Archive: 2010

The 60's are commonly regarded as a period of unparalleled artistic adventure, but, for both rock and jazz, the foundation for experimentalism was solidly laid in the previous decade. Each of these double-CD 'Legacy Editions' comprehensively documents what a crucial year 1959 was for the world of jazz;  not concieved merely for holiday sales, these deluxe packages capture the historical significance of the work and reaffirm the timeless quality of truly great music of any genre.

 RX Bandits will be performing three successive shows in New York City, from March 25th-27th, at the Gramercy Theatre. However, each of these performances will be its own unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience, as the band will be playing through a live rendition of three of their best-selling records, including The Resignation, And The Battle Begun, and Mandala, over the […]

The National have added new dates to their forthcoming spring headlining tour in support of a new studio album, which is due in stores this May. In addition to slotting an appearance at the June 11-13 Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, TN, the band has added second nights to previously scheduled dates in Los Angeles (5/21-22), […]

Words and Images: S. Balaji Mani

Just across the street from Fenway Park, where Trey and Phish kicked off a long-anticipated summer tour last year, Trey and Classic TAB got down to business at Boston’s House of Blues. Coming on a little after 8:30 PM, Trey and company kicked off with the newly-arranged Shine. The brass intro foreshadowed what would be the defining element of the night, TAB’s featured three-piece horn section. The lighting went perfectly with the lyrics, with blazing yellows and whites flooding the room as Trey and the audience echoed the chorus. A bouncy and funky Cayman Review followed, with Trey bouncing up and jumping around, pointing to various fans in the audience.

A calm, dark What’s Done brought the mood down to let people catch their breath – it was also a first for this tour so far. The Birdwatcher showed up in the set as an Elvis-tinged old school rock-and-roll number, a distinct departure from its barbershop arrangement on Party Time.

Trey didn’t hesitate to introduce the newest member of the TAB family, trombonist Natalie Cressman (the first “second generation member of the band,” as her father used to play in TAB). She was beaming the whole night, and also joined Jennifer Hartswick on background vocals for most of the tunes. She really stepped out to shine on Mozambique, delivering a beautifully accented and original solo. While the first set had its moments, including another tour debut with Plasma (which was also supplemented with beautiful lighting work), the true standouts came thereafter.

Drifting led the second half of the evening, with colorful flute work from original Giant Country Horn member Russell Remington. Russell switched fluidly between percussion instruments, flute and saxophones throughout the night. The requisite TAB staple, Sand, sent everyone into a dancing frenzy.

READ ON for more of Balaji’s photos and thoughts on Classic TAB…

Trey Anastasio and Classic TAB returned to the Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford, CT this evening for a show that focused on the newer tunes in their repertoire. Anastasio was talkative throughout sharing a few stories about the songs he was playing and mentioning “I love this room” to thunderous applause. Let’s take a look at […]

Welcome to a special Saturday edition of Stormy Mondays. It’s not everyday that the truly momentous anniversaries role around, and when they do, it’s worth celebrating a little. Today is the fortieth anniversary of one of the single greatest sets ever played by the Grateful Dead. [Photo by Amalie Rothschild] February 13, 1970 found the […]

Trey Anastasio and Classic TAB mixed it up a bit more as they entered the heart of their fanbase for a gig at the House of Blues in Boston this evening. Making their tour debuts were What’s Done, Plasma and Sultans of Swing.

[Photos by Balaji Mani]

Here’s the setlist…

Trey Anastasio and Classic TAB
February 12, 2010
House of Blues
Boston, MA

Set 1: Shine, Cayman Review, Push On Til The Day, What’s Done, The Birdwatcher, Mozambique, Night Speaks to a Woman, Alaska, Let Me Lie, Plasma, Tuesday

Set 2: Drifting, All That Almost Was, Sand, Goodbye Head > Gotta Jibboo, Small Axe, Valentine, Money Love and Change, Show of Life, Dragonfly

Encore: Sultans of Swing, First Tube

[via @YEMblog]

• YEMblog: Trey Anastasio Classic TAB Audio, Videos & Reviews
• Previously on HT: Charlottesville Photos, New Songs, 9:30 Club Setlist, Charlottesville Setlist, Philadelphia Setlist

READ ON for more of Balaji Mani’s photos of TAB in Boston…

The Allman Brothers Band’s annual March Madness run in New York City kicks off on March 11 at the United Palace. As you might recall, the Allmans were essentially kicked out of the Beacon when MSG Entertainment made a deal with Cirque De Soleil to host their Banana Shpeel show. If you can’t make it […]

