Music
December 2, 2018 — Scott Johnson
I had not heard of Ann Hampton Callaway before her audacious 1999 release To Ella With Love, but I’m glad I took a chance on that disc. Ella led me eventually to Ann’s 2007 show at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York and then to the rest of her recordings. There is no arguing about taste, but in my view she is the foremost living practitioner of the
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November 18, 2018 — Scott Johnson
I’ve just about exhausted my knowledge of popular music in this series. This morning I would like to turn to the the weekly John Pizzarelli/Jessica Molaskey syndicated radio show that they call Radio Deluxe to deliver the goods. I usually catch it on Saturday afternoons at 5:00 on the KBEM in the Twin Cities. I love the show. Having missed most of yesterday’s show I went looking for it online
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October 28, 2018 — Scott Johnson
With the coming of Halloween on Wednesday, it may be an opportune moment for a diversion. I certainly need one. If you listen to the right radio stations at this time of the year, you will hear a few songs associated with the holiday. On WUMB’s Highway 61 Revisited show yesterday morning, host Albert O devoted the entire four hours to songs fitting the holiday. Probably foremost them is “I
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October 14, 2018 — Scott Johnson
Al Kooper is still going strong at the age of 74. If you love the music that came out of the ’60s, you may know him from his seminal work with the Blues Project, with Bob Dylan, with Electric Flag, with Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills, with Blood, Sweat & Tears, with Jimi Hendrix, with George Harrison, with the Rolling Stones and on and on. And that’s just as a
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October 8, 2018 — John Hinderaker
I have long admired Taylor Swift. Beginning as a teenager, she has been a positive influence on a generation of fans, mostly young girls. My three daughters have all been major fans, and I enjoy her music. Or I did, anyway, until she abandoned her country roots for the more boring world of pop. All together, I would guess my daughters have seen Swift in concert at least ten times.
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October 7, 2018 — Scott Johnson
The anniversary of the birth of John Lennon is this Tuesday, October 9. Murdered at age 40, he would be 78 this week. What a loss. His work has always struck a chord with me. Now that so much of the Beatles’ work is available on YouTube, I thought I would take the occasion to note some of his lesser known songs just for the sheer pleasure of the thing.
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August 31, 2018 — Scott Johnson
My high school classmate and friend Mike Frost joined me to see the group that goes under the name Poco at the Dakota this past Tuesday night. Mike and I were trying to repeat the past. We saw Poco live in Boston in 1971 or so playing in the configuration (Richie Furay, Jim Messina, Timothy Schmit, George Grantham and Young) represented on the group’s Deliverin’ album, with which I had
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August 19, 2018 — Scott Johnson
This past Sunday we went to see the great Stax artist William Bell perform at the Dakota Jazz Club in downtown Minneapolis. Bell is 78 years old. He returned to the scene in triumph with his 2016 recording This Is Where I Live, winner of that year’s Grammy for Best Americana. Not blues, not rhythm and blues, not soul — Americana, as Bell proudly mentioned a couple of times during
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August 16, 2018 — Scott Johnson
Aretha Franklin — the Queen of Soul, as Steely Dan reminded the “sweet young thing” in “Hey Nineteen” — has died. Jon Pareles reviews the record in his excellent New York Times obituary. I cannot take her measure but we can pause to remember and pay our respects. The metaphor of royal lineage was not entirely amiss in Aretha’s case. Her father, the Reverend C.L. Franklin, was the renowned Detroit
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August 2, 2018 — Scott Johnson
Taking a break from the news, I attended the so-called Grateful Dead Meet-Up at our local suburban multiplex last night. The Meet-Up featured a showing of the Dead’s highly esteemed July 7, 1989, concert at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia (setlist here). I think it was the best attended film playing at the theater last night. That’s a guess. The audience for the show had the highest median age in the
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July 15, 2018 — Scott Johnson
Boz Scaggs came through town again last week to perform on Tuesday evening at Minneapolis’s State Theater. Sitting in front row seats as guests of our friends Tom and Randy Edelstein, I snapped the nearby photo. Where we sat the sound was perfect. I could not believe how great Boz sounded. He must be carefully tending to his vocal instrument. At the age of 74, he has never sounded better.
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July 8, 2018 — Scott Johnson
Before leaving for Santa Fe we caught Jesse Colin Young playing at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis on June 26. I have no higher purpose here than to share an enthusiasm and post a few songs that might bring interested readers some small pleasure. You may have heard of Jesse Colin Young as the founding member of the Youngbloods or as a solo artist. He founded the Youngbloods in
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June 30, 2018 — Scott Johnson
This morning I’m flying to Albuquerque on my way to St. John’s College in Santa Fe to study Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man next week. I posted “A note on Invisible Man“ earlier this week. I hope to deepen my understanding of this compelling and still timely novel. My trip this morning prompts a musical question. Have you ever heard “Albuquerque” rhymed in a song? Trying to write this out now,
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June 17, 2018 — Scott Johnson
I wrote this on Father’s Day a few years ago. It is a post that struck a chord with at least a few readers. I am taking the liberty of reposting it today in honor of the day. My father was a thoughtful man in his own way. In the last years of his life he recited for me the things for which he was most grateful. In retrospect I
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June 10, 2018 — Scott Johnson
This is an entirely personal note on Shawn Colvin’s residence concluding last night at the Dakota Jazz Club. I did not intend to return to the subject after my post last week. These comments are prompted by the fact that I can’t find any reviews of Shawn’s shows in Minneapolis online this time around. This is for the record! The Star Tribune’s Jon Bream overlooked Shawn this week in favor
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June 3, 2018 — Scott Johnson
Shawn Colvin settles in for four nights at the Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant in Minneapolis this coming Wednesday. I’m attending in support of my anger management therapy; I bought tickets for all four nights. If you’re within shouting distance of the Twin Cities you might want to pay us a visit. Shawn is a singer/songwriter/interpreter who achieved stardom with the Grammy-winning pop hit “Sunny Came Home” on A Few
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May 27, 2018 — Steven Hayward
I’m sure many of our faithful readers are fans of the geniuses behind “Bad Lip Reading” on YouTube, but Garren Lazar does them one better by applying their technique to . . . Peanuts cartoons! Behold, Peanuts crossed with progressive rock—a nice interlude for a three-day weekend. Enjoy: There are several more like this on Garren Lazar’s YouTube page: Peanuts signing Heart’s “Barracuda,” the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive,” and even
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