Monday, May 30, 2011

Need live band (as opposed to dead one...)

The sub blogger here - I am doing costumes for a production of Sam Shepard's "Tooth of Crime" and the producers are looking for a 4 piece or so band to play T-Bone Burnett's score live for the performances. Performances are the last two weekends of July (Thurs. through Sunday) and of course some rehearsal time. There is pay. If anyone bluesy/rootsy/rockers are interested, contact the director, Dug Martell at 503-980-5474

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Memorial Day weekend live music picks ...

Besides the Dan Hicks show tonight at the Aladdin that I mentioned in yesterday's post, there's more fine choices for tonight ...

Catch the Portland Playboys for happy hour at the Secret Society Ballroom ... 6 pm, no cover

Morgan Geer will join Truckstop Darlin' tonight at Al's Den ... 7 pm, no cover (music until 11)

Singer/bassist Kate Davis is at Wilf's tonight. There are 2 shows at 7:30 and 9:30  $8 plus a $10 food/drink minimum. Contact Wilf's ASAP to make a reservation for either show - 503.223.0070


High energy jazz fusion at Jimmy Mak's with Mike Prigodich and Mpeg and the Damian Erskine Project ... 8 pm, $10

Duffy Bishop is at Halibuts ... 8 pm, no cover

Sera Cahoone, Greylag, and Kasey Anderson will be at Mississippi Studios ... 9 pm, $10

Big Monti and Henry Cooper are at Duff's Garage ... 9:30 pm, $??

A bit of blog reformatting

Bored, I guess.

Actually, the site was in need of a little makeover.  I might not be finished.  Besides the page design/colors/layout, I've added some static pages and removed info from the sidebars.  I'd like to make the entire experience of visiting Jim's Music Notes more useful (less useless?) .... see what ya think - let me know via the comments.

     - Jim

Friday, May 27, 2011

Solid weekend of live music starts here!

If you're not headed out of town for Memorial Day, you have some great music in town ...

First, here's one for your radar tomorrow:

I always look forward to the return to town of Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks ... and they'll be at the Aladdin tomorrow.  What's cool about him coming to Portland is that a number of his old band mates live and play in town ... and they'll be out to join him.  Bassist Jaime Leopold will rejoin the Hot Licks tomorrow and also open with his "country cabaret" band Padam Padam ... Turtle VanDemarr (of the Freak Mt Ramblers) and a few others will probably join in at some point.  Here's a story and interview with Dan at Oregon Music News.  Should be a great show! ... 8 pm, $25

Now for tonight ...
Early?  Here's a bunch of 'em:
At Ford Food and Drink (SE Division and 11th) you can hear Pete Krebs starting at 5 pm ... no cover
Drop by the Hawthorne Theater Pub for a kicking dose of intelligent, country-tinged, danceable tunes from Ron Rogers & the Wailing Wind ... 6 pm, no cover
The Laurelthist happy hour has Alice Stuart ... 6 pm, no cover
The Brazillionaires are at the Secret Society ... 6 pm, no cover
If you don't mind getting wet, head to the Rose Festival music stage for DK Stewart and special guest Lloyd Jones ... 6 pm   ... and they'll be followed by the Curtis Salgado Band.
Or stay dry and catch Truckstop Darlin' at Al's Den in the Crystal Hotel ... 7 pm, no cover

It's living music history at the Schnitz tonight with one of the "voices" of the past half century plus - Tony Bennett. It'll cost ya, but how often will you have a chance to see him?  ... 7:30 pm, $55-150

It's a Latin dance party with Quintilliion at Vie de Boheme Winery ... 8 pm, $??

