New Orleans peeps - Midnight Preserves coming your way

Check out this awesome line-up of midnight shows at Preservation Hall from April 29 - May 2 in New Orleans including my former teacher Glenn Hartman, members of the Meters and the Neville Brothers, The Rebirth Brass Band and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

"Preservation Hall is proud to announce the return of Midnight Preserves, the popular late-night Jazz Fest music series hosted by the world-renowned home of Traditional New Orleans Jazz. Now in its fifth year, Midnight Preserves offers music fans the opportunity to experience intimate performances from legendary New Orleans artists as well as rare small-venue performances from some of the biggest names on the national scene. Tickets are now on sale for April 24-26 via ticketweb.com, with more dates to be added soon. Performers include Zigaboo and Friends, Marva Wright, Walter Wolfman Washington, The Del McCoury Band, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Leo Nocentelli, Eric McFadden and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Ticket sales will be limited for these intimate performances, so order in advance!"

SCHEDULE:
Friday, April 24, 11:59pm
Zigaboo and Friends with special guest Marva Wright
$25 (early purchase price!)

Saturday, April 25, 11:59pm
Zigaboo & Friends w/ special guest Walter Wolfman Washington
$25 (early purchase price!)

Sunday, April 26, 8:30pm
The Del McCoury Band and Preservation Hall Jazz Band
$25

Sunday, April 26, 11:00pm
The Del McCoury Band and Preservation Hall Jazz Band
$25

Thursday, April 30, 11:59pm
Rebirth Brass Band
$15 (early purchase price!)

Friday, May 1, 11:59pm
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
$20

Saturday, May 2, 11:59pm
Feet To The Floor (Leo Nocentelli, Eric McFadden, Mean Willie Green, Glenn Hartman, Nick Daniels)
$20 (early purchase price!)

click here for tickets.

This video will make you want to go to New Orleans right now.  Watch out.

Nice things that folks have said about Always More to Hear

"You are a great writer, I especially like how reveal your own enthusiasm for music in your writing. You tell a story and educate, and all with you own voice. I read a lot of writers who hide themselves in the article, but your articles have a personal feeling."

- Brian Berberich, Creator and Producer of Chasing the Moon


"Her blog is written from a place of subjective personal experience of music, which I find far preferable to the tendency of so many music blogs to annoit themselves the Arbiters of What Is Good And Hip In Music."

Says Kirk Hamilton of Murfins and Burlgars


"Can you send me a monthly email of the best international music? ;) just kidding. But seriously, you have such good taste!"

-Eliza


"I continue to be in awe of your blog. Your taste in music is impeccable and I thoroughly enjoy the funky tunes you are sending our way."

-Jeff

"Your range of musical interests is impressive. I don't think that Otis Redding and Palestrina have ever been placed next to each other on a list, nor have Lauridsen and Nina Simone. Plus there's all the artists that I've never heard of. I'm sure it takes a lot of energy to keep that site going, but you convey a sense that you adore doing it."

-Michael


"Your blog is really inspiring. It has so many elements happening together and your writing is so easy to read but intelligent and full of interesting info."

-Purba

"Your site looks Fab. I was just going to take a peek while I was checking my e-mail and found myself spending over thirty minutes checking out all the music. Very fun and easy to find my way around even for an old fart like me. Bravo."

-Uncle D

"I'm really enjoying your blog. It's so informative and unpretentious. It's one of the few I always read. Thanks for sharing."

-Annie

Need something to do tonight in the Bay Area? How about some Japanese Rock or 3-part Klezmer vocals?

The Sisters of Sheynville

There are so many good shows on tonight in the Bay Area.  I will be going to the sold out performance of the Tallis Scholars presented by Cal Performances in Berkeley.  I've been a fan since college and interviewed conductor Peter Phillips. The article is still online, check it out here. But to quote, well, myself (because I can):

"We have ourselves, the music and our inspirations. Is there really anything else?" This is how Peter Phillips, director of the Tallis Scholars describes his relationship with music that was written 500 years ago. Phillips describes the Renaissance, the rich and glorified era of Michaelangelo, DaVinci and Machiavelli, as "the only period which can be said to have been dedicated to choral music." Through the Tallis Scholars, Phillips has successfully interpreted this music for the 21st century.

This pioneering choral ensemble has created a standard of excellence and beauty for Renaissance sacred music that has basically been untouched since its inception. They have been recognized around the world for their depth and variety of repertoire and their purity and clarity of sound.

