Saturday, November 27, 2010

Couple more for Saturday night

Missed these in the last post ... but it will be a rollicking night at O'Connor's in Multnomah Village with four old friends who call themselves the "Harmony Rockets" - Jon Koonce, Lloyd Jones, Albert Reda and Denny Bixby.  They'll swap songs and instruments and bring a big fun time for all  ... 8 pm, $5

Vie de Boheme Winery (1530 SE 7th Avenue) has LaRhonda Steele ... 6:30 pm, no cover

and ... 3 Leg Torso will be at the Blue Monk ... 8 pm, $10

BTW ... heads up for Monday ... really fine Cajun band from Louisiana - The Pine Leaf Boys - will be at the Secret Society Ballroom ... 8 pm, $10

Friday, November 26, 2010

The no turkeys weekend music picks

As you get over your turkey hangover, I'll keep this short and cover tonight and tomorrow ...

Friday
It's the fourth Friday of the month, so that means the Texas roots rock of  Ron Rogers and the Wailing Wind will be at the Hawthorne Theater Pub .... and you can probably keep an eye on the Duck game at the same time. Hmmm, wonder if I can order up a Lone Star or Shiner Bock ... 6 pm, no cover.

Solid songwriting and rockin' Americana at the Laurelthirst with Morgan Geer and Root Jack sharing happy hour ... 6 pm, no cover

Lloyd Jones plays some fine Piedmont style pickin' solo at Vino Vixens in their continuing series of Friday night blues ... 8 pm, $5

Jazz pianist and composer Gordon Lee has a CD release show tonight at Jimmy Mak's.  Ben Darwish opens. Good interview and track from his new CD at Oregon Music News ... 8 pm, $10

The soulful voice of LaRhonda Steele can be heard at Clyde's Prime Rib ... 8:30 pm, no cover

The Bridgetown Sextet with vocalist Marilyn Keller bring some hot jazz and swing to Duff's tonight ... 9:30 pm, $7


The Freak Mountain Ramblers will do the late show at the Laurelthirst ... 9:30 pm, $6

Saturday
Big touring show tonight is The Frames at the Wonder Ballroom. Though band member Glen Hansard is probably better known by most as half of The Swell Season, The Frames are celebrating their 20th year of playing music together ... 8 pm, $25

Speaking of Ireland (yeah .. The Frames), the Secret Society Ballroom (right next door) will host Irish songwriter Susan McKeown. I recommend checking out her lasted release, Singing in the Dark ... 9 pm, $15

Fine night of songwriters at the Press Club with James Low, Kelly Blair Bowman, Duover, and Evan Way (of a band you need to check out - The Parson Red Heads) ... 8:30 pm, no cover

Rich Layton & the Troublemakers will help you dance off the weekend's extra calories at the White Eagle. Bradley Wik & the Charlatans will open ... 9 pm, $6

Up for some Gypsy jazz-folk-punk? Check out Chervona at the Alberta Street Pub ... 9:30 pm, $??

There's a fundraiser at Duff's to help send the Lisa Mann Band to Memphis for the International Blues Challenge in February .... 9:30 pm, $10

Billy D & the Hoodoos are out on the westside at the Rock Creek Tavern ... 9 pm, no cover

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving from Jim's Music Notes

Just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving.  Thanks for encouraging me to continue making my music picks each week ... and thanks for showing up supporting live music around town!

I'll have a post up about weekend music later today or on Friday.

See ya out and about!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Tasty pre-Thanksgiving morsels ...

Whet your appitite for tomorrow's turkey with some delicious music tonight ...

Early tunes?  Check out the Parson Red Heads at the Laurelthist happy hour (6 pm, no cover), Little Sue at Biddy's (6 pm, no cover), or the Chris Miller Band at Duff's Garage (6 pm, $2).

Later?  The Press Club has Swing Papillon every Wednesday (8:30 pm, no cover).

Excellent acoustic evening of three of my fave Portland artists - Fernando, Mike Coykendall and Miss Michael Jodell at the Alberta Rose Theatre .... 8:30 pm, $10

Couple of shows to get good and sweaty ... with The Quick and Easy Boys at the Doug Fir (9 pm, $10), or Lewi Longmire & the Left Coast Roasters w/special guest Scott Law at the Laurelthist for Lewi's annual Thanksgiving eve rave up (9:30 pm, $6)

Yeah, it will be a chilly night, but dress for the weather and warm up with some great live music!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

More weekend shows ...

