PREVIEW: Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings 4/1 @ Crystal Ballroom

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
The Crystal Ballroom - 1332 W. Burnside
Tue, April 1, 2014 - Doors 7pm / Show 8pm / All Ages
$25 Adv / $30 Door

Posted by Matt 

Host of "Subterranea"

Tue 10-11pm / Thu 11pm-Midnight

facebook/SubterraneaPDX  |  @subterranea 

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Sharon Jones doesn’t hold back. 

Not onstage, not in interviews.  Her life and music are as exposed, raw and real as it gets.  

As of 2010, after four critically-acclaimed albums, she was still living with her mother in the projects of Far Rockaway, Queens.  Although leaving at times to sing on the David Letterman Show, or to open for Prince in Paris or tour nationwide playing with people like Lou Reed, David Byrne and Rufus Wainwright.  

And before that, she was a guard on Riker’s Island, where she sang so sweetly that the prisoners wouldn’t go into their cells until she did sing to them.  And after that they did whatever she wanted.  Her voice brought order.  One might poetically say that she brought soul to a soulless place.  In fact it was the prisoners who encouraged her to get out of there and sing her way to a better place.  “You’re too nice to be in here,” they told her.

(Although Riker’s Island is officially a “jail” not a “prison” - more penalty box than penitentiary.  It’s guys doing one year or less, who can at least keep looking forward to getting out, going home.  And it also holds guys awaiting trial who couldn’t raise the cash to make bail.  Those guys might going to a worse place, depending on their future jury.)  

Sharon Jones - "This Land is Your Land"

Sharon Jones’ stage-1 pancreatic cancer recently went into remission.  She took 2013 off for aggressive surgery – removal of a tumor from her bile duct, removal of her gallbladder and 12” of small intestine - and intense chemotherapy, complete with a valve installed in her neck for easy access so the poisons could save her. 

Earlier this year in support of her new album, “Give the People What They Want,” she boldly and defiantly shot a music video for the song “Stranger to my Happiness.”  In the video, still bald from the chemo, she sings out soul at what appears to be a welcome back party - and happiness clearly ain’t no stranger to the room. 

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - "Stranger to My Happiness"

“Give the People What They Want” is the fifth album for Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings.  Previous albums include “Dap Dippin'” (2002), “Naturally” (2005), “100 Days, 100 Nights” (2007) and “I Learned the Hard Way” (2010).  

A strong theme emerges looking through past press on Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings.  It’s their sense of mission.  To spread the word, to let people know soul music is still alive and growing, evolving.  They’re a ten-piece touring band proving it every time they board the bus to the next gig.  Full horn section, backup singers.  Real-deal Motown stuff.  

Jones recently told Matt Singer at the Willamette Week, “I have a goal to pursue. Since they left me here, and I’m able to do my music, my goal is to make the music industry realize there is soul music around today. If you look at the award shows, there’s no award for soul music. They say soul music left in the ’60s and ’70s. Soul music needs to be recognized by the music industry - even if they don’t want to give me an award.”

Gabriel Roth (aka Bosco Mann), bass player for the Dap-Kings and co-founder of Dap Records (along with tenor sax player Neal Sugarman) penned this creed in the liner notes for their 2005 album, “Naturally” – “Somewhere between banging on logs and the invention of M.I.D.I. technology we have made a terrible wrong turn. We must have ridden right past our stop. We should have stepped down off the train at that moment when rhythm and harmony and technology all culminated to a single Otis Redding whine. That moment of the truest, most genuine expression of what it means to be human.”

It’s been a two-pronged approach for the band, raising that awareness.  The Dap-Kings as an entity have recorded legendary soul icon Al Green on his Grammy-winning Blue Note release, “Lay It Down,” with Public Enemy beatmaster/producer Hank Shocklee on the soundtrack of the feature film, “American Gangster,” and of course, they sent Amy Winehouse into superstardom laying down the neo-soul on her 2006 Grammy-winning album “Back to Black.”  

And bringing it back to the Music Where You Live… be aware that the soul revolution has blossomed here in Portland as well, with our own Brownish Black, guaranteed to knock your socks off.  

Brownish Black - "Footsteps"

z'Bumba Hosts HUGE Brazilian Carnaval - 3/1

z'Bumba Hosts HUGE Brazilian Carnaval Celebration - Two Floors, Two Stages

Analog Cafe & Theater - 720 SE Hawthorne Blvd

Sat March 1, 2014 - Doors 8pm / Show 8:30pm / 21+
$12 Advance / $15 Day Of

Posted by Matt 

Host of "Subterranea"

Tue 10-11pm / Thu 11pm-Midnight

facebook/SubterraneaPDX  |  @subterranea 

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Portland has become awash in Mardi Gras celebrations.  And while you’re waiting for Fat Tuesday to come around next week, there’s still the Latin America side of pre-Lenten celebration to consider - and Portland’s premiere Brazilian music band, z’Bumba is hosting an event this Saturday that promises to overwhelm all the senses.  

