I occasionally spends time as a music writer, writing reviews for several different publications and websites; editing and writing CD liner notes; and writing biographies for recording artists' websites. Below are some of the concert and CD reviews I have done.TO READ MY MOST RECENT REVIEWS GO BACK TO THE HOME PAGE AND CLICK ON "GREG'S BLOG."

Workin’ Man
Cats on Holiday
2007 COH Recordings

Even if you don’t know them by name, if you are at least a casual follower of the local music scene, you know Cats on Holiday. Lead by a couple of guys whose musical resumes go back to the 70’s, the ‘Cats play well over 100 shows a year of mostly original material. They play regular gigs at places like the Parkview and the Savannah, have done some commercial work for the local media, and appear occasionally on Around Noon and the local morning TV shows. They have just released their third self produced CD “Workin’ Man” and it is a good one.

The heart of their “Cajun swamp pop” sound is the triple threat of Denis Devito’s song writing, the guitar playing of Rick Christyson, and the violin of Kristine Jares. Their live shows attract a loyal audience, and this CD is made up of new songs they have been playing out for awhile. Recorded at Magnetic North Studios and engineered by Chris Keffer, it is their most polished and professional sounding effort.

DeVito’s song writing is still sharp and witty, and his voice has never sounded better. Most songs feature lyrics by a child of the Seventies growing deep into middle age in our modern world. Songs  like “Goodbye Girl,” Gotta Be Down,” and the title tune will strike a chord with most of us in northern Ohio. Amongst the covers are three songs the Cats have done live for a long time, Hank Sr.’s “Hey Good Looking” features a great fiddle solo by Jares, Doug Kenshaw’s "Louisiana Man” with vocals and handy guitar work by Christyson, and Jares adds lead vocals to her fiddle work on “Warm Me Up.”
“Workin’ Man” is an outstanding effort by one of the long time stall worth outfits on the Northern Ohio music scene.

Colinized
Colin Dussault’s Blues Project
2007 Erica Records 1007

This is the first album in a long time from Colin and his band that you can say is a blues album. There are no party songs about chicken wings and big breasted women, and most of the songs that they cover here fall on the blues side of the street. The birth of Dussault’s first child, and the unexpected death of drummer Fredo Perez-Stable’s spouse, bring a maturity to the music for this long time Northern Ohio band, and produced an album more about the music than having a good time.

This is a tight band, both live and in the studio. Guitarist Jim Feeney has been with Dussault since the 80’s, Keyboardist Greg Hurd since the 90’s, bass player Fred Tobey has been full time for more than a few years. And the new guy, drummer  Perez-Stable, has been on board for more than a year. These guys play out 4-6 times a week, and it really carries over in the studio. These guys can play and it really shows on this record.

The disk includes guest appearances by a who’s who of the Cleveland blues scene. Becky Boyd, Irma McQueen, Sharron McPherson-Foxx, and the Prayer Warriors Gospel Choir all lend back up vocals. Guitarists Butch Armstrong, “Walking Cane” Charanghat, and Frankie Starr all appear on several tracks. Bill Miller, the legendary “Mr. Stress,” shares harmonica solos, and does the lead vocals on the Sonny Boy Williams standard “Help Me.” Saxaphonist Tony Koussa, Jr., leads a horn section on four of the tracks.

Amongst the highlights are Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and Van Morrison’s “Someone Like You” with the Prayer Warriors sounding great in the background and Dusault giving several outstanding harmonica solos. Bill Miller doing the vocals on “Help Me” gave me a flashback to the old days at the Euclid Tavern. Also included are great versions of Taj Mahal’s “She Caught the Katy,” Hank Williams’ “Jambalya,” Leadbelly’s “Good Night Irene,” and Jimmy Liggins, “I Ain’t Drunk.” Thirteen tracks all together, and not a weak one amongst them.

This album is really good, and it could be the one to get Dussault and the boys a little air play farther from home on Adult Alternative radio and satellite blues stations. For more about Colin and his band, or to purchase copy of any of his CD’s, visit www.colindussault.com.
           

Kate McGarry at Night Town, Monday, 21 May 2007

It was another enjoyable night of jazz vocals at Nighttown as New York based Kate McGarry, accompanied by her talented husband Keith Genz on guitar, did a very good job of delivering two solid sets of both the familiar and unfamiliar.

