Blog Archives
A Great Jazz Recital by Akenda
Akenda is a progressive jazz band composed of students at Berklee College of Music; I first saw them perform six months ago and was quite impressed at that time. I am even more impressed now.
Bert Cheshire
Formed by Bert Cheshire, Akenda has a new/old drummer and is even better than before. Read the rest of this entry
A Very Special Extended Play Session
How often does a songwriter actually write a song, or at least the underlayment of a song, in front of an audience? That happened at Chris Smither‘s appearance at an Extended Play Session at Alternate Root TV a few weeks ago!
Chris Smither
I will not divulge too much – after all, I want you to watch the show when it airs and be surprised – but when asked about his songwriting process, Chris not only described but also demonstrated his process. We were an incredibly lucky audience! Read the rest of this entry
Another Lovely Evening Under the Stars at the Lowell Summer Music Series
This summer’s weather has been amazing so far – no shows have been forced to move indoors at the Lowell Summer Music Series. Saturday’s Howie Day and Carbon Leaf show provided another wonderful evening under the stars at Boarding House Park.
Howie Day
Carbon Leaf
This was a co-bill with each act performing full sets separate from each other; they are not touring together. It was a smart move on the part of the Series, since the overlap between each act’s fan base is small.
Three-Part Harmonies at Alternate Root TV
Red Molly will be the guest artist at an Extended Play session at Alternate Root TV on Thursday, September 4th at 7pm!
Red Molly
We’re Not From Texas, Lyle, But We Want You Anyway!
Last weekend marked Lyle Lovett‘s third appearance at the Lowell Summer Music Series – twice with his Large Band and once with his smaller Acoustic Group. The Large Band graced the stage at Boarding House Park for this show.
Lyle Lovett and His Large Band
I will take Lyle any way I can – he has incredible stage presence and (at least at his Lowell shows) obviously loves what he is doing. Overall, though, I prefer the Large Band because of the depth and range of the instrumentality. Read the rest of this entry
Great Blues Coming Up At Alternate Root TV
A night of wonderful blues is coming up on Friday, August 22nd at the Extended Play Sessions at Alternate Root TV.
Sugar Ray and The Bluetones
Alternate Root TV Hosts Chris Smither
Chris Smither will be the guest artist at an Extended Play session at Alternate Root TV on Monday, August 11th at 7pm!
Fabulous American Roots Music Triple Play
You would think I had enough music last weekend at the Newport Folk Festival that I might need a bit of a break, but you would be mistaken! I’m not sure I could ever hear too much Americana music, so I headed over to T.T. The Bear’s Place for this fabulous triple bill.
Spirit Family Reunion
Two of the three acts I saw this night – The Deslondes and Willy Gantrim – were at Newport this year (although I did not see them except when they sat in for other sets) while Spirit Family Reunion, the headliner, was at the Festival the previous two years.
Fascinating Pandeiro Jazz Show
I did not know what a pandeiro was when I booked this show, but the idea of hearing a Brazilian percussion instrument alongside guitar and piano playing music that combines Brazilian music and jazz fascinated me.
Scott Feiner on the pandeiro
Scott Feiner & Pandeiro Jazz performed at Regattabar last weekend to an enthusiastic audience.
A Night of Great Heavy Blues
I had not attended an Extended Play Session at Alternate Root TV in what felt like a very long time (in reality it was only a month), and was excited to be seeing Trampled Under Foot on Monday night.
Trampled Under Foot
Another band with which I was familiar in name only, Kansas City-based TUF (as they are known) has won blues awards going back about twelve years so I am not sure how my radar missed them. Unfortunately, the band announced recently that they are not going to perform together after the end of this year but will each pursue separate careers. Darn!
TUF
suze reviews the blues 