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Rik
Emmett, Mike Campese
Northern
Lights, Friday
Since
leaving the Canadian rock band Triumph in 1988, singer- songwriter-guitarist
Rik Emmett has released 10 solo albums ranging in style from
jazz to classical to pop. His first solo album, Absolutely
(released in 1990) went gold; but by the mid-’90s, he became
frustrated with poor support from his label, and, inspired
by the likes of Ani DiFranco and Loreena McKennit, Emmett
created Open House Records. Enjoying his new creative freedom,
Emmett released the first installment of his guitar trilogy
Ten Invitations From the Mistress of Mr. E on his new
label in 1996. Swing Shift, featuring jazz and swing
beats, and Raw Quartet, full of blues and rock,
followed, completing the trilogy and revealing to fans and
critics alike that there was more to Emmett than the guitar
histrionics of arena rock. His new collection, Good Faith,
will be released this summer. Emmett will perform a combination
of the new and the old, including some Triumph songs for the
fans, tomorrow (Friday) at Northern Lights. Area axman Mike
Campese will open the show. (June 20, 7:30 PM, $14, $12
advance, 371-0012)
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Concert
for Democracy
Christ
Church, Friday
To
get an idea where folksinger David Rovics is coming from,
just check out some of the folks with whom he has shared stages:
Howard Zinn, Michael Moore, Desmond Tutu, Ralph Nader and
Susan Sarandon. Oh, and he has performed with other musicians,
too—like Pete Seeger and Billy Bragg. If you haven’t guessed,
Rovics is a folksinger of the activist variety, who performs
regularly at protests, rallies, festivals, schools and political
events, where he gets to sing about such issues as the economy,
the environment, labor, globalization and U.S. foreign policy.
Rovics’ ideals dovetail with those of the Capital District
chapter of the Alliance for Democracy, which will host Rovics
tomorrow (Friday) at a benefit concert to support its coalition-building
efforts at Christ Church in Troy. Saratoga Springs-based activist-folksinger
Terri Roben will open. (June 20, 7:30 PM, $10 suggested
contribution, 583-4326)
The
Dead, Steve Winwood
Saratoga
Performing Arts Center, Friday
It
seems like the remaining members of the Dead feel that they
must make up for the absence of the late, great Jerry Garcia
by inviting as many musicians as possible to perform with
them on their Summer Getaway tour. When the Dead (now comprising
Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir) stop
by SPAC tomorrow night, they’ll be joined by fellow musicians
Jimmy Herring, Joan Osborne, Jeff Chimenti and Rob Barraco.
The band are recording CDs of most of their shows and selling
them when the shows are over, so eventually you’ll be able
to purchase the exact concert you heard, and enjoy the experience
over and over and over. The Dead will play tomorrow (Friday)
night at SPAC; Steve Winwood opens. (June 20, 5:30 PM,
$52.50, $37.50, 476-1000)
Meshell
Ndegeocello
Iron
Horse Music Hall, Northampton, Mass., Saturday
Bassist-singer-songwriter
Meshell Ndegeocello has had critical success since she first
stepped on the music scene back in the early ’90s, though
commercial success has pretty much eluded her throughout her
career. She was the first female artist signed to Madonna’s
Maverick label, and her debut solo disc, Plantation Lullabies,
garnered the artist three Grammy nominations and spawned the
hit single “If That’s Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night).”
Then her infamous duet in 1994 with John Mellencamp of Van
Morrison’s “Wild Nights” became a huge hit, gaining the artist
further attention. Ndegeocello went on to record three more
albums and a dozen soundtrack cuts, and through the years
she’s racked up seven Grammy nominations. You can check her
out yourself at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton,
Mass., on Saturday. (June 21, 7 and 9:30 PM, $20, 800-The-TICK)
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DIANA
DARBY
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Diana
Darby, Jason Martin
51
3rd Street, Troy, Tuesday
We were hipped to Diana Darby by an insider who told us that
she was “kind of cross between CatPower and Anne Sexton,”
and if ever a heartstring thrummed . . . Unlikely as the combo
may seem, Darby’s latest disc, Fantasia Ball, delivers:
She weds a low-key, indie-rock sonic understatement (the album
was home recorded on a four-track) with a confessional poet’s
raw sensitivity. Nonpoetic types be consoled, though: Darby’s
influences aren’t all found on the library shelves. She performs
a cover of the Stones’ “Blue Turns to Grey,” and her version
of Kris Kristofferson’s “Jesus Was a Capricorn” (found on
the Nothing to Lose tribute album, among the likes
of Richard Buckner, Calexico and Grandaddy) was called
a “revelation” by the SF Weekly. Also on the bill is
Jason Martin, who will coax reel-to-reel machines into performing
beyond the range of their normal specs. (June 24, 9 PM,
$3, 270-5119)
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noted |
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ROBERT
RICH
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Local
popsters Blackcat Elliot will play a CD-release
show at Valentine’s on Friday, with the Extras
and Rob Skane opening; each and every
paying customer will receive a copy of their CD
Threads Tearing From the Inside [see Listen
Here, page 26] (9 PM, $8, 432-6572). . . . Punk-revival
band the Beautiful Mistake will play Valentine’s
on Friday, with Fallout Boy, This Time Tomorrow,
Jean Grey (formerly Always Is not Forever)
and Marty McFly (8 PM, $10, 432-6572).
. . . Santana will play SPAC on Sunday
as part of his Shaman world tour, and Carlos
has announced that he’ll donate all proceeds to
Artists for a New South Africa, with funds specifically
going to South African nonprofit agencies working
to fight AIDS there; Afro-pop diva Angelique
Kidjo will open the show (7:30 PM, $38-$68,
$22 lawn, 476-1000). . . . Area poet-artist AC
Everson presents Friends and Favorites, a
Night of Words and Music on Monday at the newish
downtown venue New Age Cabaret (in Nipper’s neck
of the woods); the evening is packed with talented
area poets and musicians, including Mary Panza,
MotherJudge, Mitch Elrod, Don Levy, Albie, Pat
Covert, Kevin Maul, Kristen Day, Arber Hillbillies,
Steve Candlen, Blaise Thomas, Rich Marshall and
the debut of Idi Annine and the Mamas (8
PM, $3, 436-3465). . . . James Taylor returns
to kick off Tanglewood’s 2003 season with a concert
in the Koussevitzky Music Shed on Tuesday. Pop
music at the venerable summer venue continues
next week, with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln
Center Jazz Orchestra performing Rhythm Is
Our Business (June 27). Then Garrison Keilor’s
A Prairie Home Companion will be broadcast
live from the Music Shed for the fourth year (June
28); choreographer Mark Morris joins cellist Yo-Yo
Ma for a program of music and dance (June
29-30); and the Supremes starring Mary Wilson
and the Spinners will play Tanglewood’s
Fourth of July festivities (Taylor: 7 PM, $28-$85,
$19 lawn, 888-266-1200). . . . Ambient sound sculptor
Robert Rich, who is also one-half of the
atmospheric duo Amoeba, will stop in to
Troy’s Arts Center of the Capital Region on Wednesday
as part of his nationwide tour following his recent
release Temple of the Invisible. Though
Rich creates music that is difficult to categorize,
and he’s done so on more than two dozen albums,
he’s known as a pioneer of the ambient, dark-ambient,
tribal and trance genres (7:30 PM, $8, 273-0552).
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Columns
& Opinions
