Citizen Staff Writer
Music

CHUCK GRAHAM

cgraham@tucsoncitizen.com

One of the things we know for sure, if more musicians had as much fun as Judy Roberts does playing for an audience, jazz would be a lot more popular. This energetic Chicago pianist, vocalist and singer of scat is a bundle of irrepressible energy with a big Tucson fan base.

Roberts’ musical chops and decades in the business have earned her several Grammy nominations, as well as first-place awards, in jazz polls by Downbeat and Playboy magazines. Her discography lists more than 20 albums.

She had a popular jazz hit with “Señor Blues,” based on the Horace Silver tune. Her rapid-fire delivery of the lyrics to Dave Frishberg’s “My Attorney Bernie” is a total hoot.

But most amazing is how it is impossible not to like this straight-ahead jazz entertainer. Even a world-class grump would finally have to lighten up in her presence because Roberts would just keep on playing her sunny songs filled with dazzling virtuosity until she got a grin.

The Los Angeles Times said it more simply. “At the piano (Roberts) smiles and her joy is obvious. She is simply a woman in love with her work.”

This weekend Roberts returns to the Baked Apple in company with her tenor sax-playing husband Greg Fishman, for a full-blown concert in St. Philip’s Plaza, presented by the Tucson Jazz Society. They will be joined onstage by Tucson’s own tenor colossus, Brice Winston. The possibility of some saxophone shoot-outs are ample.

For Roberts’ many fans here, the concert has been a long time coming.

“Back in the ’80s I played a lot in Tucson, at the Doubletree Inn,” says Roberts on the phone from Phoenix. “That’s where I met Yvonne (Ervin, former executive director of the Tucson Jazz Society) who invited me to be in the first TJS Prima Vera celebration of women in jazz.

“After Yvonne left TJS, it just wasn’t the same there anymore. But I’ve always loved Tucson. My sister Hallie Loewy lives there. She’s a massage therapist.

“Greg loves it there. He has some students there and always says we picked the wrong city to move to.”

Last year Roberts and Fishman moved permanently from Chicago to Phoenix, where she has wintered now and then over the years. It was during those Phoenix winters that she would jump down Interstate10 for sisterly visits here and a string of very hot club dates, which were always packed.

“We had some incredibly successful shows at the Old Pueblo Grille,” Roberts remembers. Those were in more recent times. What kept eluding Roberts was a return to TJS’ big stage events like the Prima Vera showcase. Now she is coming back to town and expectations are high.

Roberts simply has the knack for engaging an audience and holding everyone’s attention. She says it all begins with the musicians.

“Communication is all about sharing. So the first thing I do is catch the eye of the other band members. When that happens and we are all communicating with each other, the audience instantly feels that, which makes the audience light up.” Roberts makes it sound so easy.

Choosing the right songs is also important. She begins with the Great American Songbook.

“That’s where the good stuff is,” Roberts insists. From there she adds bebop tunes (often with a scat line), Latin, blues and soulful ballads, stringing together play lists that stretch from “Route 66″ to “Take the A Train,” from “A Night In Tunisia” to “What A Difference A Day Makes.”

For sure, Roberts will spend her evening in Tucson slinging notes in all directions. But the one thing you can count on, she will be loving every minute of it.

IF YOU GO

What: Judy Roberts and Greg Fishman in concert with Brice Winston

When: 7 p.m. Sunday

Where: St. Philip’s Plaza, 4280 N. Campbell Ave., at East River Road

Price: $20 general admission, $15 members, $10 students

Info: 903-1265, www.tucsonjazz.org

Citizen Staff Writer
Music

CHUCK GRAHAM

cgraham@tucsoncitizen.com

Smooth jazz guitarist Craig Chaquico (once a member of the high-flying Jefferson Starship rock band) steps onstage in Tucson this weekend, joined by the Phoenix-based Turning Point, a genre-blending quintet that fuses elements of rock, funk, blues, Greek and Latin.

For Chaquico, this is just the latest twist in a career that’s been a long and winding road. The musician’s living room walls are lined with 20 neatly framed gold records, mileposts of a career that began when he was 16 and an unofficial member of Jefferson Airplane.

Then Grace Slick and Paul Kantner invited young Chaquico to be a permanent member of the re-tooled Jefferson Starship, which morphed into the more galactic Starship before its rockin’ rocket ride crashed back to Earth.

Reinventing himself in 1993, Chaquico recorded his first take on smooth jazz with “Acoustic Highway.” That was followed by the Grammy-nominated “Acoustic Planet” in 1994.

As the smooth jazz sound was developing into its own genre, those two albums attracted the attention of such pioneers in the movement as Richard Elliot, Warren Hill and Peter White.

Meanwhile, up Interstate-10, the Sahnas brothers were developing their unique multiple-fusion sound that would become Turning Point.

“We’re players with diverse musical influences that stuff as many different genres as we can into a contemporary jazz box,” said Thano Sahnas. With sibling Demitri, the two began began playing traditional Greek instruments. Moving to Spanish guitars, they developed their native Greek music into a broader Mediterranean sound. Soon their repertoire stretched from Mykonos to Madrid.

After that, their southern Arizona influences took over. Latin rhythms were filled out, jazz improvisations were added. Turning Point became the Sahnas brothers plus three, a band quickly noted for its versatile sound.

The other members are John Herrera, drums and percussion; Steven Culp, keyboards; and Dominic Amato, saxophone.

“We are going to play all the songs that people hope we’ll play, Turning Point favorites through the years,” Sahnas said. “A large part of the program is completely improvisational, as you’ll see when we collaborate with Craig.”

IF YOU GO

What: Guitarist Craig Chaquico joins Turning Point in concert

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Where: The Arizona Ballroom of the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort, 3800 W. Starr Pass Blvd.

Price: $30 in advance, $35 day of the show, $75 VIP seating; children 12 and younger are admitted free

Info: 429-9803, www.azentertainmentandevents.com

Citizen Staff Writer
Music

CHUCK GRAHAM

cgraham@tucsoncitizen.com

This weekend, jazz musicians will be setting up their gear at Plaza Palomino on the southwest corner of North Swan Road and East Fort Lowell Road, for the all-free Tucson Jazz Fest featuring six hours of straight-ahead jazz in a format that guarantees all jazz all the time.

