Thursday, January 10, 2008

Alejandro Escovedo- 59 Years

















No more time.

A distressed friend contacted me yesterday after we both received an emailed announcement of the lineup for the 2008 Wakarusa festival. He was disappointed by the local gala's recycling of headliners from previous years. I countered that any event featuring the Gourds, Ozric Tentacles, Bettye LaVette, the Flaming Lips, the David Grisman Quintet, Blackalicious, Dr. Dog and Alejandro Escovedo gets my approval. Anyone annoyed by the presence of dozens of interchangeable jam bands can ignore their noodling. Besides, Escovedo doesn't come around as often as he once did. Here's a piece from his "theaterwork" By the Hand of the Father. It's not a song; it's dialogue from the stage work. The protagonist of this segment is derided by his daughter in the subsequent piece. Taken as a whole, it's a deeply affecting performance.

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Andy Bey was featured on NPR this morning. Here's an extremely odd Bey recording.

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Kansas City Click: I'm pleasantly surprised by how vital Dave Mason sounds on the recent live videos he's uploaded on YouTube. He's certain to play "Dear Mr. Fantasy" tonight at the VooDoo.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Andy Bey's "Round Midnight" was also reviewed yesterday at PopMatters. Coincidence? Synchronicity? Or marketing?

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/51976/andy-and-the-bey-sisters-round-midnight/

Happy In Bag said...

Thanks for pointing that out, BD. A good PR person can obviously make things happen.

At the other end of the spectrum, an exciting Latin jazz musician plays KC this weekend. He doesn't have a MySpace, there's not a single video featuring him as a leader on YouTube, and his site hasn't been updated in months.

I can hardly stand it.

hambone said...

just wanted to say thanks for posting the alejandro escovedo "59 years" clip. i'll definitely have to get the cd. "we loved to dance...and so we got married": the delirious joy of life in those 9 words.

Anonymous said...

Who's that Latin jazz musician? My sister in Olathe is always looking for stuff like that.

Happy In Bag said...

It's Bobby Sanabria at the Folly's jazz series, BD. I hope to attend as well. Tell your sister that the pre-show "Jazz Talk" is usually worthwhile, too.

Yeah, Hambone. I also like "I wasn't a saint... but I stayed."