Karla Bonoff had a wry smile on her face at The Egg Friday, May 10 as she recalled an audience member at a previous show shouting play something cheerful!
“I’m trying,” muttered Bonoff ruefully, pausing a beat. “Actually, I told her she’s at the wrong show.”
Accompanied by the exceptionally tasteful guitarist, Nina Gerber, Bonoff alternated between acoustic guitar and grand piano, singing every number except for Gerber’s solo instrumental version of Clive Gregson’s “It’s All Just Talk.” The 67-year-old Bonoff is blessed with a powerful voice, yet she’s most comfortable expressing melancholy and yearning, as exemplified by “Please Be the One” and “Someone to Lay Down Beside Me.”
A succession of such downcast material doesn’t necessarily sound like a fun Friday night, but thankfully Bonoff has become something of a raconteur, displaying a sly sense of humor that appears only intermittently in her lyrics. She spoke fondly of her early years, recalling all the “icky boyfriends” who inspired “Trouble Again” and remembering open mike nights at the Troubadour where she first heard Jackson Browne unveil “Something Fine.”
Karla Bonoffand Gerber finished strong with a couple of disparate cover versions. An up-tempo rendition of “Personally” was set up nicely by Bonoff.
“I’m gonna play a tune I didn’t write — it was my only hit, technically. Number 11 on the Billboard charts! The way I found this song was my dear old friend Glenn Frey, a great collector of obscure R&B tunes, played me this record by Jackie Moore from the mid-seventies.”
(I said) “Wow, what a great tune — I can’t believe that hasn’t been a hit for anybody!”
Frey: “Yeah, you know, I was thinking I should send this to Bonnie Raitt.”
Cue much laughter from the audience. “Hi Glenn,” continued Bonoff.
“Here I am, right here. So, I didn’t let him send it to Bonnie. I recorded it and it was a hit. This record had horns on it and strings and the Eagles singing background vocals and all this stuff — a big record. So I didn’t really over the years play it very much. I didn’t feel like I could really reproduce that big record. But I don’t give a shit anymore!”
The subsequent version of “Personally” was a nice shot of adrenaline after so many ballads, but Bonoff slowed things down for the finale.
“I was taking guitar lessons (in the late sixties) from a great musician: Frank Hamilton who was in the Weavers on and off with Pete Seeger. He taught in a little guitar store in the heart of Hollywood called Barney Kessel’s Music World. He taught me a lot of arrangements they used to play in the Weavers. When I recorded it I was lucky enough to have James Taylor and J.D. Souther play on it, but they couldn’t quite make it here tonight.”
And in fact no one missed them, as Bonoff and Gerber meshed beautifully on a gorgeous rendition of the Irish folk ballad “The Water is Wide.” It was a fitting end to a lovely evening at the Egg.
Setlist: Home, Baja, Oklahoma, Trouble Again, Something Fine (Jackson Browne), Daddy’s Little Girl, Rose in the Garden, Restless Nights, Tell Me Why, It’s All Just Talk (Clive Gregson), Please Be the One, Falling Star, Carry Me Home, Lose Again, Someone to Lay Down Beside Me, Personally (Paul Kelly), The Water is Wide*
*(traditional, arranged by Frank Hamilton, Pete Seeger & Karla Bonoff)
Into the Mystic – six musicians from the Burlington, Vermont area plus a ringer guitarist from neighboring New Hampshire – paid tribute to the artistry of Van Morrison at Skyloft in Crossgates Mall on Saturday May 18.
For nearly two hours the septet ranged through the early years of Morrison’s catalog, focusing mostly on his heralded seventies period. With Avery Cooper contributing on sax (plus some lovely flute on “Tupelo Honey”) and Gordon Clark on trombone, Into the Mystic resembles a stripped-down version of Morrison’s 1973 Caledonia Soul Orchestra.
The Caledonia ensemble featured a string section as well as horns, but Into the Mystic was content to embellish every song (except “Bulbs”) with peppy horn arrangements. They certainly did justice to such early hits as “Wild Night,” “Domino” and “Caravan,” but the charts were even more intriguing when ITM explored less familiar eighties compositions, such as “Dweller on the Threshold,” “Cleaning Windows” and “Tore Down a la Rimbaud.”
