Many will call Warpaint the Crowes’ darkest album to date, and with good reason. This is, after all, the band’s first release since Chris Robinson’s divorce from actress Kate Hudson, leaving the front man singing tales of loss and regret while the band behind him blisters the blues. Dickinson’s slashing slide guitar provides both tension (“Walk Believer Walk” and “Evergreen”) and intricacy (“There’s Gold In Them Hills”), adding a fiery touch of old hill country blues to the band’s time-tested, old-school boogie style.
When he is not singing the blues, Chris sings of redemption and grace, calling on everyone to “join the jubilee.” Even in the darkest of times, Warpaint reminisces of a life saved by the graces found in rock-n-roll. “God’s Got It” shows the faith of a man, and a band, which have put the worst of times behind them, and come shining through at light at the other end. Warpaint may not be their best effort to date, but it certainly is a step in the right direction.
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]]>The highlight of the disc lies in “A Man of Many Words,” a live track from 1972 in which Guy and Wells are backed by a band including Eric Clapton, Dr. John, and the Derek & the Dominoes rhythm section of Jim Gordon and Carl Radle. Though Clapton’s presence on guitar is minimal, the tune’s groove is of so familiar, sounding much like the source of inspiration for the melody line The Black Crowes would use years later in their remake of Otis Redding’s “Hard to Handle.”
Muddy Waters Liver at Chicago Festival
Late in his career, August 1981 to be exact, Muddy Waters headline two nights at Chicago’s Festival, showing his faithful fans one more time why he was indeed the undisputed King of Chicago Blues. Water’s gets the show off to a roaring start with one of his biggest hits, “Mannish Boy.” Following a trio of covers, Waters works through his own gem “Trouble No More,” followed by the downbeat “They Call Me Muddy Waters,” complete with a slide guitar solo that, to this point, highlights the show.
Johnny Winters joins the festivities for a number of tracks, including “Going Down Slow,” “She’s Nineteen Years Old,” and “Five Long Years.” Eventually, Waters brings the show to a close with a passionate “Got My Mojo Working.”
Waters would survive just another 20 months after this festival, making this DVD one of the final chances to see one of the world’s foremost masters of the blues in action at the very top of his game.
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]]>Before kicking off their initial tour on April 19 in Louisville, Krauss was quoted as saying, “When my manager first phoned and told me Robert wanted to speak to me, I thought, ‘What does he want?’ Then when we met I was real surprised at how passionate he was about all kinds of music. He loved the great bluegrass banjo player, Ralph Stanley. Robert talked about driving through the hills of east Tennessee, listening to Ralph on the radio.”
The project began quietly, with Plant and T Bone Burnett joining Krauss at her Nashville home. Burnett lined out chord changes on guitar, while Plant and Krauss started to sing, sitting side by side, with no microphones and no effects. “The idea,” Burnett recalls, “was to take them both out of their comfort zone, to take us all out of our comfort zones.”
Reflecting on the early days of this new union, Plant has said, “At the beginning of this project I didn’t feel particularly confident. I felt sensitive about the idea of singing with someone else because I’ve never really done that before. Every other group I’ve been in the harmonies were the last thing anybody would think about.
“I don’t get nervous really. But I realized once I started sitting down on that couch, I was in for a ride.”
At their core, Plant and Krauss are a pair of devout music lovers, intent on simply making music for the sake of music itself. Together, they have created something totally unexpected in this day and age – music that is not only new, but is also alive, prosperous and thriving, an entirely new slice of Americana the likes of which no one could have possibly imagined. No one that is, with the possible exception of Burnett.
“The sound of this record (Raising Sand) was something I’ve been working on for ten years,” he says, “to change the way people hear music. Basically, I am trying to minimize attack and maximize tone. For the past fifty years recordings have focused more and more on attack. Initially this was because of the limitations of the vinyl medium, but even when CDs arrived with their wider dynamic range all that happened was that people kept making things brighter and louder, which is fatiguing and makes you go deaf. The low frequencies are actually where the heart of the music lies.”
Heart is something that pours from the very core of not only Plant, Krauss, and Burnett, but also the rest of the band Burnett assembled to take this show on the road. The band is comprised of Stuart Duncan (backing vocals, banjo, fiddle, guitar, mandolin, and ukulele), an artist that Krauss has been calling “my favorite musician of all time” during every night of the tour; Buddy Miller (backing vocals, guitar, and pedal steel), Dennis Crouch (bass); and Jay Bellerose (drums). With the band leaders encouraging everyone to disregard the past, and to simply perform the songs “their way,” the results have exceeded everyone’s expectations.
The band’s tour opened with six dates in the U.S., including a highly lauded performance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, before taking their show to Europe. Speaking from the airport in Nashville as he boarded his plane for London, Buddy Miller explained, “T Bone has a great vision, and the band is really delivering. The last few shows, the music has really gone to another level. That pair of voices (Plant and Krauss) is simply other-worldly. They come from two totally different places, but they are both exploring new territory. I marvel at the beauty of Alison’s (vocal) instrument every night – she is really crankin’ it up a few notches on this tour.”
Krauss, long regarded as one of the world’s finest harmony singers, worked closely with Plant to develop a rapport that is allowing the two to blend their powerful voices in unison, singing harmonies in a way that neither has sung before. Plant, who is new to sharing the vocal lead with another, has left his famed vocal howls behind, opting instead for a tasteful, more melodic approach. Together, the duo has become a musical force that is truly unlike anything that has preceded them.