The site will be the Analog Café & Theater where two stages on two floors will barely contain the revelry of Carnaval.  Expect unrelenting Brazilian rhythms from z'Bumba, Grupo Arrasta, scantily-clad samba dancers from the Axé Didé troupe (feathers & sequin bikinis!), the 17-piece marching band from space, Love Bomb Go-Go, a couple dance DJs (DJ Cuíca and DJ Malandro) and – in a polite nod to the States and those who crave a little second line – the New Orleans sounds of the 82nd Ave Brass Band.  

I can feel my Sunday hangover creeping in already….

Advance tix available here.

z'Bumba - "Sabiá lá na Gaiola"

z’Bumba shoots out relentless, synaptic-swift rhythms from a ringing triangle and then layers in swirling accordion lines like sweet guava jam (or, like Brazilian goiabada, to be precise…).  The rest is built on the bass-register and traditional percussion, including the large, shoulder-slung zabumba bass drum.  The Portuguese vocals sound like a smile, often culminating in a gleeful full-band chorus.  And sometimes there’s a haughty tone, maybe even a little defiant.  It’s all in the history of forró.  

Forró (pronounced fo-HOH) is the music of the Brazilian people - the working class - and is quite unlike the cocktail-smooth sounds of bossa nova or the feathered carnaval hysteria of samba.  Once considered only “music for maids and taxi drivers,” forró was marginalized and frowned at much like the blues in the U.S.  And like the blues, forró has since gained a footing in its homeland, become cool, even in samba-mad Rio.  True to its egalitarian roots, it’s believed the name “forró” comes from Brazilian workers reading English mining company posters which advertised company dances as “for all,” meaning not just management.  

Axé Didé (literally, 'Rising Vital Energy')  performs dynamic interpretations of sacred and secular dances from Cuba and Brazil, from  entrancing gods of fire, metal and water to the celebratory and sexy movements of Samba.

Axé Didé 

Love Bomb Go-Go describe themselves thusly: Clad in silver and white, LoveBomb Go-Go Marching Band of Portland, Oregon: Intergalactic freaks on a mission to mend, with music, the divisions of civilization; seeking universal equality and striving, even, to reestablish purposefulness for each and every life.

Love Bomb Go-Go - "Orphan Mother"

PREVIEW: Sam Cooper & Co. (& His Many Friends) Residency 3/2 - 3/8 @ Al's Den

Sam Cooper & Co. + Special Nightly Guests

Sun March 2, 2014 - Sat March 8

Weeklong Residency @ Al's Den (under the Crystal Ballroom)

Music Nightly 7-10pm / FREE/ 21+

Posted by Matt 

Host of "Subterranea"

Tue 10-11pm / Thu 11pm-Midnight

facebook/SubterraneaPDX  |  @subterranea 

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The weeklong residencies at Al's Den downtown have become a multifaceted jewel in the vibrant Portland night scene.  

For seven nights, one musician "curates" a lineup that frequently pulls together some of the best talent in the city to perform in the intimate, historical - and at one time, notorious - little opium den of a room under the Crystal Ballroom. Shows are 7-10pm and it's always free.  The creativity and intimacy often make nights in Al's Den feel like you've snuck into basement jam session 

The (Mardi Gras) week of March 2 - 8 sees the always entertaining and frequently brilliant, multi-instrumentalist Sam Cooper on hosting duties.  The lineup promises to span continents, eras and psychic dimensions.  That last one may be an exaggeration, but you get my point.  It'll be really good.

Sam Cooper & Co. - "Flowers Owls Hours"

A talented multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Sam has created a uniquely intimate live production that blends natural showmanship with stellar musicianship.  Whether he’s playing guitar, or piano, or mandolin, or any other instrument drawn from his arsenal of ability, the audience is inevitably pulled together with a shared experience of sing-a-longs, banter and even a “stump the singer” bit where an expected-to-be silly request like “Eye of the Tiger” might be transformed into one of the most heartbreaking and bittersweet ballads you’ve ever heard.  Or he might improvise an entirely believable, and often hilarious, facsimile of the request if he doesn’t actually know it.  

Sam released his first solo album, “Long Lost Love,” in late 2012.  It’s a record of audio alchemy, a multi-tracked mosaic in which Sam sings his poetic, metaphorically-dense songs in harmony with himself and backed by his own instruments - guitar, piano, violin, accordion, banjo, bass, glockenspiel, mandolin and even the charango (a kind of Andean lute)… everything but drums, because there’s some things that just need another brain, and setting time is one of them. 

