ongoing - April 2

The Boston Wine Festival, kicked off with a whiz-bang party Friday Jan. 8.  It was a wonderful party. Great food, great wine. No surprises there. Yum.  But, as grand as the night was, Daniel Bruce’s 21st annual festival is not just a weekend spurt. It goes on three to four nights a week through April 2 (we're going March 12) and features a different winery and menu each night. Dinners are capped at 78 people, seated at tables up to eight. Their website, www.bostonwinefestival.net will give you particulars of the myriad dinner-wine nights, but we talked to Bruce – who orchestrates the pairings and is cooking every night – about the heart and soul of it all.

“The ‘wine festival’ name may be a misnomer,” says Bruce, “because you think of tables and wine poured at multiple levels. We do have the opening reception [where that happens]. But the essence of what the festival is is winemaker-and-owner joining us at dinner. It’s an intimate setting, a round table, which allows for conversation to take. You may buy a ticket with two or four people and sit with people you don’t know.”

Thurs.  March 25

 The Austrain-born Lukas Ligeti is a 44-year-old composer and electronic percussionist who's the son of noted composer Gyorgy Ligetti. He's performed with famed boundary breakers John Zorn, Henry Kaiser and Jim O'Rourke. His concert music has been commissioned by the America's Composers Orchestra, Bang On a Can and Kronos Quartet to name but three. On Thursday March 25, Ligeti plays the Axiom Gallery for New and Experimental Media in Jamaica Plain. There he'll be solo, playing his electric marima with cushioned mallets. The album he's touring behind is "Afrikan Machinery," and it's sort of a Philip Glass meets Brian Eno in Africa, with all sorts of polyrythmic and polytempo structures in the mix. A recent LA Times review said, "Ligetti represents, under a Clark Kent exterior, a new generation of musical Superan - a globally minded, technologically adept, technically sophisticated composer who also happens to be a virtuoso performer and accomplished improviser." The Scotsman, in the UK, notes he "neatly ridges the classical-modernist-world music d"vide." Ligeti himself says, "My imagination, not only in sounds but also in shapes and colors; and my longing for places far away, especially for the continent of Africa to which this music is a loving tribute." Maybe that's not the best quote syntax wise, but you know what he means. There's a hypnotic quality - some in the crazy rhythms, some of the synth drones - that is truly mesmerizing. Tickets: $10, starts at 8.

Axiom: 141 Green St., Jamaica Plain, 617-676-5904 www.axiomart

ongoing

Martin Scorsese’s "Shutter Island" is a well-crafted mystery – though likely not a film that will be remembered as one of his very best.  Some critics seem eager to blow the whistle when a master takes a step to the left or right, incorrectly dubbing it a step backwards. This film is not a giant leap forward, but it is hardly a significant regression of any kind.

One of the strengths of the movie is that Scorsese allows the developments to occur very deliberately. There are no rushed conclusions, and events unfold at a tantalizing yet satisfying rate. Too often psychological thrillers make leaps in assumptions that detract from the story by forcing the audience to simply accept what they are told, logic and reason be damned.

Thurs. March 25 - Mon. April 1

We've been embarrassed; we've been grossed out; we've been titillated and, yes, on occasion bored. (The latter is the real failure in this world.) But this year, theorganizer of Boston Underground Film Festival (BUFF) Anna Feder promises, "This event is going to be mind-blowingly good." She does warn the semi-quesy out there that the most outre films, like "Life and Death of a Porno Gang" show at midnight. Remember, we're not talking "Sundance" here. Characters tend to be sex-crazed, violent, drug-addled or all of the above. Good behavior is rare.
  The 12th annual Boston Underground Film Festival - started by old JSInk pal David Kleiler Sr. - runs Thursday March 25 through Monday April 1, at the Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge. They include some of what are considered festival highlights, including several genre sections (grindhouse cinema and queer cinema), as well as special guests, including actress Mink Stole and fabled underground filmmaker George Kuchar. The festival gets into high gear with a free preview party on Tuesday March 9, from 6:00-8:00 PM at the Stuart Street Playhouse in Boston. (Open to one and all, no VIP begging needed.)

