Paul Metsa is writing a book

I can't wait to read this. I'm expecting colorful with a capital C. Both the stories and the writing.

Here's the press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OCTOBER 21, 2010
MINNESOTA SINGER-SONGWRITER
TELLS HIS OWN STORY

Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter Paul Metsa signed a book deal yesterday with the University of Minnesota Press to publish Metsa's memoirs, tentatively titled Sometime Over the Rainbow.

The book, which is scheduled for publication in the fall of 2011, chronicles Metsa's life and times—from his childhood on the Iron Range in Northern Minnesota and coming of age in the psychedelic Seventies, to honing his craft in Minneapolis in the Eighties, where he shared the same musical battleground as the Replacements, Hüsker Dü, and the artist once again known as Prince.

Metsa, who long ago dropped out of the University of Minnesota, remarked, “There’s a lesson here somewhere.”

To request an interview with Paul Metsa, please contact Kevin Avery at Mere Words Media Relations: 347.236.2649 or kevin@merewordsmedia.com. Visit the artist’s website at www.paulmetsa.com.


Photo of Paul Metsa by John Whiting. This was taken when Metsa opened for John Hammond at the Dakota in March 2010.

Jazz concert review: George Cartwright and Crux

When: Friday, Oct. 29 • Where: Whiteroom • Who: Crux: George Cartwright, saxophones; Andrew Broder, guitar; Tim Glenn, drums

Shortly before leaving for Jekyll and Hyde Come Alive at MacPhail, I saw a facebook posting from drummer Tim Glenn for “An Evening of Transparent Radiation” at a place called the Whiteroom on Jackson Street. Lights and production by Wonderhaus, sounds and drone by DJ Overzealous, three bands: Delta Lyrae, Crux, Dallas Orbiter.

It was Crux that pulled us there: George Cartwright, Andrew Broder, Tim Glenn. Cartwright, a saxophone and improvising monster, once a fixture in NYC at the Knitting Factory and now living in the Twin Cities, plays out too seldom (and updates his online calendar even less often, hint). The last time we saw him, at the Acadia with Davu Seru and Josh Granowski, the music was good but the room was bad. The new Acadia has shoved its stage into an acoustically crappy corner, and the people who sat directly in front of the stage were disrespectful. They behaved as if the three musicians playing their a**es off were a television someone had left on by mistake, so it was okay to laugh and talk loudly and carry on.

Back to Crux: Since we didn’t get out of MacPhail until after 10, I thought we might be too late, but we arrived just in time for their set.

Jazz concert review: Jekyll and Hyde Come Alive

When: Friday, Oct. 29 • Where: MacPhail Center for Music • Who: Nicollet Circus Band: Kelly Rossum, trumpet/director; Scott Agster, trombone; Chris Thomson, saxophones; Brandon Wozniak, saxophones; Bryan Nichols, piano; Brian Roessler, bass; Eric Strom, percussion; Steve Roehm, drumset

More jazz musicians are writing and performing live scores to silent movies, a kind of performance art that merges two worlds, jazz and film. My first taste of this was in February 2006 at the Walker Art Center, when John Zorn and Electric Masada played Zorn’s scores to experimental American films from the Walker's collection including Joseph Cornell’s Rose Hobart. Avant-garde art films plus avant-garde music doubled the fun.

In April 2009, we went to the Armatage Room (now closed) to see Patrick Harison play his score to Vittorio De Sica’s The Bicycle Thief. It was extraordinary, not only because of the music—solo accordion all the way—but also because this was my first time seeing an extended performance by Harison, one of the most consistently interesting artists on the Twin Cities music scene.

Earlier this month, Dave Douglas and Bill Morrison brought their Spark of Being project to the Walker. Trumpeter/composer Douglas and his band Keystone played Douglas’s music to Morrison’s film, a pastiche of archival and found footage retelling the Frankenstein myth. Both Douglas and Morrison used Shelley’s Frankenstein as “loose inspiration.” Neither the music nor the film was narrative, but it was a complete and provocative experience. Not just a movie with a soundtrack, but denser, more complex, often puzzling.

Marcus Printup's Hat

Marcus Printup rocks his hat, but then, he's Marcus Printup. He'd look cool and composed with a fake arrow through his head.

The Hats for Cats project abides. Coming soon: hats for Maud Hixson, Fred Hersch, and Craig Taborn.

The latest list of cats with hats:

Reid Anderson • Paul Aschenbrenner • Chris Bates • JT Bates • Leah Beach • Tim Berne • Don Berryman • Brian Blade • Walter Blanding • Leon “Chocolate” Brown • Andrea Canter • James Cammack • Laura Caviani • Larry Clothier • Pat Courtemanche • Chris Crenshaw • Dan Cunningham • Joe Doermann • John Economos • Craig Eichhorn • Dan Eikmeier • Michael Ekhaus • Kurt Elling • Jay Epstein • Douglas Ewart • Milo Fine • Arne Fogel • Scott Fultz • Larry Fuller • Vincent Gardner • Alvester Garnett • Rick Germanson • Ted Gioia • Dave Graf • Benny Green • Doug Haining • Roy Hargrove • Patrick Harison • Nancy Harms • Carlos Henriquez • Ruth Hiland • Laurence Hobgood • Kenny Horst • Ethan Iverson • Ali Jackson • Ahmad Jamal • Willard Jenkins • Gordy Johnson • Sean Jones • Stanley Jordan • Jason Jungbluth • Stefan Kac • Dave King • Mary Lewis • Michael Lewis • Wendy Lewis • Adam Linz • Dean Magraw • Wynton Marsalis • Charnett Moffett • Kristen Mors • Bryan Nichols • Phil Palombi • Lowell Pickett • Marcus Printup • Joshua Redman • Hank Roberts • Justin Robinson • Reuben Rogers • Christine Rosholt • Kelly Rossum • Maria Schneider • Lilly Schwartz • Jaleel Shaw • James Singleton • Greg Skaff • Tim Sparks • Maryann Sullivan • Chris Thomson • Deborah Upchurch • Jeremy Walker • Marsha Walker • Pete Whitman • John Whiting • Davis Wilson • Miguel Zenon

