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Monday, December 10, 2007
SoundCheck360: I’ll Be Home For Kwanzaa
- SoundCheck360: Listen to the full album
Every year around this time I dig out my collection of local Christmas music to do my annual holiday show on Around the Town Sounds at KOOP radio. And each year, my favorite CD remains the same, “I’ll Be Home For Kwanzaa,” produced by Diversearts director Harold McMillan and released on Marc Katz’s Bagel Label. Recorded live at Top of the Marc (the space now occupied by Momo’s) over a two-night span in 1997, a decade later this album full of expressive jazz renditions of Christmas classics still stands out. With intricate instrumental solos, heartfelt vocals and the quiet clinks of glasses and crowd rustle in the background, the collection simultaneously captures the intrigue of a smoky jazz club and the warmth of the holidays.
Harold McMillan has generously agreed to share this out-of-print collection with Austin360 visitors through SoundCheck360. We caught up with Harold to talk about the recording, jazz in Austin and life in new East Austin.
Music Source: How did the idea of putting this collection together come about, and how did you go about assembling the players for this recording?
Harold McMillan: There is a tradition of putting together albums and targeting them for holiday release. For years a number of Austin artists and producers had released holiday records but, for the most part, those projects had not included African American musicians; or if they did include black players, they were sidemen.
I had working relationships with most of the folks in the scene at that time. And, the project was really an expression of the kinds of goals I have for my work as a cultural advocate. I basically thought such a project was well past due; and I wanted to produce Austin’s first holiday compilation that featured music and musicians with roots in African American culture. I pitched the idea to Marc Katz, who at the time was trying to get a small label off the ground, and he agreed to support the project and release it on his Bagel Label.
Can you talk a little about the scene in the bar during this recording?
It was an “event,” a couple of truly cool night of hanging out in the club, great performances with a lot of mixing of different rhythm sections, soloists and vocalists.
It was a packed house with a lot of conversation between tunes, hugging and handshakes. In some ways it was kind of a multi-generational family reunion of Austin’s black music community — both audience and players. The specific combination of players we put together for the show/record has probably only happened that one night and can’t happen again because several of the musicians have since died…Martin Banks, T.D. Bell, Pat Patterson, Lamont Johnson. I think the performances are great, but the record is also a document of a time that can’t be recreated.
I love the way the jazz reinterpretations add unique character to these classic songs we all know. Which songs on here stand out to you and why?
It’s hard to pick a favorite…several of the tunes really stand out and appeal to me for different reasons. I love “The Christmas Song” instrumental because of the quality of the playing, but also because of the group we put together to do the piece. This was the first and only time these guys, in this particular configuration, ever performed together…it was just an absolutely great combo!
No disrespect to any of the other folks on the record, but I also really love the blues tune that T.D. Bell and the East Side Horns did, “Merry Christmas Baby.” It’s great. It’s hilarious the way he says…”Sany came down the chimley.” And the charts and horn arrangements that J.W. Davis did for T.D.’s set really suited T.D.’s style and personality.
Also, Fred Sanders’ tune, “Blessed Name,” smokes! Fred made up a short melodic line, hummed it to Edwin [Livingston, bass player] for a while before they took the stage, and they went up and composed — on the spot — an absolutely beautifully moving piece of music, with really great solos and ensemble playing.
Ten years ago you were still promoting the Clarksville Jazz Festival in Pease Park, more recently you’ve been doing events at Kenny Dorham’s Backyard. Can you talk about how you’ve observed the local jazz scene evolve over the last decade?
The scene has changed a lot. In the mid-90s our jazz fest was beginning to approach crowds of 10,000 over a couple of days. We did touring shows throughout the year with folks like Jimmy Smith, Roy Hargrove, Kenny Garrett, Nicholas Payton and Jason Marsalis. There were a few places in town that regularly booked jazz, besides the Elephant Room, and there was a crop of younger players that were really creating a buzz around town….Edwin Livingston, Ollie Jones, Fred Sanders, J.J. Johnson, and others. And sponsorship and support for jazz were more available, as well as what seemed like a growing audience.
We’ve been trying to keep the idea of accessible jazz, blues and world music alive with our work at Kenny Dorham’s Backyard, but financing music programming that aims for artistic and cultural qualities outside of “commercial” or European classical traditions is tough in Austin now. There are the big BIG festivals now, but the smaller, less commercial festivals and organizations are having a hard time these days — at least we are.
