Woven Comes to the Retox Lounge

This Friday night, the L.A. based group Woven rolls into the Retox Lounge in Potrero. Rolling Stone.com described their music as having "remnants of Curve, Peter Gabriel's soundtrack work, world music rhythms and Massive Attack." They’ve had two major releases on Interscope Records, licensed two songs to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and toured the country multiple times. They have recently performed and done interviews on the G Living Network and are moving forward as an independent band on a DIY green mission.

The band strives for a spiritual approach to music and life, and they don’t just talk the talk.On their current west coast tour, they are traveling in a recently converted veggie oil RV. This is Woven’s second tour with the converted RV; its maiden voyage took them across the country and back last September and October. When touring during growing seasons, they also help spread awareness of organic food, farmers and co-ops.

Although well-known bands like Radiohead and Pearl Jam have run green tours or announced carbon neutral travel strategies, Woven’s effort is a hands-on personal commitment. The band members are the ones doing the dirty work of transferring the fuel from storage vats to the fuel line, not to mention finding friendly restaurants to donate their leftover grease in various cities along the way.

Woven’s forthcoming CD, Designer Codes, is the latest evolution of their sound. The songs, including “Cosmonaut” and “Perception Whore,” are decidedly more aggressive than those on their Interscope releases, but maintain their signature alt-rock electronic sound. As always, they are composed as an organic combination of sounds from all the band members, including Ory Hodis on vocals and guitar, Steve Abagon on lead guitar, Barak Steddie on bass, and dual drummers Marc Viner and Rich Abagon sharing time on acoustic and electronic drums and keyboards.

With their 2001 debut release, "EPrime "(Interscope), the L.A. based Woven set out to pave new roads with their signature aesthetic blend of organic and synthetic elements. Exploring the spectrum of electronic and rock influences, the music travels a path from guitar-driven drum and bass to syncopated, sparse IDM, ending in a dark and brooding dreamstate. The eclectic songs from EPrime quickly made their way into heavy rotation and charted nationwide on CMJ as the 5th most added record during it's cycle for college radio then landing spots on L.A.'s groundbreaking radio station KCRW 89.9.

Throughout the next year, Woven solidified its niche as a unique group of individuals devoted to taking listeners on astral and emotional sonic journeys. In 2003, the band released their second endeavor with Interscope Records, 8 Bit Monk, a wildly imaginative odyssey through the cosmos of soft, glitchy static and melodic rock harmony. Looking to achieve a dynamic mix similar to their debut, EPrime, they re-enlisted the London-based mixing genius, Stephen Fitzmaurice, who honed his mixing skills with such acts as Depeche Mode, U2, Fischerspooner, Seal and Magnet. With the band drawing from such diverse influences as Bjork, Aphex Twin, Pink Floyd, Portishead and Deftones among others, they created otherworldly songbeds for listeners to lie in and ponder life's moody side.

Such haunting moods would land two of 8 Bit Monk's songs, "My Conditioning" and "Soul Fossa", on the hit CBS show, CSI : Crime Scene Investigation. Continuing to attract attention from listeners and the media, Woven was one of the first featured artists on iTunes' front page, receiving enough downloads to prompt iTunes to extend the bands coverage an additional two weeks. In support of 8 Bit Monk the group performed live sets on L.A.'s KXLU 88.9 and also for AOL's Sessions which aired on KCRW's "New Ground" with Chris Douridas and have gotten positive nods from Spin Magazine and the aforementioned RollingStone.com.

Since the release of 8 Bit Monk, Woven toured with Dredg, Codeseven and Strata and played numerous shows across the country with a wide array of acts such as Buckethead, They Might Be Giants, The Like, The Apex Theory, Mellowdrone, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Wu-Tang's Raekwon and many more.

Woven guitarist Steve Abagon performed at the very first Coachella festival as the guitarist for Perry Farrell's post Jane's Addiction solo endeavor, and recently contributed guitar tracks for folk-rock veteran Rickie Lee Jones. Ory Hodis, Woven's vocalist/guitarist, also played guitar on Perry Farrells 2001 solo electronica record, Song Yet To be Sung (Virgin).

Woven at The Retox Lounge with Solar Powered People
628 20th Street, Potrero Hill, SF
Friday, January 25th

Bill Frissell Comes to Yoshi's

Always pushing the musical envelope and not content to stay with the same old thing, Grammy-winning guitarist Bill Frisell comes to Yoshi's San Francisco with his trio featuring Joey Baron and Tony Scherr. Frisell is one of the most sought-after guitar voices in contemporary music, and his role as composer and band leader has garnered him increasing notoriety. He won a 2005 Grammy for his CD, Unspeakable, and his recording, East/West, was partially recorded live at Yoshi's. The breadth of his performing and recording situations is a testament not only to his singular guitar conception, but his musical versatility as well. Much has been made of the qualities of Frisell's music that defy categorization and the seamlessness with which his bands have navigated such a variety of styles.

Born in Baltimore, Bill Frisell played clarinet throughout his childhood in Denver, Colorado. His interest in guitar began with his exposure to pop music on the radio. Soon, the Chicago Blues became a passion through the work of Otis Rush, B.B. King, Paul Butterfield and Buddy Guy. In high school, he played in bands covering pop and soul classics, James Brown and other dance material. Later, Bill studied music at the University of Northern Colorado before attending Berklee College of Music in Boston where he studied with John Damian, Herb Pomeroy and Michael Gibbs. In 1978, Frisell moved for a year to Belgium where he concentrated on writing music. In this period, he toured with Michael Gibbs and first recorded with German bassist Eberhard Weber. Bill moved to the New York City area in 1979 and stayed until 1989.

