07
Mar
2007
With all due respect to The Departed, the actual best picture of 2006 was one that didn't come to a theatre near you ... or, for that matter, to a theatre near anyone else.
Director Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke, a four-hour "requiem" focusing on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, has a scope, grandeur, and emotionalism that put the rest of 2006's output to shame - the documentary, available on DVD, made its debut on HBO last August - and much of its power can be traced to the extraordinary contributions of jazz musician Terence Blanchard, the acclaimed trumpet player here as the latest Quad City Arts Visiting Artist. (Blanchard will give a public performance at the Capitol Theatre on March 10.)
He
has the magisterial licks and unbound ambition of Billy Corgan
without the self-seriousness. He has the expressive, expansive
palette of Andrew Bird but with an arena-rock heart. He's an
insatiable omnivore like Mike Patton, stirring everything together
into a sometimes-ugly stew, but without the aggressiveness and with
most of the rougher edges buffed off. He has a fascination with twee
'60s pop, and with muscular prog rock.
Showcasing
acts from around the United States (including a number of Quad
Cities-area contributors), Hello
Future? is the latest
compilation from Radical Turf, the label of local musician and
producer Jeff Konrad. Touted as a "grab bag" of
electronic-oriented music, Hello
Future? is just that: There
are some treats that are keepers and some that will stay in the
bottom of the bag.
Keyboardist
Robert Irving III, Miles Davis' musical director for most of the
1980s, will be performing a concert and leading a workshop on Sunday,
February 18, at Davenport's River Music Experience.
Imagine if you will: You're six years old. You've been playing the violin for six months. And you're about to make your professional debut on live television.
The
third record from the Quad Cities' Minus Six, Hidden
Deep in the Green, has the
vibe of a musical-theatre soundtrack. If the idea of a pop record
that invokes Broadway makes you recoil in horror, then you're wise
to avoid this. If you're intrigued, you're likely to be carried
away by singer/songwriter Kevin Carton and his band.
Nancy
Schricker, the music teacher at Wilson Elementary in Davenport,
arrived to greet us with six students in tow. Debbie Bond - the
guitar player and bandleader for the the Alabama Blues Project, the
group that the Mississippi Valley Blues Society (MVBS) brought in for
a "Blues in the Schools" residency last November - told them,
"Some of the equipment will be heavy."