Briefly ... here's a few picks for today and tomorrow ...

Saturday
For early music I'd recommend catching the James Low Western Front in their last happy hour at the Secret Society Ballroom (6 pm, no cover).  You can also catch some cool Celtic tunes with Twisted Whistle at Biddy McGraw's (6 pm, no cover).

The Alberta Rose has a double CD release show with Brad Creel & the Reel Deal and Lincoln Crockett sharing the evening ... 8 pm, $12

Then some fine late choices, including what looks like a cool show with passel of artists at the Laurelthirst doing an evening of classic country tunes. Taking turns and sharing the stage will include the Robinsons (Kevin and Anita), Michael Hurley, Al James the Unfazed, Lewi Longmire, Emily Butler, David Lipkind, and Darrin Craig ... another fun evening at the 'Thirst ... 9:30 pm, $10

Willy Porter and Meg Huchinson are at the Aladdin ... 8 pm, $22

Excellent triple bill of songwriters at the Press Club with Chris Robley, Lara Michel and Morgan Grace ... 8:30 pm, no cover

Drunken Prayer (featuring another fine songwriter, Morgan Geer) will be at Biddy McGraw's ... 9pm, no cover

A wonderful jazz/pop vocalist, Jenna Mammina, is in town for a couple of days and tonight at Tony Starlight's ... a unique and engaging song stylist in a show brought to us by the PDX Jazz Festival. Tomorrow evening she'll be doing a house concert (email me and I'll send you the details of that one).  You can also read abotu Jenna in Oregon Music News ... 8 pm, $15

It's an R&B evening at Mississippi Studios with Soul Vaccination and Shelly Rudolph ... 8 pm, $12

The Quick and Easy Boys are on the Main Stage at the Mt Tabor Theater ... 9 pm, no cover

The Midnight Serenaders are at the Secret Society Ballroom  ... 9 pm, $10

Wow ... that is a passel of great choices for tonight!

Sunday
Couple of shows you might want to note ...
Two fine indie bands out of NY are in town at the Doug Fir ... Freelance Whales and Miniature Tigers.  Read about (and hear) Freelance Whales in Oregon Music News ... 9 pm, $12

And In The House - a great ongoing series of house party/shows will host The Knuckleheads - an allstar Portland blues band with a flexible set of players, but tonight will feature Satellite Malone (aka, Curtis Salgado) ... 5:30 pm ... contact Jim Flynn for details - 503-784-6824

Friday, November 19, 2010

Friday music picks ...

Here ya go ...

Early music includes Wendy & The Lost Boys are a the Hawthorne Theater Lounge (7 pm, no cover), Pilar French at the Edgefield Winery (7 pm, no cover), and Michael Hurley at the Laurelthirst (6 pm, no cover).

It's another edition of LiveWire Radio at the Alberta Rose Theatre with musical guests Weinland and Blue Cranes, plus political humorist Will Durst ... and more ... 7:30 pm, $15/$30

At Duff's its a rockin' triple bill evening with Portland music veterans Steven “Pearly” Hettum and The Janglers, Lenny Rancher & The Karlyle Group, and the Greg Georgeson Band ... 7 pm, $10

The Karen Lovely Band and the Ty Curtis Band will be blues rockin' at Jimmy Mak's ... 8 pm, $15

Padam Padam will do an evening of country cabaret at Tabor Space ...7:30 pm, $7-10 sliding scale

Bill Rhoades and Alan Hagar do the Friday blues night at Vino Vixen ... 8 pm, $5

Casey Neill & The Norway Rats and Sassparilla are a great double bill at the Secret Society Ballroom ... 9 pm, $5

Melao de Cuba will make it spicy at Mississippi Pizza ... 9 pm, $5

Will have another post later or tomorrow with picks for Saturday night ... but did want to mention that James Low will be doing the last of his monthly happy hour shows at the Secret Society ... come on out ... he'll probably have a few surprises ...

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Benefit show and more for Thursday

Thursday is always a quality evening for music around town ... here's what I'd check out tonight.

