Every month, Cosmik Debris brings you many CD and record reviews, but the writers manage to find a little time for other pursuits, like reading, going to movies and watching videos. That's where Everything Else In Review comes in.


CONCERT: HANUMAN / MICKEY HART BAND
Richardson Park- Eugene, OR. 7/30/00
Reviewed by Tim & Ananda Owen

Hanuman is a Seattle-based acoustic instrumental quartet consisting of Trillium Green percussionist Jarrod Kaplan, stand-up bassist Tige Decoster, acoustic guitarist Paul Benoit, and newest member Scott Law on mandolin and acoustic guitar. Their music transcends all musical boundaries, with the ability to improvise and excellent musicianship being some of their strongest attributes. Hanuman takes you along on a musical journey that is exciting and extremely uplifting. With a solid base of stylistically diverse jamming, they spiraled upward through a well-received set of new and original music. They were joined by guest performer Damien Aikin on saxophone for a few tunes. Hanuman served as a great opener for the days offering of innovative jamming to groove to, along the waters edge of Fern Ridge Reservoir.

The blistering heat of the day didn’t seem to hinder a high energy set by The Mickey Hart Band. On the contrary, they seemed fueled by it. Unlike his other band's incarnations forays into African and Latin based world beat , this band primarily rocked out Dead favorites and classic covers, although not without spicing up the soup with dashes of Salsa, Caribbean, Cuban, African and Native American influences. With Vince Welnick front and center on keys and vocals, upbeat , ready to party and belting it out, Mickey spent most of his time at his percussion station, but also swapped for time on the traps as well as a couple of numbers on bass (to the crowds obvious delight). Rounding out the seven-piece multi-ethnic sound were Cuban vocalist/percussionists Gladys Cespedes and Humberto Hernandez, rock drummer Rick Schlosser, jazz-rock guitarist Barney Doyle, and bassist Rahsaan Fredericks. Rollicking through percussion heavy, polyrhythmic versions of the Deads, "Fire on the Mountain", "Iko Iko", and "Friend of the Devil", as well as covers, "Take Me To the River" and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", they also threw in a few of Mickeys recent originals featuring his rap-based vocals.


(C) 2000 - Tim & Ananda Owen



BOOK: ROLLIN' AND TUMBLIN'
(The Postwar Blues Guitarists)
Jas Obrecht, Editor
Miller Freeman Books
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

This volume features twenty-eight articles and interviews from the pages of magazines including Guitar Player, Mojo and Living Blues, along with an insightful introduction by Jas Obrecht which sets the phenomenon of the post-WWII blues scene in historical perspective. While most of the material has appeared before, many of the interviews were originally published in a truncated form, and even if you read the originals, you're likely to garner something new from the expanded versions which appear in the book.

In addition to Obrecht, the book includes pieces by such notable blues scholars and journalists as Steve Franz, Dan Forte, Tom Wheeler and John Anthony Brisbin, among others. More important, however, are the artists themselves, and it's an impressive list. You'll learn more than you know about blues masters including T-Bone Walker, Saunders King, Lowell Fulson, Lightnin' Hopkins, Gatemouth Brown, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Elmore James, Homesick James, Robert Lockwood, Jr., Jimmy Reed, J.B. Hutto, Willie Johnson, Jody Williams, Hubert Sumlin, Otis Rush, Magic Sam, Buddy Guy, Freddie King, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Albert King, Guitar Slim, Mississippi Fred McDowell and Little Milton. You'll learn most of it from the stories these figures, some little known and some legendary but all remarkable, tell on themselves and on one another.

Those stories are priceless. Even if you're not a blues aficionado, you'll be swept up in the larger than life lives of these remarkable men and the scenes and cities that they have inhabited for the last half of the twentieth century. This is an invaluable resource and a wonderful entertainment.


(C) 2000 - Shaun Dale



CONCERT: PAULA COLE / BRUCE COCKBURN
Oregon Zoo - Portland, OR. 7/28/00
Reviewed by Tim & Ananda Owen

On a double bill with Bruce Cockburn, and opening the show, Paula Cole easily won over many new fans with her deep, powerful voice, a strong stage presence, emotion-packed original songs and a heartfelt graciousness that tempered the raw power of her performance. Backed by a tight touring band, including guitarist and drummer of 12 years, they kicked out several songs from her latest release, Amen, as well as a selection from her previous work including "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone" and "I Don’t Want To Wait," a song written for her Grandfather (a.k.a. the theme to Dawson’s Creek). The real surprise kicker, though, was a searing hot cover of Led Zeppelin’s "Black Dog." Grammy Award winner Paula Cole will be off the road soon to work on yet another release, but promises to return to the stage as soon as possible, as she clearly enjoys touring and performing live.