She did a little Jerome Kern, some Cole Porter, and a few familiar Broadway standards. She did a couple of acoustic blues tunes, and some lost gems you usually don’t hear, like opening with Joni Mitchell’s “Chelsea Morning.” Keith Genz’s guitar was a fine back up, and almost gave the chords a piano like sound. Her voice has a touch of both Ella Fitzgerald and Rickie Lee Jones, and was quite suited to the selections she performed. Her own original music sounded fresh, especially “A New Love Song” which turned into a duet between her vocals and her husband’s guitar work.

I hope she returns to Nighttown, and maybe with a few more pieces behind her next time. I really like her style, and it just wasn’t the best night for her to be here. Nighttown is a great place, one of our area’s true treasures and landmarks. It is many things, including a great neighborhood bar, a nationally recognized jazz club, and a top shelf restaurant. No argument on any of that. And most nights, because of the great staff the place runs pretty smoothly, and all of its different identities run parallel to each other. But last Monday they bumped up next to each other a bit. There was a couple of loud large parties in the restaurant and patio celebrating special occasions, and the Cavs/Pistons playoff game, which went down to the wire, on TV in the bar. With all of that going on, McGarry’s voice and Genz’s guitar at times got slightly pushed in to the background. Also, Maria Muldair was playing the next night, which kept away some of the regular jazz crowd. But for only ten bucks it was still a fine show, and Kate McGarry is a pro, and did a fine job entertaining the crowd that did come to hear her.

Nighttown has some great stuff coming up, including two of the icons from that wonderful time when jazz and progressive rock crossed paths in the 70’s. Violinist Jean Luc Ponty is there in June 3, and organist Brian Auger returns for two nights on June 8 and 9. I saw Auger’s last show at Nighttown and it was terrific. I highly recommend both acts, especially for those of you who have never been to Nighttown. For more information or directions go to www.nighttowncleveland.com.

And speaking of icons, local legend Ernie Krivda brings his Fat Tuesday Big Band in for a show on June 5.

Candye Kane at Wilbert’s, 31 May 2007

The guys in Blue Lunch have been a big part of the blues scene, as well as the whole live music thing, in Northern Ohio for a long time. One of the things they have recently started doing is producing their own shows occasionally, bringing in a national act to share the stage with them. They did it last Thursday bringing blues woman Candye Kane and her band to Wilbert’s, and it turned out to be a great night of music.

Candye Kane, for those who are unfamiliar with her, has been singing the blues since the mid eighties. Before that she was a big part of the alternative country and punk scenes in Southern California, as well as taking a short turn as a plus size model in the adult entertainment industry. She came to town last Thursday backed by her own three piece band, which featured her own son on drums.

She can really sing, and on top of that has developed into a top-notch writer, and her performances now feature almost all original material. Her colorful past still causes her to have to wear her sexuality on her sleeve, but she really doesn’t have to, her music is that good. Her sound is a combination of Ruth Brown, Bob Wills, and Duane Eddy, and her voice can really belt out a tune.

She featured songs off her latest CD titled Guitar’d and Feathered, and the highlights including a series of swinging ballads “Back with My Old Friends Again,” “I’m Not Going to Cry Today,” and “I’m My Own Worst Enemy.” Her sixteen song set featured mostly numbers that got people up and dancing, and you got the idea that most in attendance had seen her before. There were more than a few swing dancers in the audience.

Last Thursday was one of those rare nights in the Gateway area that were promised to us back in the 90’s, when we voted for the ball park and the arena. Considering that it was a Thursday night; there was an Indians game with over 30,000 in attendance; plus thousands more at Quicken Arena watching the Cavs playoff game in Detroit on the large screens, Wilbert’s had a good crowd for the show. Candye Kane played from 9:00 until almost 11:00, just in time for some Tribe fans to catch the end of the Cavs game on Wilbert’s TV’s. Blue Lunch smartly delayed their post concert set until after the double overtime thriller was finished, and then was joined on stage by Candye as they ripped through a set of blues standards.

When I walked out of Wilbert’s well past midnight Huron Avenue was still packed with sports fans celebrating both the Cavs and the Indians wins over Detroit, and most of the establishments were still jumping.

For more information about Candye Kane and her music visit www.candykane.com. Blue Lunch will be playing all around northern Ohio this summer, check out their schedule at www.bluelunch.com. Upcoming shows at Wilbert’s include their 20th Anniversary Party on June 9 with Michael Bay and the Bad Boys of Blues, and a July 20 date with Roomful of Blues. Check out Wilbert’s summer music line up at www.wilbertsmusic.com.

