Thursday, April 05, 2012

Restless night

Restless night past at last ...
sunny blue spring sky,
a hummingbird ...

(c) Bob Loomis
04-05-2012

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Saturday, March 31, 2012

My March Madness


I want to write poetry

POETRY I TELL U!!

Rich with simile and metaphor
(Whatever … whichever …)
Rich as … as …
As creampuffs! 

Yes,
Word creampuffs!!
Take a bite
Tastes just right!

(Hmmm, maybe I should just
Go into advertising …)

Whatever ...

Bob Loomis
(c) 03-31-2012
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Saturday, March 17, 2012

Tuneweek, 03-17-2012: A Sabbatical/Wintergrass 2012 Favorites


Note: It's time for a sabbatical for yours truly vis-a-vis Tuneweek, so I'm taking a sabbatical after hitting the send button on this one ... a month? a year? We'll see. I'll probably still send out special editions when I think they're merited, and I'll still post favorite music videos and sound clips to my Facebook page and my music words music blog, so check there if interested. Thanks for being loyal readers/listeners, it's much appreciated! - Bob Loomis, 03-17-2012
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Notable Birthday: George Avakian, who produced the first jazz album, turned 93 on March 15. Riverwalk Jazz saluted him:
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OK, here are my personal favorite acts from this year's Wintergrass Festival in Bellevue WA, Feb. 23-26. We've attended about a dozen of these annual festivals now. My picks from among the performers I saw (which leaves out about 20 others I did not see due to schedule conflicts):

Old-Time Kozmik Trio: Bruce Molsky, Darol Anger, Rashad Eggleston: I saw them as a trio, here they are joined by members of the great Swedish group Vasen, whom I was unable to see this year, though I saw them at a previous WIntergrass:

The Kruger Brothers: Jens and Uwe Kruger, two brothers from Switzerland,  and  their bassist Joel Landsberg comprise one of the most potent bluegrass trios of all time. I can find no vids of their appearance at Wintergrass 2012, but this will give an idea of their prowess:

Joe Craven Trio: Joe on various, John Burr on keys, Kendrick Freeman on drums. I only saw these guys at a workshop titled Puttin' A New Dress on the Pig (typical Craven humor!) ... it basically turned into a performance. Joe is maybe the most creative musician (and person) I know. And he's self-taught! Burr and Freeman are top-notch musos in their own rights. This vid gives a good sample of what the trio can do:

Tim O'Brien: He's another of my all-time favorites, He actually rivals Joe Craven for creativity ... No Wintergrass 2012 vid that I can find. He performed with Brian Sutton on guitar and Mike Bub on bass. This vid gives a small idea of his talents:
More samples of his music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdDTxvDJ1Rw&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLBDA4C8D1A002B156

Della Mae: Celia Woodsmith, vocals & guitar; Kimber Ludiker, fiddle; Amanda Kowaski, bass; Courtney Hartman, guitar; Jenni Lyn Gardner, mandolin. For me, this was the new group of the year. Celia and Courtney conducted an excellent songwriting workshop, too.

Hot Buttered Rum: Aaron Redner, fiddle & mandolin; Nat Keefe, guitar; Bryan Home, bass; Eric Yate, banjo & flute; Lucas Carlton, drums. This SF Bay Area group remains one of my favorites to dance to at Wintergrass, where one venue is always reserved for bands that  are great to dance to. IMHO they were the best of these this year (doesn't hurt their case with me that their banjo player also plays flute):

The Wilders: Betse Ellis, fiddle; Ike Sheldon, guitar; Phil Wade, Dobro, mandolin, banjo; Nate Gawron, bass: The rockin'est hony-tonk band ever!:

Jim Gaudet and the Railroad Boys: Jim Gaudet, guitar; Bob Ristau, bass; Sten Isachsen, mandolin & guitar; Mat Kane, fiddle. Jim Gaudet is a thrice reincarnated musician, now a singer/songwriter in a band that fuses old-time roots music and the rocknroll he grew up hearing into a fine Americana sound:

Greensky Bluegrass:  Dave Bruzza, guitar; Anders Beck, Dobro; Mike Devol, bass; Mike Bont, banjo; Paul Hoffman, mandolin. Though we saw them in the dance ballroom, IOHO they are better as a sit-and-listen band. Here they do doing Against The Days in 2009:

Tickets for next year's Wintergrass Festival are already on sale here:
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Gone But Not Forgot:
Donald F. Smith, champion of cabaret, 79:

Peter Bergman, Firesign Theater satirist, 72:

Jean Giraud, comic book artist Moebius, 73:
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That's all for a while, keep on musicking!
Bob Loomis
In Loving Memory of Shannon Christine Loomis, 1967-2010



