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Jazz in Rockport, roots in Cambridge, love in the air

Two notable shows between now and Valentine's Day that you might have missed... Tickets are going fast for Danilo Perez and friends at the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport on Friday night. This is a pretty smashing combination of the "Pan-American" jazz pianist and one of the most interesting performance spaces in the entire Boston area. This small, wood-and-glass performance hall offers great sound and a beautiful harbor view. Now, sure, it will be dark when the show begins at 8 p.m., but Perez will cast plenty of illumination anyway. Tix are $25-$35 and if you're interested, I'd call 978-546-7391 or go here right now. Bonus: The show is a benefit for the North Shore Jazz Project, whose All-Star band will open. Not a bad date night.

The other show is more directly Valentine-related. Three real-life couples, rootsy-folkie types all, will play Songs of Love at Passim in Harvard Square, Cambridge, on Valentine's Day, aka Tuesday. Darol Anger and Emy Phelps, Lissa Schneckenberger and Corey DiMario, and Brittany Haas and Kai Welch will present what they're calling Sweethearts’ Night Out, with originals and covers looking at romance from, well, both sides now and then some. All three pairs are couples in real life; Schenkenburger and  Dimario are married. The 8 p.m. show is $23 for Passim members and $25 for non-members.  They can be purchased in advance here or at 617-492-7679.

Not watching the Super Bowl? Passim offers an alternative

Very alternative. While the rest of us will be tuning in for the Patriots-Giants rematch, the Harvard Square folk landmark will feature Grammy-nominated producer/performer Nicolay and "exploratory jazz" trio The Hot at Nights performing the music from their recent "Shibuya Session" EP, which you can hear here. Nicolay is an electronica producer best known as half of The Foreign Exchange with rapper Phonte. North Carolina's The Hot at Nights feature 8-string guitar virtuoso Chris Boerner, with Matt Douglas on sax/woodwinds and Nick Baglio on drums. The EP features new versions of tracks from Nicolay's 2009 album "City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya." It's pretty mellow, decidedly unlike Vince Wilfork slamming Eli Manning to the ground.The gig is scheduled for 8:00 pm, by which time I hope Wilfork will have done that at least twice, at Club Passim, 47 Palmer Street, Cambridge. Tix: $13 for Passim members, and $15 for non-members, at: www.passim.org or (617) 492-7679.

Coldplay returns to Boston. It's like they never left.

Coldplay returns to Boston next July 29 for a gig at the TD Garden. It's part of a North American tour announced today and kicking off in Edmonton in April, in support of their debuted-at-No.-1 "Mylo Xyloto" album. Yes, they're coming back, but you're forgiven if you haven't exactly been missing them.

Adele and Lady Gaga can try, but no one has matched the ubiquity of Coldplay's music in this century. Briefly an underdog critical favorite, they're now everyband for the masses, sonic wallpaper lining our Starbucks world. I was at a church Christmas fair the other day, browsing a friend's photographs, and when some girl sat down at the piano in the corner to amuse herself, it was "Clocks" she picked out on the 88s. Of course. I just googled "I hate Coldplay" and got 23,000,000 results. That sort of backlash is inevitable these days of course. But who can really hear anything new that Coldplay does now, what with "Clocks" and "The Scientist" and "Yellow" and ten more soundalike hits rattling around in our brains - no, wait, it's not an ear worm, that girl's actually playing it. They're the band so popular that nobody listens to them anymore. Kind of a melancholy place to be, when you think about it.

But that doesn't mean the show won't sell out. An American Express cardholder presale for tix begins Monday at 10 am; sales to the general public begin Dec. 17 at 10 am.  Tickets are available at 1-800-745-3000, Ticketmaster.com and LiveNation.com. The band will also be seen on "Austin City Limits" on PBS on New Year's Eve.

"Under the Influence" of Boston studio

In Boston and later Cambridge in the 1980s and '90s, Fort Apache Studios recorded some of the biggest names in "alternative" music, including the Pixies, Radiohead, Weezer and Yo la Tengo, along with local faves gone national on the Pixies' trail, such as Juliana Hatfield, Buffalo Tom, Dinosaur Jr. and the Lemonheads.

