Music

This Blu-ray/DVD/CD set from Eagle Rock Entertainment covers the Stones in an intimate setting at the Fonda Theater in LA in 2015, at the start of the North American Zip Code tour, and captures the first time the band had ever (and, so far, has ever) played the entire STICKY FINGERS album in concert (along with some other great Stones' songs).

Edgar Allen Poe once penned a line, “Quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore.’” Well, last Friday night in Maryland Heights, MO, three of classic rock’s most talented and prolific stars from the 1960’s to present, whom I deem “Edgar Allen Purple,” came together once more, for an outdoor concert at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater.

Okay kids, here it is! For you fans of Vincent Furnier who remember the pre-MTV days, Eagle Rock Entertainment has brought back not just the1975 “Welcome To My Nightmare” Concert Video but also the 1975 TV special, “The Nightmare” complete with special guest star, the indomitable Vincent Price, all in a single DVD video offering.

Eagle Rock has been releasing many great videos and CDs of important rock music from the second generation of rock, many of which feature the members performing recently or in the past 10 to 15 years. With this DVD, they are releasing in one of the most important concerts and specials from what I would call the “Golden Age of Alice.” It’s important for a couple of reasons: one, because it was his first solo tour and two, because it was ground-breaking. Remember, this was before MTV and it was the first time a concert special was filmed to support an entire album in long form.

The Beatles once said, “It was 20 years ago today Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play.” Well, it’s been 20 years since Richard Blackmore and Candice Night taught the minstrels to play, bringing a renaissance to the Renaissance, so to say. And it’s funny to think that the music they play today technically predated the music he played decades prior by centuries.

Now, I have been a huge fan of the Renaissance (the time, not the band (but I do like the band’s music too)) since I attended my first Medieval festival. My friends and I would truck up to the Renaissance Fair in Tuxedo, New York and, closer to home, in nearby Huntington Long Island. I just felt I belonged.

If you’re like me--and I would suspect there are as many that are as aren’t--your take on the oboe is that it is an instrument that is part of the orchestra, an instrument that contributes to the total sound but not one that ever takes the lead, or is as famous as, say, the cello, the French horn, the violin or the flute; sort of the second rhythm guitar or third back-up singer in a rock band. You know it’s there, but you can’t really make out what it sounds like. Couple that with an old saying attributed to the instrument: “The Oboe is an ill wind woodwind that nobody plays well.” You’re left wondering, “Why would anyone want to have an ensemble that features such a blasé instrument?”

One of the most enjoyable experiences in reviewing music is that, occasionally, you get to listen to something you might otherwise have never come across, thought about listening to, or were aware even existed.

With MORNING SUN, I have had such an experience!

Actress. Dancer. Singer. Songwriter. Is there anything in the entertainment field that Lizzy Small can't do? From the precocious tyke who played the baker elf in THE SANTA CLAUSE 3 to the studious collegian who distributes her distinct sound on SoundCloud, Lizzy has established herself as a creative force in the industry.

This coming Wednesday, August 23, Lizzy is preparing to rock the house at The Mint at 6010 Pico Blvd in Los Angeles. We caught up with the artist on the phone to ask her a few questions about her music and her upcoming acting performances.

There isn't any clear cut division between the music and the acting--you grew up doing both at pretty much the same time. Was there a family influence in the performing arts at work?

Jess’s voice has a wonderful humanness to it that puts her in the same room with you on solos.

TRIPPIN' ROUND THE MITTEN, the sixth album from award-winning singer/songwriter Randy Kaplan, is an album that, though it is marketed to kids…. is not just for kids.

It’s not, because it is full of fun happiness and storytelling that you can’t help but like, no matter who you are.

An extremely well-educated, well-rounded man, who has lived in many places around this country, it easy to see (and hear) the many people Kaplan sites as influences to his music and mirth-making: people such as Steve Martin and the Marx Brothers, Robert Johnson and Woody Guthrie.

But as a fellow native Long Islander, I personally would say his biggest influence was hailing from Dix Hills, a mere half-hour or so as the crow flies from my home town of Port Washington--and I dare say that is where he must have first learned his art of kibitzing (so apparent throughout this CD in between and during the songs).

The Sterling Renaissance Festival is a 7 week long event, that takes place on the weekends, featuring street actors, artisans, and stage performances meant to immerse visitors in the 1500's.

One such performance, by a trio of Triton's temptresses, will captivate you. I'm talking about:

SIRENA

Sirena is a musical/theatrical, experience that takes you back to mythical times where the sirens call would lure in shipwrecked lovers. Sailors both loved and feared them as they would become hypnotized by their song and lose their souls in the process.

Los Angeles-based indie pop band, The Heirs, debuted their highly anticipated single and music video for “Suburban Wonderland” on July 14^th, 2017, available worldwide.

HEART: ALIVE IN SEATTLE on DVD from Eagle Rock captures the band Heart at the culmination of their 2002 tour in their home town of Seattle, Washington.

When I was growing up, there were not many female rockers who could play with the best all-guy rock bands of the day. Sure there were some who could rock, but few who could rock-out like the Wilson sisters. In fact, how many bands played covers of Zeppelin songs while Zeppelin was still playing music themselves, and got away with not being thought of as a cover band? (It didn’t hurt that Robert Plant had a girlie high voice in those days, which Ann could match and actually carry a tune better.) Heart proved they could play others’ rock as well as their own with equal aplomb.