Justin Panigutti, on vocals and rhythm guitar, had perhaps the toughest job of anyone in the septet, emulating Morrison’s gruff vocals, his penchant for wordless exclamations and exhortations, and even occasionally Van’s patented leg kick and arm thrust.
The Alchemystics
Panigutti’s love for Van’s music was evident – in fact, it was clear that the entire band enjoyed their work. Guitarist Daniel Rahilly didn’t have much room to show off, but on “Kingdom Hall” he unleashed a pithy stinging solo with a studied nonchalance that evoked Robbie Robertson.
Setlist: Wavelength, Kingdom Hall, And It Stoned Me, Warm Love, Dweller on the Threshold, Glad Tidings, Wild Night, Domino, Cleaning Windows, I’ve Been Working, Tupelo Honey, Sweet Thing, Tore Down a la Rimbaud, Satisfied, Bulbs, Into the Mystic, St. Dominic’s Preview, Caravan
Shakey Graves With Illiterate Light – May 15, 2019 at Upstate Concert Hall in Clifton Park, NY.
UnofficialSetlist: Hard Wired*, Nobody’s Fool*, Roll the Bones, Built to Roam*, Georgia Moon*, Pansy Waltz, Mansion Door, Dining Alone, Big Bad Wolf, Dearly Departed, Family and Genus, The Perfect Parts, Word of Mouth*, Tomorrow*.
The Palace Theatre in Albany, NY played host to Griz and his Ride the Waves tour on Wednesday, May 8.
Openers, Dwilly and Yung Bae opened the night and got the adrenaline pumping early. The front rows were packed with a high energy, young crowd and they were soon ready for one of Colorado’s best.
The lights dimmed, and the bass began to rumble. Griz emerged and began to throw out some incredible lyrics, not usual for past tours. The show continued to bring out surprises including two different singers and two artists on trombone and trumpet.
The energy, production, and bass lines, were all at full capacity all night. You can catch this energy yourself as Griz continues his tour west and is a headliner at many festivals this summer.
Capitol Region Teen Madison VanDenburg had made it to the final three contestants on Season 17 of American Idol. The high school student from Cohoes tried out for the show last fall in Buffalo. At last Sunday’s Hero Tribute, VanDenburg performed Pink’s “What About Us,” Elton John’s “Your Song,” and Adele’s “Make You Feel My Love.”
Tune in to the Season Finale on Sunday, May 19 when VanDenburg faces off against Laine Hardy and Alejandro Aranda. The three-hour long event starts at 8 p.m. on ABC, and will include performances by legendary artists, as well as performances by the finalists.
“Birthdays are important, but I don’t want a big one like I had a few years ago. I just want the family, a few friends and neighbors.”
Pete Seeger would have been 100 years old on May 3, 2019. He was getting ready to celebrate his 94th birthday when we talked in April, 2013. It felt like I was talking to my favorite uncle. Pete had a way of making everyone he came in contact with feel that way whether it was Woody Guthrie, Woody’s son, Arlo, or the thousands of other folksingers he inspired.
“I’m actually going to be away on my birthday, because I have a granddaughter who’s going to a little school in Rhode Island that’s having what they call a grandparent’s day, and all the children who can are going to bring their grandparents to school. I’m gonna sing a few songs there. I’m mainly a song leader these days. I don’t have much voice left, but I’ve gotten better and better at getting a crowd to sing with me.”
Pete Seeger made a surprise appearance at Farm Aid 2013 at Saratoga Performing Arts Center
On May 23, The Egg in Albany will present a Pete Seeger Centennial Concert celebrating his 100th birthday. Arlo Guthrie and the 11 other artists performing illustrate how pervasive Seeger was as a moral compass in the history of American folk music and society as a whole. Arlo knew Pete from the day he was born. They performed together for the last time in Carnegie Hall, a month before Seeger died on January 27, 2014.
Arlo has just released Arlo & Pete’s More Together Again for digital download. Taped live in 1993 at Wolf Trap, it captures the mojo of Woody Guthrie’s son celebrating in song 60 years of the two musical families’ intertwining history. Best known for his anthem “Alice’s Resataurant,” With Seeger’s passing, Arlo is now the elder statesman and “keeper of the flame,” ignited by his father’s unofficial national anthem “This Land Is Your Land.”