“Each band plays an hour, with 15-minute breaks to change bands. During the breaks, Nick Stanley will play piano,” says Tony Frank, the festival director. Frank is also a trumpet player, bandleader and the founder of TucsonJazzRadio.org, one of the festival sponsors.

Also pitching in to help provide a free event are the merchants of Plaza Palomino and community radio station KXCI 91.3 FM.

“Every major city has an annual free jazz concert,” Frank says emphatically. “Detroit has the best one. But I wanted this to be a free jazz gift to the community.

“This is our art form. It belongs to all of us, so I wanted everybody to come, not just the people from the foothills.”

The Tucson Jazz Fest lineup is a blend of polished professionals and enthusiastic students. Brass instruments lead the professional lineup.

There is Tuba Madness with bottom-end virtuosos Daniel “Sly” Slipetsky and Hank Feldman. The two have recorded an album together, “Vida Rica,” and plan on some dueling banjo-type competition jams worthy of those dancing hippos in Walt Disney’s classic “Fantasia.”

Slipetsky appears more frequently around town as a pianist but has played both instruments since his early student days. Feldman is a career educator and former director of the University of Arizona marching band.

Taking the co-headliner role is Trombone Madness featuring trombonists Rob Boone, Andrew Thompson and Jose Barnett. All three ‘bone men have deep performance experience in jazz, as well as with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. Boone is a member of both the Original Wildcat Jass Band and Big Band Express. Thompson and Barnett pump up the trombone line for the Latin jazz band Descarga.

Slipetsky will double on piano for Trombone Madness. Boone will double on piano for Tuba Madness. Accompanying all that brassy madness will be Jack Wood, bass, and Doug Davis, drums.

Representing the emerging talents are members of the Pima Community College big band led by saxophonist Mike Kuhn and guest trumpet artist Glenn Gross, the Central Arizona College Jazz Ensemble led by trumpeter Rick Moore, and the Tucson Jazz Society’s own student big band JazzWerx led by touring tenor saxophonist and recording artist Brice Winston.

While the entrepreneurial Frank has produced other daylong jazz festivals in the Baked Apple over the years, this one is particularly special. He is dedicating the event to his mother Leah Betts and to his friend Steve Emerine. Both died recently.

“My mom and I always worked together on the celebrity fundraising golf event Swing For Life,” Frank says. “We produced them annually for 10 years. She was such a positive influence for me.”

“Steve was one of my mentors, and he was always the first guy to throw $10 in the tip jar at my gigs,” Frank continued. “He’d never ask me, ‘How are you doing?’ He’d ask, ‘What are you thinking?’ He had that spirit right up to the end.”

IF YOU GO

What: Tucson Jazz Fest

When: noon-6 p.m. Saturday

Where: Plaza Palomino, North Swan Road at East Fort Lowell Road

Price: admission is free

Info: 203-7901, or e-mail tucsonjazzradio@hotmail.com

The performance schedule is:

noon – JazzWerx led by Brice Winston

1:15 p.m. – Central Arizona College jazz ensemble led by Rick Moore

2:30 – Tuba Madness with Hank Feldman and Daniel “Sly” Slipetsky

3:45 – Trombone Madness with Rob Boone, Andrew Thompson and Jose Barnett

5 – Pima Community College big band led by Mike Kuhn with Glenn Gross

Citizen Staff Writer
Stage

CHUCK GRAHAM

cgraham@tucsoncitizen.com

The Chinese like to say it is bad luck to be born in interesting times.

But even though St. Louis native Ken Page, born in 1954, spent his life and his show business career surviving turbulent racial change, the assassination of several American leaders and the AIDS crisis, he turned the experience into a one-man performance of Broadway hits that has been called “lusty, life-affirming, yet also haunting.”

The Broadway star has titled his singing autobiography “Page By Page,” which he brings to the Berger Performing Arts Center for two performances this weekend, presented by Invisible Theatre.

“Page By Page”celebrates a barrier- busting life that began when he was an African-American teen playing the Jewish tradition-loving Tevye in a Catholic high school production of “Fiddler on the Roof.”

When young Page played Horace Vandergelder in his high school production of “Hello, Dolly!” the casting made classroom history as the first interracial couple ever to appear on the school’s stage.

In the early 1970s those were big steps, Page recalled, and he’s always been very proud of taking them.

Coming of age when national political figures were being murdered for their beliefs, he bemoans the losses of “Martin, Malcolm, Medgar and both Kennedys.” Social issues have continued to be important to this performer. In 1973 Page saw his first touring Broadway show, “Seasaw.”

“I was mesmerized,” he told one reporter. “Not only with the show but with the people in it. They were short, tall, Asian, black, white.”

Just three years later Page was on Broadway himself, playing another white guy, Nicely-Nicely Johnson in an all-African American production of “Guys and Dolls.” It is Nicely-Nicely, we remember, who sings the show-stopping “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat.”

In 1977 Page had the transitional role of the Lion in the African-American adaptation of “The Wizard of Oz,” known as “The Wiz.” But the next year, Page truly blossomed, winning the Drama Desk Award for his portrayal of Fats Waller in “Ain’t Misbehavin’.”

There’s lots more to “Page By Page,” including his casting as Old Deuteronomy in the original production of “Cats” in 1982. Borrowing from that experience Page’s show also includes “Memory,” the signature song from “Cats,” which he performs as a poignant remembrance of his peers lost in the AIDS plague.

“I haven’t looked at the world in the same way since,” he has said.

On the life-affirming side, Page also tells stories of our shared humanity and works through a 25-song list that includes “Summertime Love,” “Bloody Mary,” “Broadway Baby,” “Ease on Down the Road,” “Ferry Cross the Mersey” and “Honeysuckle Rose.”

Actor re-creates roles he’s had, including as white characters

IF YOU GO

What: Invisible Theatre presents Ken Page’s “Page By Page” musical autobiography

When: 8 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday

Where: Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway Blvd.

Price: $42 general admission; group discounts available

Info: 882-9721, www.invisibletheatre.com

Citizen Staff Writer
Variation on a theme

CHUCK GRAHAM

cgraham@tucsoncitizen.com

Beethoven won’t be rolling over, but he will be portrayed in sort of a buddy-movie setting with Arizona Theatre Company’s production of “Beethoven, As I Knew Him,” written and performed as a one-man/one-piano show by Hershey Felder.

