Our night with Tony Bennett
As mentioned in an earlier post, we went to see Tony Bennett last night at Chastain Park Amphitheater. He was great! He played with a jazz quintet and had a lot of interaction with the audience (including calling out one group who rudely stood up to walk out during the show and walked right in front of the stage – Tony interrupted saying, “What?? Do you need to run to catch a cab?”. The man looks great for 81. Tony told a few stories about the songs, his career and favorite peers (such as Rosemary Clooney and Frank Sinatra).
He sang most of the classics you’d expect, including I Left My Heart in San Fransisco; The Way You Look Tonight; Cold, Cold Heart; For Once in My Life; and The Best is Yet to Come.
Tony told one story I haven’t heard before about his name. When Tony was starting out, Bob Hope told him that he’d never make it in show business using his real name (Anthony Dominick Benedetto). So he changed it, obviously, to Tony Bennett.
We were pleasantly surprised… Here’s a picture that we took at the show, and you can check out the photos from the AJC here.
moe. — Keys To The City (Portland, ME)
From Jambase: This past weekend the band moe. received the Key to the City from Portland, ME Mayor Ed Suslovic for their performance in support of homeless services agency Preble Street. The band was presented with the key during their Pier Revue set at the Maine State Pier.
Last month, moe. played a private show for students at Bradley Elementary in Utica, NY, which raised money for the school’s music department. The band donated instruments and recording equipment with the help of their sponsors including D’Addario and Telefunken USA.
At moe.’s annual Labor Day Weekend festival moe.down, the band hosts a golf tournament for charity. This year the event will benefit The Samuel Stratton Veterans Hospital Hospice Unit in Albany, NY.
The band has donated nearly $300,000 to various charities in the last few years including Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
In other moe. news, The Ninth Annual moe.down will be held August 29, 30 and 31 at the Snow Ridge Ski area in Turin, NY. moe.down has become known as Upstate NY’s most musically diverse festival. moe. will perform a total of six sets throughout the weekend. This year’s lineup includes: moe., The Levon Helm Band, Yonder Mountain String Band, Sparrow Quartet featuring Abigail Washburn and Bela Fleck, and more.
Following moe.down the band will take the fall off to spend time with their families before hitting the road in 2009.
Wilco’s friends
We are huge Wilco fans and also huge fans of fellow music blogger Heather Browne and her “I am fuel, you are friends” blog. So we were very excited this week when she posted a bunch of covers that Wilco has performed, including songs by Bob Dylan, Herman’s Hermits, Led Zeppelin, Schoolhouse Rock, Queen, The Carter Family and more (how’s that for a random musical stew).
You can listen here.
Grateful Dead — Remastered SBD (11/20/1971)
Who here is interested in a remastered Grateful Dead show? Wait, wait, one at a time…
Science Faxtion — Bootsy & Buckethead Team Up
From Rolling Stone’s Greg Prato: Bootsy Collins’ latest project, Science Faxtion, sees the funk great merging his unmistakable bass once again with guitarist Buckethead and drummer Brain — all of whom previously played in Praxis. But for their forthcoming debut on Mascot Records, Living on Another Frequency (which should be dropping sometime in September), their goal is new.
“We wanted to challenge artists and people in the music business,” Collins says. “We want to go somewhere where people haven’t been yet. It’s like taking that first shuttle to Venus — you don’t know what that trip is going to be like, you just know you’re going. People have taken the experience out of the experience, and we’re trying to put that back into music and make it fun.”
According to the group’s singer-guitarist, Greg Hampton — who also co-wrote and co-produced Alice Cooper’s latest LP, Along Came a Spider — Science Faxtion began more straightforward. “It started off that it was going to be a funk record. But we started exploring this concept of the future in 2099, that entails man being melded with computer, and how music will be made.” Tracks such as first single “Looking for Eden,” “Life is in Deliver,” “At Any Cost” and “What It Is” (which features Chuck D), certainly rock hard with an unmistakably futuristic funk sound. “We’re going to use technology, before technology uses us,” adds Collins. “Because that’s where we’re headed. We’re the Paul Reveres — ‘The British are coming, the British are coming! Technology is here!’
The Concert For Bangladesh — While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Leon Russell, Klaus Voorman, Badfinger, etc., etc…
1971
Dave Matthews — Lie In Our Graves (w/ Trey Anastasio)
A completely gratuitous clip of Trey (h&h) cutting loose with a ripping solo as he flanked Dave. Taken from August of ’07.
Trey Anastasio Band
In anticipation of the classic TAB band show on August 7th at Brooklyn’s Music Hall Of Williamsburg, we’ve posted a vintage clip of them at the height of their collective powers.
Bonnaroo 2002, Push On ’til The Day
Wilco — Summer Tour Contest
From Jambase: JamBase is pleased to give away a pair of tickets to each of the following dates on Wilco’s upcoming tour! In addition, each winner will have their choice of one of Wilco’s Nonesuch releases:
Sky Blue Sky
Kicking Television
A Ghost is Born
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
RIP — Dr. Randy Pausch
Sadly, Randy Pausch left our world today. He has gained worldwide acclaim and praise for his “Last Lecture” delivered at Carnegie-Mellon. If you have the time, please watch the video of his “Last Lecture”.