Blues vocalist Lucy Hammond will be at Vino Vixens ... 8 pm, $5

Lloyd Jones heads from the Rose Festival to Halibuts ... nothing fishy there ... 8 pm, no cover

The Jack McMahon Band will be rockin' O'Connors tonight  ... 8 pm, $5

The Don of Division Street, Matt Brown, and Jaycob Van Auken will swap tunes at the Press Club ... 8:30 pm, no cover

Some fine straight ahead, post-bop jazz from the Devin Phillips Band tonight at Jimmy Mak's ... 8 pm, $12

The Twangshifters will rock the Bossanova Ballroom tonight with a CD release extravaganza ... local rockabilly at it's rockin'-est! ... 9 pm, $15

Just up the street from the ballroom is the Doug Fir ... it will be somewhat mellower with the folk/rock of Cotton Jones and The Parson Red Heads.  I've been continuously impressed by TPRH - vocals (amazing harmonies), songwriting, musical versatility ... 9 pm, $10

At Duff's Garage an all-star band will do a Salute to T-Bone Walker in celebration of what would be his 101st birthday.  T-Bone was a pioneer and innovator of the electric guitar out of Texas who had a classic sound that straddled big band, swing, blues and heavily influenced virtually every guitarist who followed ... 9:30 pm, $10

Okay ... if you don't find something to please you in that list ... you might not be breathing ... 

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Local live music picks for Thursday, 5/26

Wow ... already headed into Memorial Day Weekend ... don't let anyone tell you different, but summer is just around the corner ... really ... hopefully ... but plenty of great music to check out while you're waiting.

Tonight is your typically fine local music Portland Thursday (aside from Lewi Longmire not doing happy hour tonight at the Laurelthirst!) .... but if you need a dose of Lewi, check out tracks from his upcoming CD here.

So wander over to Al's Den at 7 pm for Truckstop Darlin' who are doing a week-long residency with special guests each evening. Tonight it's Nick Foltz and Fred Stephenson ... no cover and music until 11.

Or check out The Quick and Easy Boys at the Kennedy School ... 7:30 pm, no cover

Thad Beckman and Kurtis Piltz are at O'Connors ... 8 pm, $5


The Curtis Salgado/Alan Hagar duo will be at The Blue Monk ... 8 pm, $10

The Mel Brown B3 Organ Band are in their usual Thursday slot at Jimmy Maks ... 8 pm, $5


The Caleb Klauder Country Band will be at the Secret Society Ballroom ... 9 pm, $10

Support your local musicians!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Enraptured by these shows for Saturday

Well, I'm not sure what time The Rapture is getting started, but I do know the time of a few fine shows tonight ...

Three excellent local bands (a couple of my faves) - the James Low Western Front, the Lewi Longmire Band, and Sasspirilla - will rock the Doug Fir tonight ... you should be there! ... 9 pm, $8

Catch some energetic "roots" jazz (20s-40s style) with the Bridgetown Sextet at the Secret Society ... 9 pm, $7   ...Show up early for happy hour and catch the Portland Playboys, too ... 6 pm, no cover

It's time for the monthly Miz Kitty's Parlour at the Mission Theater - a very entertaining vaudeville-like revue ... 7 pm, $12

At the Press Club, you can chill with a cocktail and the Pete Krebs Swing Trio ... will keep your foot tappin' ... 8:30 pm, no cover

It very soulful blues with Linda Hornbuckle at Jimmy Maks ... 8 pm, $10

The DK Stewart Sextet will have the dance floor filled at Duff's ... 9:30 pm, $??

High energy jammy show with the Scott Pemberton Superband at The Goodfoot ... 9 pm, $8

Whatever you pick, enjoy!

Friday, May 20, 2011

Friday live music picks

Here's what I see ....

At the Aladdin it's the first hometown show of 2011 for the Portland Cello Project.  Back from touring, they have a stellar lineup of guests that include Laura Gibson, AgesandAges, and Weinland.  Read/hear more at Oregon Music News ... 8 pm, $15

Casey Neill and the Norway Rats will be at the Secret Society. Catch Casey and band before he heads east for some solo dates .... and this will be the last band show for a few months ... 9 pm, $8

The Midnight Serenaders will be at Tony Starlight's - time to swing with their fine 1920's and 30's jazz/vocal mix ... 8 pm, $10

Indie folk show at The Woods with a CD release of Adam Sweeney & The Jamboree ...

