Thursday, May 31, 2007

Enrico Pieranunzi: Solo = Magnificent (and there's more to come)

Posted by T. Ballard Lesemann on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 1:15 PM

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It was a magnificent solo performance from Italian jazz/classical pianist Enrico Pieranunzi last evening (May 30) — the first of several from him and guests during this week’s Wachovia Jazz Series events. He kicked ass on the keys (can you use such a phrase in a "jazz/classical crituque?") during his program at the Recital Hall in the Simons Center.

Tonight (May 31), he plays at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. with bassist John Patitucci (see pic at right).

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The pair join Pieranunzi’s longtime drummer Joey Baron for a full-band performance at the Cistern on Sat. June 2. Check out a full live review of this and all of this year’s Wachovia Jazz concerts on City Paper’s web coverage of the jazz, blues, and roots music events (here).

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Cabaret Kiki = Adam and the Ants

Posted by T. Ballard Lesemann on Wed, May 30, 2007 at 3:16 PM

What's the difference between the

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Cabaret Kiki gang and Adam & The Ants? One female bandmember! Well … aside from a slightly different set list and instrumentation, not too much, perhaps.
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But wouldn't it be great if the coutumed Kiki worked in swingin' versions of "Friend or Foe" or "Ant Music " at the next gig (double drummer styles, of course)?

Fountains of Wayne due at Farm

Posted by T. Ballard Lesemann on Wed, May 30, 2007 at 1:42 PM

This just in: alternative power-pop rock band Fountains Of Wayne — led by the songwriting powerhouse duo of — Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood — return to Charleston for a show at the Music Farm on Mon. June 18 in support of a new 14-song album titled Traffic and Weather (Virgin).

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The new record finds the band continuing “to re-imagine early-’60s jangle, late-’60s psychedelia, ’70s classic rock, ’80s New Wave, ’90s alt-rock, and contemporary pop in their own inimitable style,” says they. The band may be best known for their excruciatingly catchy/Knack-esque 2003 hit “Stacy’s Mom,” but their songwriting, arranging, and riffing talents are genuine.

I look forward to interview lead guitarist Jody Porter this week. As some in the local band scene remember, Porter played for years a in various original bands in the late 1980s and’90s — from the teenage New Wave/rock bands Foreign Aide, Sound Committee, and The Waltons to The Fields, The Belltower, and, most recently, Astrojet.

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I actually had the pleasure of playing with this guy in 1985 and ’86 in The Sound Committee (see pictures at left) with bassist Glenn Horres (also of The Islands, The Nabors, Honey Wagon, Velveeeta, and other local acts) and keyboardist Edward Hart (also of The Islands and Velveeeta, currently a music professor at the CofC).
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Porter’s original work was equally inspired by the Beatles and the British Invasion, local trio The Killer Whales guitarist David Bethany’s original work (compare the Whales’ “Here in the Modern World” to Porter’s “Livin’ in the Real World”), and the British New Wave of the late ’70s and early ’80s. Oh, those good ol’ days!

Look for a feature on the Fountains in the City Paper issue of June 13.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Drink Small at ‘Early Bird Blues’

Posted by T. Ballard Lesemann on Tue, May 29, 2007 at 10:29 AM

Singing and strumming and picking an acoustic guitar and moanin’ and croakin’ songs about Jesus on the cross and wide-eyed women on their knees, mid-state Carolina blues great Drink Small (a Bishopville native) had the room clapping loudly at Cumberland’s Monday evening (May 28) during an episode of Piccolo Spoleto’s “Early Bird Blues Series.”

"It's never too late to do right, but it's always too soon to do wrong," he sang during his closing tune.''

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Small, 74, is due back on stage at the venue for an encore performance on Tues. June 5 from 4-7 p.m. “Tell your friends to come on out …bring the dog, bring the cat, I’ll be right back!” he hollered after his set. He promised City Paper he’d do a rendition of “Charleston Women Blues."

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Fans can catch the blues veteran on local television when ETV airs a new episode of Carolina Stories on Thurs. June 7 at 9 p.m. Small heads up to the Windy City for a gig at the annual Chicago Blues Festival on Sat. June 9.

Saluzzi and Lechner: "From the heart"

Posted by T. Ballard Lesemann on Tue, May 29, 2007 at 9:25 AM

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Monday afternoon’s Wachovia Jazz concert at the Sottile (May 28 at 5 p.m.) featured the elegant bandoneón/cello duo of Dino Saluzzi, a charming, 71-year-old Argentine bandoneón player, and Anja Lechner, a seriously talented, young German cellist known best for her work with the Rosamunde Quartet, in an intense program of pieces off of the their

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newly-released collection, Ojos Negros (on the Munich label ECM Records). “This is music from the heart,” exclaimed Saluzzi. Indeed.

P&C's Jack McCray enjoyed the chamber music feel, despite the lack of "swing."

Was it jazz, or classical, or folk, or world … does it matter? Check out a full live review of this and all of this year’s Wachovia Jazz concerts on City Paper’s web coverage of the jazz, blues, and roots music events (here).

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