Friday, February 26, 2010

john roderick and the balancing act

So last week as I was looking over the line-up for this year's Sasquatch and I was happy to find that northwest darlings The Long Winters are set to play on Sunday.

Not having heard from these lovely fellows since their 2006 release Putting the Days to Bed, I thought I would journey over to www.thelongwinters.com to see what was up.

And I found this little gem.....


Tuesday, February 2, 2010

a love story



Last month I was lucky enough to get to fly back up to Seattle for a couple of days. Back in May my mom bought us tickets to see Lani Hall and Herb Alpert at Jazz Alley.

Now as someone who considers Sergio Mendes and Brazil '66 one of her favorite bands EVER, seeing Lani Hall - who was the lead female vocalist for the group during their hay-day - was a huge deal. In fact, this whole love for Sergio and his gang has been something passed down through three generations in my family. My grandparents listened to them in the 60's, my mom listened to them in the 90's and I have faithfully carried on this grand tradition into 21st century.

My love for Hall had already set the stage. What I wasn't prepared for was Alpert's unassuming yet powerful presence. He's a self assured 74 year old trumpet player who has been married to Hall since 1974. Watching them onstage you could feel the love and admiration they have for one another as it permeated the stage.


So if you haven't given either of these two a listen, I present a couple of tunes that, in my opinion, nicely articulate what makes these two a winning pair.