He now lives in Seattle. "When I was 16, I was listening to a lot of surfing music, a lot of English rock. Then I saw Wes Montgomery and somehow that kind of turned me around. Later, Jim Hall made a big impression on me and I took some lessons with him. I suppose I play the kind of harmonic things Jim would play but with a sound that comes from Jimi Hendrix", Frisell told Wire. Bill also lists Paul Motian, Thelonious Monk, Aaron Copland, Bob Dylan, Miles Davis and his teacher, Dale Bruning, as musical influences.

Bill recorded his first two albums as a leader on ECM, both produced by Manfred Eicher. Subdued and lyrical in nature, In Line, the first of the ECM recordings, employed both electric and acoustic guitars in a series of solos (including some overdubbing) and duets with bassist Arild Andersen. Second was Rambler, featuring Kenny Wheeler, Bob Stewart, Jerome Harris and Paul Motian. About Rambler, Fanfare said: "Bill Frisell has built a little masterpiece here - not just a showcase for his own instrumental creativity (of which there is much in evidence), but a clever and poetic whole."

Frisell's third album and last for ECM, Lookout For Hope, marked the recording debut of The Bill Frisell Band featuring Hank Roberts, Kermit Driscoll and Joey Baron. Produced by Lee Townsend, the album's diverse material - ranging from country swing to reggae, quasi-heavy metal and backbeat rock with a twist to Monk's "Hackensack" - nevertheless possessed the cohesive and unmistakable personality of a working band on to a sound of its own.

Before We Were Born, Frisell's debut recording for Nonesuch, featured three musical settings: Peter Scherer and Arto Lindsay produced, co-arranged and performed on three Frisell compositions. "Some Song and Dance", produced by Lee Townsend, is a suite of four pieces performed by Frisell's Band with a saxophone section featuring Julius Hemphill, Billy Drewes and Doug Wieselman. Frisell's "Hard Plains Drifter" is an extended work shaped, produced and arranged by John Zorn and played by the Frisell Band. The New York Times observed: "By following through on the implications of his unfettered sounds, Mr. Frisell has made his best album."

Frisell's second Nonesuch album, Is That You?, features nine original Frisell compositions, one by producer Wayne Horvitz and two cover tunes - "Chain of Fools" and "Days of Wine and Roses". With Frisell playing guitars, bass, banjo, ukulele and even clarinet, Is That You? demonstrated with great clarity his pan-stylistic, yet strangely unified musical world. Frisell's third album for Nonesuch, Where in the World?, also produced by Wayne Horvitz, was the band's final recording with cellist Hank Roberts.

Have a Little Faith, Frisell's 1992 Nonesuch recording, was something of a tribute album. Here, he interpreted the music of a number of American composers whose music had inspired him - Aaron Copland, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, John Hiatt, Sonny Rollins, Stephen Foster, Charles Ives, Victor Young, Madonna and John Philip Sousa. The extent to which Bill has made this music his own demonstrates the completeness of its link to his own compositional approach. For this recording Frisell's Band was augmented by Don Byron (clarinet, bass clarinet) and Guy Klusevsek (accordion) and produced by Wayne Horvitz.

This Land, Frisell's fifth Nonesuch recording, consists of all original material with the band and a horn section of Don Byron (clarinets), Billy Drewes (alto saxophone) and Curtis Fowlkes (trombone). Produced by Lee Townsend, the album readily displays the connection between Frisell's own writing and the composers' work to whom he pays tribute on his previous Have a Little Faith. From the standpoint of synthesizing his celebrated composing and arranging talents with exuberant improvising and spirited band interaction, it is a landmark recording, which prompted this description in Rolling Stone: "Strange meetings of the mysterious and the earthy, the melancholy and the giddy, make perfect sense by Frisell's deliciously warped way of thinking. The warpage is catching on and not a moment too soon."

In 1994, Frisell recorded a pair of recordings of music that he composed for three silent Buster Keaton films - The High Sign, One Week and Go West. The band premiered this music along with the films to a spirited and sold-out audience at St. Ann's in Brooklyn in May '93. The pairing displayed a natural affinity between work of both artists. Their works together possess an undeniable sense of adventure and penchant for the unexpected that only enhances the warmth and humanity of both the musical elements and the films themselves. It has proven to be the rare case where the whole truly transcends the sum of its parts. Of the "Go West" recording , Billboard noted: "With this set of music for the classic Buster Keaton film, "Go West," Bill Frisell has crafted one of his finest, most evocative albums. Evincing his best qualities as both guitarist and composer, he harvests melancholy Americana from deceptively modest, episodic themes. Coloring the scenes with acoustic as well as his trademark electric, Frisell produces strangely cinematic motifs on guitar, and his rhythm cohorts - longtime bassist Kermit Driscoll and drummer Joey Baron - provide abundant narrative drive." Both albums were produced by Lee Townsend. Frisell's success with the Keaton films has led him to other film-related projects. He scored the music for Gary Larson's "Tales From the Far Side" animated television special and Daniele Luchetti's Italian feature film, "La Scuola." Some of the music from these projects has been adapted and recorded by Frisell on Quartet, Frisell's Nonesuch recording released in April '96.

The formation of the Quartet, with Ron Miles (trumpet), Eyvind Kang (violin) and Curtis Fowlkes (trombone), was a new working band for Frisell, who had worked with the telepathic rhythm combination of Kermit Driscoll and Joey Baron for nearly ten years. Frisell told Down Beat: “It’s so different from the traditional guitar-bass-drum thing, even though Joey Baron, Kermit Driscoll and I never played like a typical jazz trio. This group, with violin and brass, can play an orchestral range of sounds. It’s gigantic. It’s given me a chance to write and arrange in an even bigger way.” Quartet, was quickly hailed by critics.