This completes Felder’s triumvirate of stage works based on pivotal composers. He began with George Gershwin, then continued with Frédéric Chopin. Both works have been presented by ATC, as well.

The familiar Beethoven biography of greatness followed by deafness receives an oblique treatment as Felder tells the story through the eyes of Gerhard von Breuning 43 years after the German composer’s passing. Von Breuning is remembering how he was the lad at Beethoven’s side for much of the last two years of the man’s life. It was von Breuning’s father who was Beethoven’s friend. The boy grew up to be a physician. Now he looks back on his youth spent with his father in the company of such a musical genius.

“As musicians we know these stories about the famous figures in music history. Von Breuning would have been 12 to 14 years old when he knew Beethoven, a young man who is completely enamored of the great man,” Felder says, on the phone and freshly arrived in the United States from Paris.

“Being so young, he could say things about Beethoven that no one who is older would say. That’s what I liked about this relationship. It gave me more freedom as a writer and also made it more like a buddy movie.”

There being few accomplished actors who are also accomplished concert pianists, Felder doesn’t expect there will be many productions of these works except his own. To date he has performed “Beethoven, As I Knew Him” with extended runs in Los Angeles and San Diego. ATC will add Tucson and Phoenix to the itinerary.

As the playwright for this unique series, Felder says by now the work has become faster to create, but not easier.

“I’ve learned a lot of things that I know will never work (in this particular type of show). That means I don’t have to try those anymore. But each play is different so I’m always looking for things that will work. That is always hard,” Felder says.

One thing that does work is to write the script first, then let the script dictate which music to select. Felder emphasizes that what is most important is being able to strike the right balance between the person and the music.

“You do have to include some of the greatest hits; that’s a given,” Felder says. “But some familiar pieces just won’t fit into this setting, while others may be too complicated to be effective.”

“Beethoven, As I Knew Him” is a stage play, not a concert. Felder plays Beethoven, and the boy. He also portrays the boy after he’s grown, telling additional stories about the composer. So the music comes in shorter bursts, so to speak, serving more as mileposts of artistic achievement.

Included on the song list is the “Moonlight Sonata,” “The Pathetique Sonata,” selections from Beethoven’s fifth and ninth symphonies, and a movement of the “Emperor Concerto.”

“We start with the first thing he wrote, then go to the familiar works, then include some less familiar,” Felder says.

He says that after each performance people will ask why he didn’t include this piece or that one, selections that are more obscure.

“On the obscure pieces,” he begins, a smile in his voice, “it is important to remember, after 200 years of history, there are probably good reasons why those obscure pieces are still obscure.”

IF YOU GO

What: Arizona Theatre Company presents “Beethoven, As I Knew Him” by Hershey Felder

When: 7:30 p.m. preview Thursday, opening 7:30 p.m. Friday, continuing at various times (including several matinee performances) Tuesdays through Sundays through April 27

Where: Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave.

Price: $31-$54

Info: 622-2823, aztheatreco.org

Citizen Staff Writer
Stage

CHUCK GRAHAM

cgraham@tucsoncitizen.com

Revisionist literature? Well, sure, why not? Joseph McGrath the founding artistic director of The Rogue Theatre decided to start moving around some of Shakespeare’s most famous ladies, exploring their possible needs as people living outside the pages of their famous stories.

Titling the work “Immortal Longings,” he begins imagining how Juliet (Dallas Thomas) would have enjoyed getting to know Romeo a little better. From here, he creates an entire society of literary ladies fulfilling their dreams.

It’s a little bit like journalists wondering what it would be like to live in an enlightened culture where the role of journalism was revered; where those who served as watchdogs to guard the public’s interests were considered valued members of society.

McGrath so immersed himself in the possibilities, he even caught the longer rhythms and elaborate sentence structure of Shakespeare’s time. It must have been a bit like speaking in tongues, letting the spirit take him over as angry Kate (Alida Holguin Gunn), cold-blooded Lady Macbeth (Cynthia Meier), gender-bending Viola (Holly-Marie Carlson), airy Ophelia (Laine Peterson), stately Portia (Lesley Abrams), quick-tongued Beatrice (Avis Judd), witty Rosalind (Chelsea Bowdren), queenly Cleopatra (Susan Arnold) and the most unfortunate Desdemona (Maxine Gillespie) joined Juliet to air their differences with the Bard.

Viola and Rosalind, given their Shakespearian conception as women pretending to be men, continue this dual purposing of gender to help facilitate the play’s structure. There isn’t a plot, exactly, but a trial. In the opening scene, Juliet interrupts her own death scene to complain she is tired of dying. After centuries of frustration, she wants to live!

Portia steps forward to be the judge, appointing Viola and Rosalind – both attired in manly garb – to be the judge’s attendants. The other prominent women who sprung from Shakespeare’s pen would step forward to testify both for and against Juliet’s request. In a most judicial voice Portia calls to order a court she describes as “a gathering of queens, cross-dressers, murderers and shrews.”

To keep audience members brushed up on their Shakespeare, each woman gets to enact one famous scene from her own story. Viola and Rosalind, dressed for their “trouser roles,” play whatever men are needed for the appropriate accompaniment.

Then the ladies each make a speech defending her position on Juliet’s plea to live a little longer. Thomas, as the star-crossed teen holding a bottle of poison, is impressive stepping out of Juliet’s traditional personality but staying in character to ask for a better deal than fate has handed her.

Juliet’s main opposition comes from an imposing Meier, dominant in her red gown and gold crown as Lady Macbeth. Snuffing out any hopes Juliet had to make her case, Lady M’s smothering accusations give Juliet fits.

“Have you no mercy,” the girl finally cries out in frustration.

“Have you read my play?” snaps Lady Macbeth, getting a big laugh.

But it is Ophelia, providing the comedy relief, who makes the strongest impression. Peterson steals her every scene, playing Ophelia in a long, white, ghostly dress with trailing strands of seaweed and water plants wrapped around her neck.

Completely mad, yet glowing with a guileless innocence, she charms everyone with her simple-minded manner. At times, her stage image is also strangely reminiscent of Stevie Nicks during her rock ‘n’ roll days with Fleetwood Mac. A rather fascinating interpretation, when you think about it.

