Well, the big news this week is that Lou Reed passed away yesterday. Although I was not a big fan of his later work, his immortality is assured by his output with The Velvet Underground alone, not to mention the early classic solo work, like Rock and Roll Animal, with it’s awesome live version of “Sweet Jane”, featuring some of the most mind-blowing guitar work ever recorded, played by Dick Wagner!

     Reed worked with many greats of the ceative world – David Bowie, Andy Warhol, Mick Ronson, photographer Bob Rock, and Metallica, (with whom he recorded his final album, 2011’s Lulu), amongst others, and was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Velvet Underground, in 1996.

     About The Velvet Underground, Brian Eno has said, “The Velvet Underground didn’t sell that many albums, but everyone who bought one went on to form a band”, cementing their reputation as one of Rock and Roll’s most influential bands!

     Reed was famously quoted as saying, “One chord is fine. Two chords are pushing it. Three chords and you’re into jazz”, which is a philosophy that I just have to love! My guitar player, Gene Geary, who also passed away two years ago, and who I wrote about in this column several times, including when he died and again, on the one year anniversary of his death, would also have loved that quote. Interestingly, I had no intention of bringing Gene into this week’s column, but that quote is so something we would have celebrated, that I HAD to mention him, and inadvertently was reminded that the two year anniversary of Gene’s death has also just passed. I miss him as a musician and friend. There’s no one left to rock out with at a million miles an hour anymore! But, I digress.

     Reed’s body of work included 49 albums (slightly more than half of them recorded live), and forays into the worlds of literature, photography, and theater! He was knighted in France and performed for Pope John Paul II in 1986!

     The cause of death was not known at press time, but he did undergo a liver transplant last May. Lou Reed is survived by his wife, performance artist Laurie Anderson, who he married in 2008, after a whirlwind 13 year courtship! Reactions poured in from all the creative worlds that Lou Reed ventured into, but the one that I like is from The Who, who wished Lou “a walk on the peaceful side”. I can live with that! Lou Reed, 1942-2013. RIP!

     In other news, Move Me Brightly: Celebrating Jerry Garcia’s 70th Birthday, hits stores this week. The movie, directed by Justin Kreutzmann, son of Dead drummer, Bill Kreutzmann, features documentary footage of a 5 hour concert that Bob Weir held last August (Jerry was a Leo) at his TRI Studios in California, in honor of what would have been Garcia’s 70th birthday. The show featured members of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Phish, The Hold Steady, and Vampire Weekend. There are also interviews with people who knew Garcia well, including his brother, who famously cut off Jerry’s finger in a childhood accident! Complete track list for the DVD is below.

"Cumberland Blues"/"Going Down the Road Feelin' Bad"/"Mission in the Rain"/"Shakedown Street"/"He's Gone"/"Eyes of the World"/"Terrapin Station"/"Days Between"/"Franklin's Tower"/"U.S. Blues"/Bonus Tracks - "Friend of the Devil"/"Bird Song">"New Speedway Boogie"

     In other Dead news, Delaware brewery, Dogfish Head is set to release American Beauty pale ale this fall. Sounds yummy!

     Regular readers of this column will be familiar with Catharina Christiana, of C3 Photography, who often works with me at shows. Cat, as she is known, wrote a guest review for us, of a show she attended this week. So, without further ado, here it is.

Papa Roach with Pop Evil at Starland Ballroom
Catharina Christiana

It was as if I was making a deal with the devil as I was listening to Pop Evil dominating the stage at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey last Wednesday. Pop Evil put on a performance that’d make you forget you were there for the headliner, Papa  Roach. No qualms of disagreement came from the crowd when lead singer Leigh Kakaty disses Justin Bieber and mentions how we all need to stick together as a community, all the rock/metal heads of America because this is the real music that will thrive and live on. And as if slighting a pop icon wasn’t enough, he stood on the hands of the audience that supported and lifted him as he was screaming and singing his lungs out for such hit songs of theirs as “Deal with the Devil”, “Trenches” and “Sick Sense” from their new album, “Onyx”. Pop Evil got the crowd revved up and ready for one of my all time favorite bands, the legendary Papa Roach. Vocalist Jacoby Shaddix came out already grooving and bopping his head ready to take the stage with a mind-blowing performance like always. He belched great hits like “Leader of the Broken Hearts”, “Where Did the Angels Go?”, and “Still Swingin” off their latest album “The Connection”. With guitarist Jerry Horton wailing on guitar and Jacoby singing, spitting, and spraying the audience with I lost count of how many water bottles, they gave a performance that left your ears ringing and body still shaking to the beats and tunes until the next day. Papa Roach and Pop Evil are bands definitely worth checking out and if you haven’t already heard of their music, now is your time to! Seeing them in concert is always worth the trip, money, and bruises you might face in the mosh pit of people.

