We have had these podcasts in the can for awhile and now they are ready to go. Check in every Sunday for a look into the Shanghai music scene with Theo Croker. First up is blues guitarist Greg Smith.
Here is the link to access the podcast page.
Here is to listen the podcast, and to download just right click and save it.
tags: Blues - Cotton Club - Greg Smith - Jazz - Podcast - Shanghai - Theo Croker
First of all, lets not kid ourselves, Jeff Lang can f*ing play.
So now that that’s established, I’m supposed to convey the feeling of what it was like to be at this epic, mind-expanding show. Before the show, I planned to write a review / reaction, but the review part is almost impossible now. This was, by a pretty big margin, the best gig I’ve ever seen at the venerable YYT, and I’ve seen a lot of my favs there (Hedgehog, Carsick, The Gar, etc.) But Jeff blew them away.
The entire concert was outstanding, but I remember the moment I went from the mental state of: “This is a friggin’ awesome gig,” to, “Holy crap, I am witnessing something rare and epic.” That moment came about 50 minutes in, When he started the song, “12,000 miles.” And this is where my first comment truly comes into play. Wielding a rare, custom-made pseudo-lap-steel guitar (more on that later), Lang absolutely blew me away. Everything good and bad that had been on my mind all day, all week: job stress, girl trouble, whether or not I was satisfied by this season’s LOST finale, all of it was gone. I was simply in awe of how great this music was. For those who weren’t there, “12,000 miles” is one long, long, country/blues riff played expertly well and incredibly fast, and while I couldn’t make out the lyrics, the tone of his voice was excellent as well. What shocked me most though, was that, as aforementioned, he busted this song out at around the 50 minute mark, and, as it was so rousing, I was forced to assume that his show was beginning its dÈnouement. Not so. Jeff kept playing….and playing and playing. I think the whole thing clocked in at about 2 hours 15 minutes, but I’m not really sure, because the recording computer (which I was sitting behind for most of the gig) tapped out at 1 hour 54 minutes, claiming to be out of memory. I can only assume that meant that even the computer couldn’t process the awesomeness happening before it. Either that, or the computer lacked the processing power to grasp music being played this fast on an acoustic guitar.
OK, I’ll stop gushing for a little bit and try to draw a picture of the gig itself. First of all, I have never seen so many bald heads at YYT. And while that is meant to be slightly humourous, it’s certainly not meant to be an insult. The crowd was decidedly older than what you normally see at the venue, and decidedly more mixed. Certainly, there were several “scene kids,” local and laowai alike, but there were also a lot of people that normally would not go to such a venue. I assume these people were intrigued by what they kept hearing about Jeff Lang (thanks to an excellent marketing plan from Split Works) or were already fans themselves. The latter I find harder to believe, as most people I spoke to were there because they heard there would be some real blues/country music being played live in this town, which is, at best, a rare thing. Another thing that struck me about the scene was how attentive the crowd was. Now, I don’t mean that there was a mosh pit or anything (in fact, this may have been the first concert I’ve ever seen after 10PM in China without one.) What I mean is that people stood, and watched, and stared, and didn’t move. There was a palpable reverence in the crowd, and it was well earned.
Lang played a decent chunk of his own repertoire, as well as a few covers of Aussie, US and British folk standards –his rendition of “Penny” was particularly good and moving.
I had a chance to speak with the man backstage after the show, albeit really informally. After we’d briefly discussed the differences and merits of Uncle Tupelo spinoffs Sun Volt (Jay Farrar) and Wilco (Jeff Tweedy) Lang recounted some of his gig stories. My favorite was, while discussing Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Jeff mentioned that he had been hanging out with Randolph after a set at the Fuji Festival (and, I assume, being attended by hot, Dionysian nymphs), that Randolph confessed he would not be able to play Lang’s guitar. OK, that may not make sense (for any number of reasons) but let me explain. Randolph is just about the best table-slide guitar player I have ever heard, and Lang, as aforementioned, has a really cool and weird guitar. Basically this guitar has a body that goes up the entire neck, producing low-end resonance while allowing him to “play the neck” with the guitar sitting on his lap, in a similar (but different) fashion to the way table-slides are played. It’s similar to a lap-steel guitar, but it’s not quite the same, and the effect that it produces is both unique and familiar. Instantly memorable. He had the six-string commissioned specially, and very few have been made since. It is a unique piece, but Lang’s ensemble gets better.
At this point Jeff, Archie, Nathaniel, Clare and I were interrupted by a lot of fans, and the conversation went something like this:
Fan: “Holy crap you’re awesome!!”
JL: “Thanks.”
Fan: “How did you get so awesome?”
JL: “By practicing and being awesome.”
Fan: “Wow! That’s amazing!”
