Howlin’ Maggie Honeysuckle Strange (Columbia) Who’d a thunk that in 1996, one of the hottest sounds in the United States would come courtesy of the Rolling Stones? Not that the Stones are suddenly enjoying a personal revival; while catalogue sales are keeping them in beer and blood transfusions, their most…
Manfred Hubler and Siegfried Schwab Vampyros Lesbos: Sexadelic Dance Party (Motel) If you haven’t seen a film by director Jess Franco, you’re not alone; he’s so obscure that he doesn’t rate a mention in either of the average cineast’s two favorite reference books, Ephraim Katz’s The Film Encyclopedia or Leslie…
“Even as a little kid, I knew jazz was a great art form, but I didn’t really like it,” admits jazz bassist Christian McBride. “It’s not that I disliked it. But at that point, being that young, I would rather listen to my pop and my R&B more than jazz.”…
The members of Dr. Loco’s Rockin’ Jalapeno Band certainly know their stuff. Not only do they play distinctive msica that celebrates the Mexican-American heritage; they’re also as well-educated as the employees at many colleges. In fact, Jose B. Cuellar, aka Dr. Loco, actually teaches at one: This proud recipient of…
Rudy Ray Moore Greatest Hits (The Right Stuff) Most white folks haven’t heard of Moore and that’s a shame, because he’s inspired a lot of the best music and comedy to spring from the African-American culture over the past thirty years. It’s almost impossible to imagine either Ice Cube or…
During the late Eighties, people interested in working at the Kansas City branch of the Internal Revenue Service probably spoke with Kevin Mahogany. A onetime employee in the IRS’s mail room, Mahogany climbed up the government-employee ladder to a comfortable slot in the personnel department, where he interviewed people eager…
In 1990, Sun Ra–the jazz innovator and native (he claimed) of Saturn–spoke of being “a pioneer going through the forest, not really knowing who is there or what’s in the forest. That’s all I know to be and I know what I’m supposed to be.” Three years later, Ra departed…
Arlo Guthrie, Saturday, February 17, at the Boulder Theater, has accomplished far more in his career than writing “Alice’s Restaurant” nearly thirty years ago. He’s also created a body of work strong enough to move him out of the enormous shadow cast by his father, folk legend Woody Guthrie. His…
“People come to me when they need a certain type of spiritual help,” says the Reverend Dr. Marjorie Williams-Cooper. “What I do is cast out devils, stuff like that. That area. People come to me saying they are being oppressed, attacked or even possessed by demons. Or maybe their house…
Irene Farrera, Friday, February 9, at Swallow Hill Music Hall, is certainly ambitious; the singer/guitarist says her main musical objective is to “change the minds of the world’s racists, homophobes and political and religious fanatics.” Fortunately, this heavy agenda is presented in a fascinating manner. Born in Venezuela but based…
La Musgana, 8 p.m. Friday, February 2, at Cameron Church, is a quartet from Leon, Spain, that specializes in European folk sounds rarely heard in these parts–Castilian, Andalusian, Galician and Murcian styles that are rooted in music brought to Spain by gypsies, Celts, Moors and Basques. That description aside, the…
Upon moving to the Denver area from Washington, D.C., two years ago, vocalist/ composer/keyboardist Rekha Ohal suffered the usual setbacks while establishing herself on the local music scene. But rather than sitting home and feeling sorry for herself, Ohal found another way to exercise her voice: She began teaching a…
Spencer Bohren, Saturday, January 13, at Swallow Hill Music Hall, is a former Fort Collins resident (he now lives in Casper, Wyoming) whose latest album, Present Tense, finds him doing what he’s done for the past quarter-century: paying tribute to American folk music and blues through his intriguing original compositions…
Musically speaking, Gregory Walker is a hard man to figure out. And he’s not about to make things any simpler by explaining himself. “Well, I’ll start off with this disclaimer,” he says. “For some reason–maybe it’s narcissism–I love to hear people describe me. I mean, I can’t tell you anything…
Ellyn Rucker, with Laura Newman, Thursday, November 30, at the Mall Exchange, deserves her reputation as the area’s premier female jazz pianist. She’s at ease and in superb form in virtually any musical setting, as the Colorado International Women’s Forum just acknowledged by accepting Rucker into its organization. Rucker is…
Once Blue, with Lisa Loeb, Friday, November 24, at the Bluebird Theater, is a New York-based duo making its first Colorado appearance. But the approach taken by vocalist Rebecca Martin and guitarist Jesse Harris on their recent EMI debut recording isn’t particularly new: It suggests a preppy updating of the…
If Joan Armatrading had the power to do so, she would change one thing about her fans: their number. “They’re very hardcore, and they don’t give up on me. It’s fantastic,” she notes. “But I would like, as an artist, for more people to know about what I do and…
At most record stores, Eagle Dances With the Wind, the Canyon Records debut by the Denver-based Native American duo Red Tail Chasing Hawks, is filed in the new-age section. And that’s too bad, because, as Hawks pianist James Torres points out, there’s nothing particularly new-agey about it. “We try to…
Many professional musicians feel that music instructors teach because they’re not adequate performers. In some instances this is true–but not when it comes to Lynn Baker. The director of Jazz Studies and Commercial Music at Denver University’s Lamont School of Music is also a daring saxophonist and composer who stands…
Tenor saxophonist David S. Ware is a survivor. Now 46, he’s spent more than two decades in the mine-laden battlefield that is the New York avant-garde-jazz scene. And he’s lived to tell the tale. “Life’s discouragements can get to you,” he admits. “And when that happens, you start destroying yourself…
Barry Black Barry Black (Alias) Even those of you familiar with the odd pop games played by the Archers of Loaf may be taken aback by this solo project put together by the band’s frontman, Eric Bachmann. For one thing, this singer doesn’t do much singing: Barry Black is dominated…
Guitarist/vocalist/composer Luther Allison sees a parallel between himself and the fictitious Jake and Elwood Blues. “I guess I’m like the Blues Brothers said,” he suggests. “I’m on a mission–a mission from God–to make things work. I am very proud to know that the world is supposed to belong to me…
