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No
Hellers CD Release
Valentine’s,
Friday
Area
quartet the No Hellers have been covertly performing in our
area for awhile, and though their live shows have been relatively
few, they’re now ready for the masses. The No Hellers have
just finished their debut CD, Bent, and will hold their
release party at Valentine’s tomorrow (Friday). Thaddeus Smith
heads up the mainly alt-country band (you may remember when
he manned the Valentine’s open mike a while back), performing
lead guitar and providing vocals. Marie Matthews also sings,
as well as playing accordion, lap steel and guitar; Garry
Polmateer hits the skins; and Shaw Fici is at the bass. The
No Hellers sound is hard to pin down, as they pepper their
roots rocking with rockabilly, slam poetry, punk and blues.
Local producer-songwriter Brent Gorton also will perform,
and K-Rock’s DJ Keith will spin between sets. (Dec. 12,
9 PM, 432-6572)
Murali
Coryell
Savannah’s,
saturday
Despite
being the son of noted fusion guitarist Larry Coryell, Murali
Coryell has made a name for himself in an altogether different
style of music, choosing to focus his talents on blues and
soul rather than the jazz-rock standard set by his father.
The release of 2120, a collaboration with bassist Bill
Foster and drummer Rod Gross, marked the 1999 debut of Czyz
Records, a product of Chess Records founders Leonard and Phil
Chess’ sons. The younger Coryell then made it a family affair
with the 2000 release of Coryells, a collaboration
between his father, brother and himself. Over the course of
his career, Murali Coryell’s guitar style has earned comparison
to that of Otis Rush and Buddy Guy; he is capable of producing
a sincere, raw sound while still conveying a level of experience
beyond his years. The show takes place at Savannah’s on Saturday.
(Dec. 13, 10 PM, $5, 426-9647)
The
Early Muses
Chapel
+ Cultural Center, Saturday
Troy’s
Chapel + Cultural Center is calling it a season on Saturday,
with a seasonally appropriate performance by sacred-music
purveyors the Early Muses. The “early” refers to medieval
and early Renaissance times, and the Muses perform these tunes
on modern and traditional instruments—such as shawm, bowed
psaltery, rebec, hurdy-gurdy, cithern and boram (all in the
dictionary for those among you who are not music scholars).
The more recognizable violin, bassoon, recorder, tambour and
cymbals are also employed by the Berkshire-based ensemble—the
area’s “premier practictioners of 11th to 16th century music.”
If you have yet to catch the holiday bug, let the Muses instill
the spirit. (Dec. 13, 7 PM, free, 274-7793)
 Mike
Marshall & Chris Thile
The
Egg, Sunday
Lovers
of acoustic music, prepare for a veritable onslaught of mandolin
power on Sunday (Dec. 14) when Mike Marshall & Chris Thile
descend on the Egg. All right, we’re not talking about heavy
metal here, but these guys are a couple of music heavyweights.
Marshall has been on the acoustic music scene for more than
20 years; he started with David Grisman, and has performed
with the likes of Mark O’Connor and Edgar Meyer. Thile is,
comparatively, a kid. He even started out, when he really
was a kid, by winning a mandolin championship in Winfield,
Kan., as a 12-year-old. And as a member of Nickel Creek, Thile
is also a rock star. The two recently joined forces on the
critically well-received album Into the Cauldron, on
which they turned their mandolins on everything from Charlie
Parker and J.S. Bach to a half-dozen self-penned ditties.
They will focus on this material Sunday, but you can expect
a few surprises. (Dec. 14, 7 PM, $24, 473-1845)
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Clash
Tribute
Valentine’s,
Saturday
The
Ale House, Sunday
’Tis
the season for food- pantry benefits! This weekend there’s
gonna be a two-day Clash tribute taking place at two different
venues in two different cities to help the hungry: $2 of each
admission charge will be donated directly to the Regional
Food Bank of Northeastern New York. On Saturday, you can anticipate
the likes of Honey Creeper, Dr. Jah, the Highsocks, Mime Choir,
Blackcat Elliot, Michael Eck, and the Clash City Rockers,
among others, performing the Clash’s louder, rockin’, electric-style
songs. Then, on Sunday, head on over to Troy for a night of
solo acoustic renditions of the Clash’s London Calling,
performed by John Brodeur, Brian Bassett, Rob Skane, Howe
Glassman, and Michael Eck. Coincidentally, Sunday is also
the day, 24 years ago, that London Calling was released.
(Valentine’s: Dec. 13, 9 PM, $5, 432-6572; the Ale House:
Dec. 14, 8 PM, $2, 272-9740)
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| also
noted |
 Mr.
Jonathan Cohen and his spirited trio the
Erftones have a new CD to offer, Stand—apparently
a guerrilla-recorded effort, since John Delehanty’s
Scarlet East studios were locked down due to the
Hilton rehearsal-space debacle (he managed to mix
it anyhow)—and they’re inviting you to join them
in observing the event. It takes place tonight (Thursday)
at Center Square’s Changing Spaces, and the band
will be on hand, as will plenty of wine and cheese,
to meet and greet their audience as their new CD
takes a few hours’ worth of spins (7 PM, free, 433-1537).
. . . It’s that time of the year, Figgs fans,
and this year’s holiday show at Valentine’s
with the talented trio takes place tomorrow (Friday).
What can we say that hasn’t been said before about
this locally bred pop-rock fury? Well, opening are
our own rising stars the DelMars and the
Little Killers (whom we know nothing about).
That’s something (8 PM, $10, 432-6572). . . . The
Lawn Sausages are always pushing the boundaries,
but the line is so far out of sight on this one:
The avant-garage yukksters are holding their own
tribute show—at All Sports on Friday—and have invited
a slew of bands to play their songs. The show, graced
with the promising title Bring Out Your Bunny Suit,
includes area talent such as Erin Harkes, Murderers
Row, Rob Skane, Mime Choir and the Staynz
taking on the Sausage catalog—dressed appropriately,
we hope (9 PM, $5, 687-0064). . . . The Capital
Region-bred Nick Mancini Collective will
return to Schenectady venue Yours on Friday to provide
their hometown audience a host of passionately performed
jazz tunes—everything from Gershwin and Porter to
Davis and Coltrane (6 PM, $5, 370-9865). . . . Acclaimed
blues guitarist and onetime Band member Jim Weider
brings his band, and his tele, back to Club Helsinki
in Great Barrington, Mass., for a show on Friday
(9 PM, $15, 413-528-3394). . . . Area heavies Parwana
and Insult to Tradition will go head-to-head
(or neck-to-neck—to use another guitar reference)
at Valentine’s on Sunday, when they perform in celebration
of their split-CD release—and if that weren’t enough,
fan favorites End of a Year, the Renowned
Army and Public Access will also be there
to rock (7 PM, $8, 432-6572). . . . Heading our
way from Providence, R.I., Zox, whose songs
intersect somewhere between pop and reggae, will
play the Larkin on Tuesday, and be prepared to dance;
as The Providence Journal claims, “Think
John Mayer with a stronger rhythm section, or No
Doubt with less angst and more grooves.” Indie-popster
Mike Grosshandler will open (8 PM, $5, 463-5225).
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Columns
& Opinions