“Most of the song had been written back in 1940 when he (Woody Guthrie) first came to New York,” Seeger told me in 2013. “He was actually hitchhiking, and Kate Smith singing “God Bless America” was on all the jukeboxes. His original song had all the same verses we know, but the last line was ‘God bless America for me.’ He crossed out that last line and scribbled in ‘This land is made for you and me.’ And that’s how he recorded it in 1948.”
Also included in this Centennial celebration is Guy Davis who accompanied Seeger on his last official tour in 2007. Guy is the son of Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, stalwarts of The Harlem Renaissance. “Pete Seeger and folk music is where my folks and I intersected best,” says Davis. “Pete Seeger was a friend of both of theirs, and I got sent to a summer camp run by Pete Seeger’s brother, and the older I get, the more I’m in love with the songs I learned in the ’50s and ’60s.”
In 1949, Pete Seeger’s car was among hundreds attacked by KKK members after a concert by African American opera singer Paul Robeson. “Two stones actually went through the glass and landed on the floor of the car. I cemented them into the chimney of a fireplace I was building,” recalled Seeger
The horrible images of that attack galvanized public opinion against KKK hatred. Seeger saw the incident as “an inoculation” for America. “You know when you get a needle in your arm, your arm gets a case of smallpox. The disease precipitates the cure. The rest of your body gets alerted and does not get smallpox, and this is exactly what happened.
“Peekskill had a case of fascism there, but the rest of the country saw the pictures on TV and in local newspapers and mothers with babies in their arms and blood streaming down, and it was not a pretty picture. The rest of the country said, ‘We don’t like this.’”
“I would agree that it was an inoculation,” says Guy Davis today. “It becomes Americanized. Those signs they had, ‘Wake up, America. Peekskill did.’” Pete was first hand on the receiving end of that as was Paul Robeson, as were so many other activists. Pete took one of the stones that was thrown into his car. He had it put into the fireplace of his cabin and he said that if the final riot comes and there were stones being thrown and death being dispensed, then he was going to take that stone and use it.”
“I’ve made a lot of stupid mistakes in my life,” Seeger told me in 2013, “but at least I’m still alive even though there was a thriving branch of the Ku Klux Klan only about three miles away from me. And I’ve often wondered why they didn’t come up and shoot me down or burn down my house or something, but I found out some members of the Ku Klux Klan had some family members who said, ‘You do what you want with Seeger and you’ll regret it. Everybody will be singing his Goddamn songs.’”
Toshi Reagon
Toshi Reagon is named after Pete Seeger’s wife and is the daughter of Bernice Johnson Reagon, civil rights activist and founder of the a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock. Toshi will perform her eclectic blend of rock honed on stages with Nona Hendryx, Elvis Costello, and Ani DiFranco. She considers one of her proudest moments to be when she played for her godfather Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden.
Another Centennial performer, David Gonzales, is a storyteller, musician, poet, actor, and writer and a one-of-a-kind artist. In 2009, David was commissioned to write a long form poem for the Hudson River Quadricentennial and, at the Egg, will recite excerpts from that work titled “Oh Hudson!” as they relate to Pete Seeger.
Seeger loved the Hudson River and his Sloop Clearwater became a symbol of our need to clean up our waters. He saw sailing as a metaphor for life. He remembered the time a friend took him out for his first midnight sail on an 11-foot Beetle Cat. “For the first time in my life I found out why people spend millions of dollars on private sailboats,” he said. “It’s not how fast you go, but the fact that you move at all. (Sailing) is a wonderful analogy for life. You use the force of the wind against you to move against it.”
“I was learning to sail on the Hudson, and I came along to certain places where there was a sewage outlet. I found myself sailing through lumps of this and that along with the toilet paper. I thought of the phrase of John Kenneth Galbraith, ‘Private affluence, pubic squalor.’ I had enough money to buy a sailboat, but I was sailing through shit.”
The one thing all the performers on this bill share with each other and Seeger in particular is an all-inclusive love for music as an “inoculation” against hatred and bigotry.