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Saturday, March 10, 2012

Tuneweek, 03-10-2012: The Byrds and More


Good to be home after almost three weeks on the road. Next week I'll feature my favorite artists from this year's Wintergrass Festival in Bellevue WA. This week's featured artist is the Byrds, maybe the first alt-country band. Wikipedia has this history:
Check out the other Byrds links with the Sweetheart cover plus any other Byrds vids you are drawn to. Each incarnation had its qualities, but the period with Gram Parsons aboard was especially fecund though it did end badly. 
You Don't Miss Your Water off Sweetheart of the Rodeo, one of my desert island discs:
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Reading Material:
Nice articles in the SF Chronicle on Chubby Checker (Bev and I saw him at Peppermint Lounge in SF sometime around 1961-64, but neither of us can remember the details):
The Twist was the song that made him famous:
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Shreddin' vids take playful pokes at popular artists: 

P.S. to our last ukulele edition:
Herman Vandecauter's lovely arrangement of an old French song "Une Jeune Fillette" or La Monica:
Gone But Not Forgot:
Frisner Augustin, Haitian drummer, 63:
Two-part documentary on the music, Part 1:
Part 2:

Jimmy Ellis, lead singer in dance band Trammps, 74:

Andrij Dobrinsky, Met opera singer, 81:

Robert B. Sherman, Disney songwriter, 86:

Lucio Dalla, Italian troubador, 68:
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That's all for this week, keep on musicking!
Bob Loomis
In Loving Memory of Shannon Christine Loomis, 1967-2010


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Saturday, March 03, 2012

Tuneweek, 03-03-2012: RIP Joe Thompson, Davy Jones, Others

Missed a beat last week but back at it again from Cannon Beach OR. Lotsa musical water under the bridge since last edition, and I'm saving my WIntergrass report for when I have time to do it right. A number of notable recent deaths deserve coverage:

Fiddler Joe Thompson, who helped preserve the black string band, 93:
Playing Black Annie:
A YouTube search for his music there:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=joe+thompson+fiddle&oq=joe+thompson&aq=1&aqi=g4&aql=&gs_sm=1&gs_upl=386156l388587l0l392555l12l12l0l3l3l0l189l860l3.5l8l0
The Carolina Chocolate Drops, who learned from Thompson, performing Hit 'Em Up Style:
More Carolina Chocolate Drops:
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Ben Fong-Torres of the SF Chronicle has a nice remembrance of Davy Jones of the Monkees, who died Wednesday at age 66 of a heart attack:
Daydream Believer by Jones from one of his last live shows:
Last Train to Clarksville, which seemed to play endlessly on my drive home from New York City in 1966 and is my favorite Monkees tune:
The NYT obituary:
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Also Gone But Not Forgot:

Erwin Frankel, world music purveyor, 76:

Maurice Andre, classical trumpeter, 78:
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That's all for now, keep on musicking!
Bob Loomis
In Loving Memory of Shannon Christine Loomis, 1967-2010

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Saturday, February 18, 2012

Tuneweek, 02-18-2012 P.S.: Warren Hellman Tribute


Almost missed it: Free tribute concert for Warren Hellman, founder and backer of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Ocean Beach parking lot on Great Highway in San Francisco. Details here:

Bob Loomis
In Loving Memory of Shannon Christine Loomis, 1967-2010
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Tuneweek, 02-18-2012: Wintergrass Ho! & Other Stuff


FYI: Tomorrow Bev and I head northward to visit friends and attend the Wintergrass Festival in Bellevue WA. We'll be away for almost 3 weeks, but I hope to be able to keep sending Tuneweek each Saturday that we're on the road. 
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One Other Personal Item: Happy 15th Birthday on Sunday to our youngest grandson Norris! Happy Birthday, Norris! Here he is with his band T-Shirt Tuxedo covering Weezer's We Are All On Drugs. And no, they are not! It's just a song, deal with it:
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This week we feature one of those personalities about whom I've idly wondered, where is she now? Well, it seems that Cyndi Lauper (one of my favorite singers) is now a blues star. Here's Part One of the Blues Revue's E-Zine interview. It includes video links:
Cyndi's holding an autoharp or zither in the first vid, but it doesn't appear she's actually playing it, since her left hand seems to be muting the strings.
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The SF Chronicle has a feature on Butt-Ugly Rock Stars:
Remember, beauty is in the eyes of the beholders!
----
Here's a track from Charlie McCoy's Tribute to Little Walter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj7vjn8hUDw
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Some astoundingly good non-rack blues playing here by Konstantin Reinfeld at Harmonica Masters 2011 in Trossingen, Germany. He's only been playing for two years!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io25UPDgvO0
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Martin Zak and mrstnej Janek with rhythm puppet and harp in rack for Starej (Old) Joe Clark:
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The "Playing Harmonica on a Rack" seminar at the 2011 SPAH Convention
was great fun.
 The seven presenters were:
Vern Smith - The inventor of the "Hands Free Chromatic and Ergonomic Neck Rack"
Cynthia Dusel-Bacon - A user of the "Hands Free Chromatic and
Ergonomic Neck Rack"
Enrico Granafei - Another user of the "Hands Free Chromatic and
Ergonomic Neck Rack" and a fabulous finger-style jazz guitarist
Marv Monroe - Who made his own harmonica rack which holds two Hohner
XB-40 harmonicas
Michael Kovick - The inventor of the "HarpHugger" (two different styles)
Jimi Lee - Who is a monster blues guitarist and uses a standard wire
harp rack which he bent to suit his needs
  and
Peter Madcat Ruth - Who built his own microphone-stand-mounted harp rack
To see these racks in action, or learn more about them, check out the
following websites and YouTube videos:
Marv Monroe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFGMlWXlV-s
Vern SmithHands free Chromatic now built by C.A Reynolds
http://www.builderofstuff.com/handsfree.html
Enrico Granafeihttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N702CnHb0Oo
Jimi Leehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzJTvD5QNg8
Michael Kovickhttp://harphugger.com/
Peter Madcat Ruthhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1UyPh3Z3LI
Just a note:  Madcat has upgraded his microphone and harp holder since
this video was made but he still uses the same mic stand... 