Thanks for sending us that review Cat!

     Now for something completely different, my live music picks for this week!

     Wednesday, October 30 – If you’re in the Hudson Valley, the only place to be tonight is BSP Lounge in Kingston, for the final night of THE DUKE MCVINNIE BAND’s October residency. This will be your last chance to catch one of the most unusual and unique bands around, at the best place in town, so, see you there? Course if you’re in the city, you’ve got either rap and cultural icons, CYPRESS HILL, at Best Buy Theater, or YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND with THE FOUNDING FATHERS opening, at Brooklyn Bowl, but my own personal favorite would be BRYAN AND THE HAGGARDS, a jazz group led by a sax player, who do nothing but Merle Haggard songs, who’re playing at The Stone on Avenue C! Not that I’ve heard these guys, or even heard OF them. I just love the concept! They’ve got three CD’s out, so I am going to check them out when I get a chance.

     Thursday, October 31 – Happy Halloween! THE LINDSEY WEBSTER BAND will be performing a tribute to Led Zeppelin at The Bearsville Theater, with guitarists MYLES MANCUSO, VITO PETROCITTO, and MATT FINCK duping Jimmy Page’s gazillion tracked guitar tracks! Further downstate, THE JACK GRACE BAND and HUGH POOL are at Towne Crier in Beacon, and even further downstate, PHIL LESH AND FRIENDS return to The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester for the first of four nights.

     Friday, November 1 – The great, I mean seriously great, STEVE WYNN AND THE MIRACLE 3, are at Bowery Electric tonight, and this is definitely this week’s Pick of the Week! These guys gave a performance worthy of Jimi at Monterey, when I saw them at Livestock a few years ago. If you are anywhere near Manhattan tonight, and you don’t go to this show, you are an idiot! Up in our beautiful and glorious Hudson Valley, THE SLIDE BROTHERS are at The Falcon in Marlboro, and ABRAHAM AND THE GROOVE, a new rock, soul, and funk band featuring Abraham, who CAN sing and front a band, and tonight, drummer Tony Parker’s brother will be joining the band for a double drumming experience that should establish the groove quite nicely, thank you!

     Saturday, November 2 – Double drumming acts two nights in a row at The Bearsville Theater? Whoda thunk it? But, yes, it’s true! DEAD ON LIVE return to Woodstock for an acoustic set with their two drummers, and they were very good the last time they were here! In the city, STEVE EARLE is at Town Hall.

     Sunday, November 3 – The legendary MERLE HAGGARD rides into UPAC in Kingston, and the somewhat legendary ARLEN ROTH is at The Falcon.

     Monday, November 4 – THE HAG (Merle Haggard) moves over to Tarrytown Music Hall. Wonder if he knows about Bryan and The Haggards?

     Tuesday, November 5 – PHIL LESH AND FRIENDS move into the city for the first night of five at Best Buy Theater.

     That’s it! Remain calm and carry on!

  

     Damn! What a couple of weeks of tech problems! Some of you may have noticed that I’ve been absent from the paper for the past two weeks. Well, here’s why.

     As most of you know, this newspaper hits the stands on Thursday every week. My deadline, however, is Friday. I usually push the envelope to the limit by handing in my copy on Monday afternoon, just in time for the printer. Barely! This allows me to cover the weekend’s events for you in a timely fashion.

     So, for the issue dated 10/10/13, I was furiously typing away on Monday morning, October 7. I finished the column and was in the process of proofreading it, when the lights flashed and my internet service went out! Never lost electric, mind you, just internet, which meant that in the final seconds before sending that week’s column, I lost the ability to submit it! I was going to take my computer somewhere where there was still service, but just at that moment, the newspaper lost their service!

     Okay, so that sucked, but I figured The Townsman could put a notice in the paper, and direct everybody to one of the websites where the column is usually posted Tuesday night at Midnight (technically Wednesday morning), but here’s the rub. Tuesday afternoon, the power supply for my computer crapped out, and since the battery is useless, of course, I now could not turn on my computer, meaning I could not get to the one place in the world where that week’s column was! Had I been able to send it anywhere, I could have used that email to retrieve and post the blog.