“Our main thought,” Plant has said, “was that because our voices are so different we needed to have lyrics that would be provocative and evocative enough to support that. We’re both considered to be locked into our genres but I don’t want to be doing anything in my career if I’m not learning. I can’t stand it when musicians in my peer group keep doing the same old stuff. And Alison’s attitude is just as bold as mine, which is basically how come we’re together.”
Krauss elaborates, adding, “Since this project was going to be my first real departure from Union Station in 22 years, when Robert and I talked about making a record together I suggested doing something moodier. I thought it needed to be dark lyrically, partly because our voices are so different, but also because I like tunes with that feeling of loss.
“What I’ve learned from working with Robert is that a recording is something that you create right in this second, which I love because I’ve always looked at the studio as a tool where you compile things out of different performances. Robert’s attitude is the opposite, ‘This is the time to get it and we’re not going to make it into something else. It’s not about what happens later, it’s about who you are for that three minutes.’ I’ve never had the confidence to do that before. I’ve never had such a good time recording, I’m sure I will have quite a different view of singing by the end of this tour too.”
While the tour, which is presently scheduled to remain on the road through early October, is drawing rave reviews, the live performances would never have taken place were it not for Raising Sand. This is an album that defies genres. Instead of falling in to any one category, Plant and Krauss, along with band leader Burnett, chose to explore a wide variety of Americana music, touching on timeless country standards, early blues, West Texas Country, New Orleans flavored Cajun, rockabilly, and vastly unexplored territories of folk-rock. Burnett proved to be the mastermind of the band’s instrumental approach, while Krauss coached Plant on the intricacies of harmony, yet Plant’s flair for improv also plays a large role.
“Fortune Teller” is a perfect example. The Naomi Neville song, which has been recorded (albeit inferiorly) by both The Who and The Rolling Stones, was never discussed during pre-production meetings. One day while the band was jamming in the studio, Plant jumped in and started singing, and out came “Fortune Teller. “Nobody suggested it,” Burnett recalls. “It just happened.”
Miller, who did not appear on the album but was hand picked to join the touring band, adds, “Robert just goes where he feels – he is 100% feel. With him, every night is totally different. It is not at all about the arrangements. Not that there is anything wrong with arrangements, or playing a song a certain way. But when someone takes the first step and leads, everyone else just follows them there. Robert is a master at that.”
Burnett elaborates, “I didn’t get involved with the vocal harmonies at all. They just happened naturally between Robert and Alison. They let me chose the musicians, but the arrangements were all improvised.
“Music is about communication,” he continues. “We first discussed the album over a conference call while I was in Vancouver and we decided we’d put together a CD of about a half dozen songs and take it from there. We chose four and booked a studio in Nashville to see if it would work. We finished all of them in the first day so we did another eight songs. We spent a few days later in another studio in Los Angeles, but the whole record was done in less than two weeks. It just took off and nobody wanted to stop. I don’t think anybody does, still.
“The picture I tried to create on Raising Sand,” he adds, “was similar to that of an old analog recording of a great symphony orchestra, where all the drums and cymbals are at the back, and the high ones that are at the front, like the violins, are quiet. The bass notes have to be left plenty of space to reverberate, it will be interesting to see how this works on tour when it’s all live in a room. We’ll be playing very quietly onstage with a tremendous amount of tone. I would imagine the way the songs are played will have to change. Some of the musicians are different, but we can’t really copy the arrangements because they were all improvised to begin with.”
After just six shows, Miller says that the tour is already one of the highlights of his illustrious career. “No one knew before the first show. When we walked out on stage and heard the crowd that first night, everyone got goosebumps. That was probably the highlight - it does not get any better. Some people are coming because they love that record, while others are coming because they love the artists. But, everyone comes with a lot of questions over their head; not sure what to expect.”
Though the band is performing similar set lists most nights, no two shows are the same. The band is excited about the possibility of continuing to expand their repertoire, Miller says. “There is talk of working up new a new song every day at sound check. I think they want to work up as many songs as we can learn. We worked up so many songs at rehearsal that we had to cut about a third of them to make the show fit in the time we had to perform. I think we’ll be playing a lot of different material by the end of the tour.
While Raising Sand can be seen as a revelation for listeners, the artists involved were even more profoundly affected. “When we got seventy-five percent of the way down the line,” Plant explains, “I realized we’d created something that I could never have dreamt of.”
Krauss shares his enthusiasm and wonder. “There’s so much romance in contrast,” she summarizes. “It was a real life-changing experience.”
The experience was so life changing that Plant has reportedly turned down an additional $100 million (on top of the $250 million offered the rest of the band) to participate in a world tour with Led Zeppelin. Plant insists on moving forward, not going back and visiting another moment in time that he feels has passed. Together with Krauss, a 21 time Grammy winner, Plant sees a totally different future.
During the filming of the CMT Crossroads show last October, just weeks before the Led Zeppelin reunion show in London, Plant told the network, “Everyone is waiting for the second coming, and by golly, we’re ready.”
While the statement may have seemed laughable to some, those that have experienced Plant and Krauss live are voicing much the same opinion. Plant is performing at levels he has not reached in nearly three decades, while Krauss is flourishing in her first go at singing rock-n-roll. Backed by an ensemble of impeccable talent, the duo has come together and blown a breath of fresh air over today’s musical landscape. At times sounding like an ancient gypsy caravan, other times like angels sent from above, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss have created something that all music lovers can appreciate.
