Peel Slowly and See

Heartfelt Chicago band, Peel, present a nice package to rip open and slowly digest.

Peel 6s and 7s

I am trying to peel your heart?

Nikola Dupkanic knows this band well.  Whether Dupkanic knew them before gaining their trust and creating a fine, mostly fair backstage documentary is made irrelevant by the skill used in handling not only the technical but emotional aspects of the new Peel 6s and 7s DVD.

The whole of the film makes the viewer feel a certain way.  Nikola was obviously a member of this (mostly) drunken backstage party.  With digital camera providing few disconcerting bumps in the visual field, the grainyness of the movie adds to the odd synthetic of home movie and bacchanalian revelry as the viewer follows the ins and outs as well as the ups and downs of four young, heartfelt men trying to make it in a band they love making music they love with people they love.  I know that sounds redundant, but that crucial aspect, the love, pops up more often�both directly and symbolically--in this film than anything else.

When the bassist, Aaron, feels compelled to leave the band before the recording of the Radio Space LP, it seems like it is not on bad terms.  The only hint is a deep, touching shot through a doorway of the musician packing his bags.  He speaks of love in perhaps the films best interview, all shot from below and in black and white, and almost comes to tears when explaining how he needs to be back by the ocean.

Aaron leaves the band.  But he does this via email.  Bob Rogan, singer, guitarist, and leader, and a man whose laid back style reminds one of a Wilson brother is extremely hurt that his old friend and schoolmate would do this.  Drama?  Sure.  A reality show?  Yeah, Sadie, the dog shits up the studio, to parallel that one show about a famous musician.  But 6s and 7s is filled with people you can relate to and care about.

Radio Space

And the music ain�t bad either...

A band that has gone through some dramatic changes, Peel has been analogized to the Pixies.  I guess that makes sense.  Tension defines the band, if the documentary is any indication, tension will live with the band forever, but I think that�s true with anything people put their hearts into.  Heartfelt artists are bound to be sensitive about their art no matter what.  Back to the Pixies thing, though, the bass lines have a Kim Deal solidness.  And it wouldn�t be a stretch to say that Bob Rogan�s vocals possess similarities to Frank Black�s.  But none of this is affectation.  This is where the comparison falls flat.  

Nice analogies abound, though.  The great cover art, a very low-fi looking affair replete with Space Invaders and a pair of Time Pilots knocks a visual clue that the music on Radio Space cements.  Like the Cars, beautiful analog-sounding keyboards not only color the tunes, but guide them as well�providing a one two punch of atmospherics and space-age propulsion.

The first track, �Radio�E provides nice example with its inaugural voyage following a bit of the trail left just by Moon Safari.  No dogmatism though, as elements that define the band take over.  Bob Rogan�s distorted vox describe problems in connection which are not solved by song�s end as we witness John Clark�s keys eventually taking him back into orbit. 

�She�s A Ghost�Efollows, providing more of Peel�s fine mix of keys that speak (saying wee-oo-wee-oo in this case), solid backup vocals, and heartfelt vocals dealing with loss.  A sign of a good album, the sound remains consistent.  The breezy �Es and 7s�Eprovides more space-age ear-tickling, with some nice VU black album guitar dynamics, and keeps the sound strong.  A sign of a band with growing confidence, subtle horns appear to lend a little muscle.  Harmonicas and Rhodes bass synth grooves (think �These Eyes�Eminus the corn) also lend an earthy strength to the time-shifting �The Bend�E but the flutes that skirt around the album�s last tune bring it all back home.

Radio Space�s final cut, �I Know I Can Wait�Eis such a fine merge of form and content, it is really difficult to believe that it comes from a band that has only been together a bit over a year.  But on their new Radio Space LP, Peel manages to knock off a hell of a pretty single with its mix of Pink Floyd atmospherics, Black Francis vocals, and Chris Bielfeldt�s drumkit sensitivity adding precision to its stutter-stop pacing.  Peel is just beginning, with all the struggles and freshness one would expect�a band in flux, the sound is a bit rough, but rich with the excitement and promise that suggests.

6s and 7s 7.5/10.  Radio Space 8.2/10.  Peel is a Chicago-area band and plays locally often. Look for them Wednesday, January 5th at 9pm at Chicago's Double Door.  www.peelband.com for details.

