|
Spin
Doctors, Zen Tricksters
Northern
Lights, Thursday
Back
in the early ’90s, the Spin Doctors were on top of the jam-band
universe: Their 1991 debut album, Pocket Full of Kryptonite,
sold more than 6 million copies and produced the hit singles
“Two Princes” and “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong,” and fans formed
long lines outside clubs (including Albany’s Bogie’s) to hear
their music, which managed to weave catchy melodies through
the free-flowing grooves. Within a few years, however, the
Spin Doctors’ star had faded, and the long lines morphed into
empty seats. They released several records as they slogged
through the ’90s, but their prospects for renewed fan enthusiasm
were dimmed by band dissension, a long hiatus from touring
(a partial cause of the dissension), and lead singer Chris
Barron’s bout with a rare form of vocal paralysis. But last
September, with Barron back in vocal form, they played a show
at the late, legendary New York City club Wetlands, which
so reinvigorated them that the reunited Docs are back on a
tour bus together for the first time in seven years. Fellow
jammers the Zen Tricksters will open tonight’s show at Northern
Lights. (April 25, 8 PM, $15, 371-0012)
 |
 Coheed
and Cambria, the Starting Line, Finch, Reaching Forward
Valentines,
Thursday
In
the mid-1990s, the core of Coheed and Cambria played in a
band known as Shabutte. Hoping to break away from their pop-metal
peers, Shabutte expanded their sound with elements of prog-rock,
lo-fi and theatricality; after much touring and tweaking the
group’s roster, lead vocalist and guitarist Claudio Sanchez
settled on the name Coheed and Cambria, rounding out the lineup
with collaborator, guitarist and childhood friend Travis Stever
along with bassist Mike Todd and drummer Josh Eppard. The
quartet maximized their mixture of hardcore sensibilities
and theatrical grandness with the sci-fi concept album The
Second Stage Turbine Blade. Coheed and Cambria
will play Valentines tonight (Thursday), along with guests
the Starting Line, Finch and Reaching Forward. (April 25,
8 PM, $10, 432-6572)
The
David Sanborn Group
The
Egg, Thursday
Turning
Stone Casino, Friday
Just
because David Sanborn is a jazz saxophonist doesn’t mean he
plays strictly jazz. For 30 years, Sanborn has played on dozens
of rock, pop, R&B, blues and big-band recordings, and
has released 14 solo albums that show his eclectic taste in
music. Sanborn has played with, among others, Stevie Wonder,
David Bowie, Albert King, Eric Clapton and Paul Butterfield—with
whom he performed at the original Woodstock. You may also
know Sanborn as host of the syndicated television series Night
Music, which featured performances by a wide range of
rock and pop acts. Tonight (Thursday), Sanborn will play an
intimate show at the Egg, along with his five-piece touring
band, bassist Richard Patterson, guitarist Nick Moroch, percussionist
Don Alias, drummer Gene Lake and keyboardist Ricky Peterson,
also the producer of Sanborn’s latest CD. Sanborn and group
are then off to the Turning Stone Casino in Verona for a show
tomorrow (Friday). (April 25, 7:30 PM. $28, 473-1845; April
26, 8 PM, $25-$40, 877-833-SHOW )
|
Sonny
Rollins
Troy
Savings Bank Music Hall, Friday
Tenor
saxophonist Sonny Rollins has been part of the music business
for more than 50 years, recording numerous albums and collaborating
with jazz greats such as Bud Powell, Miles Davis and Thelonious
Monk. Making his recording debut in 1949 with Babs Gonzales,
Rollins went on to play with jazz artists like Fats Navarro,
and eventually joined the Max Roach-Clifford Brown Quintet
in 1955. After taking a break from music in the late ’50s,
Rollins returned to the scene in 1961 with a quartet featuring
Jim Hall; after yet another hiatus, he came back to the jazz
world for good in 1971, touring annually and continuing to
make albums. Considered enormously influential, Rollins has
been compared to jazz legends such as John Coltrane, and is
known for the caliber of his improvising and his ability to
turn unlikely material into jazz. Rollins will share his passion
for the saxophone with a Capital Region audience at the Troy
Savings Bank Music Hall tomorrow (Friday). (April 26, 8
PM, $24, 273-0038)
Greg
Brown, Jeff Lang
Eighth
Step at Cohoes Music Hall, Saturday
Greg
Brown’s tour supporting his new release, Milk of the Moon,
puts an end to a yearlong sabbatical, which is good news
for those of you who haven’t yet seen the man—and great news
for those of you who have. Since his debut release in 1983,
Brown has quietly turned out 16 albums of incredible independent
folk music (all on the label that he founded, Red House).