Dar Williams is a popular folksinger. The New York Times Book Review said of her book What I Found in a ThousandTowns that it “reads as if Pete Seeger and Jane Jacobs teamed up, more a report from the Green party than the green room.”
Tony Trischka is America’s consummate banjo artist and perhaps the most influential banjo player in the roots music world. He has written 15 instructional books as well as a series of DVDs. In 2009, he launched the Tony Trischka School of Banjo, an advanced, interactive, online instructional site that is the banjo home for students from around the world.
Amythyst Kiah is a southern songster who blends blues and old-time music. The only African American at the East Tennessee State University Bluegrass, Old Time and Country Music Studies Program during her enrollment, her repertoire includes the music of The Mississippi Sheiks, Son House, Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family. The New York Times credited her guitar playing with guaranteeing her a place among blues masters complimented by “her deep-hued voice that can change on a dime from brushed steel to melted toffee.”
Cary Morin is a Crow tribal member who plays Americana acoustic guitar that incorporates blues, bluegrass, jazz, jam, reggae, and dance. His Cradle to The Grave album took the 2018 Independent Music Awards for Best Blues CD and earned him a 2018 Native Arts and Cultures Fellowship.
Dan Zanes & Claudia Eliaza are a couple whose Lead Belly Baby! Album is a children’s CD inspired by folksinger Lead Belly. Grammy winning Zanes began his career in the ’80s rock band the Del Fuegos. His wife Claudia Eliaz is a Haitian-American jazz vocalist music therapist.
Richie Stearns performs with his wife Rosie Newton. Richie brought the old-time clawhammer banjo style to a whole new audience with the bands Donna The Buffalo and The Horseflies, and has accompanied artists such as Natalie Merchant, Bela Fleck, David Byrne, Billy Bragg & Wilco, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Joan Baez. For over 20 years, Richie performed with or for Pete Seeger on numerous occasions, and was invited to score original music for an album that featured Pete telling his life story over a music background.
Taina Asili is a New York based Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, bandleader and activist.The Huffington Post named her group as #2 in a list of “12 Freedom Fighting Bands To Get You Through the Trump Years.” She is dedicated to using her art as a tool for personal and social transformation. The themes in Taína’s writing are based in her activism in political prisoner liberation, prisoner justice, climate justice, and food justice movements.
Bill and Livia Vanaver of The Vanavar Caravan. Bill has composed and produced music for films, dance and theatre productions, including The Clearwater with Pete Seeger. The Vanaver Caravan will perform an excerpt from their Pete Seeger inspired work “Turn, Turn, Turn.”
“I’m one of the musicians. And I’m only one of them,” Seeger told me. “There are now not hundreds but thousands of people making up songs and doing things in small ways here and small ways there and following the advice of the great French biologist Rene Dubois who said, ‘Think globally, act locally.’”
He recalled the tipping point in folk music to be 1960 when folksinger Guy Carawan sang “We Shall Overcome” and it became what in 2019 terms would be considered viral. “The hit song of the weekend was ‘We Shall Overcome’ sung with this rhythmic slow thing. It was a slow song, but it had a very definite rhythm, and it was the hit song of the weekend. Five weeks later Guy was in Raleigh, North Carolina, and somebody shouted out, ‘Guy, teach us ‘We Shall Overcome.’” And that’s where they added something.
“Your right hand reaches out and holds the left hand of the person to your left, and your left hand reaches out to your right. So, your arms cross in front of you. Your shoulders touch, and your bodies sway as you sing this song. Once again, an African tradition is added to this piece of music of bodily movement at the same time you’re singing. You’re not just singing. You’re moving your body.”
Despite the problems we have as a civilization, Seeger was optimistic about the future. “My mantra today is the agricultural revolution took thousands of years. The industrial revolution took hundreds of years, but the information revolution is only talking decades, and if we use the brain God gave us, who knows what miracles may happen in the next few years.”
And he saw the arts as society’s savior. “I think the arts will be among the most important things that save us. Words can mean different things to different people and numbers can, but (it’s all about) the arts, the visual arts, the dancing arts, the cooking arts, the human arts, the sports arts, Joe DiMaggio leaping for a fly ball had all the grace of a ballet dancer, and who knows.”
