March 2005

G. Love & Special Sauce and Particle are among the artists who will perform on the inaugural Xingolati Groove Cruise. The three-day, three-night charter will depart Los Angeles Oct. 14 en route to Ensenada, Mexico, on board the Carnival Cruise Lines’ ship Paradise.

The event will feature sets by the John Popper Project featuring DJ Logic, the Everyone Orchestra, DJ Greyboy, the Mutaytor, DJ Laird, Perpetual Groove, Lowpro Lounge, Soul Rebels Brass Band and Delta Nove. Organizer Guy Grand Productions (GGP) is also promising performance art and circus theatrics to amuse 2,000 fans.

For more Xingolati information or to reserve a space, visit Xingolati.com.

Piano man Ben Folds has set down a run of spring dates to support the release of his upcoming album, Songs For Silverman.

Tour Dates –

5/03/05 Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
5/04/05 Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
5/05/05 Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room In Murat Center
5/08/05 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club All Ages On Sale TBA
5/09/05 Durham, NH @ Univ. Of New Hampshire – UNH Fieldhouse
5/10/05 New York, NY @ Town Hall Theatre
5/13/05 Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
5/14/05 Boston, MA @ Avalon Ages

In other Ben Folds news, Ben’s cover of Dr. Dre

Moby kicks off his North American tour in support of his new album,

Speculation has it that the Black Crowes are doing a stealth six night club run as Mr. Crowes Garden. These shows will precede the band

More than a year-and-a-half after first revealing plans for the project to Billboard.com, Ry Cooder’s musical portrait of a lost Los Angeles Mexican neighborhood will finally see release in late spring. Across the 15 tracks of “Chavez Ravine,” the artist brings back to life the hillside community that was destroyed by developers in the 1950s and since 1962 has been home to Dodger Stadium.

“It’s a story/concept record about Chavez Ravine,” Cooder told Billboard.com in November 2003, “our L.A. classic Hispanic Pachuco tale of woe, corruption, politics, the Red Scare, the little and the big, neighborhood vs. corporate, all rolled into one.”

The songs on “Chavez Ravine,” due June 7 on his own Perro Verde Records imprint through Nonesuch, are sung in Spanish and English. Helping Cooder weave the pastiche of conjunto, corrido, R&B, Latin pop and jazz are Chicano music great Lalo Guerrero, late Pachuco legend Don Tosti, singer Little Willie G. (Thee Midniters), Ersi Arvizu (The Sisters) and veteran East L.A. band El Chicano.

“I think we did a pretty good job at using this music to demonstrate a lot of things about daily life and good ways,

Z-Trip, UNKLE and Everything But The Girl’s Ben Watt have been added to the lineup for the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, to be held April 30-May 1 at the Empire Polo Field in Indio, Calif.

After making his Coachella debut in 2002 with a near-legendary set featuring a surprise appearance by Beck, Z-Trip acknowledges the difficulty in topping it this time around.

To read more visit billboard.com.

New York’s legendary rock club CBGB, which helped launch such seminal acts as Blondie to the Ramones, faces closure if it does not resolve a dispute over unpaid rent with the homeless charity that owns the building.

Club owner Hilly Kristal said the dispute dated from 2001, when the landlord presented a $300,000 bill for unpaid rent.

Though most of that has now been repaid, the club was handed another bill earlier this year for $76,000 which it has not paid. The club’s lease comes to an end in August and talks on renewal are stalled.

To read more visit billboard.com.

The Mars Volta has announced North American tour dates in support of the band’s latest release Frances the Mute. Tickets for most shows go on sale either March 11th or 12th. Check out themarsvolta.com for on-sale dates.

4/22 San Diego, CA RIMAC
4/25 Austin, TX Austin Music Hall
4/26 Houston, TX Version Wireless Arena
4/28 New Orleans, LA Orpheum Theater
4/29 Atlanta, GA The Tabernacle
5/01 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
5/05-5/06 New York, NY Roseland Ballroom
5/07 Providence, RI Lupos
5/09 Worcester, MA Palladium
5/10 Boston, MA Avalon
5/12 Montreal, Canada Metropolis
5/13 Toronto, Canada Kool Haus
5/15 Detroit, MI State House
5/16-5/17 Chicago, IL Riviera
5/19 Minneapolis, MN Wilkins