The Grammy and Billboard award-winning trumpeter and bandleader, Irvin Mayfield, has put out his first album of holiday music with A New Orleans Creole Christmas, a collection of timeless holiday classics reinterpreted by the widely-recorded cultural ambassador of New Orleans. With his 12th release on the New Orleans source for jazz, Basin Street Records, Mayfield …
Here’s a new song from Los Angeles singer/songwriter Hana Kim bringing to light human trafficking around the world and supporting Saving Innocence, a Los Angeles based nonprofit fighting against child trafficking. “Piece by piece you bought and sold / you’re trading me now in for gold / I was never yours to hold,” “Heaven Sees …
The new “Cat Stevens” album isn’t as good as I thought it would be – it’s about 20x times better! Also pleased to hear “Cat” questioning some of his spiritual beliefs and most surprising, blues music with the likes of Charlie Musselwhite on harmonica. And fellow traveler Richard Thompson makes an appearance. – Pat Thomas …
From the soon to be released album, Avonmore. Sure, we’ve heard this from Bryan Ferry before, but it’s been a long time since we’ve heard the like of this. And the video is both posh and unnerving. At NPR.com, reviewer Tom Moon compares Avonmore favorably to the 1982 Roxy Music classic, Avalon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGl27SxsGgo
Guy Pearce is a fantastic actor, one of the greats of the last quarter century. He was awe-inspiring as the playboy king in The King’s Speech and spot on as an ambitious detective in LA Confidential. Now the English-born Australian is bringing his talents to pop music with excellent– dare we say Roxy Music/Brian Ferry-influenced– …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40pNCuyB0QA Is this another “Gangnam Style,” the next Youtube-driven dance craze from Asia to conquer the World? Perhaps. Here’s what the creators say about their video: “Forever” a Thai ballad written on the banks of the Chaophraya river in Bangkok has been remixed by producers in England and has already been a dance floor filler …
My Old Dutch is an explosive two-piece lo-fi rock’n’roll outfit from Melbourne. Bashing out 50’s inspired tales of love lost, found and stolen. Dubbed by some as ‘Hamburger Rock’, the crunching wall of guitars, soaring melodies and bed of beats are sure to get your foot tappin’ and your heart racing! ‘Howlin’ Marilyn’ is a …
Behold “Witch in Me,” the first video from Cecilia G’s EP, The Funeral of My Expectations and the first in a trilogy of videos with that title. The next installment will be released early next year. www.ceciliag.co.uk
October 26, 2014 marked my seventh concert this month and third time seeing The Slackers. The Slackers are a six-piece ska band from NYC. Singer/trombonist Glen Pine came out dressed very dapper with a dark jacket over a cantaloupe colored ruffled shirt and full of fun energy. The Slackers are a band with essentially two …
She’s demonstrated her Siren’s call on two forays into Europe in recent years, but Portland chanteuse Sara Jackson-Holman has never toured the USA. Until now, that is. A six week jaunt of the west and midwest begins Nov. 28 in Bellingham, Wash. She’s supporting both Portland’-based band Horse Feathers and her summer-released River Queen EP …
There are unconfirmed reports that bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce is dead. Frankly, that matters little, as I’ve enjoyed his presence for decades and it won’t diminish now. I carry a copy of his solo LPs “Songs For a Tailor” and “Harmony Row” with me at all times. As a teenager, those Cream records became rooted into …
1971: Quincy and heavy friends ‘sing’ Carole King, Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, and more. Nearly every jazz and studio musician in NYC and LA played on this – from Freddie Hubbard to Joe Beck to Jimmy Smith to Carole Kaye with Paul Beaver on moog, Toots Thielmans on harp. – Pat Thomas is the …
My but October is a big month for great bands coming through the Northwest. Tuesday the 21st brought Chicago’s Celt punkers to El Corazon. I’ve been waiting a long, long time to see them again. It’s been nearly eight years since they played here and for the last two to three years I’ve badgered them …
Born in Dundas, Ontario, Canada, but now triumphantly living and rocking it in LA, Maggie Szabo brings powerful, textured vocals to her soulful tunes. “Tidal Waves and Hurricanes” is her latest and “Lovesick” is from a few years back, in case you need to catch up. www.allaboutmaggie.com