First off there's a great show at the Laurelthirst - Tom Waits For No One is a cleverly titled evening of 30 artists doing songs of Tom Waits ... plus celebrating Little Sue's 40th birthday, and raising money for the creation of Recipes for Disaster, a cookbook of recipes from the Portland music community that will be sold to benefit the Jeremy Wilson Foundation. The foundation raises money to assist musicians who are without medical insurance. Performers include Fernando, Stephanie Schneiderman, Lewi Longmire, Jen Bernard, Lynn Conover, Ezra Holbrook, Duover, and Tahoe Jackson. Good story here from the Oregonian about the show. This will be a big fun evening! ... 9 PM,  $10 suggested donation

But wait, there's more ...

Show up early at the Laurelthirst for Lewi Longmire's happy hour (6 pm, no cover), or the Secret Society Ballroom for Rollie Tussing (6 pm, no cover), Biddy McGraw's for Morgan Grace (6 pm, no cover), Duff's Garage for the Portland Playboys (6 pm, $2), or the Kennedy School for the Freak Mountain Ramblers (7 pm, no cover).

Mel Brown's B3 Organ Band has the regular Thursday evening slot at Jimmy Mak's where tonight they're joined by dynamite vocalist Karen Lovely (who will perform there tomorrow with her band) ... 8:30 pm, $5

The dynamic duo of Curtis Salgado and Alan Hagar are at the Blue Monk ... 8 pm, $5

Pianist Ben Darwish is at the Brasserie Montmartre ... 8 pm, no cover

Steve Kerin will take your requests and play them on the Chapel Pub's organ starting at 8 pm tonight.

And, it looks like a very cool show at the Mt Tabor Theater with saxophonist Charles Neville and Senegalese kora virtuoso Youssoupha Sidibe ... 9 pm, $15

Hope to see ya out and about ... Live music - good for the body, good for the soul!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Blues history, zydeco birthdays and more for Friday

Quality music choices wherever you look tonight! 

The blues history part is 95 year old (and 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner) David "Honeyboy" Edwards in a special 6 PM performance at Duff's Garage tonight.  The legendary Edward's career has spanned 70 years and he's still going strong with a steady performing schedule that would be impressive for someone half his age.  The Chicago-based Honeyboy Edwards Quartet features longtime collaborator Michael Frank on harmonica, Les Copeland on guitar and Jerry Zybach on bass.  Joe McMurrian will do a short opening set ... 6 PM, $??

And, after the show Edward's band heads over to the Hotel Fifty (50 SW Morrison) for the Left Coast Blues Jam with special guest Jim Wallace. You never know who will stop by and sit in.  9 PM - midnight, no cover

Cascade Zydeco celebrates the birthdays of longtime members Dick Brainard and Roland Jemerson with a dance party at PPAA (618 SE Alder Street).  Music is from 8 - 11, but show up at 7 PM for a dance lesson. Music will be provided by the Too Loose Cajun band with special guests Paul Brainard, Reggie Houston, Steve Kerin, Peter Dammann, and Jim Bott (and maybe few surprises) ... $12, includes a free drink & snacks

Other cool shows tonight include ...

The Stolen Sweets team up with the burlesque collective Rose City Shimmy for an evening of music and dance at the Secret Society Ballroom ... 8 PM, $20

At Jimmy Mak's is the Jazz Society of Oregon induction, honoring Tall Jazz.  The band includes bassist Dan Presley, drummer David Averre, and vibraphonist/pianist Mike Horsfall. For tonight’s show, they’ll feature special guest pianist Bill Beach. The Alan Jones Academy of Music kicks off the evening at 6:30 ... $15

It's an indie pop allstar night at the Alberta Rose Theatre with Pancake Breakfast, The Dimes, and Bryan Free ... fine songcraft on display ... 8 PM, $12

The Devin Phillips Band is at the Blue Monk (check out the venue's upcoming schedule - nice to see them back to regular and quality music nights) ... 9 PM, $5

Leonard Mynx, John Vecchiarelli and friends are at the Press Club ... 8:30 PM, no cover

Philly's Phunkestra and the Gretchen Mitchell Band are at the Someday Lounge ... 9 PM, $??

