Cast! at Nighttown 18 September 2008

There was a window of time back in the 70's when jazz musicians had their music played on progressive rock radio. That radio play help make artists like George Benson, Chick Corea, and David Sanborn mainstream artists. A trio made up of sons of three of the major players from that time period played Night Town last Thursday. Drummer Karma Auger (son of Brian), guitarist Julian Coryell (son of Larry), and bassist Nicklas Sample (son of Joe) call them selves Cast!
It can be such a hit or miss proposition when dealing with the offspring of established musicians. For every Rosanne Cash, some one who succeeds despite being in a parent's shadow, there are many who don't. The members of Cast! are already seasoned veterans of the music world, and are all talented musicians in their own rights.
My notes described their music as George Benson meets Rare Earth meets Funkadelic meets Dicky Betts. And, of course, you couldn't help but notice the influences of the elder Auger, Coryell, and Sample. The trio did a great job of keeping the audience's attention with instrumentals with catchy titles like "Nadine," "Beautiful," "The Purple Panther," and "Walking the Dragon." Most of the songs left room for solos and improvisation from all three members. Both the songs and the performance were very good.
The two best numbers had more than a touch of funk, "Coolidge Returns" and "Rice Krispy Socrates," and I predict both with soon become bumper music staples on radio and television programs everywhere.
For now their music is only available on iTunes and CD Baby. They will be working around their commitments to their other projects for the next few months, hopefully doing another small tour later this fall or winter. For more about Cast! and their music visit their page on MySpace Music.
As always there are a lot of great shows coming up at Nighttown, including Maria Muldaur for two shows this Sunday; The Four Freshmen on October 6 & 7; Steve Smith's Jazz Legacy Band, featuring the drummer from Journey, on October 13 & 14; EMI recording artists Eroica Trio on October 25; singer/songwriter J.D. Souther on November 19; and on November 20 & 21 the John Pizzarelli Quartet, who will be featuring music from their Richard Rogers tribute album "With a Song in my Heart," the follow up to last year's Sinatra tribute. To see their complete music calendar go to www.nighttowncleveland.com.

Steve Mackall's "Sunday Bubble"

I use to joke, but it wasn't that far from the truth, about not realizing until I was thirty that not everyone had Sunday dinner at their grandparents each week. My old friend Steve Mackall out in California did a great piece about Sunday family dinner. Click on the You Tube link below, or cut and paste it into your browser. Good stuff!
My favorite Sunday dinner story was about when I was stilll in high school and had worked my first week at Quality Industries, a place where you heard the F word a hundred times a minute. If you screwed up a piece you had to write "NFG" on it, meaning it was No Fu---- Good. If a machine made a mistake you wrote "MFUA" on it, meaning the Machine Fu---- Up Again. That first week at the machine shop I worked six days, ten hours a day. I was exhausted, barely keeping awake at the dinner table. I remember we had roast beef and both sets of grandparents were there along with my whole family. I remember after we said grace turning to my grandmother and saying, "Nanny, pass the fu----ing potatoes." Believe me when I say I was not the golden child that day!
Check out Steve's monologue, it is wonderful.
Greg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qih3EYHRn0A

Erin Bode at Nighttown 28 July 2008

Erin Bode made her fourth Nighttown appearance since 2006 last Monday in support of her new CD release "the little garden." She put on another wonderful show, backed by her three piece band of Adam Maness on keyboards and guitars; Syd Rodway on bass; and Derek Phillips on percussion.
What separates Ms. Bode from many of the talented jazz singers that regularly play Nighttown and other similar clubs around the country is the strength of her original material, often written along with keyboardist Maness. And, instead of doing covers of the same old standards, she and her band do some great jazz arrangements of classic rock songs, both popular and obscure.
This time around she featured songs off the new album, including "Out of Tone" and "New England Friends," with some great piano by Maness; several romantic ballads including "Too" and "It's All Your Fault"; and a South African influenced "In Cold Water." She performed several songs from her last album "Over and Over" including "Sydney Come Down" which featured Phillips' drumming talents; and "Holiday," which is probably her most popular original song. On the "Sweater Song," another new romantic ballad, her voice trailed off like a train whistle in the distance while her band took turns doing solos.
Amongst the covers they performed included Paul Simon's "Born at the Right Time" and "Graceland"; a beautiful arrangement of U2's "With or Without You"; and a terrific version of Bob Dylan's "Tonight I'll be Staying Here with You."
For more information on Erin Bode and her band and their music go to www.erinbode.com. As always, Nighttown has a lot of great shows coming up, including on Thursday, August 14, the Cleveland Jazz Project, and on August 16 & 17 the Hot Club of Detroit. For more information and a schedule of shows go to www.NighttownCleveland.com.