Nonesuch released Nashville in April of 1997. Recorded in Nashville and produced by Wayne Horvitz with members of Allison Krauss’ Union Station band - mandolin player Adam Steffey and banjo player Ron Block - the project also features her brother and Lyle Lovett’s bass player Viktor Krauss, dobro great Jerry Douglas, vocalist Robin Holcomb and Pat Bergeson on harmonica. “Comprising acoustic instrumental folk tunes with unpredictable stylistic accents, Nashville boasts a dreamy, seductive grandeur. The backing mandolin/dobro/bass interplay simmers…Frisell himself picks and strings and most of all floats, laying out liquid tones that settle over the melodies like heat haze on a swampy, swimmerless lake.” wrote the LA Weekly.

In January of 1998 Frisell's next project Gone, Just Like A Train came out. On this exceptionally melodic and rhythmically vital instrumental collection of original compositions, Frisell is joined by Viktor Krauss and by Jim Keltner, all star drummer of choice for Bob Dylan, Ry Cooder, T-Bone Burnett, George Harrison, John Lennon and The Traveling Wilburys. The Rocket in Seattle wrote that "Frisell has managed to pull together an ad hoc super trio of musicians from drastically different pasts, and they manage to assemble a machine of colossal proportions: part skewered jazz, part roadside folk blues, part gritty rock.…Gone presents Frisell at a creative apex. He's integrated a thoroughly unique understanding of so much American Music… And it's all gift-wrapped in a lean, unimposing trio framework that conveys sheer genius in a million directions… It flies with shining power." Produced by Lee Townsend, the album proved to be one of Frisell's most celebrated and popular to date.

Good Dog, Happy Man, brims full of Frisell's shimmering original compositions. Here he is reunited with the Gone Just Like a Train rhythm section of Viktor Krauss on bass and Jim Keltner on drums and joined by Wayne Horvitz on Hammond B3 organ, multi-instrumentalist/slide guitarist Greg Leisz (known for his work with Joni Mitchell, K.D. Lang, Emmy Lou Harris, Beck and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, among others) plus special guest Ry Cooder on the traditional folk song "Shenendoah". Produced by Lee Townsend, Good Dog, Happy Man celebrates Frisell's emergence as a composer who has created a genre unto himself.

Billboard Magazine once wrote, “Bill Frisell makes such consistently great records that it would be easy to take the guitarist for granted. That would be sad, since no one refracts age-old Americana through a cutting-edge prism with the warm-hearted, fleet-minded individuality of Frisell. With Good Dog, Happy Man, he has crafted one of his earthiest essays yet. Backed by an ultra-hip band, Frisell has forged originals whose folky melodies and big-sky grooves make them seem like old friends in snazzy new clothes.”

Bill’s solo album, Ghost Town was called described as “moody, articulate music is a milestone in the career of a true innovator – enchanting as anything he has done and a clear window into his muse” (CMJ). With producer Lee Townsend, Frisell has created a sonic tapestry that weaves in and out of original material and cover songs, some recorded in multiple layers, others recorded nakedly solo. According to Billboard, “Ghost Town sounds like a classic already”.

For Frisell's acclaimed CD Blues Dream, released on Nonesuch in early 2001, the New Quartet of Greg Leisz, David Piltch and Kenny Wollesen is joined by a horn section of Ron Miles (trumpet), Billy Drewes (alto saxophone) and Curtis Fowlkes (trombone). In many ways it represents a culmination of the strands running through many of the recordings in Frisell's catalogue, combining the homespun lyricism of Good Dog, Happy Man, Gone Just Like a Train and Nashville with the orchestral timbres of Quartet and the expanded tonal palette and harmonic sophistication afforded by a larger group (i.e. The Sweetest Punch, This Land and Before We Were Born.) Produced by Lee Townsend, it has been described as "A rich, eclectic masterpiece." (Blair Jackson, Mix Magazine).

The Autumn of 2001 saw the Nonesuch release of Bill Frisell with Dave Holland and Elvin Jones, on which Bill was joined by two jazz legends to interpret a number of the most enduring compositions from his songbook as well as Henry Manicini’s “Moon River” and Stephen Foster’s “Hard Times” in another Townsend-produced set.

The Willies is Frisell’s characteristically inimitable and modern take on bluegrass and country blues with Danny Barnes (from The Bad Livers) on banjo and guitar and Keith Lowe, (known for his work with Fiona Apple, David Sylvian, Kelly Joe Phelps and Wayne Horvitz) on bass. Produced by Lee Townsend and released in June, 2002 on Nonesuch, the material consists of such traditional songs as “Cluck Old Hen”, “John Hardy”, “Single Girl”, “Sugar Baby”, “Blackberry Blossom”, “Sitting on Top of the World”, “Good Night Irene”, “Cold, Cold Heart” and a number of Frisell’s original compositions. John Cratchley, in The Wire described it as follows: “This is music that you feel you have known yet you have never heard before, like some treasured memory of an event that hasn’t happened yet .… It is firmly rooted in the simplest of musical gestures yet manages to build, intricate layer by intricate layer into a manifestation of cultural timelessness …. This is composition of the highest order masquerading as back-porch rambling.”

Frisell’s encounters with such Malian musicians as singer and guitarist Boubacar Traore and percussionist Sidiki Camara, who has played with many of Mali’s most renowned performers, left him eager to further explore the commonalities of African and American roots musics. His grammy-nominated 2003 Nonesuch release, The Intercontinentals, produced by Lee Townsend, is evidence of those impulses. In late 2001, Frisell assembled an intriguing quartet with Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist and percussionist Vinicius Cantuária, Greek-Macedonian musician Christos Govetas on oud, bouzouki and vocals and Mali’s Camara on percussion and vocals. The debut concerts at Seattle's Earshot Festival created quite a stir. Downbeat described the group's music as possessing "fine webs of guitar interlacings, swaying momentum, dense textures and rhythmic urgency." The group was soon expanded to include Greg Leisz (on pedal steel and various slide guitars) and Jenny Scheinman (violin). The material on the album consists of Frisell compositions plus songs by Boubacar Traore, Cantuaria, Gilberto Gil and Govetas. It is an album that combines Frisell’s own brand of American roots music and his unmistakable improvisational style with the influences of Brazilian, Greek and Malian sounds.

