2016

A jazzy draw

Eddie May 5, 2016 No Comments

Courtyard sounds: If you haven’t felt ready to commit the funds to a concert at Mondavi Center’s Jackson Hall, note that there are other ways to enjoy the performing arts center’s programming.

One of those is the Mondavi Center’s Corin Courtyard. The early, 6:30 p.m. concerts are not only free, but they are located in a prime outdoor event space, replete with a wine and beer bar, food truck, ample shade and a marvelous sound system.

Sacramento’s own jazz songstress Vivian Lee recently held court on the stage with her able quartet and played a set of her own tunes as well as songs from Antônio Carlos Jobim, Dave Brubeck, Rodgers & Hammerstein and more.

Lee’s quartet delighted fans and newcomers alike with a set that didn’t leave anybody feeling left out. Major props for the inclusion of older fare like “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top” and “Take Five.”

Lee looked aglow this particular evening, often starting songs with her lone finger snaps. Her band of seasoned musicians also added their own special swing and jazz elements. Of worthy mention was drummer Jeff Minnieweather, who played with such dynamics and finesse, one couldn’t help but stare in awe—or, as others demonstrated, film a video.

Many might assume playing an outdoor show is risky with this region’s frequent weather changes. Instead, it proved to be the perfect precursor to the later Jackson Hall show with jazz diva Cécile McLorin Salvant. It drew quite a large crowd. Not only was every table and seat taken, but many others improvised to find a good view, even taking over a staircase.

There’s just one more Corin Courtyard show until the 2016-17 season. It’s Sacramento’s indie-pop violinist Joe Kye, who will perform on Wednesday, May 11, leading into an evening with classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

My only critique of the outdoor series? Book more. Book lots more.

(SN&R)

The Artery Foundation’s Eric Rushing reflects on his decades in music

Eddie May 5, 2016 No Comments

How a small record label grew into a household name

Learn more at http://arteryrecordings.com.

When it comes to the music industry, Sacramento’s Eric Rushing has done it all: a record label, recording studio, management company, publicity company and a handful of live music venues.

What began with his own obsession for attending concerts grew into 720 Records, a record label and booking venture he started in 1996. Rushing modeled 720 Records off of Rusty Nail, a small Sacramento label circa the early ’90s. It released music by seminal local acts such as Far, Funky Blue Velvet and Prayer Wheel.

In 2004, 720 blossomed into the Artery Foundation. As a full-fledged national company, Artery is now practically a household name, with showcases at major annual industry gatherings like South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.

Rushing’s management roster totals more than 25 acts, including Conquer Divide, a scenecore metal outfit; Anvil, a legendary Canadian thrash band; and Alesana, a metalcore act from North Carolina. And he’s got a great team behind him, with Will Stevenson leading the management side and Shan Dan Horan, a transplant from Century Media Records, running the label, Artery Recordings.

Most Sacramento bands probably think of Rushing as the Ace of Spades guy. Though he still books the venue, he and partner Bret Bair are now employees of Live Nation, which bought Ace of Spades earlier this year. Rushing also sold his stake in local establishments like LowBrau and Tank House in order to purchase a public relations company, High Road Publicity, and a local studio dubbed Gold Standard Sounds. He and Bair maintain their two smaller venues, Goldfield Trading Post and the Boardwalk in Orangevale.

Still, there were some hiccups. For example, Rushing and Bair left their management roles at downtown’s Assembly Music Hall in the fall of 2014 due to high overhead costs, and the Randy Paragary-owned building has remained vacant ever since.

“People should know when you start a business and have a decade-long legacy, it’s not all peaches and cream,” he said.

Rushing also gets a lot of flack for his practice of having local bands sell advance tickets to play his shows. If they don’t sell, they don’t get paid.

“The scene is not what it used to be,” he says, defending his method. “I offer local bands the chance to play with national acts they would never have the chance to. If anything, selling tickets helps local bands be relevant for the show and they’ll get paid if they sell ’em.”

Regardless, Rushing’s main priority right now is his label, which is steadier than Artery Foundation. For example, some very successful acts, like The Devil Wears Prada and A Day To Remember, left his management company for bigger opportunities.

“A lot of bands have the ’grass is always greener’ mentality and end up forgetting who did the real work to get them there,” Rushing said.

What will be Rushing’s biggest legacy? It’s too early to say, but it might be his pioneering of the screamo and metalcore genres on a national level. The impact is in the numbers: Artery Recordings has sold more than 600,000 records in six years, at a time when people seemingly no longer buy music.