I’ve always thought that a healthy jazz/blues scene really needs to be multigenerational; elders should be revered; the next generation needs to be cultivated. Austin has disappointed me over the years on this point. I KNOW that generational respect is there among the players. But I think the folks who hire musicians — especially in the clubs — don’t think enough about nor act enough to support this kind of music community here. The example that comes to mind is the lack of work that Martin Banks had in his last years. Or, the fact that Lavelle White doesn’t have much steady work in Austin.
And, I must admit, I think for me part of what has changed is that I now have to acknowledge that Austin just is NOT a jazz town, perhaps never will be in a big way. That doesn’t mean that I think it’s not worth supporting; to the contrary, I think that points directly to the need for support — funding, audience, education, access, media coverage — to make sure it doesn’t just disappear from the scene.
Briefly, can you offer some thoughts on urban renewal in East Austin, and relatedly, how’s the new gallery space working out for you?
It’s gentrification, and it’s a given that there are both positive and negative aspects of it. I fear, and this seems to be playing out, that Central East Austin is losing its “soul.” Yes, there are new businesses and residents. There are all kinds of “potential” opportunities to do really innovative and significant things to preserve some of the sense of place, culture, heritage and character of what really is a historically rich community of established neighborhoods. I don’t, however, get the impression that these kinds of attributes occur to most private developers, new businesses, nor the City of Austin as they march in and remake the community. The new businesses in a lot of ways seem to have the idea that their success will be measured on how well they do at bringing West Austin to East Austin, rather than including a focus on how they might serve the community of folks who already live within a few blocks of them.
The example I like to use to illustrate what I mean is: What if I opened up a late-night hip-hop club at the corner of Expedition and Windsor. Then I went about targeting all of my marketing to kids who live in East Side housing projects and have a taste for gansta rap and loud cars. What would my Tarrytown neighbors think about my business’s contribution to the character of the neighborhood? This is extreme, I know. But I think you get what I mean.
For a brief moment, I think the new East Austin had a great chance of being a better example of how to go about “revitalizing” a formerly depressed and impoverished community. At this point, I’m not so sure that Central East Austin is heading anywhere other than the “New Clarksville.” (Most white folks who live in Clarksville have absolutely no idea that they live in one of Austin’s oldest African American neighborhoods. There are no black businesses at all on West Lynn in downtown Clarksville. And most of the families who grew up there no longer live there.)
Because the historical African American heritage of the community just simply IS, and the current march of gentrification largely excludes black folks, I want to see this heritage marked for future generations with a cultural heritage district designation. Even though the nature and character of the community is changing and will likely never again be the multicultural/multiethnic, mixed socio-economic community it was in the past, there really does need to be aggressive action NOW to preserve and honor the history, heritage, and culture of the community that is currently being obliterated.
In terms of the gallery? We are hanging on, still trying to make sure that we are addressing our mission. I am proud of the exhibits we’ve put up this season and we’ve found some success with attracting a rainbow family of folks to visit the gallery and come to our events. It’s just very difficult to afford doing business and living in the new East Austin. If it were not for the generosity of Perry Lorenz, we would not be able to have the space we have now. And, I honestly don’t know what we would be able to afford because community support for nonprofit arts groups in Austin (especially African American-run organizations, and especially in East Austin) is hard to come by.
(Pictured: Harold McMillan. Photo by Ricardo Brazziell AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
Sahm, Dorham among honorees
Pending approval by the Austin City Council on Thursday, genre-jumper Doug Sahm, disc jockey/musician Lavada “Dr. Hepcat” Durst, jazz great Kenny Dorham and folklorist Americo Parades will be among the first group of 10 inductees into the Austin Music Memorial, headed for a terrace at the Long Center for the Performing Arts, which opens in March.
The maiden inductees, nominated by the public, selected by a panel of local music aficionados and endorsed by the Austin Music Commission, are a diverse bunch, with four African Americans, three whites and three Hispanics. Gospel composer and choir director Virgie Mae Dewitty is the lone woman.
The memorial, consisting of 18-inch engraved plaques, will add 10 names each year. There’s room for about 250 plaques on the second-floor concourse, which will be open to the public 24 hours a day. The city will pay the estimated $500 per memorial. To be eligible, honorees must be deceased at least three years.