Thanks again to this pairing of superb artists, Bruce Cockburn broadened his fan base, as well. This road-tested, world-traveling troubadour and activist slid easily through a string of gems spanning his lengthy career, barely scratching the surface of his wealth of material. Playing to a packed crowd in the zoo's amphitheater setting, complete with swaying elephants, Bruce seemed to be relaxed and enjoying himself as he grinned, poked fun at George W. Bush, and exchanged banter with the crowd. With three years on the road with Bruce under their belts, drummer Ben Riley and bassist Steve Lucas rounded out this power trio formation, spinning some new twists and jazzy renderings to some songs while providing a rock-solid foundation on standard treatments, complete with some awesome solo work. This was Bruce’s second trip to Oregon this year in the midst of a heavy touring schedule due to end in August, when he will be embarking on a recording project with jazz musician Andy Milne.


(C) 2000 - Tim & Ananda Owen



BOOK: THE DOORS - When The Music's Over
The Stories Behind Every Song
By Chuck Crisafulli
Thunder's Mouth Press, 176 pages
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

If you're a true Doors fan, you already know a handful of these stories, but probably not in anything like the detail that Chuck Crisafulli offers up. As a long-time Doors fan myself, I can honestly say I have a new appreciation for songs I already loved in the first place, many of them now having whole new meanings for me.

Crisafulli takes you back to the Sunset Strip in the age of the Lizard King, using quotes from fans, industry types and the musicians themselves to tell, as the title says, the stories behind every song. Places in songs come alive, people become less strange and yes, in a way the whole body of work is demystified in the process, but with headphones in place and the music pouring over you, it all comes back with a new sharpness that just makes it all the more interesting. Among the most interesting things are which songs were taken from Jim's famous Venice notebooks (his pre-Doors writings), which songs were written in the depths of depression and, while we're on the subject, just how obviously manic Jim Morrison was. Makes you wonder why nobody intervened.

The book is divided into chapters for each album, the songs being taken in running order, and it continues past LA Woman (after which Morrison died) to American Prayer and the Jimless Doors albums. Some of the stories are rehash, of course, but there is a vast amount of new insight to keep even casual Doors fans interested. For those of us who really love that music, it's positively riveting.


(C) 2000 - DJ Johnson



DVD: Lucky Dube In Concert (Shanachie Records - 90 Minutes)
DVD: Roots, Rock, Reggae (Shanachie Records - 60 Minutes)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

Shanachie Records is the US home of South African reggae giant Lucky Dube, and now the label is also getting into the DVD business with a handful of excellent releases, including this Lucky Dube concert. Lucky you! The picture quality is outstanding, the performance is better yet and the song selection will please all of LD's fans. Dressed in camouflage, dreadlocks flying, Lucky Dube leads his twelve-piece band through fifteen strong tunes, including classic Dubeage like "Prisoner," "Dracula" and "War & Crime" for an extremely appreciative audience in some unnamed city (yeah, why is that?). The whole event is very colorful and moving. The only problem is that Lucky Dube himself isn't very audible most of the time. You can hear him, but his voice seems to get lost in the mix too often. What a shame. This is one of the greatest voices in reggae today, so it'd be nice to actually hear it. Still, this is a fine show that will keep you glued to the screen.

While you're in the DVD aisle, there's another Shanachie release worth your hard earned dollars. Roots, Rock, Reggae is a vintage documentary that examines the reggae music scene in Jamaica, circa 1977. Shot by filmmaker Jeremy Marre for his Beats Of The Heart docu-series, this film gives you plenty of glimpses into special things, from Joe Higgs' philosophies to superior street music. My own favorite segment features Lee "Scratch" Perry in his famed (and long ago burned down by Scratch Himself) Black Ark Studio. As I'd never seen so much as a photograph of that place of legend, I was taken aback to discover it was not much more than a shed with a lot of beat up equipment. Watching Perry, a well-known space cadet, is the biggest treat of all. As a band performs in the studio, Scratch dances, spins, comments, laughs, and coaxes switches and dials as if conjuring spirits. If you've heard the music that came from Black Ark, you know they were powerful spirits. The tour takes you through Trenchtown and down the back roads to hear The Abyssinians, Bob Marley, Third World, The Mighty Diamonds and The Gladiators over the course of one fascinating hour that is highly recommended for anyone who appreciates reggae and wants a better understanding.


(C) 2000 - DJ Johnson