What a pleasure listening to cuatro music from Puerto Rico courtesy of the Nieves family this past weekend at Madison’s oldest park festival. The cuatro is a 10-stringed instrument belonging to the guitar family, and is the national instrument of Puerto Rico. Christian Nieves is today probably the most well known of the cuatristas and has been active in the revival and resurgence of tradition-inspired music akin to a country orchestra, with newer flavors of jazz and pop infused in. The brother and sister team were accompanied by William Gracia (conga), Josue Figueroa Ferrer (drums), Joy Emmanuel Santiago (bass), and Manolo Hernandez (chorus, percussion). The band does sure know how to get a crowd dancing on their feet, with Christian tearing it up on the strings… here are some pictures from the show. Enjoy!
Big Head Todd and the Monsters put on a great show last night. Todd Park Mohr led the Capitol Theater crowd through a memorable set list. They came out strong with John Lee Hooker‘s “Boom Boom” and later played the expected BHTM classics: “Resignation Superman”, “Broken Hearted Savior” and “Bittersweet”. The band felt really interested in showing it’s fans a good time and ended with a powerful encore version of “Circle”.
Warm summer breezes, a multitude of colorful dragon flies and good bluegrass and traditional music greeted those who attended the 2010 Sugar Maple Festival. The scene was one of family friendly fun, with random bluegrass and Celtic jam sessions going throughout the day. Featured in the images are Tim O’Brien, Jackstraw (Bluegrass) and Ginny Hawker & Tracy Schwarz (Appalachian Mountain Music).
Memphis, Tennessee’s Lucero packed the High Noon Saloon with it’s unique flavor of punk rock roots twang. This band played for the first time in early 1998 and since 2001, they have played between 150 and 200 shows a year across the United States and Canada. They have released seven full length albums, the latest entitled 1372 Overton Park.
This year, Fred and I finally made it down to the Pitchfork Music Festival at Union Park in Chicago.We were there on Saturday and Sunday, and of course the headliners those nights – LCD Soundsystem and Pavement – were outstanding as expected.
But as usual at these fests, it’s the acts that surprise you that really provide the biggest thrill. One of those bands this year for me was Here We Go Magic. I’ve been their fan since the first time I heard the track Fangela. Their set in Chicago was energetic and sounded great; it was one of my favorite sets of the weekend.
Once again, HWGM has released a video in which they acoustically perform one of their songs. In this case, its Casual from their most recent release “Pigeons.”
Fusing staccato bhangra beats of the dhol with funky, soul-filled horns, New York City’s Red Baraat were in town a couple of weeks ago to treat us to some DnB of a different kind. The band claims to be the first and only dhol ‘n’ brass in the States and recreates (with a twist) the music, mood and excitement generated by a marching band that leads a Hindu wedding procession. Baraat is the Hindi word for a marriage procession… somewhat akin to a New Orleans second line. The hour and a half long, high energy set was perfect for a mid-week’s night of dancing with the band providing helpful tips to get some bhangra action going on the dance floor. It is a pity that folks did not show up in numbers that would be more along the lines of a shaadi (wedding). Well, we are hoping the band is back in town this Fall for some more of the percussion-horn-dholki combo, when the baraatis are back in town from summer break.
What a pleasure listening to cuatro music from Puerto Rico courtesy of the Nieves family this past weekend at Madison’s oldest park festival. The cuatro is a 10-stringed instrument belonging to the guitar family, and is the national instrument of Puerto Rico. Christian Nieves is today probably the most well known of the cuatristas and has been active in the revival and resurgence of tradition-inspired music akin to a country orchestra, with newer flavors of jazz and pop infused in. The brother and sister team were accompanied by William Gracia (conga), Josue Figueroa Ferrer (drums), Joy Emmanuel Santiago (bass), and Manolo Hernandez (chorus, percussion). The band does sure know how to get a crowd dancing on their feet, with Christian tearing it up on the strings… here are some pictures from the show. Enjoy!
Fusing staccato bhangra beats of the dhol with funky, soul-filled horns, New York City’s Red Baraat were in town a couple of weeks ago to treat us to some DnB of a different kind. The band claims to be the first and only dhol ‘n’ brass in the States and recreates (with a twist) the music, mood and excitement generated by a marching band that leads a Hindu wedding procession. Baraat is the Hindi word for a marriage procession… somewhat akin to a New Orleans second line. The hour and a half long, high energy set was perfect for a mid-week’s night of dancing with the band providing helpful tips to get some bhangra action going on the dance floor. It is a pity that folks did not show up in numbers that would be more along the lines of a shaadi (wedding). Well, we are hoping the band is back in town this Fall for some more of the percussion-horn-dholki combo, when the baraatis are back in town from summer break.