As for the resolution, well that is the whole point of this play, isn’t it. McGrath is clever enough to sidestep any strident ending. Wisdom will make its own points.

Bard’s ‘Immortal’ women refuse to suffer slings & arrows

IF YOU GO

What: The Rogue Theatre presents the world première of “Immortal Longings” by Joseph McGrath

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, to April 5; preshow Elizabethan music 15 minutes before each curtain

Where: Zuzi’s Dance Theatre, 738 N. Fifth Ave.

Price: $20 general admission; pay-what-you-will Thursday and April 2

Info: 551-2053, www.theroguetheatre.org

grade: B

Citizen Staff Writer
Music

OTTO ROSS

ottoross@tucsoncitizen.com

Hard work pays off. At least it’s beginning to for members of the local indie-rock band Holy Rolling Empire.

After years of playing the Tucson music scene and working as bartenders and construction workers, the blue-collar musicians have signed with Burning House Records and will have a release party for their first full-length album, “Gigantis,” March 6 at Club Congress.

“This album is about overcoming a lot of things that we’ve all had to go through in the last couple of years just to get to the point of writing a full-length,” says Orin Shochat, lead singer and keyboardist. “This album is about the sacrifices of being in a band.”

“Gigantis” is the group’s first album since 2006, when, under the band name The Crowd, the members released an EP. While the EP received favorable recognition within the local community, the group strived to create a full-length record. It was a connection through another Tucson group that would get the wheels of “Gigantis” rolling.

“Our record owner signed (Tucson’s) The American Black Lung and (ABL) said that we were good guys and that we work hard so (the record owner) decided to try us out and everything has been going good since,” bassist Bryan Moran says.

As soon as Holy Rolling Empire signed with Burning House, the members quickly began work on “Gigantis,” which they say is a far cry from their original EP.

“Everything has changed,” Shochat says. “We put so much more time and creative energy into this new album with interludes and outros and different instruments that we used on it. The songs themselves are more structured and mature. The sound itself is just a lot different.”

It doesn’t take long to hear the “difference” in the band’s new songs. “Bipolar Bear Mania,” on HRE’s Myspace page, is a prime example of the polished and intricate music that appears to have been produced with “Gigantis.” The song showcases a perfect blend of Shochat’s smooth vocals mixed seamlessly with the band’s unique and fun style of pop rock. HRE guitarist Ian Carstensen hails the band’s new album as “a total reformation of (the members) as musicians and as people.”

It is this reformation that the band plans to bring to Club Congress for its CD release party. Included in the $10 cover is a copy of the new album – as well as a damn good time, Shochat says.

“(Fans) go to the show to have a good time, so I feel like it’s my personal mission to make sure that everyone is having a good time. If that’s it, if they hated the music but still had a good time, it’s a success.”

Burning House Records helped the band create its new masterpiece and has even taken on some of the more mundane tasks of preparing for shows, guitarist Noah Horton says.

“It’s really interesting for the first time to have our label tell us, ‘You’re going to have a publicist and she’s going to do this for you,’ ” Horton says. “We’re thinking, for the first time, ‘We don’t have to sit down and e-mail these people and try to promote for these shows?’ ”

These added perks don’t mean that the boys of HRE have gotten lazy. Until they build an empire of fame and fortune, these holy rollers still have to keep their day jobs. This leaves a very small margin of time for band practice.

“There are three of us doing construction now who wake up super early in the morning, and two of us who are bartenders who stay up until 4 in the morning,” Horton says.

“So we meet right around 6 to practice,” Moran interjects.

After a brief pause, Horton has a revelation.

” ‘The hardest working band in Tucson.’ That could be your headline.”

Blue-collar Holy Rolling Empire throwing release party

IF YOU GO

What: Holy Rolling Empire CD release Party, with Mostly Bears, American Black Lung Transfer, The Ottersey

When: 7 p.m. Friday

Where: Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St.

Price: $10 with CD, $6 without

Info: 622-8848, www.hotelcongress.com

Citizen Staff Writer
Music

BRIAN MORI

Tucson Citizen

Tucsonans who like the frenetic rhythms of Mexican quintet Kinky will probably revel in the band’s newest CD, “Barracuda.”

“It is more aggressive than the others and resembles the live energy
we have,” Kinky guitarist Carlos Chairez says during a phone interview.
“It’s a little mean, a little mysterious. The Barracuda is always in
the dark and it’s ready to grab anything that passes by.”

The album is a continuation of the band’s sonic exploration and defies categorization.

“The ideal fan is one that is craving new stuff,” he says. “We’re
characterized as electronic but we love rock and a lot of different
genres . . . Live, we experiment with the songs. We rock it a lot
more.”

Kinky’s music, about two-thirds of which is in Spanish, is a
high-speed fusion of ’80s and ’90s electronica, rock, some jazz, and
regional Mexican stylings. Also in the mix: synthesized audio, heavy
percussion, guitar and even some accordion.

“A lot of people have tried to categorize the music but we cannot
really put any labels on it because we have been invited to play rock
bars and jazz festivals,” Chairez says.

In many of their songs, the group combines several of these genres
to create a musical gumbo of sounds. In others, the sound is almost so
mainstream American rock, it could easily throw off the unfamiliar
listener.

“(Kinky) is about going further. In a sexual connotation or a musical context, it means the same to us,” Chairez explains.

Much of what Kinky sings about can be interpreted in different ways,
subtly or blatantly referring to sex, politics, love, party life, or
simply putting creative spins on mundane everyday events.

Songs from “Barracuda” vary, from the bawdy “Those Girls” to “Hasta Quemarnos,” a command to dance “until we burn.”

“We’re not (too) crazy but we can definitely back the lyrics,” says
Chairez, revealing that some band members’ experiences with drugs in
the party scene influence their music.

The party spirit continues at Kinky concerts, where the band strives to get the crowd moving.

“It’s about celebrating the energy of music,” Chairez says.

IF YOU GO

What: Kinky in concert, with The Jons opening

When: Doors open at 9 p.m. Friday

Where: Club Congress. 311 E. Congress St.

Price: $14 in advance, $16 day of the show.

Info: 622-8848, www.hotelcongress.com

Citizen Staff Writer
Music

STEPHEN ROSANELLI

Special to Metromix.com

American Android going commercial? Say it ain’t so!

