Posts from — November 2009

Nick Jaina has been a fixture on the Portland music scene since 2001. He has played in & produced numerous bands & released multiple records on Portland-based HUSH Records. For 4 nights in December Nick will play a residency at the one & only Laurelthirst Pub every Wedneday in December from 6-8pm for FREE!

BIO: Portland, Oregon’s Nick Jaina is a writer, record producer and performer who plays music in many permutations, most often with his seven-piece band. He has travelled with his band around the country, even to Alaska and Finland. The band is known for playing on the street, gathering attention with their improbable set of instruments, and then getting people to dance and clap and sing along, while photographers take pictures and trolley drivers ring their bells.

Jaina’s most recent album WOOL was released in March of 2008 on Hush Records. It is a quiet bedtime album, with deceptively simple storybook lyrics and very clear, plaintive melodies.

URL: http://www.nickjaina.com/

PRESS: Razing Mississippi / Berkeley Place / NPR / Daytrotter

MP3/Download: Nick Jaina – Maybe Cocaine
MP3/Download: Nick Jaina – Winding Sheet

Nick Jaina Residency @ Laurelthirst Pub – December 2009

• Dec 2, 2009 * Happy hour @ Laurelthirst Pub – 6-8PM – FREE!
• Dec 9, 2009 * Happy hour @ Laurelthirst Pub – 6-8PM – FRE
• Dec 16, 2009 * Happy hour @ Laurelthirst Pub – 6-8PM – FREE!
• Dec 23, 2009 * Happy hour @ Laurelthirst Pub – 6-8PM – FREE!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvKy3Fnfuc0]

Thanksgiving arrives this Thursday which means that the next few weeks will fly by like in a holiday maelstrom of eating, drinking and giving which will culminate with New Years before you know it.

The Swell Season is back with a new album & a new backing band….The Frames! The Frames frontman Glen Hansard has recruited his band to join the success that is The Swell Season. We are HUGE Frames fans here in the Basement & we are excited to hear these songs fleshed out by a full band. The new album entered the US @ #15 on the Billboard charts. Check them out at the Crystal Ballroom this week!

BIO: The Swell Season, the Oscar-winning duo of Frames frontman Glen Hansard and Czech ingénue Marketa Irglova, are putting the finishing touches on ‘Strict Joy,’ (Oct 27/Anti- Records), the follow-up to their beloved, surprise hit 2007 film and gold-certified soundtrack ‘Once.’ The twelve new, original songs on ‘Strict Joy’ were recorded last year and document a time of great change and tumult.

‘Strict Joy,’ which borrows its name from a work by Irish poet James Stephens, was co-produced by Hansard and Peter Katis (The National, Interpol), and recorded mostly at Katis’ Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, CT. In addition to Hansard and Irglova, the album features Frames members Colm Mac Iomaire (violin), Joe Doyle (bass), Rob Bochnik (guitar), plus guitarist Javier Mas (Leonard Cohen), pianist Thomas Bartlett (Doveman), percussionist Chad Taylor (Chicago Underground Duo), horn players Steven Bernstein and Clark Gayton from Levon Helm’s band, and others.

The Swell Season generated a wave of acclaim during the 2008 awards season including two Grammy nominations and an Oscar win for Best Original Song, for their hit single “Falling Slowly.” The duo performed the song on the Oscars telecast, and Irglova provided one of the most memorable and poignant moments of the evening when host Jon Stewart called her back to the stage after a commercial break to give her acceptance speech.

The success of ‘Once’ also led to a sold out world tour for The Swell Season which was captured for an upcoming documentary.

URL: http://www.theswellseason.com/

PRESS: Rolling Stone / CNN / NPR

MP3/Download: The Swell Season – In These Arms
MP3/Download: The Swell Season – Low Rising
MP3/Download: The Swell Season – I Have Loved You Wrong

Crystal Ballroom
Tuesday, November 24
THE SWELL SEASON
featuring Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglovia
w/ DOVEMAN
7 p.m. doors, 8 p.m. show | $30 advance, $35 day of show | All ages
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crS5ti-Py7Q]

Canada’s very cool label, Arts & Crafts, which hosts Broken Social Scene & the various side projects that have spawned over the last few years including Fiest, Jason Cottlett, Kevin Drew & more! The Hidden Cameras are touring behind a new album & traveling the world to promote it! Orchestrated by leader Joel Gibb, The Hidden Cameras’ latest work, Origin: Orphan, is impressive & i think Portland will love this live show!

