Almost 40 years after the fact, Faust remains a standard-bearer of Krautrock, the German experimental rock movement of the early 1970s.

Just don’t call Faust a Krautrock band.

For one thing, says Jean-Herve Péron, one of the group’s two remaining original members, Faust doesn’t have many fans in Germany, even though it’s still based there. For another, none of the musicians on the current tour, which stops at the Black Cat Sunday for the final night of the Sonic Circuits Festival, happens to be German. Péron is French, original drummer Zappi Diermaier is Austrian, James Johnston is British, and Geraldine Swayne is Irish.

Read More “Sonic Circuits: Don’t Call Faust ‘Krautrock’” »

By now, this might be ancient history in Internet time; but after the jump, check out a quick preview of the 200+ photos in the full gallery. Plus, I’ve penned my thoughts on each of the festival acts in two sentences or less. Keep in mind that in my effort to cover every band, I didn’t see a single full set. And there are just some bands about which I have absolutely nothing to say.

Read More “Virgin FreeFest: Full Photo Gallery” »

When that is the most common thing one hears said about a concert, it would seem to indicate that something was left to be desired. It was a stroke of PR genius to make this year’s version of the Virgin Festival completely free, after it became clear that the lineup was not going to live up to the standard set by previous years. So while there was a lot to complain about on Sunday, from the bizarre decision to turn pavilion seating into a free-for-all to the fact that, well, Blink-182 were the headliners, hey – it was free. And in this case, concertgoers got much more than what they paid for.

Public Enemy (pictured above, Flavor Flav) drew by far the biggest crowd to the festival’s secondary stage, and delivered a set worthy of the distinction. I enjoyed a few other sets here and there, particularly over on that second stage (St. Vincent, Girl Talk, The National were all fun), but really, Public Enemy alone would have made the whole thing, um, worth the price of admission.

The full set of photos is forthcoming, but check out a few teasers after the jump.

Read More “Virgin Mobile FreeFest: “You Can’t Complain When It’s Free”” »

The Virgin Mobile Fest is not today’s only big event. The Reggae Summerfest is taking place in downtown DC today.  The lineup includes speedy dancehall reggae toasters Beenie Man and Capleton plus more rootsy, slower-tempoed performers such as Marcia Griffiths, Cocoa Tea, the Itals and I-Wayne.

 One of the most interesting acts on the bill is not a reggae artist. Mahmoud Ahmed is an age 60-something singer from Ethiopia, who has gained attention from non-Ethiopians since the 1990s thanks to his cuts on the widely heralded Ethiopiques compilations and director Jim Jarmusch’s usage of fellow Ethiopian Mulatu Astatke’s songs in the 2005 movie Broken Flowers.  Here is some 2006 and 2008 footage of Ahmed that shows he is still vital. 

Reggae Summerfest Sunday August 30 at 12 noon with Beenie Man, Capleton, Marcia Griffiths, Cocoa Tea, I-Wayne, Mahmoud Ahmed from Ethiopia, The Itals, Jovi Rockwell, Fire Star, Kunzo & Tonestar from Nigeria, Lionize, Image Band, The Iternals, S.T.O.R.M., and more at  City Center DC, 900 9th Street NW, Washington DC 
Information Line: 202-725-0331

When Levon Helm and The Band hosted a five-hour send-off concert in 1976, it was a musical event of mythic proportions. The Band and its guests—among them Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Joni Mitchell—were torchbearers of the American folk revival. And though it might be overly dramatic to say the movement “ended” with The Last Waltz, it was just a few years later that folk, blues, and gospel-soul began yielding pop to the second British invasion, arena rock, grunge, and hip-hop.

It would be likewise overdramatic to equate Sunday’s Route 29 Revue at Merriweather to The Last Waltz—certainly in terms of importance. But those attendees who’ve made a religious custom of watching the eponymous Scorcese film could not deny the aesthetic similarities. Old Crow Medicine Show, Iron and Wine, the Felice Brothers, and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals are very much torchbearers of the second folk revival, the one that began in the mid-’90s and has broadened in the new millenium thanks to the Web revolution and the consequent fragmentation of pop. Presiding over Sunday’s festival was Helm, the godfather.

