October 03, 2012 Katie Pearlman and Seth Glier

Last night Katie Pearlman and Seth Glier came to Acoustic Long Island. Katie while sincere with a quick smile and a generous heart, her songs were simply prose put to music. Each song was a story, but each story was told as if it were copied verbatim out of a journal. Dylan, Young, Mitchell are all wonderful story tellers because their stories transcend the literal and reach for the poetic, giving each song a resonance that far out weighs the story itself and thereforee speaks to a deeper truth. Katie should learn from them. Seth Glier brought Broadway to Deepwells. His voice, suitable for the stage, was clear and crisp. His songs were dynamic and exciting. His style was animated and brimming with emotion. Whether he was playing the guitar or the keyboard, his whole body communicated every note. Accompanied on the guitar by his close friend, the two were tightly wound together, sharing their mutual admiration through the back and forth voice of their instruments. Seth claims that in these desperate times, the audience is looking for someone to speak for them. If only we could speak like Seth. One song about “plastic soldiers,” portrayed the plight of a disabled idealistic soldier returning from war. This song demonstrated Seth’s willingness to risk everything to tell the right story, knowing that as he balanced on that emotional tightrope, he could easily fall flat. He soared instead. We’ll be hearing more from Seth Glier.

08/01/12 Caleb Hawley

Caleb Hawley came to Deepwells last night for the third or fourth time and it was well worth the trip. Caleb is a funny, energetic, and talented musician. He’s a dog lover as well as his dog Fargo can attest. His guitar playing is expressive and jazz inspired, but his lyrics are a reflection of an observant mind that finds humor and pathos in the human condition. In Do You Want to Live Forever he faces head on the dilemma of eternal life vs. eternal death. In We All Got Problems he pokes fun at our infinite capacity to do anything to resist pain and emotional suffering, even if it means losing sight of who we are as uniquely flawed individuals. He references the tragic figures of Elvis and Michael as the purest expression of having it all and having nothing. In Seeing Colors Caleb expresses surprise and admiration at children’s inability to recognize skin color, the bane of American life that tragically pits Sarah Palin’s “the real Americans” against the rest of us who just “want to get along.” It’s a testimony to Caleb that he has taken up residence in Harlem which still dramatically signifies that racial divide that keeps the poor separated from the “1%-ers” who are now busily driving the last vestiges of the middle class out of Manhattan. The Harlem experience keeps Caleb “real” when so many musicians are nothing more than product placement and brand names as they reach for that “gold ring” with their specialty lines of clothing and perfume. In Who’s Your Doggie Caleb takes on man’s best friend and points out that deep inside most men wish it was “a dog’s life” and wish that our significant other would give us unconditional love no matter how many times we screw up. We don’t need American Idol. Last night we had Caleb Hawley in the house.

09/05/12 Emiy Elbert and The Stray Birds

Every time you think you’ve seen the best of the best in up and coming talent, Dave manages to outdo himself. Last night Emily Elbert took the stage and within four bars we knew that we were looking at a great artist. Her singing voice was beautiful and rich. Her guitar playing masterful. Her songs intelligent and haunting. Her acoustic jazz and folk blend left you wondering where she will go next and how lucky am I to have gotten a chance to see her in this intimate setting before her career takes off in leaps and bounds. She bounced around the stage, pivoted and cavorted with a plucky kind of energy that can only make you feel good about being alive. The Stray Birds were a complete surprise. People like to talk about the “real America”. But who would have thought that the heartland begins in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They channel the best of blue grass and folk in a manner that kept your feet dancing and your hands clapping. How many times do you get to hear a band where each member can sing and play more than one instrument? Much like The Band each of them effortlessly took their turn at the mike, but because their harmonies are so intricately intertwined and the musicianship so interconnected the voice they created was always multidimensional and richly textured sound. The way they huddled together for every song as if they were one person was a delight to behold. While their songs are steeped in tradition, they are deeply connected to our contemporary experience. The audience couldn’t get enough.