Godfathers of Groove, 30 January 2007

Night Town in Cleveland Heights

It was another enjoyable night of jazz at NightTown last Tuesday, as the Godfathers of Groove opened up a two night stand with a hot show on a cold and windy night. Featuring two of the legends of pop and jazz from the 60’s, along with a son of one of their contemporaries, who is an established artist in his own right.

The Godfathers of Groove are Reuben Wilson on Hammond B-3, Grant Green, Jr. on guitar and Bernard Purdie on drums. Purdie is perhaps the most recorded drummer in history, working with almost everyone in pop, soul, rhythm and blues, and jazz over the last forty years. His drumming can be heard on such landmark recordings as "R.E.S.P.E.C.T." by Aretha Franklin, "The Thrill is Gone" by B.B.King, and on the Steely Dan Aja album. He has over 4,000 recordings on his resume. Organist Wilson recorded several hit records in the sixties and seventies on labels like Blue Note and Groove Merchant. His recent solo CD's are on the Savant label. The youngest member of Godfathers of the Groove, guitarist and vocalist Grant Green, Jr. is carrying on the legacy of his legendary father, jazz guitarist Grant Green. He has recently released a highly successful solo CD, and is in high demand as a session player in his hometown of New York. City.

The trio did a two set show, featuring almost all arrangements that allowed improvision and solos by all three performers. Asked the title of several of the tunes after the show, all three band members gave different titles to the same song. Amongst the highlights were a jazz up version of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” their acid jazz arrangement of “Masters of Groove meet Dr. No” from their 2001 album of the same name, a medley of New Orleans tunes with a great second line beat by Purdie, and their encore of “Everyday I Got the Blues.”

Probably the biggest surprise of the evening were the vocals to several songs supplied by Grant Green. He supplemented his outstanding guitar work with equally strong vocals ala George Benson.

Again, it was another performance by an act almost perfectly suited to NightTown’s back room. Most of the audience arrived early, enjoyed dinner, sat through both sets, and left satisfied on all fronts.

Bob Seger and the Silver Bullitt Band

Quicken Arena, Cleveland, Ohio 12 Dec. 2006

Classic rock fans in Cleveland got their Christmas gift nine days early as Bob Seger rolled into town last Saturday evening and gave an outstanding show. Backed by, amongst others, long time Silver Bullet Band members Chris Campbell (bass), Alto Reed (saxes), and Craig Frost (keyboards), the almost sixty-two year old Detroit rock icon showed that he still had it in front of a sold out enthusiastic audience.

His two-hour plus show was divided into two sets separated by a very short intermission. The first set opened with “Roll Me Away” from 1982’s The Distance, and “Trying to Live My Life Without You” from 1981 live album Nine Tonight. It would feature a mix of new songs from his current Face the Promise album, mixed with Seger standards like “Main Street” and “Old Time Rock and Roll.”

Amongst the new tunes in the first set were “Wreck this Heart,” “Wait for Me,” and “No Matter Who You Are.” All sounded at home in and around the rest of the songs, including the ones over thirty years old.

Highlights of the first half of the show included Seger taking a turn at the piano and doing “We’ve Got Tonight,” followed by “Turn the Page,” complete with Alto Reed’s wailing sax solos. The first set ended with Seger remarking that he couldn’t believe Live Bullet (his landmark 1975 double live album) was thirty-one years old then playing the “Traveling Man/Beautiful Loser” medley. Guitarist Mark Chatfield handled the guitar segue between the two songs masterfully.

Also backing Seger throughout the evening were a four-piece horn section, three background singers (including Little Feat’s Shaun Murphy), and Grand Funk Railroad’s Don Brewer on the drums.

The second half of the show featured three more songs from his new album including “Simplicity,” which opened the set; “Real Mean Bottle” (which he does as a duet with Kid Rock on the album, drummer Don Brewer subbed admirably); and “The Answer’s in the Question” (with background singer Barbara Payton subbing for Patty Loveless who also duets on the album).

The show ended with a rapid fire string of Seger classics, including “Sun Spot Baby,” “Horizontal Bop,” and “Katmandu.” Also included was a rowdy live version of Chuck Berry’s “C’est La Vie” (say the Old Folks),” which first surfaced on Seger’s Greatest Hits Volume One CD in 1994.

The encores included “Night Moves,” “Hollywood Nights,” and “Rock and Roll Never Forgets.”

Seger and the band looked relaxed, enthusiastic, and happy to be there throughout the whole show. The band garb featured predominately jeans and t-shirts, while the staging was also a no frills affair without any big screens, smoke machines, or pyrotechnics. It was just straight ahead rock and roll delivered by one of the true masters of the art and his talented and well-seasoned band, in front of an audience that truly appreciated every minute of it.

