracked live with very little use of modern studio trickery in order to capture
the human element and the artists performance. Several of the band members
provided original music compositions for the album. The compatibility of the
composers and players really comes across nicely in the progression of the sound
from the start to the finish of the CD lending greater depth and diversity to
the music than what would have been possible with a less collaborative approach.
"The approach to the mixing and mastering was meant to emphasize the
complexity of the sounds and to couch them in a full bodied mix that describes
the perfect live soundstage. Perhaps an evening concert in the desert, the
Arcosanti amphitheater or the Red Rocks amphitheater in Colorado. A sensual
sound that would be ideal if driving or meditating late at night results. The
group can perform jazz, funk and other genres, but prefers to develop each piece
as distinct from the others such that a distinct character is achieved in each
piece as well as a great progression of the overall set."
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Above: Robb Candler, Grant McIntosh and Devon Bailey
Wild Road Colorado
Classic Country
Grant
McIntosh, Devon Bailey, Dean Field, Howard Palmer, and
Robb Candler are Wild Road Colorado,
a classic country outfit from the Boulder area. They are a group
right after the heart of old school country fans everywhere, a
road house devotional to Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Merle
Haggard and George Strait. They also list the Sons of the
Pioneers, the great vocal backing group that was founded in the
1930s by an Ohio-to-California transplant with the suspicious
name of "Leonard Slye". Leonard Slye eventually changed his
awful name to Roy Rogers, which was much more befitting his
movie star bearing, which was gentle and kindly, as one might
expect from a cowboy who used quick hands and quick wit, rather
than a gun, to keep peace in the Hollywood Hills of the Old
West. And along the way to becoming one of the great Hollywood
singing cowboys, Rogers created the Sons of the Pioneers and set
the standard for vocal harmony acts. "We" - the Baby Boomer
Generation - grew up with their soundtracks wafting from movie
scores, Country LPs and Christmas albums, training our ears to
what it sounds like when men sing gorgeously together. Somehow
it was much less gay than that sounds; in fact, covered every
generic male fascination from Happy Trails to Tumblin'
Tumbleweed to Cool Water, and did all that banal
observational stuff in a pre-creepy way. (America later
succumbed to the Statler Brothers and the Louvin Brothers and
other more Nashville-oriented sounds from the school of greater
psychological disturbance.)
What all that Sons of the Pioneers stuff has
to do with Wild Road Colorado is that these are guys who are
steeped in this American cultural heritage, authentic in their
emotional connection to this earlier time in America's cultural
development. As a person from their age group, I appreciate what
they do. Use this link to stream their tune
"Amarillo" and then
use this link to go to their Facebook to hear more. -
RAR
EDITOR'S NOTE: Seeing Robb Candler, who is associated with the Mary
Russell Blues Band as well as the Wild Road Colorado, reminded
me of Robb's Music, the music store that Robb Candler has
operated in Boulder, Colorado since 1978. To musicians who were
around Boulder in the late '70s and '80s, Robb's was the
greatest music store that ever existed anywhere, largely because
Robb himself was such a pillar of the Boulder creative
community. There is just no way to over-emphasize how important
some operations are to the lifeblood of a community, and Robb's
was always one such place, rather like an immediate institution.
In these tough times, it is truly inspirational to know that
Robb's is still vital and active. (I say this as someone who
hasn't been back to Boulder in almost 30 years.) Congratulations
and best wishes to Robb Candler and Robb's music!
Lee Trees Makes Rare Appearance
If for 20 years a guy just plays out
in public only once a year or so, one might tend to assume that
he just had other priorities. This is made more interesting by
the fact that when singer-songwriter Lee Trees does make a rare
pilgrimage to the public arena, he always kills, as he did
earlier this month when Lee Trees And
The Commoners -- featuring
Eric Gunnison on keys,
Christian Teele on drums, and
Kirwan Brown on bass -- played
the Rock'n Soul Cafe in Boulder. One finally must conclude that
Lee just has his life ordered a certain way, and while clearly
music is a big part of it, pursuing the career aspects of a
working musician are not. That's a decision of the soul, as
soulful as his Samba. Catch him if you can.-
RAR
________
Ash Ganley Signs
Publishing Deals
Colorado
- Multi-threat musician/singer/songwriter Ash Ganley
reports that he has signed a number of publishing deals aimed at
breaking him beyond the regional popularity he presently enjoys
in the Rocky Mountain States.
