Metro Times: Music Blahg

IGGY & THE STOOGES REUNION ON YOUTUBE!

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Some folks don't want to hear what the setlist is going to be before they attend a concert and we can respect that. So if you're one of those people, please read no further.

For the rest of you, the recently reunited Iggy & the Stooges (with the legendary James Williamson back on lead guitar and Mike Watt filling in for the late Ron Asheton on bass) played their first concert and their only show of 2009 this past weekend (Saturday, November 7th, to be exact) at a rock festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil -- news that we first broke in Metro Times via our cover story and exclusive inte ...

SECOND LIVE CD TO BENEFIT A2'S MICHIGAN THEATER

Speaking of benefit stuff, Ann Arbor's 107one radio station has just released Live From Studio A2, Volume Two, the second compilation CD of live, locally recorded performances by top national touring artists. The CD is available exclusively at Borders stores in Ann Arbor, Brighton, Canton and Novi, with the introductory price of $12.99. Music lovers can also purchase both the new CD, as well as last year's Live From Studio A2, Volume One, as a package for $20. The project is was once again funded by the Bank of Ann Arbor and Sesi Motors -- and net proceeds from sales of the disc will benefit the Michigan Theater in A2.

The tr ...

ART VAN STORES RECRUIT MOTOWNERS TO FEED THE HUNGRY

So it's getting to be that season again -- peace, goodwill and even more drunk drivers on the road than usual. Seriously, though, November and December bring more local charity events than can be listed in one blog post -- and one of the season's first is already scheduled to take place tomorrow night, Wednesday, November 11th. Art Van, Michigan's largest furniture retailer, is capping off its 50th Anniversary year with a concert to benefit Gleaners Community Food Bank via the sounds of Motown Records.

The Michigan Legends Charity Concert will feature performances by the Original Vandellas, the Miracles, and the Contou ...

Hanging with Blakey: A Detroiter remembers

Former Detroiter Linda Jones (her byline graced The Detroit News once upon a time) on her new blog at Open Salon remembers the great drummer Art Blakey, who passed away 19 years ago this month. Not your typical musician profile, Jones, now based in Dallas, recalls what it was like being hit on by a jazz great old enough to be her father, and hanging with Blakey and the band (an up-and-coming Wynton Marsalis among the guys on the road) during an extended stay in Ft. Lauderdale. Is there a book to be written on pick-up techniques of the jazz greats? Duke Ellington (the composer of "Sophisticated Lady" is known for his extens ...

LOCAL CLUB & SHOW NOTES

Well, nothing like having to post an entire entry all over again because some stupid jackass hacked the site. Bastards! Anyway...

*Local heroes the Dirtbombs are playing a last minute show in the cozy confines of the Majestic Cafe tonight (Wed., Nov. 28th). The show is being filmed by VICE magazine -- hey, you might end up a star! -- and admission is only $5. Doors are at 9 p.m. Be there or be square.

*And local cult hero Rodriguez is playing a FREE gig next Monday! As our good friend Eve Doster Knepp let us know earlier today (before we were hacked...grrrrrr.....) "even the local watering holes are feelin ...

One man’s Paradise Valley: Marsha Music on Joe Von Battle

From for MT blogs
In this week’s MT, arts editor Travis Wright writes about the Arts League of Michigan and the move to put Paradise Valley back on the map of Detroit — and the current vocabulary of Detroiters.

And it reminded me that I’ve wanted for some tim ...

Techno meets jazz in Paris (with Carl Craig and Tribe)
Fusions, like politics, make strange ... no, let's just say interesting bedfellows. And as lots of jazz and techno fans know, Carl Craig is at the fused intersection of their genres.
One of his projects of the last couple of years has been reuniting the surviving members of the cutting-edge Detroit jazz collective Tribe from the 1970s. The group has acquired a serious underground rep in recent years with reissues on foreign labels, songs being sampled by DJs and producers, etc. Back in 2002 Ropeadope convened a multi-generation cast of Detroit performers in a project that evolved into something of an homage to Tribe. With heavy production involvement from Craig, it was released as The Detroit Experiment i ...

The Sights: New lineup, new album in the can, an email and a free show today.
We just got this email from the lovably impish Eddie Baranek. We couldn't put it better ourselves:

Hello,

as part of United Way's Blocktoberfest, The Sights will be kicking it on the back of a flat bed truck from 5pm til 6:30pm today.

Where the hell is that?-- Lafayette between First and Third Streets. There will be vendors/booths, so you will see ...

Marcus Belgrave receives $50,000 Kresge arts award
Former Ray Charles trumpet player Marcus Belgrave relocated to Detroit in the days of the Motown assembly line. And since then he has, arguably, become the face of serious, deeply rooted jazz in Detroit. Belgrave -- whom one bandleader dubbed "Serious Bell" -- is known as a bandleader, performer and mentor to myriad younger performers, both in the classroom and on the bandstand. Thursday the Kresge Arts in Detroit program recognized Belgrave’s contributions with a $50,000* eminent artist award for his lifetime of contributions to the metropolitan Detroit community. Check out our past article on how this musician from Chester, Penn., became Detroit’s Mr. Jazz, and a blog post abo ...

Smoothed out: Zonjic on the demise of V98.7
“I’ve been around long enough to know that every format seems to have a shelf life,” longtime morning DJ Alexander Zonjic mused philosophically the other day. And with the smooth jazz format hitting its expiration date nationally, the demise of WVMV-FM, V98.7, was no surprise.
Friday afternoon, the station signaled the shift by following a Sade cut with Guns N' Roses. After a weekend of mixed-bag programming, the new “Amp Radio,” a contemporary hits format was in place Monday.
The Radio Online website quoted CBS Radio VP/CHR Programming Dom Theodore saying, "This station is all about the hits, and we intend to build the next powerhouse Top 40 on a number of integrated platforms” — translation, website, etc. — for “a full 360-degree audio and visual experience.” According to R ...