(SN&R)

CAN I TOUCH YOUR LIGHT SWORD? OF COURSE. SPACE BATTLE SACRAMENTO 2016 AT FREMONT PARK ON MAY 4, 2016

Eddie April 28, 2016 No Comments

The cooler-than-dry-ice Cats in Space Tour is coming through Sacramento for one night. Starting at 8 p.m. (when the sun is down), people of all ages are encouraged to come fight it out to benefit the Make-A-Wish chapters of Northeastern California and Northern Nevada. This pop-up event is brought by the folks at Newmindspace, who have been doing cool stuff likes this for over 11 years. Last December, the group’s flash mob-style tactic worked and they drew over 2,000 people in San Francisco. Many good men and women lost their lives as well as little children (not really, but it sure sounds cool) after having a light sabre tear their worthless spine in half (again, not true). For the price of only $10, a catblade is yours to inflict pain upon the unsuspecting masses. A catblade is a cool weapon that lights up and says MEOW on its surface. These three-foot instruments of death (er, light) can change up to six colors. If you don’t find that the least bit cool, the staff at Submerge will take you out in the first three seconds of battle. Find out more at Catsinspacetour.com.

(Submerge)

Eight Gigs: Cécile McLorin Salvant

Eddie April 28, 2016 No Comments

Fri., Apr. 29, 8 p.m., Mondavi Center, $13.50-$56

One listen to this 23-year-old should be more than enough reason to break down for a ticket to this Friday night’s soiree. The Florida-born singer can hang with the best of the jazz divas like Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday. With a voice that sounds as if it belonged to another time and place, Salvant excels at interpretations of Hammerstein, Bacharach, Bernstein and Sondheim as though the original pieces were written specifically for her. And while her 2015 album For One Love won her a Grammy in 2016 for Best Vocal Jazz Album, it’s wholly apparent she’s just getting started. 1 Shields Avenue in Davis, www.cecilemclorinsalvant.com.

(SN&R)

CHOCOLATE PAIRING NIGHTS ARE GO IN OLD SACRAMENTO!

Eddie April 27, 2016 No Comments

Old Sac Chocolate Week (May 2–8, 2016 … does every week have a theme in Sacramento these days?) is one multi-day event that everyone with a sweet tooth should partake in. Relegated to the city streets of our most famous and frequented region of Sacramento, this event has many special nights that are equally tantalizing and, if attended, wholly fulfilling. Of worthy mention is the gathering happening at both Ten22 and Rio City Cafe deliciously dubbed “Chocolate Pairing Nights.” Sure, chocolate is one of those foods that stands on its own but, more importantly, also serves as a great companion piece for beer, wine and more. Ten22 have two beer tastings that are served alongside a marshmallow chocolate bar for only $10 while the Rio City Cafe gets crafty and delivers several, different mini tarts adjoined by your choice of port, sauvignon blanc or zinfandel for only $15. The two-hour event starts at 5 p.m. leaving just enough time to slam your beers at the former establishment and later relax and simmer with some specialty wines. You’ve been good this week and actually worked your salaried hours rather than leaving your desk to take 10 breaks a day. This one’s for you. More info and ticket link at Oldsacramento.com/special-events/chocolate.

(Submerge)

Twenty Years After They Split, British Shoegaze Band Lush Still Knows How To Put On A Stellar Show

Eddie April 25, 2016 No Comments

Despite the fact that the band broke up almost 20 years ago, London’s short-lived queens and kings of ethereal and psychedelic pop fare, Lush, returned to San Francisco to play for an at-capacity crowd of much older, but no less enthused fans. Before the band’s split in 1998, the group only released a handful of full-length albums and extended plays, yet they still managed to make an indelible mark on both the indie and shoegaze scenes as evidenced by the crowd at last night’s reunion show at The Warfield.  (In addition to playing the United States, Lush will be heading back overseas to play the festival circuit followed by yet another round of dates in major markets.)

The stage was adorned with moving lights and a circular Lush banner that served to accentuate patterns when projected upon. Many of those in attendance were also the very same show-goers who went to Lush’s original shows in small clubs and theaters  over 20 years ago, However, thanks to both nostalgia and social media, the band was able to graduate to the much larger 2,300 capacity venue.

