“You Better Get It in Your Soul.” Bassman Charlie Mingus’s song title could be considered the watchword of jazz in the Sixties, especially for African-American jazz musicians. Young piano virtuoso Herbie Hancock created the greasy R&B monster jam “Watermelon Man.” Established piano man Horace Silver rolled out brass-fueled fandangos such…
Koko Taylor Force of Nature (Alligator) By Bob Weinberg If any singer can be considered a force of nature, it’s Koko Taylor. Howlin’ Wolf knew it the first time he heard her in a Chicago nightclub; before Koko’s mike had been turned off, she was signed by the erstwhile Mr…
Eddy the Baptist. It’s not what most South Floridians think of when they hear the name Eddy Grant. As the artist himself readily admits, the knee-jerk response to that moniker is “Electric Avenue.” Boosted by exposure on MTV back when that moribund institution was still a scrappy, eclectic upstart, the…
While Eddy Grant’s endeavor to socafy the world through his Ice label is a fresh twist, he’s hardly the first pop star to turn up his own imprint. Long before he traded in his name for a psychosexual doodle, “retired” from studio recording, and announced his intention to concentrate on…
It couldn’t be more fitting that the sweltering city of Phoenix is haven to one of metal’s high priests. From the ashes of Judas Priest rises Fight, with former J.P. frontman Rob Halford spreading his wings, or at least pumping his ironclad lungs, over the metal airwaves with War of…
It was my first rock concert. Ozzy Osbourne had canceled one date and then rescheduled, so my anticipation was reaching a second climax. I entered the heavily trodden worshipping grounds of the now demolished Hollywood Sportatorium, knee-high to a swarm of security guards armed with flashlights and harsh glares. I…
Two years ago, in the pages of this newspaper, I wrote an open letter to the Mavericks nominating myself as a replacement for founding guitarist Ben Peeler, who had just been dropped from the band. They chose to go with a Texan, David Lee Holt, instead. They’ll tell you it…
The Watchmen McLarenFurnaceRoom (MCA) By Steven Almond Just because the world’s two best bands were born and reared in Canada doesn’t mean Americans should have to remove their heads from their asses long enough to hail a terrific new Canadian band. After all, the removal of the national head from…
I’m just a guy who watches life go by and sometimes writes songs about it. — Frank Zappa, 1985 A simple statement from a complicated man. I first met Frank Zappa in March 1968, backstage at Thee Image, a Sunny Isles bowling alley converted into a “psychedelic dungeon,” to borrow…
Rooster Head Tasting Your Molester (Swelter/Style) By Greg Baker Is this a musical recording about child sexual abuse? The repercussions of a violent society reflected in its art? Does this represent a change in sound direction from their three earlier albums? Do we really have to say goodbye? Just remember,…
Had Patrick Codenys been present when Edison first demonstrated the light bulb, his reaction would most likely have been, “That’s cool. But what else can it do?” Front 242 (Codenys plus Jean-Luc de Meyer, Richard Jonckheere, and Daniel Bressanutti) has devoted the past decade to taking the same juice that…
No, no, no. With all due respect to a certain beer brewer who decided to spend jillions of advertising dollars in a futile effort to convince the American public that its suds don’t taste just like every other brand even though we all know that the only reason more than…
On the other side of the world water swirls counterclockwise down the drain, animals carry their offspring in pouches, and a left-handed slide guitarist plays a right-handed guitar from over top of the neck using his index finger. “The first guitar I was given,” says southpaw strummer Dave Hole in…
Michel Camilo’s voice is excited. Hoarse, but excited. The world-renowned pianist has just returned to his native Dominican Republic to perform and to pick up one of his government’s highest honors: the Heraldic Order of Christopher Columbus, akin to knighthood. And the media, who weren’t hipped to it until the…
How cold is it in Milwaukee? “Too cold,” says Inner Circle’s Ian Lewis, on the phone from a suburb of the Wisconsin city. Of course, it’s cold in Sweden, too. Inner Circle, on the other hand, couldn’t be hotter. And, for not the first time, the popular Miami-based reggae outfit…
This political correctness thing’s gotten so out of hand there aren’t too many words left that won’t offend someone somewhere. Americans don’t call themselves Americans any more, they come up with ethnic hyphenations. You better not call a woman anything more affectionate than “woman.” And people lacking certain senses or…
Joshua Redman Wish (Warner Bros.) By Bob Weinberg They teased us, man. Fantasma advertised they were bringing young tenor saxman Joshua Redman to the Knight Center to play along with guitarist Pat Metheny. Didn’t happen. Metheny and group played sans Redman. But it’s understandable that the Fantasma folks would make…
They made a record and it went in the chart The sky was the limit Their A&R man said, “I don’t hear a single” The future was wide open –Tom Petty/Jeff Lynne People who know me, or claim to, people in the “biz,” often hit me with an offhand comment…
Call it keyboard busting for four hands — the wild man and the cool cat, side by side, representing two generations of Latin jazz, alone together. The senior senor is madman Eddie Palmieri, making a rare appearance without his rhythm section, instead ivory dueling with the back-of-the-fridge cool Hilton Ruiz,…
Like most musicians, G.E. Smith has a tough time giving a simple answer when asked what kind of music his band plays. “Well, it’s kind of hard to describe,” he says not very helpfully. “The songs come from country roots, but the band definitely rocks. I guess you could call…
Champion Jack Dupree One Last Time Chuck Carbo Drawers Trouble Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas Follow Me Chicken (Rounder) By Bob Weinberg Although they’re headquartered in Massachusetts, Rounder Records knows a thing or two about New Orleans music. The Cambridge-based independent scores again with three Crescent City releases from…
Like the members of any decent self-made band, these four guys need to go out flyering soon. They do that a lot, flyering, spreading the good word about their live shows through the mass distribution of handbills. For a little while on this recent weeknight, though, they find time to…