COMPLETE LINEUP

Sun, March 2 - Chervona's leader Andrei Temkin breaks out a rare solo set in his "Chervona Bambino" guise.  (Though one might expect surprise drop-ins)  Chervona's energy and outrageous blend of gypsy-balkan-punk have spun thousands of Portlanders into sweaty dancing masses, and while Temkin may not be as loud as the Chervona powerhouse, he's sure to bring a range of traditional Russian and gypsy numbers along with his own irrepressible showmanship. 

Mon, March 3 - The Builders & Butchers have been spreading Northwest voodoo soul for years now, packing tambourine and shaker-mad fans into gigantic rooms like the Wonder Ballroom and Roseland.  Leader Ryan Sollee, who has launched a new band called Albatross ,will be sharing the stage with his multi-talented bandmate, Harvey Tumbleson for what could be a mystical moment.  

Tue, March 4 - MARDI GRAS - Break out every good-time emotion and disinhibition you can muster.  Jacob Miller & the Bridge City Crooners will be making the stage shudder with their stunningly authentic, high-energy jug band songs.  Relentless washboard rhythm, a shining National guitar and their dapperly anachronistic clean-cut look that could come right from an Okeh Records publicity still have propelled the Jacob Miller band into high Portland prominence that past two years.

Jacob Miller @ PSU

Wed, March 5 - Amenta Abioto evokes a wide history of the African diaspora through a kind of improvisational jazz-soul-traditional-storytelling multi-complexity of music.  Rhythmic loops, vocal impressiveness, ancient wisdoms and simple truths spill from her onstage.

Amenta Abioto - "Of Course Pretty"

Thu, March 6 - Jeremy Lee Faulkner (Ah Holly Family) brings his new band, the Final Dorm to spread their golden hued country rock that would fit perfectly into the 1967 Laurel Canyon scene (John Fogerty, the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield...)

Fri, March 7 - There is No Mountain is the name for married couple Kali Giaritta and Matt Harmon, who were formerly the core of the acclaimed group, the Ascetic Junkies.  The addictive melodies of their songs are only matched by the wise and often tender lyrics that explore the meaning of collective unconsciousness and humanness in the unfurling Singularity with more smiles and toe-tapping than Jung or Kurtzweill ever anticipated. 

There is No Mountain - "Owl Hymn"

Sat, March 8 - The Bottlecap Boys  bring the weeklong residency to a climax with their raucous energy, skillful picking, brilliant lyrics and 21st Century intelligence that have earned comparisons to groups like the Avett Brothers and the Mountain Goats.
Every foot in the house = dancing.   

The Bottle Cap Boys - Cover of the Lumineers "Hey Ho"

PREVIEW: Eleni Mandell @ Mississippi Studios, Wed Feb 19, 2014

Eleni Mandell @ Mississippi Studios

Wed, Feb 19, 2014 - Doors 8pm / Show 9pm / $12 / 21+
w/ Vikesh Kapoor 

Posted by Matt 

Host of "Subterranea"

Tue 10-11pm / Thu 11pm-Midnight

facebook/SubterraneaPDX  |  @subterranea    

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Photo: Laura Heffington

For a long number of years, most articles about Eleni Mandell would inevitably refer to a New Yorker quote that called her “perhaps the best unsigned artist in the business.”  But in 2012 she signed with Yep Roc Records (Dave Alvin, Robyn Hitchcock, John Doe), so that can now be amended.

They might also mention how she was an answer in the New York Times crossword puzzle. (16 across - “singer-songwriter _____ Mandell”).

Or how Chuck E. Weiss, longtime friend of Tom Waits - and subject of Rickie Lee Jones’ “Chuck E’s in Love” – first mentored her in the LA music scene, introduced her to Waits and financially backed her first album.

They might miss how she recorded “It’s Raining,” the Allen Toussaint song made famous by Irma Thomas, the Soul Queen of New Orleans, and how Thomas likewise recorded one of Eleni’s songs in return (“Another Lonely Heart”).  Or how last year in LA a group of singers that included Jackson Browne and Van Dyke Parks gathered together for a tribute show                                                                to her. 

They might forget about the bizarre disconnect between style and substance when, in 2005, she was hired to sing Cole Porter’s “I Love Paris” which became the soundtrack to a notoriously offensive commercial (could there be any other kind) featuring a bikini-clad Paris Hilton seductively dripping ketchup on herself while eating a Carl’s Jr. burger the size of a raccoon. 