08/30/12 Miles to Dayton

Last night in Port Jefferson we got to hear Miles to Dayton meet Ken Kesey and the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Due to technical difficulties the band ala The Grateful Dead were forced to go into long musical interludes while Jon Preddice tried to root out the offending monitor. This left Dave March and Leanne Strom, Brian Kroll and their equally talented lead guitarist to improvise, or as the Dead might call it, meander in search of Uncle John’s Band. Finally, after Jon, frustrated and dogged, fixed the problem, the band rose to the occasion as a blue moon rose and the sun set, giving the audience what they had come for, another great performance. It was the largest audience to date at the Wednesday night concert series of Port Jeff Arts Council.

July 14 Barnaby Bright, Ernie Halter, Antigone Rising, Toby Walker

What a great night for Acoustic Long Island. The Seventh Annual Summer Concert was better than ever. The night kicked off with Barnaby Bright. Becky’s voice was pitch perfect and beautiful. Her husband Nathan’s guitar energetically soared as he beamed with an infectious smile that lived up to the group’s name. Ernie Halter followed with shades of Stevie Wonder with his soulful voice. Antigone Rising blew the doors off Deepwell’s Mansion. Nini Camps vocals made the band a true headliner that lifted the summer concert to another level.Cathy Henderson on lead guitar tore a page out of the Allman brothers. Toby Walker ended the night. Determined not to be outdone, he stepped to the edge of the stage and dazzled the audience with his fiery fingers and his irreverent songs. Toby may call himself a blues player, but he always leaves the audience awed and smiling. Thanks Dave Dircks and company.

11/02/11 Micah & Jean-Paul Vest's Last Charge of the Light Horse

In the last concert of the 2011 season, Micah and Jean-Paul Vest’s Last Charge of the Light Horse played at the Deepwells’ Mansion for Acoustic Long Island. The night started off with an over the top comedic spoof on the new I-phone apps, revealing a side of the host Dave Dircks that proved he’s ready for prime time standup.

Micah, a young performer, with a wonderful rich voice and an affable style performed the first set with charm and poise. His songs very quickly, while covering the themes of romance, lost love and regret, all seemed to blend into one another indistinguishably. There were none of the highs and the lows that you would expect from a musician who truly does have a voice, a rarity in the folk world. Yet instead of using the full range of what is undoubtedly there, he often sang at the top of his register as if to authenticate emotion, rather than take us on a musical emotional roller coaster ride. His rendition of Killing me Softly probably gave the first clear indication of what he could do with a song even though who can top Roberta Flack. His final song, coauthored with his college roommate was more textured which made me wonder if collaborating might lift him out of a musical rut where he can chart new territory and reach a wider more deserving audience.

Jean-Paul Vest’s Last Charge of the Light Horse brought to Acoustic Long Island one of the best shows in a long time. I don’t know why I thought of Lou Reed sings Tim Buckley or if the comparison is apt, but it stuck with me. Jean-Paul Vest is one of the more intelligent song writers out there. He has the poet’s true gift of turning the mundane, the ordinary, the daily ups and downs of life that we all face and transforming them into heartfelt songs. An ATM machine, the automobile, New Years Eve, all instantly become poetic images and iconography that resonate for the listener in a manner that only a gifted artist’s brush can accomplish. Jean-Paul Vest has a rich palette from which to draw which is contrasted, almost ironically, by his monochromatic singing style. I wondered at times if his bassist, who joined in occasionally could have added more detailed harmonic richness. Regardless, the band was top notch, totally in sync with each other and with Jean-Paul Vest looking like a cross between Buddy Holly and James Dean. The music was driving and exhilarating. Instantly, the audience was transported into a better place through lyrics that were consistently rich and haunting, self-reflective and honest. Each song honored the daily human struggle that wears us down in our pedestrian lives, but which are desperately in need of recognition and edification. Songs like Get Away Car and The Second Time Around and The New Year all deserve second and third listens because there is something to be learned not only about the artist, but about yourself.

10/05/11 Jack's Waterfall & Flearoy

Jack’s Waterfall headed up by singer/songwriter Jack Licitra came to Deepwells to share his energy, excitement and sense of humor. The music became non-stop theatre with his motley crew of musicians: a tuba player, Jon Preddice on cello, a young female high school senior and a percussionist who played not only drums, but pvc tubing. If Jack Licitra’s goal was to make the audience part of his band then he aptly accomplished that. If Jack Licitra believes that paying homage to his muse adds a transcendent mystical dimension to the creative process, then, in the final analysis, the lyrics seemed rather bland and unimaginative as each song very quickly blended seamlessly into each other until they disappeared from memory. If, indeed, as John announced, music is a healing art form, then he, like an evangelical preacher who makes bold promises and wild claims that he is filled by the spirit, then the audience can only leave energized, but still broken.