No one is talking, at least not publicly, about Plant’s future beyond this tour. If you want to witness the second coming firsthand, then beg, borrow, or steal, do whatever it takes to ensure that you see this show while you still can. You’ll be darned!
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]]>Forgiven is the culmination of what Los Lonely Boys has been building towards for the past decade, the fulfillment of the belief and support of not just millions of fans, but also such notable artists as Willie Nelson (who appeared on the band’s major label debut), Carlos Santana (with whom they toured, as well as writing and playing on “I Don’t Want to Lose Your Love” from his 2005 album All That I Am) and Los Lobos (with whom they’ll team for the 2008 edition of the Los Lonely Boys’ Brotherhood Tour). From the bluesy groove of the opening song “Heart Won’t Tell a Lie,” to the yearning plea of the title track, to the heartfelt faith of “Love Don’t Care About Me,” Forgiven impresses from beginning to end. Throw in a rollicking version of the Steve Winwood/Spencer Davis Group hit “I’m a Man,” and Los Lonely Boys have captured the essence of their band on a disc that is sure to garner widespread appeal.
The band is quick to credit producer Steve Jordan, who suggested the band perform live in the studio, an approach they had not previously tried. “It was good having him with there,” Jo Jo says. “Steve is smart, and has a good heart and good ideas. He had ways to keep the flow going, capture the mood. It sounded better and was easier to create with this format. He’d be there with us, standing there and jamming with this percussion thing he made, like a microphone shaker thing. When we got together with him he was one of the guys. His last name when he was with us wasn’t Jordan, he was Steve Garza!”
To Jordan, who in addition to being an in-demand producer is an elite drummer that has toured with Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen, and Bob Dylan, to name just a few, the live in studio approach seemed natural. He says, “Obviously from ‘Heaven’ we knew what great songwriters they are and what kind of sound the group has. They sing wonderfully together, three brothers with this chemistry. I went to see them live at the Fillmore last year and it was a great show. They play all-out live. So I thought the best way to capture them, where I would be satisfied and to instill some fun in the process was to capture that live energy and the groove of them playing.”
Asked to name their favorite track, each brother has different answer. Henry says, “They were all so magical, but for me the one that is the foundation is the name of the album, ‘Forgiven.’ When we played that song, for me in my heart and I hope my brothers too, I got that vibe that we knew what this was all about again, what we’re all about. It’s an actual prayer that’s turned into a song, purposefully made that way. For me it was just that whole experience. Felt like a cleansing.”
Ringo makes his debut as featured vocalist on “Superman,” a song he penned for his wife. “I wanted to write for my wife,” he explains. “Henry suggested the Superman theme, and I took if from there. I’ve never sang lead vocals before. I enjoy singing with my brothers. They would always ask me if I wanted to sing lead, but I just wasn’t ready. Third album, I guess.”
Interestingly, Jo Jo’s favorite track, “There Is A War Tonight,” was reserved as a bonus track, for copies of the disc purchased from Wal-Mart. “The song is about the obvious war,” he says, “but also the war every night in our homes and our neighborhoods. There is bloodshed and broken hearts every day. We’ve put it at the front of the show, and are really enjoying playing it.”
Before embarking on the Brotherhood tour, Los Lonely Boys took time from their busy schedule to perform a handful of intimate shows in their hometown of Austin, raising money for Music for Literacy, and offering guitars and lessons to 10 children from Big Brothers Big Sisters and 10 from the Sunshine Camp of Austin. Beyond funds and awareness being raised, Los Lonely Boys lend a hand whenever they can. They like to give back the joy they have received, and also appeared on last year’s John Lennon Tribute disc to benefit Darfur.
“There is no end to giving back,” says Jo Jo. “It’s our way to give thanks to our fans who believe in us and our music, and it’s important to us. There is no reason to hide real human ups and downs, to having hearts and feelings. There is no pedestal. People gave us this. They believe in God, in Jesus and most of all, good will. If I am walking down the street and see someone in need, there is no way I won’t stop and try to help them. That’s the way we are.”
Though the approach they took in recording Forgiven was new, the songs remain the same unique blend of conjuto, Tex-Mex, blues rock, and pop that made the band famous. Los Lonely Boys sound proud of how far they’ve come, and of their latest release.
“We came from a town with nothing,” Ringo says. “Came from nothing but love and brotherhood - Familia. That’s what drove us. We want to let everybody know that we’ve worked the hardest, really trying to please each other and the fans. We thank the good Lord that we’re able to. Of all the success we’ve had, it’s still amazing to hear fans sing the words to the songs we’ve written with our hearts. We write them and think nobody will probably like them. But (then) we play them and people sing them back to us! It’s amazing and we appreciate it so much. If I could give a hug to every crowd member, it wouldn’t be enough.”
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]]>During our most recent interview, which took place as Joseph embarked on his latest tour with drummer Steve Drizos, we discussed the duo’s forthcoming CD, the subsequent naming of their band, songwriting, his recent trip to Nepal, and what the future holds for the man with a seemingly endless string of rock-n-roll melodies waiting to roll off the tip of his tongue.
HONEST TUNE: “When did you and Steve first begin playing together?”
JERRY JOSPEH: “We first got together when I was on a hiatus in Montana in 1995. I had a job booking acts in a bar, and Steve had this band called Dexter Grove that I booked in the bar. We were friends for a number of years, and we had the same birthday, which was always sort of a connection. Then, Steve moved out to Portland, and his band would play with us a lot, including New Year’s in Mexico, five years ago or six years ago. Then he started playing with the Jackmormons as a percussion player, when the Jackmormons went to a five piece.
