Howard Jones Plays Brilliant Acoustic Gig at the Avalon

Club D went on the road to Easton, MD to check out this phenomenal acoustic show. Jones is one of her all-time favorite musicians and he did not disappoint.

Howard Jones with ClubD in the lobby of the Tidewater Inn in Easton after the gig.



Brit rocker Howard Jones made a name for himself in the 80s with his brand of synthpop. A prolific songwriter and pianist with an incredible vocal range, Jones is most renowned for his hit, “No One Is to Blame.” Still making music and touring, Jones has amassed quite a collection of introspective and melodic songs that he continues to share the world over.

During the past decade, he has embarked on two different, yet similar, acoustic tours in America in which he reworks his electronic songs often with some funky improvisation. The first such tour, in the late-90s, featured him with a percussionist and resulted in a phenomenal disc recorded in Los Angeles, Live Acoustic America. This time around, he’s touring with an acoustic guitarist, Robin Boult, performing a mix of new songs and classics and he’s brimming with animated stories. To set the stage for this intimate show, he has chosen to perform at small, charming, rustic venues. And that’s how I came to see him at the historic Avalon Theatre in Easton, Maryland on October 26.

My favorite HoJo album is his first, Human’s Lib, and I was thrilled that he played four songs from it. The chorus of the beautifully haunting song “Hide and Seek,” contains six little words that are quite profound, “Hope you find me in you.” Introducing another song from that album, “Don’t Always Look at the Rain,” he mentioned that the “Joseph who’s 5 years old and starts fights in his playground yard” is now 30 and he recently went to Joseph’s wedding.

When introducing the song, “Life in One Day,” Jones said though he still believes in some of the song’s lyrics, “some it is just crap” and he warned he might have to stop in the middle when he got to his now-bothersome lyrics and lament about it. Luckily, he did all the lamenting before singing it. For example, he said, the future does not take care of itself somehow and one person can change the world single-handedly. He then had the audience repeatedly sing the “ooh ooh ooh, who-oh-oh” until he was happy with it.

Another story he told was how he conceived of “No One is to Blame.” While visiting San Francisco, an American friend was pointing out to him all the beautiful women in the city but Jones had told him he was quite happy with his wife back home. Still ogling, the friend said, “you can look at the menu but you just can’t eat.” Jones raced back to his room and scribbled down that line, which became the first line of the song, and out poured the rest.

After the show, I waited around to meet Jones. My friends and I were staying just across the street at the Tidewater Inn. It turns out, so was Jones. After chatting with his manager and with Boult, Jones finally emerged looking exhausted. I shook his hand and walked across the street to the hotel with him and Boute making casual conversation. In the lobby, though evidently exhausted, he graciously agreed to pose for a photo with me. I then headed to my room, still beaming from a night of great music.

SETLIST
Set 1
Someone You Need (new, co-written with Duncan Sheik)
Like to Get to Know You Well
Love's Never Wasted (new and unrecorded)
Pearl in the Shell
a new song (didn't catch the title)
Don't Always Look at the Rain (mixed in with Dave Brubeck's Take 5)
The Prisoner
Everlasting Love

Set 2
Dreamin' On
Hide & Seek
Just Look at You Now (from Revolution of the Heart, 2005)
Wedding Song (from People, 1998)
Straight Ahead (new)
Life in One Day
No One Is to Blame
What Is Love?

Encore: Things Can Only Get Better

Alexa Ray Joel, Nathan Angelo Bring Down the House at JJ

October 23, Jammin' Java, Vienna, Virginia

When I was 6, growing up in Brooklyn, NY, I pretty much taught myself how to read off the sleeves of Billy Joel albums. I’d put one of his albums on the turntable and try to read the lyrics and sing along. The year was 1979 and thus began my intense love for his music, which has never waned.

And now here I am also enjoying the music of the next Joel generation. His daughter, Alexa Ray, weeks away from her 21st birthday, is a talented musician and songwriter, following in her dad’s footsteps, though she jokingly admitted at the Jammin’ Java show that she’s not quite up to his piano-playing level just yet. Her show on October 23rd marked the final show of this tour and, befittingly, she played to a sold-out crowd. During the show, she kept marveling at the packed house and receptive crowd, admitting there’d been poor attendance at a few of her recent gigs because several clubs had barely promoted the shows.

Alexa played a great set, including all six songs from her EP Sketches,
which she promises is a teaser toward a full-length disc.
In the bluesy “Song of Yesterday,” Alexa said she goes for a sound inspired by Norah Jones and Ray Charles. In fact, that’s where her middle name comes from as Ray Charles was one of her dad’s musical idols. While her music is primarily bluesy-pop, such as the beautiful “For All My Days,” Alexa also has a few songs that dabble in dance and funk, such as “Jaded” and “Not Alright.”

At one point, Alexa apologized in advance for singing a couple of “corny love songs” including the idealistic, dreamy “Sapphire Night,” which has a beautiful melody. She noted that teen fans seemed to prefer the love songs while the older crowd tends to prefer her more bitter songs.

Those, like me, who grew up in New York in the 80s remember when Billy and Christie, “the super couple,” had a baby daughter. I remember at a Billy concert at Madison Square Garden in the early 90s when Billy audiotaped the whole crowd singing happy birthday to Alexa so he could bring it home to play for her. And now she’s a mature young woman who writes and performs thoughtful songs. It’s wonderful to watch her progress; her sound is more refined, and she sounded more confident, at this show than during her previous stop through town back in June. She even left the keyboard for a few songs to stand at the mic and cut loose a bit. Her new band is tight and complements her music nicely, without drowning her out.