Frisell’s 2003 recording with Petra Haden, the self-titled Petra Haden and Bill Frisell, is a collection of their interpretations – some sparsely arranged and others more lushly orchestrated - of songs by Elliot Smith, Foo Fighters, Tom Waits, George Gershwin, Henry Mancini, Stevie Wonder, traditional material, as well as songs written by Frisell and Haden. Frisell, who had known and played with Petra’s father Charlie Haden for many years, was captivated when he went to see Petra perform in Seattle. The two began talking, occasionally performing together, and eventually they began work on their CD, produced by Lee Townsend.

Frisell’s 2004 Nonesuch release, Unspeakable, featuring his long-time rhythm section of Tony Scherr and Kenny Wollesen as well as percussionist Don Alias, horn arrangements by Steven Bernstein, and Frisell’s string writing for the 858 strings of Jenny Scheinman, Eyvind Kang and Hank Roberts is “a revisiting of an old friendship that stretches back 20 years: a partnership with producer Hal Willner. Taking fragments of obscure vinyl records as a launching point, the duo traverses a landscape that passes, in an almost hallucinatory way, through myriad styles.” – Billboard. The Observer describes it this way: “The brilliant 53-year old guitarist embraces a jazzy kind of post-rock whose most immediate point of reference is the electric Miles Davis. It's a multi-textured, multi-hued disc that never sees Frisell sacrifice his impeccable technique, or neglect the deep structure of his songs, but never sees him forget to have fun either." And the Sunday Independent had this to say about it: "'Unspeakable' radiates the kind of authority that only absolute confidence in the primacy of melody and feel in music can confer." Unspeakable won a Grammy award in 2005 for Best Contemporary Jazz recording.

East/West is a double-live CD featuring Frisell's two working trios. "West" features Bill's trio with Viktor Krauss and Kenny Wollesen and was recorded at Yoshi's in Oakland. "East" features Frisell's other working trio with Tony Scherr and Kenny Wollesen. It was recorded at the Village Vanguard in New York City. Further East/Further West offers additional material by these two trios available in download format only. Produced by Lee Townsend, Salon.com described it as follows.

"The two trios are vastly different. In general terms, the Krauss trio works by accumulation and aims to mesmerize, while the Scherr trio operates much closer to traditional jazz... Wolleson, essentially a groove player in the Krauss trio (and a monstrously good one), becomes an interactive, improvising presence in the Scherr trio..... In both settings Frisell is a wonder.... For any skeptics of modern jazz, this should be required listening... one of the best of his career."

Other projects include a Burt Bacharach - Elvis Costello CD, The Sweetest Punch, on Decca which features Frisell's arrangements of the same 12 tunes Elvis and Burt recorded together on their pop record for Mercury, Painted From Memory. The record was produced by Lee Townsend and features Bill on guitar, Viktor Krauss on bass, Brian Blade on drums and a horn section comprised of Curtis Fowlkes on trombone, Ron Miles on trumpet, Don Byron on clarinet and Billy Drewes on saxophone. Cassandra Wilson and Elvis Costello lend vocals to a couple of tracks.

In September 1998 Nonesuch released a duo recording of jazz standards by Frisell and labelmate pianist Fred Hersch entitled Songs We Know. Downbeat's 1998 Critic's poll awarded Bill's Nashville "Album Of The Year," and Bill himself, "Guitarist Of The Year" in both 1998 and 1999. His Quartet won the German equivalent of a Grammy, the prestigious Deutsche Schallplatten Preis. Meanwhile, he has been lauded as “Guitarist of the Year” by numerous publications and organizations over the span of many years.

In 2002, Frisell was appointed the musical director of "Century of Song” " by artistic director Gerard Mortier and Chief Dramaturg Thomas Woerdehoff for the 2003-2004 seasons at the Ruhr Triennale Arts festival in Germany. The celebrated series of programs featured guest songwriters, interpreters and performers in collaboration with Frisell not only to investigate their own bodies of work, but to bring a fresh perspective to songs and songwriters that have been influential upon their own music, as well. Guests included Elvis Costello, Suzanne Vega, Van Dyke Parks, Loudon Wainwright III, Rickie Lee Jones, Vinicius Cantuaria, Vic Chesnutt, Ron Sexsmith, Jesse Harris, Petra Haden and Marc Ribot with band members being specially selected for each program. With Lee Townsend producing, the concerts took place in former industrial spaces that have been converted into performance venues in the Ruhr region of Northern Germany.

Moviegoers will hear Frisell playing alongside Bono, Brian Eno, Jon Hassell and Daniel Lanois on the soundtrack of Wim Wenders' film, Million Dollar Hotel, starring Mel Gibson with a screenplay by Bono. He also composed and recorded original soundtrack music for four recent productions, including American Hollow, an HBO documentary special by Rory Kennedy about an Appalachian family, a public radio program about the human genome called The DNA Files, the music for two Gus Van Sant films - Finding Forrester and the remake of Psycho - and the music for Gary Larson's second animated television project "Tales From The Far Side II." Unspeakable won a 2005 Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.