“We’ve been playing as a duo off and on for about two years. This really is our second record together, because he and I did the April 19th record. That had a bunch of different people playing with us, so the idea this time was to do it with just the two of us.”
HT: “For just two people, you sure get an incredible amount of sound.”
JJ: “It is certainly something that’s not consistent for us. This tour’s been hard because it’s been at the mercy of my guitar tone. It’s almost like we need more gear to do this correctly than just with the Jackmormons or some normal rock band. We’ve been hauling around keyboards, and all these different kinds of guitars; but we haven’t plugged any of that shit in on this tour. We’re just in the mindset of ‘go on tour.’ It would be better if we were bringing along a proper sound guy; but when it works it’s just electric - the sound of a good full sounding electric guitar and drums.
“There are no effects, no loops, which is what we were trying for on the record. You can hear some keyboards and a guitar solo over a rhythm guitar. But there is no bass, and there isn’t a lot of trickery because we knew eventually we’d have to tour the damned thing.
“There are a lot of drummers I could have done this with. (I was looking for) two things. One was compatibility, and Steve and I have become really good friends. It’s the same thing with the Jackmormons. I think there’s and argument to playing with people who can develop stylistically around you, as opposed to a pre-formed package.
“Stockholm Syndrome is a bunch of pre-made parts and that that works on that level. But to try and come up with something more organic and different I think was a cool thing. It’s been a weird thing to do. I don’t know how well received it is all the time. When it doesn’t go well people are very excited to tell me how they don’t like it. People come to the shows very skeptical, so when it does go well, it’s rewarding because you went onstage to a lot of people with their arms crossed, and I’m not known as a guitar player, so it’s certainly not about virtuosity.”
HT: “Steve does an amazing job. It definitely sounds like there’s more than one person behind that drum kit a lot of the time.”
JJ: “I think he’s really come into that. Half the point of the project was for him to find his voice. Really for both of us, but, I’ve been around longer. When we were recording with (producer Dave) Barbe, Steve started doing this kind of tom-tom thing that become a lot more of his signature thing. When you look at all the other duos to compare us to, The Flat Duo Jets or White Stripes, they are so much about the gear and sound of the different guitars mics that they’re switching stuff out all night; while The Black Keys have this North Mississippi-Junior Kimbrough thing.
“For us, we weren’t sure what we were doing. We had Jerry Joseph songs and two musicians. We try and play a lot of that stuff, so we’re working with 250 songs. The good part and the bad part is that when they work, they really work and when they suck, they really suck. We haven’t gone through enough of them to find out which is which yet.”
HT: “Now that the record’s done, how do you feel it came out?”
JJ: “This is one of the first records where I cannot think of one thing I do not like.
It’s good. It’s different, which is what we were looking for. I feel bad for Steve, because I think a lot of times ‘Jerry Joseph records’ just sort of get tossed in the ‘Jerry Joseph, bald hippie’ bin. We just laugh. Sometimes we think of Michael Stipe and when he was talking about the mixed reviews of the first Billy Berry-less REM record. He said something like, ‘If we were some twenty year old band they’d be throwing a parade; they’d be cheering in the streets if they made a record like this.’
“Sometimes I almost wish it was someone else singing these songs, somebody without my baggage attached. The songs would have more of a chance. But Steve’s really excited about the album. He did a really good job on it.”
HT: “The last time you came through Athens, you were performing simply as Jerry Joseph and Steve Drizos. What led to the decision to give the duo a name?”
JJ: “We were hoping to present it as a band instead of just another Jerry Joseph record, whatever that is. Denmark Vesey was a very controversial figure. It depends on who you talk to whether he was a hero or a villain. He was a freed black save that organized what would have been the most successful slave revolt of American history, but they caught him at the last minute. It’s an amazing story in Charleston, which I think, was one of the prototypes of the modern police state.
“This guy did his math and figured out there were like three to four black adults to each white adult. His plan was take the city and kill every white person - the nannies would slit the throats of the babies, everybody was supposed to die and then they would leave enough people to take the boats to Haiti, where (ex-slave Pierre-Dominique) Toussaint had just had a successful slave revolution. Doubtful he would have let them in, having the wrath of the American navy on them, and then they were going to go to Africa.
“I live in Harlem and was walking in the street just last week doing an interview with the guy from Charleston. He said to me, ‘so you named your band after the guy that was going to slaughter the whole city?’ And I answered, ‘Well, your half.’
“So, it really does depend on who you’re talking to. People in bondage, they’re justifiably pretty angry. I was asking people in the streets –in New York you can just ask people something – ‘Do you know who Denmark Vesey is?’
“On my street, all the avenues have been named after black leaders. So I am standing on Malcolm X Blvd. and 125th Street and nobody really knows who he is. His biography was sitting on my bookshelf the day we said we needed a band name, so the name was really just to stir up shit. We like the name because nobody really knows what it is, so we’ll see how it takes. I think it’s cool for me and Steve to make sure that there’s some kind of difference between this and all my other work.
HT: “You have been involved in a lot of different projects over the years.”
JJ: “For a couple of years it’s been, ‘Is it Jerry Joseph or is it Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons?’ We just wanted to make this project seem different. If we were smart, we’d do another recording immediately, like an EP. We could probably make a pretty good vicious, angry dwarf version of Jack Johnson on a record. I make records I like, but I’ve long since given up any ‘maybe this is the one.’ I may have let that go, though I don’t know that I could expect Steve to do that yet.”
