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Photos courtesy Alligator Records (Koko Taylor: Alligator Records file photo)
Alligator's Milestone: After the release of his influential 1991 film Deep Blues – a look at Mississippi blues culture funded by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, and involved a collaboration with legendary music writer Robert Palmer – music filmmaker Robert Mugge received a phone call. The caller was Bruce Iglauer, the founder and president of Alligator Records, the Chicago-based record label which had, over the past three decades, become a leadying purveyor of blues-related music. Iglauer's message to Mugge was simple: "We should know each other!" Mugge agreed, and from that initial phone call began a long-term friendship, as well as a collaboration on another featurelength blues film. That film, 1992's Pride And Joy: The Story Of Alligator Records, presents musical highlights from one of the four-plus-hour concerts (in particular, March 12 at Philadelphia's now-defunct Chestnut Cabaret) that made up the Alligator Records 20th Anniversary Tour, glimpses of Alligator's Chicago offices, and profiles of key performers and staff members. The "pride and joy" on display are not only that of fine musical artists plying their trades, but also that of a entrepreneur succeeding in a business mostly controlled by corporate giants and littered with the wreckage of countless small, independent labels. Songs in the film include "Pride and Joy" and "Ed's Boogie"
Elvin Bishop
Comedy column compiled by Bob Smith, who found out it wasn’t a smart idea to list “wistful” ans “lusty” as skills on his resume.
No, He’s Not The Fifth Stooge: Upright Citizens Brigade co-founder and improv comedian Matt Besser's new comedy special, “Besser Breaks The Record,” made its debut along with the launch of NBC's new subscription channel, Seeso. Comedy Dynamics followed up with a record release of the same special. Filmed live at The UCB Theater in Hollywood, Matt Besser breaks the mold of an average standup comedy special. His improv skills also don't disappoint, as he brings a variety of characters with him to the stage along with his collection of angry “Letters to the Editor” (of which he reads and sings aloud). Besser fills his special full of theatrical surprises, which are all just the cherry on top of his natural comedic talent. "Matt Besser is one of the founders of the current and next generation of comedy creators," said Comedy Dynamics president Brian Volk-Weiss. "To be working on a show like this is to be part of the kind of ground-breaking comedy history we embrace." Debuting in January on Seeso was “The UCB Show” with Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Matt Walsh, and Ian Roberts. Besser also appears in the web series parody “The Hotwives Of Orlando,” streaming on Hulu now. He is best known for creating and writing the
Comedy
Jazz & Blues
Koko Taylor Matt Besser
(Lil' Ed & Thhe Blues Imperials), "Pussycat Moan" and "Lord, I Wonder" (Katie Webster), "El-Bo" and "Beer Drinking Woman" (Elvin Bishop), "I'd Rather Go Blind" (Koko Taylor), "Wife For Tonight" and "I Want All My Money Back" (Lonnie Brooks), "It's A Dirty Job" (Koko Taylor with Lonnie Brooks), and "Sweet Home Chicago" (an encore with all the participants). MVD Entertainment Group is now issuing he first Blu-ray release of this film worldwide on Friday (April 22). For this release, the film has been newly transferred to HD from the original 16mm film and stereo audio masters, and restored by the director. Also included on the Blu-ray are 10 bonus songs taken from Alligator's original 1992 tour and soundtrack CD, as well as the director's new "making of" video titled "Alligator Tales." The new Blu-ray will be available at Amazon.com and mvdshop.com.