Bill Frisell Trio Featuring Joey Baron and Tony Scherr
Yoshi's on Fillmore
Jan 17, 2008 - Jan 20, 2008
Thurs both shows $22 & $26
Fri – Sun $24 & $28

Chick Corea's Elektric Band Comes to Yoshi's

My first encounter with the enigmatic jazz pianist Chick Corea, came some thirty years ago with his now legendary group, Return to Forever. That incarnation featured future legends, bassist Stanley Clarke, drummer Lenny White and Bill Connors. If my mind wasn't already blown, it surely was after seeing the next RTF line-up, which featured the debut of a young guitarist named Al DiMeola. For three amazing nights in a row and a mere two blocks from my childhood home near the Carter Barron Amphitheater, I sat in awe of this groundbreaking new music that would ultimately become some of the very best of that bygone, jazz-fusion era.

Since that time, Corea has continued to amaze and astound; incredible solo albums; Grammy awards; his acoustic and electric line-ups; recent collaborations with the likes of banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck, and of course his "Elektric Band". This latest version adds Flecktone alumni, bassist Victor Wooten and continues their stand at Yoshi's tonight and tomorrow in Oakland.

Corea's Elektric Band, is one of the most critically acclaimed jazz fusion bands of the past two decades. Following the demise of Return to Forever, Corea established the musical ensemble in 1986. The Elektric Band was a little different in style compared to Return to Forever, in that it signified a move away from rock-oriented fusion into a more Post-bop style. Following a long hiatus, the band reunited to produce "To the Stars" in 2004.

The first Elektric Band album can be described as "jazz-rock", though it is much closer to traditional jazz than the jazz-rock albums of 1970s. The keyboard sounds on the album are typical for the mid-1980s. Weckl's electronic drums dominate the album's sound, with the guitar duties split between Scott Henderson and Carlos Rios. The second album, Light Years (1987) is more funk-oriented than its predecessor. Saxophonist Eric Marienthal joins the band and Frank Gambale replaces Henderson and Rios (who plays still on some tracks) to form what is considered the band's definitive lineup.

The third album, Eye of the Beholder, relies on softer sounds. Here Corea relies on acoustic piano, with synthesizers largely in the background. Gambale also plays acoustic guitar on some tracks, lending a Flamenco-influenced sound to pieces like "Eternal Child." The Elektric Band's fourth album, Inside Out (1991), features some compositions that fall in the post-bop rather than the fusion category. The four-part piece "Tale of Daring", which closes the album, relies on unconventional melodies and relatively free improvisation. But two other compositions, the title track and "Kicker," are more traditional fusion pieces.

Corea still uses mostly acoustic piano, but Gambale plays electric guitar throughout. The last album featuring the band's traditional lineup was Beneath the Mask (1991), a return to the electric jazz-funk of the second album. For the next album, Elektric Band II: Paint the World (1993), only Corea and Marienthal returned from the original lineup. The album's style can be described as modern jazz, crossing between post-bop and fusion. The original members reunited in 2004 for To the Stars (2004), which is stylistically close to the avant-garde and post-bop on Inside Out.

Considering the staggering volume of his recorded output over the past 40 years, it is no overstatement to call Chick Corea one of the most prolific composers of the second half of the 20th century. From avant-garde to bebop, from children’s songs to straight ahead, from hard-hitting fusion to heady forays into classical, Chick has touched an astonishing number of musical bases in his illustrious career while maintaining a standard of excellence that is simply uncanny. By reuniting his ground-breaking Elektric Band and adding the unbelievable Victor Wooten on bass, Corea truly continues to blaze trails through a new frontier of electrifying, creative music.

Chick Corea Electrik Band
With Eric Marienthal, Frank Gambale, Victor Wooten and Dave Weckl
Yoshi's Jack London Square, Oakland
Fri & Sat 8pm & 10pm $45

Taj Mahal Comes to Yoshi's on Fillmore

This Sunday night, I'll be enjoying my birthday dinner at the new Yoshi's on Fillmore, seeing one of the greatest musicians of al time, the incredible Taj Mahal and his Phantom Blues Band. Taj has been playing his own distinctive brand of music -- variously described as Afro-Caribbean blues, folk-world-blues, hula blues, folk-funk, and a host of other hyphenations -- for more than 40 years. Caribbean, Hawaiian, African, Latin, and Cuban sounds and rhythms mix with folk, jazz, zydeco, gospel, rock, pop, soul, and R&B, all layered on top of a solid country blues foundation.

What ties it all together is Taj's abiding interest in musical discovery, particularly in tracing many American musical forms back to their roots in Africa and Europe. Following his passion, Taj has spent time in the Caribbean, West Africa, Hawaii, Europe, the South Pacific, Australia, South America, and all over the continental U.S. His music reflects his global perspective, incorporating sounds from everywhere he's lived and traveled.

A self-taught musician, Taj plays more than 20 instruments, including the National Steel and Dobro guitars. His remarkable voice ranges from gruff and gravelly to smooth and sultry. Now with his own independent label, Kandu Records, Taj plans to help other musicians the way other independents have helped him. "I'll be working with some young contemporary people to get their work out there. I might like to produce some people in the not-so-distant future."

The Phantom Blues Band was formed as a studio band to backup Taj Mahal on his CD, 'Dancin' the Blues'. Having spent many years as part of the Texas blues community, the members of the Phantom Blues Band backed and recorded with many Texas blues greats including Stevie Ray Vaughan, Freddie King, Jimmy Reed, Albert Collins and Chicago legends Buddy Guy and Otis Rush. The Phantom Blues Band members are all in their own right successful session players, producers, arrangers, composers, songwriters and recording artists. After circling the globe playing major Blues and Jazz Festivals in Europe, Japan and Australia with Taj Mahal, The Phantom Blues Band released their first CD, 'Limited Edition' in 2003.

Taj credits much of his success to the freedom that independent record companies have given him later in his career. Too often, he says, big record companies try to put artists in a box musically. "There is a lot of music that people do not get to hear, and it's unfortunate. It's because of marketing and the fact that somebody [at the record company] says you won't like this. But the people who come hear me get to hear everything I know about."

