Here's something you might be interested in.
On Saturday, Sept. 1, vocalist Robin Adler and her guitarist husband Dave Blackburn will bring their all-star aggregation known as Mutts of the Planet into The Back Room at 98 Bottles for an evening of music composed by the brilliant songwriter Joni Mitchell.
"Our band Mutts of the Planet formed in late 2005 with the singular goal of exploring the music of Joni," says Adler. "We will be diving into probably our favorite Joni era-- her jazz years-- roughly 1975 to 1979. During this time she captured the attention of many of the world's most celebrated jazz artists, including Jaco Pastorious, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, and perhaps most impressively, Charles Mingus, who chose her to be his co-writer on a final project before he passed away."
I saw Mutts of the Planet do tribute to Mitchell's earlier work last November and was completely blown away. One of my favorite concerts of 2011, and I'm even more excited about this one because of the material.
"We'll be performing selections from The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, Hejira, Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, and Mingus albums," said Adler. "For this show, Dave and I will be joined by the virtuosity of Barnaby Finch on keys, our own local Jaco Pastorious, bassist Dan DiPietro, cooking drummer Danny Campbell, and making his official Mutts debut, pedal steel master Rick Schmidt."
I embraced Mitchell's music wholeheartedly in the early '80s after hearing the epochal live album Shadows & Light. I wasn't all that interested in vocalists at that point--I actually bought the album because Metheny and Lyle Mays were on it--and like a typical moron, I only listened to the cut "Pat's Solo," for several weeks. I put the whole record on one night to impress a girlfriend, ( this was "chick-music", right?), and, on the first listen--was moved to tears. The next day, I went to Tower Records and bought five more Mitchell albums-- and I have been a huge fan ever since.
All of these songs are sacred to me, and it's not easy to be impressed by anyone other than Mitchell performing them. Adler is a songbird and a musician of the highest order--she is one of the few vocalists on this planet who can pull this off.
The Back Room is a small venue that can fill up quickly. Last November, these guys packed the SD Wine & Culinary Center, so early arrival is definitely recommended.
This concert is a Chuck Perrin/ dizzy's production!
On Saturday, Sept. 1, vocalist Robin Adler and her guitarist husband Dave Blackburn will bring their all-star aggregation known as Mutts of the Planet into The Back Room at 98 Bottles for an evening of music composed by the brilliant songwriter Joni Mitchell.
"Our band Mutts of the Planet formed in late 2005 with the singular goal of exploring the music of Joni," says Adler. "We will be diving into probably our favorite Joni era-- her jazz years-- roughly 1975 to 1979. During this time she captured the attention of many of the world's most celebrated jazz artists, including Jaco Pastorious, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, and perhaps most impressively, Charles Mingus, who chose her to be his co-writer on a final project before he passed away."
I saw Mutts of the Planet do tribute to Mitchell's earlier work last November and was completely blown away. One of my favorite concerts of 2011, and I'm even more excited about this one because of the material.
"We'll be performing selections from The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, Hejira, Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, and Mingus albums," said Adler. "For this show, Dave and I will be joined by the virtuosity of Barnaby Finch on keys, our own local Jaco Pastorious, bassist Dan DiPietro, cooking drummer Danny Campbell, and making his official Mutts debut, pedal steel master Rick Schmidt."
I embraced Mitchell's music wholeheartedly in the early '80s after hearing the epochal live album Shadows & Light. I wasn't all that interested in vocalists at that point--I actually bought the album because Metheny and Lyle Mays were on it--and like a typical moron, I only listened to the cut "Pat's Solo," for several weeks. I put the whole record on one night to impress a girlfriend, ( this was "chick-music", right?), and, on the first listen--was moved to tears. The next day, I went to Tower Records and bought five more Mitchell albums-- and I have been a huge fan ever since.
All of these songs are sacred to me, and it's not easy to be impressed by anyone other than Mitchell performing them. Adler is a songbird and a musician of the highest order--she is one of the few vocalists on this planet who can pull this off.
The Back Room is a small venue that can fill up quickly. Last November, these guys packed the SD Wine & Culinary Center, so early arrival is definitely recommended.
This concert is a Chuck Perrin/ dizzy's production!