The four piece group took command of the stage by doing just the opposite. Lead singer Miki Berenyl engaged very little with the crowd and used the space in between songs to let the band tune up and, more importantly, remember the running order. With a set list totaling 19 songs and spanning several different releases, it was customary to play a note or two of each song beforehand to remind all the players which song was coming next.

The quartet had played Southern California’s Coachella festival the day before, but I’m of the belief that their sound is best suited for an indoor stage. That notion was fully evident by the band’s inclusion of more introspective numbers like “Stray” from Spooky (1992) and the always meandering guitar lines of “Desire Lines” from Split (1994).

Tonight, Lush sounded much like fans remembered them during their heyday. Highlights included set opener “De-Luxe” from Mad Love EP (1990), which was met with rounds of applause following the closing chords, as well as nearly everybody’s favorite, “Sweetness & Light,” which closed out the band’s set just before a generous, three song encore.

Also of note was the addition of “For Love” — also from the lauded Spooky record — which received moderate success as a commercial single, landing at  No. 9 on Billboard‘s Modern Rock charts (no small feat during the early ’90s). And, if “Kiss Chase” didn’t make everyone smile in tandem, perhaps the audience was silently enjoying with some celebratory shoe-gazing of their own.

Berenyi and Emma Anderson carried the group with their well-layered and thoughtful guitar lines juxtaposing the rhythm section which, at times, seemed rushed when compared to earlier years. But even a few faster songs couldn’t take away the fervor of their delivery and, of course, the fans’ excitement at hearing songs from so long ago.

What Lush may sometimes have lacked in musical prowess on this particular night, they certainly made up for in song and spirit. Nary a person in the crowd seemed to notice anything amiss as attendees all appeared elated and wholly fulfilled upon exiting.

Critic’s Notebook:

•San Francisco’s resident DJ and program director for Live 105, Aaron Axelsen, kept the music interesting between sets by opener Tamaryn (who played mostly in the dark much to the chagrin of fans and new listeners) and Lush. With a keen sense of musical history and, more importantly, San Franciscans as a whole, his inclusion on the bill was a smart choice of behalf of the promoter.

•The line for the band’s merchandise stretched to the front door upon entry and many fans were buying multiple items. Additionally, handfuls of mega-fans walked around the venue with records and other Lush goods to get signed. Even more gathered near the tour bus at the close of the show. Who couldn’t help but smile seeing 40 and 50-year old male and female fans alike acting like a bunch of giddy school kids upon the show’s closing notes?

(SF Weekly)

Eight Gigs: Saviours

Eddie April 21, 2016 No Comments

Sun., Apr. 24, 8 p.m., Starlite Lounge, $15

Arguably one of the best stoner-metal acts still currently headlining the dive-bar circuit, this quartet has been dealing out some super stonerific fare, showcasing a group that can dish up some musical main courses on par with brethren Kyuss and Sleep. Although different and far more bombastic than the aforementioned acts, these East Bay musicians often blow away the headliners wherever they roam. This Sunday’s show features a rare chance to see ’em play longer and, more importantly, destroy everything in their path in a green-filled haze. 1517 21st Street, http://saviours.bigcartel.com.

(SN&R)

Choreography of change

Eddie April 21, 2016 No Comments

Brenda Dixon Gottschild, 4 p.m., April 27

Brenda Dixon Gottschild, professor emeritus at Temple University, is slated to give a spirited lecture on her experiences with dance and race studies. The 90-minute talk will chronicle Gottschild’s storied background including work as a cultural advocate, a dance studies scholar and her early life as a performing artist and choreographer. Free; 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, at UC Davis’ Nelson Hall, 1 Shields Avenue in Davis; http://arts.ucdavis.edu.

(SN&R

Eight Gigs: Clint Black

Eddie April 21, 2016 No Comments

Wed., Apr. 27, 8 p.m., Bob Hope Theatre, $35-$75

Fifty-four-year-old Clint Black has been putting out records since 1989. The multi-instrumentalist modeled his early career after greats like the late Merle Haggard and George Jones, and while many know him as the husband of actress Lisa Hartman (the couple married quietly in 1991) and for succumbing to label demands when commercial country was king, he returned in 2004 with his own label, appropriately dubbed Equity Music Group, and reclaimed his rightful place on the throne. Don’t miss this chance to see a country great who never really went away. 242 East Main Street in Stockton, www.clintblack.com.

(SN&R)

Bonnie Raitt – Best Bets (Reno, NV)

Eddie April 21, 2016 No Comments