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes

The Cleveland Agora, 2 Dec. 2006

Last Saturday it was another of the semi-annual Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes concerts that we have here in Cleveland, one each summer and one around the holidays, but the first one in a long time at the Agora. The Jukes had been doing their winter shows at the now closed Odeon, so they returned to the Agora this year, also as a part of the club’s 40th anniversary year, last appearing there during the club’s 30th anniversary.

The “new’ Agora, which has been at it’s present sight for almost twenty years, will always be the ‘new’ Agora to many because of the place the “old” Agora, the one on East 24th, will always play in the hearts of the generation of rock and roll fans who came of age at the club. And probably no other out of town band who was an Agora regular at the “old” club captured a place in the hearts of those now mostly forty something fans than Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.

I have seen Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes over the years at places besides Cleveland, and the shows aren’t quite the same. The audiences are always quite receptive, however, they don’t treat the band with adoration worthy of royalty. And the set lists, although they will always contain some gems from their glory days, are usually balanced with newer material and a few blues classics. And the shows in other markets don’t always end with dozen of women up on the stage single along with the band while trying to also hug and kiss their favorite Juke. And these women, although still attractive, aren’t teenagers any more.

Southside shows in Cleveland follow the same scenario time after time, with the band coming out with a song list that sooner or later, mostly sooner, gets trashed as the band ends up playing the songs off their first five albums that audience came to here. Southside and his band aren’t any oldies act, they put out a pretty good blues/rock album every year or so, and tour extensively including a four to six week gig in Europe every year. They also spend a fair amount of time in their Northern New Jersey home base were many of the Jukes are in demand as studio musicians. But it just seems like every time they are here, sooner or later it turns into 1980 as one classic Jukes tune is played after another.

And not that that is a bad thing. The band did get a few new tunes in this time, for example their cover of the Stones’ “Happy” which made it on their last studio album Into the Harbor, to let us know they aren’t sitting on their past laurels. However, when the old songs came out and are still played with fresh enthusiasm and skill, then there is still magic between the now fifty something blues singer and the audience that first embraced him back when the world was a lot younger for all involved.

Oh, there once was a time…and for a few hours Saturday night there was again as songs such as “Trapped Again,” “Love on the Wrong Side of Town,” “Take It Inside,” “Without Love,” “I Don’t Want to Go Home,” and “Paris,” were played with as much skill and soul as they were when they were first played on that fabled stage on East 24th Street. And, of course, the audience loved it. From the opener “Under the Sun,” a gem from the long lost At least We Got Shoes album, to last encore of the audience participation version of “We’re Having a Party,” the love affair between the band and its loyal following here in Northern Ohio continued.

Keeping with the 40th Anniversary theme, local 70’s icons Wild Horses opened up with a short but solid set and did exactly what an opening band should do: they were good, got the audience ready for the headliners, and didn’t play too long. They played some solid classic rock and closed with their own claim to fame “Funky Poodle.”

McGuffey Lane McGuffey Lane/Aqua Dream CCM-687-2 Collector’s Choice Music (2006)

Let the Hard Times Roll/Day by Day CCM-686-2 Collector’s Choice Music (2006)

As popular as the Michael Stanley Band was in the late 70’s and early to mid 80’s in Northern Ohio, McGuffey Lane was just as popular in the central and southern part of the state. In fact, looking back on it now, there probably weren’t two more popular regional bands in the whole country at the time than Ohio’s two native sons.

McGuffey Lane also had a strong following in Northern Ohio, fueled by kids who went off to college in central Ohio from the Cleveland area and brought their music back home with them. They started out doing occasional weekend engagements at the old Peobody’s in Cleveland Heights, and soon would sell out shows at the old Agora on East 24th Street. During the summer they would open up for the Marshall Tucker Band, the Allman Brothers, and the Charlie Daniels Band at Blossom during the glory days of country rock.

The four albums McGuffey Lane did for Atlantic Records in the 80’s are finally available on CD, thanks to the good people at Collector’s Choice Music, one of Rhino Records’ labels. They are packaged two albums on one CD, with their self-titled 1980 effort and 1981’s Aqua Dream on one disc, and Let the Hard Time’s Roll (1982) and Day by Day (1984) on another. The packaging includes the original artwork from the original albums, and enjoyable liner notes written by long time lead guitarist/vocalist John Schwab.

The first disk contains many of the band penned originals from their days as the house band in the late 70’s at the old Zachariah’s Red Eye Saloon, which was located on High Street directly across from the Ohio State campus, and was the center of the live music scene in Columbus at the time. The second disk contains the songs from their time as a national touring band in the 80’s, and has more of a Nashville sound to it.