I asked Seeger what was the single most important thing he’d ever learned. “I guess realizing the human race is one more invasive species,” he said.
Seeger spent long, productive life trying to teach us not to be invasive.
What: Pete Seeger Centennial Concert
When: Thursday, May 23rd, 7:00 p.m.
Where: The Egg, Empire State Plaza, Albany
Tickets: The Egg Box Office at the Empire State Plaza, 581-473-1845, or online.
Brian Auger and the latest incarnation of Oblivion Express played just six songs in each of their hour-long sets on Sunday, May 5 at The Egg. The modest but appreciative audience was treated to plenty of marvelous solos from both 79-year-old English keyboardist, Auger, and the incredible Australian guitarist, Frank Gambale, a mere stripling at 60.
Earlier versions of Oblivion Express recorded six studio albums from 1971-1975, mining a progressive vein of soul-jazz that also incorporated traces of funk and rock. The current band somehow manages to make all these elements sound relevant and contemporary, even when they’re covering jazz numbers such as Dizzy Gillespie’s “A Night in Tunisia,” Wes Montgomery’s “Bumpin’ on Sunset,” Eddie Harris’ “Freedom Jazz Dance” and Gene McDaniels’ “Compared to What.”
The current quintet was filled out by relative youngsters: singer/percussionist, Lilliana de los Reyes; bassist, Andreas Geck, and Karma Auger (yes, he’s Brian’s son) on drums. Anyone who thinks nepotism accounts for Karma’s presence should just listen to him – he’s an excellent drummer who doesn’t overplay, yet made the most of his brief solo-spot during the coda of “Whenever You’re Ready.”
Reyes has a lovely voice and she gained confidence as the evening progressed, stepping out from behind her percussion array, really emoting on a beguiling version of Donovan’s “Season of the Witch.” It was first cut by Auger with Julie Driscoll and the Trinity on their 1967 debut Open.
“We were recording on clay tablets at the time,” noted Auger. “This tune was a smash all across the Roman Empire.”
Reyes’ ebullient vocals and the energetic solos from Auger and Gambale were well-suited to the positive messages conveyed by songs such as “Happiness Is Just Around the Bend,” “Straight Ahead,” “Whenever You’re Ready” and “Sundown.” Auger is best-known for a robust Hammond B-3 organ sound, though he also deployed a Korg M3 synthesizer. Gambale was dazzling throughout, with such a clean tone and precise articulation, he demanded attention even when playing rhythm accompaniment behind Auger’s lead on “Compared to What.”
Brian Auger finished this performance by saying “drive carefully because you never know: I might be walking back to the hotel. Thanks again everybody we will see you in the future.” Though he turns eighty on July 18, he’s got a European tour booked for the fall, and shows few signs of slowing down. Mr. Auger, long may you run.
In a sold out show, a blast to the past of the late ’60s – ’80s progressive rock era, the Alice Frost band had the crowd rocking in their seats to the music of YES! The core of the band started performing in the late ’70s and the friendships made then have endured to this day. The members of this ensemble, original and newly added, have developed a true love for the music and for playing together. The group is composed of experienced area musicians who enjoy the challenge of this complex and beautiful music. On guitars is John Eisenhart who has played in 805, out of Syracuse, Lake City, Blind Design and currently performs around upstate New York as a solo artist.
John Eisenhart – Guitar
John has a diverse background which includes a wide range of musical styles. From 17th century classical guitar to delta blues, as well as more popular music, John adds his own style and the audience loves it. Harold “Clutch” Reiser, on drums and percussion, is a founding member of The Maynard Brothers Band, and also played with The Sundowners, Blind Design and other bands. Matt Donnelly, keyboards, plays with The South Street Saints, The Music Box and hosts the Thursday night jam at the Lawrence Street Tavern.
Matt Donnelly – Keyboardist
Matt brings years of experience on the keyboards to the Alice Frost band. He currently is associated with many other bands in the upstate New York area. Once you hear his mastery of the keys, you can understand why so many bands want to be associated with him. Frank Esposito, the vocalist, played for Howard Stern’s show and works in the Vibratones. Carl DeSantis jr., on basses and a Berkeley graduate, plays in North Carolina in a number of ensembles. Steve Hymowech, the bassist for Dirt Cheap, assists Alice with extra guitar, vocals, percussion and inspiration. The show encompassed music from the Yes Album, Fragile, Close to the Edge, and Relayer.
