Downtown Tucsonan - December 2007 - (Page 14)

Downtown by Jamie Manser ne of the joys of living in a downtown filled with amazing artists and musicians is enriched by the fact that these people also have giant hearts. time and again, the music community has come together to support their fellow man, be it for an individual or for a collective cause. sharing the love is the best gift that can be given, and the holiday season in tucson has some opportune shows to do just that. The Great Cover-Up returns to club congress (311 E. congress st.) for a three-night benefit, starting on thursday, december 6 and running through saturday, december 8. For the uninitiated, the event features local artists covering another band of their choosing with sets running about 20 minutes. Proceeds are donated to a local charity, which has historically been the Brewster center. as of press time, the line-up had yet to be solidified, but a visit to www. Hotelcongress.com closer to the event date should give you the information you seek. tickets are $8 for one night, $12 for two nights and $15 for a threenight pass. on Friday, december 14 club congress is also host to the Ch r i st m a s In Tucson cd release party. the 22-track disk was the brainchild of olivier Mosset, who also produced it; Elizabeth cherry was the coordinator and the solace Brothers’ John Polle was responsible for the graphics. the beefy album is easily a new favorite of mine and is an awesome gift to give to any fan of the tucson music scene. It’s a fabulous compilation of traditional tunes along with originals that cover the emotional gamut of happy, fun, tongue-in-cheek, pretty, and sad with styles all over the music map. contributing musicians include al Perry, Matt Mitchell, Lovemound, Little Black cloud, creosote, José saavedra & Elise duBord, naïm amor, Marianne dissard, the solace Brothers, Bob spasm, Blackwood & co. (clif taylor & Lucas Moseley), t-dub Rockers (tom walbank, nathan sabatino, dimitri Manos), al Foul, Mr. tidypaws. tracks 13-20 includes “the History of christmas as told by Bebe McPhereson” with the Pork torta, Bob Log III and B4sKIn with Electroshockbox. the album will surprise and delight, I promise. Live In order to get a copy, you’ll have to boogie on down to the congress on the 14th. the cover will cost a mere 5 bones, but throw down $10 and you’ll get the disk. the evening features the musicians on the album performing it in its entirety. Proceeds will be donated to the Primavera Foundation, www.Primavera.org. It’s a very worthy cause as the foundation “promotes economic and social justice while working to build a future in which all people are assured basic human rights, a livable income, and safe, affordable housing,” as stated on its website. the Rialto theatre (318 E. congress st.) will have Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s Wild and Swinging Holiday Party on Friday, december 14. www. Rialtotheatre.com. the surly wench (424 n. 4th ave.) is getting in on the holiday action with steamy shows by the Black Cherry Burlesque on tuesday, december 11 and Friday, december 14. the wench will also host the Al Foul & the Bongo Billy Band Xmas show on saturday, december 22. www. surlywenchPub.com. KXcI is having its annual Sonic Solstice broadcast on Monday, december 17 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. according to my records, this will be the 5th year for the show, which consists of local artists performing holiday tunes live on 91.3 FM. Locals Only dJ don Jennings said, “so far, we’ve confirmed Golden Boots, tracy shedd, nowhere Man & a whiskey Girl, silverthread trio, Grupo sonido, dusty Buskers, d. Mulligan, and Michael P. nordberg.” Starr Tracks dJ Laurie starr was still working on confirming more bands as of press time, but it’s clearly shaping up to be a great show! speaking of KXcI, their annual Calexico & Friends benefit takes place on Friday, december 28 at the temple of Music & art; 330 s. scott ave. tickets are $20 and are available on their website at www.KXcI.org/store. on thursday, december 20, club congress is the venue for another christmas show with Kool Shades. the kids, who recently graduated from high school, won a Battle of the Bands last year at the Rialto theatre. KXcI dJ don Jennings describes them as “fun, high energy, ska/reggae/ punk.” Rounding out the bill is captain squeegee and the Merry Magnanimous Christmas! o soapsuds and the Manhattan address. the Hut, 305 n. 4th ave., is the place to enjoy “It’s A Very Dusty Christmas” on sunday, december 23. the free show is hosted by the dusty Buskers who are inviting other local acts to perform. stuart oliver, mandolin and guitarist for the Buskers and the Hut’s booker/sound man, said, “the groups performing will be our nearest and dearest acts from over the past 2 years. there’s a rumor we’ll be airing the ‘Emmet otter’s Jug Band christmas’ Jim Henson film the entire time on the screen behind the stage.” For your new Years’ Eve shenanigans, Plush (340 E. 6th st.) is having a $10 bash with music by Haley Jane, Tryst and Leila Lopez. the cover includes a midnight champagne toast. www.Plushtucson.com. the Hut’s going to have Cosmic Slop and 8 Minutes to Burn for the 31st and congress is gearing up for a carnaval-themed celebration that evening. Naïm Amor Sanguine this 12-track album is by a transplanted Parisian, so it’s not a big surprise that most of the songs are sung in French. since my linguistic abilities don’t include French, I can’t comment on the lyrics. I can, however, say that musically it’s a beautiful album with gorgeous guitar and vocals. It’s warm, romantic and intriguing. It’s a perfect complement to a lovely dinner with red wine and candles. that isn’t to say that sanguine is best suited for background music, because it deserves full attention as a rich experience in and of itself. amor produced the cd with Joey Burns (calexico), played a bunch of the instruments, and wrote the majority of the songs - with help from Marianne dissard on two tracks. the title track was written by Jacques Prévert. other guest artists include John convertino, Marie Frank, Vicki Brown, Emilie Marchand, dan coleman. a cd release party is scheduled for sunday, december 2 at club congress. the BBQ shindig kicks off at 6 p.m. Listen to his tunes online at www. Myspace.com/naimamor. - Jamie Manser 14 downtown tucsonan.december.07 http://www.Primavera.org http://www.HotelCongress.com http://www.HotelCongress.com http://www.RialtoTheatre.com http://www.RialtoTheatre.com http://www.SurlyWenchPub.com http://www.SurlyWenchPub.com http://www.PlushTucson.com http://www.KXCI.org/store http://www.MySpace.com/NaimAmor http://www.MySpace.com/NaimAmor

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Downtown Tucsonan - December 2007

Downtown Tucsonan Contents From the Editor Downtown Lowdown Vital Signs Holiday Shopping Downtown Live Arts Galleries Performance Events and Film Holiday Events Museums Historic Downtown Billboard Classifieds

Downtown Tucsonan - December 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.