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BY BRETT CAMPBELL
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off River Rd)
T as t y Th a i K it c h en
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461-2737
Stella Chiweshe (left) performs at
WOW Hall on Friday, Aug. 15.
Robert Earl Keen (below) is at
WOW Hall on Saturday Aug. 9.
80 E. 29th & Willamette
302-6444
World-Wide WOW
Zimbabwean mbira mistress leads
world music parade in August.
F
WILCO
SEPTEMBER/03/2003
WITH
THE AMPHITHEATER AT CLARK COUNTY
I-5 & NE 179TH STREET • JUST NORTH OF PORTLAND
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT ALL TICKETMASTER OUTLETS
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Produced by United Concerts. Inc. www.clarkcountyamp.com
26 AUGUST 7, 2003
or music of the world, the WOW
Hall is the place to be in August. On
Friday, Aug. 15, the pioneering
mbira player Stella Chiweshe from
Zimbabwe brings her trio to town, joined by
our local African music masters Kudana.
Mbira is one of those instruments you really
have to hear to appreciate; neither the usual
shorthand, “thumb piano,” nor the descrip-
tion (iron keys fixed to a calabash and played
inside a gourd) give any indication
of how wonderfully liquid a
sound the thumb-plucked in-
strument can produce, nor
how dazzling its intricate in-
terlocking melodies can be.
The Shona people, for
whom mbira forms an impor-
tant part of spirituality, call the
instrument “the spirit that makes
the rain,” which we Oregonians can re-
late to — and even crave this time of year. “It
is like tuned raindrops,” Chiweshe has said.
She’s pushed for decades for women’s right
to play this hypnotic traditional music in pub-
lic, and is still the only woman in her home-
land of Zimbabwe to lead her own band, usu-
ally combining the mbira with marimba,
hosho (rattle) and vocals, but sometimes
adding electric bass and other instruments.
Known for her striking stage presence (in-
cluding falling into trances), Chiweshe is
credited with popularizing the mbira-
marimba ensemble and combining traditional
sounds with modern influences (sometimes
receiving the same criticism Sam Cooke and
Ray Charles did when they combined sacred
and secular sounds). She has spread the spirit
of mbira all over the world, so this could be
one of the year’s top world music shows.
On Thursday, Aug. 7, Hawaiian slack-
key guitar masters George Kuo, Martin
Pahinui, and the Aaron Mahi Group bring
those languid, entrancing sounds to town.
Pahinui, a gifted singer as well, is from the
first family of slack key and has played with
most of the best known groups, while Mahi
brings classical training to the mix. If you’ve
never heard this delicious, relaxing yet rich
musical style, a hybrid of Pacific Island and
Portuguese sounds, give this show a try. If
you have, you’ll probably be there anyway.
For faster-paced world guitar wizardry,
the WOW offers the Brazilian guitar pair
Duofel on Sunday, Aug. 17. Fans of rhythmi-
cally vital guitar (from Gipsy Kings to
Ottmar Liebert) should appreciate their intri-
cate interplay. More world music hits the
WOW Wednesday, Aug. 20 when the WOW
brings the traditional Latvian sounds of Ilgi.
T
hey say Texas is like a whole other
country (and, as a Texpatriate my-
self, I can agree), so maybe the
WOW Hall’s Saturday, Aug. 9 show
also qualifies as world music.
Robert Earl Keen first gained
renown as Lyle Lovett’s college
roommate and songwriting
partner, then attracted attention
from even the frat boy crowd
with his wild and often hilarious
ballads of drunken or violent ex-
cess. Since then, Keen has blos-
somed into a country-folk storyteller of the
first order who puts on a compelling live
show featuring one of Austin’s best guitarists,
Rich Brotherton. If you like songs that tell
stories, brayed with rare wit, humor, and
character insight in the tradition of Lovett and
other Lone Star greats, give Keen a try — es-
pecially since he’ll be joined for this show by
Austinite-turned-Seattlite Danny Barnes,
whose punk/bluegrass banjo is alone worth
the ticket.
Another Austin-based artist, Matt the
Electrician, is a big fan of Barnes and
should appeal to the same fans. He’s opening
for the acoustic jazz/folk ensemble Asylum
Street Spankers on Aug. 14. Their high spir-
ited shows run the gamut from 1920s jazz to
blues to rap to swing and much in between.
I
f all those guitarists and John Pizzarelli
aren’t enough for you this month, on
Friday, Aug. 8, former Eugene resident
David Acker plays a solo show at Luna. The
inventive New York guitarist has played with
musicians such as Jack McDuff, Nat Adderly,
Eartha Kitt, and a passel of well known R&B
groups like the Drifters, and recorded with
the likes of Patti Austin and Digable Planets.
Finally, Luna hosts up-and-coming New
York jazz pianist Deanna Witkowski on
Thursday, Aug. 14. She’s a composer as well,
writing jazz masses and other sacred music,
sometimes incorporating Brazilian and Latin
rhythms.
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