OK so that was a bit simplistic, but still. After that the group of us remained in awe of his guitar descriptions. Basically, all of his guitars are custom-made, and he places receivers, noisemakers, and a bunch of other cool stuff inside his guitars to create reverb, echo, and other cool sounds that give the effect of listening to a full band, even though it’s just one dude (full info on his set-ups at www.jefflang.com.au). So basically his guitars are like John Cage’s “prepared pianos” except that the goal is an extension of the guitar’s musical abilities (as opposed to the organized chaos of Cage). This blew most of us away, and he slipped away shortly thereafter. For you, dear reader, I tried to ask serious, hard-hitting questions about his influences and relationship to folk, country and blues. Particularly because his music seems very American, even though the man himself seems anything but. Alas, the man was exhausted and left, and while I didn’t get all the material I wanted, I can’t say I wasn’t satisfied by the experience. Before closing I should also mention that he was just about the friendliest dude I’ve met in Shanghai, and this was after a 2+ hour concert in a three piece wool suit! Pretty sure I would have killed any “music reporters” after that.
So, in brief, an amazing concert by the Aussie import, and a great experience for music in Shanghai. Last week I mentioned that his music was “genre-bending,” and I stand by that. But more important, was how much his show was generation-bending, and, of course, how f*ing good the whole thing was.
If you missed it, feel shame, but feel not worry, he’ll be back. He promised.
*Photos by Arnaud
tags: Australia - Blues - Country - Guitars - Jeff Lang - Split Works - YuYinTang
Genre-bending is a term that gets thrown around a lot these days, and it seems to even more commonly apply to artists’ live shows. It’s hard t avoid it though, as Jeff Lang is truly a genre-bending man. A brief look through his catalog will tell you that this is a man who, simply, has too much going on in his head to strive for simplicity. Now, don’t get me wrong, focus has its place. I’m thinking of Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes, two 2008 artists who picked one style and performed it extremely well. But that’s not for Mr. Lang. His tastes move from country and Western to blues, folk, jazz, and “eco” (a term I use for Enya and the like; in other words, the music that used to be sold with TV ads of rainforests and waterfalls; anyone else remember those?). So he’s complex, but that’s not to say without focus. There’s a pretty clear voice throughout all his genre-bending (last time usage, I promise) and it seems to be decrying that Jeff Lang is a man who would simply cease to be were he is not creating music.
Anyway, some technical stuff. Mr. Lang most often gets classified as blues, bluegrass, or country, mostly because of the style of guitar he likes to play. So expect some beautiful steel-style guitar plucking, long, twangy country riffs emanating from the stage and his being all night long. The word “virtuoso” would not be inaccurate, but as with the best players of Blues and Country music (not to be confused with Honky-Tonk country, which is what they show on CMT, and is, by and large, bad) Mr. Lang is captivating because of the emotion he conveys in his guitar work. Lang’s got a beautiful, expressive voice, and never sounds like he’s trying too hard, but it’s the guitar work that will make you gently weep. They way he slides notes right into pizzicato finger-picking and back into that lovely twang drawl. His guitar sounds like someone from Louisiana or Tennessee to be sure, that long, comforting tone in every phrase, but his voice (luckily) sounds like it could be from anywhere.
It’s getting close to concert time, but if you can download a few tracks to get you comfortable, I’d recommend “Mr. God,” an almost OAR or Dispatch sounding tune with nice accompaniment and wonderful, unforced lyrical simplicity. “Gina,” is the song Ryan Adam’s always wishes he wrote, holding all the best parts of country music without any of the faults (including the pretension that Mr. Adams and alt-country stalwarts always have). “Gina,” also has one of the best acoustic side-by-side electric arrangements I’ve ever heard on a recording. For anyone who’s ever been to a gig in Nashville, you’ll know that this is one of the very best elements of live Country, and it’s very difficult to get right in a recording studio. I wish I could explain better, but download the track and you’ll see what I mean. Then there’s “Prepare Me Well,” where Mr. Lang turns into the Black Keys with an acoustic guitar, which is, yes, exactly as awesome as it sounds.
See you Saturday night at YuYinTang for other one by Split Works, should be a killer show!
tags: Australia - Blues - Country - Jeff Lang - Split Works - YuYinTang
Editor’s Note: Zack Smith is taking his work with him on vacation. He will be checking in periodically this summer to recount his American musical experiences.
Sometimes the best shows are the surprises, the ones you know nothing about, as opposed to the ones that you have built up in your mind for weeks. I found this to be the case Sunday night when I caught the Robert Cray Band at the Boulder Theater in Boulder, Colorado, USA.
