2009

One of the most popular series of B Lists, Digging Deep, has gone missing since I took the reigns of Hidden Track. It’s been nearly two years since the last time we scoured YouTube for fun covers of popular songs.

This time around we’ll be breaking up our list of ten videos into two parts to help speed up your load times. Better late than never, here’s part one of the fifth edition of The B List – Digging Deep…

1. Arcade Fire treated President Barack Obama’s campaign staff to a private concert last week in Washington D.C. The Canadian group offered their take on Bruce Springsteen’s Born In The U.S.A. for the staffers…

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37pX7KCYgDE

READ ON for four more great covers including U-Melt doin’ Paul Simon, Panic rockin’ out some Marley and Jason Mraz pressing the Peg Button…

This is a new idea around HT, where we’re gonna try to work with some of our favorite up-and-coming bands in a you scratch our back, we’ll scratch yours format where we’ll aim to exclusively release pro-quality, mixed recordings of some stellar shows that might fly under the radar.

Steve Neary, Andrzej Benkowitz, Chris Sell of Steez

By “exclusive,” we certainly don’t aim to prevent the show from making it’s way to the archive or anything like that, but rather just to let it out here first for a little publicity. Basically, it just makes us feel cool. Anyway, this is an experiment in progress, so any thoughts are welcome.

Band: Steez
Date: December 12, 2008
Location: High Noon Saloon, Madison, WI
Download: Click Here

READ ON for more details on this fantastic Steez recording…

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSpHmHABiyM Thin Lizzy – Whiskey In A Jar (Live 1973)

You wouldn’t expect a jazz show at the Highline Ballroom to be packed on a Wednesday night with people fighting over tables, but that was exactly what happened at Joshua Redman’s Double Trio performance last week.

The concert featured little more than a horn player backed by a monster rhythm section, and that was enough. In fact, he was brave just to stand on that stage, framed by a pair of young, in-demand bassists; Larry Grenadier, with his broad movements and low end, on his right, and Reuben Rogers, with his elastic responsiveness and tightly tucked peaks, on his left; and beyond that, a pair of the best drummers of a generation, Gregory Hutchinson, with his versatility and locked-up grooves, and Brian Blade, with his dynamic rolls and crashes.

Even late in the set during Little Ditty, when the music was quiet, almost moody, the symmetry was striking: Redman cascading brightly down the middle of dramatic rhythmic soundscape. He is a bit of a regal lion when it comes to the tenor sax, a strong, confident player whose clean tone is comfortable in any variety of settings, from his recent “real jazz” trio (to use Scofield’s term) to Chicago’s jam titans Umphrey’s McGee, although it’s fair to say that his jazz work has at times relied too heavily on precision and sharp edges. READ ON for more on Joshua Redman’s Double Trio…