You Can Do Magic

Man, so here's the thing; I love live music. I don't just mean that I really like going to see bands at a club or concert venue. I mean that I am literally in love with the rush that comes with experiencing a live music performance. Sure, there are things I love more, like my kids and my wife, but ever since Joan Jett blew my 12-year-old mind at my first concert, I've been chasing that rush in much the same way a drug addict tries to surpass that first high. Fortunately, unlike chasing the dragon, it is possible to surpass your first concert experience, even one as awesome as mine. That's the great thing about live music. To borrow from the wit and wisdom of the literary and cinematic character Forrest Gump, live music is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get.
This past weekend I witnessed a show that absolutely blew me away. Going into it, I knew the show was going to be quality for a couple of reasons. First, the folks at Awendaw Green were organizing it. For those of you still not familiar with the local music juggernaut that is Awendaw Green, I implore you to head up to the SeWee Outpost in Awendaw on Highway 17 North one Wednesday night and see what those folks have going on. Either that, or catch one of the shows they put on at the Circular Congregational Church downtown on Meeting Street. That's where the action was this past Saturday night. The second reason I was excited for this show was because the local band Slow Runner was headlining. I could go into the multiple reasons I dig Slow Runner, but what it basically boils down to is that the band, led by musical geniuses Michael Flynn and Josh Kaler, just doesn't sound like anything else out there. Is it a rock band with synthesizers? An electronica act with heavy leanings toward non-electronic instruments? A band that seems to play nothing but cool, dreamy songs that sound like they belong in a movie based on a video game inspired by some avant garde novel? Yeah, actually Slow Runner is all that and more. I've been going to see Slow Runner since they were playing at the now defunct Cumberlands. The music made by Flynn and Kaler always sounds fresh and inspired, with a sort of otherworldly feel to most of the songs.
To be honest, I'm not going to do a typical concert review here, because even with my above-average descriptive skills I couldn't hope to properly recount the experience that I and about 250 or 300 other lucky souls experienced this past weekend. I will give you the basics though. First, the incredibly gifted Rachel Kate Gillon opened with an acoustic set of her original material that raised goosebumps on top of goosebumps. Standing in front of the stage, just feet away from the front row of church pews, with an acoustic guitar and no microphone, Gillon used the unique acoustics of the Circular Congregational Church to her advantage, looking up toward the choir loft as she projected her mesmerizingly powerful voice toward whatever higher power was ready to receive it. Gillon was accompanied by cellist Diego Villena, and the pair played a short set of haunting yet lovely music that hovered around the area of country and folk without ever quite committing to either. I say that in a positive way, because if it were possible to capture the essence of Slow Runner in an acoustic act, Gillon's set Saturday night was as close as it was possible to get to that idea. As an encore Gillon borrowed a tambourine from Slow Runner's setup and, after apparently running through the song in her head for a moment, let loose with a spiritual that sent a collective shiver through the audience.

When Slow Runner took to the stage a short while later, it was obvious the crowd was expecting a deeply emotional experience. They didn't count on the band getting sucked into the feel good vibe as well, but late in the set, Flynn advised the crowd that, although they hadn't taken an official poll, this just might have been the band's favorite performance ever. In addition to the wonderful music bouncing off the church's domed ceiling, the folks at Awendaw Green had brought in a professional light rig, a fog machine, and lasers that drew geometric patterns on the walls and ceiling. It wasn't quite a Pink Floyd laser show from the 70's, but when the band kicked into one of their more danceable numbers, like "Make You Love Me" or "Happy Ending," the disco lights kicked in and the crowd could be seen grooving. Slow Runner bassist Jonathan Gray, who never misses an opportunity to dance around his upright bass, was obviously having a great time up on the stage, feeding off the audience's energy.
Carrie Ann Hearst stepped onstage late in the set to sing "XXX," a song that she'd recently recorded with the band. It was very cool to hear another voice, especially one as distinct and lovely as Hearst's, mixing with Flynn's gentle vocals. By the end of the show the goodwill was such that the band, which also included vibraphone player Ron Wiltrout, drummer Jack Burg, and trumpet player Clay White, was coaxed back out to play a couple more songs. Flynn took advantage of the venue's grand piano for a few songs, before returning to his electronic setup on the stage. Standout moments came during songs such as "Love and Doubt," "Somebody to Smother," and "Mermaids." The performance of "The Stakes Were Raised," easily my favorite Slow Runner song, was sublime.