From visionary poetry—his 1986 album, Songs of Innocence
and Experience, put William Blake’s lines to music—to
gritty character sketches à la Tom Waits to dusty and humorous
musical portrayals of life in rural America (think Sherwood
Anderson meets Loudon Wainwright III), Brown’s easy and diverse
oeuvre draws almost unfailingly high praise: Rolling Stone
called him a “wickedly sharp observer of the human condition,”
and The Washington Post pronounced him “one of the
best singer-songwriters in America.” On Saturday, Brown will
share the stage with another well-respected singer-songwriter,
Australia’s Jeff Lang. (April 27, 8 PM, $17, 434-1703)
|
Jupiter
Circle, Sara Ayers
The
Larkin Lounge, Sunday
Somehow Sunday mornings seem just right for chamber music;
the uncluttered arrangements and intimate scale allow for
a deeper, less frenetic interaction with the music. But what
about Sunday nights? If you’re looking to tear away from public
radio for the night, if you’re searching for something new
and innovative, you might just find it at the Larkin this
Sunday. Saratoga Springs outfit Jupiter Circle describe themselves
as a modern chamber ensemble, but that concise description
falls short of the music on their new full-length album, Shade
Songs (which should be available at the show). The familiar
instrumentation—piano, violin, viola, cello, reeds—is put
through unusual paces: The music gently morphs through world-music
rhythmic variations and quick jazz figures, subtly pushing
at the edges of the Western classical tradition. According
to a recent Jupiter Circle press release, Sara Ayers has praised
the band as “a fresh decidedly American sound, with echoes
of Copeland and Phillip Glass.” And if you’d like to quiz
Ayers further, she will—conveniently—be on hand to open for
Jupiter Circle. (April 28, 8:30 PM, $5, 463-5225)
|
also
noted
Louisiana
born Mary Gauthier (it’s pronounced “Go-Shay,” we’re
told) will play Great Barrington’s Club Helsinki tomorrow
(Friday) in support of her most recent release, Drag Queens
in Limousines—an album that has the critics at such magazines
as Rolling Stone, MOJO and Q Magazine buzzing.
MOJO writer Sylvie Simmons, whose employer deemed Drag
Queens Americana Album of the Month, has said “Mary Gauthier’s
background qualifies her for country diva status, if the smoky,
been-there voice and credible songs already didn’t.” And the
Boston Globe says she’s the female incarnation of John
Prine and Steve Earle. Bob Hillman will open the show
(9 PM, $15, 413-528-3394). . . . Local indie-pop faves Dryer
will play a benefit for the Green Party Friday at Valentine’s,
with Bible Study and Exit 24 sharing the bill.
There will be people discussing the Green Party, globalization,
racism, genetic engineering, political reform and the like
(9 PM, $5, 432-6572). . . . Also Friday at Valentine’s, on
the downstairs stage, Nickname Rebel, featuring local
luminaries Tom Burre, Michael Keegan, Marc Arsenault, Scott
Smallwood and Seana Biondolillo, will perform,
as will Stars of Rock, Jump Cannon and Kitty Little
(9 PM, $5, 432-6572). . . . Masters of spuge, GWAR,
will play Saratoga Winners Friday, with Disarray and
Disciples of Berkowitz opening (8 PM, $18 door, $15
advance, 783-1010). . . . Tom Burre reappears on Saturday,
this time at Lemily & Son International Art Gallery, performing
some solo stuff and some collaborative stuff with Joe Reinsel,
on laptop, and James Lanni, on woodwinds
(7 PM, $3, 434-2918). . . . Alt-country megastars Wilco
will play Union College’s Memorial Chapel on Saturday;
tickets are sold out, but that has been known to change (9
PM, $10, 388-6118). . . . Former Preying Field and Cactus
Loveseat member Carl Smith will play the Larkin Lounge
on Saturday; Sol Energy and Aloha Steamtrain will
open (10 PM, $5, 463-5225). . . . On Sunday at the Lionheart,
the Wasted—Beef frontman Stephen Gaylord’s project—will
play, along with Lincoln Money Shot and Kitty Little
(9 PM, 436-9530).
|
|
Columns
& Opinions