Born Henry St. Claire Fredericks in Harlem on May 17, 1942, Taj grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts. His father, a jazz pianist/composer/arranger of Caribbean descent, and his mother, a gospel-singing schoolteacher from South Carolina, encouraged their children to respect and be proud of their roots. His father had an extensive record collection and a short-wave radio that brought sounds from near and far to Taj’s ears. His parents also started him on classical piano lessons, but after two weeks, he says, "it was already clear I had my own concept of how I wanted to play." The lessons stopped, but Taj didn't.

In addition to piano, the young musician learned to play the clarinet, trombone and harmonica, and he loved to sing. He discovered his step-father’s guitar and became serious about it in his early teens when Lynnwood Perry, an accomplished young guitarist from North Carolina, moved in next door. Perry was an expert in the Piedmont style of playing, but he could also play like Muddy Waters, Lightin’ Hopkins, John Lee Hooker and Jimmy Reed. Taj was inspired to begin playing guitar in earnest.

Springfield in the '50s was full of recent arrivals, both from abroad and from elsewhere in the U.S. "We spoke several dialects in my house -- Southern, Caribbean, African -- and we heard dialects from eastern and western Europe," says Taj. In addition, musicians from the Caribbean, Africa, and all over the U.S. frequently visited the Fredericks household. Taj became even more fascinated with roots -- where all the different forms of music he was hearing came from, what path they took to get to their current states, how they influenced each other on the way. He threw himself into the study of older forms of African-American music, music the record companies largely ignored.

While attending the University of Massachusetts at Amherst as an agriculture student in the early 1960s, the musician transformed himself into Taj Mahal, an idea that came to him in a dream. He began playing with the popular U. Mass. party band The Elektras, then left Massachusetts in 1964 for the blues-heavy L.A. club scene. There he formed The Rising Sons with Ry Cooder, Ed Cassidy, Jesse Lee Kinkaid, Gary Marker, and Kevin Kelly. At the Whiskey A Go Go in Los Angeles, The Rising Sons opened for Otis Redding, Sam the Sham, The Temptations, and Martha and the Vandellas at The Trip. Taj also had the opportunity to hear, meet, and play with such blues legends as Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Louis and Dave Meyers, Sleepy John Estes, Yank Rachel, Lightin' Hopkins, Bessie Jones, the Georgia Sea Island Singers, and Hammy Nixon.

Taj tapped these experiences on three hugely influential records: Taj Mahal (1967), The Natch'l Blues (1968), and Giant Step/De Old Folks at Home (1969). Drawing on all the musical forms he'd absorbed as a child, these early albums showed signs of the musical exploration that would be Taj's hallmark over the years to come.

"I didn't want to fall into the trap of complacency", says Taj. "I wanted to keep pushing the musical ideas I had about jazz, music from Africa and the Caribbean. I wanted to explore the connections between different kinds of music."

In 1970, Taj traveled to Spain to have a well-deserved rest and vacation in the home of the Guitar. He carved out his own musical niche with a string of adventurous recordings throughout the '70s, including Happy to Be Just Like I Am (1971), Recycling the Blues and Other Related Stuff (1972), the Grammy-nominated soundtrack to the movie Sounder (1973), Mo' Roots (1974), Music Fuh Ya' (Music Para Tu) (1977), and Evolution (The Most Recent) (1978).

Taj's recorded output slowed considerably during the 1980s as he toured relentlessly and immersed himself in the music and culture of his new home in Hawaii. Still, that decade saw the well-received Taj (1987) as well as the first three of his celebrated children's albums. He returned to a full recording and touring schedule in the 1990s, including such projects as the musical scores for the Lanston Hughes/Zora Neale Hurston play Mule Bone (1991) and the movie Zebrahead (1992). Later in the decade, Dancing the Blues (1993), Phantom Blues (1996), An Evening of Acoustic Music (1996) and the Grammy Award-winning Señor Blues (1997) were both commercial and critical successes.

At the same time, Taj continued to explore world music, beginning with the aptly named World Music in 1993. He joined Indian classical musicians on Mumtaz Mahal in 1995, recorded Sacred Island, a blend of Hawaiian music and blues, with The Hula Blues in 1998, and paired with Malian kora player Toumani Diabate for Kulanjan in 1999.

Since 2000, Taj has released a second Grammy-winning album, Shoutin' in Key (2000) and recorded a second album with The Hula Blues (2003's lush Hanapepe Dream). "I walk with the energy of music every day. I don't have to turn it on to hear it play."

While Taj's music has always been well received, popular culture finally caught up to him the '90s and 2000s. Taj walked away with the Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album for 1997's Señor Blues and again for 2000's Shoutin' in Key, both recorded with The Phantom Blues Band. He has garnered nine Grammy nominations in all.

After more than a decade of playing with larger ensembles, Taj wanted to do more guitar playing with a smaller group. In addition to The Phantom Blues band, Taj tours with The Taj Mahal Trio – just Taj on guitar, piano, and banjo, Bill Rich on bass and Kester Smith on drums. These musicians have been playing together on and off for more than 30 years. Together, they draw on a long, shared history of Taj's music.

The Trio allows the music between voice and guitar to happen with the smallest amount of accompaniment – bass and drums," says Taj. "That leaves a lot of space to be filled. The guitar is not submerged but right up front in the music. It's a challenging place to play.

More collaborations are on the way as well. He mentions a second edition of the Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus, more work with African musicians, and a desire to do more tuba band music "sooner rather than later." There will also be projects even he doesn't know about yet. "I work with this person and that person. Most of this stuff has not been stuff that I planned, it just worked out that way.

