Folks together

Stone Soup stages an inspiring Sorrels benefit

by Michael Caito

A brief word of thanks to readers who voted and all the winners of the Music Poll. As usual it was a learning experience as well as a welcome opportunity to interview some of the finest musicmakers around. Of boo-boos, the misidentification of the Grüvis Malt bassist was the worst (Haribo is their former bassist), but they set us straight with an enthusiastic -- if a little fast -- rendition of Miles Davis' "Autumn Leaves" to puckishly open their set at the Met on May 15. As much as the term "alternative" gets smacked around, Grüvis do in fact qualify in the literal sense of the word if not the genre. Adept young musicians versed in the intricacies of funk (an earlier discussion with the keyboardist revolved around the pre-eminence of 7ths, not 9ths and 13ths, in funk's assembly language), hip-hop and R&B, they have quite an arsenal at their disposal, and deploy it with a tastefulness beyond their years. Another happy observation was the reaction of the Grüvis fans to the middle trio, Arson Family. That band's hardcore maelstrom was acknowledged by many in the crowd, most of whom were there for the headliners, with attention, humor and applause. If Grüvis were an alternative (the genre) band, their fans would've typically sat on their hands, moping and ignoring the Arson Family's hilarious Duff Beer theme song (from the soon-out Simpsons compilation). Arson Family delivered, Grüvis Malt delivered, and the latter's fans -- and there are many -- have no attitudinal sticks up their butts. Open-mindedness is a beautiful thing. If the John Street Porch Band, who played first, and two days later whined about "alternative" in their Lifebeat "Band Spotlight," were smart, they'd rehearse instead of billing themselves as a punk-pop hybrid then dogging dated terms. Two outta three ain't bad, to quote Mr. Loaf, so a strong Met night it was.

RALLYING FOR ROSALIE. Revered folkster Rosalie Sorrels is recovering from the radical mastectomy which precluded her annual Stone Soup appearance on Saturday. So the coffeehouse staged one of several fund-raisers planned across the country to defray costs of treatment which 1) may have saved her life, 2) cruelly, happened months before she would have qualified for Medicare and 3) was made more daunting given the respected folk matron's lack of health insurance. Rallying 'round Rosalie were several area veterans, all of whom had a different musical take. Opener Laura Berkson, self-accompanied on Roland synth, recounted a recent trip to Poland where she and several hundred American students joined in an awareness march starting at Auschwitz and culminating in a meeting with numerous Holocaust survivors. 'Twas a gripping tale of re-emerging identity issues among contemporary Poland's 20,000 Jews, and Berkson's set, though short, was hard-hitting. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Fred Small followed with his expressive tales of newborn babies and the brave heart of the Apaloosa in Idaho (a tune once gathered by Sorrels for a songbook collection).Once an environmental barrister, Small is now a divinity school student, so as one might expect his set was heavy on spiritually-empowering themes. Between his nimble playing and singing Small noted that Sorrels remains the personification of the working folkie's tenet: "It's not a cut-throat business, it's a helping-hand kind of business." Following Small, the ever-versatile Aubrey Atwater offered songs and poetry, the highlight being a reading of "Crayon of the Quelled," a poem examining women and cosmetics. It served to remind that recent rocker riot grrrls are somewhat trenchant Jenny-come-latelies when it comes to gender issues in music and poetry (One step further:no Utahs, no Anis.). If you doubt that, visit Cheryl Wheeler this Saturday in the Soup's final show of the season.

After the break, Joyce Katzberg simply slayed 'em with songs by Malvina Reynolds, an Iris DeMent cover dedicated to her recently-deceased mom, and ended (as did others) with a sing-along. Few musicians can match Katzberg's eternally renewable wellspring of devotion to social causes. There are fewer still who consistently refrain from shrill mawkishness which too often accompanies those with valid messages and insufficient tools to convey them. Katzberg earned her informed sense of musical history through years of performance and learning from people like the evening's beneficiary, yet like Sorrels never treats causes or songs as a given. Thus she retains vitality, a sense of immediacy and urgency graced with an articulate, powerful voice. If it's been a while since you've heard her, you may want to head to the Warren Antique Center, where she performs on Fridays from 6 to 9 p.m.

Bill Harley

Bill Harley was up last, another Soup co-founder whose spry wordplay and ability to evoke the belly laugh serves as an entertaining counterpoint to his Zen sense of rebellion. Harley is forever re-arranging the tectonic plates of our notions of conformity, bringing to mind the warped mental hijinks of comic Steven Wright and the keen observations of neurotic-camp novelist Mark Leyner. On Saturday he came off as an approachable, Tim Allen kind of homebody, whether talking about being stuck on the garage roof of his Seekonk home (chasing an errant kite) or recounting a tale of a night drinking with Sorrels in a lower East Side bar, when she unwittingly took an overmatched sleight-of-hand shark to the cleaners. It was a grand finish to this tribute to folk stalwart Sorrels who, according to Souperman Richard Walton (that night's birthday boy as he struck 70), is "recovering nicely."

Cheryl Wheeler headlines Stone Soup's season closer on Saturday.

HEARIN' RHODE ISLAND. An expanded lineup marks the Hear In R.I. festival's shift from Waterplace Park over to India Point, with attendees on June 13 and 14 catching some of the area's top folkies plus helpings of jazz, surf, country, ska, bluegrass, reggae and rock.

Make no mistake, this is still primarily a spotlight on folk. And while there are some dead spots in folkville there's more than enough talent to overwhelm temporary sonic setbacks. Reasons to go: Erin McKeown, John Mac, Bill Petterson, Barb Schloff and young Lindsay Amore are a formidable group of soloists, while 100th Monkey, Folk Support Group, Pendragon, Thompson twins Chris and Meredith and Jon Campbell & Everett Brown are as strong a five-act lineup as you're likely to see -- well, not counting the Sunday lineup at Newport Folk -- on any weekend this year. Rock is very well-represented by Mark Cutler, Delta Clutch, Cold Zipper and Rash of Stabbings (and I used to think fresh air would do to Rash what water did to the Wicked Witch of the West), while Shed bring in the heavy artillery and Rock Hunt champs the LUV's shake their glam/punk thangs. Nothing wrong with those six bands either. No room to list everyone . . . suffice it to say it's a multi-genre treat and it's free, with the usual addenda of poetry readings, food and artsy/ craftsy booths. Plan now; info at http:// users.ids.net/~hearinri or by calling 949-0757. Volunteers are always welcome.

Tonight (5/28), the feature documentary Out of the Loop is screened at Lupo's at 8 p.m., examining the music biz experiences of Windy City artists (Steve Albini, Die Warzau, Eleventh Dream Day, Jesus Lizard, Pulsars, Red Red Meat, Seam, Sister Machine Gun, Triple Fast Action, Veruca Salt, Wesley Willis, Yum-Yum) during different points in their careers. It's more than another self-aggrandizing "scene" exposition, and the doc format ensures that the BS detectors are locked on "vaporize" whether filming players, critics or seminal Chicago recording labels like Wax Trax! and Touch and Go. Good flick from producer/director Scott Petersen: funny, disheartening sometimes, and an eye-opener for an easy fiver. Celluloid buffs can also look forward, in a few weeks, to AS220's annual screening of films not accepted by the Convergence Fest.