There's more out there if none of these float your boat ... see ya out and about!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

It's Thursday!

And a Thursday filled with some fine music around town ... briefly ...

Early evening music has the always dependable, and sometimes delightfully unpredictable, Lewi Longmire and band at the Laurelthirst happy hour (6 pm, no cover) ... or check out Duff's Garage for the cool swing of the Portland Playboys (6 PM, $2).

Thad Beckman does a solo show at the Muddy Rudder ... 8 pm, no cover

Ace songwriter Craig Carothers is in town, which means there's a CC show at the Buffalo Gap ....  9 pm, no cover

Cool show over at Jimmy Mak's with Mel Brown's B-3 Organ Group backing up the legendary Martha Reeves for two shows tonight ... 7 & 9:30 PM, $20/$25

The Alberta Rose Theatre hosts Nashville's Bobby Bare, Jr. ... Blue Giant opens ... 9 PM, $12

Over at Roseland's Peter's Place (downstairs) you can catch Bay Area blues artist (and always fun) Tommy Castro.  Kevin Selfe opens .... 8 PM, $16

Seattle's indie pop Hey Marseilles headlines a three band show at Mississippi Studios. Read more about the band at Oregon Music News ...  9 PM, $10

Duff's will be rockin' with some kick ass blues when Candye Kane hits the stage ... 9:30 PM, $??

Dante's gets retro-soulful with Philly's Phunkestra and Fitz & The Tantrums (up from LA) ... 9 PM, $10

Cicada Omega (been hearing a lot of positives about this band) is at the Knife Shop ... 9 PM, $4

Got a lot to choose from ... pick something and start your weekend early!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Excellent show tonight at Blackbird Wine

I mention this one a couple of weeks back, but want to remind you of this show tonight at Blackbird Wine - quite a good one!

======================
S
unday, November 7 at 7pm, Blackbird Wine and Atomic Cheese at 4323 N.E. Fremont in Portland presents Bethany and Rufus in concert, sponsored by Paperjam Press.
Bethany and Rufus are a cello and voice duo that have kept their production spare and focused on the depth of soul in the roots music they inhabit like few others.  In their hands, old aching mountain songs, gospel cries of redemption and reckoning, and the deep groove chugging of a freight train holler come alive again with an urgency and energy that has electrified audiences all over the world.
Bethany Yarrow, daughter of legendary 60's Folk singer Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul & Mary), released her debut CD entitled Rock Island (Firetoy Music) in 2003 to amazing (and amazed) reviews. In totally unexpected ways, Bethany took traditional slave lullabies, prison songs, and murder ballads, and turned them into grooving electronic pop for a new generation. Goldmine Magazine says, "Bethany delivers low, smoky tones that call to mind Nina Simone or Cassandra Wilson." Rufus Cappadocia, on the other hand, is one of the leading voices on the cello today.  He has toured throughout the Americas and Europe with numerous groups and is known for his collaborations with artists from all over the world... from the Balkans to the Caribbean, from West Africa to North America.  Rufus released his solo project Songs for Cello (Velour Recordingsin February 2008. With his self designed five string electric cello, Mark Miller from Globe & Mail describes the instrument as "one of a kind, music like the man himself…Cappadocia has made a career of going where few cellists have gone before."
Sample Bethany and Rufus' music at their MySpace page. Tickets for this show are $15 each advance through brownpapertickets.com or $20 at the door. Wine, beer and delicious snacks will be available for purchase during the show.  For more information contact Matt Miner, 503-484-8196 or mminer@hevanet.com.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Thoughts for the weekend

Posts have been a little less frequent - will try to pick that up ... yeah, just slouching on the job here.  :-)

Friday
This weekend there's two shows that are part of the annual Siren Nation Festival, showcasing the original work of women working in music, film, performance and visual art. Tonight it's Anomie Belle, Sara Jackson Holman, Tara Jane O’Neil, and Katie Sawicki at the Someday Lounge ... 8pm / $15 for single night tickets.  Get your tickets here. On Saturday night, it will be  Annie Bethancourt, Erin McKeown, Shelley Short and Zoe Muth ... same place and time.  Check it the Siren Nation story at Oregon Music News.