Whoever Taj works with and whatever sounds he puts his hand to in the coming years, you can bet that the blues will play a big part. "You got that tone together," he says, "everything else is flavor."


Taj Mahal and the Phantom Blues Band at Yoshi's
Shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 pm and 10:00 pm
1330 Fillmore St
San Francisco, CA
(415) 655-5600

Bruford - Borstlap's "In Two Minds"

Last May, I attended the 2007 edition of the Bath International Music Festival. In addition to being one of England's most beautiful and architectural cities, Bath attracts some of the greatest musicians from around the globe; Mavis Staples & Jazz Jamaica, the electronica of Arthurs & Bown and People Like Us; the folk stylings of Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill; and the genre crossing Iain Ballamy & Stian Carstensen. My personal favorites however, were the jazz duo of drummer Bill Bruford and pianist Michiel Borstlap. After a high profile and illustrious career as the rock drummer of his generation (with Yes, Genesis and King Crimson), Bruford carved out an equally successful name as a jazz drummer through his jazz-rock ensemble Earthworks. Borstlap is a brilliant pianist, capable of creating solos of dazzling complexity, but also able to employ space and subtlety. Together they adopt a witty, conversational style: the table talk may turn as much to Liszt Scherzos as to jazz standards and free spirited improvisation. Now comes a recording of that performance in Bath and Norway, the aptly named "In Two Minds".

'In Two Minds' is the second CD to come from this pairing of fine musicians, and will no doubt be hugely anticipated by the large and dedicated fan base built up by these two artists in addition to their own separate respective fan bases who have witnessed them in concert since the duo's first formal collaboration back in 2002. Recorded in 2007, 'In Two Minds' features eleven intimate and conversational tracks of new, original material, and a stand-out reading of the Miles Davis classic 'All Blues'. Released on the Summerfold imprint, the Bruford-Borstlap Duo will again be playing selected live dates in the run up to the release of this album, including their London debut at the London Jazz Festival on 24th November 2007.

I saw Bruford's first piano-drum duo with the Swiss keyboardist Patrick Moraz in 1982, at New York City's now defunct Bottom Line, and later in 1983, at D.C.'s also defunct Bayou. Bruford and Moraz had released two albums, the acoustic "Music for Piano and Drums", and the electronic "Flags". Consequently, these recordings and others have been reissued on Bruford's new record labels: Summerfold and Winterfold. With their first CD, "Every Step A Dance, Every Word A Song", and a DVD titled "In Concert In Holland", Bruford teamed up with Dutch keyboard master Michiel Borstlap, in duets culled from their 2003-2004 European tour. Although the duo's efforts are rooted in jazz, there are hints of the progressive-rock/New Age flavor of "Flags", where Borstlap employs synthesizer for choruses and textures, and Bruford's well known polyrhythmic beats and syncopations that propel this beautiful musical journey.

Bruford met first Dutch pianist Michiel Borstlap in 2002, and they began playing duo shows that were less about the confines of structure and more about what Bruford terms "performance-based" music, music of the moment where spontaneity and interaction were the predominant factors. Gratefully, the duo returns with "In Two Minds", a live recording of their summer 2007 tour of Norway and England.


Michiel Borstlap and Bill Bruford at the 2007 Bath Festival
Photo by Tim Dickeson

The "Left of the Dial" reviewer Glenn Astarita once noted that "Borstlap primarily uses a grand piano as his instrument of choice via a potpourri of swing vamps, and sublime moments, while Bruford's shading exercises, add color and additional warmth. Highlights include segments where the duo expands themes and unexpectedly switch gears as they often instill a polytonal outlook during jazz standards such as Monk's "Bemsha Swing," for example.

The piece titled "Swansong" from their first CD, is a compelling opus that defines the artists' overriding sense of musical intimacy coupled with power and tenacity. Here, Borstlap executes slashing crescendos amid Art Tatum-like chord voicings, as the unit melds quaint balladry with bluesy passages. The fun factor continues with Bruford's drumming onslaught, which serves as a prelude of sorts, to Borstlap's shrewd use of a synth chorale voicing to finalize the piece. Simply stated, it's about synergy and singular techniques rooted with elements of joy and precision.

After 15 Years, Genesis Returns

My first concert featuring the revolutionary prog-rock group Genesis, was at London's Earl's Court in 1977, during the Queen's Silver Jubilee. Sadly, I saw them shortly after the departure of Peter Gabriel, but before guitarist Steve Hackett had left the group. By 1978, two of Genesis' greatest musicians were now gone, and many predicted their swift demise, however drummer Phil Collins would emerge from behind his kit to take the microphone, (replaced first by Bill Bruford and later Chester Thompson on drums), and alongside keyboardist Tony Banks and bassist Mike Rutherford, would propel Genesis to an unbelievably successful career. Now, some fifteen years after their last "farewell tour", Genesis returns to the Bay Area, (San Jose October 9th and Sacramento on October 10th), for the final leg of their "Turn It On Again" tour; rejoined by Thompson and guitarist Darryl Stuermer. "You've got to get in to get out..."

The USA Today's Mike Snider, recently wrote that although the group was "never a favorite with critics, Genesis built a solid fan base over nearly four decades. Now the band is ready for its victory lap. After the North American leg of the group's reunion tour opened in Toronto, Tony Banks, Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford will play what they say will be Genesis' final U.S. concerts. Then, as their hit goes, that's all. "Basically, this is the last time we are doing it," Collins says. That the band decided to turn it on again at all is a surprise. The three hadn't released a new album since 1991's We Can't Dance. Collins, 56, officially left Genesis in 1996, and the group last toured in 1992.