There is wonderful stuff on both disks from a band that had three talented singer/songwriters, featured several terrific musicians (especially steel guitarist Terry Efaw and keyboardist/harmonica whiz Tebes Douglass), and possessed a unique country rock sound with more than a touch of bluegrass and traditional rock and roll thrown into the mix. When the band members came of age and picked up their first instruments as early teens in the 60’s, Columbus was the Mason-Dixie line of the radio industry. These guys grew up on the Beatles, Stones, and Beach Boys played on the AM radio giants in the north, but also listened to George Jones, Hank Snow, Bill Monroe, and a lot of other traditional artists on country stations form the south not heard on the radio above Interstate 70 in the East or Midwest. All of these influences can be heard in the music found on both of these disks.

Signature concert favorites like “People Like You,” “Green Country Mountains,” “Stay in Love with You,” and “Outlaw Rider,” as well as their first national charted single “Long Time Loving You,” can be found on the first disk. Three songs that made it to the Country Top 100 highlight the second disk, “Making a Living (Has Been Killing Me),” Day by Day,” and “The First Time.”

The band would deal with several tragic personal losses, and the glory days of country rock faded away. However, even without much of their music available on CD the last twenty years, the band’s fans have never really forgotten them or their music. The surviving members of the band still play out 40 to 50 times a year, including headlining at many fairs and festivals throughout the Ohio Valley region, and also an annual reunion show in Columbus each January. To check out more about McGuffey Lane visit their website at www.mcguffeylane.com. If you were one of their fans back in the day, or a fan of country rock in general, pick up either of these new releases. You will not be disappointed.

The Marcia Ball Band @The Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland, Ohio, 6 Oct. 2006

One of the things lacking in Northern Ohio music scene right now, and we do have many things to be grateful for, is an independent adult alternative radio station playing blues, folk, jazz, and other roots music genres. Because if we had one, more people in Northern Ohio would know about artists like Marcia Ball. Those who do know about her came out in full force last Friday for a great night of blues and barrelhouse New Orleans piano boogie music at the Beachland Ballroom.

Marcia Ball and her band have been a part of the blues scene since the late 70’s, having been nominated for Grammys and winning several W.C. Handy Awards. She has evolved into one of our true blues divas, a piano playing Bonnie Raitt minus the rock and roll hits. Her almost yearly sojourn to Northern Ohio brought out her loyal local legion of fans, slowly becoming bigger and more diverse with each show.

The tall, attractive Texan via Louisiana native played close to twenty songs, most of them time tested originals, to an enthusiastic crowd. The highlights were many, including several songs from the album Sing It she did with Irma Thomas and Tracy Nelson in 1998 (“Sing It” and “I Want To Do Everything For You”); some traditional New Orleans boogie (“Mama’s Cooking,” “Dance with Me Darling,” “Mobile”); and several Marcia Ball originals on both the serious and funny sides of relationships (“Foreclosing on the House of Love” and her beautiful ballad “The Power of Love”).

She has been performing the Randy Newman ballad “Louisiana 1927” for years, before the hurricanes wiped out the Gulf Coast last year, including the small Louisiana town she grew up in. She sang it emotionally and soulfully, and then a performed for the first time anywhere another ballad “Ride it Out” about the house she grew up that was destroyed by Hurricane Rita.

Ball’s sly and ironic sense of humor comes through in her music and her banter with the audience, whether she is commenting about politicians in Washington or the battle of the sexes. Both with her music and story telling between sets, she had the audience completely with her and loving every minute of it.

Besides a great show, another positive of the night is that it brought some people to the Beachland who probably have never been there. The crowd was older than the usual Friday night Beachland crowd, similar to the crowd you would find at Night Town for a jazz show. And it was more of a concert like feel, with rows of chairs covering most of the floor to accommodate the baby boomers in the crowd, most of whom just wanted to sit and enjoy the music. Along the back and the sides there was still enough room for dancing, which is always a part of a Marcia Ball show.

Also a highlight of the evening was the presence of Austin blues singer/songwriter Seth Walker, who opened the show with a solo set mixed with originals and well-done covers, and brought a guitar presence to Ball’s band that it had never had before. Luckily for those in attendance, the Beachland show was one of only a handful Walker is doing with the Marcia Ball Band before he goes back to his own musical outfits.

Backing Marcia Ball along with Walker was her long time bass player Don Bennett, drummer Corey Ketler, and saxophonist Thad Scott.

