10/3/09 - Wilco @ Prarie Home Companion/Fitzgerald Theatre - St. Paul MN

Wilco introduction by Garrison Keillor (with Mikael on piano)


a little gabbery with Jeff T.


time for a couple of songs


Garrison K.


Nels sits in with the house band--swapping solos with Pat Donohue


back to the business at hand-- with Pat S. on the piano this time


check out Nels' double neck


yeah!


Garrison, WIlco + various members of Patty Loveless' band as the credits roll

9/26/09 - Os Mutantes @ Cedar Cultural Center - Minneapolis MN

came for the brazilian psych/pop/rock...
BOOGIE WAS SERVED

Os Mutantes

Sérgio Dias – vocals, guitars, organ, cello, oud, percussion & harmonica
Dinho Leme – drums, percussion & vocals
Bia Mendes - vocals & percussion
Fábio Recco - vocals & piano
Simone Sou - percussion & sound design
Vinícius Junqueira - bass & piano bass
Henrique Peters - vocals, keyboards, piano & organ
Vitor Trida - vocals, keyboards, guitars, viola caipira, flute, cello & violin



Sérgio Dias + Vinícius Junqueira


Vitor Trida


Dinho Leme + Sergio + Vinícius


Henrique Peters + Bia Mendes


Bia + Sérgio


Bia + Sérgio


Bia + Sérgio + Vitor

9/22/09 - Cellodreams @ Art of This Gallery - Minneapolis MN

Having both Hank Roberts (via Buffalo Collision) and Kathy McTavish aka Cellodreams in town within days of each other made this a good week for improvisational cello-watchers.

McTavish maintains a busy calendar; collaborating extensively with guitarists and poets in her hometown of Duluth, Mn.

Cellodreams Calendar

("every monday - cello mondays @ Carmody Irish Pub"? WTF!)



Cellodreams

At Art of This gallery in South Minneapolis she performed a solo set (billed as Cellodreams) and also sat in with locals Aerosol Pike.

The Cellodreams set sounded like Deep Listening technique filtered through effects units (loops and delay) and was enhanced by street sounds and a random lightshow provided by passing car headlights (the gallery is located near an intersection that's fed by a primary freeway exit).


Aerosol Pike

Philip Mann: Bass Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Drums
Rick Ness: Clarinet, Multi Tone Marching Bugle, Drums
Ryan Reber: Soprano Saxophone, Piano, Percussion


Kathy McTavish w/Aerosol Pike

The Tuesday Night Series of Improvised Music at "The Art of This" continues to bring worthy music into the neighborhood. Bless 'em.

09/19/09 - Buffalo Collision @ Dakota - Minneapolis, MN

I learned of this Buffalo Collision show a mere hour before it was due to start but was able to make it downtown by showtime; walking thru the door just as the band was announced.

Buffalo Collision:
Tim Berne - Saxophone
Ethan Iverson - Piano
Dave King - Percussion
Hank Roberts - Cello



I have a tendency to think of any group of musicians that Tim Berne plays with as "Tim Berne's band" but in Buffalo Collision he and pianist Ethan Iverson anchor the group improvisation equally. And as a primary foil Hank Roberts on cello plays, possibly, an even more essential role.

It seemed like each musician spent as much time on stage not playing as they did playing but that's how Buffalo Collision operates. A seemingly endless seafull of permutations; solo, duo, trio and full group playing betwixt 4 great players.





It was particularly enjoyable to see Hank Roberts branch out further than he has when I've seen him play in other groups with Berne or with Bill Frisell. At times it seemed like he was barely touching his instrument. A few minutes later he'd have it on it's side; straddling it full mount.



These guys play with much texture and loveliness. A great late night @ the Dakota.

09/12/09 -Low @ Lake Harriet Bandshell - Minneapolis MN

Activity at the neighborhood bandshell usually winds down on Labor Day. This season it was extended by four dates to accommodate a series of shows by musical acts with higher profiles than the usual "concert in the parks" participants (community choirs/swing bands/original folk singers,etc.)



At tonight's show by Low (their first in Minneapolis in a while) the setlist included mostly songs from each of their last four studio lps; but with a heavy emphasis on older material

Drums and Guns - in silence, breaker
The Great Destroyer - california
Trust - shots and ladders, canada, last snowstorm of the year
Things We Lost in the Fire - like a forest, sunflower, dinosaur act

Live, Low often sounds very similar to their nearly immaculate studio recordings. But tonight they tweaked the songs from Trust by adding extended endings and an odd guitar break or two. Alan's voice cracked and wavered a few times; but in just the right places.



My favorite songs of the night were two songs that, I believe, are new. Written out; words don't due justice to what, at first listen, sounded like the most direct, immediate songs to have come from Low in years.

?new song #1
(2 of 3 verses)

the breath of a bird
a voice never heard
but you knew every word
my love is for free
my love
my love is for free

the dream is enough
the price is too much
but it's nothing to love
my love is for free
my love
my love is for free

?new song #2

left my land
to the wind and the sand
with blood on my lips
and silver in hand
im weary and stumbling
in the desert heat
where raindrops
they burn up
before they reach your cheek
your cheek

if you see my love
if you see my love
tell her im done

08/15- Ruhrtriennale 2009- Heaven and Hell night 1- Bochum Germany

Photography was forbidden at this event (which featured performances by Carla Bozulich, Marianne Faithfull and Marc Ribot) so how about some exterior shots of the Jahrhunderthalle Bochum??

There's an interesting story behind the venue: a former site of a central gas power plant that was converted, a century later, into an "assembly hall for art" as part of a state-funded development program.

Jahrhunderhalle Bochum

Looking good when approached from the front...












an interior shot taken in one of the halls during a festival preview that was held earlier in the afternoon

----------------------

looking a little rundown from behind-but still gorgeous, ya know.


















German book publisher Moser Verlag recently put out a collection of photos taken by Ulrich Mack during the Ruhr region's hayday as a center of industry in the mid 20th century.

Different times....

Ruhrgebiet by Ulrich Mack

06/19-Allen Toussaint @ Mears Park St.Paul

quite the funky night on the northern end of the mississippi
thanx to the twin cities jazz festival for presenting Allen Toussaint
in a free outdoor show.



Allen played a couple of cuts from his new, jazz-oriented lp "The
Bright Mississippi" but the 90+ minute set was packed mostly
with R+B/pop songs that he had a hand in writing and/or producing.



Even in medley form he couldn't play 'em all (he did fit in "working
in a coal mine. southern nights, fortune teller, mother in law among
others)



I could've done without the Arlo Guthrie and Paul Simon
covers but Toussaint more than made up for it by playing a
favorite that he himself once recorded-- Soul Sister
from his lp "Life Love and Faith"'