Hidden Track

[Originally Published: September 28, 2010]

The Wind Will Carry Us, a poem, a moment and after that—nothing.
Behind this window the night is trembling, and the earth stands still in its course, vague things lie behind this window, you and I, uneasy…

And it is the window, the view out there, one is forever focused upon—this space we seek, to see the soul within in a moment of independence, a moment of pure clarity, which in any life is but a fleeting glimpse of eternity before, again, one drifts inwards, into that reserved area of mystery we all occupy at one point. Indeed, the wind beckons.

We ponder the Great Unknown. Only, sometimes, as the saying goes, it ponders us, too. We ruminate over a true landmark in independent cinema marking its 40th anniversary in 2010 with a remastered-print screening at New York’s Museum of Modern Art on October 27. And thus, we celebrate Barbara Loden’s searing vision of the iconoclastic soul on a road trip through a season in hell in this edition of Hidden Flick, Wanda.

The late Loden was married to famed and controversial director Elia Kazan. She was an actress in a few traditional Hollywood productions before writing, directing, and starring as the title character in the 1970 film about a woman who gives up her children to her husband after a rather abrupt and quick divorce. With only the clothes on her body, a purse and a few dollars, Wanda takes to the open highway, and never quite looks back. Wanda is always moving forward. But, in many respects, despite her bold departure from her family, Wanda still clings to the ideal of the man who can make it all happen for her. To her slow realization, she learns that men are just as fucked up as women. READ ON for more on this week’s Hidden Flick…

On a day when we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it seemed only appropriate to post on another person that was heavily involved in the 1960s Civil Rights movement – folk singer Phil Ochs. In his 1960s heyday Ochs was as synonymous with the Greenwich Village folk circuit as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, […]

Jam Cruise 9 was all about making good use of every single minute aboard the MSC Poesia for me, a task made easier by rooming with fellow scribe Dennis Cook of JamBase and Dirty Impound fame. Dennis and I met on Jam Cruise 8 and instantly became friends, which thrilled me to no end as […]

Tomorrow sees the release of Low Country Blues, the first new studio album from Allman Brothers Band front man Gregg Allman in 14 years. The 12-track blues covers record, produced by T. Bone Burnett, features Allman backed by Dr. John, Doyle Bramhall II on guitar and Burnett’s studio rhythm section of bassist Dennis Crouch and […]

Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Wanda Jackson, aka the First Lady of Rockabilly, will release her Jack White-produced album The Party Ain’t Over on January 25. In advance of that 11-track release, the duo will visit The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS this Thursday night. Monday, January 17 Film : Dazed and […]

Drummer Matt Butler has made his Everyone Orchestra a staple of festivals and live shows for the past 10 years. For the first time in the ensemble’s history, The Everyone Orchestra will enter a Brooklyn studio this week to record an album. Butler put together a ridiculous lineup for the group’s foray into the studio […]

The influential NYC-Freaks e-mail list – which has helped launch the careers of Robert Randolph, The Duo and the American Babies, among others – will celebrate 11 years of connecting friends, sharing information and tastemaking at Freaks Ball XI on February 4th. This year’s Freaks Ball will be held at Brooklyn Bowl, aka our staff’s […]

Situated on the sixth floor of the Time Warner Center on Manhattan’s Upper Wide Side, lies arguably the city’s best kept secret of a music venue – Jazz At Lincoln Center’s Allen Room – a venue which typically caters to a more affluent audience, than its downtown rock club peers. Set up like an amphitheater, it boasts easily the most amazing views you’re ever going to get at a concert hall in an urban environment with its gigantic floor to ceiling glass windows, that directly overlooks the passing traffic going around Columbus Circle and a stretch of 59th Street that you can see clear all the way to the East Side.

Last night, the Allen Room played host to the kick off concert for Lincoln Center’s thirteenth season of its American Songbook Series, with a show from folk-rockers The Low Anthem. Dressed liked they had just stepped straight out of  Greenwich Village’s pass-the-hat folk circuit circa-1964, and surrounded by a mix of both familiar and slightly obscure, and long forgotten instruments, which included a gigantic church organ they had specially brought in just for this show, graciously paid for by the folks at Lincoln Center. The band took to the stage to a mesmerizing view of glowing head and tail lights, and flickering lights from the posh apartments that surround Central Park West.

The Providence-based act, fresh off their second appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman the night before, used nearly all of their hour and a half-long set to showcase the songs from their upcoming studio album Smart Flesh, which is due out on February 22. Ben Knox Miller & company set the tone for the night by opening with the hushed To The Ghosts Who Write History Books from their critically acclaimed sophomore album Oh My God Charlie Darwin, sung in Knox Miller’s striking falsetto vocals that conjures up comparisons to an odd mix between Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and Tom Waits.

READ ON for more on The Low Anthem’s show…

All Photos by Dave Vann

Outside of the music, do you know what the best part of Jam Cruise 9 was? The people. Imagine a boat filled to the brim with cruisers who have similar interests to you. Each day, I would strike up a conversation with someone I never met before in the elevator, at the cafeteria or in the halls and minutes later we would depart as friends after having talked about the New Year’s Eve Phish show or after finding out that we shared some friends.

[All Photos by Dave Vann]

There were plenty of people I met last year that I kept in touch with all year long via email or Facebook and it was such a thrill to reconnect with some of these folks on Jam Cruise 9. Not to mention, I met dozens of people this time around that I know I’ll be friends with forever. Hell, I even met three or four potential new Hidden Track contributors during my time on the Poesia.

With that said, I want to share a photo gallery featuring the true stars of Jam Cruise 9 – the people. Photographer Dave Vann has graciously allowed us to run some of his photos from the five-day adventure. Head down to the bottom of this post if you want to shuffle through a slide show of pics as I’ll be offering some commentary on indiviual photos before finishing with a complete gallery.

• Previous Jam Cruise Journals: All Aboard, Knee Deep In It, Letter to 16-Year-Old ScottyB, Nourished Soul, Day Four – Part 1, My Jam Cruise Debut, Jam Cruise 9 Videos, Day Four – Part 2

Just before we left the Jam Cruise staff met to make sure all ran smoothly…

READ ON for more of Dave’s spectacular Jam Cruisers shots…

Three years ago, we were honored to win the 2008 Weblog Award as Best Music Blog. Today, the nomination page for the 2011 Bloggies has gone live and if you appreciate what we do, we ask you to fill in our name and URL under the “Best Music Blog” section. Please note that you’ll need […]