HT: “Speaking of the record, I’d like to go song by song and ask you to share a bit of insight in to each track.”
JJ: “I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I’ve had a thing more and more over years of not wanting to explain my songs because I think at the end of the day, what people get (out of a song) personally is more important. People have come up to me and said, ‘Thanks for ‘Climb to Safety,’ We’re getting married to that. It’s the most uplifting song.’
“I would say, ‘Uplifting? You f’n kidding me?’ I wrote that song so strung out and close to death in a hotel in northern California. It’s anything but uplifting to me. And then it started to feel like, why should I take that away from them? Having said that, I do need to go through this exercise anyway, so let’s start with you.”
HT: “Great, you know you can be relaxed with me. Let’s start with ‘Letter to Chico.’”
JJ: “My friend Chico Harris from Oxford is one of my favorite people. He wrote a book that was sitting in my living room called Letters to Boque e Quaba. When I finally sat down to write this batch of songs, I was looking at the book; I’d been reading it, so I just said, ‘I always write titles first,’ so I wrote ‘Letter to Chico’ and that kind of started bringing up things for me. Chico introduced me to Joe Strummer (The Clash). Then I started bringing up this other friend ours, Charlie Jacobs, from The Tangents in Mississippi. They were the band that actually brought me to the south for the first time, back in the mid 80s.
“I met Charlie Jacobs up in Wyoming, and those guys were one of the most badass bands I’d heard in my life. I was this hippie liberal kid and asked, ‘What kind of music do you guys play man, Cajun heroin music?’ Then I thought, maybe that’s not right, it’s more like white trash nigger music. I was just this Boulder, Colorado kid via Sandinista and that fuckin’ blew me away and totally taught me more about style, and unfortunately, for me and him, junkie chic and how to pull that ‘awe, man, you know’ shtick.
“He just had this thing, and I looked up to him. He died, ultimately, of a heroin overdose, after I started coming back down here. So, he’s in the song, which is also a take on Eddie Hinton’s ‘Letters From Mississippi,” and so instead of ‘Letters From Mississippi’ it was ‘Letter to Chico.’ The whole song is kind of a Mississippi thing for me; it has always been one of my favorite states. I’m actually really anxious to hear what Tom Speed (Honest Tune publisher) thinks of this song, because he knows these characters.”
HT: “Interesting. I am sure Tom will love it. Now, tell me about ‘Elastic.’”
JJ: “I was surprised that Steve picked that as the second song (for the record), but every so often I try to write these airy kind of love songs. I keep trying to learn how to do it. One of the best loved pop songs is ‘Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,’ by the Police. It’s super simple to sing along with. I was in the dining room with my fiancé and I was actually getting engaged when I wrote that, it took about ten minutes.
“And, I’d always wanted to figure out how to get National Geographic in a song. It’s a thing about her reading in National Geographic that there are 60,000 miles of vein in the human heart, or one of those things, and I was able to go rhyme it in the song. I was very pleased with myself.”
HT: “How about ‘Cochise?’ That is one of my favorites.”
JJ: “That is one of the most personal things I’ve written, which could kind of spoil it too much for listeners. My parents were really crying when I played that for them. This is one of those songs that was a title first. Cochise was the Apache Warrior, one of the last fighters against the U.S. government. Again, one of these controversial figures I write about - a brutal man, or a total hero. I get these titles and it just gives me vehicle to write songs. My friend Jason says people have to spend too much time in Wikipedia to figure what my songs are about. It’s a very personal song about someone wishing he could measure up to a hero and not being able to do.”
HT: “Do you think you captured what you were going for in that one?”
JJ: “Yeah, I think it’s one of the best songs I ever wrote. But, whenever I say that it’s usually people’s least favorite.”
HT: “Next comes ‘Broken.’”
JJ: “We wrote ‘Broken’ pretty quickly. It was the first song that Steve and I wrote together. I was sitting at the piano, and he was sitting at the drums saying, ‘How do we do this?’ I said, ‘Like this, pick a chord and start.’ Steve’s fiancé is the keyboard player for The Decembrists, so there were some really cool keyboards we could fuck around with on our first songwriting session and that was a good excuse for me to use a fake David Bowie British accent.”
HT: “So, ‘Broken’ started with you writing on the piano. Do you start most of your songs instrumentally, or do you have the lyrics first?”
JJ: “I start them at the same time. I almost always have the title first. With ‘Broken’ maybe I didn’t, I started that one (hums the refrain bars), and Steve started playing and the song just came out.
HT: “So, you normally have the title and that gives you mental image to get started?”
JJ: “Yeah, it gives me someplace to start. And then a lot of times I just start playing the chords and humming…and it fills in. I don’t know anybody that does it that way, but it’s always worked for me. If I cannot think of a title, I start looking at books on my bookshelf. A chapter title from somebody’s book could be a song title for me.”
HT: “Interesting, I could see where that could be a natural launching point.”
JJ: “And it’s good if you run out of ideas. I know a lot of times, when I write with (Dave) Schools we don’t start off at that point because we’re starting fresh, and then you are looking for titles out of the song. I don’t like that as much, but I like those kind of strange titles and sometimes they don’t have anything to do with the song.”
HT: “Let’s get back to the new album. Tell me about ‘Ho Chi Minh,’ which has to be my favorite track.”