But they’ll certainly mention how she’s worked with producers Jon Brion (Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple) and most recently, Joe Chiccarelli (The White Stripes, The Shins, My Morning Jacket) and how she toured with legendary British musician and producer Nick Lowe a little over a year ago.  Or how she was referred to as “the female Tom Waits” for an awfully long time.

She was part of the first wave of artists in the mid 1990’s moving into the now-hipster-famous and dizzyingly expensive Los Feliz area of Los Angeles when it was still mostly considered the gang-infested backside of  Griffith Park.  The scene included Beck, Elliott Smith and Mark Everett (Eels).  Her 2001 song “Silverlake Babies” was a lullaby for that particular time and place.

Eleni Mandell - "Girls" from the album Miracle of Five (2007)

Eleni Mandell was DIY before it was cool, before it had initials – mining treasures from thrift stores and flea markets, making her own dresses… Likewise, she was on the leading edge of the DIY-Indy Music movement before it became a larger concept.  At 15 she decided to stick with guitar after giving up years of violin and piano.  A graduate of UC Berkeley (art major) where she first started playing public gigs, she returned to her native Los Angeles after graduation in 1992 with a new dream to be a singer.  While doing open mics, she landed a demo deal with DreamWorks Records.  When they ultimately passed on the Jon Brion-produced album, she decided to release it herself - the critically-acclaimed 1998 debut, “Wishbone.”  From then until the Yep Roc deal two years ago, she recorded and toured the world independently and productively – producing a total of nine solo albums, one EP and four other albums as part of the Grabs (Steve Gregoropoulos, Nigel Harrison, Elvira Gonzales) and the Living Sisters (Inara George, Becky Stark).  She has licensed nearly two dozen songs to movies and TV shows, a surprising number of the shows with generic nouns in the title – “New Girl,” “Brothers & Sisters,” “Girls,” “Boys,” “Men in Trees”…

But her biggest DIY project the past three years has been completely different.  “I guess I get to be an ambassador to make sperm donors more normal,” she said.  Meaning her twins, Rex and Della, who were conceived with intention and planning via sperm bank and have been touring with her on the road since they were a little over one year old.  She explained to Paste Magazine - “I’d always wanted children, and I was 39 years old.  My boyfriend didn’t want kids, so we broke up… People still think it’s pretty weird and it makes them a little uncomfortable…”

Eleni Mandell - "Put My Baby to Bed" from the album Let's Fly a Kite (2014)

The twins are the inspiration behind her new album, “Let’s Fly a Kite,” which was recorded in London last year with Nick Lowe’s band.  It’s an ode to motherhood with songs that American Songwriter Magazine called “refreshingly out of step with anything contemporary. In fact, if you heard many of them without knowing they were recently recorded, it’s likely you would think you stumbled upon a terrific and undiscovered 60s folk/pop oddity.”

Needless to say, she’s pretty open about her life, giving unguarded interviews and making honest connections with fans.  Before social media, she was already doing the personal things that have become essential for independent musicians like including a handwritten thank-you note with each CD that was purchased through her website.  And her fans love her for it.  To raise funds for her current tour, she launched a crowdfunding campaign through PledgeMusic last year.  She hit her goal in less than eight hours, and doubled that amount soon after.  The support of her fans has made it possible for her to combine work and family in a decidedly post-modern way - traveling, performing, songwriting and raising kids simultaneously.  “Bringing them on the road has been a joy for me and an education for them,” she wrote on the PledgeMusic pitch. “I’m certain that traveling is having a really positive impact on them. Keeping them on the road with me is a priority. Your support will not only help fund my upcoming tour but will help keep my family together.”  And the ex-boyfriend?  He’s on tour with them now too, stepping into the essential role of babysitter while she works. 

But what of the earlier comparisons to Chrissie Hynde, PJ Harvey and Joni Mitchell?  The tortured and tragic love-and-loss songs?  In conversation she speaks carefully and thoughtfully with her steady, bakelite smooth voice.  “I’m a much happier person than I used to be.  My own records, I think, are a little bit sad,” she said with a laugh.  “And now I find a lot of inspiration from my kids, and from life, and having more perspective on life instead of just being this sad sack… and wanting to write about how sad I am.  So that’s kind of cool.”  She adds, “It’s nice for me anyway.”

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“Gifted with a voice that’s as smoky and coolly moderate as a chanteuse secreting a pearl-handled revolver beneath her dress in a noir novel.” – The Los Angeles Times

“…her voice, which seems simultaneously cool and warm to the touch… her lyrics, which benefit from a poet's eye for detail without falling victim to the trap of being more enamored of the description than the thing she's describing.” -- NPR

“Eleni Mandell combines a sweet, slightly sad but still innocent-sounding vocal style with mature, layered lyrics that cleverly delve into the messy side of grown-up love affairs.” -- A.V. Club

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