That kind of respect
There are artists who play on our stage who just get my extreme deference and respect, no questions asked. Obviously, a Doc Watson or Honey Boy Williams merits such treatment because of their legacy. I have a very clear memory of Honey Boy calling me "ma'am" (or was it "miss"?) as I helped him down the steps from the stage some years back.
I find myself treating Bill Frisell that way whenever he comes to our place, and of course I always pull out all the stops for Miss Katie Jackson, on her increasing rare visits to sing with the Campbell Brothers and their sacred steel guitar shows. To the uninitiated, Miss Katie is well into her 70's, wears sensible shoes and can channel the holy spirit like nobody's business. When she says she'd like some chicken noodle soup and crackers instead of curry for her Cedar dinner, you can bet I'm running to the store. And I have, on more than one occasion.
It's a personal, gut kind of reaction, but the presence of Tinariwen in the house always inspires this feeling as well. Somehow, I just always want their visit to the Cedar to be the best possible experience it can be for them. I worry that the crowds aren't big enough or respectful enough, I hope cold weather doesn't bother them.
Rather silly, I know. A weird fan/idol worship thing. Yet take a look at their tour schedule this week.
Sunday at Bonaroo, say with 50,000 to 100,000 people for a main stage show.
Wednesday at our place, capacity 5 or 600.
Thursday through Saturday at Millenium Park in Chicago, with crowds of who knows how many thousands.
Sunday at the Hollywood Bowl, holding 17,00 plus bodies.
Not to mention today (6/10) they're part of the World Cup kick-off party concert in South Africa with an African and international A-list including Alicia Keys, Amadou & Mariam, Angélique Kidjo, Black Eyed Peas, BLK JKS, John Legend, Juanes, Shakira, The Parlotones, Vieux Farka Touré and Vusi Mahlasela.
Maybe my respect reaction isn't so unreasonable after all.
* * * * * * *
Hmmm. Notice how both Veronica Fever and Main Figurehead blogged about the same NPR podcast about the same movie last week, yet they took it in rather differenct directions. Didn't catch that podcast, but I know I've done at least one High-Fidelity-themed blog over the past few years. It's inescapeable for music geeks; it's an essential reference. As I emailed to Ms. Fevers the other day, if you can't enjoy watching yourself being skewered, you're not much fun.
And that will be me workin' it on the Cedar floor tonight at the Grupo Fantasma/Chico Trujillo espectaculo! That will be much fun.
Tinariwen
Tinariwen are often associated with just one image: that of Touareg rebels leading the charge, machine gun in hand and electric guitar slung over the shoulder. The band ditch this cliché on their fifth album ‘Tassili’ and it’s for the best. The founding members abandoned their weapons long ago and on this new album they have engineered a minor aesthetic revolution by setting the electric guitar – the instrument which became their mascot and made them famous – to one side and giving pride of place to acoustic sounds, recorded right in the heart of the desert, which is the landscape of their existence, the cradle of their culture and the source of their inspiration. You might even call this radical move a return to the very essence of their art, a return which, paradoxically, has also opened the doors to some intriguing collaborations with members of TV On The Radio, Nels Cline (Wilco’s guitarist) or The Dirty Dozen Brass Band.