Now Fort Apache co-founder Paul Kolderie, who turned the knobs on many of those recordings, has put some of the old mics and amps and other gear to work on behalf of Berklee students performing in tribute to those influences.

The "Under the Influence" album Berklee's student-run label Heavy Rotation Records has Berklee up-and-comers recording a pair of covers by big-time '80s and '90s bands and the acts that influenced them: Julia Easterlin (Pixies, Radiohead), Da'Rayia (Gang of Four, Red Hot Chili Peppers), David Pramik featuring Johnny Duke (Joy Division, U2), the Boston Boys featuring Emily Elbert (Hüsker Dü, Green Day), the Berklee String Metal Ensemble (My Bloody Valentine, Smashing Pumpkins), and Pinn Panelle (Mission of Burma, REM). Previous releases on Heavy Rotation tend to feature previously recorded tracks submitted by the performers; this time Kolderie plugged in his equipment and recorded the artists himself. You can sample the tracks here: 

This Saturday at at the Berklee Performance Center, Heavy Rotation will host an album-release concert with the student performers plus a ringer, a solo - but electric - set by Roger Miller of Mission of Burma. Tix are $8 in advance ($12 day of show) at berkleebpc.com and at the box office. Call 617-747-2261 for more information.

Kingsley Flood drops new EP

Kingsley Flood's "Dust Windows" was my favorite album of 2010 and stayed atop my charts until the Decemberists dropped "The King Is Dead." Now the Boston band is about to drop a new six-song EP, "Colder Still," that knocks the Decemberists' leftovers EP "Long Live The King" out of my personal Number 1 spot. Funny.

"Colder Still" is an interim step for Kingsley Flood, a bit of a stylistic grabbag. "I Don't Wanna Go Home" (not the Southside Johnny tune) has some power-poppy, almost glam touches behind a typically headlong vocal from frontman/songwriter Naseem Khuri. "Wonderland" opens with a single guitar picked behind a close-up, unadorned Khuri confessional ("Brother I've been lying all along/my collar's not as clean as I let on...") before Jenée Morgan's fiddle comes in and the tune begins to canter. "Mannequin Man" is a speedy guitar rager that evokes early Elvis Costello or Graham Parker and is gonna leave 'em drained when played live. Title track "Colder Still" is spooky and November-y as you can get, with Khuri's long, torchy syllables against spikey electric guitar on the chorus.

The EP has gobs of everything I loved about Kinglsey Flood in the first place, from Khuri's tumbling, Dylanesque lyrics to the collaborative unity of the band's playing and the surprising little fills and accents on every song. There's a reason the band got featured on NPR and won New Artist of the Year at the 2010 Boston Music Awards and Best Roots Act in the 2010 and 2011 Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll. (That was Khuri yowling about "the pulse of the nation" on those WBZ ads, too, another KF song placement.)

That said, "Dust Windows" was recorded as a piece in a rural Vermont retreat, which added subtly but immeasurably to its greatness, the way it held together. "Colder Still" shows it was recorded in Somerville and Brooklyn studios and I suspect at different times. Still, it will tide me over until the band's next full-length album, which I'm told is all of a piece and written but not yet recorded. Can hardly wait.

Kingsley Flood will release "Colder Still" with a three-night run at Lizard Lounge, in Cambridge, December 8, 9, and 10. Support acts include Balthrop, Alabama (NYC) and Son of the Sun (Buffalo) on Dec. 8; Swear and Shake (NYC) and Paper Thick Walls (Chicago) on Dec. 9; and Jamie Kent and the Options (Northampton) and This Way (Portland) on Dec. 10. Shows are 21+, doors at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 advance, $12 at the door; order online at Brown Paper Tickets. Copies of "Colder Still" will be available at the shows, though the EP's official release date is January 10, 2012.

Ellis Paul rolls through again

Longtime Massachusetts folk scene stalwart and singer-songwriter Ellis Paul has lived down south for a handful of years now, in Charlottesville, VA., to be exact. A lot has changed since he was a breakout performer in Boston back in the 1990s, with a high-profile name locally and a national record contract. The Maine native runs his own career now, which includes raising $100,000 from fans online to record last year's "The Day Everything Changed" CD and a collaboration with superstar country duo Sugarland, as well as a new sideline in family music. He's got gigs at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Friday night and the Circle of Friends Coffeehouse in Franklin on Saturday. (A Derry, N.H. gig was postponed.) We spoke by phone last week.