This kickoff group goes as far back as Carl William Besserer, who co-founded the Austin Saengerrunde, a German singing society, in 1879. Rounding out the initial inductees are band leader Nash Hernandez (1922-1994), Tejano singer turned broadcaster Roy Montelongo (1938- 2001), barrelhouse piano player Roosevelt “Grey Ghost” Williams (1903-1996) and music historian and producer Tary Owens (1942- 2003).
More on the Austin Music Memorial
[an error occurred while processing this directive]Waterloo Top 10 for the week ending Dec.
Various Artists, ‘KGSR Broadcasts Vol. 15’ (KGSR)
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, ‘Raising Sand’ (Rounder)
Iron & Wine, ‘The Shepherd’s Dog’ (Sub Pop)
Various, Artists, ‘KGSR Broadcasts Vol. 14’ (KGSR)
Lyle Lovett and His Large Band, ‘It’s Not Big it’s Large’ (Lost Highway)
Toni Price, “Talk Memphis’ (Texas Music)
Levon Helm, ‘Dirt Farmer,’ (Vangaurd)
Omar Dykes and Jimmie Vaughan ‘On the Jimmy Reed Highway’ (Ruf)
Rodrigo y Gabriela, ‘s/t’ (ATO)
The Eagles, “Long Road out of Eden,” (self-released)
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Review: A weekend with the Hacienda Brothers and the Knitters
Last weekend offered one inspired pairing — the Knitters and the Hacienda Brothers at the Continental Club Saturday night — and one thorny dilemma — whether to leave before the end of the Hacienda Brothers’ Sunday afternoon show at Gruene Hall in order to catch at least the last half of the Knitters’ second night at the Continental.
The list of bands I’d care to see two days in a row is pretty short, but both the Knitters and Hacienda Brothers are on it. The Knitters, a country mutation of the punk band X featuring Dave Alvin on electric guitar, has a sly comic bent, as you might expect from a group whose “hit” (No. 2 in Czechoslovakia, claimed singer-acoustic guitarist John Doe Saturday, before pretending to argue with singer Exene Cervenka about the year of this achievement) was a tribute to road kill called “Poor Little Critter on the Road.”
But the Knitters frequently sounded downright ferocious, even while cutting up. Their wacky “The New Call of the Wreckin’ Ball” was delivered with as much abandon as songs from X’s back catalog, including “In This House That I Call Home,” “Skin Deep Town,” “Burning House of Love,” “The New World” and “I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts.” Though re-imagined with a distinct twang, there was no mistaking them for honky-tonk tunes with Doe and Cervenka’s lashing vocal harmonies, Alvin’s serrated solos and the runaway-locomotive rhythm section of Jonny Ray Bartel on stand-up bass and D.J. Bonebrake on snare and a washtub kick drum.
There were less raucous moments, including Doe and Alvin’s melancholy duo take on Merle Haggard’s “Silver Wings,” a jolly “Something to Brag About” and a version of Alvin’s “Dry River,” a song Doe rightly proclaimed ought to be recorded by Haggard. But even a tuning break took a sharp left turn, when Cervenka started to improvise to Doe’s guitar as he checked the intonation and the rest of the band launched into spiky free jazz.
The Knitters jammed the accelerator pedal on the folk standard “Rock Island Line,” which didn’t stop until it was going so fast derailment seemed imminent, or at the very least a small conflagration.
The Hacienda Brothers were less combustible, but no less exciting. They also fit just as untidily into the country category. Guitarist-accordionist Chris Gaffney is one of the best soul singers on the planet, while singer Dave Gonzalez’ lead guitar style is steeped in the 3 a.m. blues (although the duct tape holding his wrist bandage together — he had a motorcycle accident last summer — was definitely more punk). Bassist Hank Maninger and drummer Dale Daniel have a subtle jazzy flair, and pedal steel guitarist David Berzansky is equally adept at providing apt fills and atmosphere, or launching into sparkling, swinging solos.
The Haciendas’ Saturday set leaned toward the soul side, with their own gorgeous “What’s Wrong With Right?” and “Walkin’ on My Dreams,” as well as a stirring version of the Percy Sledge hit “It Tears Me Up.” Gonzalez and Maninger sang pristine harmonies on the Intruders’ “Cowboys to Girls,” seguing beautifully into “Just My Imagination” and back.