Far from selling out, frontman Carlos Arzate in a recent interview explains the shift in their musical paradigm on the Tucson band’s upcoming (as of yet, untitled) record.

“This album has radio potential, and we’re taking our time on it. It definitely has a more commercial sound and we’re not making any apologies for that,” Arzate says. “We just want people to hear the music and think about what it has to say.”

Metromix caught up with Arzate and rhythm guitarist Sergio Mireles in the studio while they were laying down a track for the new CD.

With bare-bones approach and a ProTools setup and just enough gear to get the job done, Ultraviolet Studios is a study in minimalism. That’s fine with members of the band, though. As yet unsigned, they have high hopes for their first full-length album, which will be done by March.

“This is going to be our breakout year” proclaims Arzate, who, with his band performs Friday at The Hut during the Bands for Breasts concert, a benefit for breast cancer.

The group’s EP, “Silent Partner,” was well received and had a polished yet unmistakable, indie rock sound that’s been described (by us) as “Red Hot Chili Peppers meets Soundgarden singing lyrics penned by Rage Against the Machine.”

They’ve played just about everywhere in Tucson and Phoenix there is to play, and are ready to tour the U.S.

While never being preachy, American Android, formed in 2005, has always had a purpose. Arzate explains the meaning behind the band’s sometimes polarizing name.

“I was at a point in my life where I was beginning to buy into what I felt like I was supposed to be doing. You have a kid, you have a 9-to-5 job, and that’s all you do,” he says. “My body felt sick, I felt like I was turning into an android. I’m not saying that kind of life is wrong for everyone, it just wasn’t the right life for me, and that’s what this music is about. You don’t have to believe everything that the media tells you – you can make your own decisions.”

Mireles offers his own explanation of the band name: “An android is something that appears to be real, but it’s all an illusion. It’s just a cold, hard machine underneath with no real substance. American Android isn’t meant to be a critique of American society; it’s a call to arms.”

The band – Arzate, Mireles, Kenyon Hood (lead guitar), Matthew Shepherd (drums) and Alex Laetsch (bass) – has a strong local following. During the interview at Zachary’s Pizza (near the University of Arizona) a waitress happened to be wearing an American Android shirt. Everyone in the place seemed to know the guys in the band, which seemed on par for a group that alternatively lists love, life, family, injustice, liberty, progress, beauty and the pursuit of happiness as influences on their MySpace page.

IF YOU GO

What: American Android in concert

When: 10:30 p.m. Friday. The Bands for Breasts benefit concert for breast cancer kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday and continues at 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

Where: The Hut, 305 N. Fourth Ave.

Price: $10 one night, $25 for all three

Info: 623-3200, www.myspace. com/thehuttucson

Citizen Staff Writer
Stage

CHUCK GRAHAM

cgraham@tucsoncitizen.com

You can have many friends in life, but you only get one Dad. But if you’re a guy, you also get three great women.

These are lessons we learn in Chazz Palminteri’s intense, expressive telling of “A Bronx Tale,” now playing downtown through the weekend.

This is personal storytelling at its most compelling; open-collar portrayals of the need for grace in the blue-collar lives of Italian-Americans determined to stand tall in shop-worn neighborhoods where criminals with lots of money have the most status.

Drawing on his own experiences growing up at the corner of 187th Street and Belmont Avenue in the Bronx, Palminteri wrote this 90-minute play for 18 characters. Then he spent a year in private rehearsals, learning how to perform all the roles himself, with no costume changes, no props and only one set – a towering apartment house stoop, the boxed-in window of the bar next door called Chez Joey and, of course, that street lamp where the murder occurred that set the course of 9-year-old Calogero’s life forever.

Covering the span from 1960 to 1968, the exact time when society went into a cultural free-fall after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, there is little of the psychedelic questioning that splashed across the 6 o’clock news every evening. Instead of new values, there were the traditional – family values that would be revered by fathers with day jobs and godfathers with guns.

The very idealism that was disappearing from life in the better suburban neighborhoods and city parks around the country was being validated in this one vital street corner in the Bronx. Sometimes with violence, sometimes with harsh words spoken by brave men who depended on the truth to be their strongest weapon. This is the appeal of Palminteri’s story.

“I don’t know why it works,” Palminteri says of his performance. “I just know it works. I see it happen night after night.”

Opening night in the Tucson Music Hall, it happened again. The curtain comes up, with a doo-wop song playing and Palminteri standing with his back to the audience, snapping his fingers in time to the music.

Then he turns around and starts telling animated stories about the crazy nicknames of all the wise guys who hung out at the bar next door to his apartment building at 667 E. 187th St.

There was Frankie Coffeecake with a pockmarked face; Jo Jo the Whale, a short guy weighing almost 400 pounds; and the most-unfortunate Eddie the Moosh, a hard-luck guy everybody knew as the world’s worst gambler.

There was Calogero, who – at age 9 – idolized all these low-budget wise guys. Then we get to the magnificent Sonny, a true Lord of the Streets whose sense of fashion and body language was given to slender shoes and gestures with the kind of flare that would humble the most powerful symphony conductor.

Sonny’s podium was under the street lamp, where he watched over his domain, keeping the criminals in line and keeping the working stiffs with families out of the line of fire.

Young Calogero’s favorite spot was the stoop, just opposite the street lamp, where he spent all the time when he wasn’t in school. So one morning, right before wide-eyed Calogero’s innocent face, two men attack each other and Sonny steps up to kill one of them in cold blood.

The kid is the only witness, and refuses to identify Sonny to the cops. The boy’s father, Lorenzo, doesn’t like policemen either, but tells Calogero, “You did a good thing for a bad man.”

Sonny, meanwhile, becomes Calogero’s guardian on the crime scene – more to keep an eye on the kid than anything else. But friendship and respect grows between them. At the same time, Lorenzo is determined to keep his young son from being seduced into the life of a wise guy.

Then Palminteri jumps ahead to Calogero at age 17, filled with sexual desire and in love with an African-American girl. Sonny thinks the mixed-race relationship is OK, but Lorenzo’s dead set against it. When Calogero’s heart confuses his mind, violence erupts.

As this arc of experience evolves, Palminteri quickens the pace. His voice and his gestures often combine to create the cinematic feel of quick edits. Voice changes are accelerated by sharp hand claps. A quick nod, a jerk of the shoulders, Sonny’s stylized gestures go spinning into emotional chaos.

