Jamal Muhammad has a good falsetto. It’s not quite on the level of Earth, Wind and Fire frontman Philip Bailey, but it’s solid, and this is really unexpected. Because the last time Jamal Muhammad opened his mouth, there was nothing sweet in his voice. That was four years ago, when,…
You’ll learn more about the seven deadly sins watching Gilligan’s Island than listening to Ice-T’s latest sloth-ass mess. Consider this: Each episode of G’s follies features a gluttonous Skipper who gobbles everything in sight, a short-fused Thurston Howell III who blows his wrathful stack like clockwork (he and the greedy…
Our recent holiday CD roundup (“Time of the Season,” December 9) was intended to be as complete as possible, but a handful of Yuletide discs undercut this goal by arriving after deadline. Among them were Kenny G’s Faith: A Holiday Album, which I wasn’t nearly foolhardy enough to spin (a…
The Buenos Aires-born pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim has assembled a formidable array of talent for this elaborate bow to the art of Duke Ellington. Arranger Cliff Colnot has deftly adapted classic Ellington/Strayhorn big-band arrangements for a “chamber jazz” group half the size of Ellington’s peerless aggregation, employing sumptuous new…
For some, tickets to Neil Diamond’s not-really-even-close-to-being-sold-out New Year’s Eve performance at the Pepsi Center may seem like a viable gift option for the music lover who has everything — or a really expensive, ironic gift for the malcontents among us. (A simple Charlie’s Angels lunch-box might do the trick.)…
Nicholas Tremulis, with Sonia Dada, Wednesday, December 29, through Friday, December 31, at the Fox Theatre, entered the sometimes seedy world of Chicago jazz and R&B clubs as a performer at the age of thirteen, and he’s been recording music since he turned a wizened seventeen. Tremulis released two rock…
Blister 66, with Sick, Twitch and Dropsound, will headline the first-ever White Trash Christmas at the Bluebird Theater on Thursday, December 23. But this is one holiday party that Mr. Claus might just sail right over, as it’s more than likely that the boys in these bands have been a…
Buzz Bomber and the M-80s know the drill when it comes to blue-collar nights on the highbrow town, pistol-whipping themselves and whoever’s left standing with a crass, beer-fueled brand of punk-spirited music and buffoonery. Playing manic sets like fast-order fry cooks, Bomber and the band offer musical grub that’s both…
As far as the guardians of cool might be concerned, Robert Mirabal has a couple of things working against him: First, his most recognizable accomplishment is his inclusion in John Tesh’s One World video for the Public Broadcasting System, a colorful and accidentally amusing piece of footage that finds him…
The Internet is a capitalist’s dream come true: Slap up a virtual storefront, talk someone into giving you a product to sell, then sit back, relax and watch the dollars roll in. Everyone’s getting involved — “dot-com” is almost as ubiquitous as “the” these days — but only a handful…
Ever since the Grammy Awards made Beck safe for mainstream consumption, longtime fans from the Bongload Record days have most likely watched his every slack-happy move with a mixture of awe and guarded contempt. Give a guy more greenbacks and gadgetry than Santa Claus in a bull market, and it…
In recent years, it has become clear that reggae stars rank just behind teenagers and sheep as the creatures most likely to follow the group mentality. Consider two recent trends: an explosion of Bob Marley tribute material and a shift in dancehall music to socially conscious themes. Buju Banton spurred…
The punchy, introspective melodies of Sunny Day Real Estate are often clean and pretty enough that you shouldn’t mind playing them for your mother. Yet the band has always maintained enough dark Seattle rain in its sound to wash away the sugar-coating of pure pop. Sunny Day has also cemented…
In all likelihood, nothing’s going to happen when the clock strikes midnight on December 31. Still, the government has advised us all to take a few precautions — stock up on some extra water or freeze-dried lentils, just in case. Which leads some of the more paranoid among us to…
The light will break through the Fox Theatre on Thursday, December 16, when the Jazz Quartet plays its inventive and inspired string jazz. Dubbed “dawg” music by the late Jerry Garcia, the Jazz Quartet explores a potpourri of stylistic influences including swing, jazz, bluegrass, Latin and traditional folk; the current…
Hoitoitoi, with Mono and Asphyxia, Friday, December 17, at Seven South, is the latest project from former Denver Gentleman/16 Horsepower alum Jeffrey-Paul, who has seasonally rechristened himself Holiday. With cellist Rebecca Verist, who sometimes contributes her skills on the large stringed instrument to Munly’s performances, Holiday has endeavored to create…
Perhaps it’s the strong economy or a severe case of pre-millennial anxiety. But whatever the reason, the approaching end of 1999 brings with it a veritable blizzard of seasonal albums — as many or more than any year this decade. Of course, quantity doesn’t always equate to quality, so consider…
Dateline, 1982: At the annual talent show at an elementary school, the majority of performers enjoy spinning on their heads atop pieces of cardboard. The breakdancing craze has stretched from coast to coast like one gigantic cultural rubber band, even encompassing the streets of cities like Denver. Kids are spinning…
Trumpeter Hugh Ragin could tell stories for days — if he didn’t have so many people to see and places to be. But press him a little, lend him an ear and Ragin — both an educator and accomplished performer — just might make some time to relay a tale…
In hip-hop, producers rule, but that doesn’t mean they generally receive top billing: Studio chefs such as Timbaland and Dallas Austin tend to use acts like TLC as fronts to deliver their sonic souffles while they hide in the kitchen. But Handsome Boy Modeling School, the creation of rap brainiac…
For the last decade, Kathleen Hanna has been determined to change her world by using her fists. Her latest effort, Le Tigre, indicates that she’s found feathers. The former Bikini Kill lead singer/lyricist who was charged — rightly or wrongly — with instigating much of the Riot Grrrl movement has…
On “Fear Not of Man,” the intro cut to his first solo full-length, rapper Mos Def reflects on the state of hip-hop as we enter the 21st century: “People be asking me all the time, ‘Yo, Mos, what’s getting ready to happen with hip-hop?’ Whatever’s happening with us, if we…