     But it was not to be! I immediately ordered a new power supply, but it took a week to get here, and during that time, my computer was a paperweight! So, no column last week, ANYWHERE! Thankfully, it’s all been sorted out, and we’re back to our regularly scheduled programming.

      During my computer outage, I managed to catch a bit of Ginger Baker’s last night at The Iridium in Manhattan. Ginger seemed tired and ready to finish up the night and go home, but it was still great to see the grouchy old curmudgeon in such an intimate venue. My thanks to Iridium manager, Grace Blake, for her generous hospitality and good cheer.

     Now for this week’s live music picks.

     Wednesday, October 23 – Although I respect BB KING immensely, I am not a huge fan, but he’s playing AT BB KING’S in Manhattan! Surely this rates as an event worth seeing, and don’t forget folks, BB recently celebrated his 80th birthday, and he may grow tired of touring someday soon. If you are a fan, you’ll probably never get a chance to see him in a more appropriate venue!

     Thursday, October 24 – BLACK CROWES, fresh off a four night run at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, now bring their show to Terminal 5 in Manhattan for an additional four nights, starting tonight, and continuing Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday, October 26, 27, and 29. This is an acoustic show, so the energy level may be down a notch from an electric Crowes show, (which, take it from me, is one of the highest around, especially if Jackie Greene is playing guitar with them), but with a group of this caliber, an acoustic show will probably be better and more rockin’, than most groups best nights, electric or otherwise! Also tonight at Lincoln Center, in the David Rubenstein Atrium, a free concert by a fantastic sacred steel group, THE CAMPBELL BROTHERS! The Campbell Brothers are one of the few groups in this tradition of using the pedal steel guitar for church music, that have taken it to the outside world (the other notable one being, of course, The Slide Brothers, who have been mentored by Robert Randolph, the genre’s biggest star). This would be a must see for me if I was in the city!

Up in the ol’ Hudson Valley, an interesting group calling themselves THE LOST LEADERS is at The Falcon in Marlboro. The band consists of bassist Byron Isaacs (Levon Helm Band), Lee Falco (Connor Kennedy Band, and for my money, easily the best young drummer in the area), and singer and composer, Peter Cole, an Afro/World Music artist who’s a big star in Africa. This should be very interesting!

BSP Lounge in Kingston continue to impress with their bookings. Tonight, a band I’m not that familiar with, KURT VILE AND THE VIOLATORS. I’m just going on faith here, because I trust BSP to only book good music! The fact that KV and The Violators are at Terminal 5 in the city the next night, also shows me that these guys can bring it, so, see you there!

     Friday, October 25 – Slide guitar master, SONNY LANDRETH, at Iridium. This will be amazing! The room is tiny, and Sonny’s huge! He’ll probably blow the hinges off the doors! Or he might just tone it down a bit. Either way, you wanna be there! Over in Brooklyn, feminist punk icon, Kathleen Hanna, of Bikini Kill, brings her new project, THE JULIE RUIN, to The Music Hall of Williamsburg. In Kingston, BSP is having a pre-Halloween costume party with The Mid-Hudson Misfits roller derby team! Should be a hoot!

     Saturday, October 26 – The weekend’s in full swing tonight, with shows all over New York, both up and downstate! In Woodstock, The 2013 WOODSTOCK INVITATIONAL LUTHIERS SHOWCASE will feature the best acoustic instrument makers in the world, as well as continuous music all weekend, special shows at night, workshops, and other events, culminating with a show closing concert with LARRY CAMPBELL, TERESA WILLIAMS, AND FRIENDS at 5PM on Sunday. Visit www.woodstockinvitational.com for more info and a complete schedule. JOE LOUIS WALKER, who’s been busy mentoring Murali Coryell’s career, is at The Falcon in Marlboro, SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY AND THE POOR FOOLS at The Towne Crier in Beacon, and the real Halloween party at BSP in Kingston. Downstate, we’ve got THE FAB FAUX performing the music of George Harrison at The Beacon Theater, and great R n B singer, JAMES HUNTER at BB King’s! He’s the real thing folks!

     Sunday, October 27 – SONNY LANDRETH pulls into The Towne Crier for a night, RYAN MONTBLEAU is at Joe’s Pub in Manhattan, and the WOODSTOCK INVITATIONAL AFTER-PARTY is  at The Colony Café in Woodstock!