JJ: “Ho Chi Minh was the second song I wrote with Steve. We started that riff and played around with it for awhile. Then Steve said, ‘What are you going to sing,’ and I told him to give me ten minutes. I went upstairs and just free formed that whole thing really fast. There’s one kind of writing thing I do, ‘American Fork’ would be an example from the Stockholm Syndrome record, that when I’m on it, and I’m not concerned with a particular story line, but more from imagery, I can usually nail it quick. I just went upstairs with a notepad and wrote all those lyrics down and came back down.
HT: “Tell me a bit about the story behind that one.”
JJ: “I just started with diseases and then it gets into John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban kid, then it’s ‘wrap your sex in body bags for Ho Chi Minh’…it’s pretty harsh.
“I’m talking about a kid like John Walker Lindh, who learned to speak Arabic, and memorized the Koran before he got out of high school. He moved to Yemen to study Islam, and found them not committed enough, so he went to Pakistan and hiked up into the mountains to fight for the Taliban against the Mujahideen. Then 9-11 breaks out he’s fighting in an f’n foxhole in Afghanistan. If it wasn’t the enemy, that would be everything we hold dear in our teenagers - bravery and faith and standing up for your beliefs and being intelligent and educated. And there will be people who listen to this song and wonder what it’s all about.”
HT: “Next comes Helena Bucket, a very clever tune.”
JJ: “That came from being in Helena, Montana, where I’ve played many times before. I kept asking if there was any band in town called The Buckets, and no one seemed to understand what I meant. To me, if I were from Helena, I would think that Helena Buckets would be a freaking awesome name for a band. I also wondered how could someone had missed that one - you could almost move there to have that band name, the Helena Buckets.”
HT: “So, like you said before, the song came from the title?”
JJ: “Totally, with no idea what it was going to be about. I like singing the song, but ‘I have a dreadlocked old lady, a whip, and a 30-aught-6.’ I don’t what demographic I’m going for there, S&M, bear hunting, rastas – armed, social, environmental awareness.”
HT: “Supper’s Ready does an excellent job of showcasing your strong spiritual side.”
JJ: “It’s the oldest song on the record. I wrote it a couple of years ago in Mexico, proving that you can be in a very bad place and write something uplifting. It was kind of like a lost weekend in Mexico, I was by myself, at my brother’s house outside of Ensenada. I’ve always toyed with the idea of learning how to write gospel songs and this was my attempt to do that. There was a big argument (in the studio) about the song and whether we should have recorded it like we did. It would be cool in a big version with lots of instruments, and maybe we could re-record it like that, but I liked the idea of just doing it on the electric piano and drums. But, the song’s so long, that we had (John) Neff come in and play pedal steel, which adds a nice touch.”
HT: “’It Comes In Waves’ is another very beautiful song.”
JJ: “That is another one that I wrote down in the dining room, and started with the title. It was the most difficult song we recorded. We were trying to do at least two songs a day, and ‘It Comes In Waves’ didn’t happen anything remotely like that. It bogged us down, and was frustrating, which is funny because now that I can listen to it (in full), the frustrating part is wearing off.”
HT: “What was it that made this one so challenging?”
JJ: “Because we knew that it could be really great, and trying to figure out what was really pushing the envelope. It’s certainly the most complex song on the record as far as takes and overdubs. After we got through that, we got our groove going and we were able to nail them. Like a lot of these songs; Steve was learning them there in the studio. I’d play them for Steve and Barbe, then we’d run through it once and then we’d roll f’n tape.
“I think that is why (the record) sounds fresh like it does, because we didn’t have time to over-think it. I’d say, ‘Here’s the song’ and ask Barbe what he thought. He would say, ‘Cut that verse or shorten this, maybe tighten it up here,’ and Steve would ask ‘What kind of beat do you think?’ We’d try one, and diddle around until we found something that sounded good, and then Barbe would go ‘Roll.’”
HT: “The record closes with ‘Zombie Blues.’ I remember you stopping by my house on the way to the studio to record that one and then again the next afternoon”
JJ: “Yeah, it was Lisa (Adams, Honest Tune copy editor) that said, ‘Wow, Jerry, you managed to offend everybody on this record - equally. Everybody gets the heat.’
“Yet another one I wrote in the dining room. We were having dinner with a friend of mine, and his Haitian wife, who maintains she grew up with Zombies, and that her uncle had eight Zombies. That is the magic she grew up with, and she believes in. I don’t think she doesn’t believe in it, but she maintained that her uncle flies a ’69 Cadillac along the countryside, about 8 feet off the ground and never had to put gas in it because it flew. And he was a Voodoo Priest. Those people believe in that stuff to their core.
“I said, ‘Well that certainly doesn’t exist,’ but she replied, ‘Go tell him that as the car is flying at 70 miles an hour just above the ground.’ I just turned that into a political song, because I just get so f’n pissed. That’s why the song makes the point that it’s not the left, or the right, it’s just my genuine disgust in the American apathy to political stuff.
“And then the song took on a whole different meaning when I went to India (where Joseph spent a month traveling in Nepal, recharging after recording this record). I wasn’t around Zombies, but I was around a lot of cremations. I was watching lots of bodies burn and people die, and kept coming back. The song made more sense to me after I came back from India.”
HT: “That is interesting that your own song would make more sense after the fact.”