HubArts: Did moving to the South have anything to do with music?

Paul: My wife's parents live close, and I do a lot of traveling, and the kids were a too little much for my wife alone, so we wanted to have some backup.

HubArts: You recorded your last album in Nashville and you have this songwriting partnership with your old friend Kristian Bush of Sugarland. has living down there swung your songwriting or performing more in a country direction?

Paul: I think I'm a little more cover-able than I have been in the past, the songs are a little less wordy these days, but other than that, I don't know. I don't think so I think I'm whittling the fat out of the songs a little better, and that makes them able to be recorded by country people. But I don't have a twang in my voice or try to wear a cowboy hat. they're still folk songs, and I'm still writing about the things I would write about if I were living up there, I think.

HubArts: Is that change related to the move or ...?

Paul: I think it's just part of my natural development. There are a lot of songwriters that writes sparsely, like John Prine and Neil Young, that I am big fans of. It's a little less Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan and a little more John Prine, I guess.

HubArts: You really focus on songwriting as a conscious process, and you teach it, correct?

Paul: I do. I don't necessarily writer every day with paper and pen, but I'm always working on songs, in my head or in the car. I'm an active musician and artist pretty much every hour of the day. There is some method to my madness. I think if you frame some good habits early on and you learn how to edit and you understand the importance of editing, those things are practical matters that I can teach people. ... I set up songwriting classes as I'm touring around the country. I did a couple at Club Passim the last time I was in boston. I don't have any set up right now, this fall, but I do five or six a year.

HubArts: You and Bush have written or co-written songs for each other's recent albums, and you've opened for them a few times. How has that affected your work, your day, your bank account?

Paul: Well, opening for them has been more of an eye-opening experience, because I'm traveling around in a car by myself, and they have eight tour buses and 15 trucks behind them, and they have a caterer, and occasionally yoga instructors and sometimes a masseuse on the road and the food's really great. So it's just fun to watch to see people I can about get a chance to live in that world. The last time I opened for them (earlier this summer), it was just me by myself and a guitar and it was really a challenge trying to make 15,000 people really focus. But it worked out really great, but I don't expect anything to change my life working with them. But Kristian's a really great songwriter and so is Jennifer (Nettles), and being able to write with them, they come in from a different perspective and it opens me up quite a lot.

HubArts: What is the actual experience of performing before them link, as compared to Passim or the Iron Horse?

Paul: They play to from 3,000 to 20,000 people a night, so it's like playing to a festival audiences, except it's not a folk festival, it's a country festival, so no one knows who I am. So you're going in there pretty cold. I have a few songs people sing along on and I figured if you can get people to sing you get get them focused on the moment and sucked into the song. I have songs that are a little bit more able to get people's attention, whereas at a folk festival or a club I just have to play because people are already focused.

HubArts: I would think at even the largest folk festival, though, you're not going to have the voltage at your disposal...

Paul: (Chuckling) Yeahhhh. It's like putting your voice in a catapult and throwing it to the back of 20,000 people. It brings out the Steve Perry in me, I guess. I end up sustaining notes a little bit longer and playing the guitar more like it's an electric. It's fun, it's just fun. The best thing that it does is, I'm just proud of them, and it's good to see them have that kind of success.

HubArts: How did you meet Kristian? He was booking some club...

Paul: Twenty years ago, he was booking a place called Eddie's Attic which is sort of the Passim's of the Atlanta area, and the owner asked him to help go through a box of cassette albums of people that wanted to get booked at the club, and he picked out mine.

HubArts: You did really well fan-sourcing your recording budget last year in this new world if independent artists...

Paul: Yeah, they've been great.

HubArts: You went through the old way, the whole showcase-record deal-sign on the dotted line-never earn back your advance deal, right?