The technical aspects of his performance, alone, would be remarkable. But really what Palminteri wants to celebrate is not the urban illusions of stree-corner criminals but the proud sacrifice of these working-class men for whom their own families are kingdom enough.

IF YOU GO

What: Broadway in Tucson presents “A Bronx Tale” starring Chazz Palminteri

When: 730 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday

Where: Tucson Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave.

Price: $25-$65, with discounts

Info: 321-1000, broadwayintucson.com

Grade: A+

Freelance
Music

Nicole Cassese

Special to Metromix.com

Jan. 17 sees the official release party for the self-titled debut album from Mariachi Static at The Rock. And, no, it’s not a mariachi group, though the music is often acoustic-based.

The indie rock band – Alex Gilblom (singer, rhythm guitar and main songwriter), Bobby Keene (saxophone, bass), Nick Veomett (lead guitar) and Ian T. Montgomery (drums) – has been together a little more than a year. For their first gig, the group competed in the Tucson Acoustic Battle of the Bands in November 2007.

We caught up with Gilblom and Keene via e-mail recently to pick their brains about all things Mariachi Static — how the four factor in school, what inspires the songwriting and how Warren Zevon left an indelible mark.

What was the inspiration for your first album, and how long did it take to record?

Alex: It took about 18 months, since we’re all full-time students. . . . I sort of take over the process and record when I’m free since the studio is in my house. When there’s a space for a guitar solo, I’ll ask Nick to come in and do it since he’s an excellent lead guitarist in the vein of Eric Clapton and George Harrison. I hope our next CD features more of Nick. I’m lucky to be given so much freedom by my bandmates. . . . Life inspired the music. It could be described as somewhat of a downer, but it’s not whiny. Life isn’t always ecstatic and I can’t find it in myself to write things I’m not feeling. . . . The song “It Won’t Kill You” deals with watching my mom go through chemotherapy for breast cancer two years ago. (She survived.) That definitely put me in a bad mood and paved the way for cynical writing like the first two tracks, “Til Bored Do Us Part” and “Newborn Prayer.” . . . The idea is balance, because I appreciate the humor in sounding so happy about something so miserable.

Has MS received positive feedback from fans or venues?

Bobby: Our friend owns a cafe (the Glass Onion) which features music on Fridays and has given us a new audience and they give us great feedback. A lot of positive comments come from them, especially our covers of the Beatles.

Tell us about the inspiration behind one of your songs.

Alex: “Tokyo Rose” is my take on right-wing talk radio. The narrative is sarcastic in tone but comes off as sincere: a left-leaning soldier who keeps hearing Rush Limbaugh (or insert your favorite political commentator here) on the radio saying he’s an idiot for his views while he’s the one out there fighting the war. . . . He’s sarcastically saying, “Yes, you’re right, I have no mind of my own and I’m out here with my gun and my radio and the second “Tokyo Rose” gets on and says I should surrender, I’m going to, because after all, I’m weak and I vote for Democrats.”

Your band got its name from a Warren Zevon tune. Can you explain the song and why you chose to name your group after it?

Alex: I love Warren Zevon. . . . I regret that I never got to see him live. In his song “Carmelita,” he sings achingly to his girlfriend in L.A. about the pain he feels watching his life go down the drain because of his heroin addiction. Part of his first-person narrative is, “I hear mariachi static on my radio/ And the tubes they glow in the dark/And I’m there with her in Ensenada/And I’m here in Echo Park.” It’s beautiful, sad music and I feel as though I write the same way.

With all the members of MS in school, does the band come first? Any rock star dreams?

Alex: Being a rock star means different things now than it used to. . . . Did you know that our own local Tucson band, The Bled, released major-label records and toured internationally for six years but many of their members still have to work full-time day jobs? . . . I guess rich doesn’t go with famous anymore. I would just like to have an audience that appreciates the music and wants more. . . . I’d love to do it full time but there’s probably not enough money in all the local music done in Tucson to support my lifestyle. That’s why I’m getting an engineering degree. My bandmates are all very educated and have high hopes as well for their futures.

What would you say to people who have never heard of your band?

Bobby: To give us a listen. We’re a hardworking band and we’re getting better all the time.

IF YOU GO

What: Mariachi Static CD release party, with Triple Double, John Clark, Tragik Ruins and Kings of Arizona

When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: The Rock, 136 N. Park Ave.

Price: $7 in advance (at myspace.com/mariachistatic), $9 at the door

Info: 629-9211, rocktucson.com

Citizen Staff Writer
Culture

CHUCK GRAHAM

cgraham@tucsoncitizen.com

The very nature of music’s aesthetic lies at the core of “Beloved Brahms,” the latest presentation of Chamber Music Plus Southwest.

Visiting guest artist Edward Herrmann (“The Gilmore Girls,” several different productions as Franklin D. Roosevelt) will take the role of 19th century academic musicologist and critic Eduard Hanslick. The script was written by CMPSouthwest co-founder and cellist Harry Clark.

Before the age of radio and television, actual ideas were often discussed in debates that could became rather heated contests. One of these was the “War of the Romantics,” as cultural history recalls it – a 19th century battle between enthusiasts for the absolute beauty of Brahms’ music and others who championed the energetic feelings expressed by Richard Wagner, who confidently called his sound the “Music of the Future.”

Early in Hanslick’s writing career he supported Wagner but later favored Brahms, coming to believe that pure and true music only descended from the lineage of Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann. Wagner responded by calling Hanslick a Jew.

Wagner the modernist thought the traditional music forms of fugues, sonatas and symphonies had become obsolete. He believed a new form of music was needed in order for contemporary truths of the new century to be revealed.

Joining Clark and Herrmann on stage is pianist and CMPSouthwest co-founder Sanda Schuldmann to perform selections pertinent to the text. Their program will include pieces by Dvorak, Schubert, Liszt, Schumann and Cherubini, as well as Brahms and Wagner.

Herrmann stars in ‘War of the Romantics’

IF YOU GO

What: Chamber Music Plus Southwest presents “Beloved Brahms” by Harry Clark

When: 3 p.m. Sunday

Where: Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway Blvd.