Alvin stood behind the stage grinning, sometimes shutting his eyes while Gaffney sang, until Gaffney brought him back onstage to help sing his own “Fourth of July.” Alvin initially shoved his hands deep into his pockets, not knowing what to do with them absent a guitar, but then began doing a modified twist, to cheers from the crowd, still sizeable with closing time closing in.
The Hacienda Brothers sounded even better some 14 hours later at historic Gruene Hall.
“It’s all that old wood,” explained Daniel during a break.
The long afternoon slot also permitted the band to stretch out more on solos, indulge requests and mix up a wide variety of material, including their own brooding honky-tonker “Mental Revenge,” Johnny Cash’s “Home of the Blues,” Dave Dudley’s truck-driving anthem “Six Days on the Road,” and an accordion-fueled and turbo-charged version of the Box Tops’ “Cry Like a Baby.” A rendition of Ivory Joe Hunter’s “Since I Met You Baby” demonstrated an accordion can be just as bluesy as a guitar. The original country/surf-rock instrumental “Railed” got the crowd on its feet.
Leaving after only a few hours was tough, but the Knitters, as it happened, were even more galvanic than on Saturday. The lovely ballad “Someone Like You” afforded a brief respite in a succession of hard-rocking numbers that concluded with a demented version of “Born to Be Wild.”
There were some repeat tunes from Saturday, but all were even more fierce, and one reached a pinnacle of punk intensity. Doe invited singer Cindy Wasserman from his solo band to sing harmony on the Knitters’ version of the traditional “Walkin’ Cane,” which suddenly escalated into a stomping blues ending. Just before the crucial point, Alvin motioned for her to move out of the way. She looked a bit taken aback, but he shot her a quick look of apology before unleashing a solo that had him thrashing around like a downed electrical wire. Even when he’s moonlighting as a country picker, Alvin’s guitar could use a “Danger: High Voltage” sign.
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Review: Rachel Loy and Brian Keane farewell
In the moments before Rachel Loy was to take the stage at the Continental Club on Thursday night for her farewell show with Brian Keane the club was invaded by a clamoring horde of Santas. About 30 or so rushed the bar ordering shot after shot, some wearing sequins and some with flashing ‘ho ho ho’s on their caps. This “Santa rampage” as one of them called it climaxed as they all pulled out photocopied songbooks and began to mumble along to a slightly altered version of “The 12 Days of Christmas” and everyone there for the show shot them curious stares.
After the song it was time for them to move to the next bar, and Rachel Loy started into “Get To Me” off her latest album, “Tongue and Teeth.” Holding her thundering bass, which is almost as big as she, Loy belted out her bright vocals that teetered back and forth between light and feathery and soaring all while the band behind her helped illuminate the club with poppy, folk rock. Her version of Hank Williams’ “Cold Cold Heart” revitalized the old tune, injecting it with pep and vigor. She was all smiles even though she warned the audience that she may start crying later, as this was the last gig she or her musician boyfriend Brian Keane would play in Austin for awhile. The two are relocating to Nashville for several reasons mostly relating to their growth as musicians.
“The main industry here is playing live, and I would love to get into other veins of the industry that Nashville has to offer like songwriting and music licensing to movies and TV,” Loy said. Also, they just feel too settled here in this music scene they have helped sculpt. “Maybe we’re too young to be this happy and comfortable,” Loy said.
Keane certainly seemed at home on stage during his set following Loy’s. His rambling country-folk vocals on crowd favorites like “Odysseus,” a charming western-style take on the epic poem, had everyone singing along to an irresistible chorus. The spoken-word style of the verse was set to a beat counted out in your feet. Throughout the rest of his set, Keane’s acoustic buzzed during several crazed guitar solos and toe-tapping drum rim raps. Onlookers also sang along as he played “I Ain’t Even Lonely,” a thick and smooth sentimental song.
Once Keane finished his set after midnight and the crowd shrunk to intimate numbers, the duo’s peers stepped on stage to show their appreciation. Guy Forsyth, Warren Hood, Johnny Goudie, Wayne Sutton, Jeff Botta, Eldridge Goins, Clayton Colvin and more gave them a send-off the best way they know how, by having an all-are-welcome, rock-blues-country-folk jam session sometimes with nine people on the stage at once. Fiddle, keys, harmonica and some top-notch guitar work marked this great big musical goodbye that included a performance of the Band’s “Ophelia” and a harmonious a capella duet by Loy and Keane on Hank William’s “House of Gold.”
