Go Memphis Stories: Music Reviews

Anthony Hamilton dazzles Orpheum crowd

mehr@commercialappeal.com (Bob Mehr) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:30:00 -0000

Anthony Hamilton is one of those guys you just root for. Maybe it’s because he spent a decade struggling to make it in the music business before he finally found success with platinum albums and Grammy awards. Or perhaps it’s the fact that he doesn’t posses a particularly overpowering voice or the flashiest dance moves. But there’s just something about Hamilton that makes you pull for the guy.

Review: Memphis Symphony shows disciplined strings, renegade brass

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 22:07:00 -0000

The Memphis Symphony Orchestra bulked up Saturday night, aiming to show some muscle in a variety of works that included Copland, Mozart and Mussorgsky.

Review: They're the Eagles -- what can you say?

mehr@commercialappeal.com (Bob Mehr) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:08:00 -0000

How, or more accurately, why would anyone bother criticizing the Eagles at this point? Four decades and 120 million albums into their career, they're a group that has thrived on the slings and arrows directed at them by the press and their haters, actually reveling in the fact that they've been demonized far and wide for their rock-and-roll excess and success. Even the laid-back Dude, the protagonist in the Coen Brothers' "The Big Lebowski," famously ranted, "I hate the (expletive) Eagles, man."

Concert review: Brubeck still bright as ever

blank@commercialappeal.com (Christopher Blank) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 06:00:00 -0000

Dave Brubeck, one of the eldest statesmen of jazz, showed a packed house in Germantown on Saturday there is more to his artistic longevity than nimble fingers and a few memorable tunes.

Brubeck and Sons Keep Jazz Flame Burning

blank@commercialappeal.com (Christopher Blank) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 21:49:00 -0000

The 87-year-old music legend Dave Brubeck brought his kin to GPAC Saturday night, for a concert that showed the many influences of jazz, from classical to the blues.

Concert Review: Maxwell delivers 90 minutes of steamy showmanship

stout@yourappeal.com (Cathryn Stout ) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:32:00 -0000

Maxwell rushed onto the Orpheum stage wearing a tuxedo and undone bow tie, as though he had just left a 1950s cocktail party. Welcomed by a roaring standing ovation from the crowd, the R&B sensation launched into his 2001 classic “Get to Know Ya.” Maxwell, born Maxwell Rivera, is a multiplatinum neo-soul artist who debuted in 1996 then drifted away from the music scene at the height of his success in 2002.

Concert Review: Carrie Underwood shows off her powerhouse voice at DeSoto Civic Center

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:16:00 -0000

As she took great pains to point out Sunday night, Carrie Underwood has come a long way in a short amount of time. A video shown to the crowd of about 7,200 early on during her concert at DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven traced the Checotah, OK., native’s rapid rise since 2005: Her “American Idol” win, the release of her record-setting debut album Some Hearts, the seven straight No. 1 singles, the slew of awards she has picked up, the magazine covers she has graced, even her “Oprah Winfrey Show” appearance.

Quartet mixes country sound

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 05:00:00 -0000

Country music used to be the domain of solo artists, solitary men in big hats and lonely women in gingham.

Concert Review: Heartbeats and Rachmaninoff a convincing spiritual experience

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 21:08:00 -0000

Saturday night's presentation of contrasts served up by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra-- the program is titled Heartbeats and Rachmaninoff-- was the sort of energetic display that would prompt listeners strolling back to their cars to say, "Well, wasn't that interesting?"

Concert review: Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt at the Orpheum

mehr@commercialappeal.com (Bob Mehr) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:32:00 -0000

If this music thing doesn’t work out for Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt, they should seriously consider a career in comedy. That much was clear after the two veteran singer-songwriters took the stage of the Orpheum Wednesday for a nearly two-and-a-half-hour concert that was part musical journey, part storytellers session, and large part stand-up routine. From the outset, the set-up for the Lovett/Hiatt concert held great intrigue. It’s rare to have a pair of established acts, not just share a bill, but share a stage, swapping tunes and tales in such an informal setting.