JJ: “A lot of songs do that for me. Some of the ones I wrote when I was young, I didn’t know what they were about until now. There are Little Women songs that mean a lot more to me now, compared to when I was kid and I had no idea. Songs like ‘Chainsaw City,’ I had no idea what that song was about. It was just sort of freeform writing to a reggae groove and now it’s got all this different meaning to me now. Fortunately or unfortunately, I’ve gotten old enough to see that process happen.”
HT: “When we listened to the record together the day after you finished recording, and Lisa made that comment about you pissing off people on both sides, what was you initial reaction?
JJ: “Well, that was the point. I may be a dick, but hopefully I’m not naïve. There’s always this argument that it’s better to have people hate you. Love me or hate me, but don’t be indifferent.
HT: “Now that the record is coming out, what do you see happening next?”
JJ: “I think it’s a good starting point for me and Steve to work together. We started the duo thing, because we thought that would be a good way to accomplish more of our dreams, to play more in Europe. I’ve lived in New Zealand, but I’ve never toured down there and the South Pacific. I want to do more international stuff. I want to be able to operate more like a little young band, and do more 7-inches, and free download singles. Working with Steve, that gives us a lot of freedom. We can do this as a duo, or we can bring out ten other people.
“So, I don’t know what the future holds. Not just with him, but with me. We are trying to figure out what we want to do this summer. Do we want to stick to our guns on this duo thing, and are we willing to get our asses kicked financially (to perform as a duo) because the money doubles if I have a bass player. People don’t look at a duo as a rock band. Am I willing to fight from scratch for a new band?
“I was in Little Women for 10 years, and the Jackmormons for 10 years. This tour that we are doing now, and it’s only for three weeks, it has been really crazy. And, it is difficult for the audience, because it doesn’t have a built in thing to dance to. When we nail it it does, but…”
HT: “Well, Steve can create that by himself.”
JJ: “Sure, but we see it on a lot of people’s faces. There are people that are really into it, and there are people that are really not into it. How much do you really want to weather that critical analysis is the question. It means you’re doing something that’s not wallpaper, which is a good thing.
“We will see what happens. The record just came out, and I have no idea what’s going to happen to this thing, or whether people will like it or what kind of reviews it will get. I’m too old to think this is going to be ‘the big one,’ because that’s unlikely. But if it sells enough, we can do it again.”
Whether The Denmark Veseys sells well or not, the record is sure to draw rave critical reviews. Joseph is in top form throughout, his song writing and performing as strong as ever. And, though unheralded, Steve Drizos is undeniably one of the most talented drummers in the world today; capable of creating complex, multi-layered rhythms that often sound like a man playing with at least four hands. Together, these two ultra-talented musicians have created a duo that makes more music onstage than many 12-piece orchestras.
While the children of Harlem may not know the story of the original Denmark Vesey, if there is any justice in the musical world, the latest incarnation of The Denmark Veseys will leave a lasting impression on listeners for decades to come. If cream truly rises to the top, then this record is sure to rank amongst the year’s most heralded releases.
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]]>As usual, BB King headlined the shows. Playing his famous guitar Lucille, King and his 10-piece band moved effortlessly through an hour and a half set that included such classic hits as “Nightlife,” “Caledonia,” and “Key to the Highway.” The highlight of King’s performance both nights came during his encore, when the 76-year old blues legend was joined on stage by Beck, whom King jokingly referred to as a “show off.” Although King made the comment in jest, Beck’s playing completely dominated the sound every moment he was on stage.
As enjoyable as it was to see these world-renowned performers play together, the real treat of the weekend took place when Beck hit the stage with his own three-piece band. From the moment he first took the stage, to a roaring version of his classic “Freeway Jam,” there was little doubt that Beck would live up to, if not exceed, even the loftiest of expectations from those in attendance.
As sensational as Beck’s playing was, he brilliance was matched by Terry Bozzio on drums. A much sought after studio talent who is largely unknown by the masses, Bozzio is easily one of the worlds best drummers. These two, along with keyboardist Johnny Humus, performed masterfully from beginning to end. While \Beck’s originals tunes were all very solid, the biggest reactions of the night came as he played a pair of covers. First, an instrumental version of the Beatles “A Day in the Life, which was nothing short of a true work of art. The most moving song both nights were renditions of Marvin Gaye’s “People Get Ready,” which Beck had recorded along with Rod Stewart for his 1985 album Flash. While Stewart’s soulful voice was nowhere to be heard, Beck’s played his guitar as beautiful as the instrument has ever been played.
During the first night’s show, Beck commented to the crowd, many of whom were seated, sipping wine and eating candle lit diners during his performance, that “It’s hard to concentrate up here watching all you eat.” The next night, opening band Galactic joined in playing off the theme of this unique venue (where the audience is actually allowed to bring their own food, drink, and tables) by hosting a group of their friends – right on the stage, complete with wine, dinner, flowers, and candles. While the brevity of their set (approximately 45 minutes) stymied the band’s ability to perform at their best, their genre busting jams were a nice introduction for those in the crowd who may have not have otherwise been exposed to this hot, young New Orleans sensations.
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]]>For his own label’s second DVD release, Branford Marsalis captured a complete performance of John Coltrane’s 1964 masterpiece A Love Supreme. Coltrane’s original recording is considered by many to be the consummate moment of his quartet’s career. This legendary suite, which remains Coltrane’s best selling album of all time, was performed by Branford and his quartet during the band’s March 2003 European tour at Amsterdam’s Bimhuis, a club that is regarded as the center for jazz in Europe since it opened in 1973, and a place that is “all about the music.”
