Author: mark

jerry garcia band, ‘electric on the eel’

this is a newly released box set that captures a compilation of shows that the band did over a span of five years at a music festival in northern california. the title comes from the name of the initial benefit concert, held at french’s camp on the eel river in piercy, california. the first show was from labor day weekend in 1987, and was in many ways a warm up for the string of broadway shows jerry and bill graham put together later that october. as such, it not only included the band doing two sets of electric material, but also an acoustic set before that. the latter is not included in the box set, but was available for a period of time on his website.

the band came back in 1989, and then a final time in 1991. culled from the original soundboard recordings by sound engineer john cutler, they have been remastered and sound great. my only small complaint is that jerry’s vocal and guitar on the 1989 show are not as far up in the mix as i would like, but it is a very minor issue. this is the final (and longest standing) lineup of the jerry garcia band, and so the members are the same on all three shows. maybe it was the laid back vibes of the festival, or maybe some other factors, but all of the material is exceptional and passionately played.

the set lists are very typical of this era, and highlight jerry’s love for good songwriters. following up on the heels of his diabetic coma in 1986 and his turbulent marital life, you could argue that the song selections might also be somewhat autobiographical. from dylan’s ‘i shall be released’ to allen toussaint’s ‘get out of my life woman’, there seems to be a theme to the choices. this is also a period of time where jerry was finding his band to be a relief from the stress of working with the grateful dead. ‘touch of grey’ came out in july of 1987, and brought with it the long overdue commercial success. but it also forced them to play in larger venues, losing the close connections to the audiences that gave them spiritual sustenance. jerry’s singing and guitar work sound particularly inspired here, all the way through. the two cuts below – the only two officially offered – don’t really give justice to the overall production. it is my opinion that during this period jerry saved some of his best for this band, rather than the dead. this release is a good example of my thesis. listen to the ‘deal’ that closes out each first set, especially the 1991 show. i am not aware of a version of that song by the dead that is better. another fine release by the garcia family.

j.s.ondara, ‘tales from america’

as i have mentioned many times before, my purpose here is to share with my friends musically related offerings that i think deserve a wider audience. i think can think of no better example than the artist i am about to introduce to you. most of the time, after burning a cd to my collection, i will hit play and then work in my den and listen to it in the background while i do other things. my real listening comes later when i am driving to and from work. last night, i put this in, got through about the first three songs while cleaning the kitchen, and then just stopped. although i knew nothing at the time about this young man, i could tell this was something special. i went downstairs, hooked up the real speakers in the man cave, fixed myself a cocktail, sat down in my big comfy chair, and then started the whole thing over again. and listened to it cover to cover. twice. i never do that. then i listened to it on the way to work and back today. this kid has some raw talent, beautifully captured here, and he has put together a very impressive first album.

j.s. ondara says he can trace his entire career back to a bad bet he made ten years ago in his hometown of nairobi, kenya. he and a friend were listening to ‘knockin’ on heaven’s door’, which he had never heard before. he thought it was by his favorite band, guns and roses. his friend won the bet by correctly noting that it was bob dylan. ondara immediately decided he needed to know everything about this ‘new’ artist, and became obsessed with bob. it partially inspired him to become a musician (he had already been writing stories and songs). when he won a green card lottery, he scraped up enough money to move overseas to minneapolis – partly because he had an aunt there, but mostly because it is the home state of the great bard himself. he taught himself how to play guitar, entered open mic nights, uploaded youtube videos of cover songs, and eventually was discovered by a dj on a minneapolis npr station.

produced by mike viola and recorded in los angeles, he gets some backing help from andrew bird and taylor and griffin goldsmith from dawes. the all acoustic selections are entirely written by ondara, and range from catchy pop stylings (‘getting good at saying goodbye’), to sparse spiritual arrangements. i was a third of the way into ‘turkish bandana’ when i realized that there were no instruments. his voice is his best instrument, usually a commanding but slightly androgynous tenor, which can occasionally slip up to a quivering falsetto. at times he almost sounds like an early tracy chapman, not only in the timbre but in his phrasings. he told his producers that he wanted the overall sound to be somewhere between ‘astral weeks’ and ‘the freewheelin bob dylan’, and i think he almost gets there, but in his own way. he is a wonderful songwriter – simple but sometimes profound lyrics that touch on current social topics without sounding preachy, much like his idol. readers of mine will know that i tend to get turned off by many of today’s songwriters’ attempts at political diatribes, but ondara has that unique capability of telling a story in a nuanced way that still gets his point across. there are also a few love songs, or more accurately, songs about relationships. his dialect sometimes makes the lyrics difficult to understand, so i would recommend getting the actual cd so you can read them in the liner notes. many of the songs deal with his experiences with immigration – certainly in the difficulty entailed in such endeavors – but just as importantly in the hope and promise and freedom that this country offers.

so listen below, and welcome this immigrant into your home. and remember, you heard him hear first.