"Well....I have lots of news. After
several months of cold calls, warm emails and hot coffee, I
have signed with two publishing/licensing companies and a
fantastic, forward-thinking and successful indie label. Two of
these companies have been on my radar for years, and have
basically been my focus, my 'dream' partners during this time. I
wanted to wait until I had all three records done at Summit Road
Studios before I approached them. In December, I did- and have
signed with both.
"The first company I signed with in
late December is
NOMA Music, a major music licensing and publishing company
is Los Angeles. NOMA has taken on all of my recorded material,
staring with 2006 release "Dark Fuel" all the way up to my
upcoming Feb. 2011 release "Magic Season". They have an amazing
track record of getting their signed artist's music placed in
some of the biggest television shows and movies out there.
Within two weeks of signing, NOMA had two of my songs- 'Elysian
Fields' and 'Only In Our Dreams'- picked up by hit Canadian
television series "Heartland",
for use in back-to-back episodes to be aired later this month.
Currently, NOMA is submitting my material to the FX series
"Justified" for use this season. If this early action is any
sign of things to come, NOMA clearly delivers.
I am also signing this week with San
Rafael, CA based
Magnatune Records. This label is a unique, forward-thinking
success story in adaptation to the digital market place. Check
out their website if you can- they are like a breath of fresh
air and a welcome change from the "old" way of doing business in
music. They have a number of innovative and creative outlets for
marketing their artists and I am really excited to be partnering
with Magnatune.
"I have also signed another deal
with Germany-based licensing/publishing company
Goldentraxx. They are another innovative company that
promotes their artist roster to European and world media markets
in televsion, film etc..
"In the coming weeks I am expecting
to complete another non-exclusive deal with UK-based
licensing/publishing company
Mango Reel.
James Geisler
Former
Boulder Resident Producing Musical Theater Productions
Along the lines of the story
we have on the Music page on Phillip Rauls
and his relationship with the late music industry
personality Buddy Zoloth
(various management capacities with Stephen Stills,
Manassas, Blues Image, others), I was pleased recently to
hear from another Zoloth associate, James Geisler, who back
in the day I knew as "Jimmy".
Jimmy is 61 years old now, which
seems odd because I'm still 29, and still in the
entertainment industry. He works with the Florida-based
musical production company Cirque Productions (http://www.cirqueproductions.com),
which describes its mission as "combining the European
cirque-style of performance artistry with American circus
arts and Broadway theatrics".
Rather like Cirque de Soleil,
Cirque Productions presents a number of shows in venues
ranging from Broadway to theater tours to cruise line
productions. Their Website says that 50 million people have
seen their shows.
This would be right up Jimmy's
alley as he had a long history with production companies,
mostly as an event manager and promoter. He did some artist
management, including work with singer-songwriter
Willis Alan Ramsey
("Muskrat Love").
Jimmy and I inadvertently
conspired to undermine Colorado Senator Gary Hart's 1982 bid
for the presidency, an odd bit of treachery for a couple
liberal Democrats (at least at that time).
Jimmy Geisler's vocations have
always been entertainment-business oriented, and it is
something he is quite good at, but his real passion is for
his art. He is a talented sculptor, who when I met him was
working primarily in metals.
He once tried to give me a
fanciful metal work that I loved called "King Rat", this in
lieu of money he owed me, which I foolishly didn't accept at
the time. "King Rat" is probably worth a fortune now, or at
least it should be. Cool stuff.
Jimmy
Geisler has lived in Santa Fe for the past 20 years, has
been married since 1987, and has a 20-year old daughter, a
biology major in college who is currently studying in Japan.
"Nothing to do with Biology, just spending Dad's money,"
writes Jimmy.
Below is a video of one of the
productions presented by Cirque Productions.-RAR