LaRhonda Steele is at Vie de Boheme Winery ... 8 pm, $5

Fine Latin band Melao de Cuba will be at Mississippi Pizza .... 9 pm, $5

The Freak Mountain Ramblers will be doing the late set at the Laurelthirst ... 9:30 pm, $6

And the platters will be spinning with some great late night tunes at Al's Den in the Crystal Hotel with DJ Hwy 7 ... 11 pm, no cover

New Matt Sheehy project

Matt is a great song writer, who I met doing a video for Brent Knopf's band, Ramona Falls. You can see Ramona Falls on June 3rd at the New Rose Theatre on the Live Wire show. Meanwhile here is shameless promotion from Matt for his new band, Lost Lander. If you read down, you will see that Lost Lander is playing Holocene on June 2nd. I already got my song download..
...and y'all missed a great, but under attended show from Dead Rock West last night...check out their new CD of spirituals "Bright Morning Sky", produced by Peter Case.
...now I have to go find someone to get me into the Iron and Wine show on the 31st; the lovely Nick Luca on keyboards for them this tour.
MaryXMass

INTRODUCING LOST LANDER:
SONGWRITER MATT SHEEHY AND PRODUCER BRENT KNOPF
RELEASE 'COLD FEET' FROM THE UPCOMING DEBUT, DRRT

Lost Lander Press Contact:
Matt Sheehy
lostlanderband@gmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Portland, OR – May 20th, 2011 – The band Lost Lander announced to the Universe yesterday that they exist and released the track 'Cold Feet' from their upcoming debut album, DRRT, available for download through their website.
Yesterday on the Portland Mercury End Hits blog, writer Ned Lannamann scooped-
“Lost Lander is a new group, but it's the project of seasoned songwriter (and forester) Matt Sheehy, who plays in Ramona Falls. Sheehy also released the excellent solo album Tigerphobia in 2008.
DRRT was produced by Ramona Falls frontman Brent Knopf (formerly of Menomena) and his fingerprints are all over the record, which balances immaculately crafted, intricate studio work with Sheehy's cut-to-the-bone songwriting. Sheehy and Knopf often worked separately on DRRT, communicating via the internet, but also came together for different sessions at various locations on the Oregon Coast.

DRRT is scheduled to come out late August or early September, and prior to that the band will launch a Kickstarter fund at the beginning of June; contributors to the campaign will be able to hear the album in full. A video for "Cold Feet"... is also in the works. Lost Lander have a web page set up, plus a Bandcamp as well as the requisite Facebook and Twitter pages. You can stream "Cold Feet" here, of course, but it's kind of addictive, so you might want to go over to the Lost Lander page where you can download it for keeps. With a backing of wordless "oohs," more than a few echoes of Peter Gabriel, and the trilling organ line from Dylan's "Visions of Johanna" reimagined as cheerful whistling, it's a sleek pop song whose hooks sink in deep, long before you realize their emotional resonance.

Lost Lander—the group also includes musicians Dave Lowensohn, Patrick Hughes, and Sarah Fennell—performed their debut with Holcombe Waller on the Live Wire! radio show in April (you can hear the episode here).” The recording of Cold Feet also features Dana Janssen on drums.

Lost Lander will perform on June 2nd at Holocene as part of the PDX Pop Now! 2011 Compilation Release.

Website

http://www.lost-lander.com

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Two shows tonight and a heads-up on one tomorrow

Noted a couple of fine shows for mid-week ... both "Americana" with one skewing a little more country.

At the Doug Fir it's Hayes Carll, another grown-in-Texas songwriter with grit and stories to tell. Hayes has a pretty solid following in Portland (seems to like coming through here) and you won't be disappointed ... 9 pm, $15

A little more home-grown is the show at Mississippi Studios with Kasey Anderson & The Honkies.  I've been enjoying Kasey's lasted CD, Heart of a Dog  and look forward to checking out the live show ... 9 pm, $7

A show for your radar tomorrow is at the Aladdin.  Check out a group of amazing stringbenders you probably never heard of from the label CandyRat Records - Antoine Dufour, Gareth Pearson, Ewan Dobson, and Craig D'Andrea.  If you appreciate creative acoustic guitar, you will be amply impressed ... 8 pm, $20

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Mississippi Studios may not tell you..