rosie flores, ‘simple case of the blues’

people often ask me, ‘where do you find all of this music?’. i might write a whole blog post someday to help answer that question, but suffice it to say that i get inspiration from an awful lot of places. i keep a wish list of artists that have caught my ear, and then every couple of weeks or so i spend some time reviewing who is on that list, and then order three or four cds at a time. i am not sure where i first heard of rosie, but there must have been sufficient evidence to add her to the ‘buy’ category, and i waited for it to come out a couple of weeks ago. february 15th was a big release day, including this one, and so rosie – an artist i had never heard of before- had to wait behind the two previous posts i did on that day’s release list (tedeschi trucks and hayes carll) to get some consideration. as good as those two albums are, i can easily say i am enjoying this one maybe just as much. it is just a fun and fresh sound, a culmination of a career in the trenches and a great back up team of musicians and producers. as she says in the video below, she wants people to listen and be happy. it is hard not to.

this album showcases three of her obvious strengths. first, she is a top rate vocalist. not in the sense of the prima donnas from the tv talent shows, but in her seasoned and sexy contralto that can switch easily through all the styles that are presented here – rockabilly, western swing, classic soul, and memphis blues. second, she is an outstanding guitarist. she can shred. third, due to her long and respected career and her tremendous connections, she has put together an amazing supporting cast. there is not a wasted note here, it is all so immaculately played and produced. it just has a wonderful feel to it. co-produced by kenny vaughn (marty stuart band), charlie sexton (bob dylan), and dave roe (johnny cash), it was recorded in austin and nashville. those three also lend their hands in playing on the album, most notably kenny vaughn trading guitar licks with rosie on many of the cuts. flores co-wrote three of the songs, and the rest are covers with a wide variety of styles. being a big rolling stones fan when she was young, the first song she learned how to play was their cover of wilson pickett’s ‘if you need me’, and so she includes that here to close out the set.

so check her out, and maybe take a flyer on her like i did. if you do like it, look her up and see about her career. she seems like a pretty remarkable person. she has been a staple of the texas bar scene for over thirty years, and she has bottled all that up for you here.

hayes carll, ‘what it is’

it has been three years since hayes released ‘lovers and leavers’, an album that explored his recent divorce, self medication, and fatherhood. ‘what it is’ finds him returning to his earlier work, including more character songs, his trademark self deprecating humor, and a few roadhouse country rockers. all bookended by a couple of love songs, inspired by his new fiancee, allison moorer.

carll’s career seemed to be on the brink of stardom after his 2011 release, ‘kmag yoyo’, but his unhealthy habits on the road and the collapse of his marriage seemed to derail him, unfortunately. i thought ‘lovers and leavers’ was good, but i am really enjoying this one. this is his sixth studio album – i have all of them – and i think this ranks with his best work. one of the things i noticed on this one is his sharing of songwriting credits with other writers, a trend that is becoming much more common in his new hometown of nashville. foremost among them is moorer, who co-wrote half of the twelve songs (she also co-produced the album). the songs about relationships seem to have a theme of being honest about themselves and to each other, possibly reflecting their recent divorces (allison had recently left her ex husband steve earle).

maybe the best example of the power of co-writing is ‘jesus and elvis’, a song set in lala’s, a dive bar carll used to frequent in north austin.

written by carll, moorer, and matraca berg in 2016, it was originally recorded by kenny chesney on his #1 country album, ‘cosmic hallelujah’. it may be the best song on the album, along with the title cut.

the two songs that have the least appeal to me are near the end, ‘fragile men’ and ‘wild pointy finger’. here he enters into some political musings, and i think he doesn’t quite seem to get his point across, although his polemics are more subtle and sly than what i seem to hear today.

as he mentions in the title track, ‘what it was is gone forever, what it could be god only knows, what it is is right here in front of me, and i’m not letting go’. he seems to be in a good place for now, and this is a great addition to your collection, whether you are a long time fan of his work like i am or a newcomer to his material.

tedeschi trucks band, ‘signs’

well, it’s early, but this is the best thing i have heard this year. their first studio release in three years, ‘signs’ is chock full of song material that is destined to be part of their live repertoire for years to come. they opened up their shows this weekend playing the album in it’s entirety. this is a must see tour this year. i saw them in november and hope they come this way again later this fall. they are simply one of the best touring acts in the country. this album seems to try and capture that magic in the studio, but that is a high bar to reach. my only complaint is that the twelve piece band sometimes sounds a bit compressed, but you can only fit so much raw power into a digital disc. my solution to this was to just turn it up louder, which works for the most part. this is a selection for your drive home from work on a friday afternoon. it also doesn’t hurt that warren haynes and doyle bramhall are guest guitarists.

sadly, the album was released last friday, the same day they learned of the death of longtime multi-instrumentalist kofi burbridge. he finally succumbed to the heart issues he had been dealing with over the last few years, but luckily he is featured quite prominently on many of the tunes, including songwriting credits. trucks had played with him for twenty years and he was a founding member of this band. he was an amazing talent and human being, and he will be missed.

as soulful and uplifting most of the material can be, there is also an undercurrent of grief and loss on many cuts. much of the recording had been done while dealing with the loss of gregg allman, and then butch trucks – derek’s uncle and one the the allman brother’s drummers. the final song, ‘the ending’, is about bruce hampton, longtime mentor and musician. he collapsed on stage at his 70th birthday concert (trucks and tedeschi both performed there), and then died shortly thereafter. but, as always, music has tremendous healing qualities, and this album is all about that. you have two homework assignments: buy this now and then go see them live as soon as you can.