Price: $35, with discounts to subscribers

Info: 400-5439, www.chambermusicplus.org

Citizen Staff Writer
Music

OTTO ROSS

ottoross@tucsoncitizen.com

The members of the local “world jam reggae” band, Planet Jam, come from different backgrounds and cultures but all share one powerful passion: music. Guitarist/vocalist Marius Todirita, bass/vocalist Kacy Todirita, drummer Kini Wade and keyboardist/vocalist Stevie Abramson will share their eclectic global backgrounds in an international fusion of cultural music and worldly awareness this Friday at The Hut. In a recent e-mail interview, Todirita discusses the band’s roots, its University of Arizona connection and how he outsmarted censors in Romania.

Q: What got you into playing music and when did you start?

A: I started playing guitar and singing when I was 10 years old in the Socialist Republic of Romania. Communist political screening censored most music, and there was some contraband music smuggled in from the West, but not enough for my demand, so I provided my own uncensored music by playing my guitar. We usually had to show our lyrics to some comrade before we could play anything on stage. I was persecuted for breaking the rule and playing AC/DC and Rolling Stones tunes at my last high school dance. We generally played a lot of instrumentals.

How did your band come together?

When the Berlin Wall came down, I was finally able to travel. I went west to Italy and was busking in the streets of Bologna where I met Kacy, who was also traveling with a guitar. We fell in love and we’ve made music together ever since. She’s been playing bass since 1999, when we put out our first CD, “Tribal Healing.” We’ve been jamming in this configuration since September 2007 when Kini Wade joined on drums and Steven Abramson on keys.

From where do you draw your inspiration?

We are a multinational, multiethnic, multiracial group, so we draw from that diversity and try to remain as objective and universal in our unifying approach. We listen to a lot of diverse music. I try to put a positive, transcendental outlook on subjects that most people can relate to in current society. It’s important to be aware, and music is a vehicle for awareness to become instantly contagious on a mass scale.

How would you describe your style of music?

Concisely, I would call it world jam reggae. We use roots elements like ancient Romanian Gypsy riffs with traditional roots reggae beats and take it all into a dub infused electric jam.

Where did the name Planet Jam come from?

The name came at a time when we had a more geographically diverse show in 1999, when the point of the performance was to sing in as many languages as possible and musically travel around the planet on a genuine cultural experience.

How did you end up in Tucson?

I married Kacy, our bass player, and immigrated to the U.S. in 1993. She’s a UA architecture graduate who has a lot of friends here. We now have two children, so we settled in the warmer side of our previous nomadic route.

Where do you most like to play music?

I like to play outdoors. There’s a revolutionary aspect in our message and it feels good to bring it to the street like in California’s summer music festivals. I loved playing on the beach on the Romanian Black Sea coast last summer, too. Here in Tucson, we like to play at The Hut on Fourth Avenue.

Money? Fame? Fortune? What are your goals for the future?

I’m going to keep writing music and share my gift with the people because it’s my calling. Money is what’s needed to produce and deliver music. Fame is what brings people to the show. Fortune is needed for magical elements to fall into place and provide catalytic support for the ignition and launch of unique time and space moments into the multidimensional universe when consciousness accelerates friction-free for leap years in a second. We intend to keep the new music flowing in and to keep performing, make some nice videos and book some good shows.

IF YOU GO

What: Planet Jam reggae concert

When: 9:30 p.m. Friday

Where: The Hut, 305 N. Fourth Ave.

Price: $3

Info: 623-3200, www.myspace.com/thehuttucson

Citizen Staff Writer
Music

OTTO ROSS

ottoross@tucsoncitizen.com

Hailing from the “cheap and sunny” city of Albuquerque, N.M., Fast Heart Mart (a band and a man), with upcoming shows at Plush and Casbah Tea House, offers a fun, goofy twist on folk. After listening to Fast Heart Mart (aka Martin) and Roblyn “the Goblin” perform their songs of worldly discontent, quitting your job and preparing for the end of the world will never seem like better ideas. We caught up with the touring duo via e-mail.

What got you into playing music? When did you start?

FHM: I had a lot of anxiety as a kid (and still do) and I was going to therapists and stuff, but then I discovered I could have my own personal therapist through songs.

R: Jimmy Page. In ’77, I saw Zeppelin live in Phoenix at the university. That’s when I started playing electric guitar. . . . A cherry-red pre-CBS Fender Mustang. Then the Sex Pistols came along and I realized that even I could be in a band!

How would you describe your style of music?

FHM: I like to call it Sidewalk Rock because it is a quiet, dinky, intimate music that you can play without plugging into the grid. I usually have to just call it folk-rock, though, or acoustic punk.

From where do you draw your inspiration?

FHM: I try to capture those unpleasant things and hang them out to dry so I can conquer them.

R: On the street when the little children make their parents stop to listen and dance and then cry when they’re made to leave. I can see that the innocents really need this music and the jaded ones will try to discourage us. But we have to keep getting the songs out there for the thirsty before they give up on sincerity all together.

Where did Martin get the name “Fast Heart Mart”?

R: Fast Heart Mart was born with a congenital heart defect that makes his heart race sometimes. It has taken family members. When he was 17, he had a defibrillator implanted in chest to shock it back into rhythm. He suffered a lot of anxiety until he learned relaxation techniques of yoga, breathing and moderate exercise. And, his name is “Martin.”

A lot of your songs seem to portray a frustration with living a typical life and working boring jobs. Does this stem from personal experience?

FHM: Yes. And I like to encourage people to dream their biggest dream and chase it as fast as they can.

Where do you most like to play music?

FHM: Outside, totally acoustic, on a nice, sunny day.

R: This music sounds better played outside: Sidewalks, porches, garden parties and festivals. But we also enjoy playing on ferries in New Zealand, in red-lit lounges, listening rooms and cafes filled with our fans, friends and families.

How do you guys tour?

R: Two years ago we converted a diesel VW camper van to run on salvaged vegetable oil, which we collect from the better restaurants. You can read about the conversion at biofuelvan.blogspot.com. We travel coast to coast selling CDs and shirts while making a documentary about our travels. You can watch our weekly progress at fastheartmarttour.blogspot.com. Mutant Mariachi is Martin’s own recording label, so we keep all the money we make. In 2007, we toured New Zealand where Fast Heart Mart has dual citizenship. Europe will be next!