BIO: To speak of an artist’s “growth” is an unforgivable cliche, but it’s hard to describe Origin:Orphan, The Hidden Cameras‘ latest release, as anything but an evolutionary leap beyond their previous efforts. With this album, their fourth studio record proper, Toronto’s self-proclaimed “mild-mannered army” have sunk their roots deeper, branched wider, and gained a new musical maturity–simultaneously finding inspiration from more unexpected sources and creating some of their catchiest songs to date. “This album is a foray into new territory,” says Joel Gibb, the Cameras’ founder and front man, “exploring genre as a theme in itself while retaining classic Hidden Cameras moments.” Gibb has been spending time in Berlin for the last four years, and attributes at least some of the band’s mounting sophistication to his exposure to German classical music. “Ratify the New”, the first track on Origin:Orphan, for instance, starts with a single droning note, sustained for nearly two and a half minutes before Gibb’s voice breaks in. The single note is a musical device that recalls the prelude of Wagner’s opera Das Rheingold, which opens with 136 bars in the chord of E flat major. Yet European high art is not the only influence on the heady brew of this song about the death of old things and the birth of fresh ones. Jamie McCarthy’s violin, tuned to sound like an erhu, the Chinese two-stringed fiddle, repeats a melodic phrase together with drums and cello to sound strikingly like a traditional Chinese orchestra.

It’s no secret that The Hidden Cameras is Gibb’s baby, and, in some ways, we can regard the band as a solo project. He writes all the songs, sings them, plays guitar and a number of other instruments on record, and designs the CD covers and stage sets (he also exhibits his art in galleries around the world). Since his live debut in a Toronto West End art gallery in 2001, a rotating cast of regulars and special guests has contributed to recordings, videos, and live performances across North America and Europe. “We’ve toured Europe many times,” he observes. “We’re an increasingly international band. Origin:Orphan bridges cities; tracks were recorded in Toronto, but overdubbed in Berlin and London.”

Rather than the simple rhythms and hymn-like tunes of years past, Origin:Orphan features more intricate textures and varied atmospheres, often darker ones. The processional pace, minor key, and dramatic orchestration of strings and horns in “Walk On”, for example, give the song a melancholy, almost mournful tone. The album’s title song is another case in point, its echoing drums, a stuttering loop of sampled guitar, and lyrics that meld existential angst with scathing criticism (“A whore when he speaks/A whore when he thinks”) combine to suggest a sinisterly seductive desolation.

URL: http://www.thehiddencameras.com

PRESS: Pitchfork / Spinner / ShockHound

MP3/Download: Hidden Cameras – In the NA
MP3/Download: Hidden Cameras – He Falls to Me

Doug Fir
Saturday, November 21
Hidden Cameras
with Gentleman Reg
Doors at 8pm, Show at 9pm
$10 advance, $12 day of show

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk4NR7oVNLw]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qthNLwFHiB4]

Portland finally gets LUCKY & we catch a show on the Playing For Change tour in the intimate confines of the Aladdin Theater. The Playing For Change album/phenomenon is sweeping the country & stopping at 2,000-3000 seats venues in most major markets. It’s a very cool idea & project put on my some very cool folks. If you can’t make to the show, check out the story & videos below for a taste!