They were the real deal then, and they are the real deal here.

AJ Lee (no, not the wrestler, this one has real talent!) is a seven-time Female Vocalist Of The Year award winner as voted by the Northern California Bluegrass Society (which in itself is quite an accomplishment, considering she is only 19!) and is releasing her second solo album aptly named AJ LEE.

With an album consisting of just six songs, AJ is not timid here about taking on the likes of Graham Parson and Bob Dylan, showcasing a unique style that has been compared to Alison Krauss.

And that is important, because like Alison Krauss, this is not your Granddad’s Bluegrass. If you’re thinking Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, or The Dillards (aka The Darlings from THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW), you’re barking up the wrong tree.

For lack of better words, this is more “modern” Bluegrass--modern in the sense that Bluegrass, just like Rock or Country, has evolved over time to become something of its own that, while different, is still rooted in it’s past.

It was once said that there are two kinds of people in this world: people from Brooklyn, and people who wish they were. In the newest album from Joanie Leeds and the Nightlights, BROOKLYN BABY, we have a kids’ record by a bona fide Brooklynite, with many songs centered on kids growing up and living in that wonderful corner of the world.

You know, it’s a good time to be a kid because it’s a good time for children’s music.

It seems kiddo music has evolved into different styles of their own: there are bubbly kinds, country kinds, Jazzy kinds, and hip hop/urban kinds. And that is awesome because there are kiddos all over this country, in the city as well as in the suburbs and country, and they each have things particular to the way they live.

The latest album here from the Windy City’s own “Mr. Dave” Dave Hamilton, FEELING GOOD, is one such album that speaks to kids everywhere and includes those who are living in the city, doing this with a not so much nautical, but an island sound to it. That’s not to say every song has a watery beat to it. Nay-nay, this album, while only 10 songs long, communicates to kids everywhere with jazzy tunes, eclectic rock, and hip-hop tunes with a heavy bass tone, as well as songs with a surfer sound to them--and that’s what makes this album such fun.

If there's a Rock and Roll Heaven, they had one hell of a venue last night.

Chuck Berry, the Father of Rock and Roll, passed away March 18, 2017 at the age of 90. He leaves behind a legacy of several hit songs that formed the foundation of modern rock music, with songs like "Maybelline," "Rock and Roll Music" and the unforgettable "Johnny B. Goode" which played an instrumental and unforgettable role in the Steven Spielberg classic BACK TO THE FUTURE.

It's arguable that without Berry's music, itself influenced by blues musicians T-Bone Walker and Muddy Waters, there would have been a very different sound from groups like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, as well as just about every other classic rock and roll group that owed their inspirations to the native St. Louisan.

Hullabaloo, a duo made up of Steve Denyes and Brendan Kremer, have been friends since kindergarten and have been successfully making children’s music for years. Now they have just released their 2nd greatest hits album, comprised of songs from five previous albums released from 2010 thru 2015.

Oddly, I found I was not familiar with their music prior to this release. I say 'oddly' because even though they play children’s music, they have sold over 30,000 records, so you would have thought I would have at least heard of them. Well that’s my bad, because after listening to it several times, the words that I found myself jotting down throughout listening to the songs that best sum up the music here are 'fun' and 'wholesome.'

This is the type of children’s music you don’t have to worry about whether it’s suitable or not...this is music for kids no matter how young.

THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW had a character that would appear from time to time. He would always introduce himself by saying, “It’s me! It’s me! It’s Ernest T!”

I’m referring of course to Ernest T. Bass, played by venerable actor Howard Morris; a character that was a fun, boisterous, and self-confident, and you couldn’t wait to see what he’d get into next. Well...It's she! It’s she! It’s Junie B.! And Just like Ernest T., if you had ever read one of Barbara Park’s series of books to your child, or along with your child on your own, then you were smitten by a young girl with the same attributes that you couldn’t wait to see what she would do next.

Junie B. Jones was my daughter’s favorite series as she was growing up (and the same age as Junie). I can remember the excitement of seeing a new one at the store and the fun of reading it and talking about her exploits, and the anticipation of when will the next one be coming out.

I'm not a big fan of modern country music. I recently spent an hour in a greeting card store--I'm very picky about my cards--and I finally asked am employee what we were listening to. "Modern Country on Pandora," she replied. "Okay, but is this just one really long song, or what? I've heard the same chords in the same time signature for nearly an hour. The same alcoholic references too, near as I can tell." The young lady turned and walked away in huff. Everybody is so easily offended these days but I guess I don't have much room to talk. After all, I'm offended by failed rock star wannabes yodeling about beer, thinking that wearing a cowboy hat makes you a cowboy. It doesn't. Wrangling steer, that makes you a cowboy. 

In June of this year, something incredible happened. After almost 20 years, Ritchie Blackmore reformed Rainbow for a trio of shows that rocked the Heavy Metal world, proving that while time and tide wait for no man, when it comes to playing great rock and roll, age doesn’t matter a hill o’ beans!

With a new frontman in Ronnie Romero (who sounds oddly in many ways like an amalgam of all of the Rainbow front men through the years) and playing music from Rainbow as well as Deep Purple, these three shows brought it to the audience full on. And now, thanks once again to Eagle Rock Entertainment, this 2CD / Single DVD set captures the best of all three shows and brings them into your living room.