Blogs

Rod Moseanko interviews tabla maestro Zakir Hussain on The Golden Road, Friday evening, March 25th. Playing in the footsteps of his illustrious father, Ustad Allarakha--who with Ravi Shankar introduced the glorious music of India to America--Zakir Hussain has acted as a musical bridge between his birth land and the rest of the world. To that end, every other year since 1996, he has served as curator, producer, and host in bringing the very cream of Indian music to tour America and Europe with his series Zakir Hussain and Masters of Percussion. The 2016 version will be no exception, presenting American audiences with extraordinary and exciting--and often spontaneous--combinations of percussive as well as melodic performers. The Golden Road airs Fridays on KDRT, 7-9pm PT. 

Dug Deep hosts Lance Canales & the Flood live in the KDRT studio on Friday, March 25th, starting at 2:30 pm PT. Lance Canales & The Flood are a roots-blues Americana trio from Fresno, California, where Canales lived the life that so many roots songs represent: hard labor, one-room shacks, and taunting ghosts who whisper of a better life. The Flood comprises stand-up bassist Jake (Cobra) Finney and drummer Daniel (DB) Burt, who support Canales’s guttural vocals and hard-edged storytelling with stripped-down, foot-stomping, acoustic instrumentation. 

Lazy Post Warning: I discovered this album late in 2015. It made a ton of "best of the year" lists. They rocked The Blue Lamp a couple of weeks ago. The vinyl is a pretty green marble. It sounds even better than it looks and it looks fantastic. Here's a link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Agent_Intellect

West coast cool, mellow 70’s jazz tonight; then Abbey Lincoln, and Abdullah Ibrahim from the 1990’s. Keely Smith * Paul Desmond, Gerry Mulligan * Dave Brubeck * Bill Evans Trio featuring Stan Getz * Oliver Nelson * Dave Grusin * Howard McGhee * Abbey Lincoln * Abdullah Ibrahim * The Godfathers Of Groove

Dug Deep hosts San Francisco's own The Brothers Comatose for an in-studio interview and live performance on the March 19th edition of Dinner Bell Roundup, starting at 4 pm Pacific time on KDRT. The segment is part of "Live DiRT," KDRT's pop-up live-music feature. 

The band will likely play songs from their latest release, City Painted Gold, their third studio album. Between a solid couple of releases and a highly energetic live-performance style, The Brothers Comatose have inspired a loyal following of folk fans, who helped to fund this album on Kickstarter. The frontmen for the group are brothers Ben and Alex Morrison, who provide lead vocals for the band, with Ben on guitar and Alex on the banjo.

For a songwriter confronting some of the more unsettling facets of life in contemporary America, Silas Lowe’s songs are highly listenable, witty, and fun. Each its own dark comedy, he fashions musical portraits of lives squandered in barrooms, spent struggling amidst failed economic policies, or lost in tragedies both natural and preventable. Audiences subject to Lowe’s distinct brand of comedic banter will find themselves asked to vote between hearing a song about “the intersection between humanity and modern industrial capitalism” and a song about “the illusionary upward mobility of the middle class” -- sometimes, those are one and the same.

With a background in classical violin, bluegrass, and country, Andy Lentz adds depth and fire to any ensemble. He has performed and recorded with many artists including The Devil Makes Three, Rita Hosking, The West Nile Ramblers, The Brothers Comatose, and Nicki Bluhm. After many years of performing in California, Andy relocated to Austin, Texas, in 2011 and began playing with Silas Lowe, The Sieker Band, Cornell Hurd and many others. For tour info, see http://www.silaslowe.com/#!tour/c8vk

This week’s album of the week will be Camper Van Beethoven’s New Roman Times.  A true concept album, New Roman Times was the band’s 2004 reunion/comeback record after having been dormant for 14 years.  The concept was strange (what would you expect from CVB?), but intriguing, involving a plot about a fictional America divided into smaller republics (most notably the secular Republic of California and the Fundamentalist Christian Republic of Texas) that are at war with one another.  The band employs some none-too-disguised political jabs as well as indulges their taste for 1970s-style prog rock, mixed with Middle Eastern melodies and ska-based rhythms...All in all, a very fitting selection for KDRT’s Album of the Week in this very lively election season.  Dug Deep hosts this edition of Album of the Week.

It’s cool jazz, soul jazz, a little bossa nova. Plus Al Jarreau’s Take Five, and some modern jazz guitar tonight. Jacy Parker * Charlie Parker & His Quintet * Ethel Ennis * Ruby Braff * Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong * Sam Lazar * Vince Guaraldi & Bola Sete * Stanley Turrentine * Al Jarreau * Howard Roberts * Don Thompson & Pat La Barbera

The best way to describe Michael Nau's first solo LP, Mowing, is as an alternative indie-folk album that is about as eclectic as it gets. Everything is extremely stripped down and low tempo, leaving plenty of time for reflective lyricism that's laced with introspective observations. Nau's voice is as laidback as the skillful but simple instrumentation, never getting angry or excited, just crowing softly as the tune beats on. The best songs on Mowing are the more upbeat "The Glass," the emotionally resonant "Good Moon," and the funky single "Winter Beat." The album works best when you want to listen for relaxation; it won't pump you up, but it will settle you down smoothly and peacefully. Mowing isn't for everyone, but if you are into laidback indie folk, you can't go wrong with Michael Nau.