     Monday, October 28 – I’m recommending two wildly differing shows tonight, something that brings me great joy! Glam-Punk icons, THE NEW YORK DOLLS will rock Irving Plaza, and ALAN JACKSON, one of the very few current Country acts who doesn’t suck, is at Carnegie Hall. This has to be a highlight of his career, and I’m betting he’ll perform like it!

     Tuesday, October 29 – All the action tonight is down in the city. THE TUBES are at BB King’s and YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND with THE FOUNDING FATHERS opening, are at Brooklyn Bowl. This will be a great Bluegrass show, and BTW, Founding Fathers is made up of former Infamous Stringduster members who didn’t dig Nashville, so it’s gonna be a goodun!

     Wednesday, October 30 – Rap and cultural icons, CYPRESS HILL, are at Best Buy Theater. Hip Hop fan or not, these guys will be a blast! In Kingston, the great DUKE MCVINNIE BAND concludes their October residency at BSP Lounge.

     Thursday, October 31 – Happy Halloween, and there’s two ways to have fun tonight. Three, if you count the Halloween parade in Manhattan, four if you count the Halloween parade in Woodstock, but we’ll just stick to music! PHIL LESH brings his FAMILY BAND into The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester for the first of four straight nights, concluding Sunday. At The Bearsville Theater, THE LINDSEY WEBSTER BAND celebrates Led Zeppelin with a costume party and performance!

Joining Lindsey will be her usual cohorts on keyboards and drums respectively, Keith Slattery and Dan Hickey, with three special guitarists, Myles Mancuso, Vito Petrocitto, and Matt Finck. I guess they needed three guitarists to duplicate Jimmy Page’s parts. Not surprising, since they’re triple tracked (or more) on the Led Zep records.

     Alright! Hopefully, no more tech glitches. See you next week!

     

     Well, I was right! I loved the Billy Joe Shaver show at B Side Ballroom in Oneonta, and I love the B Side Ballroom! What a cool venue! The owners, Wayne and Rebecca, are lovely, as is Billy Joe Shaver! I’m gonna tell you a story. I met Billy Joe once in Austin. When he told me he was glad to meet me, I really believed it, because he said it like he really meant it! I was impressed with his vibe, too. He was glowing with something, not sure what. Love, maybe. After the show at B Side, I went over to say hello. Billy Joe immediately greeted me warmly and asked how I’ve been. He remembered me from a 15 minute meeting, once, ten years ago! See what I mean? The man is an amazing character, who’s LIVED! He told stories about his son dying, about shooting a guy at a bar in Texas, about Willie Nelson, music, you name it! Billy Joe Shaver is a wellspring of stories and music! I guess that’s what happens once you’ve been to Georgia on a fast train!

     He brought his band with him, which was a pleasant surprise, and they rocked! Great playing, guys! Former Georgia Satellite Keith Christopher was there, and sat in on guitar, and I spotted some Horseshoe Lounge Playboys in the crowd, as well as my buddy John Madeo, who hosts The Little Delaware Jamboree on WIOX, 91.3 FM on Monday nights, and on whose show I am a frequent guest. Also on the web at www.wioxradio.org.

     So, it was a fun night rockin’ out with Billy Joe, and I hope to return to the B Side frequently. Please support this place if you can. It’s awesome, and we need it to keep on doing what it’s doing for live music in Oneonta!

     This week in the city, the second annual CBGB Music and Film Festival takes over the town from Tuesday through Sunday, with over 500 bands at almost 200 venues all across Manhattan and Brooklyn, and over 200 speakers and films, for a total of over 700 live events, culminating in a free concert in Times Square (see below) with My Morning Jacket, The Wallflowers, Grizzly Bear, and more bands and DJ’s! More info at www.cbgb.com!

     Now for this week’s live music picks!