It was a great night of music at the Beachland Ballroom as Marcia Ball and her band performed another solid show for her fans here in Northern Ohio. Now if we could only get someone to play her on the radio…

Little Feat @ House of Blues, Cleveland 21 July 2006

It was another enjoyable night of music for the forty and fifty somethings of northern Ohio, as well as a few new younger fans in the audience, at the House of Blues last Friday as Little Feat made their annual stop in Cleveland. The band opened with a series of songs that showed the diversity of the band, including several sung by Shaun Murphy (especially a great version of “Romance Without Finance”), one sung by percussionist Sam Clayton (“44 Blues”); and a blues jam with a great trumpet solo by guitarist Fred Tackett.

The band was just warming up the audience, and things really started to hit stride on their fifth number “Time Loves a Hero.” After that, for the most part, it was one Feat song after another, and the audience lapped it up and the band made each song, new or old, sound fresh and distinctive.

Amongst the highlights were Feat standards “Fat Man in the Bathtub,” “Gringo,” and “Dixie Chicken”; and covers of the Band’s “Rag Mama Rag” and Bob Marley’s “Get Up Stand Up.” Probably the one song from their vast catalogue that they do perform every night, the road anthem “Willin’,” sounded new, with it spinning off into and back out of “Don’t Bogart that Joint,” and featuring soulful solos by Tackett on mandolin, Paul Barrere on slide guitar, and Billy Payne on the piano. In this era of “jam bands,” this band is so tight this concert favorite was more like a jazz arrangement. As always, the band’s long time rhythm section of drummer Richie Hayward and bassist Kenny Gradney kept everything going forward.

Few bands have made better use of the internet than Little Feat, and you can check out their website at www.littlefeat.net.

Local jam band musician Jim Miller and his band opened and did a what every opening band should do: be good, don’t play too long, and get the crowd in the mood for the headliner.

Brian Auger and the Oblivion Express

Night Town in Cleveland Hts., 25 July 2006

I attended the late show of the second night of the two night, four show stand Brian Auger did last week at Night Town. As I walked in, fans from the early show were walking out raving about the concert, and Auger could be seen in the back bar area drenched in sweat signing CD’s and talking to fans. I said to myself maybe I should have came to the early show, or maybe the night before. How much was he going to have left after already doing three shows in the last thirty hours?

Well, I don’t really know how good those other three shows were, but the one I saw was outstanding. For eighty-five minutes the standing room only crowd was in the company of greatness. One of the true heroes of that special time when commercial rock radio in Cleveland played album cuts instead of singles, and played anything that was good along the rock and roll continuum, whether it was punk or folk or blues or country or jazz. If you were a music fan in Cleveland during that time, you knew Brian Auger. And during that fourth and final show over two nights, he lived up to his legend and more.

Auger took the stage with his four-piece band; beside himself on keyboards it included his son Karma on drums, daughter Savannah on vocals, and a talented young bassist Mark Meadows. They put on a show that was as much rock as jazz, and I don’t think those old pictures on the walls at Night Town have ever shook as much.

They opened with “Truth,” which goes all the way back to Auger’s 1972 album Second Wind, but sounded very contemporary. I was immediately impressed with the talent of the band. Auger’s son could really play the drums, and his daughter could really sing. In fact on the Oblivion Express standards they played her singing gave the songs a new freshness, and to be honest with you, each one sounded better than in their original recorded versions. Highlights of the show included a great cover of Herbie Hancock’s “Butterflies” (complete with new lyrics Auger wrote so his daughter could sing them); and “Whenever You’re Ready” and the closer “Compared to What,” two gems from the classic Closer to It album from 1973. Almost every song featured Auger on some sort of organ solo, and believe me when I tell you, the man can still play. The enthusiastic crowd loved it.

In the bar before the show I crossed paths with several groups of Auger fans who had not seen him in years, and who have never had been to Night Town. After the show they praised both the performance as well as the venue. If you have never been to a show at Night Town, or haven’t been there in years, you should really check it out. They have been bringing in all sorts of quality jazz artists, and they redid the sound system in their room and it is one of the premier places to hear live music in Northern Ohio. Visit their website at www.nighttowncleveland.com for more information about upcoming shows.

The night closed with a surprise cake to celebrate the elder Auger’s sixty-seventh birthday. He looked touched and surprised, and stayed around afterwards sharing the cake with his fans and family. He told the crowd you are never too old to rock, and he expected one day “to go down with all flags flying.” Let’s hope it is not for a very long time, and he returns to give many more shows like he did last week at Night Town.