TV movie This Show Will Get You High (2010), the TV series short “MySpace Tom” (2007), and for being the star/founding member of the 1998 TV series “Upright Citizens Brigade” (UCB) alongside Poehler, Walsh, and Roberts. UCB opened a comedy theater and improv school operating in both New York City and Los Angeles. He created and starred in a number of TV series including “Crossballs” and “The Very Funny Show” for TBS.com. More recently, Besser wrote and co-directed his first film musical, Freak Dance, based on a long-running UCB show. Currently, he hosts a weekly improvised comedy podcast called improv4humans on the Earwolf podcasting network. Besser and the UCB still perform several times a week at the Los Angeles Theater, most notably in the world-famous show, ASSSSCAT 3000, every Sunday night. Comedy Dynamics is the largest independent comedy production and distribution company in North America, producing the highly rated new series on The History Channel, “Join Or Die With Craig Ferguson,” and working with a wide range of established and emerging comedic talent including Kevin Hart, Louis C.K., Aziz Ansari, Jim Gaffigan, Bill Burr, Katt Williams, and more performers. The Comedy Dynamics catalog is available on several video streaming platforms including, but not limited to Hulu, Roku, iOS, Amazon, and Android. In 2015, the company launched its first original series, “Coming To The Stage,” which serves as a launching pad for aspiring comedians.
Photo by Brigette Lancombe
Ho t-B utto n T op ics : Ecl ips ed Golden Theatre B lac kbi rd Belasco Theatre Sexual slavery and pedophilia – two hotbutton topics – are creating theatrical fireworks on Broadway. After a sold-out run at The Public Theater, the powerful and moving Eclipsed marks the auspicious Broadway debuts of Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o and playwright and actress Danai Gurira (whose Familiar is currently at Playwrights Horizons). Groundbreaking as the first Broadway play
protective and dominating mother hen who rules their tiny society. Wife #3, very pregnant with the C.O.’s child, obsesses about her wig. Their attempt to hide a 15-year-old orphan (the luminous Nyong’o) from the C.O. Fails, and The Girl becomes Wife # 4. Ultimately, Wife #2 (Zainab Jah), who returns as a ruthless
Blackbird
THEATER With Jane Klain
whose playwright, director (Liesl Tommy), and entire splendid cast are African-American women (with connections to Africa), Eclipsed is also notable for Gurira’s great skill in infusing such a harrowing subject with humor and hope. Set in 2003 during Liberia’s Second Civil War, Eclipsed tells the horrific story of the girls – equally victims and survivors – ripped from their families and turned into sex slaves for the warring soldiers. Two women (their identities lost to the war), known only as Wife #1 (Saycon Sengbloh) and Wife #3 (Pascale Armand), share a barren bullet-pocked concrete shack in a military compound where they wait to be summoned by the commanding officer for sex. Wife #1, the eldest at 25, is the Ride The Waves: Waves, a developer of DSP for the professional audio market, announces Waves Nx. Waves’ proprietary Nx software technology runs on PCs, laptops, and other devices, and lets users hear the same natural depth, natural reflections, and panoramic imaging heard from speakers in a physical room – but on headphones. PCs equipped with Waves Nx software and an Intel RealSense integrated or peripheral SR300 camera can enable real-time playback of true immersive, 360degree sound experience over headphones that naturally adapts to head positions. Waves Nx and Intel RealSense technologies provide developers, creators, and consumers with the next generation of immersive audio experiences. As the recipient of a Technical Grammy, Award, Waves Audio has pioneered the development of psychoacoustic signal processing algorithms that leverage knowledge on the human perception of hearing to radically improve perceived sound quality. Waves Nx tracks the user’s head position using the Intel RealSense SR300 Camera, positioning the sound in the user’s headphones to match the way we hear in the real world. Waves Nx tracks the actual movements of the user’s head, to render the slight nuances that create a real, dynamic and variable sensory experience – appropriately positioning the
GEAR HEADS audio in the left and right headphones to simulate movement through the audio space. The Intel RealSense SR300 Camera captures the world in 3D with an array of sensors – a 1080p HD camera, an infrared camera and an infrared laser projector, and enables many unique user experiences to work and play with computing devices, and is now extending to new headphone audio experiences with
soldier flourishing an assault rifle, and Rita (Akosua Busia), a peace worker with the Liberian Women’s Initiative, vie for The Girl’s soul. With great compassion and humanity, Gurira celebrates the women’s resiliency as they compete for the C.O.’s favor and make do with almost nothing, ultimately regaining their names and finding hope. Fifteen years ago, when he was 40 and she was 12, Ray and Una had a three-month affair.