In much the same way that the recent holiday performance by the Charleston Jazz Orchestra satisfied my constant craving for great live music, so did this amazing show. I truly feel for you if you weren't there to experience it. The good news is that Slow Runner performs in Charleston once or twice a year, so if you did miss this show, you'll definitely get another chance next year. In the meantime, here's to live music, and especially here's to the musicians that strive to make their live performances anything but routine.

It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing

I should probably preface this entry by letting you know that I've known Charlton Singleton for a long time. We attended Wando High School together back in the 80's and even sat at a classroom table together in Mrs. Weiss's algebra class. Even back then Charlton was all about music. He was a fine student, and eventually became drum major for the Wando marching band his senior year, and then attended Berklee College of Music and South Carolina State University. In the last couple of decades Singleton has performed in local bands such as Plane Jane and Skwzbxx, has served as an adjunct professor in the music department at the College of Charleston, and had his hand in more musical projects than most folks realize. For the past few years though, Singleton's passion has been the Charleston Jazz Orchestra. I was fortunate enough to see one of the first performances by the outfit, which then was called the Charlton Singleton Orchestra, back in March of 2008. During that performance there were only about 400 people in the Charleston Music Hall downtown, enough to seat everyone comfortably downstairs in the orchestra section. The performance was one of the better things I've seen staged in Charleston in my nearly three decades of concert going.
That first year the CJO started selling season passes, and 32 people took them up on the offer. This year that number had risen to over four hundred season pass holders, and at last Wednesday's "Holiday Swing" performance at the Charleston Music Hall, there wasn't an empty seat in the house from what I could see. That's pretty impressive for a non-profit organization looking to spread the joy of jazz to the masses. As the lights went down and the tuxedoed musicians took their places on the stage, Leah Maria Suarez, the Executive Director of Jazz Artists of Charleston stepped up to the podium to give a short talk on the CJO and what it had accomplished during its short life so far. Suarez also gave a shout out to the late Jack McCray, who had provided much of the inspiration that led to the formation of the CJO. McCray got to see the organization become successful prior to passing away late last year, and as a tribute to his passion for jazz and his dedication for getting the CJO going, McCray's hat sits in a place of honor on the podium at every performance.
Much of the first half of the show was devoted to a swinging version of Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker." The re-workings of the classical piece were originally done by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, and the CJO pulled it off beautifully. Each musician among the 18-piece orchestra got their time in the spotlight over the course of the evening. With five people on reed instruments, four trumpet players (not counting Singleton), four trombonists, a bassist, a guitarist, a drummer, and a pianist, there was plenty to take in on the stage. Some of the evening's highlights included a great jazz version of "If I Only Had a Brain" from The Wizard of Oz that featured a four part harmony with Singleton, Suarez, saxophonist John Phillips, and trombonist Steve Spaulding, as well as a cool take on Beethoven's 5th Symphony, titled "A Beat Farmer's Fifth." Several times during the show Singleton attempted to get the capacity crowd to get up and dance, repeating three times like a mantra, "If you feel so inclined." By the time the CJO got to a cover of Sam & Dave's "Soul Man," I could see at least one couple dancing from where I was sitting in the balcony. Between songs Singleton told a story about his four year old nephew gravitating toward music, and said he had asked the kid if he'd like to learn to play trumpet like his uncle Charlton. The child's reply, "No, everyone knows that guitars are the best!"
Other standout performances included re-workings of "Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof, "Toreador Song" from Bizet's opera Carmen, and a ridiculously great cover of Junior Walker's "Shotgun," with Singleton singing lead vocals. I told you at the beginning that I've know Singleton for a long time, but I'd never actually heard the guy sing before. He tore that classic R&B number up, and was obviously delighted to see folks dancing in the front row and aisles of the venue. Singleton even hopped off the stage and joined his family for a few minutes during the song's solo. After returning to the stage and finishing that tune, Singleton once again thanked everyone for coming and closed out the evening with a swinging version of The Charleston, which once again had folks out of their seats down front dancing various versions of the song that popularized the Holy City almost a century ago.
If you still haven't had a chance to see the CJO live, you really need to do so. The 2013 schedule has been announced, and includes some tasty looking selections, including tributes to John Coltrane, Bebop, Porgy & Bess, and the ever popular Latin Night. For more information about anything having to do with the CJO, go to thejac.org. I guarantee that you simply can't not have a great time at a CJO show. Charleston should consider itself lucky to have such a musical jewel right in its backyard. It should consider itself even luckier to have a musical force of nature like Charlton Singleton heading up this amazing group of musicians.  