   Feder's choices: "Perhaps the most notable grindhouse film is the East Coast premiere "Stuck," (in photo), writer and director Steve Balderson’s homage to grindhouse era women-in-prison films, featuring an appearance by Mink Stole, who performs in the film with Karen Black, ex- Go Go guitarist Jane Wiedlin, and belly dance goddess Pleasant Gehman (aka Princess Farhana)." JSink note: Yowee. The voluptuous horror of Karen Black indeed! Note 2: Mink Stole will receive the festival's first "Underground Lifetime Achievement Award.  "The film faithfully reproduces the genre with a modern, tongue-in-cheek twist that features all the hallmarks of a classic prison movie, complete with a wrongly accused heroine, hard boiled dames, diabolical alliances, forbidden love, cat-fighting cuties, a sadistic warden, and corrupt prison guards. Both Balderson and Mink Stole will attend the screening.

 Fri. March 26 

Guggenheim Grotto - a duo from Ireland, Kevin May and Mike Lynch - hit the states last January '09 and they're back again in our parts tonight at the Real Room in Burlington Friday March 26, They began as what you might call a folk-pop duo. That's still at the core of what they do, but on their second disc, "Happy the Man" they explore suble electronic and sampling techniques as well. They're not Daft Punk or KMFDM, by any means. But if their debut, "... Waltzing Alone," was noted for its mellowness, this one will be noted for is upbeat sound and feel. This despite, well, you know, the sadness all around us. "There's a lyrical threat throughout the album," says primary songwriter May, "in that many of the songs explore our habit of holding onto things - lovers, a place in time, resisting change - and the sadness that brings us." That hit us is the the gut and in the head - 2008 was certainly the kind of year where more than a few of us wanted to hold onto things that were slipping away. But Guggenheim Grotto doesn't wallow in the sadness. They start the disc with a quote from Buddha on perfection, and then move on to detail what isn't. Like dreams dashed. But the music is softish; it often has the breeziness of a '60s Beach Boys tune, an gentle uplift that works an effective contrast. ""We wanted to sing joyfully about sadness in the world," is the way May puts it. "With this album, I made a conscious effort of working in ideas, thoughts and musings on self-awareness and enlightenment into the songs."  Reference points: Damien Rice and (from "Once") Glen Hansard. They're currently finishing up a new disc, "The Universe is Laughing." Expect to hear new songs at the Real Room.
     Here's a bit from the review I did for the Boston Herald last year when they played the Lizard Lounge ....

Fri. March 26

It's my theory that no female solo singer has a last name anymore. Or if it's a last name it's, like, Gaga. So bothersome. It is that universe that French-born, Berklee-schooled singer-songwriter Violette appears. She's mixes jazz, funk and soul; her heroes include Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald. She also sings, mostly,in English. Violtte - who plays the Stork Club Friday March 26, has just released her second album, "Joie de Vivre." We'll turn further informing over Michael Diamond, a San Francisco based musician and writer: "The title of this, Violette’s second CD, is most appropriate and harkens back to her first 'official' commendation – the 'Joie de Vivre' award she won in kindergarten while still living in her native country of France. Translated as “Joy of Living”, a quality that is reflected in her music to this day. The title song opens with the sound of children’s laughter as it moves into a jazzy vibe and Violette’s buoyant voice scarcely able to contain the “joie” within. Multi-tracked vocals on the chorus lift the song up to another level altogether...

Fri. March 26 - Sat. April 25

 Recently, Jeff Robinson wrote and staged a one-man music/performance show about the late, great and troubled saxman Charlie Parker. Now, Lanie Robertson has something similar up and is running about the life and times of the late, great troubled singer, Billie Holliday, aka Lady Day. as played by Jacqui Parker (in photo). The Lyric Stage Company is presenting this month-long run of the off-Broadway hit at Emerson's Bar & Grill (in the YWCA buidling) Friday March 26 - Saturday April 25. "Lady Day" is directed by Spiro Veloudos. The New York Times calls "Lady Day," the “most sensible attempt to capture the elusive mystique of the great Billie Holiday.” The conceit of the show is it's done during one of Holliday's final performances as she intertwines songs such as “God Bless the Child” and “Strange Fruit” with stories of her life as she wrestles with her past and addiction to heroin. It becomes clear that music is a force that helped her to survive. (Unitl, of course, she, like, Parker didn't.) Most night time shows are at 8. There are weekend matinees at 3. You'll want to check the website below for specific times. Tickets range from $29 to $54.
 

