Yesterday my pal Jami and I took a two-hours-and-change drive to Allentown, Pa., the home of the Great Allentown Fair (now in its 157th year). The reason: The evening’s grandstand entertainment was headlined by Kelly Clarkson, who was bookended by the Earth, Wind & Fire/Chicago double bill and Tim McGraw on the fair’s roster of entertainment, and who was there to show a slice of northeastern America just what being an American Idol means in this time of fragmented pop landscapes and Taylor Hicks victories. More »
Above, The Rotary Connection’s stellar version of Jimi Hendrix’s warped “Burning of the Midnight Lamp”, which you may recognize as being sampled in Jay-Z’s “Hova Song.” The Rotary Connection, led by a very young Minnie Riperton, take what’s arguably one of Hendrix’s lesser singles and crank up the majestic. They pile on the strings and vocals, particularly Minnie’s voice–which is striking in any octave, though she spends most of the song hanging out with Yma Sumac in the stratosphere.
Above, The Rotary Connection’s stellar version of Jimi Hendrix’s warped “Burning of the Midnight Lamp”, which you may recognize as being sampled in Jay-Z’s “Hova Song.” The Rotary Connection, led by a very young Minnie Riperton, take what’s arguably one of Hendrix’s lesser singles and crank up the majestic. They pile on the strings and vocals, particularly Minnie’s voice–which is striking in any octave, though she spends most of the song hanging out with Yma Sumac in the stratosphere.
Chicago’s legendary Uptown Theatre has been bought by locally based independent promoter Jam Productions for $3.2 million, pending approval of the judge presiding over the theater’s foreclosure sale. More »
Chicago’s legendary Uptown Theatre has been bought by locally based independent promoter Jam Productions for $3.2 million, pending approval of the judge presiding over the theater’s foreclosure sale. More »
I’ve actively avoided the early work of Chicago (thanks to a childhood spent hearing its later material), so I can’t say whether I agree with Variety’s Phil Gallo and his contention that the band and its “superb musicianship” has been unfairly kept out of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. But I’m intrigued by one of his claims: “It shows the bias of the hall’s voters–they are either too old to have the wistful childhood memories of the early ’70s or too young to fully appreciate how distinctive they were in the pop landscape at the time.” Whether it’s due to this alleged age schism (I doubt that the “rock experts” who get ballots don’t include people with childhood memories of the early ’70s) or not, there are quite a few commercially successful and even critically acclaimed artists who released notable works in that decade and have been ignored by the voting public.
“In response to an nearly unprecedented outpouring of concern from the Chicago music community, Ald. Eugene Schulter, chairman of the City Council License Committee, has decided that he will not present the so-called ‘event promoter’s ordinance’ to the full council on Wednesday for a vote as… More »
“In response to an nearly unprecedented outpouring of concern from the Chicago music community, Ald. Eugene Schulter, chairman of the City Council License Committee, has decided that he will not present the so-called ‘event promoter’s ordinance’ to the full council on Wednesday for a vote as… More »