17 Jan 2006

Leading by Example

By Jeff Ignatius
Guinness World Records clearly did not get the memo on John Morrow. The man will not be denied. In the past two years, Morrow made three attempts to break the record for the number of push-ups in a minute.
03 Jan 2006

Demolition by Neglect

By Jeff Ignatius
The six houses on Fifth and Ripley streets - just north of the county jail and elevated railroad tracks - aren't much to look at. A glance suggests they should be torn down. Among other things, peeled paint, broken and boarded-up windows, graffiti, and missing gutters tell a story of long-term neglect.
03 Jan 2006

Newcomers Offer a Filling Blues Sampler

By Jeff Ignatius
Last year, the Mercury Brothers produced a CD, Whiskey Kisses, and won the Iowa Blues Challenge. Later this month, the quartet will compete in Memphis at the International Blues Challenge. Not bad for a band formed in February 2005.
27 Dec 2005

East Moline Gets Suckered

By Jeff Ignatius
It was disheartening last week to see the East Moline city council so eager for jobs that it lost all common sense and self-respect. On December 19 - just six days before Christmas and after less than three weeks of public deliberation - the council voted unanimously to approve a development agreement with Triumph Foods, which plans to build a $135-million hog-processing facility in the city.
27 Dec 2005

Extraordinary Music from the Margins of 2005

By Jeff Ignatius
Unless you're holed up in your bedroom poring over blogs and obscure magazines for the best music that isn't being hawked by the major labels, there's an excellent chance you're a bit lost in the current marketplace.
20 Dec 2005

Taking Control of Downtown

By Jeff Ignatius
Karl "Joe" Nissen certainly sounds frustrated. "It's really an uphill battle," he said of making improvements in East Moline's downtown area, with "20 percent of the people doing 80 percent of the work. ... It's like trying to push a rope up a hill.
20 Dec 2005

Contest Nets Bluebox Filmmakers New Laurels, Development Deal

By Jeff Ignatius
Technically, Scott Beck won mtvU's "Best Film on Campus" contest earlier this month. You'd just never know it from talking to him. Beck's trailer for his feature film University Heights won the competition - he wrote and directed the movie - but he never claims the project exclusively as his.
29 Nov 2005

Jazz on Steroids

By Jeff Ignatius
It's ironic that a band that can't choose a name can develop a sophisticated, comprehensive system of musical cues that allows every member to change (or merely anticipate) what's happening on stage, from tempo to key.
22 Nov 2005

Studio Effort Offers the Promise of the Live Band

By Jeff Ignatius
Like Michael Jordan's baseball career, the Grateful Dead's studio recordings were largely superfluous. The band gave the world legendary live performances, and that was more than enough. Those analogies might seem a little big for the Quad Cities' Strange Neighbors, which has been around since 1994 and is led by singer-songwriter-guitarist Dustin Cobb.
15 Nov 2005

Surrounding Himself with Music

By Jeff Ignatius
There was no logical reason for Bruce Katz to give up the life of a working musician. By the the late 1980s, Katz had toured with the likes of Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, and soul singer Barrence Whitfield. Equally adept in jazz and blues, and with the piano and the soulful Hammond B3 organ, Katz had built a solid career as a sideman.

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