“Are there any children in the audience?” asked Dee Dee Bridgewater at the Lobero on Friday night. There weren’t. “I don’t want them to think this is what jazz singers look like.”
Ms. Bridgewater’s joke — after a very naughty and bawdy series of double entendres — spoke a truth about the entire evening. Ms. Bridgewater doesn’t fit many people’s safe or generic idea of a “jazz singer” either. At 59, she’s a singular force, roiling with life.
The 11 tracks on Phantogram’s debut album, “Eyelid Movies,” already show a band — a duo, actually — with a wealth of ideas. From techno-soul to post-punk song structures, from ballads to half-sung rap, Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel, surround their music with a mix of down-tempo beats, thick guitar riffs and sometimes ethereal/sometimes menacing synths. A teeny-weeny little bit of Portishead, yes, but the group is funkier, cooler and, well, more East Coast … Saratoga Springs, N.Y. to be exact. They make it all the way cross-country this weekend to treat Goleta and the Mercury Lounge to their ghostly effects.
Indeed, ghostly effects are why “Phantogram” is such an appropriate name for the group, and much better than their first choice, Charlie Everywhere, which they had until signing with Barsuk Records.
Photo courtesy of Hooliganship
Half animation revue, half performance, all weird, Cartune Xprez (its name a nod to USA Network’s own animation show) grew out of the minds of Burr and his co-conspirator Christopher Doulgeris.
CARA ROBBINS/BROOKS INSTITUTE
On his latest record, Mr. Benson wraps himself in all sorts of lush arrangements, with a wide palette of instruments at his disposal. Live, with Mr. Benson backed up by three smokin’ hot musicians, the songs get returned to their post-punk roots, less Wings and more This Year’s Model.
Fans of power pop have been watching Brendan Benson’s career since he arrived with a perfect gem of a debut in 1996 with “One Mississippi.” In a perfect world, fans say, Benson would have had a string of pop hits and by now taken his seat as the new Paul McCartney. After his disillusionment with his major label he continued to put out albums, but with a lower profile. It was his partnership with friend Jack White in The Raconteurs that brought Benson back to the national stage. And now he has returned with one of his strongest solo albums, “My Old, Familiar Friend,” packed with melodic invention, sing-along choruses, clever songs structures and a retro-’70s feel from producer Gil Norton that nods to Wings, ELO, and Todd Rundgren.
MATT WIER / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Sir George Martin, the “Fifth Beatle,” the producer of nearly all of the Beatles songs, as well as a composer and musician in his own right, made a rare visit to Santa Barbara on Friday.
Mr. Martin was at The Granada to promote the world premiere of his own “The Mission Chorales” with the Santa Barbara Choral Society and Orchestra. He conducts the orchestra on both Saturday and Sunday.
Dwight McCann photo
Castillo also has an impressive résumé. Born in Detroit, but an Oakland resident since his 11th birthday, he picked up the sax at 14 and has never stopped playing. At 16, he and the first incarnation of Tower of Power were sneaking into East Bay clubs and laying down an irresistible dance beat. This Thursday, the band stops by the Chumash Casino Resort to remind the fans that Power cannot be stopped.
“These are videos for musicians who don’t need to be the star of the video,” explained Mills. “You will see that, over the years, Radiohead appear in their videos less and less. When they first started out, they were your typical band and were in the videos. These days, if you see Thom Yorke you’re lucky. These tend to be artists that aren’t interested in themselves as rock or pop stars.”
Beck’s current revamp of his site is all sorts of awesome. First we get the weekly cover versions (they’re making their way through “Velvet Underground and Nico”), then we get a mp3 mix, and now we get part one of a conversation between Tom Waits and Beck. Too too cool.
BH: There’s something about that awkwardness of being bereft of a sound system and that volume you’re used to. You’re stripped of that and suddenly you have to make due with almost nothing. And the people were crowded in there. They were about two inches from your face. That’s another thing. You’re singing right into people’s faces, which is another interesting thing. (Laughs.)
TW: You’d like to be raised up a little bit. I played the Roxy with Jimmy Witherspoon a long time ago, and somebody hit the telephone pole in front on Saturday. Knocked out all the power – this was like 5minutes before we went on. Place was in total darkness. People were lighting candles. Jimmy Witherspoon went and did a killer show. He just put his organist on a piano, and he has this big big, huge voice any way. Got right on the lip of this thing. I was freaked out. I didn’t know what to do. He killed. I guess you have to get reduced to that to find out the origin and basic building blocks of what you do are still in tact. Look under the building, make sure the supports are still there and haven’t been eaten through. (Laughs.) But, yeah, you can do a lot with a bullet mic and a wah-wah pedal. But before that there was changing your voice and raising your volume. I guess we’ve all gotten very lazy with all the toys that are available.
Something cool for a hot day…
