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The
Yellowjackets
Van
Dyck, Thursday
It
takes a single lineup change to signal the end of most bands.
So when guitarist and front man Robben Ford left the Yellowjackets,
many music critics closed the book on the experimental jazz
quartet. But, 14 years and 12 albums later, the Yellowjackets
continue to record and refine their mixture of jazz, R&B,
rock and bluegrass. After several personnel changes, the Yellowjackets
have settled around the lineup of keyboardist Russell Ferante,
bassist Jimmy Haslip, drummer Peter Erskine and saxophonist
Bob Mintzer. All noted session players, the four have become
a musician’s band, playing a mixture of contemporary jazz
and fusion. Though the Yellowjackets’ popularity has dwindled
in recent years, their music continues to progress; on their
latest studio album, the group played around with vocal tracks
and worldbeat rhythms. Refusing to be pigeonholed as a smooth-jazz
outfit, the group is known to stretch out their material in
concert, adding a darker edge to their “greatest hits.” Tonight
(Thursday), the Yellowjackets will showcase their jazz stew
in two performances at the Van Dyck. (March 7, 7 and 9:30
PM, $28, 381-1111)
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Dexter
Romweber, Rocky Velvet
Valentine’s,
Friday
Some
bands don’t just sound retro—some are retro. Dexter
Romweber—one-half of Chapel Hill, N.C.’s Flat Duo Jets—is
one retro mofo. Flat Duo Jets rose through the rockabilly
ranks in the ’90s, providing raw roots-rock punkabilly-swing
to their adoring fans (or is that “psycho-punk-a-goth-a-billy-spaghetti-surf,”
as quoted in Ninevolt magazine?). Seemingly possessed
singer-guitarist Romweber and hard-hitting drummer Crow merged
the old cats—Eddie Cochran, Johnny Horton and the Ventures—with
punk and power chords to create their own authentic form of
crazed rock. They toured with the Cramps and Beck, were featured
in the film Athens, Ga.: Inside/Out, and made 10, mostly
lo-fi, independently released albums in their 15 years together.
Their last, Lucky Eye (Outpost Records), made it to
the majors, but some diehard fans bemoaned the string and
horn arrangements that accompanied the duo on the album. Then
they broke up. Romweber, who apparently doesn’t like to talk
about the circumstances of the split, will play a solo show
at Valentine’s tomorrow (Friday), with Rocky Velvet opening.
(March 8, 10 PM, $7, 432-6572)
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Vassar
Clements, Austin Lounge Lizards, Northern Lights
Troy
Savings Bank Music Hall, Saturday
With
the success of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack,
bluegrass seems poised for a full-fledged assault on the mainstream.
Longtime fans, or newbies eager for a sampling, can experience
a good representation of the genre’s perhaps-surprising diversity
at the Troy Music Hall on Saturday, when Vassar Clements,
the Austin Lounge Lizards and Northern Lights swing through
the Collar City. Known as the “Miles Davis of bluegrass,”
Clements has been at it for over 50 years, and is still regarded
by many as the foremost bluegrass fiddler in the world; the
Austin Lounge Lizards will provide an irreverent counterpart
to the canonized Clements with their combination of solid
bluegrass licks and “lyrics that eviscerate, embarrass, embellish
and otherwise poke fun at parody-worthy people and places”;
and Northern Lights will present a mélange of styles, from
traditional bluegrass to jazz and classical and “everything
in between.” (March 9, 8 PM, $24, 273-0038
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Agnostic
Front, T.S.O.L., The Casualties, The Lost Angels
Valentine’s,
Sunday
Originally
called the Zoo Crew, Agnostic Front got their start back in
1982 in New York City. Now, 20 years later, these guys are
still respected as the Godfathers of Hardcore—though front
man Roger Miret and guitarist Vinnie Stigma are the only original
members still onboard. “To me, hardcore punk was a movement
and not two distinct styles of music,” Miret has stated. “In
my opinion, hardcore was always the aborted child of punk.”