Photos courtesy of the Charleston Jazz Orchestra. Photographer: Alice Keeney

Green Thoughts

More than a decade ago I remember standing in line at the Palmetto Grande movie theater in Mt. Pleasant, waiting to buy popcorn before going to see whatever movie I was reviewing that week. As I waited my turn, I perused the posters for the coming attractions hanging in the lobby. One marquee featured a big green "S" that seemed to be sprouting antennae. I later learned that the poster was for an upcoming Dreamworks animated feature called "Shrek," which was about the adventures of an ogre in a world populated by the characters from all of the well-known fairy tales. At the time I was skeptical that the movie would do any business. Obviously I was wrong. "Shrek" went on to become one of the biggest grossing films of 2001, and has since spawned three sequels. With success like that, it was only a matter of time before the powers that be at Dreamworks figured out addition ways to make money off the hot property. "Shrek: The Musical" opened on Broadway in 2008 and closed a little over a year later. It now has a successful touring company, which performed Friday night at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center. I decided to take my six year old son to see the show, since he's a big fan of the movie, and has watched the DVD dozens of times. It was his first experience seeing a Broadway musical. My first experience had been seeing the original run of Annie on Broadway back when I was in 3rd grade in the 70's, so I figured he'd get a kick out of the show, especially since he was familiar with the source material. I was personally a bit skeptical about the live stage musical standing up to the animated feature, but curiosity got the best of me.
I'm sure that the huge success of Broadway musicals based on Disney animated features such as "Beauty and The Beast" and "The Lion King" had a lot to do with bringing "Shrek" to the stage. As a matter of fact, there is a brief dig at "The Lion King" during a scene late in the first act when Shrek and Donkey are on their way to rescue Princess Fiona. If you blink you'll miss it, but it gets a pretty big laugh. The plot of the film, which if you're not familiar with I'm not going to recount here, is left largely intact for the stage version. There are two major things that set the stage production apart from the animated version. First, most obviously, is the fact that live actors are playing roles that previously were seen only as computer-generated images. There are some very clever ways that the production goes about replicating the look of the cartoon, including facial prosthetics for Perry Sook, the actor who plays Shrek," to a hilariously weird yet really well executed set of fake legs that allow actor Christian Marriner play the diminutive villain Lord Farquaad. Marriner spends the majority of his time on the stage on his knees, and Farquaad's short legs are fake ones covering his legs above the knee while his lower legs are tucked behind him, strategically covered by a cape. It's easy to see Marriner's real legs at time, and yet the illusion is pretty effective, in a funny sort of way. There is one particularly funny scene where Farquaad goes to kneel, and you realize that since Marriner is already kneeling that making the fake legs appear to do so is going to take some work. Even more impressive is the massive puppet that allows the giant purple dragon from the movie come to life. Three puppeteers are required to work the dragon, which takes up a large part of the stage, and the way they make the monstrosity appear to fly effortlessly over the other actors is amazing.
The other major difference between the animated feature and the stage show is that there is much more music involved in the live production. Overall, the songs in "Shrek: The Musical" are hit or miss, but they do manage to propel the story along. Among the better numbers are "Morning Person" and "Freak Flag," although my son will tell you that his favorite was "I Think I Got You Beat," which finds Shrek and Princess Fiona (played charmingly by Whitney Winfield) engaging in a battle of bodily functions. I mean, come on; what six year old wouldn't love a burping and farting contest between a princess and and ogre? A couple of tunes from the movie are retained in the stage production, including "Welcome to Duloc" and the finale cover of Neil Diamond's "I'm a Believer," but the rest of the music was written especially for the Broadway show.
What ultimately makes "Shrek: The Musical" work is the same thing that made the movie version work, which is the way the story's core comes from the heart. The story's basic messages, that true love conquers all and that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, cut through all of the silliness, not that there's anything wrong with being silly here. Among the actors, only Sook failed to impress me. I'm not sure if it was his heavy makeup and prosthetics, or the fact that he was trying a bit too hard to channel the Scottish accent of Mike Myers, who voiced Shrek in the movie version. Whatever the case, I couldn't understand what Shrek was saying half the time. It wasn't an audio issue, because everyone else was crystal clear. Sook obviously has a strong voice both when speaking and singing, but I'm guessing the audience missed a few good lines because of the heavy accent. Jeremy Gaston was great as Donkey, Shrek's faithful and talkative sidekick. Gaston gets bonus points for not simply copying Eddie Murphy's performance from the film, which would have been so easy to do. Winfield adds just the right amount of irreverent humor to the character of Princess Fiona, while Tony Johnson gets a few great lines in as Pinocchio. It is Marriner though who totally steals every scene he's in. Much like John Lithgow, who voice Farquaad in the movie, Marriner has a great sense of comic timing, and seems to love hamming it up.
The show also threw in a few local references, including mentioning The Holy City and former College  of Charleston basketball coach John Kresse. There were also a few pop culture and current event references, such as mentions of General Petraeus and the song "Call Me Maybe."
Overall, "Shrek: The Musical" worked a lot better than I was expecting. It likely won't become one of those beloved Broadway classics such as "West Side Story" or "Le Miserables" (both of which will be staged this season as part of the North Charleston Performing Arts Center's Best of Broadway), but aside from a few jokes about bodily functions this stage production is very family friendly and creatively executed. Oh, and my son wants you to know that his favorite part was when Princess Fiona sang in such a high note that a bird exploded. It's a quick visual gag in the original movie, and the stage show finds a creative way to recreate it.
Shrek: The Musical has one more performance locally on Saturday at 2pm at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center.