Playing at a high level of difficulty to bring this music to audiences makes the work enjoyable and rewarding, and it was be a show to remember. The May 3 date kicked off the 2019 season for Alice Frost, ending as the headliner to an outdoor prog music festival in the Syracuse area. They have a Facebook page with videos, pictures and more information.Â
Harold “Clutch” Reiser – Drums
“Clutch” not only sets the beat for the songs, but he did a tympani set which drove the fans wild and onto their feet.
Steven Hymowech – Acoustic GuitarCarl DeSantis Jr. – Bass
Future funk and electro-soul artist, Griz, continues to Ride Waves on tour, promoting his new album of the same name across the East Coast. The lineup includes electronic and urban pop producers, Yung Bae and Dwilly, for most of the May shows.
Ride Waves was produced over a two year hiatus that Griz took from electronic music, in which he addresses socio-cultural issues like gun violence. The DJ, producer and saxophone player recruited talent from Bootsy Collins and Matusyahu to Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa for his 5th studio album that emanates with positivity. The album contains elements of funk, rap, reggae and soul, including moments of reflection from Griz’ life. The track “It Gets Better” is an uplifting collaboration with DRAM that showcases Griz’ saxophone skills, and sends a message of perseverance.
Join Griz at the Palace Theatre in Albany and King’s Theater in Brooklyn, NY this week for the Ride Waves tour, as well as his signature electronic beats and organic saxophone-funk.
Upcoming Shows:
May 6th – Worcester, MA – The Palladium* May 8th – Albany, NY – Palace Theatre* May 9th – Buffalo, NY – Buffalo Riverworks* May 10th – Brooklyn, NY – Kings Theatre* May 11th – Philadelphia, PA – The Met* May 14th – Louisville, KY – Iroquois Amphitheater* May 15th – Columbus, OH – Express Live!* May 16th – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant* May 17th – Minneapolis, MN – The Armory* May 17th-19th – Gulf Shores, AL – Hangout Fest May 18th – Kansas City, MO – CrossroadsKC* May 27th – Detroit, MI – Movement June 9th – Chicago, IL – Spring Awakening June 14th – Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo June 21st – Heber City, UT – Bonanza Campout June 23rd – Dover, DE – Firefly Music Festival July 5th – Liempde, NL – We Are Electric July 10th-14th – Dour, BE – Dour Festival July 12th – Bristol, UK – Nass Festival August 2nd-4th – Montreal, QC – Osheaga Festival August 9th-11th – Salmo, BC – Shambhala Music Festival
Last Pharaoh screamed out melodic power/progressive metal and neo-classical music at Orange County Choppers on Saturday night which left the crowd roaring for more. Influenced by Iron Maiden, Saxon, and Queensryche, Last Pharaoh was signed by Pure Steel Records in 2018. Their first album, “Mantle Of Spiders”, was released last year on September 21. After their ‘blowing off the roof’ rendition of “Bark at the Moon,” they treated the crowd to their soon to be released “Intruders” as their last song of the night (which will be on their new album and first single).
The four band members each bring a rocking history of their own and combine to a fantastic blend of guitar riffs and metal screams, Ron Toth on guitar, Michael James on bass, Ed Shelinsky playing drums, and Tommy Santangelo performing on vocals. They are based in the Hudson Valley, however, they will be coming to the Albany area at Chrome in Waterford, NY on May 25. Look for their music on Spotify, YouTube, Apple music, iTunes, Amazon, and of course, your local record store.
Setlist: Into the Darkness, The Headless Horseman, Jekyll and Hyde, Desert Dreams, Deadly Dreams, Machinic Non-Conscience, Slave to the Kill (The Son of Sam), Mantle of Spiders, Psychohouse, Bark at the Moon, Intruders
Pure emotion carried the crowd away
Michael JamesRon TothEd ShelinskyTommy SantangeloMichael JamesTommy SantangeloRon TothTommy Santangelo