It was Stigma who created the band’s name—according to Miret,
“He just liked the name Agnostic, so he thought of Agnostic
Front like a movement.” And despite misconceptions that have
dogged the hardcore scene, he says, the scene is about inclusion:
“A.F. is for everyone. We are about unity. We don’t support
ignorance and hatred within our scene.” Miret and Stigma are
joined on bass by Mike Gallo and drums by Jim Colletti on
the band’s 2001 Epitaph release, Dead Yuppies. Agnostic
Front come back to our area Sunday for an all-ages show at
Valentine’s. Joining them on the bill are T.S.O.L., the Casualties
and the Lost Angels. (March 10, 8 PM, $12, 432-6572
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 John
Hiatt, Tim Easton
The
Egg, Sunday
His
songs have been covered by the Everly Brothers, Joe Cocker,
Bonnie Raitt, Iggy Pop, Paula Abdul, Don Henley, Three Dog
Night, Eric Clapton and B.B. King, Ronnie Milsap and Bob Dylan—to
name only a few. That sentence sounds like one a fledgling
songwriter would make up for himself while daydreaming about
how he’ll be introduced at the Grammys, doesn’t it? And yet,
this is the true story of John Hiatt. For more than 25 years,
Hiatt has been writing and recording songs that even the biggest
of shots can’t wait to perform. And though his best-known
songs are probably most familiar to you as sung by others
(“Thing Called Love” by Bonnie Raitt, or “Angel Eyes” by the
Jeff Healey Band, for example), Hiatt’s done all right for
himself as a performer as well. His album Crossing Muddy
Waters earned him a Grammy nomination, and in 2000 he
was named the artist/songwriter of the year at the Nashville
Music Awards—where they know a thing or two about songwriting.
In his sold-out show at the Egg on Sunday, Hiatt will present
some of his best and some of his newest songs in the purest
of settings: solo acoustic. Tim Easton will open. (March
10, 7 PM, $26, 473-1845)
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Leading
Ladies & Uduboy
The
Egg, Wednesday
Several of the Capital Region’s finest female musicians—and
one equally talented fellow—will converge on the Egg’s Swyer
Theatre on Wednesday for an unusual program titled Leading
Ladies & Uduboy. The male of the title is area percussionist
Brian Melick, whose nickname refers to the udu, an African
drum he often features in his performances. Subtitled “a celebration
of friendship and musical diversity,” the program will feature
assorted solo and duo performances showcasing the eclectic
skills of those participating, whose work encompasses everything
from roots music to classical to worldbeat; Melick’s participation
in many of the numbers will provide the evening’s musical
continuity. The distaff contingent includes Adirondack folksinger
Bridget Ball, pianist Peggy Delaney, vocalist-harpist Martha
Gallagher, violinist Sarah Milonovich (one of Melick’s band
mates in the McKrells), blues-folk singer Siobhán Quinn, cellist
Monica Wilson-Roach, singer-pianist-accordionist Zoe Zak and
flamenco guitarist Maria Zemantauski. Expect a spirited mix
of instrumental and vocal pyrotechnics, and perhaps even an
unscheduled jam or two. (March 13, 7 PM, $15, $12 seniors,
$10 kids, 473-1061)
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also
noted
Jazz-funk
jamsters Psychedelic Breakfast will play Valentine’s
tonight (Thursday), with Jacob Fred’s Jazz Odyssey opening
(9 PM, $8, 432-6572); Psychedelic Breakfast will then head
over to Pearl Street in Northampton, Mass., for a show tomorrow
(Friday), with Cold Duck Trio and Platypus Complex
opening that show (8:30 PM, $8, 800-THE-TICK). . . . Celebrated
jazz harmonica-player Toots (get it?) Thielemans
will team up with spiritual pianist Kenny Werner for
a show tomorrow at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall (8 PM,
$24, 273-0038). . . . New York City band Darediablo will
make their Albany debut at the Fuze Box tomorrow, with Hungry
Jack and Great Day for Up (9:30 PM, $5, 432-4472).
. . . Schenectady County Community College will host a two-day
Multicultural Music Festival; on Friday, Trinidad and Tobago
Steelband and Hair of the Dog will play; on Saturday,
the six-member Catskill Klezmorim and Alex Torres
and the Latin Kings will play (8 PM, $6, $10 for both,
381-1336). . . . Acoustic rockers Hector on Stilts,
who recently moved to the area from Tucson, Ariz., will play
the Larkin on Saturday, and drumming for the duo will be fellow
Arizonian, and ex-Sidewinder, Bruce Halper; knotworking
shares the bill (10 PM, $5, 463-5225). . . . Hartford-based
rock band Pleasurecrush will play an all-ages show
with the Bruise Bros. at Impulse Tattoo in Latham on
Saturday (7:30 PM, $2, 783-8282). . . Berkshire Community
College will host the Pittsfield Folk Fest on Saturday, which
will feature Orleans alum John Hall, legendary folk-singer
Bill Staines and Berkshire native Bobby Sweet (7
PM, $25, 499-4660, ext. 291).
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