On Thursday the 19th, my pals, Dead Rock West will be the openers for Star Anna. Mississippi Studios is referring to them as the "special guests", and they are indeed special. They just put out a record of spirituals that could make even me find dog...so come down and see them!! Cindy recently sang vocals on Exene Cervenka's new solo CD (I also highly recommend that record...great guitar work from Dave Alvin..) $10 in advance and at the door.
On a sadder note, if any of you musical types cross over into the theatre world - Jim Caputo, local actor and manager of Kornblatt's on the side - passed away suddenly on Thursday morning. No word yet on memorial service.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Friday the 13th lucky music picks ...

Here's a few to chew on tonight as you make your live music plan ...

Touring through town tonight ...

At the Doug Fir it's the critically acclaimed The Low Anthem. Have it on best authority that this band is well worth checking out live ... 9 pm, $15

Two excellent singer/songwriters - Tift Merritt and Stephen Kellogg - will be at Mississippi Studios ... 8:30 pm, $22 (seated show)

At the Alberta Rose it's Northern California's Mumbo Gumbo and local world music fave's the Brothers of the Baladi ... 8 pm, $10

Locally ...

Point Juncture, WA has a CD release show at The Woods ... 9 pm, $8

Solid jazz show at the Secret Society Ballroom with Blue Cranes and Gutbucket ... 9 pm, $8

More fine jazz with the Jay Collins Quartet with drummer Dick Berk at Wilf's ... 8 pm, $??

Kevin Selfe & The Tornadoes blow into the Trails End ... 9 pm, $??

Miriams Well will be at Plew's Brews in St. Johns ... 9 pm, no cover

... and at the Spare Room you can catch the fine slide guitar and vocals of Bob Shoemaker ... 9 pm, no cover

Heads up ... tomorrow afternoon starts the annual Silverton Wine & Jazz Festival down in historic downtown Silverton ... there's great preview articles on the festival at Oregon Music News ... tickets are just $25 and get you into 12 venues and wineries. 

BTW, kudos to the Oregon Symphony for an outstanding performance last night at Carnegie Hall! 

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Quick Pick Six

Think I'm going to try to get my tomatoes planted this afternoon while the sun is shining ... so here's some quick picks for tonight ... (and Blogger is down, so don't know when this will post on the web) ... 

I'll skip the usual suspects for Thursday night - if you pay attention to the blog, you know the shows you can depend on every week. But on my radar for tonight are:

Three touring acts in town:
Award-winning blues guitarist and vocalist, Joe Lewis Walker, will be at Jimmy Mak's. His old friend Lloyd Jones is going to open for him too ... 8 pm, $13/$17 reserved

Songwriter and singer Edie Carey returns to Portland at the Alberta Street Pub. Colleen Raney will open making for another excellent double-bill ... 8 pm, $15

Critically acclaimed rock band, Of Montreal, will be at the Roseland Theater .... 8 pm, $22

And here's three no-cover shows (just remember to feed the tip jars!):

Thad Beckman will be at the Muddy Rudder in Sellwood ... 8 pm

Slim's Cocktail Bar in St John's (8635 N Lombard Street) will host Wendy & The Lost Boys ... 8 pm

... and there's an entertaining local triple-bill at the World Famous Kenton Club (2025 N Kilpatrick Street) with Matt Brown, the Don of Division Street, and Nick Peets ... 8:30 pm

There's six ... gotta run!


Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Mid-week fun ...

Three shows I want to note tonight ...

Cascade Zydeco presents Geno Delafose and French Rockin' Boogie, one of Louisiana's best Zydeco bands in a dance at the PPAA (SE 6th & Alder).  Big mid-week fun! Check out the band here ... 8 pm, $15 ... Dance lesson starts at 7:15.

At the Aladdin you can catch Sierra Leone's Refuge All Stars. Excellent band with an amazing story ... 8 pm, $22

...and a great show at Jimmy Mak's tonight with legendary jazz saxophonist Benny Golson. He'll be playing with the Mel Brown Quartet ... 8 pm, $18/$22 reserved seating

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Busy weekend of music - Saturday & Sunday picks

Continuing with a strong weekend of music around town ....

