Holiday happenings...

If I didn't gain a working dose of the holiday spirit at St. Paul's Cathedral in London last week during the annual Thanksgiving service, I surely accomplished it tonight back home here at Toads' Place thanks to the Blind Boys of Alabama. Imagine if you will first of all the security assembled to ward off any potential trouble with all those dang Americans in one place on such a symbolic day. And then consider the grandeur of the Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece that's seen everything from the funeral of Winston Churchill to the wedding of Charles and Diana.

Add the U.S. Marine color guard reverently delivering the stars and bars up the aisle and the full congregation singing "Come Ye Thankful People Come," and you have have a the makings of one terminal lump in the throat. As exciting as it was to spend Thanksgiving week in the venerable capital of the UK, we missed the traditional kickoff here at home. The lights are on at Lewis Ginter and it seems like all the neighborhoods are way ahead of past years in Christmas extravagance. Maybe we're more ready than usual for the comfort zone.

Tonight's Christmas show with the Blind Boys of Alabama at Toad's Place proved to be a much-needed fast-forward as early on these four-time Grammy winners (who aren't all blind or all Alabama boys for that matter) took flight with a harmonically lush arrangement of "White Christmas." How cool is that? When they sang 'Amazing Grace' to the tune of "House of the Rising Sun" and reached "was blind but now I see" the irony came full circle. Continued kudos to Jeff and the Toad's gang who've worked to improve acoustics and continue to keep open minds about who'll play this important canal-side venue.

I hope to see some of you at In Your Ear Recording on East Broad for a return engagement of harmonica master Rick Epping tomorrow (Thursday) night. He was here two and a half years ago before moving to Ireland and I promise you an riveting evening of music if you'll just check him out at http://www.jaminc.org/ and reserve your seat.

My Bon Secours connection will afford me the privilege of taking in a few sets of the John Winntet (aka/Neighborliness) on Friday night at the Virginia Museum with Mandy Moore's favorite piano player Daniel Clarke back in position on the evening Pollack Award winners Modern Groove Syndicate debut their new CD Ms. Popular at Cary Street Cafe. Danny C might miss the Cary Street gig to rest up for a red-eye flight to L.A. on Saturday morning to begin his year with the tunefully torchy k d lang. Word is their first show is is a duet...no pressure Daniel.

Watch this space for news of when k d and d c will pass this way.

And a final heads up for Sunday, December 9th at Barksdale Theater in Willow Lawn for their BJ Kocen's Stretchin' concert series. Steve Earle's very talented son Justin Townes Earle is coming to town and I'm sold after checking him out on his MySpace page.. Do we have live musical options here in River City now or what?

Thanks for spending some time here...and pass it on.

Three Musketeers...

Three of acoustic music's most heroic figures took us on a magical musical adventure Saturday night at the University of Richmond's Camp Concert Hall in the Modlin Center. We'd seen them many times before, individually and in such notable groupings as New Grass Revival and Alison Krauss + Union Station. And we've seen them onstage together, often with other icons like Fleck, O'Connor and Rice. But this was the first tour for the trio of Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas and Edgar Meyer. Of course we expected a lot. And a lot we got.

The pure acoustics of the room and the appreciative full house combined to energize the players...Jerry raved more than once how much fun it was to play in this kind of setting. Much insight into how remarkable compositions like "Glide", "The Emphysema Two-Step", "Aboriginal Ambition", "Green Slime" and "Monkey Let The Hogs Out" came to be, was gained during their light-hearted exchanges between tunes. Like how Edgar's 15-year-old son George turned his dad on to Sam's 30-year-old composition, "Foster's Reel." Or how one of the the two Strength In Numbers pieces they played, "Duke and Cookie" was written by Sam & Jerry in five minutes as an homage to John Wayne and Walter Brennan. Stuff like that. Mr. Bush was sporting a full cast on his left foot, and until I know what really happened, I'm gonna say he apparently lost a vigorous butt-kicking contest.

We mere mortals may never experience the joy that musicians of this lofty caliber achieve when they're afforded the opportunity to converse in this way, but at least we can listen in on the conversation. And what a privilege. The ultimate vicarious thrill.

And now for something completely different...
Sunday night I was invited back by director Joe Simpkins to emcee the Richmond Pops Band's fall concert at the Landmark. I've worked with the band in this capacity off and on for many years, dating back to the elegant Christmas performances in the Jefferson's rotunda and I continue to be moved be their power and professionalism. They took on some challenging material for this outing, including Cole Porter's "Begin The Beguine" and Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" and pulled it off nicely. And the distinguished U.S. Army Chorus, in a rare, outside-the-beltway appearance provided some lump-in-the-throat moments during "Muddy Water" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic." And the clincher is that this band's concerts are absolutely free, but you better get your tickets well ahead of time. The Christmas show benefiting the Salvation Army is on December 18th at the Landmark. See you there.

I'll wrap with one more reminder about our JAMinc/In Your Ear studio concert this Friday night with the versatile singer/songwriter/instrumentalist Jake Armerding...a great young artist on the rise and a perfect place to hear live music...and the byol and hors d'oeuvre swap make the pre-show and intermission extra special. Click here to reserve your place.

Oh, and if you've never heard John Jorgenson before, do yourself a major favor and head for Ashland Coffee and Tea on Saturday to witness this versatile and wide-open guitarist. He's played with biggies like Elton John, Luciano Pavarotti, and Bonnie Raitt and was a co-founder of the Desert Rose Band with Chris Hillman and Herb Pederson back in the day. Now he's sharing his penchant for the gypsy jazz of Django Reinhardt. You'll be blown away, I promise.

The Americana Music Awards were handed out at the Ryman in Nashville last week and you can check out the winners here. And hearty congrats to Robbin Thompson and Samson Trinh, both finalists in the Independent Music Awards competition (gospel and jazz respectively). Make sure you support 'em with your vote here.

TT