Flearoy, which I assume is a tongue-in-cheek take off on Leroy, came onto the stage at Deepwells like an unassuming collection of street musicians dressed in plaid who just happened to be passing through St. James on their way to somewhere else—and that somewhere else just might be fame and fortune. It’s hard to know where to begin. Jon Seale on vocals, at first seemed too much for one person to bear the weight of, but like other soul and blues singers, Bill Withers, Wilson Pickett, and John Fogerty, Jon Seale, in perfect pitch, quickly became the heart and soul of the band. Zack Rosen on bass had to be the most inventive stand up bass that I’ve heard in a long time. What he did on standup bass almost served as lead guitar and percussionist as he riffed off Dan Knobler (looking like a young Bob Dylan) on lead guitar who never stopped playing that American steel guitar which has the risk of sounding tinny, but which always soared in his hands without overshadowing the rest of the band. Flearoy sang a mix of their own songs and few covers ended the night with a rousing rendition of The Band’s Ophelia. Matt Porter, who I sensed has a good voice in his own right but who adopted the harmonium rather than his instrument the electronic keyboard, was never given his chance to shine, should be brought back into the band. Flearoy deserves a second, third and fourth listen.

September 07, 2011 Kate and Nate; Avi Wisnia

Kate and Nate from Ithaca New York, who performed at Deepwells last night, are hard to classify. Were they vaudeville, old timey music, early folk? Whatever their roots, they brought something completely unique and entertaining. Nate’s body never stopped. His guitar playing was equally energetic. Kate sat stoically behind her cello which she played with sensitivity and grace. Their songs were complex, inventive, and defied pigeonholing into any one genre. I heard some overtones of Incredible String Band in Nate’s voice as he and Kate overlay rhythms and harmonies that were remarkably in sync with each other and gave a richness and depth to their performance. Their opening number with the refrain There you were, Here you are immediately show-cased their strength and weakness as artist. The song, original in every way that was so promising and captivating initially, which went longer than Dylan’s Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, becoming numbing and begged for an ending. However, once they escaped that unfortunate opening number, they performed songs that were sometimes playful, like ttyl now baby, a song capturing the hypnotic shorthand of texting that led to the breakup of a marriage, and Anna’s Afternoon, a beautiful song about the family dog, now gone. When our day is done captured everyone’s dream of heaven or hell, depending on how you view an eternity in your bathing suit with everyone you love. The Dancing Screen intelligently contrasted the bucolic with the mass corporate culture. Nate graced us with a brief juggling performance, balancing his harmonica holder and banjo on his forehead. All in all, they are a very talented duo. But their songs are demanding and challenging and need many listenings to appreciate.

Avi Wisnia, who has played at the Kennedy Center and the Highline Ballroom, brought a Brazilian bossa nova style to Deepwells. Avi stood center stage with an upright keyboard accompanied by a percussionist and guitarist who never upstaged him and always remained tastefully in the background. He had a pleasant voice and a nice demeanor, unafraid to talk to the audience about the inspiration of his songs or to admit that as a gay male, he has suffered loss and disappointment and confusion about love. This on the night of the Republican presidential debates was particularly poignant, considering that they would have blamed the recent east coast earthquake and Hurricane Irene on Ari. His songs, in many respects, were derivative. They always sounded like some other song, from another artist. But Ari wasn’t shy about admitting that and even highlighted in Something New, a clever mix of favorite lines from other artists, in which the audience was asked to participate on such lines as “smooth operator” from Sade’s song of the same name. I wish I could stop writing songs about you poignantly underscored the loss of an important relationship in Ari’s life. New Year focused on the near suicide of two friends, and their ability to rise above their despair and discover a new reason for living, a tragic reality that the general public is only recently coming to understand that gays have painfully had to face alone. Rabbit Hole was probably Ari’s best song. An equally derivative and very stylized song that captured the enjoyable trap called love. This time the audience was given the chance to playfully join the band, each given a kazoo, to accompany Ari’s lively vocal sound effects. Ari is certainly one who is destined to be a club favorite.