Concert review: Alan Jackson delivers straight country goods

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 19:54:00 -0000

Twenty feet of golden-locked, all-American-male country singer crossed the stage of the FedExForum Saturday night as Alan Jackson’s “Good Time Tour” pulled into town with supporting acts Trace Adkins and James Otto. The casual country fan could be forgiven for confusing the three performers. Each stands over 6 feet 5 inches tall, has long blond hair, and sports some form of facial hair. But if the artists’ looked the same, their sounds were remarkably diverse within the narrow confines of what makes up the contemporary country music scene.

News in the Arts: Abbey Road journey made history for Beatles' engineer

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:41:00 -0000

Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick was there from the beginning -- actually, from before the beginning. "I met them on their (record company audition) the same week I started at Abbey Road," says the 62-year-old Emerick today. Although he wouldn't actually begin working with the Fab Four until the mid-'60s -- critically helping to fashion many of the landmark sonic advancements of the group's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band LP -- Emerick remains an integral part of the Beatles' studio history.

Concert review: IRIS guest Uri Caine boogies to Brahms

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:01:00 -0000

The opener of the ninth season of IRIS was a wild ride, from the traditional (a solid Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony) to the roller-coaster boogie-woogie of Brahms. Actually the boogie-woogie -- and blues, and stride piano and a rich mix of other jazz forms and invention -- were courtesy guest soloist Uri Caine, who took Brahms' "Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel" and gave it an expression that would have stunned the old composers.

Concert review: Jack White and the Raconteurs at the Cannon Center

mehr@commercialappeal.com (Bob Mehr) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:46:00 -0000

For a band that’s been together just a few years, The Raconteurs have achieved a lot: releasing a couple of top ten records, earning a handful of Grammy nominations, and playing a succession of sold-out tours. Of course, that’s all largely come on the back of co-frontman Jack White’s previous success with the White Stripes. That’s not to say the remainder of the Raconteurs aren’t a talented bunch.

Concert review: Huey Lewis & the News at Memphis Botanic Garden

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:35:00 -0000

In 1983, San Francisco Bay-area rhythm-and-rock outfit Huey Lewis & the News had a big hit with “Heart of Rock-and-Roll,” a song that attempted to enumerate all the American cities where the music’s heart was still beatin’ (Tulsa?), yet managed to overlook Memphis. Friday night, before a sold-out crowd of 6,400 at the Memphis Botanic Garden, Lewis attempted to correct the oversight. Kicking off a Live At The Garden series event with the song, Lewis shoehorned his host city into the outro, giving it special emphasis.

Memphis Symphony season gets thrilling start with violinist's solo turn

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 19:28:00 -0000

Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg strode on stage, shimmering in silver and black, looking as if she were about to detonate a surprise. Wow, did she ever. Salerno-Sonnenberg’s violin virtuosity with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra Saturday night brought the crowd at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts to its feet. It was not only that her thrilling, volatile performance was jaw-dropping, but that the piece — Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons of Buenos Aires” — was a terrific composition, witty, sly, passionate, moving.

Music review: B-52s not affected by age at Botanic Gardens concert

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 12:24:00 -0000

Age has not affected the B-52s. The new wave band, which dominated the college party scene in early 1980s Athens Ga., long before they became bona fide hit makers, benefits from its built-in kitsch factor, which seem even more timeless the second or third time around.

What Do You Hear? Robby Grant

mehr@commercialappeal.com (Bob Mehr) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:31:00 -0000

Music writer Bob Mehr asks notable Memphians about their musical firsts and favorites. This week: Robby Grant, founder of Big Ass Truck, and a member of Mouserocket, Vending Machine and the Ultracats.

Season's lineup 'is kind of a summing up of the last 10 years,' Loebel explains

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 05:04:00 -0000

Here's hoping you like variety in your classical music, because this season has plenty of it -- old and new, bold and beautiful, grand and intimate.

What Do You Hear?: Judy Dorsey

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:45:00 -0000

Music writer Bob Mehr asks notable Memphians about their musical firsts and favorites. This week: Judy Dorsey, station manager of WEVL, FM 89.9. What's in her CD player, iPod or turntable at the moment? A six-CD set called Goodbye Babylon, which is vintage gospel music going back as far as the turn of the 20th century and going up to about 1960.