NAMM 2011 coverage: more from Friday

My report originally appeared on ocregister.com and can be viewed on the paper's Soundcheck blog.

Some of the top names in smooth jazz music performed Friday night during Yamaha’s Red Hot Sax Nite II, held at the Anaheim Marriott Grand Ballroom. Dave Koz hosted and performed. Bassist extraordinaire Nathan East, known for his extensive superstar session resume since the 1970s and stint in Fourplay, served as musical director.

The two-hour concert opened with “The Third Degree.” Then Koz joined the four-piece house band for “Put the Top Down,” which can be heard on his latest album “Hello Tomorrow” (in an all-star version with Lee Ritenour, Sheila E., Ray Parker Jr., Jonathan Butler and Brian Culbertson). This rendition found Koz trading punchy sax riffs with guitarist Ross Bolton and impressively holding a sustained note.

“If you don’t like the saxophone, you might as well leave,” warned Koz with a smile, before introducing a succession of players that included Keith Loftus, Jeff Kashiwa (whose keening melody lines informed “Blue Jeans”), Mindi Abair (she brought plenty of visual and musical sizzle) and Jeff Coffin. Whenever the sax players collaborated, their cumulative talents raised the show’s energy level several notches.

Two longtime jazz veterans - trumpeter Bobby Shew and trombonist Andy Martin - paired up on Billy Strayhorn’s dreamy jazz standard “Lush Life.” Coffin, a member of Bela Fleck & the Flecktones and recent recruit by the Dave Matthews Band, displayed his aggressive solo style on the New Orleans-flavored “Tall & Lanky” and free jazz of “Turiya.” East even scatted a bit.

The always smiling bassist (pictured, left) was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the instrument manufacturer and a signed guitar.

Later, Abair added a danceable party vibe and some wordless vocals for her song “Lucy’s,” as the other sax players joined in. Koz returned for the bright and fun, Dixieland-styled “Think Big” (another selection culled from “Tomorrow”) and the entire lineup performed it.

But the best was definitely saved for last: a roof raising cover of Average White Band’s popular 1974 hit “Pick Up the Pieces.”

Photos of Jeff Coffin and Mindi Abair (top) and Nathan East (bottom) by Robert Kinsler

NAMM 2011 coverage: Friday

My report originally appeared on ocregister.com and can be viewed on the paper's Soundcheck blog. 

Friday afternoon’s festivities in the Taylor Guitars suite at NAMM got off to a rousing start thanks to The Airborne Toxic Event. The LA-based rock band did a mostly acoustic, 20-minute set that showed it can often be just as stirring - and switch instruments with similar dexterity - as Arcade Fire in a live setting.

Although lead singer/guitarist Mikel Jollett looked as if he hadn’t been awake very long, he still delivered some intense vocals on the freewheeling “Missy.” As is custom during the quintet’s concerts, the song segued into a feisty take on Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire” (Jollett even nailed The Boss’ falsetto howls) and Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” (Noah Harmon’s standup bass work really propelled the rhythm) before circling back to the original melody. Modern rock radio hit “Sometime Around Midnight,” propelled by Anna Bulbrook’s graceful violin strains, had a dramatic uplift and sounded wonderful. 

Across the hall in the dimly lit Pioneer Electronics room, Chicago house music DJ Kaskade spun tunes - including a remix of Nomad’s “(I Wanna Give You) Devotion” - as various people tried out the newest mixers and decks.

Ed Robertson and Kevin Hearn of Barenaked Ladies immediately followed ATE. The Taylor suite was packed and the doors had to be shut well before the Canadian pop/rock musicians hit the stage. For 40-minutes, both guitarists (Hearn alternated between electric and acoustic, while Robertson stuck with the latter) thoroughly entertained the crowd. Their trademark comic banter and strategically-placed humorous lyric changes were a hoot, especially amid a fast-paced “It’s All Been Done” and “Pinch Me.”  

“We aren’t the guys who do masterful things onstage and they immediately spread virally online,” noted Robertson at one point. Still, they engaged in a bit of intricate picking on “For You” and the strident pace of “Ordinary,” from last year’s “All in Good Time.” Hearn handled the fragile lead vocals on the title track rarity that didn't actually make the album cut.