Jonathon Edwards at the Winchester in Lakewood

26 May 2006

A sparse but receptive crowd, mostly Forty and Fifty Somethings with a few children thrown in, enjoyed a good night of 70’s folk rock at the Winchester in Lakewood last Friday at the Jonathon Edwards show.

Edwards walked confidently on stage clean cut and barefoot, with guitar and harmonica, and opened up with “It's the Natural Thing.” For the next ninety minutes or so he entertained the audience with mostly songs from his self-titled album of over 30 years ago; a few other 70's originals; a cover or two; and one new song. His voice sounded good, as he can still hit most of the high notes, and he looked good himself, slimmed and tanned and much younger looking than his sixty years.

Right from the start he had a good rapport with the audience, more than a few who shared Athens, Ohio, roots with Edwards. The crowd responded to the Edwards' standards “Down in Athens County,” “Train of Glory,” “Cry Cry Blue,” and “Honky Tonk Stardust Cowboy.”

He also threw in some covers, including a great version of George Jones' “The Choices I Have Made.” He also threw in Bob Dylan's “I Know My Baby Will” and the standard “”You are my Sunshine.”

He saved his “hits” for last, making a comparison of our current war in Iraq with the Vietnam conflict in the introduction to “Sunshine,” and closing the show with the audience singing along to “Shanty.”

Local singer/songwriter Randy J. Daniels opened the evening, and was a perfect fit. With catchy original tunes with titles like “Cards on the Table” and “Tiny Little Arms,” and some good covers, especially George Harrison's “Apple Scruffs.”

There have been a few improvements in the Winchester since I was last there, and the place is making good strides in becoming a quality establishment. Two areas of improvement still need to be addressed, and the place could very easily deal with them. For those of you who have never been there, you walked into a front bar that has a great neighborhood feel to it, then go through a back door into the concert area. However, for the opening act and part of Edwards' set a group of people sat in the back of the concert hall and talked noisily. Also, the smoking ventilation is poor, poor enough that Edwards paused and complained about it several times early in his show. Both of these could be alleviated by limiting smoking and socializing during the performances to the bar area in front.

Karla Bonoff at the Winchester in Lakewood

4 August 2006

Karla Bonoff made her first appearance ever at the Winchester in Lakewood last Friday, and a small but appreciative audience enjoyed a memorable evening by one of the forgotten icons of the California rock/singer-songwriter era of the Seventies. Known mostly for the hits she has penned for Linda Ronstadt over the years, Bonoff showed that she too is a gifted singer, guitarist, and pianist. Even if you had never heard of her, you knew most of the songs in the 15 number set. Romantic sentimental ballads like “Home,” “Rose in the Garden,” “I Can’t Hold On,” and “Like a Falling Star” all sounded familiar and had the audience humming along at times.

Of course, most of her more popular songs were included, with her alternating back and forth on guitar and piano. Accompanied as she has been for years by another Seventies singer/songwriter Kenny Edwards, she was also joined by Amanda Gruber on guitar, allowing Edwards some room to pay mandolin and bass. “Goodbye My Friend,” “Someone to Lie Down Beside Me,” “Never was a Bad Girl,” and “I Waited All My Life For You,” all sounded fresh and beautiful as always with Bonoff’s voice and the simple instruments behind it. Another highlight was “The Heart is Like a Compass” from her time in the folk group Bryndle.

Bonoff has started touring more and more the last several years, and seemed a bit more comfortable in front of a live audience than the last time I saw her. Her story telling between songs has become a little more of her show, and everything is told with a bit of ironic humor, whether its telling about being on the Merv Griffin show with Richard Simmons or recalling lip synching a song on the old Solid Gold Show. She closed the show with an almost haunting version of the only cover of the evening, the Irish folk standard “The Water Is Wide.”

Edwards also opened the show with a short set of mostly new material, folk songs with catchy titles like “Go on with the Games You Play” and “Wake Me Up when It’s Raining Flowers.”

I’ve recently been to three shows at the Winchester and all have been enjoyable evenings. Jonathon Edwards, Nils Lofgren, and Karla Bonoff and all put on very polished shows that especially showed off the songwriting ability of each of them. The audiences quietly sat and listened, the sound system is top notch, and you are never more than the equivalent of ten rows away from the stage. Plus most bottles of beer are three bucks. Nils filled the place, the other two had some room left for a few more fans.

Too bad more people don’t know about the Winchester, it’s a great place for classic rock fans to here some great live music without going to the “Q” and spending a hundred bucks for good Roger Water tickets, let alone eight bucks for beer.