Deadheads have never had the best reputation, so it’s not surprising to see Furthur fans take shit from all sides when the band comes to town. Yesterday, Gawker posted a letter that Sgt. Philip “Hot Phil” Mospan sent to the Cornell University Greek Community warning them that Grateful Dead fans would be coming into town […]

One week after killing it on NBC’s Saturday Night Live, Them Crooked Vultures get more time to melt faces during an appearance on this week’s Austin City Limits. Check your local listings to see what time and which PBS station you can find Dave Grohl, John Paul Jones and Josh Homme. Friday, February 12 [all […]

On part 1 of this series a couple of weeks ago, I started talking about the day I spent in Pontarlier, France. The reason I went was to tour the distillery of Emile Pernot which was founded in 1890. This posting will be all about my day inside the distillery.

During the course of my Paris trip, I had the chance to meet some amazing people in the spirits industry (there was a bar show in Paris when I was there). One of the people I met while I was there was absintheur Peter Schaf. If you are a fan of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, Peter was the American at the absinthe bar in Paris who turned Tony on to absinthe (from the No Reservations Pilot episode).

Below are my photos, thoughts and recollections from my trip inside the absinthe distillery. Things got hazier as the day went on…

Entrance to the Distillery Les Fils de Emile Pernot, founded in 1890.

READ ON for more of this week’s Friday For the Foodies…

The lineup for the 20th Annual High Sierra Music Festival was announced yesterday via video. Without further ado, it’s time to break out the iSierra… High Sierra Music Festival – Lineup Video The Avett Brothers • Ozomatli • Femi Kuti and Positive Force • Railroad Earth • Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain, and Edgar Meyer • […]

Philadelphia has been pounded by snow for the past week, but the show goes on for Trey Anastasio and Classic TAB. Trey grew up nearby in Princeton, so this is a hometown show of sorts for the former 70 Volt Parade vocalist. In the first set, Big Red debuted a song he wrote with longtime […]

Critically acclaimed London-based UNKLE announces the release of their fourth-proper full-length record "Where Did The Night Fall" on their label Surrender All on May 11th. The album will feature fourteen tracks recorded over the last year at various locations around the world including the band’s Surrender Sounds studio in London, Ibiza, Melbourne and Los Angeles. […]

Best known as a founding member of New Orleans-based funk band Galactic, Stanton Moore releases Groove Alchemy on April 13. The 12-track CD is the culmination of Moore’s multimedia project that also includes an instructional book and DVD of the same name. All three facets of the project are designed to explore the roots of […]

Back in 2004, VH1 aired a program called Bands Reunited in which producers would attempt to reunite a band that had broken up under bad terms. In most cases, the bands profiled on Bands Reunited didn’t reunite, but it certainly made for good TV. I forgot all about the show until coming across an item […]

For Wilco’s third show of their Winter Tour last night at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, WA; the HT faves welcomed local boys done good Bill Frisell and Scott McCaughey on guitars to join them for California Stars during the encore. Frisell last sat in with Wilco at Marymoor Park in Seattle on August 21, […]

When uber-producer Rick Rubin first started working with Johnny Cash in the mid-’90s the country legend’s career was in a bit of a lull. The pair’s first album together, American Recordings, featured a collection of  sparsely recorded originals and smartly chosen covers sung by Cash in his signature haunting baritone. The critical success of the […]

[Originally Published: December 24, 2009]

Making a list of the Best Concert DVDs of 2008 was a struggle, because there weren’t many quality releases to choose from. This year, we have the opposite problem as there were tons of terrific Concert DVD releases.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the Best Concert DVDs of 2009…

10. Arcade Fire – Miroir Noir

Arcade Fire fans were thrilled when the band announced they would be releasing a concert film chronicling the recording of Neon Bible and the subsequent tour. Unfortunately, director Vincent Morisset works so hard at not being a typical concert film that the documentary, which appears to be shot by cell phone cameras at points, isn’t all that entertaining. The bonus material makes Miroir Noir worth owning and earns it a spot on this list.

9. Return to Forever – Live at Montreux 2008

Legendary jazz fusion supergroup Return to Forever reunited in 2008 and this DVD gives a good illustration of how good this group of musicians continues to be. Filmed in Montreux, Return to Forever Returns contains a nice of mix of tunes from all of their albums played with passion and verve.

READ ON for the rest of our list of Best Concert DVDs of 2009…

For the first two shows of Wilco’s Winter Tour, the Chicago-based band has started the encore with a cover of Buffalo Springfield’s Broken Arrow. Wilco first covered the tune on the Friday night before the Grammys as part of a tribute to Neil Young. Here’s the best clip we’ve found so far… Wilco – Broken […]