10.29.09: Playing for Change, Wiley and the Checkmates on Halloween, and Nirvana (well, kinda)

Grandpa Elliot, one of Playing For Change's performing artists

(Cribbed from the excellently informative Playing For Change website.)

Traveling across four continents for over three years with cameras and a mobile recording studio, award-winning producers Mark Johnson and Jonathan Walls embarked on a search for musical inspiration. What they discovered on their journey was the power music has to connect the world together. Chronicled in the feature-length documentary, Playing For Change: Peace Through Music, is a journey that starts in the city streets of America and Europe and heads to South African townships and the Himalayan Mountains.

The film, co-directed by Mark Johnson and Jonathan Walls and produced by Joe Carnahan, features spontaneous live musical performances and interviews with a wide variety of musicians, including Manu Chao, Grammy Award winner Keb’ Mo’, and South African musician and activist, Vusi Mahlasela. Throughout the film, musicians from different locations that have never met each other join together to re-create songs such as “One Love” and “Stand by Me,” further demonstrating the power of music to connect and inspire people around the world.

In 2007  Johnson and Walls created the Playing for Change Foundation, a separate 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation whose mission is to help the communities that shared their artists and their music. Additionally, Timeless Media was created as  a for-profit entity to fund and extend the work of Playing for Change. Our goal is to bring PFC’s music, videos and message to the widest possible audience.

Now, musicians from all over the world are brought together to perform benefit concerts that build music and art schools in communities that are in need of inspiration and hope. In addition to benefit concerts, the Playing for Change band also performs shows around the world. When audiences see and hear musicians who have traveled thousands of miles from their homes, united in purpose and chorus on one stage, everyone is touched by music’s unifying power.

The current members of the Playing For Change Band are: Clarence Bekker (lead vocals), Grandpa Elliott (lead vocals, harmonica) Tal Ben Ari “Tula” (lead vocals), Mermans Kenkosenki (lead vocals, congas), Louis Mhlanga (electric guitar), Jason Tamba (backup vocals, acoustic guitar), Reggie McBride (backup vocals, bass), Peter Bunetta (drum kit) and Mohammed Alidu (talking drum, djembe).

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While the Playing For Change show enlightens and enlivens our Ballroom on Friday night, our Tavern show features some of Cleveland’s most talented pranksters take the stage to provide a very special Halloween show, wherein they cover a number of famed bands. The Hot Rails take on The Who; members of Stimulus Package and This Is  A Shakedown do a set of Nirvana tunes (with proper instrument breakage, we hope).  A group who call themselves Fakawi cover the Dead Milkmen, and Living Stereo tackle the Damned, whose immortal “Neat Neat Neat” we bring to you here…well, er, some version of it:

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 Now, if you’re looking for a Saturday night Halloweenparty, look no further, as Downtown Soulville curators DJs Fishtruck and Racecard set soul platters at the ready for a night with Mississpians Wiley and the Checkmates.  Here, we let SOUL MUSIC speak for itself, inspiring you to higher highs and a deeper understanding of the universal funk that flows through all of us.  Kinda makes Playing for Change’s mission even more concrete, huh? 

A costume knocks $3 off the door price. Want more information? Go to www.beachlandballroom.com. You’ll learn.

EAS

10.26: Hot Croonery with Nicole Atkins

Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea - Monday, October 26

[NB.  For those of you obsessively following Cleveland's recent appearances with the Food Network's Guy Fieri and his "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" here's a listing of what's being aired TONIGHT]

Tomorrow night, the beleaguered sports fans are asked to “witness”, as the Cavaliers make their way toward capturing greatness for themselves, and the city of Cleveland.  Well, that’s what we’re hoping for. You know how it goes in this town sometimes…

Tonight, we ask you to witness some musical greatness, the kind that gets overlooked on a Monday night prior to this upcoming weekend’s Halloween fun.   Hailing from Asbury Park, New Jersey, comes Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea.  Atkins possesses voice made of deep smoke, lovelorn drama, and echoey grandeur; her songs are the stuff of film noir make-outs and break-ups.  Witness for yourself:

“The Way It Is”, Nicole Atkins and the Sea on David Letterman:

“Maybe Tonight”, a number somehow between Morrissey and Stevie Nicks:

Here, Nicole reps her hometown of Asbury Park, and what kind of effect it’s had on her music:

And though this isn’t the most brilliant piece of filmmaking, this cut is from a live set of Atkins covering the Michael Nesmith tune that Linda Rondstadt made famous, “Different Drum”:

If you’re sick of these little youtube vids, hit Atkins’ IMEEM page for more tunes and other good stuff.

For more information and to buy tickets, go to www.beachlandballroom.com.  This show starts at 8:30 pm, opening with performances by Shiny Penny and the Brian Lisik band, and costs a mere $10.

EAS

It’s the Weekend, Pal: Oct 23 – 25

Drummer - this Saturday @ Beachland

Coffinberry’s been shown ample love on this blog, other blogs, and in print media throughout the country. So we, for the time being, spare the odes to their coolly hot handling of melodic rock full of world-weary yells, clamoring guitars, and tough drumming. Suffice it to say that if they’d been around Chapel Hill in the early 90s, Coffinberry would be one of the great  bands who’d be putting out ‘best-of’ comps and reunion tours right now. And you’d be telling people how ass-kickingly good they were, and how many bathrooms you passed out during your 7 years of undergrad.

They play this Friday, headlining over Mr. Brian Olive, formerly of the Soledad Brothers and The Greenhornes (a Cincy garage-rock combo, two of who are now in Jack White’s Raconteurs).  Also on the bill are the peppy JJ Magazine, who haven’t graced the Beachland stage with their friendly cacophony, the kind that seemingly was the province of certain UK bands from the early 90s (there we go again).

Let’s now turn to a very contemporary culture-meme, the Dude Who Gets Over Harnessing the Power of the Internet (actual movie title!).   Why bother with a van when you can spread one’s music online–specifically if the tunes are about geek culture? If you read this blog–or are actively involved in blogs out there–chances are pretty good you know something about this online subculture. If you don’t, perhaps Friday night’s Ballroom performer, Mr. Jonathan Coulton, can help you out.

Should your geekery align you more into who’s-who-ing it in music, Saturday night’s Drummer show features this ambitious Akron band who includes members of Party of Helicopters, Beaten Awake, Houseguest, and yes, Mr. Pat Carney of the Black Keys on bass.  It’s no Carney vanity project, but rather a group of old friends making the kind of indie rock they love to record and play, as you’ll see here:

While the Ballroom is the ‘Akron’ side of Northeast Ohio underground music goodness, the Tavern serves as the ‘Cleveland’ side (will anyone keep score?) with performances by Casual Encounters, Kent’s Trouble Books (we spoke too soon! Kent, OH just snuck in) and a CD release party for Unsparing Sea, a band whose dark, dramatic epics contain the clank and wheeze of guitars lost beneath a Lake Erie of the imagination.

By the time we get to Sunday, we’ve got performances by LAKE, and K Records’ Karl Blau.  We might have the Browns vs. Packers game on the TV in time for Beachland Brunch (with tunes spun by Joey Beltram of Good Morning Valentine).  But you want to keep your food down, right? Avert your eyes from the carnage, friends.  Or you can instead go to the grand opening of the Arts Collinwood Cafe down the street from us.  Ten bucks gets you into a long day of fun, as detailed at www.artscollinwood.org.

Questions? Go to www.beachlandballroom.com.

EAS

Rock Hall Honors Janis Joplin @ Beachland

As the Rock Hall and the Beachland commemorate the legacy of Janis Joplin with a performance by her former backing band, Big Brother and the Holding Company, we present to you a few versions of tunes this iconic rocker made famous. Tonight’s gig also features Mary Bridget Davies, on vocals. Davies stars in the touring version of “Love, Janis”. With no disrespect to Ms. Davies or any of the other artists posted below, you’ll realize that Janis’  famed screams were a bitch to hit–even stoned and drunk out of one’s mind.

Mary J. Blige singing “Piece of My Heart”:

Etta James, “Ball and Chain”:

From 1968–the year that Joplin and Big Brother released this song–Ella Fitzgerald handles Gershwin’s “Summertime”:

We wrap things up with “Woman Left Lonely”, a live rendition by Cat Power:

Cat Power, “Woman Left Lonely”:

For more information and to buy tickets, go to www.beachlandballroom.com
EAS