And it’s refreshing to know that she’s a sweet, regular gal, evident in how she not only greets and poses for pictures with her fans after the show, but also she takes time to talk a bit with each one. To borrow a song title from her dad, Alexa is “all about soul.”

The surprise of the evening was the opener, Nathan Angelo, from Atlanta, Georgia. On keys, with a voice reminiscent of Gavin DeGraw, and a tight band behind him, this soulful singer sang about life and love, or lack thereof, as in the song “Love Sucks.” Unpretentious and brimming with talent, Angelo is “groove-laced piano rock” at its finest. Check out his independent debut disc, Through Playing Me.

(above) Alexa Ray Joel and Club D after show

Dean Fields Plays Iota

Sunday, October 22 at Iota

Recommended Beverage to go with this show:

something caffeinated; he’s kinda mellow

Amidst a crowd of young women ogling at the handsome quartet on stage and a few ladies talking obnoxiously loud throughout, a very talented folk-rock band from Richmond, Virginia struggled to be heard. Playing mostly soft ballads, Dean Fields was promoting his new release, Songs on the Mend, and played a handful of songs from his first disc, Imitations, during his hour-long set.

Fields recently played Jammin’ Java solo but at this show he brought out the band, including a bass player that alternated between the electric and upright bass. Fields played guitar and has a beautiful voice, somewhat reminiscent of John Androsik, lead singer for Five for Fighting. Of Fields’ listed influences, several jumped out at me as infusing his music and sound: Ryan Adams, Damien Rice, David Grey, and a bit of Paul Simon.

His set included two of the more rollicking songs from his debut album, “Charleston,” and “In and Out.” During another song from that disc, “Irish Bars,” the crowd became a bit more animated and sang along to the chorus.

It was a relaxing and fitting way to spend a Sunday night.

From Out of this World: The Dust Galaxy

Recommended Beverage: it was BYOB

(i'd already DMOB--drunk my own booze--before arriving)

Before last night, I can't remember the last time I saw a concert at an automotive garage. But on the edge of Chinatown, on a scrappy little block, a garage was transformed into an underground concert venue, complete with full sound system and psychedelic lighting. And what a show it was!

DC music lovers all know the name Rob Garza, one of the two masterminds and deejays behind Thievery Corporation. Garza's latest project, Dust Galaxy, played before a packed room last night. The band, which included guitarist James Canty of the local band French Toast and a very talented Japanese chick on keyboard, just blew the lid off the place with guitar-driven, funky psychedelic rock. The licks were catchy and the musicians were tight, all working well off of each other. There was something surreal about it--the music, the atmosphere, the faint smell of pot, the source of which I tried desperately to locate, to no avail...

Opening the show was a phenomenal Argentine singer/guitarist Federico Aubele, accompanied by a sultry female vocalist. They played some songs from his new album, "Gran Hotel Buenos Aires."

One consistent thread in Garza's music has been the infusion of cultural influences. He has been recording in London toward his first solo release due out in March. He's working with London producer Brendan Lynch (Primal Scream, Paul Weller), and several British musicians will make appearances on the album, including Darrin Mooney (Primal Scream) and Adam Blake (Cornershop). The album is being described as including "sounds of psychedelic India , British paisley beats, post-punk, and American roots rock."

Ahh, proof that the indie scene is still alive and well in DC. Rock on!

An Unlikely Concert

October 3, Ronald Reagan Building, Washington DC

Recommended Beverage:
Large quantities of wine

Music is a big hobby of mine, and it’s become a side job in that I’ve coordinated an area summer concert series for a decade and do some music writing. But never, ever, did I expect to hear—at my full-time job at a policy research institute—an 80s rapper perform.

But that’s exactly what happened one day, following an all-day conference on foster children in the Ronald Reagan Building, co-hosted by the organization where I work as an editor and writer and the organization Children Uniting Nations. I’d popped my head into one of the sessions and there, in our auditorium, sat this hip hop star in a red t-shirt and black hat. Wow, is that???

Then, that night, in a ballroom in the Reagan Building filled with corporate types, NGO reps, youth counselors, a senator, and an actress—among others—came a very unlikely concert with said rapper, that being Darryl McDaniels, aka Run DMC. I wanted to just yell out “Walk this way!” but kept that to myself; then he did walk my way and I shook his hand. Quite a thrill.

After several speeches, two stood out. Israeli Violinist Miri Ben-Ari spoke of how her parents were so poor they could barely pay the bills, but they always found a way to send her to music classes every week. And what an investment that was. She played with some recorded rap in the background and then played the funkiest Star-Spangled Banner I’ve ever heard, with so much passion and a tinge of anger, even. Was beautiful.

Then, barely months out of jail, a short lady with tall presence came to the mic. It was Lil’ Kim. Though she didn’t sing, she made a big splash. Owning up to her mistakes, she told the crowd that education offers opportunity for youth and helps them make the right choices. She said so many children have great talent but lack the right opportunities. It’s not so much what happens to us but what we choose to make of it and how we react to it all, she said.

Lil’ Kim has become a mentor for youth and said some have written her and said they believed in her even during times when she was struck by adversity, and more than ever she wants to give back. She had been a runaway, had been homeless, had to do whatever was necessary to survive on the street…But then a hip hop artist, the late Notorious B.I.G., entered her life and opened up opportunities for her and she hopes to inspire others the way he believed in, and inspired, her.

DMC then got up and spoke of the importance of giving kids opportunities and then busted into two rap songs, including the famous “Walk this Way.” The people-watching in this particular crowd while McDaniels was singing was absolutely priceless. And we even got a parting gift, a promo sampler from DMC's new album, "Checks, Thugs, and Rock & Roll."

Photo to come.