Keller Williams — Celebrate Your Youth
Words of wisdom from K-Dub.
Hand Made Groove — David Harris & Hugh McCrystal
We at MSD love these acoustic renderings of some of our favorite songs. Check them out at their website , their Myspace page and their YouTube channel.
Here is their rendition of Phil Lesh’s, Unbroken Chain:
Frank Sinatra — Retirement Concert (1971)
The Chairman Of The Board decided in 1971 that after 30+ years in show business he was calling it quits. We know that didn’t last, hey, you can’t keep a good man down. Here he is singing, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, “Try A Little Tenderness” and a moving rendition of “Ol’ Man River”.
Gregg Allman — Feelin’ Alright
After being sidelined with hepatitis, Gregg Allman has said he’s feeling “alright”.
moe. — Rebubula–>George–> Timmy Tucker
From Vegoose:
Note: Skip to 5:43 to get to the beginning of Rebubula.
Jimi Hendrix — Studio Outtakes
Tracks
01. Jam with Larry Young (AKA fuzzy guitar jam) (20.18)
02. Jam with Keyboards (13.40)
03. Jam with Chris Wood and Dave Palmer (19.01)
04. Stepping Stone – I’m A Man Jam (16.00
David Harris — Harry Hood
Peep this acoustic rendering of “Harry Hood”. It really cannot be done too much better than this.
Grateful Dead — Egypt ’78
The Grateful Dead open up the vaults and are to release their historic 1978 show.
Jambase.com: n the fall of 1978, author and counterculture icon Ken Kesey reported to a close friend that he had recently witnessed “the latest Rocking of the Cradle of Civilization.” The course of events that he went on to recall was the Grateful Dead’s assorted family, friends and fellow Pranksters–”Pyramidiots” of various origins–descent upon Egypt’s Nile Valley that culminated in three legendary concerts performed at the foot of the Great Pyramid in Gizah. Although perhaps unintentionally, the entire adventure might have been easily seen, as Kesey did, as one very special contribution to the then-critical Middle Eastern peace effort. To commemorate the 30-year anniversary of this cosmic convergence of sound and sphinx, Grateful Dead Productions and Rhino will release ROCKING THE CRADLE: EGYPT 1978, a collection of highlights from this historic three-night stand. The 2-CD/1-DVD set will be available September 30 at regular retail outlets and www.dead.net for a suggested list price of $34.98. Fans who pre-order the set from Dead.net will receive an exclusive eight-song bonus disc that includes additional unreleased performances from the Egypt run. A digital version that includes all the CD content will also be available.
Recorded September 15-16, 1978 at the Gizah Sound and Light Theater, the original 24-track recordings have been remastered for this set in HDCD for superior sound quality. The two CDs contain 18 tracks featuring more than three hours of music, including a version of “Fire On The Mountain” that many fans consider one of the band’s best. Except for three performances that appeared on 2004′s Beyond Description boxed set, the tracks on ROCKING THE CRADLE have never been released. The accompanying DVD features more than 100 minutes of footage; including 13 songs from the third and final Egypt show, which took place during a rare lunar eclipse. Legendary promoter Bill Graham called this show “one of the great experiences of my life.” The DVD also includes a featurette titled “The Vacation Tapes” which catches never-before-seen candid band footage from the trip. The set comes in pyramid-inspired packaging and features rare photos from the trip and liner notes by longtime Dead associate Alan Trist, who was pivotal in making the trek to Egypt happen.
Trist recalls that “the Dead long dreamed of playing at the foot of the Great Pyramid.” However, pulling off this dream proved to be a monumental task as no other American band had ever performed there. The band spent months planning and making arrangements with the Egyptian Ministry of Culture. The band agreed to pay all of its own expenses for the trip and donated all of the proceeds from ticket sales to several Egyptian charities, as well as the Department of Antiquities, which preserves the country’s ancient treasures. Another major challenge was the minimal amount of power available at Gizah, which required the band to bring in an enormous generator to power its state-of-the-art sound and recording equipment. In the end, the massive effort paid off. The shows were spectacular successes, attracting a mix of world cultures including American Dead Heads and European fans as well as curious Egyptians and Bedouins on camels drawn by the unusual spectacle.
Unbeknownst to the band at the time, these shows would soon have a remarkable historical context. On September 17, the day after the last show, the Camp David Peace Accords were signed after nearly two weeks of secret negotiations. The Accords led to the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty, which made Egypt the first Arab country to officially recognize Israel and ended a near 30-year state of war between the two countries. One has to wonder if the Dead’s message of peace and love might have had some sort of impact on the negotiations.