8 June 2008 Big Bad Voodoo Daddy at the House of Blues

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
@ the House of Blues Cleveland
8 June 2008
(I forgot to post this before I went on vacation)
It was a fun night of swing and big band music as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy made another return visit to the Cleveland House of Blues last Sunday. Touring in support of their upcoming Cab Calloway tribute CD, the band played a mix of big band standards as well as the swing tunes their fans have enjoyed for years.
Bandleader/guitarist/vocalist Scotty Morris led the band through an eighteen-song set, despite having his left leg in a cast and having to work from a stool. However, this band has played so many shows together, and is as tight and professional as you will see a nine-piece outfit, and they followed everyone one of Morris's cues.
Amongst the Calloway numbers were the "Calloway Boogie" "Hey Now," "Reefer Man," "He's Close to Harlem," and, of course, "Minnie the Moocher." All done with the classic Cab Callaway Orchestra arrangements, the swing dancers in the house loved it.
The rest of the show was filled with the some of the usual BBVD numbers like "Oh Yeah" and Duke Ellington's "It Don't Mean a Thing (if it ain't got no swing)."
Another highlight included the New Orleans jazz standard "Zig Zaggy," with clarinets subbing for the saxophones.
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy are growing into a real roots music treasure, not only keeping swing music alive, but also carries of the big band legacy and traditional New Orleans style jazz. It was a great night of music, and the audience enjoyed it tremendously.
For more information on Big Bad Voodoo Daddy visit www.bbvd.com. The House of Blues will be jumping all summer, check out their schedule at www.hob.com.

23 June Las Vegas

Greg's comments: Before Bob rambles on about our trip, I thought I'd share our visit from a "ghost of vacations past" we encountered at the end of our trip. Our last night in Vegas was pretty mild, we ate dinner at one of the Italian joints over in New York, New York. We sat at our table and people watched, then got back to our room around ten to get a good night's sleep. We got to the airport by five for our seven a.m. flight. We were in the same row, Bob on the window and me on the isle, when right before take off a young kid in his early twenties plops down between us and says, "I'm never drinking again." He goes on to tell us he hasn't been to bed in two days, he lost a ton of money gambling, and he and his buddies had way too good of a time. Before he fell asleep he deleted all the phone numbers on his cell he accumulated before his girlfriend back home saw them. He put a black mask over his eyes and he had a very rough flight back home.
Bob and I just sat there and took him in, remembering what it was to be young and irresponsible and on vacation.
Bob's comments on Day 9: Greg and I rolled out of Motel 6 dignity and into Hooter's Casino by 10:00 am an even got into a room so we were able to unload our bags. We wandered over to MGM where we purchased a monorail pass. We wanted to be able to cruise effortlessly between the casinos and avoid the 106 degrees wherever possible. On the fly I can say the Flamingo looks to be a good Vegas destination. The Venetian an entertaining appeal and in this beautiful Italian monument we managed to find a Panda Express for lunch. After some very bad navigation and a poorly engineered map we must have walked 2 miles in search of the monorail station. Along the way we passed through a Catholic Church parking lot when a taxi pulled up to drop off parishioners. On the trunk of the cab was a 4x2 sign displaying the "thongly" clad hind ends of 6 Vegas dancers. Greg wondered allowed that he was a Catholic and if they were performing at the church we might get in free. We crawled to the monorail station and traveled to Harrah's and walked the overpass into Caesar's Palace where there was a movie shoot taking place. They were filming 10 of the Roman Legions finest. Their arms were as big around as Daniel Bradshaw's head. Next on the tour was the Belagio where the fountains were not entertaining anyone at the time. Back at Hooters we charged our batteries for a wild night out at New York New York, Aladdin and finally the Luxor. You can only imagine the fun we had Jason…..wink, wink. At this moment it is Monday morning 5:30 am and Greg and I are waiting for our flight to Cleveland. We are hopping to take a bump if the offer is right. Here is what we have done on this adventure: Tom, Bob and Greg arrived in Vegas on Friday June 13. We rented a red Chevy Impala that got decent mileage but had a horrible turning radius. We visited 6 outstanding National Parks mostly in Utah, Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands and the Grand Canyon (N. Rim). We visited 5 National Monuments (no different from NP), the Grand Staircase-Escalante, Bridges, Monument Valley, Lake Powell Recreation at Glen Canyon Dam, and Hoover Dam. We survived the dangers of unsurpassed beauty from cliffs, crags, grottos canyons, buttes and mesas. Thanks to the US government for allowing us to take these risks because it really adds to the experience. We saw the best that nature can produce and here in Vegas, what man can achieve. We drove 1358 miles in ten days and ten nights. We heard at least 10 different languages, met people from Chagrin Falls, students from John Carroll, Chardon, a friend from Bradenton and strangely no one from St. Louis but it was in the news everyday. We watched NBA finals, European Cup Soccer and we watched the Tribe never win a game. We unwittingly consumed 3.2 beer and behaved like it was the real deal. We survived the archaic blue laws of Utah but it meant that we became members of 3 different establishments in Moab, Utah. We got to know the little towns of Hatch, Tropic, Torrey, Moab, Page, Bitter Springs, Jacobs Lake, Hurricane and a little known place called Las Vegas. Greg and I are taking money home from the roulette table at O'Sheas and between the three of us spent $625 per person on room, gas and some meals. You can't beat it. Thanks for listening and by the way Helen Thomas gets credit for our much used phrase ("found dignity") Out RTT