Jon Gindick's harp/guitar version of Little Wing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT-JobqQ6Ec
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And there's a new approach to playing harp hands free, Harplock (this is not an 
endorsement, just newsworthy for those who use racks):
----
Danny White takes a nice (non-rack) solo on this tune by Brian Walker and the Hopeful Romantics, one of my favorite bands:
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No rack here, but an extremely rare and prized Hohner CBH2016 chromatic harmonica played by Ken Leiboff:
----
GONE BUT NOT FORGOT:
Whitney Houston, singer, 48:

Dory Previn, singer/songwriter, 86:

Charles Anthony, Met opera singer, 82:
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That's it for now, keep on musicking!
Bob Loomis
In Loving Memory of Shannon Christine Loomis, 1967-2011
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Saturday, February 11, 2012

02-10-2012: Potpourri of Piquant Piffle


Blatant Commercialism Dept. : Joe Dynan, son of artist Phil Dynan (an old running mate of Dave Monthie and myself) has his first downloadable song available on the Web for $1. I know he'd be thrilled if some of us Tuneweekers bought a copy. Joe first displayed his music talent to us at one of our former annual Geezerpaloozas at least 10 years ago when he was about 11 years old IIRC. He's got a great voice and songwriting talent, and it's a great song. Enjoy!
A rare combo of modern rock band and cartoon character is occurring with Popeye (one of my favorite comic strips) and Wilco (one of my favorite bands):
More on this at Wilco's site:
----
Some fine playing in an unusual combo here: resonator guitar and didgeridoo!:
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Denis Franklin wrote to the San Francisco Folk Music Club e-mail list:Heard this guy (Dr. Paul Mealor) on NPR.  He was asked to arrange Ubi Caritas for Kate and William's wedding:  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQE4ryqdvMg
At the same time he was asked to write a song for a chorus composed of British military wives. For the lyrics he used  "letters and poems sent between the men on the front line and their wives / partners."  This one hit the top of the pop charts. Listen to it without shedding a tear if you can.  ( I certainly couldn't.):
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Here's a one-hour video of the great jazz drummer Max Roach with his quartet in Berlin in 1990 (for those who didn't already  watch it when I posted it to Facebook):
----
Worthy Flute Thing: This Kickstarter project, a documentary on the beloved Irish flute-maker Patrick Olwell, is worth backing, IMHO. I have no financial interest, just love Irish flute!:
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OK,  autoharp. Lots of new developments in the world of autoharp of late. Here's a small batch of recent stuff:
Hal Weeks with the old Grateful Dead tune Althea:
Cathy Britell and William Limbach, Down In The Valley:
Same duo, Harper's Blessing:
And audio of Cathy on Somewhere Over The Rainbow:
Audio, Don McLean's Vincent:
Darryl Minsky does Hide Your Love Away:
----
Good news this week for traveling musos, Congress OKs uniform FAA standard for instruments as carry-ons when flying:
----
Gone But Not Forgot:
Snuffy Smith, noted banjoist and banjo repairman, 66:
Boatin' Up Sandy played by Jimmy Triplett on a banjo fitted with one of Smith's  very popular bridges:
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Keep on Musicking!
Bob Loomis
In Loving Memory of Shannon Christine Loomis, 1967-2010
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Saturday, February 04, 2012

Tuneweek, 02-04-2012: Jim Ocean, Space Age Bard/4-String Banjo/RIP Don Cornelius


Shameless Self-Promo: I'll be playing and singing at Pinole Farmers Market this morning (Saturday, Feb. 4) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Drop by and say hi if you're in the neighborhood!
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Science songs? Yes, Jim Ocean is not only a music promoter par excellence in the East Bay, but a singer/songwriter who's been called a Space Age Bard:
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Let's once again give obscure four-string banjo players their due. Five-string Scruggs-style banjo as heard in bluegrass is now the dominant style, but four-string banjos played (and play) big roles in traditional jazz ... and some are stretching their roles way beyond that. 