Paul: (Laughing) Yes. two contract's worth. And then it became like, I have this audience I can sell a set amount of records that's truthworthy, and I have a fanbase that's trustworthy and no matter what I put out those people I can rely on to support me. So if the record label isn't selling outside of that group of fans, why I am giving them all the money? Using the Internet, I could do it. I had no idea they'd be as dependable as they were. That was a shock, the money just kept pouring in even though the economy was tanking. People were really eager to help out. That was thrilling and I'm probably going to be doing another one next year.

HubArts: Tell me about the next record. It's a followup to your family album, "The Dragonfly Races," correct?

Paul: I'm writing the new record. I was just listening to some of the early tracks when you called, actually. It's been really great. My kids are going to be more involved and my wife is going to be more involved in this one. It's kind of Von Trapp-ish (laughs). My wife is helping me write and the kids are going to sing on a lot of the tracks. It's really cool to suck them into the process because they're old enough now. (Paul is 46, his daughters are 7 and 4.) It's little 'Schoolhouse Rock'-style biographies of famous Americans...from Thomas Edison to Rosa Parks.

HubArts: Last I heard, this is coming out in November, and you're still writing for it?

Paul: I'm hoping to finish this month. This is another great things about doing it independently. Once a record label has it, the turnaround takes months and months...I can have it done in two weeks and have it out three weeks after that. It's great to be more in control of the whole process.

Paragon Park musical opens in Hull

I like many Bostonians spent happy hours of my youth at Paragon Park on Nantasket Beach in Hull, involved in such educational activities as miniature golf, pinball and Skee ball. It was hell trying to time a windmill shot while the roller coaster circled overhead, full of screaming teenagers. But like many of its brethren, Paragon faded away, closing in 1984 to be replaced by condo development, although the famous carousel has been saved and moved to a nearby location. This weekend and next bring the premiere of "Where the Fun Begins," an original full-length musical by Cinzi Lavin set in Paragon Park.

Actually, "Where The Fun Begins"is the conclusion of the Nantasket Trilogy - yep, that's a thing - by musician and writer Lavin. She brought her talents to Hull in 2007 and, well, let's let her tell it, via email: I approached the Hull Performing Arts, the town's community theatre, and broached the subject with them. They said that the Weir River Estuary (a state-designated Area of Critical Environmental Concern here in Hull) needed to raise funds and awareness. It was then that it occurred to me that I could do a lot of good for the town (whose primary income is tourism) by fostering its three major tourist attractions: The Weir River Estuary, the Hull Lifesaving Museum, and the Paragon Carousel, all of which needed money and publicity.

Her first musical, "On This River," was about the estuary. It premiered two years ago and, she says, won a state legislative citation for outstanding contribution to Massachusetts arts and culture. Last year brought "Toilers of the Sea: The Life of Joshua James," about famed Hull lifesaver and patron saint of the U.S. Coast Guard, Joshua James.

"Where the Fun Begins" finishes her work with the story of "charming pickpocket" Sully Sullivan, the crime lord Voland, and the Clare family. It's a story of hard times, faith and redemption. There's nothing about bumper cars, as far as I can tell, but with a cast of 40 from Hull Performing Arts and Lavin on piano, it ought to be a time. Directed by Lindsay Clinton, the show features a dozen songs plus choreography by Plymouth's Nicole Hoole.

Performances at the Fort Revere Amphitheater on Farina Road in Hull are this Saturday and Sunday (July 23-24) and next weekend (July 30-31), all at 4 p.m., and the top ticket is $10. For more information, call 781-925-2406 or visit www.hullperformingarts.org.

Surprisingly, or not, when I went to Wikipedia to rustle up that postcard, I learned that there's another Paragon Park music in the works. The Company Theatre in Norwell is planning a summer 2012 premiere for their "Paragon Park: The Musical," with Book By Zoe Bradford & Michael Hammond, Music & Lyrics by Adam Brooks.

If either of these shows are half as much fun as I had riding down to Nantasket on a hot summer weekend ca. 1972 with Aunt Nancy in her VW bug with the sunroof open, it will be a fine thing indeed.

