Hank Parker/Sony Archives
Aretha Franklin, Gretchen Parlato, Holy Ghost!, Peter Evans Quintet, Abdullah Ibrahim & Ekaya
Pop
04/01/2011
11/12/2010
Illuminating Josh Groban
This weekend’s Arts & Leisure feature is on Josh Groban, the multi-platinum-selling operatic-pop star. A lifelong Angeleno now making his home in Manhattan, Groban has a new album produced by Def Jam cofounder / artist whisperer Rick Rubin. It’s not a wild departure, this album, but it does push Groban to the foreground as a songwriter.
Rubin was key in bringing out that side of him, and you might reasonably assume that the pairing was born of record-label strategizing. Both Groban and Rubin insist otherwise; each used the word “naturally” to describe how it happened. Here’s Groban:
As has often been reported, Groban doesn’t carry himself with any of the pomp or solemnity of his music. This can be a bit disarming.
09/26/2010
And Dream of Sheep
Angela Jimenez for The New York Times
Hello Earth! The Music of Kate Bush
Le Poisson Rouge, Sept. 22
Update: Hear the entire concert courtesy of WQXR
07/23/2010
Smooth Sailing
A couple of weeks ago I took a ride on the Smooth Cruise. I had a pretty good time. Then I wrote about it. Above, see an iPhone picture of me on the rear deck. The image has not been doctored, so if it looks like a Polaroid from the Carter Era -- well, that might just be the influence of “Shaker Song.” You think I kid? Behold:
Happy Friday, everybody. Let’s keep Al Jarreau in our prayers.
07/14/2010
07/10/2010
City to the Country
That’s me interviewing singer-songwriter Tracy Bonham at the Beacon Riverfest a couple of weekends ago, for this profile in Arts & Leisure. I think it’s the only image of its kind that I’ve seen. (I didn’t know we were even being watched until Tony Cenicola, the excellent New York Times photographer assigned to the piece, sent me a copy.)
A big part of the story here involves life after the majors. Bonham had a monster radio hit in 1996, which sent her debut into gold-album territory (and resulted in “a lot of baseball caps in the crowd” at her concerts). These days she’s running the equivalent of a shoestring operation -- or a sustainable organic farm, if you want to flog a metaphor more suitable to her Hudson Valley homestead. Here she is talking about the adjustment; as a bonus, the clip ends with a Metro-North train whistle (and the voice of the aforementioned Tony):
07/02/2010
06/28/2010
Maxwell and the Band
Friday night’s Maxwell show was a stunner -- one of the savvier pop productions I’ve ever seen at the Garden, and a strong argument for his recent emergence as an R&B great, an heir to the legacy of Green and Gaye. I think I’ve conveyed my enthusiasm in the official review, but one thing had to be mentioned only in passing: the heavy jazz contingent in his band, and the ways in which it elevated the music.
You may have heard that keyboardist Robert Glasper and drummer Chris Dave are key members of Maxwell’s entourage. So is bassist Derrick Hodge. The horn section includes Keyon Harrold on trumpet and Kenneth Whalum III on tenor saxophone, along with Saunders Sermons on trombone. These are all jazzmen, and their training comes across clearly, even if Maxwell’s production doesn’t leave much room for solos (it doesn’t) and he isn’t remotely a jazz singer (he isn’t).
What am I talking about? This is what I’m talking about:
This clip of “Bad Habits” dates from an earlier point on the tour continuum -- I didn’t want to subject you to shaky smartphone footage -- but still conveys the atmosphere of the band. A skeptic could say that this merely represents a good gig for some overqualified cats. Of course, that skeptic would be an idiot.
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