First, go here and scroll down the page to Four-string Banjos for definitions and a history:
As for music, let's start with this, and you can check the links to the right for more vids:
Here's Mario De Pietro, a popular mandolinist of note who also solos on tenor banjo in this 1930 clip with Jean Melville on piano:
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/mario-de-pietro/query/banjo

Prof. Douglas Frazer and the Genuine Jug Band:
More here:
A feature on percussionist Tony McBride's washboard setup:
Heavy metal (resophonic) mandolin blues:
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Stolen Stuff Alert from Chris Hirsch: My good friends in the band Trout Fishing In America had their van stolen with all of their instruments and CDs, videos, etc., inside.  This happened in Houston, TX on 1-29-12.  I put together this simple web page showing the instruments so we can all send it out to our friends.  Please do this.  The more that know about this, the better chance of nabbing these damn thieves and maybe getting their stuff back:
http://www.chrishirsch.com/stolen2.htm
Some samples of their quite funny and quite good music:
http://www.troutmusic.com/
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Gone But Not Forgot:
Don Cornelius, Soul Train creator, 75:

Camilla Williams, barrier-breaking opera soprano, 92:

Clare Fischer, arranger and keyboardist, 83:

Paavo Berglund, Finnish conductor, 82:

Patricia Neway, opera soprano and Tony winner, 92:
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Keep on Musicking!
Bob Loomis
In Loving Memory of Shannon Christine Loomis, 1967-2010
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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Tuneweek, 01-28-2012: Ukes Galore



Shameless Self Promotion: My band Awed Ducks will play a featured 30-minute set at around 5 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 29, at Panama Red Coffeehouse at the Vallejo Ferry Terminal, 289 Mare Island Way, Vallejo, CA (poster above with full bill).
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Let's close the first month of the New Year with a quick survey of the world of ukulele. UkeToob has a selection of recent vids.

No ukulele mention would be complete without including Jake Shimabukuro, who's probably done more than anyone recently to lift the jumping flea to new heights of musical respectability. He's best known for his version of George Harrison's While My Guitar Gently Weeps, but here he does his own tune, Let's Dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZxrlDU1RyE 
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Ledward Kaapana is primarily known as a slack-key guitarist, but also sparkles on uke:
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I especially like James Hill and Gerald Ross:
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Here's Ross's version of Poinciana, in case you missed it:
----
And Hill's Ode to A Frozen Boot:
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And let's also take The A Train with a U-Bass:
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Aaron Keim, False Hearted Lover, from his two-chord songbook, vol 2:
----
Outstanding music by the David Wax Museum:
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And always remember: Happiness Is A Warm Gun:
----
Marcy Marxer and Cathy Fink's new Ukulele playlist:
----
Gianni and Sarah, I'll Drink to That:
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Don't know who Roxypuzzlepatch is, but I like her cover of the Grateful Dead's Tennessee Jed:
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Postscripts on Etta James and Johnny Otis: 
A rerun of a 1990s Terry Gross interview with Etta was featured on Friday's Fresh Air:
And Joel Selvin wrote a nice piece in the San Francisco Chronicle on Johnny:
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Gone But Not Forgot:
Dick Kniss, bassist for Peter, Paul & Mary and John Denver co-writer, 74:
Larry Butler, Kenny Rogers's producer, 69:
John Levy, bassist and talent manager, 99:
Gerre Hancock, church organist, 77:
Winston Riley, Jamaican music producer, 68:
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Keep on Musicking!
Bob Loomis
In Loving Memory of Shannon Christine Loomis, 1967-2010


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Saturday, January 21, 2012

Tuneweek, 01-21-2012: RIP Etta James, Johnny Otis

A week of two major losses for the music world: Etta James and Johnny Otis. They were major figures in my teen-age years. I began listening to Otis's band and radio show in Los Angeles around 1954 or '55, right when the two were connecting professionally and recorded together, and when Etta had the R&B hit Roll With Me Henry. Those were formative years musically. Otis's and KFOX disc jockey colleague Hunter Hancock's shows provided a door into the then still separate world of rhythm and blues, where most artists were African American, and into Chuck Berry's rock and roll before such artists began to commonly be played on mainstream stations. Radio (AM radio, not FM!) was king in those days, and a hit single could jump start a major career, or simply a regional hit, since there was no Internet then. 