This music is THE most gorgeous music I've ever heard and will probably provide the most spiritual/religious emotions and experiences for me personally.  If you want the full effect, turn this up, LOUD. That's the way classical music was meant to be heard.

After that I'm heading over to the Independent to check out this years crop of Japanese SxSW bands. Every year, Japan sends about a dozen bands/musicians to the SxSW festival for two nights of showcases.  Then, they go on tour. Japanese bands put on an awesome show, like much of Japanese culture, nothing only goes half way. 

Check out the line-up and tour schedule, they might be coming your way.

My favorite band that will be there tonight is detroit7 (I've blogged about them before). I finally figured out who lead singer Tomoni Nabana sounds like: a female Lou Reed(!!!)

Also happening tonight is the Jewish Music Festival's West Coast premiere of the Sister's of Sheynville and Gaucho.

Inspired by the legendary Barry Sisters of the 1930s and 1940s, this all-female Swing-Klez sextet was voted Canada’s top folk vocal group in 2008. Their airtight three and four part vocal harmonies in Yiddish positively sizzle with seduction. You’ll think you’re in Paris when Gaucho opens with the Gypsy Swing sounds that recall legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt.

Check out some clips here and at their website.

CD mixes

I'm making CD mixes. Who wants one? email jamiliya13@yahoo.com with your address.

"Howling Blues & Dirty Dogs": The life and times of Big Mama Thornton - for LA peeps

This piece comes to you from my very first guest blogger, my Dad, Jeff Freedman:

If you happen to be in Los Angeles any weekend between now and April 12, run, do not walk, to the Stella Adler Theater on Hollywood Blvd. to see national treasure Barbara Morrison as "Big Mama" Willa Mae Thornton in "Howlin' Blues and Dirty Dogs," a musical about the legendary blues pioneer.

Elvis Presley is connected in immortality to the blues crossover anthem "Hound Dog." Few know that this 12 bar blues tune was written by Los Angeles natives Leiber and Stoller for Thornton, not for Elvis. She received only $500 for her recording, which became an R&B hit three years before Elvis' recording helped launch him into international
stardom. Thornton had her share of success, but questions of race and economic power deprived her of the success in the 1950's that flowed to white artists. She died at age 57, poor and forgotten, in L.A. in 1984, a victim of alcoholism on top of her diabetes.

Barbara Morrison, an amazing talent in her own right, delivers an emotional depiction of Big Mama, and lends her own fantastic voice to the performance, which combines original music as well as tunes from the 50's. (The actual song "Hound Dog" is not part of the performance,
probably because Lieber and Stoller are still quite alive and this production did not obtain usage rights.) Other characters in the show include the tragic Johnny Ace, an outstanding singer, who died at age 25, and local legend Johnny Otis (of "Hand Jive" fame) who is still
quite alive at age 88.

Morrison is backed by a talented group of singers/actors playing multiple roles, plus a great blues quartet on piano, guitar, bass and drums.

There are many yet untold stories about the founders of modern music. Movies like "Ray" and "Cadillac Records" are helping to set the record straight about the early days of the genre. Plays and movies about Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, etc. are yet to be written. This story, about Big Mama, needs to be heard. Her time has come.

The Stella Adler Theater is at 6773 Hollywood Blvd, just east of Highland.

Phone number is 310-462-1439. Also check Barbarmorrison.com
Go see it!

Buy tickets here.

Joshua Nelson and Kosher Gospel: Concert Review

If you are not a religious person, but feel drawn to African American gospel music, raise your hand. (I know this is the internet, but do it anyway. Unless you are in public, then spare yourself.)

If you are not Christian and are still drawn to gospel music, raise your hand.

If you are not Christian and are drawn to gospel music but get a little (or very) uncomfortable with the lyrics, raise your hand. 

Still have your hand raised? Thought so. Okay, you can put it down now.

I LOVE African American gospel music. I have been drawn to it for as long as I can remember. I even wrote a one-hundred page master's report on it in graduate school.

I am an agnostic Jew, and I love music written with the love of Jesus Christ in mind. What's up with that?  

People have described the concept in many ways, but it usually gets back to something like: it's not the words that matter, it's the conviction, the emotion and the excitement of the music behind the words. And most of the people that sing gospel, can really SING.

I learned about Joshua Nelson years ago when a friend who knew that I was researching gospel music sent me a newspaper clipping.  The Grammy-nominated singer grew up as a Black Orthodox Jew in South Orange, New Jersey. His grandmother introduced him to Mahalia Jackson and he fell in love. Nelson wanted to be a gospel singer, but he couldn't realistically sing about Jesus now, could he?