Saturday
A good excuse to drop by Music Millennium today is that Lloyd Jones will be doing an in-store performance to promote his new CD, Highway Bound .... starts at 2:30 pm

Early music choices include the Portland Playboys at the Secret Society, Level 2 at Mississippi Pizza, and David Ornette Cherry at the Jade Lounge ... all at 6 pm.  Beginning at 7 pm, Scott McCaughey finishes a five day run at Al's Den in the new Crystal Hotel ...

For later evening music ...
The 100th birthday of the iconic bluesman Robert Johnson will be celebrated at the Alberta Rose Theatre with a host of Portland notables including Curtis Salgado, Joe McMurrian, Mary Flower, Paris Slim, Little Sue, Terry Robb, and Bob Shoemaker.  Should be a pretty deep evening of interpretations of Johnson's tunes .... 8 pm, $20

Wanda Jackson, one of the pioneers of rockabilly, will be at the Roseland Theater. She has a new CD, The Party Ain't Over, produced by Jack White ... a classic who can still bring it. .... 8 pm, $25.

Rob Stroup & The Blame and Naomi Hooley will be at Biddy McGraw's ... 9 pm, no cover

Tie your dancing shoes tight to jump, jive, and swing with The Sportin' Lifers at Duff's ... 9:30 pm, $??

The Alan Jones Sextet will be at Jimmy Mak's with a couple sets of adventurous post-bop jazz  ... 8 pm, $10

The Jade Lounge has the Gypsy cabaret sounds of Padam Padam ... 8 pm, $5

It's time to be up on the goodfoot at The Goodfoot's 4th annual All-Star Tribute to James Brown ... 9 pm, $10

Lost in the 80's? ... then you should head to the Aladdin for The Psychedelic Furs ... 8 pm, $30

Sunday
Steve Earle has a released a really fine new T-Bone Burnett-produced CD, I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive, and is doing an in-store appearance at Music Millennium this afternoon at 3 pm ... advance purchase of CD guarantees admission. Steve and his band, The Dukes (along with wife, Allison Moorer), will be appearing on June 10th at the Crystal Ballroom. Cool solo "Tiny Desk" performance here from NPR.

What sounds like a very cool show at The Portland Playhouse tonight is Fernando and the Parson Red Heads doing a very "unplugged" performance ... as in using no PA at all ... relying on a quiet space and hushed audience to weave some acoustic magic .... 8 pm, $7

... and, two indie folk-pop darlings, Thao and Mirah, team up for a CD, tour, and a stop at the Wonder Ballroom tonight ... 9 pm, $15

Friday, May 6, 2011

Busy weekend of music - Friday picks

Lots of really great choices for live music this weekend!  Starting with tonight where I've got some of my favorite musicians in town all performing in different places ... going to be tough to choose ...

For early music there's the James Low Western Front doing their monthly happy hour at the Laurelthirst ... 6 pm, no cover.  But at the same time is Ron Rogers & the Wailing Wind at the Hawthorne Theater Pub.  And Ron is going to premiere a cool music video of the tune Alabama Chrome from his new Country and Eastern CD. Ron assured me no animals were harmed during production, no matter what the picketers from PETA might say tonight. Really ... it was a stunt chicken.

Also early (even earlier!) you can catch Rollie Tussing at Ford Food & Drink on SE 11th ... 5 pm, no cover

At the Alberta Rose tonight it's Stephanie Schneiderman's CD release show for her new CD, Rubber Teardrops.  Definitely looking forward to this show ... read more about it at Oregon Music News. Dirty Martini will open.  .... 8:30 pm, $15

The fine boogie and blues pianist David Vest will be at Duff's. And as a special treat, playing with him tonight is Mary Flower in a rare appearance wielding an electric guitar ...  9:30 pm, $10

Fan of The Big Lebowski? Well, tonight's your night to show up at the Bagdad Theater in your bathrobe (or other character costume of choice) for the annual Lebowski Fest ... preceding the film for the third year in a row will be an rave-up set by Rich Layton and The Troublemakers ... you might want to drop in to see what condition your condition is in ... 9 pm, $3

AndAndAnd headlines Willamette Week's best new band show at Mississippi Studios ... 9 pm, free

Black Francis ...the former Pixie (Frank Black) - will be at the Aladdin Theater tonight. Mark Lemhouse will open ... 8 pm, $20

Brassy night at Jimmy Mak's with the sax quartet, The Quadraphonnes, who'll be helping celebrate the CD release of Trombone 8.  Preview of the show at Oregon Music News ... and an interview with The Quadraphonnes ...  8 pm, $12

It's bossa nova time at Wilf's with the Bill Beach Trio and Rebecca Kilgore. It's a CD release for Beach  ... 8 pm, $??