You visit Tucson on a fairly regular basis. What attracts you?

FHM: The people are great. Anarchists, students, hippies, bicyclists, etc. And the sunshine!!!

R: I was born there! We love to eat at the Casbah Tea House. . . . And we love Plush. . . . We love Toxic Ranch Records where you can buy our CDs, and the free store at Dry River Collective. We love Hotel Congress and their incomparable Bloody Mary bar!

Money? Fame? Fortune? What are your goals for the future?

FHM: Money to pay for our house would be nice and to go out to eat every once and a while. I want to write happier songs that don’t come across wrong. Good health.

R: Peace, love and anarchy.

Tell me about your guitar.

FHM: It is a double-neck acoustic guitar. I have to have an acoustic guitar because we play a lot of shows without any amplification.

I used to travel with two guitars. One in standard tuning, one in “C-minor” tuning. I was always having to switch between the two onstage and I even forgot one in a town once. Now I have one guitar with two necks.

My current one is a double neck ovation like Richie Sambora used from Bon Jovi. I bought it in Portland for $200 after someone stole my other double neck acoustic guitar. I never thought I’d play an Ovation guitar, but I really like it. The rounded back makes it project really well in acoustic situations. I spray-painted it with my favorite colors. . . . black and blue.

In the song “Mayan Prophecy,” you sing about the world coming to an end in the year 2012. Do you really believe this is going to happen?

FHM: I think in some ways it already is. People are becoming more aware of the environment and their surroundings. I like to think that the end of the world is a good thing. No one’s going to die, just a new beginning. Maybe money will have no meaning?

R: Polar shift? Mass evolution via DNA light activation? Aliens taking us away?

Turning away from governmental corruption and war to embrace personal responsibility and peace through true equality and global consensus decision-making? It’s gonna be big.

You and Roblyn have a great dynamic onstage. Where did you meet and how did you end up playing together?

R: Like Sonny and Cher. Everybody secretly loves watching other couples bicker!!

I first heard Fast Heart Mart by accident during Winter Solstice 2002 at a little nightclub in Albuquerque. He played his set of songs fusing acoustic punk with rap, East Indian raga, and old-time mountain music with lyrics about quitting your job. His sincerity made me care again.

Two weeks later I saw him again. I told him not to stop playing music. That it was very important he keep making this amazing music. I said, “I’m a musician, too, and I hate everything.”

I told him I had worked in every facet of the music industry for over 20 years and my professional advice to him was, “Quit your day job.”

Two weeks later, I was playing his acoustic bass!

IF YOU GO

What: Fast Heart Mart in concert

When/Where: Saturday at Casbah Tea House, 628 N. Fourth Ave., 8 p.m.; Monday at Plush, 340 E. Sixth St., 9:30 p.m.

Price: Free

Info: Casbah Tea House, 740-0393, www.casbahteahouse.com; Plush, 798-1298, www.plushtucson.com

Citizen Staff Writer
Music

LAURA KLINK

calendar@tucsoncitizen.com

If you’re sick of the partisan squabbling that has divided our country lately, maybe “Music for the Soul” can help. The fourth annual concert by Interfaith Community Services is held to observe customs and unite people from all walks of life.

“It’s a chance to set aside individual beliefs and all come together to enjoy the evening and celebrate the uniqueness of Tucson and the fabric of our community,” says Monnie Applegate, ICS director of development.

Twelve different groups totaling more than 100 performers from varying faiths and cultures can be seen next Thursday at the concert.

“It’s the same week as the (presidential) election, so we think ‘Music for the Soul’ is pretty fitting with what’s going on in our country,” Applegate says.

“It started as an anniversary celebration for our 20th anniversary,” adds Applegate, a longtime volunteer. “It was so popular we decided to keep it going.”

This marks the third year the two-hour concert will be at the Fox Theatre, which seats about 1,100. The event drew about 900 people last year, and this year “We want to fill the Fox,” Applegate says.

The concert showcases all local performers and volunteers. Some of the different religious groups participating include Christian liturgical dancers, an African Christian choir, a Buddhist chant group, a Taizé chant group and a Jewish Klezmer band, Klezmerkaba.

Other featured groups are the Southern Arizona Women’s Chorus, a men’s barbershop quartet, a handbell choir, mariachi soloist Jessica Rojas, and American Indian musicians Gabriel Ayala on the classical guitar and Vince Redhouse playing the flute.

The event culminates with all the performers onstage joining Tucson City Councilman Rodney Glassman, a countertenor/baritone to sing “If we Could Dream.”

“It summarizes the feeling of all of us working together for a better world,” Applegate said of the last song.

Last year the event made about $30,000, according to Applegate. That money helps ICS provide services to the community.

“The goal is to work together to serve others,” Applegate says. “We offer two-fold services for seniors and families in financial crisis.”

These services include mobile meals and transportation for seniors, a food bank, and short-term emergency funds for families.

The number of families in need of food boxes has jumped from a maximum of 30 per day to 50 to 60 because of the downturn in the economy, according to the director.

While the money raised by the event is important, that’s not Applegate’s main concern.

“It’s more than a fundraiser,” she says. “It’s truly a friend raiser.”

IF YOU GO

What: Fourth annual “Music for the Soul” Interfaith Community Services concert

When: 7 p.m. Nov. 6

Where: Fox Theatre, 17 W. Congress St.

Price: $20 general admission $50 orchestra $60 loge (seating for 2)

Info: 297-2738 Ext. 209, icstucson.org

PERFORMERS

• Southern Arizona Women’s Chorus

• Annie Smith, Kirtan chant (traditional Indian music)

• Fountain of Life SonShine Ringers, handbell choir

• Leaders of Tomorrow, Muslim youth group singing Muslim folk songs

• Christ the King Episcopal, “Taizé” chant group

• Klezmerkaba, Jewish Klezmer band

• Jessica Rojas, mariachi soloist

• Mary and Lenny Redhouse, representing the Native American faith community with hoop dancing and vocals.

• Buddhist monks from Dhamma Thai Temple, chant

• Goshen Ministries, an African refugee group singing Christian songs in Swahili, Kirundi and English

• Rodney Glassman, member of the Tucson City Council and a countertenor/baritone

• Imam Farid Farooqi, Cantor Karla Ember and Jeffry A. Jahn, performing calls/expressions from three different faiths.