Happy hour?  Happiness on tap at the Laurelthirst tonight with the James Low Western Front's monthly first Friday gig ... 6 PM, no cover

It's time for another LiveWire Radio recording at the Alberta Rose Theatre with guests Congressman Earl Blumenauer, filmmaker Andy Blubaugh, food and Ppop culture maven Karen Brooks, music from The Upsidedown (one of Peter Buck's numerous projects) and Erin McKeown.... 7:30 PM, $15/$30

Her Redbird cohorts, Peter Mulvey and Jeffrey Faucault, were there two weeks ago, so tonight it's Kris Delmhorst's turn at The Woods ... another wonderful singer/songwriter ...   7:30 pm, $15

Speaking of wonderful singer/songwriters, local indie fave Laura Veirs will be at the Doug Fir ... 9 PM, $14 

Rich Layton & The Troublemakers are at the cool eastside wine bar, Vino Vixens tonight - where they play a little quieter than usual, but that gets you really listening to Rich's fine songwriting (and stay tuned for their new CD coming soon - the level of writing and performance is going to turn some heads) ...  

On the blues front, Robbie Laws is at the Gemini in Lake Oswego (9 PM) and DK Stewart with the Soul Survivor Horns will be at Duff's Garage (9:30 PM).


Saturday
Couple of shows to point out include the Siren Nation show mentioned above, and ...

Need some early music to get the juices flowin' ... head over to EaT: An Oyster Bar for their Gumbo Cookoff with music by The Knuckleheads (a rotating allstar blues band that today will feature Paris Slim, Lloyd Jones and Steve Kerin) ... noon to 4 PM

At the Bagdad Theater is the second of two fundraising shows for Portland Rescue Mission that were organized by drummer Brian Blade.  I attended Wednesday's Music For The Mission show at the Crystal with Emmylou Harris and Daniel Lanois that was one of the most musically beautiful and satisfying events this year.  They did all of the songs from her groundbreaking Wrecking Ball recording from 1995 that Lanois produced.  The band, anchored by Blade and bassist Chris Thomas of The Fellowship Band, was amazing.   Tonight Blade, Thomas and the rest of The Fellowship Band will be joined by pianist Darrell Grant for what should be a superb (early) evening of jazz ... 6 PM, $25

Jim Flynn's In The House house party series will have the Duffy Bishop Band blowing the doors off tonight ... music starts at 7 PM and admission is $10... contact Jim for more details - 503-784-6824 or jimflynn AT realtytrust.com.

In another benefit show tonight, an assortment of Portland rockers and songwriters join together at Dante's for a Tribute to the Rolling Stones supporting Guitars 4 Vets. Should be a lot of fun ... 9 PM, $??

The Alberta Rose hosts The Quadraphonnes that will be a multimedia performance of music, film, art and dance. Sounds fascinating. Read more about it in Oregon Music News ....  8 PM, $15

And over at the Aladdin, Marc Cohn brings his soulful voice and fine songwriting to town ... 8 PM, $38

Enjoy the weekend!

Monday, November 1, 2010

Two shows that should be on your calendar this week

Wake up out of your Halloween sugar coma and note that we've got two great shows in town early this week - both at the Crystal Ballroom.

Tonight, Monday, it's the Hope, Love & Justice Tour with Mavis Staples and Billy Bragg.  It's an ecellent pairing of the soul/gospel legend and Britian's tireless champion of the working class. Two passionate performers- in their music and social activism; and both with a connection to Jeff Tweedy - he produced Staples' latest recording, You Are Not Alone, and Bragg collaborated with Wilco on Mermaid Avenue, the wonderful collection of unpublished Woody Guthrie lyrics they put to music. This is one not to miss ... 9 PM, $35

Then on Wednesday there's Music For The Mission: Benefit For Portland Rescue Mission & Shepard's Door  Rescue For Women that will feature Emmylou Harris backed by producer/songwriter Daniel Lanois, multi-instrumentalist Greg Leisz, and the rhythm section of Chris Thomas and Brian Blade of The Fellowship Band (who will appear in a second benefit at the Mission Theater on Saturday).  Great story about Brian Blade and the genesis of these benefit shows today at the Oregonian. This should be an amazing evening of music .... 8 PM, $50 advance/$55 door