No one knew it in 1954 but the arrival of rock and roll in mainstream radio meant the rapid fade of bland white pop singers like Georgia Gibbs who covered Roll With Me Henry (removing the word "roll," which was considered too suggestive in those distant, dark ages). By 1957 and '58 artists like Berry began crossing over into mainstream radio.

Etta James died Friday at age 73. Here are two obituaries, one from the New York Times, one from Associated Press via the San Francisco Chronicle:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/21/arts/music/etta-james-singer-dies-at-73.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/01/20/national/a083558S31.DTL&ao=2
Her son Donto describes her passing:http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Entertainment/20120121/etta-james-death-son-20120121/
Music:
Roll With Me Henry (1955):
At Last (an early version):
I'd Rather Go Blind:
Something's Got A Hold On Me:
I Just Want To Make Love to You:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUgvVAFFzN8

Otis, a fine bandleader and hitmaker in his own right (e.g., Willie and The Hand Jive), died Tuesday at age 90. He had a Saturday morning show on KPFA-FM for some time and was also an artist and club owner in Sebastopol, CA.
The Los Angeles Tines obituary:http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-johnny-otis-20120119,0,2183487.story
The New York Times obituary:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/arts/music/johnny-otis-musician-dies-at-90.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries
An appreciation by Dave Alvin (of the Blasters):http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2012/01/johnny-otis-obituary-dave-alvin-appreciation.html
Music:
Harlem Noctune in 1945 was Johnny's first big hit. It was the theme song for another KFOX show, Sleepy Stein's jazz slot that started at 10 p.m. after Hunter Hancock's show:
Here's Hand Jive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEeeGMpM_Nk
With Marci Lee, Telephone Baby:
With son Shuggie Otis and Roy Buchanan on guitar for Sweet Home Chicago:
Also Gone But Not Forgot:
Harpsichordist Gustav Leonhardt, 83:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/arts/music/gustav-leonhardt-harpsichordist-dies-at-83.html?ref=obituaries

Jimmy Castor, master of many genres, 71:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/arts/music/jimmy-castor-musician-who-mastered-many-genres-dies-at-71.html?ref=obituaries
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Shameless Self Promotion: I'll be one of around 15 performers at an open mic Upstairs at First Street Cafe, 440 First Street, Benicia, CA, tonight. The show starts at 7, and each performer gets 15 minutes. I'm on second, if all goes as planned. Thanks to Debbie Kuhl Wendt for organizing and emceeing these! Excellent talent and no cover charge. Hope to see you there. 
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That's all for this week, keep on musicking!
Bob Loomis
In Loving Memory of Shannon Christine Loomis, 1967-2010


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Saturday, January 14, 2012

Tuneweek, 01-14-2012: Pickin' 'n' Grinnin'


A few live shows worth seeing in our area:  
Bill Evans, banjo virtuoso, will perform at 7:30 tonight in a benefit for the Contra Costa Food Bank at the 2nd Saturday Concert Series, 260 Walnut Avenue, Walnut Creek, CA. Tickets are $12 at the door. On Feb. 11 Jim Nunally and Dix Bruce will perform in the series. Samples of his music:

Martinez's own Hopeful Romantics play at 8 p.m. tonight Upstairs at the First Street Cafe, 440 First Street, Benicia, CA, at 8 p.m. No cover charge and a great Americana band! Samples of their music:

T-Shirt Tuxedo, with our younger grandson, Norris Turnnidge, plays at a 6 to 10 p.m. rock show at Devil's Lounge, next door to Toot's Tavern, 627 2nd Avenue, Crockett, CA. Tickets are $5. Also playing will be Back Door Bang and Only for Tomorrow.
Sample of T-Shirt Tuxedo:
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The Blues Foundation's nominees for the 33rd Blues Music Awards:
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And this very instructive vid on white spirituals and black spirituals:

Today's featured artist, one of the most astounding flatpickers on the planet, David Grier, here talking about playing and playing Beaumont Rag:
Be sure to check out the links down the right side of the page, including the other artists!
Hot band, with David ... Old Dangerfield:
More David Grier, with Luke Munday:
Roy Curry, David Grier, Clay Hess and Justin Carbone at the IBMA guitar workshop 2008 in Nashville:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IjRTMSivgu4
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Not too shabby pickin' here by Ricky Skaggs and Albert Lee:
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Another fine flatpicker, Robert Bowlin:
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And from Betsy Rome on the flatpicking guitar e-mail list:
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Bob Harris, besides being a great
recording engineer, he was Vassar Clements' playing partner for the last
years of Vassar's life. Bob gets great tone, clarity & speed out of a
guitar. Here he is at Grey Fox masters guitar workshop in 2010, "New
Camptown Races" with Josh Williams and Tony Watt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DnSUwsIpXgug
Here he is with Vassar, in Bob's studio. Guitar enters around 1:50:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DKbqcqC8_7n8
Also, in the holiday spirit, here's a video he wrote with his wife, singerLucy Clark, "Jersey Bada Bing Christmas", a hilarious send-up, New Jersey-style:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DNQaf3MVL9Ls
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Here's Bryan Kimsey's vid of a Martin guitar "before" he modifies it ... I'll try to remember to post the follow-up "after" vid when he posts it after completing the work:
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Last but not least, this article by David Thom in Bluegrass Today on fiddler/mandolinist Ed Neff, with a video link:
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Two new live music venues will be opening in Marin County. First, Sweetwater Music Hall:
And, Terrapin Crossroads:
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GONE BUT NOT FORGOT:
Tom Ardolino, NRBQ drummer, 56:

Alex Weissenberg, fire-and-ice pianist, 82:

Ruth Fernandez, Puerto Rico singer and senator, 92:
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That's all for this week, keep on Musicking (and GO NINERS!),
Bob Loomis
In Loving Memory of Shannon Christine Loomis, 1967-2010
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Saturday, January 07, 2012

Tuneweek, 01-07-2012: Temporary Adios to Crooked Still


Learned this week that one of our favorite bands, Crooked Still, is taking the rest of 2012 off to allow members a chance to pursue other interests (and, I imagine, recover from playing together constantly for the past 10 years). Here's hoping they regroup in 2013, and here's one of our favorite songs by them (with links to more down the right side of this page):

Their Web page:
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Happy Birthday (Friday) to Earl Scruggs, generally considered the deviser of Scruggs three-finger banjo playing that helped make bluegrass bluegrass, had his 80th birthday Friday. Herewith a fantastic version of Scruggs on Foggy Mountain Breakdown, a tune he wrote, played here with Steve Martin, Marty Stuart, Jerry Douglas, Vince Gill, and other luminaries:
More Scruggs:
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Shameless Self-Promo: I'll be playing and singing from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. today at Pinole (CA) Farmers Market, Pear and Fernandez streets in Pinole. Drop by and say hi if you're in the neighborhood!
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Gone But Not Forgot:
Fred Milano, original member of Dion and The Belmonts, 72:

Barbara Lea, cabaret singer, 82:
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That's all for this week, keep on musicking!
Bob Loomis
In Loving Memory of Shannon Christine Loomis, 1967-2010


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Saturday, December 31, 2011

Ukulele Bob's 2011/2012 Music Newsletter

2011 was a fulfilling and wonderful year musically for yours truly. Not only have I been playing more than ever, but I am also seeing musical friends’ endeavors pay new dividends for them (and sometimes thus for me), and that’s icing on the cake. In 2011, I:

  1. Started playing farmers markets in central Contra Costa County. These are perfect gigs – low-pressure, good chances to try new approaches without fear and generally during the day. My next two are Tuesday, Jan. 3 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Kaiser Medical Center, Walnut Creek, CA, and Saturday, Jan. 7, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Pinole Farmers Market, Fernandez and Pear, Pinole, CA.
  2. Played more open mics, at Armando’s in Martinez, First Street Café in Benicia, and Panama Red Coffeehouse in Vallejo. Thanks to Debbie Kuhl Wendt, Finding Fable and Kevin Radley for making these happen! My next will be at First Street Cafe, 440 First St., Benicia, CA, at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 7.
  3. Played a lot with Awed Ducks. We continue to practice regularly and during the past year played open mics, the Give A Dam Martinez Beaver Festival, and the Berkeley Old Time Music Convention Band Contest. We’re getting good audience response. We have a 30-minute featured slot at the Panama Red Coffeehouse at the Ferry Terminal in Vallejo at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 29. Thanks to Ducks Jim Brunelle, John Gallagher and Peter Sproul for  this Big Fun! 
  4. Continued to play fairly regularly with my “new” Berkeley music mates Dale Zola and Bill Devore, in BBZ. We love getting together and hope to play our first open mic in 2012. Thanks to Dale and Bill for this new music outlet! 
  5. Played flute and tinwhistle in an irish ballads session with Barry Melton, Kevin Fagan and Jay Johnson at Lefty O’Doul’s in San Francisco, Looks like we’ll do another in January. Thanks, guys, and thanks, Lee Housekeeper! 
 2012 goals: 

  1. Celebrate Bev’s and my 50th wedding anniversary in June. Thanks to her for all her patience with my music pursuits (and other quirks)! 
  2. Get my long-delayed first album of original songs done. 
  3. Publish a short book of collected poems. 
  4. Attend the Wintergrass Festival in Bellevue, WA, in February for what I believe is the 12th out of the past 13 years. 
If you're on Facebook, check my page (Robert Loomis) for news of music activity and for my weekly Tuneweek column. Here are two links to some of the music I've made:
I hope to put up some new material during 2012, so stay tuned! Have a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!