     Wednesday, October 9 – The immortal GINGER BAKER and his new band, JAZZ CONFUSION, with saxophonist PEEWEE ELLIS, starts a 5 night run at Iridium in Manhattan. It looks like the former Cream drummer has put together a Jazz band, and has threatened to perform classics by Monk, Bird, Miles, and Trane! Well, he really always was a Jazz drummer! Nightly through October 13. Also at Leftfield on Ludlow Street, Hudson Valley resident GENYA RAVAN, formerly of Ten Wheel Drive and Goldie and The Gingerbreads, will be holding court with former Dead Boys guitarist, CHEETAH CHROME, who Genya produced for the debut Dead Boys album. Should be a great reunion! RODRIGUEZ is an artist with an amazing story! The Mexican-American singer/songwriter was signed to a major label and released two albums at the beginning of the 1970’s. Both albums stiffed and he was dropped from the label, after which he dropped out of the music business and lived on the brink of poverty for the next thirty years, doing demolition work and attending Wayne State University, where he earned a BA degree. Unknown to Rodriguez, during this time he became a platinum selling artist in South Africa and also very popular in Australia. In 1998, two South African fans discovered Rodriguez alive and well and living in Detroit. This started a musical comeback the likes of which has never been seen in the music business! In 2012, a documentary was made called “Looking for Sugar Man”, which won numerous awards around the world, including the Academy Award for best documentary! Rodriguez is now enjoying a resurgence of his career and is playing at The Barclay Center in Brooklyn tonight, and Radio City Music Hall tomorrow night! Radio City is sold out, but you can still snag tickets for the Barclay Center. Google him, visit his websites, and check him out on YouTube. Even if you don’t go, it’s an amazing story that will brighten your day!

     Thursday, October 10 – If you can’t get a ticket for the sold out RODRIGUEZ show at Radio City, try STEVE KIMOCK AND BERNIE WORRELL at Brooklyn Bowl. Kimock is a veteran of numerous jam bands and Worrell is a member of the Parlia-Funkadelicment Thang, AKA The Parliament Funkadelic Musical Collective, and a former member of Talking Heads.

     Friday, October 11 – The weekend starts with a bang, or several bangs, to be more precise! PUSS N BOOTS, a little Americana trio put together by Norah Jones, ex- Grace Potter and The Nocturnals bassist, Catherine Popper, and former Ryan Adams and The Cardinals member, Sasha Dobson, (and who my band, The Cheating Hearts, shared a bill with last year at Hill Country Barbecue in Manhattan), will be at Bowery Electric in Manhattan, with three other bands, all of whom will probably be good! (BTW, Norah listened and danced through the entire Cheating Hearts set, and then told us we were “great”)! Also tonight in Manhattan, the reunited Buena Vista Social Club, now known as ORQUESTA BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB, is at Jazz at Lincoln Center for the first of two nights, counter-culture demi-god, JOHN SINCLAIR (Google him) at Cutting Room, and the last surviving master of his style, TONY BENNETT, is at Radio City Music Hall! Up in the Catskills, RICKIE LEE JONES will perform at a breast cancer benefit at The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, and The O+ FESTIVAL kicks off a 3 day weekend in Kingston. More info at www.opositivefestival.org.

     Saturday, October 12 – We’re all about Manhattan tonight! Woodstock local hero, SIMONE FELICE is down in the city at Rockwood Music Hall, mega influential rock band, THE MEAT PUPPETS are at Brooklyn Bowl, FUZZ, who I never heard of, but have been favorably compared to Blue Cheer, are at Mercury Lounge, and MY MORNING JACKET, THE WALLFLOWERS, GRIZZLY BEAR, and several more bands, are at a place called Times Square!??? Outdoor show? Yup! It’s part of the CBGB Festival. It’s a free, all day show, so, enjoy!

     Sunday, October 13 – RICKIE LEE JONES at Towne Crier in Beacon, DIANA KRALL at UPAC in Kingston, BEARSVILLE SESSIONS 8 will focus on ONE HIT WONDERS at The Bearsville Theater, and in the city, awesome Americana rock band, RECKLESS KELLY, is at Bowery Ballroom, and HAWKWIND, who were sort of the British version of The Grateful Dead, are at Gramercy Theater!

     Tuesday, October 15 – MARK LANEGAN, of the fantastic grunge rock band, Screaming Trees, at Gramercy Theater, and an odd coupling of Rock Royalty, JEFF BECK AND BRIAN WILSON at The Beacon Theater!

     Wednesday, October 16 – GLENN TILLBROOK, late of the band, Squeeze, at Stage 48 on, where else, 48th Street.

     Thursday, October 17 – CBGB’S FILM makes its Hudson Valley premier at Bearsville Theater.

     That’s it for another one! See you next week!

      A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a column about the grand opening of The Anchor, a new club in Kingston. This week, in an effort to give equal time and recognition to other venues that are helping to keep live music alive in the Hudson Valley, I turn my attention to BSP Lounge in Kingston!