Robin Lane documentary gets Kickstarted

I knew Robin Lane only as a name from the 1980s Boston music scene, as in Robin Lane and the Chartbusters and the great single "When Things Go Wrong." I've just learned that her dad was Dean Martin's pianist and that she spent her adolescence hanging out in L.A.'s canyons in the 1960s, that she sings on Neil Young's "Round & Round," that she was married to one of the guys in the Police who's not Sting, and that she now leads songwriting and music therapy workshops for abused women. And she's the subject of the documentary "A Woman's Voice: The Robin Lane Story," being made by Tim Jackson, the Chartbusters' drummer, who is now a filmmaker and an assistant professor at the New England Institute of Art in Boston. Here's a taste:

Jackson directed the documentaries, “Chaos and Order: Making American Theater” and “Radical Jesters." Besides Lane, he has drummed for a wildly assorted bunch of artists including LaVern Baker, Tom Rush and Vas Deferens. He's also a sometime actor. The film is promised to be a story about women, music and creativity. Also, Neil Young, Andy Summers, Owsley and members of the Manson family. Also marriage, the music business and starting over.

Now here's where you come in. Jackson's raising money for this project on Kickstarter. I'm late to this game, so they've already reached their $10,000 goal, which will go to pay an editor to do a working cut, as well as song- and image-licensing fees. But it's a safe bet they'll find a way to spend more than the $10K, and the fund drive is open until 7 am Monday July 25. There are a variety of bonus packs for those who give more than the $5 minimum. Pledge a grand and you get a house concert and a producer credit. So fish around under those couch cushions and see what you can come up with.

North Shore Jazz Project rolls on

The North Shore Jazz Project seemed a bit quixotic when I first wrote about it a couple of years ago, for the Globe. But founders Henry Perrini and Chava Hudson were bound and determined to bring the groove back to an area that had seemingly lost it with the closing of some great clubs years ago, notably Lenny's on the Turnpike. They've kept at it with concerts and other events, as well as workshops that reach tons of area high school students, 1,600 in the last year. Remember when grownups tried to keep kids out of jazz clubs? Why was that?

This Saturday, composer and pianist Donal Fox (pictured) will bring his signature blend of classical and jazz to a house concert in Danvers to benefit those educational clinics. Doors open at 6 p.m. at the home of John Archer, 10 North Street in Danvers, for a poolside cash bar. Music is set for 7-10 p.m. Tix are $22 in advance via the web site or $22 at the door.

The North Shore Jazz Project is also launching the NSJP All Stars student group, led by saxophonist, composer and teacher Mike Tucker. The group will meet 4 times for rehearsals the week of August 15th-19th at Ipswich High School and perform at the Salem Jazz and Soul Festival. They hope to round up enough funding so the group can meet three times a year for a week, then perform. The first auditions have already passed but if you know a high school student on the North Shore who's interested, have them contact Mike at tuckerjazz@tuckerjazz.com.

James Levine stepping down as Boston Symphony Orchestra music director

Boston Symphony Orchestra music director James Levine will step down Sept. 1. (The complete BSO announcement is below.) Levine will, however, retain his post as music director at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Geoff has comments from Levine and BSO managing director Mark Volpe here.

I suspect sadness, as Volpe describes to the Globe, will be the main feeling around Symphony Hall for quite some time to come. The artistic heights Levine managed to reach in his stay here since 2004, despite many interruptions for health problems, suggest where Levine could have taken the orchestra over a decade or two if he was physically able. But we're not going to get that. Ultimately this is an opportunity missed.

Any minute now, the debate about whether his attempt to run both orchestras simultaneously was a good idea will start up again. But for the moment, sad seems sufficient.

Just in From the BSO:

  BSO MANAGING DIRECTOR MARK VOLPE ANNOUNCES THAT JAMES LEVINE WILL STEP DOWN AS BOSTON SYMPHONY MUSIC DIRECTOR AS OF SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

DISCUSSIONS ARE UNDERWAY TO DEFINE A NEW ARTISTIC ROLE FOR MAESTRO LEVINE

BSO Managing Director Mark Volpe announced today that as of September 1, 2011, James Levine will step down from his current role as Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 2004. Discussions between the BSO and Maestro Levine are underway to define an ongoing new role for Mr. Levine.

Mr. Volpe has also announced that the BSO will immediately form a search committee to begin the process of appointing the next Boston Symphony Music Director.

