Lipstick and Guitar Licks this Friday!

Go to this link for a feature article written for CoolCleveland.com on the concert the English Department at Streetsboro High School is sponsoring this Friday, November 6.
http://www.coolcleveland.com/index.php/Main/Cielec110409
Thanks!

Attention Browns fans

I am still writing for the Orange and Brown Report, a must read for all Cleveland sports fans (even for as painful as that can be at times!). The magazine is free when you sign up for amembership for scout.com's website services, which are the best in sports and is now in partnership with Fox Sports.

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Below is an article I wrote several months ago for the OBR on the Wildcat offense.

Upcoming Special Event

The Creative Language Arts Program at Streetsboro High School
Along with Gateway City Records and HCER
Present Singer Songwriter
Amy Kuney
in Concert
Friday, November 6 at Hudson Middle School
77 North Oviatt Street, Hudson, Ohio
Tickets are $8.00 in advance, $10.00 day of show
Tickets available at Streetsboro High School

The Hot Club of Cowtown 29 September 2009 at Nighttown

It is great to see the survival and revival of Django Reinhardt style swing jazz in today’s roots music movement. At Nighttown alone over the last few months we have had both the Hot Club of Detroit and the Hot Club of San Francisco perform. Add to the list of “Hot Clubs” (named after Reinhardt’s “Quintette du Hot Club de France” or “Hot Club of Paris”) Texas’s the Hot Club of Cowtown, who doe a pretty good job of channeling Reinhardt’s musical via Bob Wills and other southwestern influences.
Last Tuesday night the Hot Club of Cowtown made their Cleveland debut at Nighttown before a close to capacity enthusiastic crowd. I caught their first set that evening, and it was enough music for a complete show, with sixteen selections that showed off all three members’ musical skills and vocals.
Although Django Reinhardt deserves his due as a guitarist, much of his music that has stood the test of time owes as much to violinist Stéphane Grappelli as it does to Reinhardt’s guitar work. The Hot Club of Cowtown revolves around their fiddler player Elana James, who also does her share of vocals and is the trio’s center of attention with her great smile and very good stage presence. Guitarist Whit Smith does a competent job, as does bassist Jake Erwin. But it is James who gives the trio its magic; she is a terrific musician and has more than her share of stage magnetism.
The song list included jazz and American standards, a few Reinhardt classics, some very good originals, and even a rousing version of “Ida Red,” which is almost mandatory for any swing band from Texas to play. Amongst the highlights was a beautiful version of “Georgia on My Mind” with James opening it up with a haunting fiddle solo and featuring Smith on some soulful vocals. Another standard that shined was “Cheek to Cheek.” The band did not do it in the style of either Peggy Lee or Frank Sinatra, two popular arrangements of the song, but went back to the Fred Astaire arrangement of the 1930’s. A little slower, a lot more romantic. My favorite original was “Eva’s Waltz,” which gave James some room to really show off her musicianship.
This was the trio’s first show at Nighttown, and hopefully not the last. For more about the Hot Club of Cowtown and their music visit hotclubofcowtown.musiccitynetworks.com/. As always, there are a lot of great shows coming up at Nighttown, for a full schedule go to www.nighttowncleveland.com. Shows coming up include local product Bobby Selvaggioand his All-Star Quartet
featuring Kenny Werner on piano on Sunday, Oct. 11; The Four Freshmen on
Tuesday, October 13; and Garrison Elliott and his Swing Band, a six piece group with two female vocalists, on Friday and Saturday, October 16 & 17.

Geezeroo 4 at the House of Blues

I wrote a preview of this year's Geezeroo concert at the House of Blues Cleveland on Sunday, September 27, for CoolCleveland.com.
Check out the article at:
www.coolcleveland.com/index.php/Main/Geezer09

Southside Johnny @ House of Blues 08.28.09

When Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes play in Cleveland the shows are always the same. He opens with three or four songs from his usual set. A couple of new tunes, maybe an old blues standard, and then a Jukes classic or two. But in Cleveland that usually lasts only three or four songs, then the set list is thrown away, and it becomes 1980 again when the Jukes were as big as anybody here in Northern Ohio.

Last Friday at the House of Blues they didn't even wait until the fourth song. He opened with "This Time is Real" and did not stop until the final encore "Hearts of Stone."

The sold out crowd of forty and fifty something's loved every minute of it, as Southside backed by a nine piece band played one classic Jukes song after another, including "Love on the Wrong Side of Town" (which they did twice), "Walk Away Renee," Talk to Me," and "I Don't Want to go Home." Amongst the highlights were "Anxious" and "On the Beach" from his Mercury albums of the mid 80's, and a great cover of J.Giels Band's "Looking for Love,."

The band also turned their long time encore "We're Havin' a Party," into a medley of 60's rockers, including "Can I Get a Witness," "Hanky Panky", and "Be My Baby."

Southside and the Jukes will resurface in Cleveland soon, they always do. You can check out their schedule on www.southsidejohnny.com.

As always there are a lot of great shows coming up at the House of Blues including Alice in Chains on September 16 and the great B.B. King on October 9. Go to www.hob.com for the complete schedule from now until the holidays.

A special event of note at the House of Blues is Geezeroo 4 on Sunday September 27 featuring three original members of Return to Forever, Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, and Lenny White. The evening is a fundraiser for the Human Fund, which supports the arts in Cleveland Public Schools. For more information go to http://www.the-human-fund.org.

The above picture is courtesy of www.southsidejohnny.com.

The New Tricks Quartet, Nighttown, 16 July 2009

Mike Lee and Ted Chubb, two mainstays of the New York jazz scene who have roots in Northern Ohio, played Nighttown last Thursday with their four-piece band The New Tricks Quartet. They performed two solid sets of jazz in the late 50's and early 60's styles of artists like Paul Desmond and Chet Baker.

Lee, a Cleveland Heights native who has been in New York since the early 90's, is a gifted reed player. Chubb, originally from Ashtabula, plays horn and has background similar to Lee, gravitating to New York after college at Ohio State. They are joined in the New Tricks Quartet by Kellen Harrison on bass, and Shawn Baltzasar on drums.

Both sets were filled with original songs that allowed all four musicians to show off their talents. Each selection was introduced by either Lee or Chubb, who composed almost all of them. "In his Steps" is a tribute to John Coltrane; "J'.'s Other Bag" sounds a lot like a Paul Desmond composition; and "Absence" a romantic ballad Chubb wrote for his wife and the time they send apart when he is on the road as a musician. All of the songs featured solos from each of the band members, with Lee alternating from saxophone to clarinet. It was quite evident that while these guys were growing up and their classmates were busy listening to Motley Crew and Judas Priest, they were getting into their parents' record collections and enjoying the likes of Dave Bruebeck and John Coltrane.

It was a very good evening of jazz, by four musicians who really know how to play it. The compositions were smart and original, and the musicianship was solid. They have a new CD that was just released, also called "New Tricks." You can check out more about them at www.mikeleejazz.com.

Another gifted Clevelander Alvin Frazier brings his seven piece band to Nighttown on Saturday, July 25; jazz singer Barbara Rosene plays the club on Sunday, July 26; and singer/songwriter/musician Maia Sharp rolls in on August 12. Check out the complete lineup at www.clevelandnighttown.com.