Jazz-styled Tunes from the Pure Beat to the Freak Beat

Alan Jacobson explores two new releases from miles-apart artists with similar aesthetics.

Jazz Appreciation

Yessir, the art form went mainstream, oh, about 7/1954.

Three discs.  Three gorgeous, beautiful, wonderful discs full of jazz.  Jazz: the real deal, played live, the way it should be heard.  Players play the tune, inspire each other to new heights in instant songwriting (improvisation).  Audience reacts with howls of joy.  Band picks up on this, impossibly elevates once more.  Repeats until collapse.

George Wein certainly disappointed his doctor father when in 1954 he decided to begin America�s first jazz festival�in fact, the first annual festival of its kind in the world.  Wein�s efforts in no small part helped to begin jazz�s elevation from the dingy bar to the hallowed amphitheaters and classrooms of University. 

Wein reflects, �Jazz is no longer a dirty word�E  And this brilliant set, featuring his glowing personal notes on all 27 fiery performances by the likes of Louis Armstrong, Willie �the Lion�ESmith, Count Basie, Ben Webster, Billie, Dinah, Sarah, and Ella, Miles, Brubeck, Monk, Coltrane, Hancock, and even Muddy Waters and Mahalia Jackson (sadly lacking Ray Charles�s brilliant 1959 performances, but you can�t have everything, can you?) will certainly help the old fan and new alike to continue to appreciate not only the festival, but the art as well.      

Case in point: Duke Ellington�s �I was born in Newport�E 1956 comeback for his big, huge, brilliant orchestra via Paul Gonsalves�s ridiculously inflammable yet unstoppable solo on �Diminuendo in Blue�E  The crowd devours every note, simultaneously clamoring, nay screaming, for more.  Duke gazes on admiringly, comps with that lovely squeaky key style of his, grunts and moans in appreciation.  Newport is leveled.  Became Ellington�s biggest-selling record.  From notes by George Wein: �Duke really believed in me after that.  And it took Newport�s visibility to another level�E  See?  Jazz is give and take even down to the business level!  Long live the duke.

Throughout all fifty pages of the accompanying book, gorgeously complemented by (mostly) Don Hunstein�s reverent black and whites, the feel of jazz pervades.  Appreciation.  Expression.  Art.  Give and take.  Democracy.  America the way it should be.   In describing what perhaps jazz�s greatest bassist, Ron Carter, brought to jazz, Wein effuses, �No one brings as much love and sensitivity�E  Perhaps no one short of George Wein.

Gorgeous Dissonance

Maddeningly enjoyable art rock?  Yep.

Like The Decline of Western Civilization, the Trout Mask Replica Years, the Gorge Trio�s new open mouth, o wisp (Skin Graft Records) teases a thick, jazzy ballast of avant-garde free music sensibilities through often no more than the basic equipment of rock: guitar, electronics, and drums.   

Dissonance and harmony provide the album�s balance--and chief tension.  Ed Rodriguez shoots a jagged ray off the end of his fretboard.  John Dieterich catches that power and shoots back.  Chad Popple keeps the rock afloat and colors the proceedings with a variety of percussive stabs.

The 22 song, 32 minute jamboree kicks off with a swinging toppling piano line which naturally and magnificently collides head-on into a unanimously skronking percussive blast that jags back and forth through the succinct conclusion of the well-staged �a comedy in sun�E

Don�t get me wrong�the gorge trio is not messing around.  Far from their first barbeque and a respectable 3 albums into their career, the band includes members of Deerhoof, Sicbay, The Flying Luttenbachers, and were formerly known (minus one member) as the critically-acclaimed Colossamite.  So, while there are spastic moments of flow throughout, the Gorge boys are well-acquainted with ebb as well�offering plenty of room to stretch out and think during lulls, delicious moments of silence made all the more tender by the contrasting serration to come.

�the age of almost living�Esneaks up on the listener with the kind of seductively tentative pick-strumming that made us fall in love with the Edge in 1985, works into a funky organ vamp, and then simply fades at the end, having said what it needed to say in one of wisp�s longest tunes--a brief couple minutes, and typically jagged, violent, stabbing attempt at figuring things out--which more often than not works out brilliantly for The Gorge Trio.

open mouth, o wisp 7.6/10.  Happy Birthday Newport! 10/10.

