The latest edition of Neil Young's Performance Series, Dreamin' Man, is a composite of a number of liver performances Neil Young gave prior to the 1992 release of Harvest Moon, his return to Reprise Records after a tumultuous stint on the Geffen label.
Both in their recordings and stage performances, Los Lobos take a child-like pleasure in their playing, so it makes perfect sense for them to produce a CD exclusively devoted to music from Disney movies. Los Lobos Goes Disney is not a children's album, however, but rather an album for the inner child–and music lover– in all of us.
With Power Patriot, the realigned Garage a Trois attempt to answer the musical question: "Is there life after Charlie Hunter?" The seven-string samurai has been part of this band's lineup since its inception a decade ago and his replacement by Marco Benevento fundamentally alters the sound of the quartet. This music is definitely less dependent on groove though it carries just as much visceral impact (and in your face, not through insinuation).
Some four years in the making, Mark Karan's Walk Through The Fire nevertheless sounds like it was recorded in a single inspired yet relaxed moment of inspiration. The songs, the arrangements and the musicians are all in sync and the combination of Karan's self-production and Gavin Lurssen's mastering preserves the warmth as well as the clarity of the album's sound.
No live recordings can truly capture the cumulative effect of the famed festival, but these five selections illustrate the range of performance from brilliant to mediocre.
The rudimentary recording technique and amateurish quality of the audio/video content on this DVD is perfectly in keeping with the rough-hewn nature of John Lennon's performance with his pickup band at the 1969 Toronto Peace Festival. Even though the segment in which he appears constitutes less than half the running time of the disc, the Beatle's first solo performance in public is nevertheless a riveting experience to watch.
On course to attain a position comparable to the great drummer/bandleaders in jazz history, Dafnis Prieto and his band played an imaginative single set at FlynnSpace October 29th. The six musicians were able to display their individual and collective talent through the astute guidance of their precocious leader.
Opening for Bruce Hornsby at the FlynnCenter October 7th, The Wood Brothers won over the headliner's audience. Chris and Oliver's sly humor and understated country blues made an almost immediate connection and remained effective for the duration of an unfortunately abbreviated forty-minute set.
The intimacy of FlynnSpace lends itself to revealing the detail of a musical performance which benefited The David Binney Quartet tremendously the evening of September 26th. It was impossible not to notice how the foursome challenges itself when they play.
While working on the soundtrack to the movie One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur; Son Volt's Jay Farrar and Death Cab for Cutie's Benjamin Gibbard decided to develop their collaboration to include more original songs (and some selected concerts) based on the Beat avatar's writings. The CD resulting from their mutual interest, unfortunately, is a mixed bag.