Elsewhere, “Blame it on Me,” from 1992 debut “Gordon,” came across more ruminative and dramatic in a stripped down format, while the whimsical “Thanks, That Was Fun” was prefaced by a story about how Robertson accidentally ripped off Neil Young in the intro. Finally, big hit “One Week” capped the lively performance. 

Out in the Anaheim Convention Center hall, Lisa Loeb held court before a large crowd gathered around the theater-styled (and I must say, awkwardly-placed) Alfred Publishing booth. “I feel like I’m playing in a puppet show,” she sheepishly admitted.

Armed with an acoustic guitar, the pop/rock songstress did an amiable version of old song “Wishing Heart” and a new tune from her upcoming “punky” album produced by New Found Glory’s Chad Gilbert (!).

Loeb enthused that NAMM “was like being in the hugest store ever” before doing equally big hit “Stay” from the “Reality Bites” soundtrack. Amazingly, her supple voice managed to cut through all the racket going on everywhere. Loeb finished with “Best Friend,” an endearing song from her 2008 children’s album “Camp Lisa.”

Ed Robertson photo from Nov. 2010 in New York, courtesy of barenakedladies.com

NAMM 2011 coverage: more from Thursday

My report originally appeared on ocregister.com and can be viewed on the paper's Soundcheck blog.

One thing is usually a sure bet at NAMM: that Taylor Guitars will secure a highly impressive performance roster for its upstairs Anaheim Convention Center suite (a past memorable appearance by Taylor Swift immediately comes to mind).

Frequently boasting lush, Beach Boys-styled harmonies, Plain White T’s was a perfect fit for the Taylor acoustic stage on Thursday afternoon. All five members of the Chicago punk-pop band were lined up on stools in front of the stage. The half-hour set opened with romantic ballad “1, 2, 3, 4” and included such other alternative and pop radio hits as the ebullient “Our Time Now” and sarcastic “Hate (I Really Don’t Like You).”

On the latter, lead guitarist/singer Tim Lopez jokingly polled the medium-sized audience to see if there were any songwriters present and offered some advice: “Try to not to write outside your vocal range like [frontman Tom Higgenson] did.” The quintet excelled on newer selections from winsome latest effort “Wonders of the Younger,” released last month. Lopez handled lead vocals on the jaunty power pop-leaning “Rhythm of Love,” while current single “Boomerang” revisited mid-60s Beatles territory with even more pristine harmonies. “Hey There Delilah,” the tender No. 1 hit from 2007, originally recorded in stripped down fashion, fit perfectly in this setting too.

The band returns to Anaheim to play House of Blues on Feb. 7 with Parachute.   
Plain White T's photo by Robert Kinsler 

NAMM 2011 coverage: Thursday

My report originally appeared on ocregister.com and can be viewed on the paper's Soundcheck blog.

Following a media day light on overall events Jan. 12, the NAMM trade show really kicked into gear the next day. Out on the floor of the Anaheim Convention Center, various musicians held court at different instrument booths to promote their gear manufacturers and sign autographs for fans (NAMM is not open to the general public though). One of the largest lines I saw in the afternoon was for Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer, there signing copies of his memoir “Hit Hard” at the Ludwig booth.

The John Lennon Educational Bus launched its 2011 campaign with an appearance at NAMM. The vehicle with a custom-build studio inside travels to high schools and colleges nationwide (not to mention concert tours and festivals like Warped) to promote music in education and assist budding musicians make their first forays into recording.

Outside the ACC on the Wanna Play? stage, Gov. Mike Huckabee made yet another appearance; this time, in support of Lennon bus endeavors and surprisingly compared the lack of music funding in schools today to the animated conveyor belt scene in Pink Floyd’s video for “Another Brick in the Wall, Part. 2.” Former New York Yankees center fielder and smooth jazz guitarist Bernie Williams discussed how attending a performing arts high school in Puerto Rico had an early influence on him.

