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The Numbers Band, others will perform at Kent Stage. Proceeds will go to local chapter
By Malcolm X Abram
Beacon Journal music writer
POSTED: 01:48 p.m. EST, Nov 19, 2008
The holiday season hasn't officially started but the people of Northeast Ohio are already in a helping/giving mood.
Last week, the Italian-American community in North Hill held a benefit concert for the family of slain Twinsburg police officer Josh Miktarian. And if I may take a moment to clarify last week's remarks regarding the performers at that concert, I wasn't merely being a smart aleck (I know, sometimes it's hard to tell). Italian is a lovely lyrical, melodic language with all those cool double consonants and open vowel sounds at the end of words. And my interest in time-capsule album covers (which often include performers with cool hair) is also genuine. I meant no insult to the performers themselves nor the nice folks who brought them here for a good cause.
Anyway, this week's good concert for a good cause will be the Music for Disaster Relief benefit for the American Red Cross at the Kent Stage on Friday night. The concert will feature 15 60 75 the Numbers Band, old-time acoustic purveyors Joe LaRose and Steve Downey, Americana/folk artist Rachel Wearsch and her Beatnik Playboys, fun neo-traditional country band Hillbilly Idol, and longtime area favorites the TwistOffs.
The show was organized by the Numbers Band's Bob Kidney, who said he was disturbed to learn that the national American Red Cross is having a hard time getting donations because of these hard economic times. The show offers five acts for $15 and proceeds go directly to the local Red Cross to help your friends and neighbors.
''It's a good opportunity for local people to help out people locally,'' Kidney said. ''I thought it would be fun to do. Everybody wins in a situation like that — the bands get to play for a big audience, hopefully, and you get to do something good and the Kent Stage gets recognized and it's a great facility for music.''
In other Numbers Band news, last year the band recorded its first album of new material in the 21st century at Suma Studios with Pere Ubu principal and longtime friend David Thomas.
Kidney says the album, titled Inward City, is mixed, mastered and ready to go, but the band is waiting on the artwork and hopes to have the record out in early 2009.
It will be the first collection of all new material since 1992's Hotwire and Kidney says the members enjoyed recording it so much, they hope to get back in the studio next year.
''I'm very happy about it,'' Kidney said. ''It has some great music on it, and for the most part, it's current songs and it's what the band sounds like today. Everybody is really excited and it sounds cliched, but if I'm excited about it, believe me, it's good. David drew out remarkable performances in a studio situation.''
He said the band is unlikely to do any special touring for Inward City but he's just glad to have something new for fans and something that chronicles the current version of the three-plus decades and counting Numbers Band.
''It's been a really long time and this has got our most aggressive stuff on it,'' he said. ''There's a lot of very progressive music on it and a couple of standbys [including a rerecorded version of Nobodies John]. In the past, there was always a caveat [with the band's releases] but this time I don't feel that way; this is the real deal.''
One more bit of good news for Kidney and company: The Pretenders' recording of their new song Rosa Lee, heard on Break Up the Concrete, has been getting good notices from folks, such as an announcer on National Public Radio who singled out the song during a positive review of the album.
''It's incredible and remarkable, [Pretenders' frontwoman Chrissie Hynde] just decided she liked the song and we just started doing it,'' he said.
Kidney said the band didn't have a recorded version of the song so when Hynde asked her brother, Numbers Band saxophonist Terry Hynde, for a copy, Kidney recorded a simple solo version.
''Her version is a mirror version of mine. It's the exact opposite of what I recorded,'' he said.
A tribute to Les Paul
I attended the American Music Masters: Les Paul Tribute Concert last Saturday at the State Theatre at PlayhouseSquare in Cleveland. It featured performances by legendary six-string slingers such as Duane Eddy, Billy Gibbons, Slash, Richie Sambora, Steve Lukather, Lonnie Mack, Jeff ''Skunk'' Baxter and, of course, Les Paul.
I must say it was very cool to be in the same room with all those famous, influential hall of famers and future hall of famers. (Oh, yeah, Bon Jovi's gettin' in.)
These kinds of big tribute shows tend to share a few qualities. You can be pretty sure that no matter how good the house band is, there are going to be a few rough spots, as people who haven't played together much or had significant rehearsal time figure each other out. Bobby Wood (who played piano on Elvis Presley's Suspicious Minds and other songs) and his quintet were very good throughout the night, going from the 12-bar shuffle of Billy Gibbons and Barbara Lynn's opening blues tune to backing Baxter and his pretty chords on a relaxed take on Billy Strayhorn's Take the A Train and laying down a smooth supportive groove for Slash to really stretch out and show a softer, more melodic side of his solo capabilities on (what I think was) Vocalise.