08/12/11 The Grand Slambovians

The Grand Slambovians came to Hechscher Park. They are compared to Pink Floyd, but maybe on bad-acid. They’re called hillbilly, but I didn’t hear that. Their costuming, at best is hillbilly bohemian. Joziah Longo, lead singer, heart and soul of the band, while well intentioned in his songwriting skills, was uninspirational as a singer. Their lead guitarist Sharkey McEwen was fiery and inventive, playing some wild earsplitting slide guitar, but never with any memorable riffs. Tony Zuzulo their drummer was equally frenetic almost in the style of The Who’s Keith Moon. Tink Lloyd, who lingered in the background and played accordion and cello, was barely a presence on stage. If nothing else, the band is honest and homespun. They bring intensity and a refreshing self-effacement to the stage even as they attempt to win you over with their energy and the outrageousness. The best comparison for me was to the Ramones, but without the nihilism. Sadly, when it was over, I couldn’t remember a single song, or a single riff that I might want to revisit. For an audience who wants to scream and yell and have an excuse to let their hair down while being bathed in unrelenting noise that never quite crystallizes into a song, this is the group for you. For me, they’re not going to make it to my I-pod.

08/05/11 Little Toby Walker

Little Toby Walker performed in the parking lot of the Hauppauge Library. He didn’t miss a beat. From the moment Toby Walker stepped on stage his fiery fingers began working that guitar—an old Gibson, an American steel, and a twelve string to be exact—as he took us up and down the Delta through the South along highway 66 and up into Chicago, playing Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and more, while also educating us like John Lomax once did, and mesmerizing us with his personal inventiveness (it’s never just Muddy Waters, but Muddy played Toby style) and entertaining us with his personal stories that invariably lean playfully toward double entendre. Little Toby Walker is a Long Island treasure, now living in New Jersey. What makes Toby so interesting and electrifying as a performer is that he’s the whole deal: all ten fingers are moving, the thumb acting as the bass, the index, middle and ring fingers as rhythm and lead, while his left hand is using every fret to perfection, playing the blues or slide guitar, so that if you closed your eyes you’d think there was a full band in session and not the one and only Toby Walker.

08/03/11 Emi Meyer & Adam Levy

Emi Meyer, a singer-songwriter came to Deepwells to perform her jazz compositions for Acoustic Long Island. Emi, a tall willowy understated performer was simply radiant onstage seated behind a Yamaha digital piano. Her voice was mellifluous. Her phrasing captured all the essential elements of jazz performers that have preceded her. Her piano playing was very much in the jazz tradition. Each of her songs are intelligently designed and well crafted. Yet it was one particular song that she co-wrote regarding the mean streets of New York that really connected with her audience. It’s difficult for a performer to do both interesting things on the piano and with her voice at the same time, either one or the other must be subordinated, but I had a sense that if she were to let go of the piano, walk up to the mike and really belt one out that she would reach that wow level that lingers in the background of every one of her songs. The fact that she is multilingual and sings as beautifully in both Japanese and English positions her to be a true crossover artist in a multicultural world. She has a great future ahead of her.

Adam Levy comes from a storied background of having written for and performed with Nora Jones. His minimalist guitar playing was thankfully augmented by his accompanist, an inspired slide guitarist. His songs are highly introspective and personal. His tender song, Promised Land, an ode to his grandma Jenny, a closeted singer-performer piano player, got the greatest applause. No Dancing, a song about a New York bar that had been recently closed down due to complaints from a testy unreasonable neighbor who detested bars and dancing captured the comic-tragic nature of any business trying to prosper in New York. His song The Heart Collector, that seemed to channel Tom Waits, captured the dark undercurrent of all the broken hearted that people that litter the landscape. A native Californian, he gave voice to the natural beauty of that state that has always represented the last frontier in America in A Promise to California. Given the long list of accomplished performers that Adam Levy has worked with over the years, he is more songwriter than singer-song writer. But that’s fine. Anyone who can make a living in the music business can count himself among the lucky elite.