British pop star Natasha Bedingfield has often mentored students on the Lennon bus. She appeared onstage to perform a joyful – and way too brief – two song set, accompanied by an acoustic guitarist. First up was the upbeat and sassy “Weightless,” off Bedingfield’s solid third album “Strip Me.” Released last month, the collection features a collaboration with hip hop act Kevin Rudolf and co-writes/production by Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic. Bedingfield clapped her hands while delivering a soaring vocal and engaged the moderate-sized crowd in some call and response action. Then came her equally sunny, but more straightforward 2004 top 10 pop hit “Unwritten.”

Finally, a presentation was made to John Lennon Songwriting Contest Winner Madison Violet. The female Americana duo from Toronto beat out thousands of contestants in a dozen categories to snag $20,000, plus a stack of recording equipment. They played “The Ransom,” a pleasant acoustic ballad reminiscent of the Indigo Girls.

Bedingfield photo courtesy of the Orange County Register. 

Johnny Cash news

Columbia/Legacy Recordings put out this press release about its great upcoming archival release from the Man in Black...

The musical treasures left behind by Johnny Cash at the House Of Cash estate in Hendersonville, Tennessee, continue to provide insight into his character as an American music icon – perhaps the American music icon. The rich backwoods archive first bore fruit on Columbia/Legacy nearly five years ago, with the release of Personal File aka Bootleg Vol. 1, a fascinating double-CD collection of 49 privately recorded, intimate solo performances dating from 1973 to 1982.


FROM MEMPHIS TO HOLLYWOOD: BOOTLEG VOL. 2 continues the series, focusing on Johnny Cash's recording career at Sun Records in Memphis from late 1954 to late '57 (on CD One), into his first decade at Columbia Records in Nashville, from 1958 to 1969 (on CD Two).  BOOTLEG VOL. 2 will be available at all physical and digital retail outlets starting February 22.

The trove of archival material on BOOTLEG VOL. 2 begins with a 15-minute live radio broadcast from KWEM in Memphis, hosted by Johnny Cash, who worked for Home Equipment Company, the show's sponsor right across the street from the radio station.  The date was Saturday, May 21, 1955, in the same month that Cash recorded his first Sun single, "Cry! Cry! Cry!" b/w "Hey Porter." In addition to his lively palaver, Cash and the Tennessee Two – guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant – performed a handful of tunes, including the honky tonk "Wide Open Road," a cover of "One More Ride" (from the Sons Of the Pioneers), the gospel "Belshazzar," and the guitar showpiece, "Luther's Boogie."  The broadcast is followed by a one minute spot advertising an upcoming show at the Overton Park Shell, starring Webb Pierce, Red Sovine, Elvis Presley, Cash, and other country acts.

CD One continues with a dozen historically-significant, pre-Sun demos by Cash, 11 of them previously unreleased.  These rare home-recorded demos served as blueprints to such enduring Cash originals as "I Walk The Line," "Get Rhythm" and "Country Boy," and provide new insight into Cash's songwriting.  Two of these demos would soon turn into rockabilly hits for Roy Orbison ("You're My Baby") and Warren Smith ("Rock And Roll Ruby").

Under the heading Sun Rarities are seven outtakes produced between late 1954 and late 1957 by Sam Phillips and Jack Clement.  In addition to familiar Cash titles ("Big River," "Wide Open Road"), there are covers of tunes by Jimmy Rodgers ("Brakeman's Blues"), Marty Robbins ("I Couldn't Keep From Crying"), and Lead Belly ("Goodnight Irene"), an indication of Cash's abiding interest and love for the burgeoning folk music movement, whose embrace of him was a hallmark of his career.  CD One concludes with two final demos, "Restless Kid" (later recorded by Ricky Nelson), and "It's All Over."

The 25 tracks on CD Two span Cash's first 11 years at Columbia Records; he was ultimately with the label for 28 years, through 1986.  This disc presents a fresh gathering of Columbia non-album singles, outtakes, and B-sides being released digitally for the first time in the U.S. (11 of them previously unreleased in the U.S.).