"All I can do is be who I am," said Nelson at the sold-out opening night of the Jewish Music Festival at the First Congregational Church in Oakland, California. Really all Nelson has done is replaced hebrew lyrics over the gospel style of singing, accompaniment and harmony.  Similar, and yet very different, to what Ray Charles did with gospel music and secular lyrics years before.

To me personally, it's theoretically the perfect blend.  It actually it sounded a little cheesy to me at first, but then I experienced it in person this evening, and I got it.  Let me explain:

The Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir took the stage first. The choir is a professional group that is unaffiliated with any church and has singers of all backgrounds and creeds.   They started off with a handful of gorgeously arranged spirituals like "Ev'ry Time I Feel the Spirit" and "Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel." 

"Good start," I thought, "stick to the old testament and songs that tell about the glory of god. The Jewish people can get that, definitely."

Then came a more contemporary style gospel. I heard the word "Christ" once and at that moment wondered what every person in the sanctuary was thinking, I mean, we were in a church, but as part of the Jewish Music Festival.  I kinda thought my brain would explode for a second there, too many layers to think about.

The audience was into it, heads were bobbing. Things were going well.  Terrance Kelly, conductor of the Interfaith Choir, gave the audience a gospel 101 lesson, "don't wait for the song to end to clap!" People laughed.

But then after the intermission, Nelson and his band took the stage, and people couldn't stay in their seats. They went nuts. The difference was like night and day.  

In addition to singing Jewish traditionals like "Hineh Ma Tov" and "Mi Chamocha" he referred to and sang the songs of Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Louie Armstrong and Harry Belafonte. He riffed off of Benny Goodman's (a fellow member of the tribe) "Sing Sing Sing" and Ray Charles' "Hit the Road" Jack. Music that was familiar to everyone in the room.

I spoke to an older couple on my way out who said that that was some of the best music they had heard in a long time. 

As a Jew, I get it: this guy is literally speaking my language. He's singing words that I recognize. And words that I, even as an agnostic, am emotionally attached to.  And it's to the music that I know and love.  I don't have to distance myself from the music just because I can't relate to the words.

Oh, and Nelson can sing too...

Here's another one of the tune Adon Olam with his backup singers.

This picture from 2004 cracks me up.  You know if Oprah says someone is the "next big thing," it's gonna be true. 

I will be attending most of this weeks Jewish Music Festival's shows, so please check back for bloggings.  It's going to be fun!

Here's a the schedule. Tickets are available for all shows:

Young People's Symphony Orchestra: Special guest cellist Bonnie Hampton sits in with California's oldest youth orchestra in a concert that is part of "Bloch Party - A Celebration of the Life and Music of Ernest Bloch." 2 p.m. today. $15-$20. Castro Valley Center for the Arts, 19501 Redwood Road, Castro Valley. (510) 889-8961.

Andy Statman Trio: A master of blurring genres, this clarinet and mandolin virtuoso shuffles through bluegrass, American roots, and avant-garde jazz with klezmer and Hasidic nigunim. 8 and 10 p.m. Monday. $20. Yoshi's, 1330 Fillmore St., San Francisco, (415) 655-5600.

Flory Jagoda and Friends: Born 84 years ago into a singing family in the Sephardic community of Sarajevo, this Jewish singer and composer is one of the primary ambassadors for Ladino culture. This program finds her sharing stories and songs. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. $16-$20. Jewish Community Center of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St., Berkeley.

Di Goldene Pave: The Toronto-based Yiddish singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Lenka Lichtenberg duets with clarinetist Kinneret Sageet. 1 p.m. Thursday. $12-$16. Jewish Community Center of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St., Berkeley. Also 6 p.m. Thursday. Free. San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin St., San Francisco.

Daniel Kahn and the Painted Bird: Mixing klezmer and politics with elements of punk and folk on its new album, "Partisans and Parasites," this Berlin cabaret group will be joined by beatboxer Yuri Lane. 8 p.m. Thursday. $12-$14. Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell St. Also, 8 p.m. April 2 (without Lane). $12-14. Congregation Beth Am, 26790 Arastradero Road, Los Altos Hills.

The Sisters of Sheynville and Gaucho: The all-female Canadian folk vocal group headlines with its three- and four-part harmonies in the style of the Barry Sisters. Gaucho plays seductive gypsy swing with a detectable Django Reinhardt influence. 8 p.m. Saturday. $18-$28. Jewish Community Center San Francisco, 3200 California St., San Francisco.