It’s a Thursday night and Seattle’s Studio Seven is sparsely populated for the Chop Tops show. Those who didn’t come missed some great bands. The Chop Tops, hailing from Santa Cruz, are a psycho/rockabilly trio who pack a powerful punch stronger than bands twice as big. Led by stand up drummer, Sinner, and rounded out …
On Wednesday October 15 I made the one-hour trek down to Tacoma’s Jazzbones to see The Mad Caddies. After not playing here for nearly eight years, they played here twice this year. Tres bliss! The Caddies were in top form, this time sporting a new trumpet player (Bobby Vesnave). No word on what happened to …
Considered so ‘uncool’ – he’s totally cool, during this 1968 to 1972 period when he recorded for Uni Records. Besides the highly-crafted hits, there’s the occasional Fred Neil or Joni Mitchell cover, but the highlight is always his own tunes, wacky sh*t like “The Pot Smokers Song” – every one of them perfectly played and …
This is not a Christian song, certainly, but the vibe is occasionally transcendant. It was released as a single in Ireland in 2013 and went to No. 2 on what is left of the pop charts in that country. The tune was not released until this past summer (2014) in the US. I happened to …
On the stormy Saturday night of October 11, Tacoma’s Jazzbones was hosting yet another stellar lineup. This time it was a double bill of Voodoo Glow Skulls and Guttermouth. As if the lightning flashes and witnessed water spouts weren’t wild enough, inside Jazzbones was even more wild. I’ve been hanging out in mosh pits for …
Interesting to note that during the week of the protests at the Chicago Democratic Convention in ’68, the Beatles released “Revolution” and the Stones “Street Fighting Man” as singles. – Pat Thomas is the author of Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH9zG28GQEg
It’s Wednesday night on a warm October evening and I drove 40 plus miles traffic was a bitch too) to Tacoma, WA. There’s a brand new club there called Jazzbones and they’re hosting some pretty incredible punk/ska bands this month. This tiny club is intimate but with very friendly staff. But what the night was …
Is it just me or does this new tune from Ella Eyre sound James Bond-ready? With her luscious piles of postmodern hair intact, Ella has Comeback (the title of her latest EP) with a projectiles-flying tune which combines artistic intelligence gathered from spy-high favorites as diverse as Shirley Bassey and Shirley Manson. Look for expansively …
The Rebel Light is a friendly LA band with some catchy tunes. Above and below is “Strangers,” their latest hit in the making, and I like it. The expansive drums at the start of “Strangers” reminds me of Edwyn Collins’ “I Never Met a Girl Like You Before” and that’s a very good thing. The …
40 years ago today, Van Morrison released the Veedon Fleece album – for every person who moans that Van never recorded another Astral Weeks – this album is for you. For everyone who claims Van is an “old git” – but thinks that someone like Robyn Hitchcock is still relevant, then keep in mind that …
David Gilmour’s guitar playing is so recognizable, even after all these years, that it goes beyond a signature style and approaches its own musical language. Perhaps the right word is “voice.” When I hear Gilmour’s guitar, I always know that it is Gilmour who is speaking to me even when I don’t understand his sui …
Monday night the Showbox Sodo was where the hip people were hanging out. After three plus years Boston’s legendary Celtic punks The Dropkick Murphys finally returned to Seattle. This crowd was ready for them and proved that the Murphys were not forgotten. After two decent openers, the crowd grew restless and started singing, “Hey Ho, …
It’s impossible to resist the charm of hunky John Scargall. He’s relentlessly positive and comically self-effacing, as can be read in this excerpt from his bio, “For his debut album, John decided to work with a 5-time Grammy award winning producer, but after weeks of unreturned phone calls and e-mails, he ended up going with …
I’m reading a book right now, Red or Dead, a fictionalized biography of Bill Shankly, the maniacal manager of the Liverpool football team who made it a dynasty in the English soccer league in the ’70s. I believe the Smiths were slamming him in the song “Frankly, Mr. Shankly.” Being from Manchester, which has had …