21 June Grand Canyon/Las Vegas

Yesterday was a rough one starting with the long drive to the Grand Canyon and Lake Mead, and ending with a wild drive back from the strip to our hotel and Tom taking off for St. Louis.
Bob's comments on Day 8: An update from last evening in Hurricane, Utah…. We went to the F.O.E (Eagles) even Rodney Dangerfield would recognize their membership as a rough crowd. A very tanked lady said I looked like a stockbroker from NY. Tom, standing there said that I was so there after she kept asking for investing tips. I told her to buy low and sell high. Good advice for us all. The entertainment was setting up while we sat at a table. The band was called "Most Wanted" and by their look there is no reason to doubt it. We headed to Ted and Allen's Sports Grille. In conversation with Dennis, the manager, he said he knew Bruce Meade (big time softballer from Bradenton) because they had played on the same team. Just another small world story. We were on the road by 7:30 headed for Vegas with our first stop being the Hoover Dam, an impressive monument to American engineering. It is a massive tourist traffic jam with tons of sightseers, lots of security, and impressive views. It was neat to see a bridge in the process of construction. It is to be complete in 2010 and will take cars off of the road over the dam. On the drive back to Vegas we took pictures of a small herd of Big Horn sheep along the busy roadside munching on manicured, housing development, grass (see picture). We went to Hooters where it all began on the 13th. We consumed the usual fare and watched Russia take the Netherlands in OT 3-1. Tom never agrees with the officiating, and Greg and I don't care. Stosh brought us Motel 6 dignity and we headed down the strip for some Sodom and Gomorrah (especially after 8 days of Eden). We ran into Jeff Womaldorff (Southeast grad and one time soccer coach) and his wife. We went into O'Shea's, and sat down at a roulette table. Greg started with $25 and walked away with $150. I started with $20 and won $87. Tom had his white collar on and preached to us the evils of betting. We headed to Fitzgerald's Casino where Tom knew of a great steakhouse. We had our last supper and Tom took us back to the hotel and left for the Airport. It is Sunday and we are going to check into Hooters for tonight and tour today more of the strip.

20 June The Grand Canyon

Today's travels took us to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. I want to say a special hello to my niece Sarah Martin, who is having her graduation party tomorrow night and I'm going to miss it. To know her is to love her! And a note to Bob's girlfriend Yvonne...If I took you to the Grand Canyon for a romantic getaway we definitely would have eaten in the dining room there. There are some things he just doesn't get, if there was an Applebees on top of the rim he would've taken you there in a heart beat.
Bob's notes: Day 7 Friday... We left the confines of the Quality Inn of Page Arizona at 7:00 am, yes 7. We headed south on Hwy 89 headed to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. This will be my 5th visit to the Canyon (3 South Rand 2 North Rim). The route took us through the Arizona Strip... 2.8 million acres with only one highway. We crossed the Colorado River at Lee's Ferry and walked onto the Navajo Bridge to looked down into the narrow gorge. A plaque tells the story that the very last ferry ride before the bridge opened ended in tragedy and the death of 2. Greg asks "Couldn't they have waited for the bridge to open?" We stopped at a historical marker that told us about two Spanish Padres hiking from Sante Fe in 1776 headed for California. I now know that men of the cloth can be as dumb as the rest of us. "Hey Padre can you walk a little faster?" It is beastly hot. We climbed the Kaibab Plateau into a forrest of tall pines, turned left at Jacob's Lake and drove the 33 miles into the North Rim. We passed through a burned out area from a fire in 2006. We parked at 10:00 am and walked into the Grand Canyon Lodge (1928) and put and exclamation point on our trip. The North Rim is far less visited and 1000 ft higher in elevation than the South Rim. Much cooler. We walked the rim trail and drove out to other vistas. We left at 2:00 pm drove hard to Hurricane Utah to find dignity. We have Super 8 dignity tonight and an Eagles to visit. Note to Yvonne. I didn't eat a meal in the Grand Canyon Lodge dining room this time either. We went for the trail mix.

I cannot help but think of the famous line from Inherit the Wind by Frederick March.......I'm not interested in the Age of Rocks, but the Rock of Ages....anyway you look at it....Grand Canyon is simply beyond belief.....awe inspiring. The enormacy is just wonderous......canyon in canyon in canyon, through millions, in this case, billions of years of our evolution......may we all be blessed by this treasure in America......God Bless our Troops.......Tom