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Singer/songwriter/ guitarist to celebrate birthday with weekend of shows at Kent Stage
By Malcolm X Abram
Beacon Journal music writer
Published on Thursday, Sep 24, 2009
Happy birthday to Bob Kidney.
The 15-60-75 aka The Numbers Band singer/songwriter/guitarist will be celebrating the completion of 63 years of existence on this big blue ball with a weekend's worth of shows Friday and Saturday night at the Kent Stage.
Dubbed Words and Music 2009, the two-day mini-fest/birthday bash will feature a combination of mostly local music and poetry beginning on Friday night with a duo featuring Numbers Band saxophonist Terry Hynde and local musician Chris Vance followed by respected Egyptian composer/musician/educator Halim El-Dabh.
El-Dabh has composed several ballet scores for Martha Graham and was a pioneer in electronic music in the late '50s and '60s.
Poet Maj Ragain will provide the words for the evening and will be followed by longtime area favorites The Twist-Offs. Ending the evening will be the Kidney Brothers with Hillbilly Idol bassist Bill Watson.
On Saturday night, the music will begin with Missy Raines and the New Hip, an eclectic group led by well-known bluegrass bassist/singer Raines, who released an album earlier this year called Inside Out.
Raines — who has won seven International Bluegrass Music Association Bass Player of the Year awards — and her quartet deftly straddle and/or obliterate the lines between traditional acoustic bluegrass, jazz, fusion and R&B. They don't go for the the technically dazzling virtuosity of a Bela Fleck, but they're all talented improvisers and lay down good grooves and catchy compositions.
Next up, keeping the rootsy Americana sounds flowing will be Hillbilly Idol, followed by poet Mike Murtaugh and Kent's poet laureate Merle Mollenkopf.
The Numbers Band will end the evening and perhaps the band will perform some of the new songs that have been recorded for its long-awaited David Thomas (Pere Ubu)-produced new album, which should be ready before the end of the year.
Evening with Ella
This Friday night in Wooster, the Wooster Symphony Orchestra will open its new season with Exquisitely for Ella: A Songbook Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald.
The evening, in collaboration with the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, will feature classic music from the Great American Songbook and three vocalists: Chicago entertainer of the year Dee Alexander, Chicago Jazz Orchestra singer Frieda Lee and local singer Amy Gardner paying tribute to the jazz vocal legend by singing songs from Fitzgerald's seminal songbook series of albums that covered tunes from great composers including George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and Johnny Mercer.
The concert will be under the direction of Jeffrey Lindberg, a College of Wooster music professor and director of the Chicago Jazz Orchestra, who has been commissioned by the estate of Ellington cohort/composer Billy Strayhorn to transcribe some of his unpublished works. Lindberg and company will be using several of his own transcriptions of arrangements by Nelson Riddle and Strayhorn and others, so expect some very authentic and groovy versions of these classic songs.
Tickets for the concert are available at the Wooster Book Co., Buehler's (Milltown and Towne Market), the Lowry Center Wilson Bookstore and, of course, at the door.
Drummer album debut
Next week, Akron supergroup and Pat Carney side project Drummer will celebrate Tuesday's release of its debut album Feel Good Together with a show Wednesday night at the Matinee in Highland Square.
The album, as previewed online and in the group's previous local shows, is a fine collection of melodic and occasionally anthemic indie rock that should get hosannas from ''hip'' online rock spots in the coming weeks.
The Matinee is a cozy little place so this show ought to be packed and fairly sweaty and I have no idea how the quintet is going to fit all its instruments on that tiny stage.
Meanwhile, Drummer bassist Carney and his other band, the Black Keys, have also had a busy summer recording the BlacRoc album in 11 days in New York under the aegis of Damon Dash with beats, grooves and vocals provided by the Keys and rhymes by a gaggle of New York rappers including Mos Def, Rza, Raekwon, Q-Tip, Jim Jones and others.
If the idea of a (another) rap/rock album conjures up aural images of the Judgment Night soundtrack from the '90s wherein the concept (get hip indie rock and metal acts such as Sonic Youth and Pearl Jam together with hip rappers such as Cypress Hill and De La Soul) is better than the execution, I can say from the snippets I've heard this collaboration (http://blakroc.com/) should be more consistent, and also, you're aging yourself.
In addition to the BlacRoc album (currently scheduled for a November release), Black Keys members Carney and vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach have also finished recording their follow-up to Attack & Release and may be recording yet another album before gearing up for the next release/tour cycle.
Sublime Weekend fest
For a band that only put out three albums during its initial run, SoCal reggae/rock/punk trio Sublime apparently still has a large fan base that still wishes late singer/guitarist Bradley Nowell had been a bit more judicious with his heroin use. This weekend, those fans can gather and sing along to the band's catchy tunes at the Sublime Weekend IV at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park in Garrettsville.
The three-day music fest will be headlined with a Saturday night performance from Badfish, the nation's ''premier Sublime tribute band.'' Also on the bill will be Scotty Don't, Cleveland reggae king Carlos Jones & the P.L.U.S. Band,
funky world/jam outfit Garaj Mahal, Reed Thomas Lawrence, contemporary afro-beat nonet the Rubblebucket Orchestra, funk/jazz group the Macpodz, Japhy Ryder, Street Side Flowers, Tropidelic, the Armstrong Bearcat Band and London-born contemporary bhangra disc jockey/producer DJ Rekha.
Of course assuming there is a Sublime Weekend V in 2010, Nelson Ledges proprietor Evan Kelley may be able to skip Badfish altogether and go right to the nation's newest premier Sublime tribute band . . . Sublime. The group (original members Bud Gaugh and Eric Wilson and new singer Rome) have reunited for a couple of shows so far and are scheduled to play the Big Smokeout Fest in California in October. Can a full tour and/or new record be far behind?
Details:
What: Words and Music 2009 - Two Nights of Music and Poetry
When: 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Where: The Kent Stage, 175 E. Main St.
Tickets: $10 each night; $15 for both
Information: 330-677-5005
What: Sublime Weekend IV with Badfish and others
When: Friday-Sunday
Where: Nelson Ledges Quarry Park, 12001 Nelson Ledges Road, Garrettsville
Cost: Friday-Sunday night with camp, $50; Saturday-Sunday, $40; free for children
Information: www.nlqp.com/sublime,htm
What: Exquisitely for Ella: A Songbook Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: College of Wooster, McGaw Chapel, 340 E. University St.
Tickets: $10, $5 students
Information: 330-263-2419
What: Drummer
When: 9 p.m. Wednesday
Where: The Matinee, 812 W. Market St., Akron
Information: 330-252-0272
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.
Happy birthday to Bob Kidney.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Cuyahoga Falls, OH
Posted 08:59 AM, 09/24/2009
The Numbers Band is 15-60-75! Not 74.
Akron, OH
Posted 09:37 AM, 09/24/2009
Sure is nice to see a picture of them. Used to dance to their music in Kent back in the day. Too bad older women rock musicians are not accepted like the men. Guess some things never change.
big bend, wv
Posted 10:50 AM, 09/24/2009
congradulations bob...hope to see ya this weekend
Canton, OH
Posted 09:25 AM, 09/26/2009
sweet