After his solo "first final farewell tour" in 2005, "I wanted to sort of retire from touring to be with my kids," Collins says. "If something special came up, I would do it. I just don't want to go on the road for long periods of time." But the group kept in touch over the years, playing impromptu gigs at birthday parties (when Collins turned 50) and weddings (for Collins and original singer Peter Gabriel).

After two Genesis Archive box sets hit stores in 1998 and 2000, rumors of a reunion emerged. In 2004, the three met with ex-bandmates Gabriel and Hackett to discuss a live reunion to play 1974's concept album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. "It would have been quite fun to do on a smaller scale," says Banks, 57. Gabriel was non-committal, so Collins asked Banks and Rutherford whether they wanted to get the three-man band back together. "We couldn't think of a reason why not to, really," Collins says.

Only three of 22 U.S. shows have sold out, but multiple dates in Chicago, Philadelphia and L.A. are a testament to the band's following. ("Many places said we could do two or three nights," Collins says. "But if you do, pretty soon you have 50 shows. I kept putting a lid on it.") Genesis' return probably won't prove as hot a ticket as The Police reunion, says Pollstar editor Gary Bongiovanni. "The Police have been away longer, and Genesis with Phil Collins still doesn't have Peter Gabriel. So it is a question mark," he says. "But in Europe, they did good business and were playing stadiums."

After the tour ends in October, Collins has nothing in the works. "I'm really looking forward to it," he says. "I've been playing golf."Genesis, on the other hand, has many projects in the pipeline. Rhino released a new two-disc hits compilation Turn It On Again (Tour Edition), and in November, the second box set of remastered Genesis albums arrives. The band's free concert in Rome's Circus Maximus was recorded for a DVD due later this year. The autobiography Genesis: Chapter & Verse was due out Sept. 18.

With this farewell tour and upcoming retrospectives, might the band emerge with an enhanced image? "Certainly, in England, the band gets overlooked," Banks says. "But, honestly, I'm not that concerned anymore. I'm pretty proud." Collins took the range of ages at the European shows as a promising sign. "We've had great reviews in Europe and the U.K. Maybe suddenly the (U.S.) critics could lower their agendas and just go there and say, 'This isn't bad.' "

I'm personally fond of the Gabriel era albums, Trespass, Nursery Cryme, Selling England by the Pound, and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, however Collins, and the much under-appreciated Banks and Rutherford were phenomenal on most of 1980's albums: The Wind & Wuthering, And Then There Were Three, Duke and Abacab. With the addition of the great jazz drummer Thompson, (Freddie Hubbard, Frank Zappa, and Weather Report), and Stuermer, (Jean Luc Ponty), Genesis' live shows were some one the greatest I'd ever seen, and alongside their peers; Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd, remained one of the greatest prog-rock bands of all time.

"I know what I like. and I like what I know..."

The Eighth Annual San Francisco Electronic Music Festival

This is the eighth year of San Francisco's incredible Electronic Music Festival, which officially opened on Wednesday. The festival continues tonight through Sunday at Project Artaud Theater, located at 450 Florida Street. There have been some legendary past performances, and this year promises to be no exception. The 2007 edition features an impressive collection of electronic artists from across the continent: MaryClare Brzytwa; the amazing Fred Frith with Patrice Scanlon; Canada's Tim Hecker; Zoe Keating; L.A.'s Kadet Kuhne with Mem1, Leticia Castaneda and Les Stuck; Lesser, and univac; N.Y.'s David Behrman and Annea Lockwood with William Winant; Nommo Ogo; Murcof and .pig, from Mexico respectively. This year, one of the SFEMF evenings (featuring Murcof and .pig) is being co-sponsored by NEXMAP, a non-profit corporation based here in San Francisco, dedicated to the production and appreciation of contemporary and experimental performing art.

About San Francisco's Electronic Music Festival

The San Francisco Electronic Music Festival is an artist-run organization founded in 1999 by a committee of eight, Bay Area, electro-acoustic music and sound art practitioners. Its mission is to provide a highly visible public forum for the diverse community of composers and sound artists working with electronic-based technologies in the Bay Area. Designed as an annual multi-day event consisting of concerts, installations and discussions, the primary focus is on independent artists whose innovative aesthetics challenge academic and commercial standards. The Committee's goals are long-term: to establish the festival as an annual presence in the Bay Area; to foster a greater sense of community among the diverse group of Bay Area sound artists; to stimulate the creation of new electronic sound works; to increase public awareness of new sound-based technologies and their creative applications; to raise the level of discourse surrounding music and sound-art; and to raise the national and international profile of the Bay Area as a center for electronic music and sound art.

Since it's first festival in 2000, SFEMF has presented works that span the sonic spectra from ambient to rhythmic and atonal to melodic by participants ranging from new and emerging young artists to respected pioneers of the electronic music field. Each festival features artists working in a variety of modes including: laptop generated sound, processed live acoustic instruments, amplified found objects, projected video, improvisation, and performance art.

I've always been fond of electronic music, the early synthesizer works of Walter/Wendy Carlos, TONTO, (The Original New Timbral Orchestra), and of course the late, great Bob Moog. Don't miss this chance to glimpse some of the most wonderfully creative masters of electronica on this or any other continent, right here in San Francisco.

The Eight Annual San Francisco Electronic Music Festival
Project Artaud Theater
450 Florida Street
San Francisco, CA
415-626-4370

Thursday, Sept. 6th @ 8:30 pm
MaryClare Brzytwa, univac and Tim Hecker

Friday, Sept. 7th @ 8:30 pm
Leticia Castaneda, Zoë Keating, Les Stuck and Lesser

Saturday, Sept. 8th @ 8:30 pm
Annea Lockwood and David Behrman with William Winant

Sunday, Sept. 9th @ 8:30 pm
Nommo Ogo, Kadet Kuhne (with Mem1) and Fred Frith (with Patrice Scanlon)