First, a note about the venue: The Boulder Theater is an old art deco movie theater that has been converted into a music venue. It has beautiful paintings on the walls and ornate features throughout. The bottom floor has a bar, some tables, and a spacious standing room only area in front of the stage. There is also a balcony up top with seats for people who would like to sit and enjoy the music. The space is comparable to the Shanghai Grand Stage, where I saw James Brown, Al Jarreau and George Benson, and The Roots on separate evenings. I would say the Robert Cray show drew about 500 people, which is great for a Sunday night. Most of the crowd was middle-aged and that explains the 7:30 sharp start time, which surprised me a bit.
Boulder, Colorado is an old town, but also new and exciting, due to the fact that it is home to the largest colleges in Colorado, the University of Colorado. It is a forward-thinking town, with lots of students, older liberals, and those peculiar American animals, hippies. If you like organic food, hybrid cars, beautiful mountains, nag champa incense, and patchouli oil, then this is the place for you. Boulder also boasts a great music scene.
A band called the Delta Sonics started the show. They played traditional blues tracks with good energy and spirit. They had some interesting features to the band, including the tallest bass player I have ever seen (who also looked like Lurch from the Addam’s Family), a left-handed drummer, a bald-headed singer (who also whaled on the chromatic harmonica), and a six year-old who was billed as the world’s youngest blues harmonica player (he joined them for two numbers). Their guitarist rocked on every solo he took and there was a funny moment where the frontman played the chords on the neck while the guitarist strummed. The Sonics’ set was proficient, if not original, but that’s what you get sometimes with the blues. It’s more of a revivalist movement. The frontman tried to stir up some excitement with his fiery harmonica playing and gyrations (he even left the stage to play in the audience), but the crowd was still sparse at this early juncture.
After a short intermission, the Robert Cray Band got right to work. Cray, who has won multiple Grammy awards, is one of the most accomplished and famous blues guitarists working today, carrying on a legacy that stretches back to the work songs and spirituals sung by slaves in the most ignominious portion of American history. He names Albert Collins, Albert King, Freddie King, Jimi Hendrix, and Muddy Waters as his blues heroes and has played with other great musicians, such as Eric Clapton. During this set he was joined by his regular band, which included Jim Pugh on piano and organ, Richard Cousins on bass, and Tony Braunagel on drums. Pugh showed off his skills at many different points of the program, soloing with dexterity and soul. Cousins is your basic lock-down bassist. He lurked in the shadows, writhing spasmodically. He looked an eel engaged in rhythmic dance. The drummer was also steady, if unspectacular, which is what you need for a blues band. The guitar and vocals get pushed to the forefront, bringing us to the star of the show.
Robert Cray is a terrific musician. I first saw him about 10 years ago in the Denver Botanical Gardens and was amazed by the power and tone of his voice. To me, it sounded like a cross between the high-end majesty of Al Green and the soulful growl of B.B. King. On Sunday night, his voice again cut through everything. He also pulled out a competent falsetto, which he was smart enough to keep for special moments. On guitar, he displays amazing phrasing and, again, great tone. The jangle sounded like a bag of quarters being dropped on the subway floor. He played leads, accents, and solos with a silvery twang that swept concert-goers off their tapping feet and took them down South.
Because the set was on Sunday night and the old-timers in the audience had to get to work the next day, Cray set a blistering pace. There was no chitchat between songs, just a genial, “Thank you so very much,” and then away we went again and again. He must have played at least 15 poppy blues/bluesy pop bombs in the span of an hour, one after another. He also busted out a great little reggae tune toward the beginning of the set. After a final couple of encore tracks, with Cousins feeding his bass back for effect, Cray said goodnight and all the folks hit the exits, way past their bedtimes.
Accomplished and traditional blues music is something that Shanghai seems to lack a bit. If you are in the mood for some mourning, check out The House of Jazz and Blues or Beedee’s on Tuesday nights. Or you can hope that Robert Cray will visit sometime soon. I sure do.
Until next time…
tags: Blues - Dance - Folk - House - Jazz - Music - Pop - Reggae - Robert Cray - Rock - Shanghai - Soul
There’s so much music going on! Knowing what to do when you don’t know what to do could help you this weekend.
Layabozi is a web magazine about music in Shanghai today, with a sprinkle of the extra-mural and a tart sassiness—without ever being cloying. We take our inspiration from the snack which is both exotic (to us) and down home, and from which we take our name: Spicy Duck Necks.
The songs posted in this website are for analysis purposes only. We, the contributors, love - deeply - music and we work to support the artists we love by promoting and purchasing their work; it is our policy only to post what we own or what the artists/owners have authorized us to publish. Through this site, we're simply sharing music with others hoping they will also support these artists and appreciate the quality of their work. We encourage everyone to purchase music and concert tickets for the artists you feel deserve your money and energy. If you own the copyright to one of the songs posted on this website and would like it removed, please let us know we'll respond fast as a the wind. We do not keep an archive of our songs. And we do take obsessive care of our records, cassettes, cd's, dvd's, videos, books, autographs, photos and old tickets to concerts we loved.
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