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Sunday, October 30, 2011

October Post: Grampy Update

Missed September due to busyness and laziness, so here's an update on yrs truly:

Played two farmers markets last week, Martinez on Thursday and Pinole on Saturday, had a great time at both. But -- here's the mea culpa -- didn't take along my autoharp, although I had played it quite a bit at my last prior farmers market in Concord. Reason: laziness. The night before the Martinez one I thought about taking it but realized I'd have to tune it ... and was sleepy, so ...

Then it was so easy just playing the guitar and ukulele at the Martinez market that I said the heck with it and just took along the guitar and electric uke again to Pinole. Traveling light, and all that. I wonder if anyone else here suffers from multiple-instrument disorder? If I could play my ideal gig, I'd have EVERYTHING available: Guitar, autoharp, uke, banjos, harmonicas, flutes, Native American flutes, pennywhistles, percussion ... but until I have roadies, it just ain't gonna happen.

I am using only my Crate Taxi portable amp at my gigs now, as it has a mic input and an instrument input and sounds darned good. I'd much rather use my Crate Acoustic 125D amp, but most farmers marts have no power access and it isn't battery-powered. It has two instrument inputs and one input for either vocals or instruments, so with two instruments, I can have everything plugged and ready to go thru one amp. It sounds GREAT! The only problem is that it is way heavy and my old bod' is beginning to object to lifting heavy objects. Would love to have one of those Bose systems, but unless I won the lottery last night, that just ain't happenin'!

I recommend farmers markets to anyone who is ready to play out, and who wants a low-pressure gig. I'm finding these a great way to become comfortable performing and to work on my chops. My guitar solos are (slowly) improving by necessity and I feel free enough at these not to worry about mistakes.

Winter is approaching (or what we Northern Californians call winter) and I have no more farmers marts scheduled unless they call me to fill in for someone. So I'm going to go to work on some other music projects that have been on the back burner for too long. Among them: I hope to post some more vids to YouTune and at least get a good start on my oft-delayed CD. It would be great to have a CD to sell at the farmers marts.

Oh, and gotta break out the yuletunes and get ready for busking and for our annual You'll Yule Sing party.

In the meantime, this week's fun includes rehearsing a couple of flute duets with a friend: Mozart's Ariette and an Allegro by Haydn. At the same party on Saturday where we will play these, I'll read a couple of poems that are part of a book I hope to self-publish by the end of the year, Homage to Schwitters. A friend who is a collagist, Susan Jokelson, is providing collages to go with the poems.

Had a wonderful road trip north a couple weeks back for the Second Annual Great Northwest Ham 'n' Jam 'n' Clam Session at Alan and Bobbi Campbell's in Ashland, OR. Wonderful hosts, two days of great jamming with fantastic musos and Bev got to visit her cousin Maryann in Grants Pass. Bev and I then took two days of R&R at a fine B&B, Turtle Rocks Inn in Trinidad, CA. Much needed and beautiful with the famous CA clear and crisp autumn coastal weather. 

OK, enough. A great month to all!



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Monday, August 22, 2011

Music-Go-Round

Last night was culmination of four days and nights of music fun the likes of which I hadn't had since going to the California Worldfest a couple of years back:

Thursday: Went to Winters with old pal Kevin Fagan for his recording session at a studio run by Sam and Lori Hawk (who have their own fine group, Finding Fable). It was my first up-close and personal look at what can be done with a click track and a digital studio. Quite amazing! They had Kevin record his song for the evening 10 times, picked out the best track and dropped in fixes from the other tracks as needed, e.g., a consonant that was poorly enunciated, etc. I laid down several diatonic harmonica tracks that Sam is working into a single, harmonic track for the solo break. Awesome, but it revealed how little I've been playing diatonic harmonica the past couple of years. However, simply apply digital patch techniques and you'd never know how many fluffs there were!

Friday: My first practice with Barry Melton and the Fishwraps, a Celtic-American quartet (for lack of a better term). We're playing Celtic tunes, including Rosin The Beau, Leaving of Liverpool, Jug of Punch, Dicey Riley, etc. Best of all, it's a rare chance for me to play flute, whistle and tremolo harmonica, something I do almost none of in my other music groups. Best of all Barry (of Country Joe & The Fish in the '60s-'70s) complimented my playing! Nice to be praised by a pro! Others in the group include Kevin Fagan and Jay Johnson, they of the sweet Irish tenor voices (Kevin also plays guitar). Barry M. also sings and plays guitar. So far my voice is not a factor, which is kind of a relief after all the other singing I do. Nice to just be a sideman!