“The BSO has been incredibly fortunate to have had one of the greatest conductors of our time at its helm since 2004,” said BSO Managing Director Mark Volpe. “That being said, given Maestro Levine’s health issues, this has been a challenging time for all of us in the Boston Symphony Orchestra family, especially our beloved orchestra and devoted audiences.”

“We wish Maestro Levine the absolute best as he steps down from his role as BSO Music Director to tend to the health issues that have forced him to be away from the music-making he so profoundly loves,” continues Mr. Volpe. “We look forward to continuing our conversation with Jim about defining a new role where he can focus solely on the music and defining artistically stimulating projects that would be meaningful to him and the orchestra, building upon his BSO legacy thus far. As we begin the search to appoint the next BSO Music Director, it is imperative that we take this time to express our deepest gratitude to Jim for the extraordinary performances that have inspired his loyal listeners in Boston and around the world.”

“Given the challenges regarding my health and the ensuing absences they have forced me to take from my work with the BSO, I believe it is best for everyone, but especially the orchestra and our wonderful audiences, for me to step down as music director,” said James Levine. “I make this decision knowing that I need to focus more of my attention on getting back to better health, so when I do return to the BSO podium I can continue the important work the orchestra and I have done together during the period of my music directorship. As the BSO and I define a new relationship that I hope will benefit all involved, I wish the orchestra the very best in the search for the next Boston Symphony Music Director. It has been an honor and a privilege to have served in that role these past seven years.”

With his many accomplishments during his seven years as BSO Music Director, there is no doubt that James Levine will join the ranks of the greatest conductors in the BSO’s 130-year history," said Stephen B. Kay and Robert P. O’Block, co-chairmen of the BSO Board of Trustees. "On behalf of the BSO’s Board of Trustees and Overseers, we want to express our enormous gratitude and deep respect to Maestro Levine for sharing his brilliant musicianship with our orchestra and all of us who cherish the music of the Boston Symphony. We wish him the very best in his continued recovery and look forward to his return to the BSO in a new role that is beneficial to all involved." “We’ve experienced some of the most meaningful and endearing musical work of our lives under the leadership of James Levine,” said BSO concertmaster Malcolm Lowe. “On behalf of all the musicians of the BSO, our heartfelt best wishes go out to Maestro Levine as he continues to focus on recovering from the health issues that have forced him to take time away from his BSO schedule. We look forward to continuing our very important work and influential collaboration with Maestro Levine when he is able to return to the BSO podium.”

JAMES LEVINE AND THE BSO: OVERVIEW AND A BRIEF BSO HISTORY
Now in his seventh season as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, James Levine is the BSO’s 14th music director since the orchestra’s founding in 1881 and the first American-born conductor to hold that position.  In September 2011, he will step down as Boston Symphony Orchestra Music Director.  James Levine made his BSO debut in April 1972 and became music director in the fall of 2004, having been named music director designate in October 2001.  His wide-ranging programs balance orchestral, operatic, and choral classics with significant music if the 20th and 21st centuries, including newly commissioned works from such leading American composers as Milton Babbitt, Elliott Carter, John Harbison, Leon Kirchner, Peter Lieberson, Gunther Schuller, and Charles Wuorinen.  Mr. Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra made their first European tour together following the 2007 Tanglewood season, performing in the Lucerne Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival (in Hamburg), Essen, Dusseldorf, the Berlin Festival, Paris, and the BBC Proms in London.  At Tanglewood in 2008 he was Festival Director for the Elliott Carter Centenary Celebration marking the composer’s 100th-birthday year.  Mr. Levine and the orchestra recently released a two-disc set of Mozart symphonies (Nos. 14, 18, 20, 39, and 41, Jupiter) on the orchestra’s own label, BSO Classics, following upon their previous releases of Brahms’s German Requiem, and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé. Digital releases include Mahler’s Symphony No. 6, and William Bolcom’s Eighth Symphony and Lyric Concerto.  All of these recordings were taken from live performances by Maestro Levine and the orchestra at Symphony Hall in Boston.

James Levine is also music director of the Metropolitan Opera. Also a distinguished pianist, Maestro Levine is an active chamber music and recital collaborator, especially in Lieder and song repertoire with the world’s great singers.

(BSO photo by Michael Lutch)