The move to Columbia also meant a move to Los Angeles for Cash and his family as he developed a taste for film and television work, both as a songwriter and as an actor. In the Golden Age of TV westerns and movies, Cash was a natural. His larger-than-life presence boosted the popularity of the gunfighter ballads and Americana tales that became a pop music genre at the end of the 1950s and into the '60s, exemplified by such titles as "Restless Kid," "Johnny Yuma Theme," and "Hardin Wouldn't Run." Another example is "Shifting, Whispering Sands," a spoken-sung collaboration with Lorne Greene, better known as Bonanza TV patriarch Ben Cartwright.

The musical passions of Johnny Cash – from traditional gospel and folk, to Tin Pan Alley and Music Row, among many other sources – were given full rein in 1969, when The Johnny Cash Show became a weekly event on ABC-TV.  It is at that point, with the evocative theme of the show's central feature, "Come Along And Ride This Train," that BOOTLEG VOL. 2 concludes.

Robbie Robertson news

More cool news from the label just came across my desk...

On April 5, 429 Records will release How To Become Clairvoyant, Robbie Robertson's fifth solo album and his first record in more than 10 years. Guitar virtuosos Eric Clapton (who co-wrote three tracks with Robertson), Tom Morello and Robert Randolph guest on the album, which Robertson co-produced with Marius de Vries. How To Become Clairvoyant also features Steve Winwood and Trent Reznor as well as vocalists Angela McCluskey, Rocco Deluca and bassist Pino Palladino.

On his last two albums – Music for The Native Americans (1994) and Contact from the Underworld of Redboy (1998) – Robertson explored his ancestry. Now, with How To Become Clairvoyant, he takes on his rock heritage, delivering his first-ever song about leaving The Band, the evocative "This Is Where I Get Off." "What is lost? What is missing?" Robertson asks on "When The Night Was Young," a poignant reflection on youthful idealism. "We could change the world/stop the war…but that was back when the night was young."  You can check out "When The Night Was Young" at:
http://www.429records.com/sites/429records/pressclips/robbie/

The smoldering "Straight Down The Line" is a sly nod to rock 'n' roll's early reputation as the Devil's music, while the blistering "He Don't Live Here No More" details a battle with addiction. The latter features Clapton on harmony vocal and electric and slide guitars alongside Robertson's soulful gut string guitar solo.

Named one of Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time," Robertson was a founding member of The Band, penning such classic songs as "The Weight," "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and "Up On Cripple Creek." The Band's 1976 farewell concert was documented by director Martin Scorsese in the film The Last Waltz and the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

In addition to his acclaimed solo albums, Robertson also has a long list of film credits. As Executive Soundtrack Producer for 1996's Phenomenon, he recruited Clapton to perform "Change the World," which subsequently won GRAMMY® awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year. He has collaborated with Scorsese on numerous films, including Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, Casino, Gangs of New York and Shutter Island.

Shooter Jennings re-releases due

This just arrived from 429 Records:

Shooter Jennings, hot on the heels of the July release of the acclaimed, controversial project "Black Ribbons"— a "concept" album which represents a true paradigm shift for the mercurial musician, has signed with 429 Records which will re-release the original version of  "Black Ribbons" plus a new 10-track "bullet" version in 2011.  Jennings is currently prepping a brand new recording which will be released on 429 Records later this year.

The progeny of country music outlier legends Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, Shooter Jennings has leapt out of the comfort zone of country music on "Black Ribbons" for an ambitious leap into a fierce, blistering musical journey through the darker corners of human society.

With the narrative help of Stephen King—a true icon of pitch black literary themes, Shooter Jennings and his band (the 357's renamed Hierophant for this outing) have created a magnum opus which rails against the inhumane aspects of an ever technologically obsessed society.  429 Records will re-release both the 20 track original recording with King's narrative as well as a new 10 track bullet version on February 8th.  Shooter and band will tour throughout 2011.

Jennings is also the host of Shooter Jennings' Electric Rodeo, a two-hour weekly music show on Sirius/XM's Outlaw Country channel, airing Saturdays from 6-8pm est and rebroadcasts Sundays from 10pm-midnight est. For more information, visit: www.429records.com