| Jazz guitarist Andre Bush to pay tribute to rock's Jeff Beck
HERE'S a show that guitar nuts won't want to miss: Local jazz guitarist Andre Bush will perform a tribute concert for one of his heroes, rock legend Jeff Beck, tonight at Yoshi's at Jack London Square. Bush, a Grammy-nominated musician and composer, is a 15-year veteran of the Bay Area jazz scene. Still, the guitarist has always found time to return to his rock 'n' roll roots. Over the years, he has balanced performing with such jazz cats as Dave Liebman, Steve Smith, Nnenna Freelon and Jenna Mammina with playing with various rock bands. His sizable chops mix the best of both worlds they possess the fire and intensity of heavy metal as well as the sophistication of jazz. Bush is definitely the right guy to perform a tribute to Beck. In particular, he should do a good job re-imagining the material from Beck's classic 1970s fusion albums, "Blow by Blow" and "Wired." Bush apparently feels the same way he's recording the Yoshi's gig for later release on CD and DVD.
Dirty Dan revs his rock engine
The Boyzz From Illinoizz ruled the late 1970s Chicagoland rock clubs with an outrageous live performance that included twin lead guitar assaults, a rolling (literally!) upright piano and lead singer who pole vaulted across stage using his microphone stand.A biker band, The Boyzz were certainly one of the more outrageous rock 'n' boogie bands ever to hail from the Midwest and remain firmly engraved in the minds of anyone fortunate enough to have seen them perform. Fronting The Boyzz was the charismatic Dirty Dan Buck, whose razor blades and whiskey voice was the perfect vehicle for the bluesy hard rock songs like "Back to Kansas," "Hoochie Coochie," "Destined to Die" and "Good Life Shuffle" that filled up their 1979 debut album for Epic Records, "Too Wild To Tame."Most of those first album songs are part of the live set performed by the still vibrant and energetic Buck and the members of his new self-named group."We always do the first two Boyzz singles 'Shake It Up, Wake It Up' and 'Shady Lady' and of course we couldn't leave without doing 'Too Wild to Tame,'" said Buck.Tonight's Hobart Jayceefest performance will be Buck's first headline concert performance in Northwest Indiana in two decades."We opened for Cheap Trick at the Star Plaza a couple of years ago and we were part of the Katrina Hurricane Benefit at the Star Plaza last year, but I really haven't rocked Indiana in a long, long time, so I'm really pumped up about this concert.
Mews launches PopFest with success
Another puzzle piece in downtown Des Moines cultural Renaissance fell into place Thursday with the first of three nights of the inaugural Midwest PopFest at Vaudeville Mews.
Not to heap undue significance on a club show that drew 100 or fewer bodies on a rainy night, but it was an auspicious launch and ambitious lineup nonetheless. The three-day fest is intended as an annual rally for both local and national indie-pop acts bands whose only common denominator, really, is a deep love of eclecticism.
The launch wasnt free of snags. The first bands keyboardist arrived late, so Matt Ryan jumped on stage with the rest of Like Knives in time for the third song of gleeful geek-pop. Rain shut down the outdoor stage in the courtyard, so Java Joes Coffeehouse next door accommodated a makeshift second stage for acts such as Sedalia (solo singer-guitarist Ross Nervig).
CD Review: Built To Spill - You In Reverse
Indie rock guitar god. Boy does that read funny. What's it supposed to mean? Even the term "indie rock" is tough to nail down. Sort of like "emo", but louder? Or more serious? Or something?I wrested with these issues back when I first listened to Built To Spill's Time Trap compilation. It turns out that Doug Martsch is my kind of guitar hero. Sure, the man's got the chops, but it's his conceptions that really get me going.Unless you're thinking about the music that's been labeled "post-rock" (Godspeed You Black Emperor, and others), one element usually missing (or more likely: avoided) from indie rock is the long song form. While bands from the art rock era loved to extend things to well beyond ten minutes, the "modern rock" crowd tends to stick to shorter songs, tighter construction.Doug Martsch and company manage to split the difference with their music.
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