How strange and serendipitous that the email immediately following the one from Marcus included a link to a NYTimes review of a new book by Stephen Sondheim called Finishing the Hat. That is also the title of a Sondheim song with these lyrics:

However you live,
There's a part of you always standing by,
Mapping out the sky,
Finishing a hat...
Starting on a hat...
Finishing a hat...
Look I made a hat...
Where there never was a hat.

Fred Hersch on "Selling New York"

"Selling New York" is a realty reality show on HGTV in which teams of realtors (no, I will not capitalize that word) show and try to sell very high-end properties. It's condo porn, plain and simple, but oh so tasty.

In Episode HSNY-107H, "Extra Special Spaces," agents drum up interest in a $13 million Soho loft by inviting top brokers to a charity event in the space. The evening includes a performance by the great jazz pianist/composer Fred Hersch. He's not mentioned by name or listed in the credits but there he is at a lovely old Steinway starting at the -03:29 mark, near the end of the show.

Watch closely and you can glimpse him earlier, standing around and chatting. He plays for about ten seconds.

Jazz classes in Minneapolis

—KBEM/Jazz88 is partnering with Minneapolis Community Education to offer a series of classes led by show hosts from the radio station. Three classes have already happened: "REEL Jazz" hosted by Ed Jones, "The Big Band Scene" hosted by Jerry Swanberg, and "Hillbilly Jazz" hosted by Phil Nusbaum and Kevin Barnes.

Coming up:

• Wednesday, October 27: "Women in Jazz" with Maryann Sullivan, host of "Corner Jazz," and vocalist Maud Hixson. Washburn High School, 7 pm–9 pm.

• Wednesday, November 3: "Jazzin' the Blues" with Calvin Worthen, host of "Blue Friday."  Northeast Middle School, 7 pm–9 pm.

• Wednesday, November 10: "Bing, Frank and how the microphone changed singing
forever" with Arne Fogel, host of "The Bing Shift." Northeast Middle School, 7 pm–9 pm.
• Wednesday, November 17: "Jazz in the Spirit" with Michele Jansen and Steve Blons, hosts of "Jazz and the Spirit." Northeast Middle School, 7 pm–9 pm.

Cost for each class: $15, $10 for current Jazz88 members. Register online at Minneapolis Community Education. Jazz88 members, call the sites directly to register and receive the member discount.

—Stefan Kac is teaching a Jazz History and Listening class at the West Bank School of Music starting Wednesday, November 3. The class meets weekly from Nov. 3–Dec. 22, 7:30 pm–9 pm. His description: "Explore the history of recorded jazz music from its origins through the present day. Listening will be interspersed with discussion of relevant historical and technical topics." Cost for the series (12 hours): $145. I'm taking this class.

—Milo Fine and Stefan Kac are teaching an Improvised Music Workshop at Walker Community Church beginning Monday, November 15, and continuing weekly through December 13, 6:30 pm–9 pm. The five sessions will include private coaching, group sessions, and a concert performance. Cost for the workshop: $125. Open to musicians and would-be musicians at all levels of technique and experience. More information here.

Accordion-O-Rama Photos

Ready to go

Four accordions on one stage in a former Carnegie library in Zumbrota. I had heard about Accordion-O-Rama for years but we finally made it down ("down" meaning about 65 miles south of the Twin Cities) on Saturday night, Oct. 23. I was thoroughly charmed by the whole experience. Here are some photos from the evening. And here's my review.

The crowd gathers

L2R: Dan Newton, Patrick Harison, Simone Perrin, Denny Malmberg

Patrick Harison

Dan Newton

Denny Malmberg

Simone Perrin

L2R: Dan Newton, Patrick Harison, Simone Perrin, Denny Malmberg

 All performance photos by John Whiting.

Concert review: Accordion-O-Rama: Magic on a moonlit night in Minnesota

Originally published at MinnPost.com, Monday, Oct. 25, 2010 

Live music is about the music, of course, and the musicians, but it’s also about the setting. We all have our favorite place to hear music, whether it’s a booth at the Dakota or a bar stool at the Artists’ Quarter, the main floor at First Ave. or a corner table at a coffee shop.

Last Saturday night, the setting for Accordion-O-Rama was a Carnegie library in Zumbrota turned art gallery/concert hall, where nearly 100 people gathered to hear four accordionists from the Twin Cities.

Accordion-O-Rama, an annual event with a tongue-in-cheek name, was conceived in 2004 by Dan Newton, a.k.a. Daddy Squeeze, and Marie Marvin, who runs Crossings at Carnegie. The idea was to hold a miniature accordion festival, showcasing different musicians and musical styles, in a town where people were likely to show up, a stronghold of Polish and German heritage and polka.