Waves Nx technology. Jack Joseph Puig, a record producer/mixer (U2, Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, John Mayer) and head of global marketing, Waves consumer division, stated: “From my extensive experience working with top artists, it’s clear that entertainment and its place in our everyday lives is moving into a new realm – one that is set to integrate virtual reality into its very fabric. Content creators and device developers will need to have the right tools to provide consumers with an experience that truly mirrors real-life in every imaginable way. Waves Nx and Intel’s RealSense SR300 Camera set up these developers and future content creators for success with the right technology to be primed for this next generation and beyond.” More: waves.com/nx. A-T On Track: Audio-Technica has introduced a new lineup of headphones featuring Bluetooth wireless technology including the QuietPoint ATH-ANC40BT, SonicSport ATH-SPORT4, Solid Bass ATH-CKS55XBT and ATH-WS99BT, and SonicFuel ATHS700BT headphones. With the debut of these five high-performance, currently available models Audio-Technica now offers a complete range of in-ear and over-ear
Was he a sexual predator and pedophile preying on her innocence and romantic feelings, or was it true love, a love neither has been able to find again? Now, Una has tracked down Ray (now called Peter) at his workplace (the soulless littered staff breakroom set is by Scott Pask) where, after serving time in prison and assuming a new identity, he has forged a new life. The confrontation between these two damaged souls is incendiary, and is the basis for Blackbird. Scottish playwright David Harrower’s 2005 explosive, taut two-character drama was first seen off-Broadway at The Manhattan Theatre Club in 2007 starring Jeff Daniels and Alison Pill. Joe Mantello again directs Daniels with Michelle Williams now playing Una, but the explosive tension has been ratcheted up to an almost unbearable degree – Daniels furious and defensive, Williams visibly shaking, her speech halting in anger and pain. Their emotions seesaw from fear to self-justification, shame to attraction as they relive the trauma and remember the love in their forbidden relationship. Unfortunately, these riveting, intense performances at times feel like dazzling actors’ exercises, while the play itself seems like a cleverly constructed issue-oriented thesis. – Jane Klain rechargeable headphones with integrated control for answering/ending phone calls, and for controlling music and volume. "Although wireless headphones are undeniably about convenience, it was equally essential that our new headphones with Bluetooth technology delivered the best-in-class sound that listeners expect from Audio-Technica," said Crystal Griffith, Audio-Technica marketing manager. "Our five new models offer the perfect combination of wireless listening freedom and superior audio quality." The TH-ANC40BT QuietPoint wireless noise-cancelling in-ear headphones (pictured), which combine up to 90 percent noise-cancellation with outstanding sound quality and smartphone connectivity. The ATHANC40BT employs aptX sound-improvement technology, specifically created to yield the best-possible audio performance over Bluetooth transmission, and large 13.5 mm drivers to deliver clear, high-quality wireless audio from up to two sources simultaneously. Learn more about the full line of A-T pro headphones at audio-technica.com.