07/31/11 The Refugees

The Refugees, a female trio, composed of Cindy Bullens, Deborah Holland, and Wendy Waldman, performed in Hechscher Park on Sunday on the Chapin Rainbow Stage. The three, who brag about having reached middle age, each have a pedigree that any young performer would die for, including working, writing and recording for such luminaries as Vanessa Williams, Elton John, Animal Logic and the Dixie Chicks. Together, with nothing to prove and nothing to lose, they bring to the stage a relaxed professional energy, wonderful harmonies and beautiful songs that showcase their talents collectively and individually. However, their relaxed exchanges on stage come as a two edged sword: the audience loves to know about the performers, but the one minute rule should apply. Anything beyond that becomes fingernails on a blackboard and detracts from their performance. While each song was professionally orchestrated and their harmonies perfectly in sync, almost hand in glove, I wished that they pushed the limits on harmony as the Roche sisters do so inventively or the Dixie Chicks do when they layer sound, because all the gifts and the talent are there to take their songs to the next level. This is a fun trio to see. Talent abounds. Energy is infectious. The music keeps on coming without a single false note.

July 16, 2011 Harry Chapin Memorial Concert

On a beautiful summer’s eve, the Chapin family came to pay tribute to Harry Chapin on the thirtieth anniversary of his tragic death. The overflow crowd exceeded anyone’s expectations. There was a sense of the wonderful in the air. If tears were shed, they were shed privately. Instead, the Chapin family—Tom, Steve, Abigail, Lily, Jessica, and Harry’s daughter Jen—all performed lovingly both Harry’s songs and their own, each capturing the spirit of Harry that lives on through Long Island Cares an organization that he founded, on a stage in Huntington’s Hechscher Park, named after him, the Chapin Rainbow Stage, to an audience who grew up on every song. The whole night made you wonder how much goodness can be compressed into one family who continue to give so much to the larger community. At a time when the nation as a whole seems so polarized and hostile toward the plight of the poor, demands cynically that the poor pay their fair share, and hands out generous tax breaks to the richest one percent who give so little, you grow more fond of Harry who donated a third of the proceeds from his concerts to social causes. It is no wonder that he posthumously received the Congressional Gold Medal for humanitarian work. If there were more like Harry in the world, and fewer like David and Charles Koch, how much better off would the country be? Songs like Taxi and Cat’s in the Cradle, W*O*L*D and Circle brought Harry back to life if only for an evening.

July 10, 2011 Acoustic Long Island’s Annual Outdoor Summer Concert

On a beautiful summer night with the stars visible in the sky and the Deepwells Mansion acting as stage and backdrop, Acoustic Long Island held it’s sixth annual free outdoor concert featuring Reed Waddle, Nini and Ben, Miles to Dayton, and Ari Hest. Dave Dircks, the heart and soul of Acoustic Long Island, characterized these musicians as the best of the 2010-2011 concert series. It is only the hard work of volunteers like Scott Posner and Billy Alexander, the two backbones of Acoustic Long Island, who make this outdoor event possible.  Reed Waddle, who, opened up the night, is great in a small space, but seemed overwhelmed and swallowed up on the stage. At first, I blamed it on the outdoor venue, which can be tough on musicians since you can’t control the acoustics and the sound system to deliver, but I was wrong. Nini and Ben came out with more drive and power with Nini’s voice soaring. While they never achieved those wow moments, what the crowd heard was a very talented band with an excellent vocalist in Nini and a strong song-writer-guitarist in Ben. They were followed by Miles to Dayton who exploded onto the stage. No sooner did they hit the first note than the crowd was riveted, proving that any criticism I had of the sound system and the outdoor venue was false. Miles to Dayton demonstrated the power of having two accomplished vocalists Jonathan and Krista Preddice with their impeccable harmonies and with having two backup singers, Leanne Preddice on violin and Dave March on bass. The blending of Jonathan’s guitar and Leanne’s violin, and the ensemble’s non-stop energy held the crowd in their hands for every song in their set. Ari Hest closed out the evening. At first, I feared that having Ari follow Miles to Dayton was a mistake, but Ari’s melodious voice with his tremendous range moving from deep bass to falsetto was commanding, his ability to connect with the audience through simple story telling compelling, and the warm sensitive nature of his songs such as Cranberry Lake, Bird Never Flies, and I’ve Got You served as the perfect coda to a wonderful evening.