The evening's showstopper was provided by former Michael Jackson/Jeff Beck cohort Jennifer Batten, who performed an amazing and technically dazzling solo arrangement of Lover; she recalled Paul's early multitracking techniques by providing her own beats, rhythm and harmony parts and leads, all presumably done with digital effects.
Though the show was definitely a guitar showcase, Katy Moffatt and Alannah Myles made the most of their vocal moments, with Moffatt offering a beautiful rendition of Vaya Con Dios and the diminutive Myles unleashing a big voice and a gospel fervor on the classic The Tennessee Waltz.
Eddy and Mack, two guitar legends who don't tour much, offered the sold-out crowd a couple of their hits, with Eddy's signature twang all over Rebel Rouser and Mack ripping heads with a high-octane version of Wham!
There really weren't any clunker performances, though former Funk Brother Dennis Coffey's version of his much sampled instrumental Scorpio was quite wild.
And, of course, there was the man himself, Les Paul, who performed a short set with his band. Paul is 93 and arthritic, so he can't play those dazzling runs up and down the fretboard like he used to, but sitting on a dais surrounded by his band and with his foot keeping time, Paul picked out the melodies and added elegantly simple improvisations of Blue Skies, Brasil, Tennessee Waltz, Sweet Georgia Brown and (Somewhere) Over the Rainbow.
Paul's a true entertainer, and between tunes he gave us what is likely some of the same shtick he performs at his regular Monday night gigs at Club Iridium in NYC, playfully flirting with his comely female bass player who playfully flirted right back and sang a humorous little blues song in Paul's honor.
One of the other conventions of big tribute shows is that the all-star jam is almost sure to be a big sonic mess. I'll bet the sound guy was ripping his hair out trying to find space in the mix for about 12 guitarists, and if you were to listen to a recording of that final blues jam, it would probably sound a lot like Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music with a bluesy beat and a Sambora solo in the middle.
But after three hours of good music and good vibes, the audience didn't care, because we were just glad to witness all that music history sharing the stage.
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758. Also read his blog, Sound Check Online, at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/soundcheck.
Details
- What: American Red Cross & the Numbers Band proudly present Music for Disaster Relief.
- When: 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21.
- Where: Kent Stage, 175 E. Main St.
- Tickets: $15.
- Information: 330-677-5005, http://www.kentstage.org/.
The holiday season hasn't officially started but the people of Northeast Ohio are already in a helping/giving mood.
Last week, the Italian-American community in North Hill held a benefit concert for the family of slain Twinsburg police officer Josh Miktarian. And if I may take a moment to clarify last week's remarks regarding the performers at that concert, I wasn't merely being a smart aleck (I know, sometimes it's hard to tell). Italian is a lovely lyrical, melodic language with all those cool double consonants and open vowel sounds at the end of words. And my interest in time-capsule album covers (which often include performers with cool hair) is also genuine. I meant no insult to the performers themselves nor the nice folks who brought them here for a good cause.
Anyway, this week's good concert for a good cause will be the Music for Disaster Relief benefit for the American Red Cross at the Kent Stage on Friday night. The concert will feature 15 60 75 the Numbers Band, old-time acoustic purveyors Joe LaRose and Steve Downey, Americana/folk artist Rachel Wearsch and her Beatnik Playboys, fun neo-traditional country band Hillbilly Idol, and longtime area favorites the TwistOffs.
The show was organized by the Numbers Band's Bob Kidney, who said he was disturbed to learn that the national American Red Cross is having a hard time getting donations because of these hard economic times. The show offers five acts for $15 and proceeds go directly to the local Red Cross to help your friends and neighbors.
''It's a good opportunity for local people to help out people locally,'' Kidney said. ''I thought it would be fun to do. Everybody wins in a situation like that — the bands get to play for a big audience, hopefully, and you get to do something good and the Kent Stage gets recognized and it's a great facility for music.''
In other Numbers Band news, last year the band recorded its first album of new material in the 21st century at Suma Studios with Pere Ubu principal and longtime friend David Thomas.
Kidney says the album, titled Inward City, is mixed, mastered and ready to go, but the band is waiting on the artwork and hopes to have the record out in early 2009.
It will be the first collection of all new material since 1992's Hotwire and Kidney says the members enjoyed recording it so much, they hope to get back in the studio next year.
''I'm very happy about it,'' Kidney said. ''It has some great music on it, and for the most part, it's current songs and it's what the band sounds like today. Everybody is really excited and it sounds cliched, but if I'm excited about it, believe me, it's good. David drew out remarkable performances in a studio situation.''