Good Times Magazine - •
Boys In The Trees: A Memoir By Carly Simon Flatiron Books On the surface, singer/songwriter Carly Simon would appear to be someone who had it all: She grew up in wealth; possessed a beauty that intoxicated even the most successful and handsome men; and enjoyed a successful recording career that made her a celebrity – yet, there always seemed to be a wistful quality about her. Her autobiography confirms that suspicion. Simon spends the first two-thirds of the book dissecting the dysfunctional relationship between her parents. Her dad, Richard, was a co-founder of Simon & Schuster, while her mom, Andrea, grew up in working-class Philadelphia. Richard Simon met his wife when she was working as a switchboard operator at his company. Sadly, that kind of fairy tale beginning did not have a happy ending. Carly was a clearly a daddy’s girl who loved him in spite of the fact that he suffered from ill-health, both physical and mental, as long as he was alive. He died in 1960 when she was 15. Carly was not
BOOKSHELF fond of her mom, who comes off as cold and distant. Even worse, she writes in shocking detail of how her mom cheated on her dad with a young man whose responsibility was to be a companion to Carly’s brother, Peter, and lived in their home. It’s no wonder depression was rampant in the Simon family. The final third of the book deals with her tempestuous 10-year marriage to pop star James Taylor. Ironically, it wasn’t a clash of egos, where Billboard chart success (or the lack of it) could easily create fiction. Simon mentions that she and Taylor were supportive of each other’s music, and frequently sang background vocals on their respective recordings. They recorded a few duets in the early 1970s, including the 1974 hit, “Mockingbird,” and a wonderful cover of The Every Brothers’ “Devoted To You.” It was traditional rock star lifestyle trappings that did in their marriage. Taylor had no shortage of women desiring him, and he even rented an apartment in Manhattan for one of his paramours. Simon admits that she had a revenge affair of her own. Also not helping matters was Taylor’s heroin addiction, which affected his mood. The stress of dealing with a failing marriage
Long Promised Road: Carl Wilson, Soul Of The Beach Boys By Kent Crowley Jawbone Publishing The Beach Boys, and specifically their founder and main songwriter Brian Wilson, were the subject of the recent film Love & Mercy. Much as been written over the years about Brian and his brother Dennis, who lived life to the fullest before drowning off Marina Del Rey 32 years ago. Not as much has been devoted to the youngest of the three Wilson brothers, Carl. Author Kent Crowley tries to rectify this with this book; while there aren’t many new revelations, Crowley does a nice job reviewing how Carl kept The Beach Boys together when Brian was thoroughly unproductive because of both drugs and mental illness, as well as the seemingly forgotten period from 1968 though 1973 which was a dry period, sales-wise, for “America’s Band.” And yes, Carl was a terrific musician, songwriter, and composer. The author also doesn’t provide as many details as he should have about Wilson’s 1967 battle with the Selective Service to avoid serving in Viet Nam, nor much about his battle with lung cancer that would eventually kill Wilson in February 1998. Nonetheless, Crowley provides enough grist to satisfy both casual and obsessive Beach Boys fans. – Lloyd Carroll
caused Simon to have a nervous breakdown at a 1980 Pittsburgh concert. Surprisingly, Carly Simon doesn’t go into much detail about what inspired her songs – with the exception of arguably her best-known hit, 1973's “You’re So Vain,” recorded in London at great expense by her producer, Richard Perry. Ever since the song was a hit 42 years ago, there has been speculation of who Carly had in mind with her lyrics and, she has played it coy Brian Reardon, the owner of the popular Monster Music in Levittown ever since. She claims and a member of the board of directors of The National Association of that the tune is about Music Merchants (NAMM), has announced that former New York more than one guy, and Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams – now a Grammy-nominated jazz one of them was Warren guitarist – will perform with his all-star band in a special benefit show Beatty – not much of a on Saturday, April 30 at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City. Tickets surprise since Beatty was start at $99, in Nova Scotia in the Bernie and a portion of summer of 1971 to see Williams the proceeds the total eclipse of the will go to The sun, a key lyric in the NAMM tune. Mick Jagger, who sang background vocals Foundation. on the record, was also This show is an inspiration. sponsored by One mystery that is the sports cleared up at the end is memoribilia why this memoir was not company published by Simon & Steiner Sports. Schuster. In the final pages of the book, Simon Call: (914) 307talks about how she and 1065 for tickets and informaher children were disrespected in 1984 by then- tion. Simon & Schuster CEO An added Dick Snyder, a Donald attraction will Trump-like figure in the be a “Q&A” with publishing biz. S&S had the former center fielder. All ticket packages include a free collectable been sold years art piece of the Yankees star, a one-time giveaway made especially for earlier to Gulf & Western. Snyder coldly cracked to this performance; also available are VIP tickets as singles or for two, the Simon family during a with perks such as special seating areas, open bar and appetizers, and visit to his office “that this meet-and-greets and photo opportunities included in the ticket prices; all could have been yours learn more at bernie51.com. The proceeds from this special event will if your grandfather had raise much-needed money for music education in area schools through been smarter.” The NAMM Foundation.
Electric Avenue Profiles
Berni e Wi l li ams : A Sp eci al Ni ght For NAM M