       

You Can Go With This, Or You Can Go With That

I love it when I head out to a local club to see a band I like, and in the process I discover another act just as exciting. It happened this past Saturday night at The Pour House on James Island. I went to see local band The Royal Tinfoil, whose CD I've been listening to a lot lately. I became aware of both the band and its CD thanks to the Early Bird Diner in West Ashley, one of my favorite restaurants in town. The family was there one night this summer for dinner, and I spied The Royal Tinfoil's CD for sale on a shelf across from our table. I picked up a copy, and listened to it on the way home. It's pretty much been in my car's CD changer ever since. The band is hard to pigeonhole, but if you take a little country,  some rock, a healthy dose of blues, and toss some pinches of tin pan alley, folk, and gypsy swing into the blender, then you might begin to understand the band's sound...or maybe I've just confused you even more. Whatever the case, two of the best things about The Royal Tinfoil are the voices of its singers, Mackie Boles and Lily Slay. They couldn't be farther apart in sound, but they work so well together. Boles has a great, scraggly, whiskey-soaked voice that reminds me of Dr. John. His bluesy, slurred delivery sounds great in the songs he sings lead on, especially when he's also furiously strumming his electric guitar. Slays voice? Well, let's just say it fills the room. It's sweetly delicate while it's power smacks you in the face. She can go from a growl to a trill mid-lyric, and when she sings "Excuuuuse Meeee" on "Die Already," the opening track of the band's CD, I get goosebumps.
The Royal Tinfoil's appearance at The Pour House on Saturday night was billed as their last local show of the year, and the venue was comfortably full of fans. The band played quite a few songs from the CD, as well as a couple of new tunes. Another great local singer, Rachel Kate Gillon, fresh from her own performance at the Jailbreak 4 event downtown, came out to harmonize on a few tunes with Slay. It was a loose, fun, alcohol-fueled show that exemplifies why I love live music in this town as much as I do.

As a bonus, I arrived early enough to witness a band that can count me as its newest fan. The Whiskey Gentry hails from Atlanta, and while its sound could best be described as alt-country, the band threw a few surprises into its set Saturday night. Lead singer Lauren Staley has just the right amount of twang to make every word she sings sound authentic, while guitarist Jason Morrow, mandolin player Michael Smith, and the rest of the band provide a wall of country, bluegrass, and rock as needed. During Satrday night's show the band played plenty of great originals, as well as covers by The Rolling Stones, Ryan Adams, and Radiohead. The Radiohead song, "Creep," worked surprisingly well when set to a bluegrass tempo.

It would have been good enough to have seen either of these bands by themselves on a given night, but the anticipation of seeing a band I've become a fan of over the last few months, coupled with the delight of discovering a new act that I wasn't aware of before, made for a truly satisfying night out.