Covering the spread...

Since last we posted, a couple of rewarding musical experiences worth noting. Friday was one of those "special occasion" nights out, fairly rare for Ms. D and me that found us at Buckhead's for a nice meal and some well-chosen standards from Richmond's durable R&B icon Steve Bassett.  If you've yet to hear how well he's made the transition from Mystic Soul Bubba and Delbert McClinton sideman to convincing purveyor of Tin Pan Alley classics, you're missing out on one of our town's great musical sidebars.  After a handful of charming collaboration albums with late keyboard stylist Jimmy Black, Steve's become a more than credible interpreter of tunes I first heard my parents sing on long road trips from the backseat of the station wagon. These selections from the great American songbook like "Until The Real Thing Comes Along," "Someone To Watch Over Me," and "I'll Be Seeing You" have been given new life by his seasoned pipes and his infectious confidence in front of a crowd, in this case a small attentive group enjoying fine food and romantic atmosphere by the fire.  Devotees of the stuff Steve's known for weren't disappointed as crack jazz keyboardist Anthony Dowd packed it in after the first set leaving Mr. B to serve up a second helping of soul classics with a requisite number of happy hoofers on the dance floor.  Making memories for the generations...Steve Bassett does it well, and for those who enjoyed his Christmas CD years ago, a new stocking full of favorites is just out for the holidays.   Order yours here. And rumors continue to swirl about a 30th anniversary reunion album in the making with Robbin Thompson.  All in good time.

Don't forget Robbin's upcoming JAMinc/In Your Ear Studio A concert on December 5th. It's almost sold out.
Reservations here.  (Bassett portrait from his Website)

  We'd been looking forward to the next night for a good while...a double-date to Toad's Place with fellow aficionados of Robert Earl Keen's brand of Texas roadhouse story songs.  The pot was seriously sweetened by a surprise visit from our Boulder girl who'd flown in as an early birthday present for her ol' man. I was floored.  It was gratifying to see a full house of REK disciples ready to become the roomful of backup singers he's used to hearing...it's still amazing to see how many folks know all the words to all the verses of so many of his road-tested tunes.  It's also encouraging to see the our two new Richmond music halls, Toad's and The National both seem to be making it with creative booking and a top-notch customer experience.  Our live music scene's come a long way in the past year or so.