July 1, 2011 Steel Pulse

Prospect Park hosted Steel Pulse for their Celebrate Brooklyn summer concert series and what a concert it was. The band played with energy and excitement for two hours of non-stop music that was sublime, political, spiritual and inspired. At a time in our nation’s history when we are hearing from schlock politicians preaching the oppression of the white race and  religious extremists falsely predicting the Second Coming of Jesus, Steel Pulse radiates a joyous political quasi religious fervor that makes you want to believe in the goodness of mankind even when faced with real, instead of imagined, oppression.  From the opening note, a festival size crowd of every color and hue was up on its feet dancing, waving, and lifting colorful handkerchief engraved images of Bob Marley into the air, as David Hinds pranced and danced across the stage singing all the crowd favorites Ravers, Roller Skates, Chant a Psalm, Worth His Weight in Gold, Earth Crisis, Blues Dance Rave, Bodyguard.  With Steel Pulse you always get the full reggai rastafari experience: the wailing guitars of David Hinds and Basil Gabbidon, the driving bass of Amlak Tafari, and the soaring keyboard of Selwyn “Bumbo” Brown and Sidney 'Predator' Mills. David Hinds never lets you forget that it’s not all about the music, but about the fate of the world’s suffering oppressed people. The concert ended with Hold On 4 Haiti, a song about the forgotten earthquake victims in Haiti where over 200,000 people were killed and where cholera is killing tens of thousands more.  The proceeds are going to the Solar Electric Light Fund. Bob Marley would be proud.

June 18-19, 2011 The Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival Festival

The annual Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival Festival at Croton on the Hudson was held this past weekend. It is that unusual eclectic mix of activism, music, food and vendors that has come to characterize it. The demographics of the attendees speaks volumes about the reach and scope of the Clearwater Festival: families with children in tow, young people, old people, people with disabilities, veterans, and activists. The festival has something for everyone--story tellers, children’s music, folk music, rock music, dance music—all going on at four separate stages around Croton Park with the backdrop of the Hudson River and the Hudson River Sloop the Clearwater's noble symbol of the organizers' ongoing effort to remove toxic PCPs dumped by GE into the river. There is variety of food spanning the global palate and vendors selling wares of every nation, activists’ booths educating the concert goers to everything from local issues like the Hudson River clean up, the aging Indian Point nuclear reactor, the proposed fracking for natural gas in New York that threatens our water supply, to world issues like the four wars our nation is currently engaged in as the economy sinks toward a new recession or worse. Of course, it is the wide variety of music that draws people forcing the concert goers to make choices they’d rather not make with so much going on during the same time slot. On Sunday, when I was there, the listeners were torn between John Sebastian, James McMurtry or Joe D’Urso; Jorma Kaukonen, Tao Seeger or Buskin and Batteau; Suzanne Vega, David Amram or Jeffrey  Broussard and the Creole Cowboys. How do you choose?  Like a fool I ran around trying to get a taste of everyone. I was disappointed by John Sebastian whose voice has seen better days, lifted up by James McMurtry with his driving sound, mesmerized by Jorma Kaukonen fiery fingers, vaguely interested in Suzanne Vega who has become the standard bearer for Carson McCullers, wished I had spent more time with the Creole Cowboys, and ended the night with Drive-By Truckers who have captured the unique voicing and intonation of Richard Manuel as they eloquently sang about the hardscrabble life that typifies the heartland of America. All in all, the Clearwater Festival was a great success thanks to Pete Seeger who proves that the total of a life can be greater than the sum of its parts.  

