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 ... 

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.

 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...