Saturday day: First, an old friend's annual Tiki Joes party in Petaluma. This gathers together the families and an extended family of folks that first began hanging out together in the '60s. The hostess is a second-generation member of one of those families, and altogether there were four generations of that now large original contingent present at the party. Among these are a large number of pro and semi-pro musicians, so several groups played, including Patchwork, the Detroit Disciples and my own Awed Ducks. Or at least three of the four Ducks. All played well and it is always a highlight of each year to catch up on what's going on in the lives of old friends. And the food!!! BBQ, vegan, you name it. There are always new first-timers attending and it's fun to see them a bit stunned by the caring, loving atmosphere and all the great music. One highlight: 4th Generation Baby Ernie Renne, age 3.5, in his Mom Tara Renner's arms singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with huge unabashed enjoyment. The talent carries on!

Saturday, late evening: Awed Ducks (three of us) played a three-song set at an open mic at First Street Cafe's Upstairs in Benicia, CA. This is consistently the best open mic I've been to. Each act gets 15 minutes and there is a drawing for a 30-minute featured slot at the next session. We were the closers this week and were really well received, even without our Dobro/banjo player. The audience sang along on the chorus to Rubber Dolly and on the "That's right!" responses in Women Are Smarter. And they dimmed the house lights and raised candles and sang along with the choruses when our harmonica player, Peter Sproul, sang I Shall Be Released. I was on guitar and vocals and Jim Brunelle was on bass guitar and vocals. Great fun and so wonderful to be well received!

Sunday: Got to just listen and enjoy as I took my wife Beverly to the first installment of her upcoming birthday gifts, a show by the Be Good Tanyas at The Independent in San Francisco. She was a bit weary after our activity Saturday and did some grumbling about me "forcing" her to go out again, but I knew she would enjoy it once she was there. The Tanyas are one of her favorites, a great Americana/New Old-Timey group from Vancouver, B.C., and hardly ever play in the Bay Area (this may change with the crowds they drew Saturday and Sunday nights at the club), so I jumped at the chance to get Sunday night tickets despite the busyness of the preceding days. We arrived early enough to get seats (a rare commodity at this open dance floor-style club) after a great supper at Herbivore, a nearby vegan restaurant. The show was fantastic, I'm pretty sure we were the oldest folks there, and afterwards, Bev thanked me for getting her out to see the show. Here are some samples of the Be Good Tanyas for those interested:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=be+good+tanyas&aq=3&oq=be+good+

Happy Webtrails, Bob Loomis



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Sunday, August 07, 2011

July Post (Late Again)

Nothing to report here for July in the way of creativity, been very busy with music pursuits and other pursuits.
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Thursday, July 07, 2011

June Post: Bottoms Up!

Been Italy traveling for three weeks, so a bit late again this month. Sorting old files on my laptop I found this, and since we're busy catching up on home chores, it'll do:


We’re going
to get
To the bottom
of this!


We’re going
to get
To the bottom
of this!


We’re going
to get
To the bottom
of this!

Bob Loomis
© 2004
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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

May Post: The crows are alarmed

The crows are alarmed at our cat Stumpy. She sits on the picnic table blinking as if to say “Who are these large, black birds that are so disagreeable? Why are they picking on us? We would never attack birds that large.” Stumpy is the smallest, most aggressive cat of our five. The others stay out of sight. “It’s karma for your depredations,” I say, referring to her role as the Goddess of Doom to lizards. She looks away, pretending not to understand.

hey crows,
why all that May Day over
one small cat?
Shut up
so I can practice flute!


(c) Bob Loomis (with thanks to Linda Papanicolaou for help editing)
05-31-2011
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Sunday, May 01, 2011

April's Post: These paintings by dead poets

Again not much in the way of new writing this past month, so I'll post one of the poems from a work entitled Homage to Schwitters, an example of word collage writing. I and collagist Susan Jokelson are putting together a book of these, with one collage paired with each poem. Hope you enjoy this Beat-flavored work:

These paintings by dead poets of resurrected love … graceful lonely versifiers searching for antique hay in fields of unknown soldiers … bottled-up mourners laughing mightily at jokes on us … urge vote for blind politicians leading blind puppets … fill days with heartfelt gestures calling for independence for all suburban pets … cite unmistakable upsurges in efforts to attack imaginary states … say it’s all in many ways a measure of broad bandwidth sounded on tarnished trumpets applauded by amateur strumpets … we keep marching … hope for one honest sacrificial lamb chop … pound out rhythm on Native American drums … bury meat hooks in pectoral flesh … fly outward round Maypole … hope resultant warriors equal to eternal task … pray god help us please at least look good … so we can strut like cocksure dandies … so we can end loneliness with dances of redemption …

© Bob Loomis
01-06-10 / 01-23-10
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