June 04, 2011 War Horse

For any of you who want to have a thrilling theatre experience, then you should see War Horse, adapted by Nick Stafford based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center. The play has everything that makes for good theatre: a great cast, a wonderful set design,  a story line with a deep emotional core, a musical storyline (although this is not a musical) and of course the horses, in particular Joey, brought to life in the style of the Lion King by the Handspring Puppet Company. The first half of the play is absolutely gripping. The play pulls at your heartstrings as you watch the alcoholic father with his deep-seated inferiority complex wreak havoc on his family and ironically create a lasting bond between his son, Albert Narracott, and the colt, Joey. This relationship remains the very core of the play as we witness both boy and horse mature and grow. The second half of the play depicts the horse going off to war, The War to End All Wars. We witness the untold story of horses on both sides of the battle front, German and British on French soil, and in this case Joey, as Albert searches for him. Here, the emotional core is severed through a series of vignettes that are designed to capture the uses and abuses of the many horses that were used to ferry men into war, pull the wagons, and carry the injured, even as the war itself becomes more technologically sophisticated with the introduction of machines guns, armored tanks, tear gas and mustard gas. Joey is the sole cohesive core to the second half. While we care deeply for animals caught up in manmade wars, and particularly for Joey, we care more for human beings, who unfortunately are reduced to cutouts, as in war itself, and therefore lose our emotional connection. Still, the play is a marvel to behold, a theatre experience to know first hand, and an account of WW I that needs telling. Go see it.

June 01, 2011 Jeff LeBlanc and Mike Krum

Jeff LeBlanc and Mike Krum both headlined at Acoustic Long Island on the first concert of the summer series. Jeff LeBlanc singing style can best be compared to the talented Chris Ayers and Tim Blane. And while his songs were well crafted, they never reached the highs that characterized those two artists. Instead, LeBlanc’s songs can best be described as pretty, the kind of songs that you could snuggle up to with someone you love while sitting by the a fire and want to complete the mood. His songs never reached deep into your soul or lifted you off your seat. For the first half of his set he was accompanied on the duel keyboard by his talented philosophy professor from Sacred Heart University, a man who made you want to go back and reread Socrates, Aristotle and maybe Henri Bergson. For the second half LeBlanc went solo incorporating a music loop machine into his performance. While it was amazing to watch his pyrotechnic footwork as he looped riffs and rhythms and voiceovers, he slowly drifted off into a solipsistic world, where like an onion when you peel back the layers, the core seemed empty and lonely. These machines must be addicting to musicians, much like gazing into two mirrors toward infinity. Unfortunately they produce endlessly layered repetition which contradicts what real music is all about where musicians, not machines, play off each other. This isn’t to say that Jeff LeBlanc doesn’t have some wonderfully rendered songs. Until We Get It Right has a nice vocal reach and emotional pull. His song Believe in a Chris Ayers style is a simple lyrical ballad. He ended the night with the return of his college professor to the stage and their rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark, a sing-along that the audience loved and sang enthusiastically. The keyboardist was driving and inventive, and they played off each without the raw passion of Springsteen, but with a much needed, rousingly closing to the set. More of that please.

Mike Krum was a complete surprise. His singing style evoked Vance Gilbert with all of Vance’s soulfulness and sincerity; there were even shades of Kenny Rankin hidden deep within. There was something real about Krum’s songs that made you want to sit up and listen. On stage, he was often playful and even silly, sometimes self-deprecating and somewhat scattered. However, when he sang, he was transformed into a true artist with something to say about things that mattered: his girl friend, his friends, the breakup of a musical friendship and his generation. That generational theme he captured honestly and reverentially in his song Slacker, certainly something he is not. It would have been nice if he had brought his own guitar instead of playing an instrument that he picked up out of the Acoustic Long Island grab bag closet because the guitar was barely audible. Fortunately, he was accompanied by a wonderfully inventive electric guitarist who filled in all of the gaps, always lingering in the background, augmenting Krum’s voicing and his reach. Mike Krum ended his set with a beautifully soulful song sung in the Vance Gilbert tradition, No More, which is destined to be a classic in its own right.

May 14, 2011 Suzzy and Maggie Roche; Julie Gold

Last night in Port Washington, the Landmark Theatre, with it’s new topflight sound system, headlined Suzzy and Maggie Roche along with Julie Gold as their special guest.  Julie Gold best known for her hit song From a Distance made famous first by Nanci Griffith and then Bette Midler, is a song that stands up there in the pantheon of great songs.  Her performance of this song displayed all of her talents: a crisp clear voice along with her stylish piano and, of course, those lyrics. Julie Gold at the Grammy’s said that it was a song that she had been writing her whole life and this audience loved it. It deservedly catapulted her into fame, a song that has been read into the Congressional record, played on the space station when the Americans and Russians linked up for the first time. Sadly, everything else that Julie Gold played last night paled by comparison. Her lyrics, though well-meaning and filled with love and compassion, seemed trite and uninteresting, almost like Broadway show tunes. I’m happy for Julie Gold’s one enormous hit and so is she.