The Playing For Change band features musicians from around the globe, many of whom appeared in the now ubiquitous “Stand By Me” video (which has been viewed on the internet more than 30 million times) including New Orleans based blues singer Grandpa Elliott and soul singer Clarence Bekker from Amsterdam. Momentum has continued to build for the project as founder Mark Johnson and the musicians of Playing For Change were just named “Persons of the Week” on ABC’s “World News Tonight with Charlie Gibson.” Playing For Change has been one of 2009’s most unlikely and startling cultural phenomenons. Hear Music’s two-disc CD/DVD Playing For Change – Songs Around the World, released on April 28th, stunned the music industry selling over twenty-six thousand copies in its first week and landing at #10 on Billboard’s Top 200 Pop chart. This remarkable and unpredicted popular response has been driven by tens of millions of video hits, countless blogs and pure viral communication between fans and followers. The project’s deep emotional resonance, combined with the muscle of the internet and word-of-mouth has struck a profoundly enduring chord world-wide. A story of hope, struggle, perseverance and joy, “PLAYING FOR CHANGE: Peace Through Music” is the documentary of this unparalleled international musical collaboration and its remarkable power of redemption.

URL: http://www.playingforchange.com/

PRESS: PBS / NPR

MP3/Download: PFC World Ensemble – Stand By Me
MP3/Download: PFC World Ensemble – Biko
MP3/Download: Afro Fiesta – Talkin Bout A Revolution (Capetown, South Africa)

Aladdin Theater
Tuesday, November 17
Playin For Change
Time: 8PM / Tix: $35

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI_0Hyn57Lk]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xjPODksI08]

Some of the New Orleans finest musicians (Joe Krown, Walter Wolfman Washington & Russell Batiste) grace our city with a very special & rare show of New Orleans FUNK! This trio has been holding down the Sunday night slot at the Maple Leaf for over a year now & this is truly a TREAT for NW music lovers. See you there on Saturday night!

Joe Krown (Hammond B-3), Walter Wolfman Washington (guitar & vocals) & Russell Batiste (drums & background vocals) started playing together in March 2007. The trio has been performing every Sunday at a local New Orleans nightclub, the Maple Leaf Bar. The combination of the soulful vocals of Walter with the big sound of the Hammond B-3 (which Joe also plays all of the bass parts on the B-3) and the masterful drumming skills of Russell Batiste Jr. has developed it’s own unique sound. The trio recorded and released a live CD, Live at the Maple Leaf in the fall of 2008. Live at the Maple Leaf captures the magic of these great musicians. “A killer collaboration between three of New Orleans greatest players!”–Jan Ramsey, offBEAT Magazine.

Russell Batiste Jr.
As a member of one of N’awlins legendary musical families, Russell Batiste Jr. knows his way around a sound stage. He’s played multiple instruments, and has been at the drum kit since the age of four. Even before that, Russell recalls watching his daddy, David Batiste (of the city’s seminal funk band David Batiste and the Gladiators), jam with an endless array of the city’s most talented musicians. That band hosted a virtual “Who’s Who” of ’60s musicians. One of Russell’s earliest memories is sitting on Jackie Wilson’s knee listening to him sing “Lonely Teardrops”!

Russell joined the Funky Meters in 1989. Russell has recorded with Allan Toussaint, Robbie Robertson, Harry Connick, Jr.; performed on the last two Wild Magnolias Mardi Gras Indians’ CD’s and two unlicensed CD’s of The Funky Meters featuring the JB Horns, recorded live in Switzerland. Russell has played with a wide variety of performers including Mike Gordon (Phish), Eric Krasno (Soulive), Champion Jack DuPree and Maceo Parker. In 2001 Russell joined the legendary trio Vidal Blue with Page McConnell (Phish) and Oteil Burbridge (Allman Bros). Vida Blue toured for almost 5 years and released 2 CDs. An industrious artist and creator, the busy Batiste also manages to put time into his own projects, too, like Orkestra from da Hood, who released their debut The Clinic a few years back and Russell Batiste and Friends.

Walter “Wolfman” Washington
Walter “Wolfman” Washington has been an icon on the New Orleans music scene for decades. His searing guitar work and soulful vocals have defined the Crescent City’s unique musical hybrid of R&B;, funk and the blues since he formed his first band in the 1970s.