Solid indie rock show at the Doug Fir with The Dimes, Derby, and Violet Isle ... 9 pm, $19

The New Iberians will throw down some cajun, zydeco and blues at The Portland Eagles Lodge (SE Hawthorne & 49th) ... 8 pm, $??

Paris Slim Steve Kerin and Jim Miller are at Vino Vixens ... 8 pm, $5

Lewi Longmire will be rockin' Biddy McGraw's ... 9:30 pm, no cover

Thursday, May 5, 2011

The boss said I could...

Well, tonight will probably partake of night three of the M.Ward shows at the new Crystal Hotel. Tomorrow, the lovely Frank Black (Black Francis, Charles...so many names, so little time...) will be at the Aladdin doing a solo show. Frank holds a special place in my heart, as my friend, Duane Jarvis, played with him right before his passing and the last time he was in town, he kept a light on stage where Duane would have stood, accompanying him. I find his solo work much more to my liking than the Pixies (personal opinion..) Looks like summer music fun is heating up...guess I better find that real job, so I can afford it...
..oh yeah...and also at the Aladdin on Saturday, Savoy Brown...last time I saw them, Fleetwood Mac (sans Lindsey and the goat singer) were the openers....

Thursday live music picks

Good stuff  ... but before I get to those, this week's WW published the annual selections for Portland's best new bands .... check it out here.... and the top band (And And And) plus two others from the list will be at Mississippi Studios on Friday night ... more on that in the next post.

Thursday
Some of the usual and dependable - Lewi Longmire and band for happy hour at the Laurelthirst, The Don of Division Street at Biddy's, or The Portland Playboys at Duff's (all 6 pm) ... Mel Brown B3 Organ Band at Jimmy Mak's (8 pm, $5) ...

As it is Cinco de Mayo, there are lots of choices like the Bobby Torres Ensemble at Vie de Boheme (7 pm, $12 with salsa dance lesson, too!) ... and what I understand are probably the hottest latin bands in town at Andrea's Cha Cha Club (832 SE Grand Ave, 503-230-1166) - Dina and Bamba Y Su Pilon D'Azucar with La Descarga Cubana.

The Alan Jones Quintet is at The Blue Monk ... 8 pm, $5

Rollie Tussing & The Diminished 7 will be at the Laurelthirst ... 9:30 pm, $4

The Red Hot Blues Sisters are at Duff's ... 9 pm, $??

The Crystal Hotel grand opening celebration continues with Scott McCaughey and friends at Al's Den (tomorrow night too) and the last of the M.Ward shows at the Crystal Ballroom.

Britain's Eddie & The Hot Rods bring their pub rock sound to Dante's ... 9 pm, $12

... and KT Tunstall is in town tonight at the Aladdin ... 8 pm, $25

 ... should post more later about a very full weekend of great live music around town including Stephanie Schneiderman's CD release show, the annual Lebowski Fest, a tribute to Robert Johnson, and Steve Earle putting in an appearance at Music Millennium.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Celebrate the opening of the Crystal Hotel all week

Content
M. Ward and a host of other great performers will team up beginning tonight to celebrate the grand opening of The Crystal Ballroom's new Crystal Hotel. It kicks off tonight with Ward being joined by the Corin Tucker Band. Wednesday it will be with David Bazan. And, on Thursday, M. Ward and Built to Spill's Doug Martsch will be combining folk rock and indie rock experimentation during this unique Portland performance to cap off the three nights. Other venues on the site (Lola's Room, Al's Den, Ringler's Pub) will have performers including Mel Brown and Scott McCaughey all week. Those performances are free.

Details for all the shows here .... Free events at the hotel and venues begin at 4 pm. The Crystal Ballroom shows start at 9 pm (doors 8:00 pm), $25, All ages