He said the band is unlikely to do any special touring for Inward City but he's just glad to have something new for fans and something that chronicles the current version of the three-plus decades and counting Numbers Band.
''It's been a really long time and this has got our most aggressive stuff on it,'' he said. ''There's a lot of very progressive music on it and a couple of standbys [including a rerecorded version of Nobodies John]. In the past, there was always a caveat [with the band's releases] but this time I don't feel that way; this is the real deal.''
One more bit of good news for Kidney and company: The Pretenders' recording of their new song Rosa Lee, heard on Break Up the Concrete, has been getting good notices from folks, such as an announcer on National Public Radio who singled out the song during a positive review of the album.
''It's incredible and remarkable, [Pretenders' frontwoman Chrissie Hynde] just decided she liked the song and we just started doing it,'' he said.
Kidney said the band didn't have a recorded version of the song so when Hynde asked her brother, Numbers Band saxophonist Terry Hynde, for a copy, Kidney recorded a simple solo version.
''Her version is a mirror version of mine. It's the exact opposite of what I recorded,'' he said.
A tribute to Les Paul
I attended the American Music Masters: Les Paul Tribute Concert last Saturday at the State Theatre at PlayhouseSquare in Cleveland. It featured performances by legendary six-string slingers such as Duane Eddy, Billy Gibbons, Slash, Richie Sambora, Steve Lukather, Lonnie Mack, Jeff ''Skunk'' Baxter and, of course, Les Paul.
I must say it was very cool to be in the same room with all those famous, influential hall of famers and future hall of famers. (Oh, yeah, Bon Jovi's gettin' in.)
These kinds of big tribute shows tend to share a few qualities. You can be pretty sure that no matter how good the house band is, there are going to be a few rough spots, as people who haven't played together much or had significant rehearsal time figure each other out. Bobby Wood (who played piano on Elvis Presley's Suspicious Minds and other songs) and his quintet were very good throughout the night, going from the 12-bar shuffle of Billy Gibbons and Barbara Lynn's opening blues tune to backing Baxter and his pretty chords on a relaxed take on Billy Strayhorn's Take the A Train and laying down a smooth supportive groove for Slash to really stretch out and show a softer, more melodic side of his solo capabilities on (what I think was) Vocalise.
The evening's showstopper was provided by former Michael Jackson/Jeff Beck cohort Jennifer Batten, who performed an amazing and technically dazzling solo arrangement of Lover; she recalled Paul's early multitracking techniques by providing her own beats, rhythm and harmony parts and leads, all presumably done with digital effects.
Though the show was definitely a guitar showcase, Katy Moffatt and Alannah Myles made the most of their vocal moments, with Moffatt offering a beautiful rendition of Vaya Con Dios and the diminutive Myles unleashing a big voice and a gospel fervor on the classic The Tennessee Waltz.
Eddy and Mack, two guitar legends who don't tour much, offered the sold-out crowd a couple of their hits, with Eddy's signature twang all over Rebel Rouser and Mack ripping heads with a high-octane version of Wham!
There really weren't any clunker performances, though former Funk Brother Dennis Coffey's version of his much sampled instrumental Scorpio was quite wild.
And, of course, there was the man himself, Les Paul, who performed a short set with his band. Paul is 93 and arthritic, so he can't play those dazzling runs up and down the fretboard like he used to, but sitting on a dais surrounded by his band and with his foot keeping time, Paul picked out the melodies and added elegantly simple improvisations of Blue Skies, Brasil, Tennessee Waltz, Sweet Georgia Brown and (Somewhere) Over the Rainbow.
Paul's a true entertainer, and between tunes he gave us what is likely some of the same shtick he performs at his regular Monday night gigs at Club Iridium in NYC, playfully flirting with his comely female bass player who playfully flirted right back and sang a humorous little blues song in Paul's honor.
One of the other conventions of big tribute shows is that the all-star jam is almost sure to be a big sonic mess. I'll bet the sound guy was ripping his hair out trying to find space in the mix for about 12 guitarists, and if you were to listen to a recording of that final blues jam, it would probably sound a lot like Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music with a bluesy beat and a Sambora solo in the middle.
But after three hours of good music and good vibes, the audience didn't care, because we were just glad to witness all that music history sharing the stage.
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758. Also read his blog, Sound Check Online, at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/soundcheck.
Details
- What: American Red Cross & the Numbers Band proudly present Music for Disaster Relief.
- When: 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21.
- Where: Kent Stage, 175 E. Main St.
- Tickets: $15.
- Information: 330-677-5005, http://www.kentstage.org/.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
Akron, OH
Posted 08:09 AM, 11/20/2008
Thanks for the info, Malcolm.