140 Clarendon St., Boston, 617-585-5678 www.lyricstage.com.

Sat. March 28 

 If you mention Husker Du, the pioneering post-punk band of the ‘80s, most fans immediately think of Bob Mould. He was its singer-guitarist and he’s had quite a visible career since the band’s 1987 breakup. 
    Less so, Grant Hart. He was the Minneapolis-based Husker Du’s drummer-singer and shared the songwriting with Mould. Hart has made five studio solo CDs or EPs and two CDs with the band Nova Mob. But there was a decade-long gap between releases, which ended late last year with a terrific psychedelic-garage-pop disc, “Hot Wax.”
    Hart comes to the Arts at the Armory Café in Somerville Saturday March 28 at 8.  It’s a solo show, just voice and guitar. We spoke with Hart before his last area appearance at the Middle East Up for a Boston Herald story. Excerpts from our chat here: 
    That was a long stretch between discs. People wondered where you were.
    Hart: I’ve played Cambridge at least once every 18 months. But I started sneaking things into my life that I sacrificed very early on. It was the idea of having a hobby that fed the other side of my brain. When you live off your creativity, every day you wake up with a blank canvass. To balance it out, I took on some projects where there was one specific way something had to be put together in order for it to operate. Much of my time has been spent with automotive restoration. I wanted to be able to let my hands do the work, instead of my mind and a dictating machine.

ongoing

We ran into Scullers Jazz Club Entertainment Director Fred Taylor a while back at the Keith Jarrett concert at Symphony Hall. There was some nostalgia. We talked of his old clubs, Paul's Mall and the Jazz Workshop - and how Jarrett used to helm the house band way back in the day when he was at Berklee. And Freddie said it was almost startling, the realization that his Scullers Jazz Club was approaching two decades in business. Seemed less than half of that, we both agreed. Time sure passes fast. We didn't have time to talk about the recession or the effect it was taking in the arts world - hey Jarrett was about to play and grunt and he does like it when people pay attention - but then we just got this from Scullers General Manaager Dayla Arabella Santurri. There's some discouraging news up front, but stay with it, there's some good news for you in there, too. Do the words "free tickets" mean anything to you? Read on ... 

Fri. April 2 

Backstage at a rock club ... it's a zone I know. Especially the Paradise, which has been here since I came to town in 1978. So last year, I'm back there (in the upstairs, opening act area, actually) for the show headlined by Friendly Fires. I was more impressed by the opener, the xx, a young trio fronted by childhood pals guitarist-singer Romy Madley Croft and bassist-singer Oliver Sim. I was reviewing the show for the Herald. So, I did my wandering back to say hi, get a set list, maybe have a quick chat and a beer. They seemed not stunned or shell-shocked exactly, but communicative wouldn't be the word I'd use. I'm usually pretty good at this, finding the wavelength the artist is on and getting there myself. I made a couple of attempts here and was met by abrupt, albeit polite, answers. They just didn't have much to say and were, I'd have to wager, painfully shy, not antagonistic or press phobic.

 Sat. April 3

You know his name. You've heard his music if you lived through '80s new wave. But you may be surprised by what he's doing now. Greg Hawkes, former keyboardist for the Cars, will be playing a set of acoustic ukulele music at Magic Room Gallery Saturday April 3 at 7. It's a new room run by Dez Desmond (ex-of the Bentmen). Dez is also the proud father of up-and-coming singer Casey Desmond, who will be opening for Hawkes this night.

Hawkes put out an album last year called "The Beatles Uke," which is just what it sounds like: Beatles songs done on ukuleles.     How did Hawkes come to this juncture - and we must say, very contented - point at age 56?
    Well … he came to the ukulele about eight years ago. And Hawkes saw the Beatles play the Baltimore Civic Center, Sept. 13, 1964. He was 11. As with a lot of kids, something joyous exploded in his head. Already taking piano and clarinet lessons, began to learn guitar. The first Beatles song he played was “She Loves You.”
     Fast forward: Nearly 46 years later, Hawkes releases a 15-track solo CD of all-instrumental Beatles covers.  “I’ve come full circle,” says Hawkes, with a laugh, in his Lincoln home.