Pierre Lamoureux, a filmmaker best known for his work on musical specials, including the Emmy-winning Harry Connick, Jr. PBS special, “Only You in Concert,” was on hand to record this scintillating live performance. The results are truly stunning, both musically and visually.
As a bonus to the live performance, the DVD also features several extras, including interviews with Marsalis and all four members of his quarter, as well as discussions with fellow saxophonists Michael Brecker, Miguel Zenon, David Sanchez, and Ned Goold, all of whom reflect upon the inspiration and the challenges presented by performing Coltrane’s classic masterpiece.
Branford is also joined on the DVD by Coltrane’s widow, Alice, for a rare 30-minute interview. An audio-only CD of the performance, only available with the DVD, is included in this special two disc package. A Love Supreme, Live in Amsterdam is a must have for all fans of both Marsalis and Coltrane. The package also makes an excellent introduction for novice jazz fans, a true masterpiece from two of the genre’s renowned masters.
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]]>Over the past five years, the Dave Holland Big Band has become inarguable the top large ensemble in the world of jazz. While the band bares his name, Holland takes the same non-dictorial approach as his former band leader, the legendary Miles Davis, allowing each member of this 13-piece Grammy winning group the chance shine.
The first four tracks on Overtime compose “The Monterey Suite,” a work that was commissioned by the Monterey Jazz Festival and performed at the event in 2001, just a week and a half after 9/11. The suite opens with the swinging “Bring It On,” which captures the anticipation felt at the start of each year’s festival. “Free for All” and “A Time Remembered” run a gamut of emotions, from the freedom of letting all one’s cares go to the often bittersweet feelings reminiscing of days gone by. “Happy Jam” completes the suite with a “positive assertion if the human spirit overcoming adversity,” capturing the jam-session spirit and musical camaraderie felt at festivals across the world.
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]]>In 2004, a group of musicians from Atlanta, led by Kris “Jellyroll” Gloer, decided to commemorate the event, inviting countless friends from across the country to join the festivities. The show was such a hit that they decided to give it another go the following year, and filled Smith’s Olde Bar to capacity (and beyond). The response from the crowd was so overwhelming that Jelly decided to assemble a traveling ensemble, and for the past 18 months, the band has toured extensively across the Eastern U.S.
Though many astute concert goers, particularly Honest Tune readers, are quick to dismiss cover bands (most often with good reason), The Last Waltz Ensemble has proven to be too talented to be categorized as just another cover band. Jelly is known to rotate the cast of his Ensemble, and has performed with nearly 100 musicians during the past few years, including such talented names as Col. Bruce Hampton Ret., Sean Costello, Rev. Jeff Mosier, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Ike Stubblefield, Tommy Talton, and Rick Richards.
The core of the Ensemble, for the most part, has remained the same, consisting of some of the hottest players on today’s touring circuit:
The Last Waltz Ensemble recently celebrated their fourth annual Thanksgiving show, again at Smith’s, with a performance on November 24 that many in attendance ranked amongst their best to date. While the show did not feature as many special guests as in past years, the core band quickly proved to have gelled during their time on the road as they roared through set opening hits “Up On Cripple Creek,” “The Shape I’m In,” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” Benji was most impressive throughout the first set, masterfully handling lead guitar with his mesmerizing playing on “Stage Fright,” “You Ain’t Going Nowhere,” and “Don’t Do It,” the latter featuring a dual lead, played with Jelly, reminiscent of the Allman Brothers “Mountain Jam.” The set came to a close with Zach Deputy taking the stage, delivering a spot on rendition of Dr. John’s _____. As impressive as Zach was, it was Jason Fuller who truly made the song with his rollicking tinkling of the ivories that would have made the Dr. proud.
As the evening’s guest performers began to take to the stage, set two was even more delightful. Jess Franklin gave his best Eric Clapton impersonation on “Further on Up the Road,” a song that also featured a stellar bass solo from Charlie Wooten.
(Link to video – http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5867730412796674529 )
When Oliver Wood joined the show, he quickly took command of the stage as he lead the band through “Rag Mama Rag.” All the while Ted Pecchio rattled the room, if not the entire building, with the most powerhouse bass playing the Ensemble has ever seen. Lee Schwartz, of Outformation fame, played the part of Neil Young, performing “Helpless” as Jason Fuller continued to deliver some of the most joyous keyboard playing known to man. Fuller would also play an integral role in the highlight of the night, a set closing take on “Chest Fever” that saw Jess Franklin join Jason at his keyboard, the two trading runs back and forth until Jason finally got up and walked away, leaving the spotlight on Jess to bring the show home.
(Link to video — http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5723911038639894946 )
With the crowd screaming for more, Jelly promise a return next year. If the past year has been any indication of things to come, before long, this Ensemble could well find themselves performing not only in larger venues, but at a level commiserate with that of the original Band. At the very least, you can rest assured that once you’ve seen The Last Waltz Ensemble live, you’ll know that Jelly’s traveling crew is certainly not just another cover band.
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Joyous Encounter, features remarkable covers of John Coltrane’s “Crescent” and Thelonious Monk’s “Pannonica.” The highlight of the disc, however, is the original arrangement “Bird’s Eye View.” Based loosely on Charlie Parker’s “Confirmation,” the song is presented in the classic “turnaround concept” made famous by Coltrane, including a rollicking piano solo from Hank Jones, a masterful player who had the opportunity to perform with both Coltrane and Parker.
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