Eddie Money at the House of Blues Cleveland

11 May 2006

Every so often the House of Blues books an act that was popular either in Cleveland or nationally or both back in the good old 70’s or 80’s. Some of these acts have gone on to bigger things, many haven’t. All face the challenge of making material at least twenty years old sound fresh, performing songs with enthusiasm even after doing them thousands of times. The House of Blues shows in this genre over the last year or so have, for the most part, been enjoyable and given enthusiastic audiences what they wanted, shows by the Outlaws, Little Feat, and Tom Jones come to mind. Add a fine show by Eddie Money and his band last Thursday to the list.

The best thing he did was opening with “Two Tickets to Paradise,” his signature tune and the one that broke him nationally in the late 70’s. It got the audience in the right frame of mine, and also eliminated any drunks in the crowd requesting it over and over, which use to happen when he saved it for one of his encores. He strutted on stage with the aura of a lounge singer, tie and sport coat and swinging along like Bobby Darin. The audience joined in on the chorus, and the agenda for the evening was set.

The audience loved it as the hits kept coming, including “I think I’m in Love,” “Com’n, Com’n,” and “Life for the Taking.” The concert went up a notch when Money brought out the sax during “Can’t Go Back,” and his lounge singer façade was cracked by some sincere smiles and self deprecating jokes about his past drug rehab experiences, and politicking for a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame spot.

The rest of the show was filled with more of his past hits, the best being those with natural audience participation like “Take Me Home, Tonight,” “Walk on Water,” “Baby Hold On,” and “Shakin’.”,

"The only really new material, and one of the highlights of the evening, was Eddie and the band’s first ever public performance of the Eddie Arnold 1950’s standard “You Don’t Know Me.” Which sounded pretty good, with Money adding a nice harmonica solo or two. It is featured on Money’s new album “Wanna Go Back,” containing cover tunes he did with his first bands as a teenager on Long Island in the 60’s.

Backing Eddie Money, and doing a good job, was his long time band with Tommy Girvin on lead guitar, Lee Beverly on bass, Chris Frazier on drums, and Randy Forester on keyboards.

Once again fans in their mid-thirties to early-fifties were treated to a fine show by some old road warriors at the House of Blues. As always, after the show Money and his band hung around the lobby until every ticket stub and old album cover were autographed, and every photo was taken. The fans enjoyed the show, and the band appreciated an enthusiastic and faithful audience, hopefully remembering all the times over the years fans in Northern Ohio helped pay the bills, during the good and lean days.

Nils Lofgren at the Winchester in Lakewood

15 June 2006

It was another enjoyable night of music last Thursday at the Winchester in Lakewood as Nils Lofgren did two solo shows. I was a little apprehensive about the evening before hand for two reasons: I had spent the day listening to several of his albums from before his E Street band days and a lot of it sounded dated; and I thought the club would be filled with too many Springsteen fans, not enough Nils fans. I was wrong on both counts.

I caught the second show and really enjoyed it. Nils went through the highlights of his solo career (“Keith Don’t Go,” “Girl in Motion,” “I Came to Dance,” “No Mercy”); did a couple of Bruce songs (“Here Come the Night,” “If I Fall Behind”); and showed that he could still play the guitar. The simple setting really brought out the quality of his songs. When he sang “You” everyone heard each word of ‘We had this for awhile/and when we made love you smiled.’ He also did a stint at the piano doing “Blue Skies” with a beautiful harpsichord like solo in the middle of it.

His voice still sounded angelic when he needed it, and his stage presence kept most of the capacity crowd into the show. It was one of those nights the crowd was an important part of the evening, giving standing ovations after several Nil’s classics, and no one was heard shouting out Springsteen songs to cover. Lofgren was also rewarded with good responses to several well-performed guitar solos.

The Winchester is perfect for these types of show. Its smallness and outstanding sound system allows for intimacy between the performer and the audience, and when the performer is as talented and experienced as Nils Lofgren, and the audience was as receptive as it was last Thursday, the show becomes close to perfect. My only real criticism was the drum machine that Lofgren added to a couple of tunes, especially “Here Comes the Night.” He didn’t need it, his voice and guitar playing was more than enough to carry any tune. As with most shows at the Winchester, Lofgren stayed around after and signed every old album and posed for every picture.

For a $12 ticket, and beer at the same price as your favorite neighborhood joint, I couldn’t imagine a better night out for the forty and fifty somethings in the audience than last Thursday at the Winchester.