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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (June 5, 2003)
EVERY THURSDAY NITE IS MOJO’S Open Mic T A L E N T C O N T E S T $50 Prize will be awarded every Thursday nite for the winning act! BY BRETT CAMPBELL Mose Allison plays the Shedd on Friday. hosted by Jon Michaels from KKNU • Singers can bring karaoke discs for back-up • Comedians • Guitarists • Musicians • Any Performers Welcome SIGN UP - 8PM • FIRST ACT - 8:30PM I-5 Coburg Exit ★ 686-8686 www.TheVLT.com The Very Little Theatre presents One Shoe Off A play by Tina Howe Suzanne Shapiro, director May 30-June 1*, June 5-8*, 12-14 Southern Sounds * Sunday Matinees TICKETS $12 (Students $9 on Thursdays) Box office open 2-5:30 Wed.- Sat., 2350 Hilyard St. 344-7751 A host of hot tunes around town. Voted 2nd favorite Eugene Station by EW Readers Fri June 6 Turkish Aksent 6 - 8 pm with Mahmut Genceli & Sally Cowan (many vegan options) (no onions or garlic) (Halva, Sweet Rice) (+ other ingredients) inside Friendly St Market 40 JUNE 5, 2003 I love this time of year. Not just because of all the beauty bustin’ out all over, but also because so many musicians from the wellsprings of American music, the South, start migrating this way, refugees from the heat and humidity of their native climes. Mississippi native Mose Allison (who now now lives on Long Island) brings the coolest voice in the Western hemisphere to the Shedd on Friday, June 6. First Allison picked cotton on the family farm, then went to college, then joined the Army. He got his start as a pianist on the jazz label Prestige in the 1950s, recording the classic album Back Country Suite. That album so enchanted Pete Townshend (who, judging by that voice and accent, thought Allison must be black) that the Who included his “Young Man Blues” in their live sets. Allison moved on to Atlantic, Columbia and other labels, including Blue Note. Over a 40-year span he recorded a steady stream of blues/jazz/pop whose cleverness (“Middle Class White Boy,” “Your Mind’s on Vacation but Your Mouth is Working Overtime”) matched his voice’s understated, incompara- ble cool. The 75-year-old Allison remains a scintil- lating pianist, a wryly funny songwriter, and a laid-back singer. Any fan of the blues, jazz, or piano should see this true legend of American music. Daniel Lanois is actually a native of Quebec, but following his Acadian/Cajun an- cestors, moved south to New Orleans. There, he built a recording studio and earned a repu- tation as the preeminent rock producer of his generation, imbuing such albums as U2’s The Joshua Tree, Peter Gabriel’s So, the Neville Brothers’ Yellow Moon, and Bob Dylan’s Time Out of Mind with a compelling, moody atmosphere learned from working with Brian Eno on ambient classics like Apollo. That captivating darkness suffuses his own haunting solo albums, including his best so far, the new Shine, which features guest appearances by buddies like Bono and Emmylou Harris. His superb drummer, Brian Blade, will open Lanois’ concert at the Wild Duck on Tuesday, June 10. And look for his Neville collaborators here soon. Another Canadian visitor, Harry Manx, hits Luna June 7. His combination of the blues and the sounds of Indian ragas on the 20-string mohan veena somehow creates a confluence between the Mississippi Delta and the Ganges, yet it’s still bluesy enough to have won him blues awards. And speaking of moody, on Saturday June 14, the queen of dark (not to say despondent) ballads, Lisa Germano, comes to the WOW Hall with our own tasty tangonauts, Mood Area 52, opening. Germano used to play violin with John Mellencamp, but the hushed intensity of her whispery, haunting solo work channels more of the dark side of Marianne Faithfull or Rickie Lee Jones. The WOW hosts a sunnier show on Wednesday, June 11 when the fla- menco masters Sonidos Gitanos bring gypsy dance and music from Spain to Eugene. Guitars, singers, percussion, and dancing feet — both solo and group — create a stirring visual and aural experience. Some innovative improvisational music hits town on Friday, June 13, but you’ll have to choose between avant/punk jazz quintet Canoofle (drum set, electric bass, clarinet, accordion, percussion and electric piano) at Sam Bond’s, and Tim McLaughlin’s Eleven Eyes (turntables, saxophone, trumpet, gui- tar, bass and drums) blistering funk/techno/jazz fusion. Tough choice — both are well worth hearing live, both for jazz and rock fans. Bond’s also features the Billies saxo- phone quartet on the 11th, while on the 12th, Luna has one of the great jazz bassists, David Friesen, with two superior gui- tarists, Dan Balmer and Jerry Hahn, in one of the Northwest’s finest jazz aggrega- tions. ew