Elana Jagoda, Yuri Lane and guests: A program directed at children as part of family music day, featuring folk-rocker Elana Jagoda, beatboxer Yuri Lane, workshops and performances by other festival artists. 11 a.m. Next Sunday. $7-$20. Jewish Community Center of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St., Berkeley.

Finale Dance Party with Brass Menazeri: The festival closes out with a lively set by a horn-driven Bay Area soul and Klez-Balkan outfit. 4 p.m. next Sunday. $10-$25. Jewish Community Center of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St., Berkeley.

SxSW Day 3 highlights: Peggy Sue, Steve Taylor, The Environmental Encroachment Marching Band & Theresa Andersson

I started my day with something called "The Trailer Park" from  Torchy's Tacos in South Austin that included fried chicken. I also had a Mexcian Coke (all sugar, no corn syrup), perfect! 

Then I headed up to on the roof of the Whole Foods Headquarters for the Girls Rock Camp Day Party with a Daisy Rock Guitar raffle, face painting (check out the KISS makeup) and of course, girls who rock. England's Peggy Sue greeted me with their gorgeous yet forceful vocal blend. They remind me a little of First Aid Kit but with a little more sass.  

Then I strolled further into downtown and came across Steve Taylor, an Oakland musician who had decided to busk on Sixth street instead of playing proper staged venues.  He drove his portable piano all the way from California to Texas to play on the street. From the little that I saw, I'm willing to guess that he sold a pile of CDs that way. People loved him. His style reminds me a little of Paul McCartney or Jamie Lidell.

This is a video that I took of Steve while a hula-hooper provided visual entertainment. Ah, such is South by Southwest... actually, this is pretty normal for Austin year round...

This is a quick video I took of 6th Street, the main strip for South by. You can hear the cacophony streaming out of the clubs, even in the daylight. Image what it sounds like in the evening.

Another band I found wandering the streets of Austin is the Environmental Encroachment Marching Band from Chicago.  I think this video speaks for itself (sorry it's so short and blurry).

Later that night I ended up at Antone's, a special place for me (I was Clifford Antone's teaching assistant while he was working for the University a year or so before he died) and got to see Theresa Andersson, a Swedish ex-pat living in New Orleans. She's got quite a voice on her and with the help of looping, she's a one-woman band. Check her out with her apartment setup (I like this video because you can see all her pedals).

I came home to the Bay Area earlier today and am ready for another (but not quite as intense) week of music!  This time with the Jewish Music Festival.  Honestly, I'm a little sick of guitars at this point...

SxSW Day 2 highlights: Efterklang, Girls in Trouble, The Sway Machinery & Golem

If I had a Girls Rock Camp day on Wednesday, Thursday was my Jewish day. 

My sunlit hours were a bit of a wash (which has to be expected), but we did stumble upon experimental Danish band Efterklang (meaning "echo") at the French Legion. With 8 musicians on stage, I think each instrument on earth was present.  This is of course, not true, but this band is interesting enough for me to pass onto fans of folks like Akron/Family.

I then got myself a seat at the gorgeously remodeled speakeasy on Congress to see the JDub Records showcase including: Girls in Trouble, The Sway Machinery & Golem.

Firstly, let me just share that within the first hour of arriving, a girl came around with free sausage wraps - at a jewish record label sponsored party. I had myself a good chuckle. People, of course, ate them up. 

Golem violinist, Alicia Jo Rabins, has a new project called Girls in Trouble. This description comes from their myspace page: 

GIRLS IN TROUBLE started as an attempt to get out of writing a thesis for a masters degree in theology and grew into a song cycle which grew into a band.

These are songs that tell ancient stories of girls in trouble from that hotbed of human and divine darkness, The Bible.

Girls with names like Dinah and Tamar, and some whose names were never recorded. Tales of runaways, human sacrifice, and illicit seduction from a time before God and the Devil got separated out from each other. 

This was my favorite tune of the set:  

Hunter from hoovesontheturf on Vimeo.

Finally the club filled up, and we got to bask in the frenetic energy of The Sway Machinery and Golem. I've now seen The Sway Machinery three times since October, and they never disappoint (read an old blog post here). With an all-star lineup of musicians (from Antibalas, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Balkan Beat Box & Arcade Fire), these guys are tight. They also have a lot of fun, bumping into each other onstage and dancing around.  I love their suits too.

Finally at 1am, Golem took the stage. Rather than donning an according, the pregnant Annette rocked a red keytar. That baby is going to be cool.  My favorite new song?: "Tucheses and Nenes" (listen on their myspace page). For  those that don't know, these are certain female body parts.