     BSP is a place that has had its share of ups and downs, but since Trevor Dunworth came aboard as manager, it’s come alive! Nice room, good music, hip crowd, it’s one of the hottest spots around, in my opinion! Very sophisticated, urbane, and cosmopolitan. Not your average Hudson Valley nightspot!

     Their booking policy has brought all sorts of national acts to Kingston in the past few months. Former Captain Beefheart guitarist, Gary Lucas was there in June, former Stiff recording artist, Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby in July, they’ve had Grace Potter and The Nocturnals and Assembly of Dust on a double bill, Neko Case (who just tore it up at Radio City Music Hall!), Marco Benevento, 3, Mercury Rev, and last Saturday night, BSP brought Sean Lennon to Kingston, with Charlotte Kemp Muhl, and their band, The Ghost of a Sabre Tooth Tiger!

     The place was packed with the hippest people for miles around, the opening bands, Parakeet and Brother JT, were awesome! Parakeet performing a long ambient piece of music and Brother JT waking up the crowd with their punk infused original songs! Brother JT must be singled out for special mention, and I am planning a longer piece on them, as soon as I can! They were intense, weird, and great!

     But everyone was there to see Sean, and he didn’t disappoint! Hanging out at the bar before they went on, Sean seemed to be, like his father, a man of the people. Very casual, very relaxed, seemingly very comfortable in his own skin. Sean and Charlotte took the stage like experienced pros! I didn’t know what to expect, because people had warned me that Sean had more of his mother in him than his father (not necessarily a bad thing), and was heavily into electronic music, but I’m happy to report that Sean channeled both of them and added his own thing to emerge as a real artist in every sense of the word! The show was marvelous! The band was rockin’, the songs were good, and, without being slavishly imitative at all, were very John, with a Sean filter. Really, really good stuff! Not Electronica at all! Just Rock and Roll, and a splendid time was had by all in attendance! Come back Sean! You said Kingston was hip from the stage, now come back and give us some more love, brother!

     In an effort to meet my deadline, let’s get right to this week’s live music picks!

     Wednesday, October 2 – There’s a great venue that I just discovered called The B Side Ballroom. It’s up in Oneonta, and after I go there for their first anniversary celebration tonight, to see the iconic BILLY JOE SHAVER, I just might write something about this promising venue. It sounds like my kind of place. We shall see. Stay tuned. Back in Kingston, the uncompromising, unusual, and very unique DUKE MCVINNIE BAND starts their October residency at BSP Lounge in Kingston. Check www.bspkingston.com for more info. Just another example of the fine work they’re doing at BSP! In the city, STEELY DAN are on the third night of their 7 shows in 9 nights run at The Beacon Theater, and THE RAVI COLTRANE QUARTET are on the second night of a 6 night run at the legendary Village Vanguard.

     Thursday, October 3 – The WOODSTOCK FILM FESTIVAL starts tonight and continues all weekend. www.woodstockfilmfestival.org for more information. For you rockers in the city, MARKY RAMONE AND ANDREW WK are at Irving Plaza tonight, and again on Saturday night.

     Friday, October 4 – Big show tonight at Roseland Ballroom, so why not make it a Pick of the Week? BLONDIE and X together should make this a night to remember! My old friend GARY LUCAS is out at Brooklyn Academy of Music tonight and tomorrow with his band, GODS AND MONSTERS, performing The Edge of Heaven, his tribute to some of the greatest Chinese singers of the last century! Very esoteric, as Mister Lucas always is! Up in the Hudson Valley, the great CKS is at The Falcon in Marlborough, and AMY HELM PRESENTS FRIDAY NIGHT AT LEVON’S BARN in Woodstock! www.levonhelm.com for more info.

     Saturday, October 5 – Couple of really big shows tonight, as Ed Sullivan used to say, in the city! LIVING COLOR reforms for a show at Ginny’s Supper Club in Harlem, and RUFUS WITH SLY STONE are at BB King’s! I’m not expecting much from Sly because he is way out there, but this could be great, so I’m making both of these shows Picks of the Week, with a stronger nod going to Vernon Reid’s Living Color, which will be more rockin’!!

     Wednesday, October 9 – GINGER BAKER starts a five night engagement at Iridium in Manhattan tonight!

     Th-th-th-th-th-that’s all folks! See you next week!