ROCKING THE CRADLE features: Jerry Garcia (guitar, vocals), Donna Jean Godchaux (vocals), Keith Godchaux (keyboards), Mickey Hart (drums), Bill Kreutzmann (drums), Phil Lesh (electric bass, vocals), and Bob Weir (rhythm guitar, vocals). These performances took place just a few months before the band released Shakedown Street, its tenth studio album. The shows featured performances of several songs from the upcoming album, including the title track, “I Need A Miracle,” “Fire On The Mountain,” and an updated take on the blues standard, “Stagger Lee.” The band also peppered its Egyptian setlists with classics like “Deal,” “Truckin’” and “Stella Blue.”
ROCKING THE CRADLE: EGYPT 1978 Track Listing:
Disc 1
1. “Jack Straw”
2. “Row Jimmy”
3. “New, Minglewood Blues”
4. “Candyman”
5. “Looks Like Rain”
6. “Stagger Lee”
7. “I Need A Miracle”
8. “It’s All Over Now”
9. “Deal”
Disc 2
1. “Ollin Arageed”
2. “Fire On The Mountain”
3. “Iko Iko”
4. “Shakedown Street”
5. “Drums”
6. “Space”
7. “Truckin’”
8. “Stella Blue”
9. “Around And Around”
DVD
1. “Bertha”
2. “Good Lovin’”
3. “Row Jimmy”
4. “New, Minglewood Blues”
5. “Candyman”
6. “Looks Like Rain”
7. “Deal”
8. “Ollin Arageed”
9. “Fire On The Mountain”
10. “Iko Iko”
11. “I Need A Miracle”
12. “It’s All Over Now”
13. “Truckin’”
Featurette: “The Vacation Tapes”
Dead.net Exclusive Bonus CD
1. “Bertha”
2. “Good Lovin’”
3. “El Paso”
4. “Ramble On Rose”
5. “Estimated Prophet”
6. “Eyes Of The World”
7. “Terrapin Station”
8. “Sugar Magnolia”
UM — Camel Musical Therapy
In related news: Bridging the gap between man and animal, Umphrey’s McGee attempts to break yet another barrier at Minnesota’s Zoo. Jake Cinninger and Joel Cummings play for some(what) interested camels.
Chuck Leavell — Live In Germany
Chuck has a new solo release. You can purchase it here.
Dennis Cook’s review: On the heels of The Rolling Stones’ two-year “A Bigger Bang” tour, keyboardist extraordinaire Chuck Leavell stayed on in Europe and embarked on a rollicking series of gigs with a group of gifted German musicians he’d just met through friends. This resulting document is the sound of players learning to swing together, and a glimpse into the musical mind of a man who’s played keys for the Allman Brothers Band, Eric Clapton, Gov’t Mule, Sea Level and enhanced countless studio recordings.
Leavell’s voice is a clean growl that fits the many blues numbers on this two-disc set, subtitled “Green Leaves & Blue Notes Tour 2007,” which begins with the back-to-back slam of Professor Longhair’s “In The Wee Wee Hours” and a Jerry Lee inspired “Route 66.” Leavell’s voice and piano is joined by drummer Paul Hochstadter, bassist Christian Diener, saxophonist Lutz Hafner and guitarist Frank Kuruc, who interact with the ivory demon with jazz dexterity, adapting well to his shifting moods, equally proficient on smooth slow jams like “Living In A Dream” as they are on Stones cookers like “Rip This Joint” and “Tumbling Dice.” The overall feel is akin to Bruce Hornsby’s post-Dead small band shows – utterly professional, beautifully executed music. If it’s sometimes a touch polite that’s perhaps Leavell balancing his longtime Stones gig with a spot of calm sophistication.
What emerges is a master musician that draws from Fats Domino, Les McCann and Bob James in forging his own style. There’s a lightness of touch to these concert cuts that hints at the man often hidden outside other’s work. Given the reins, Leavell own compositions, which remind one of Dave Brubeck and David Sanborn, mingle with cherished favorites from the past 100 years. By putting Dickey Betts (“Jessica”) between McCann & Eddie Harris (“Compared To What”) and Hoagy Carmichael (“Georgia On My Mind”) he draws lines of connection only a real veteran with few boundaries could see or understand. The tour was also used to raise awareness about environmental challenges facing the planet today. So, on top of some very nice music there was some good karma being spread. A fine effort all around.
STS9 — Gordo guests
From Jambands.com:
Mike Gordon first sat in with Sound Tribe Sector 9 at the second annual Bonnaroo in 2003. “We wandered over to Sector 9,” Gordon told Jambands.com at the time. “I had never seen them before, but I was really into it. We left before the encore, but then it occurred to me that maybe I could play, so I ran back.” Last night, Gordon performed with the group once again at South Burlington, VT’s Higher Ground. An off-night from their current tour with Umphrey’s McGee, the members of STS9 invited Gordon out for an improvisational segment a few songs into the group’s second set. Oddly enough, STS9 has yet to collaborate with Umphrey’s McGee during their joint tour, which will continue this evening at New York’s Roseland Ballroom. For more on STS9, please read our recent site interview with bassist David Murphy.