Read More “‘We’re All In This Together’: Route 29 Revue @ Merriweather” »

Over the years at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, I have seen and heard lots of great music—zydeco, DC sounds from Rare Essence and Fugazi, weird Bhutan horns, the Cambodian Ray Charles, amazing Malian music, country blues, rockabilly, and numerous Latin styles.  I have also seen many fascinating craftspeople and eaten a fair amount of exciting food (and ya gotta have the real lemonade and the giant pieces of watermelon).  For some reason though, a couple of people at another local DC website would have you believe that the event is nothing but a tedious ‘educational’ experience and a place to dump visiting relatives.  Do not believe that theory. 

The Festival is continuing through Sunday July 5.  This year includes Latin music, songs and culture from Wales, and “Giving Voice”-African-American spoken word, poetry, and classic r’n’b dj chatter.  I recently e-mailed one of the prime movers behind the fest, Daniel Sheehy, for a mid-fest update.  Daniel Sheehy is acting director of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.  He is also a musician– he founded Mariachi Los Amigos in 1978, the Washington, D.C., area’s longest-existing mariachi ensemble.

Read More “The Smithsonian Folklife Fest (more than an educational experience)–a Mid-Fest Chat with Dan Sheehy” »

Lupe Fiasco has just been added to the line-up of D.C.’s Hip-Hop Theater Festival, as part of the Voices Remix event on July 7.  Phife from A Tribe Called Quest will be in town, too, to participate in the J. Dilla tribute/fundraiser on July 8. Note to event organizers: keep them away from each other.

The festival runs July 6-11. Check out the complete schedule of events after the jump.

Read More “Lupe Fiasco Joins Hip-Hop Theater Festival” »

From tonight’s pick by Caroline Jones: “One part kitsch, one part political satire, and one part glitter, the Kinsey Sicks, describe themselves as “America’s Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet.” The group returns to D.C. on Saturday night with a new set of parodies, skewering everyone from Condoleezza Rice to Vanna White. What began 15 years ago with four guys attending a Bette Midler show dressed as the Andrews Sisters is now an off-Broadway revue that’s traveled around the country and the world.”

Read the entire Kinsey Sicks pick for details.

Dee Dee Bridgewater.

HAILEY NISWANGER
Winner of last year’s Women in Jazz Festival Competition, Hailey Niswanger is an alto saxophonist—19 years old and a student at Berklee. She thus walks a fine line: How much do you criticize a kid who’s still learning the basics? Is her position one where criticism is more important or more irrelevant than it’ll ever be again?

But it turns out there’s not much to criticize. Niswanger is a gifted and very skilled saxophonist who’s working to develop her own sound. Her tone is hard as sheet metal, but with a softer, piccolo-like whine at the edges; in soloing, she’s awfully reliant on bebop devices, but that’s to be expected from a young student. She audibly strives to break out of them when she can, and it helps that Niswanger chooses quirky tunes like Monk’s “Four in One” and Kenny Dorham’s “Page One,” along with a neat original blues called “Confeddie.” The only substantive critique to make is that she seems afraid to leave spaces in her solos—a sign of insecurity—but that, too, will dissolve as she develops. This kid’s got a very bright future.
Read More “Women in Jazz Festival: Day 2″ »

Esperanza Spalding.

PRELUDE
Host Dee Dee Bridgewater is probably the world’s sexiest 59-year-old bald woman.

ACT ONE
24-year-old Esperanza Spalding’s star is rising—she’s the youngest-ever instructor at Berklee; has appeared on Letterman and Kimmel; and played the White House twice this year. It’s not hard to see why, since she’s even more talented than she is charming and self-confident.

But she’s also callow. Spalding’s dexterous bass playing was completely overshadowed last night by her singing (probably deliberately so, since both acoustic and electric bass were terribly miked), challenging her own statement that bass is her focus and singing is a lark. Unfortunately, her singing needs work; she subserviated it so much to the rhythm, reciting fast and indistinctly, that the lyrics lost too much meaning. She’s also too absorbed in her own material: Spalding’s imaginative 5/4 arrangement of “Body & Soul” was the highlight of her set, and one of only two non-originals. She could use more apprenticeship in the standard repertoire, along with some artistic restraint. But that’s okay…a Women in Jazz Festival should be about potential, too.
Read More “Women in Jazz Festival: Day 1″ »