Washington began his career during the fertile heyday of the 1950s Rhythm and Blues period that spawned dozens of Number 1 songs and made New Orleans the recording destination of choice for hit makers like Ray Charles and Little Richard. Born in 1943, Washington was on the road by his late teens spending over two years backing the great vocalist Lee Dorsey who was touring in support of his smash hits, “Ride Your Pony” and “Working in a Coalmine.”

His tenure with Dorsey took him to all of the great music halls in America including appearances at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem. Before he went out on his own with his Solar System band, he also did stints with acclaimed New Orleans songstress Irma Thomas as well as with the legendary jazzman David Lastie’s Taste of New Orleans band.

During the 1970s, Washington began a 20-year association with one of the most important vocalists to hail from Louisiana- the late, great Johnny Adams. Dubbed “the Tan Canary” for his peerless vocal stylings, Adams was a mentor of sorts to Washington who developed his singing style while the two worked together at back-of-town clubs including a long stint at the famed Dorothy’s Medallion in the Mid City section of New Orleans.

When Washington formed his first band as a leader he was often pigeonholed into the blues genre. But by taking his cues from the likes of Dorsey, Thomas, Adams and the jazzman Lastie, his sound reflects the full range of music from New Orleans. He certainly can howl the blues, hence his nickname, but his musical talents have always defined pure Crescent City soul. In later years, with the second rise of funk, Washington fully embraced that genre as well.

Joe Krown — www.joekrown.com
Walter Wolfman Washington — www.walterwolfmanwashington.com
Russell Batiste Jr. — www.russellbatiste.com

Saturday, November 14th

GoodFoot Lounge

Time: 9PM / Tix: $12

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0sx92p3IZY]

BIO/Rolling Stone: The Whigs — a fiery, young and timelessly tuneful rock trio from Athens, Georgia — may well be the best unsigned band in America. They’re definitely one of the hardest-traveling: To play for a packed crowd on New York’s Lower East Side in March, the three guys drove an insane fourteen hours from Athens — and then headed right back after the show. “It’s like a mission,” shrugs Parker Gispert, the band’s lanky twenty-three-year-old frontman, whose onstage look alternates between T-shirt-and-ripped-jeans and hoodie-and-ripped-jeans.

Originality is overrated. Indeed, there’s something pleasantly, comfortably, even lovingly familiar about just about every last element of Mission Control, the second album by Athens, Georgia’s The Whigs. A riff there, a crash here, a little bit of purloined melody there, a little bit of swagger here. Taken as a whole, however, the disc adds up to… OK, so it basically adds up to latter day Local H, redux. But it’s hard to fault the Whigs for trying, since they try so damn hard. The secret to the (conditional) success of Mission Control is that the band tackles every last rock’n'roll beat (both literal and figurative) with maximum energy and enthusiasm, mashing rock’s rich history, both mainstream and underground, all together into a sharp power-pop collage.

Typically, that’s the kind of approach that gets bands signed to desperate and easily impressed majors– enthusiasm over talent– and indeed Mission Control marks the group’s first album for Dave Matthews ATO imprint. But in the Whigs’ case more than a little bit of honest to goodness hard work played into the equation: non-stop touring, good buzz, and most of all the satisfying feeling of calories well burnt.

In fact, one of the most lasting pleasures of the disc is the sense that The Whigs left the studio each day drenched in sweat– band and board alike. Expertly and very loudly produced by Rob Schnapf, there’s not a track on Mission Control that isn’t primed for maximum impact, not in the slick spit-and-polish sense but in the explosive sense. Yet for all its intensity, the album’s hardly intense. The group’s pop instincts are simply too strong, and if the studio magic threatens to steamroll right over the tunes, the band confidently holds its own.

URL: http://www.thewhigs.com

PRESS: Magnet Magazine / Each Note Secure / NPR

MP3/Download: The Whigs – In The Dark
MP3/Download: The Whigs – Hundred Million

Doug Fir
Sunday, November 15th
The Whigs
w/ The Features & The Dead Trees
Doors at 8pm, Show at 9pm
$10 advance, $12 day of show
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcjmVOAHEvc]