This week, the Arts Watch page is featuring the best and worst concerts of the year as chosen by Tribune freelancers and staff writers; today’s lists are by music writers Michael Parrish and David Royko. To find the rest of the best and worst lists by staff critics and others, go to metromix.com/go/criticsreviews.
– Ali Farka Toure at Park West on Aug. 9: For what may well be his last American tour, Malian guitarist Ali Farka Toure and his big band delivered an exhilarating and uplifting performance that blended the vocal and percussive musical traditions of northern Africa with the elemental power of Toure’s fiery electric guitar.
– Phil Lesh and Friends at the Riviera Theater on Oct. 18: After several uneven area performances with different ad-hoc ensembles, former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh returned for a three-night stand at the Riviera with a tight, sympatico group including sometime Allman Brothers guitarists Warren Haynes and Jimmy Herring. Playing two lengthy sets, this group came closer than any of the bands containing former Dead members to capturing the earlier band’s freewheeling spirit.
– Tim O’Brien and the Crossing at the Irish-American Heritage Center on Sept. 7: Singer-songwriter Tim O’Brien took a busman’s holiday from his standard Americana/bluegrass fare by touring with the Crossing, a group comprising some top Irish-American musicians such as fiddler Kevin Burke and vocalist Karan Casey. Augmented by three other top players — old-time musician and multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell, guitarist Darrell Scott, and bassist Mark Schatz, this wide-ranging concert emphasized O’Brien’s Irish roots and the commonalities between the traditional music of Ireland and America.
– Hot Club of Cowtown with Johnny Gimble at the Old Town School of Folk Music on Dec. 8: The Hot Club of Cowtown is a trio of charismatic and accomplished young musicians who have embraced the uniquely Texan musical creole called Western swing. For half of this concert, the Hot Club backed up western swing legend Johnny Gimble, and he and Hot Club member Elana Fremerman revived the distinctive twin fiddle sound of Gimble’s most notable band, Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys.
– Mary Jane Lamond and Liz Carroll at the Chicago Cultural Center on Sept. 28: One of the most memorable concerts of this year’s wildly successful second Chicago World Music festival paired Mary Jane Lamond, who successfully places traditional Gaelic tunes from her native Cape Breton into striking contemporary instrumental contexts. Lamond and her band shared the stage with Chicago’s own Liz Carroll, and the two musicians created a unique blend of their respective mixtures of British Isles and American influences that epitomized the spirit of the festival.
– Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Sergio and Odair Assad at HotHouse on Jan. 28: Flamboyant classical violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and the Brazilian classical guitar duo the Assad Brothers revisited the folk roots of their respective instruments in this lively and intimate concert at the Hot House. The trio played a set of expressive originals that incorporated musical traditions from throughout Europe and the Americas.
– Elidaes Ochoa at the Old Town School of Folk Music on Feb. 18: Riding the crest of notoriety generated by his star turn in the Buena Vista Social Club film, guitarist Eliades Ochoa and his venerable group, Quarteto Patria, came to the Old Town School for a triumphant, passionate performance that celebrated his Cuban folk roots. Wearing his trademark black cowboy hat, Ochoa charmed the crowd with his sentimental vocals and virtuoso musicianship.
– Tony Furtado Band at Schubas on Sept. 13: Furtado, who came to prominence as one of the best progressive bluegrass banjo players, has more recently become an accomplished slide guitarist and, most recently, leader of a driving four-piece acoustic-electric jam band, augmented for this show by steel guitar virtuoso Sally van Meter. Furtado’s wide-ranging performance at Schubas incorporated bluegrass, traditional blues, Celtic music and rock into a rousing musical stew.
– Kathy Mattea at Schubas on Aug. 14: A concert honoring her production company brought country star Kathy Mattea to the unusually intimate confines of the music room at Schubas. Mattea, who flies in the face of Nashville traditions by mostly writing upbeat songs about personal growth, held the audience in the palm of her hand with a warm, human performance driven by her arena-ready seven-piece band.
– Keller Williams at Martyrs’ on Aug. 27: This inimitable one-man jam band turned in a virtuoso performance emphasizing Williams’ quirky songs, intermixed with off-the-wall covers like Steely Dan’s “Big Shot” and Frank Zappa’s “Dancin’ Fool.” Williams’ dense, Michael Hedges-inspired acoustic guitar-playing was augmented by his tuneful mouth trumpet and a tape-loop device that allowed Williams to successfully jam with himself.
Michael Parrish
– Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer and Mark O’Connor at Symphony Center on April 3: Bassist Edgar Meyer’s ability to maintain richness, fluidity and a range of expression while pulling upper register notes that were never intended — or imagined — from his instrument elicits goose bumps. As he introduced a composition by the bassist, cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s slip of the tongue inadvertently paid tribute to Meyer’s brilliance on his behemoth: “Edgar will play an unaccompanied piece on his cello … ” After the audience’s chuckling had subsided, Ma drew a bigger laugh when he explained, “With Edgar, it’s so easy to get confused!”
Dave Royko