Ooh La La!

It�s Barber-a-go-go on her latest and around the country till our jazz piano duchess comes back to roost in Chicago^th.

Witty, sophisticated, intelligent.  These are all things jazz should be.  Urbane, hip, cool.  Yeah, go on.  Patricia Barber.  Yes!  Exactly that. 

Peggy Lee nailed the sultry, smoky, defiantly cerebral jazz female prototype about fifty years back.  Why have we had to wait so long for another just as intriguing and inspired?  The wait is over, for Chicago�s Patricia Barber has hit her stride.  On her latest, Live: A Fortnight in Paris, the cleverness of a Tom Waits collides head-on with Lee�s cool confidence and jazz chops.

Barber�s first live disc since 1999�s sensational Companion, Fortnight features some of the liveliest soloing and trading this side of her home label�s golden era.  Guitarist Neal Alger, bassist Mike Arnopol, drummer Eric Montzka, and of course our very own Miss Barber on keys and vocals absolutely kill in an effort to both inspire and one-up one another. 

Check out �Crash�E an entirely musical and honest, if a bit dramatic, examination of falling into...perhaps it�s love.  Well, anyway.  The tune kicks in with a double-timed drum and keys battle, bass serving as something of a subtle mediation.  Guitar swerves about as the percussive instruments do battle.  The classic torch song, �Laura�Efollows, with some of the most expressive ivories underscoring the affected huskiness of �she gave your very first KISS to you/that was Laura, but she�s only a dream.�Eamp;nbsp; Cue dreamy music.  All right, dead-on.   Just following that is �Pieces�E a complex deconstructive look back upon a failed relationship and perhaps the vocal companion to �Crash�E  �All the pieces agree, the best piece went with you�E brilliant stuff. 

Smartness can often lead to a self-awareness that is very difficult to swallow, but Barber�s sharp, yet sensitive delivery never veers anywhere towards the glib or the smarmy.  Bacharach�s �Call Me�Eand the excellently-chosen �Witchcraft�E(whose 3 minute piano intro is worth the disc�s price alone) each hold so many easy avenues to unnecessary mockery�paths Barber is too damned good to lazily follow. 

The entirety of Live: A Fortnight in France operates from a level that only live jazz can: amazing musicians playing to their heights and feeding off one another, the crowd providing enthusiastic feedback (jazz is till HUGE in Europe even compared to a good town for it like Barber�s Chicago), the end product is absolutely stunning, inspiring to listen to and in addition to being mentally stimulating, also a hell of a lot of fun.  Look for more of the same as Live: A Fortnight in France comes out on Blue Note September 7^th and Barber and her amazing band stir up the Park West on September 11^th.

Patricia Barber Live: A Fortnight in France 9.1/10.  She will be appearing with full band at the Park West, Saturday, September 11^th.       

Driving home from the gig, I switched on the jazz station. �You�d be So Nice to Come Home to�E Cole Porter�s croon classic usually given a respectful, wistful delivery by utter necessity was suffering a merciless, sadistic butchering from some Diana Krall-sounding self-consciously artful jazz singing woman. When the word �fire�Ereached its seventh syllable, I simply couldn�t take any more. My capacity for cheese had been ruined. I could not stomach this put-on after Hogan�s honesty and love..this shameless schmaltzy coquettishness over Hogan�s admiration, humility, and genuine, beautiful expression. This humble expression of what is good, lovely, and human in jazz and music; this antidote to what can so easily and so often be made so wrong is on display at the Hideout on 1354 W. Wabansia every Thursday. Consider me a regular.

Glam's Sparkle Darkens: the Odd Politics of Bobby Conn. 

Bobby Conn plays the Bottom Lounge on Wednesday, September 22nd, and the Empty Bottle Saturday October 30th (also see him at Cambridge's Middle East (w/El Vez!) on 11/6 and in N'Orleans at The Spell Castor Lounge on 10/16).^th.

www.thrilljockey.com

I Wanna Be a Neal Pollack!!