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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 3, 2003)
BY BRETT CAMPBELL he Miyuki Delica & New Toho Japanese Seed e you at t & Bugle Beads Se h Boot #22 Fair! 25% Off Band of Brothers SOMETHING SPECIAL EVERY NITE JUST OFF W. 11TH BETWEEN COUGOR AND OAK PATCH LIVE at Lone Star Friday, July 18 at 9pm ULTIMATE MALES with Mr. Nude USA & Mr. Nude World as seen in Playgirl Magazine Tix on sale at Lone Star Bar & Grill I-5 Coburg Exit • 686-8686 For a Sneak Preview see ultentertain@yahoo.com 24 JULY 3, 2003 Nevilles lead parade of world fusion music to Eugene. W ith Country Fair, Art and the Vineyard, and the Bach Festival all erupting, don’t overlook some strong club shows coming up this month, sev- eral of them playing intriguing blends and fusions of world music. Just as New Orleans is a crossroads for many strains of music — Caribbean, African, blues, R&B, soul, jazz, country, Cajun — its most notable musical family, the Neville Brothers, is an amalgam of many influences: Art was lending his keyboards and vocals to R&B hits from the late 1950s on, and as the leader of the Meters, pumped out danceable funk for decades beginning in the 1960s. Aaron has been a soul crooner extraordinaire for four decades — his “Tell it Like it Is” topped the charts in 1967, and he did it again a few years ago in duets with Linda Ronstadt. Charles brought a jazz flavor with his sultry sax, then later introduced Native American influences and added a dose of reggae as well as percus- sion and gritty vocals to offset Aaron’s angelic voice. at the McDonald Theatre on July 8 may be more than just another gig for the brothers. W hen Cosmos Magaya was eight years old, he decided he wanted to play the mbira, that zingy instru- ment with metal keys suspended over a gourd and played with the thumbs to make an unfor- gettably zingy sound. One of his relatives in Zimbabwe, whose Shona people have raised the intricate art of mbira ensemble to one of the world’s most compelling musical traditions, was a master of the instrument, but didn’t want a little brat messing with his precious instru- ment. So Magaya watched him closely when he played. Every day when he went out to work the fields, Magaya would sneak in and spend hours teaching himself to play. For the past generation, as touring per- former and scholar, Magaya has spread mbira music around the world, teaching at Stanford and Duke Universities (among others), and helping establish a strong base of performers in the Pacific Northwest — including Eugene. On July 17, Magaya joins Eugene’s ... their live shows are always Thursday, Vakarsara Mbira Ensemble at Luna. worth the ticket, drawing Featuring singing, the spidery webs of an audience as eclectic as zingy mbira sound, and hosho (shaker), this show’s a must for world music fans. the Brothers’ influences: Another West Coast band that draws tie-dyed Deadheads to soul on African roots, the Bay Area-based Hamsa Lila, brings trance grooves to the worshipers to reggae and Wild Duck on Wednesday, July 16. Yes, alternative fans ... it’s white hippies playing African-influ- enced sounds — perfect for Eugene — but this After performing in their separate genres colorfully garbed band of singers, dancers, and for years, the brothers united in 1976 for the multi-instrumentalists (sintir, guitars, percus- classic Wild Tchoupitoulas album, then merged sion, guimbri, lap steel, saz, djembe, talking their flavors into the Neville’s musical melting drum, kalimba, flutes, clarinet, saxophone, pot, producing a richly danceable, soulful rhaita, lira, synth, quarqab, African harp, kora blend. Soon they were opening for the Rolling and samples) puts on a musically appealing and Stones, topping critics’lists, and building a rep- visually exciting show. utation as America’s greatest cult band. Pop And on July 10, the Duck brings the success followed in the 1990s, and even though jazz/funk B-3 organ and drums duo some recent recordings have lacked the fire of Benevento/Russo Duo to town, with the their finest work, their live shows are always electric piano, bass, and guitar trio Jacob Fred worth the ticket, drawing an audience as eclec- Jazz Odyssey (which also has a jam band fol- tic as the Brothers’ influences: tie-dyed lowing) opening. Deadheads to soul worshipers to reggae and Yet another group that’s been blending jam- alternative fans, all of them grooving to the band grooves with world music influences is Brothers’ irresistibly funky beat. the Boulder-based Motet, hitting the WOW At the WOMAD festival a couple summers Hall Monday, July 14. Blending Latin jazz, ago, a tie-dye-shirted Charles told me he and funk grooves, West African, Brazilian and the band have a special affection for Eugene Cuban drum rhythms and blaring sax, the (Q: “What do you like about Eugene?” A: “The group features players who’ve studied Afro- hippies!”), since he lived here during a period Cuban rhythms at the source, in Havana. ew of rehabilitation some years ago, so their show