The Roche sisters were nothing less than wonderful. The quirkiness that has characterized their style, their incredible harmonizing, their unique songs were alive and well in living color. What amazed me was that the audience, now in its dotage, and the Roche Sisters, not afraid to show that they too have aged, still connect through their music as if somehow from the opening note, Maggie and Suzzy were able to transcend age and tap into something greater than our lost youth, but instead a well-spring of beauty and truth that is ageless. It was remarkable how timeless their voices are without props and reverb, but two acoustic guitars, a Steinway concert grand piano and a talent for harmonizing that is unparalleled in the music world. They made us laugh, of course, they made us cry, and why not, but there were so many wow moments throughout the night as if there were six people on stage and not two. They played some of their old standards, like Hammond Song and The Train. They sang from their Zero Church album that they created at Harvard, giving a musical voices to people’s heartfelt personal prayers. They performed Jesus Shaves a blasphemously funny, but honest song about a modern day Jesus looking for work and love.  They sang songs from other artists, including Dylan’s Clothes Line Saga which they elevate to pure theatrics. They ended the night with a rousing rendition of the coasters Yakety Yak. For those unfortunate not to know the Roches, there’s still time. They are nothing less than wonderful.

May 4, 2011 Rebecca Jordan and Casey Abrams

Last night at Deepwells Acoustic Long Island hosted Rebecca Jordan and Casey Abrams. Rebecca Jordan turned out to be a real surprise. You sensed immediately that in the rough and tumble music world, Rebecca just might make it. Her stage presence was remarkable for everything that it was not: she was never showy or theatrical. Instead she was demure, unpretentious, and gentle. Yet when she smiled at the audience or spoke about her life and her songs, the audience was attentive and embracing. Her songs showed a wide range of interests from folk to jazz to gospel. She addressed war in her song Battlefield and managed to resist the clichés of dead soldiers while drawing us into the harsh realities of loss. Her song This Town initially drew me in, but I soon tired of it from the endless repetition of the words this town which she wove through the song. It dealt with one person moving on, and those that stayed behind. When it turned out that the one that stayed behind died to a drug overdose, I cringed. If this had been a metaphorical death, I would have been happier, but if it was a real death, as I suspect, it’s time to move on. Love Deluxe was an exquisitely sensuous song. It was the song that first displayed Rebecca Jordan’s range and depth as a performer. Her final song Anchor sung in a true gospel style was rousing and moving. Overall, I found Rebecca Jordan to be an artist in search of herself and her niche in the music world. When she put down her guitar, she broke through her limitations as instrumentalist and erupted with a quiet intensity and passion that has the power to one day electrify. My sense is that folk is not her thing. Jazz, soul, and gospel is where she seemed most comfortable. Her accompanist was absolutely essential. With a minimalism that never overshadowed her he allowed her to shine. With a full band behind her, I wondered if there were even greater heights she could reach.

Casey Abrams turned out to be a big disappointment. I thought that he sounded better in rehearsal than he did in his live performance. I kept thinking Southern rock without the rock, the Allman Brothers without, the inventive licks of the Brothers, Sweet Home Alabama without the passion and driving force. His musical compositions in and of themselves were interesting. Songs like The Scarecrow and the Tin Man and It’s Rained Everyday Since They Closed Down the Zoo, showed off his talents as a song writer, reaching for themes that are complex and interesting. Yet when the set was over I realized that nothing had connected with me, nothing jumped out at me. Sadly, he suffered every musician’s nightmare when he blanked out on his final number. At first, my heart ached for him, but when he persisted in playing the song substituting “la, la, la,” for the lyrics while he improvised on his guitar, I suddenly said enough. I’d like to hear him with a driving band, and something that amps up his vocals. Overall, he never varied his songs and they became lost in one big muddle.