Before he died in 1991, jazz giant Bobby Greene, a native of Savannah, Georgia,
taught music at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and hosted a jazz and
gospel program on the school's airwaves, WSMU-FM. A serious force on the New
England jazz scene for a quarter-century, Greene, a composer and recording
artist, principally played saxophone with Coleus, a band he founded in the
'70s. His "City Suite" was premiered at Jordan Hall in Boston. The Coastal Jazz
Society in Savannah inducted Greene into its Jazz Hall of Fame in September of
1992. When he died, he left a huge void in the world of great jazz humans, one
that still has not been filled.
There's a fundraiser going down in Greene's memory on Sunday. "The Jeans &
Rhinestones Ball: A Tribute to Bobby Greene" will benefit the Bobby Greene
Memorial Scholarship Fund, which is administered through UMass Dartmouth. There
will be more than a dozen stellar jazz musicians performing at this event,
including Rhode Island jazz natives Mac Chrupcala, Rusty Russo, Ken Carpenter,
Paul Del Nero, and Bill Mieli. Alums from Coleus will reunite. The Reverend Lee
Mitchell Gospel Group will perform at noon. The gala will also feature
performances by Danny Schwartz, John Harrison, Stan Belmarce, Andy McWain, Dean
Cassell, Herbie King, Stan Strickland, Tim Ingles, and other surprise guests.
The show will take place from noon to 6 p.m. at the Harborfront Center Ballroom
(formerly the Seaport Inn), 110 Middle Street, Fairhaven, Massachusetts.
Admission is $25 and includes nosh-ables. For ticket information, call (508)
993-1999.
NO MEANS YES. What happens when you're from Newport and you get booted
from the only place that'll give your ass a stage? Well, you start reaching out
a bit, like No Means Yes (not to be confused with NoMeansNo, one of the great
overlooked Jello Biafra-championed post-punk bands from the Cold White North).
In their bio they refer to themselves as "three dashing young lads shot
straight out of Satan's wang," which is kinda cool, I guess, if you can relate
to that sort of thing. And who can't, frankly? They haven't been playing around
all that much, but Mike from the band says they "play fast punk rock 'n' roll."
Simple enough. "We've been playing around the East Coast for about three years
now. We're from Newport, but have been kicked out of Area 22. We put on a
really high-energy show -- breathing fireballs, diving into drums, all that
kinda shit. The live thing is where we really excel, I suppose." At the end of
this month, Mike will take to roadieing on the upcoming Turbo AC's and Flogging
Molly tour. Then in May No Means Yes will do its own road trip. Keep an eye out
for Satan's wang.
SLUGWORTH OPENING. This is a post from dashing Slugworth frontman Satyr.
Apparently, the band's current drummer Dave Avery is calling it a day, leaving
the trio's crucial drumming spot open for business. As a result, Slugworth is
immediately accepting applications from rock drummers. Most of you know the
Slugworth sound. It's nice, tight stuff, melodic hard rock, along the lines of
Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Stone Temple Pilots. They've been working the beat
for a good three years now and have made some serious progress. Elevate,
the band's latest disc, came out just a few months ago, and their debut,
Myriad, was released in September of 2001. You can check 'em out live,
even if you're not a drummer, at their show this Friday (the 22nd) at the New
Wave in New Bedford. It's 21-plus, so don't make the trip if you can't make the
age limit. All the mp3 tracks from Elevate can be downloaded at
www.rattlehead.com/audio; that's also the place where you can catch the man's
hyper-informative scene report. Interested parties can contact him at (860)
564-4209, or at satyrfreeway@hotmail.com.
WANDERING EYE. Tonight (the 21st) at the Call, up-and-coming locals
the Liars Club, led by guitarist PJ Doppke, has been asked back to the
venue for the first of a string of regular Thursday night appearances. Given
the current sparseness of gig slots around town, that is both a testament to
the potential of this band and a damn lucky break. Watch as they make the most
of it tonight. The show features the return of recent Rock Hunt finalist
Trachtenberg.
The same night at the Blackstone, you've got a couple of Ivy League outfits,
which I'm sure doesn't mean anything other than these kids have some
book-learning to do after the show, else they'll be pullin' Cs. Recore,
from Brown, faces off with Invisible Down Town from Harvard. If you've
never heard Recore (www.recorerocks.com/), their sound ranges from power-pop to
alternative/hard rock. IDT (www.invisibledowntown.com) is brainy power-pop.
But then, they are from Hahvahd lovey. But the smartest thing about
going to the Blackstone on this night is that you won't have to pay a dime to
get in. On Friday at the Blackstone, Psycle and No Way Out take
the stage. The former is a bunch of weekend warriors from Smithfield, who like
their rock earnest and straightforward.
Also on Friday night, Controlled Aggression (www. controlledaggression. com)
will be at the Safari Lounge. They've been getting some airplay locally and
seem to be on the rise. It would be cool to see what the fuss is all about.
Their demo After the Fall is available for listening over at mp3.com,
and it will also be among the freebies distributed at the opening of the new
Newbury Comics at Providence Place next weekend 3/30. Good marketing if you ask
me.
Rory Block, the Robert Cray of the fairer sex, is performing this
Sunday (the 24th) in West Kingston at the Courthouse Center for the Arts. Block
is a formidable talent who seems to be relying less on her skilled guitar work
and more on her R&B roots. Call 782-1018.
The gig update from your favorite Latino heartthrobs, Black &
White, is as follows: This Friday, they'll be at the Oak Hill Tavern in
North Kingstown. On Monday they'll shake down a private party at the Biltmore,
and Wednesday night finds them on the Thames in Newport at One Pelham East. If
that ain't enough, next Friday (the 29th) they'll be at the Backstreet in
Warwick. As you swingers probably know, the new CD, 45 R.P.M., is
available at shows or at BlackAndWhiteBand.com.
E-mail me with music news at big.daddy1@cox.net.
Issue Date: March 22 - 28, 2002
