rickie lee jones 8/12

They've got another top-notch line-up at the Lowell Summer Music Series this summer, and it's hard to pick and choose among them, spreading my music dollar thin. Tonight was definitely a no-miss - Rickie Lee Jones in town for the evening to perform on the Boarding House Park stage.

Occidental Gypsy - a blend of gypsy jazz and modern pop - opened the night. A superb group of musicians, with a special nod to Brett Feldman on lead guitar and violinist Jakub Trasak, who put me in mind of Stephan Grapelli. Exquisite. Check them out on YouTube playing "Gypsy Blues."

It's got to be going on 20 years since I've seen Rickie Lee in concert and I'd lost touch with her music during that time, so this was an excellent opportunity to see what she's up to now. Her voice is still that incredible machine that goes to all the right places. She hasn't lost a beat; in fact, her mature voice is as compelling as it's ever been, only richer.

And what a band. Lead and bass guitars, B3 Hammond organ, drums and three-member brass section, with Rickie Lee alternating between guitar and piano, it's a big sound, doing extreme justice to the songs, most of which were from her early albums, including favorites like "Chuck E's In Love," "Easy Money," "Coolsville" and "Last Chance." It's as though the 20 years in between simply faded away. I love how she effortlessly moves through jazz and blues and folk, and probably a little country and pop in there too, giving them all her sultry-voiced stamp.

Ace singer and ace band. A must-see if you can.

lowell folk festival 7/29 - 7/31

Hard to believe another year has gone by. But it's time for the Lowell Folk Festival again, this year marking their 25th anniversary. Full of a solid lineup of acts on seven stages and an even more solid lineup of food vendors, the festival claims to be the oldest free festival in the United States. Of course it's not really free (if you know what I mean), but you don't have to pay an entrance fee on the day of. I got down to the festival on Friday night and again on Sunday (was going to a roller derby marathon in Manchester on Saturday), and caught just about everybody I wanted to see. It's always an eclectic international lineup, representing musical styles from Quebecois, bluegrass, Irish, Columbian, Inuit throat singing, boogie-woogie, zydeco, blues, polka, Hawaiian slack-key guitar, Rajastyhani, Ethiopian azmari funk, Argentinian tango, honkey tonk and gospel. And I'm sure I've forgotten a few. Yes, I did - the Trinidadian steel drums out on the street - too much music to confine to a stage!

Friday night's line-up was all on the Boarding House Park stage, three acts, starting with the Quebe Sisters, doing western swing and Texas fiddling. Great harmonies and great fiddling! Followed by the highlight of my weekend - Dervish, from county Sligo, playing traditional Irish music with a whole lot of gusto. Lead singer Cathy Jordan, with the voice of an angel, also played bodhran and clappers to keep time with her feet. Fiddle, piccolo, accordion and two bouzoukis rounded out the band. Highlight of the set had to be her cover of Bob Dylan's "Boots of Spanish Leather," absolutely spellbinding. The rain began to fall in the open-air venue during Dervish's set (the irony of it did not escape Cathy, especially as the rain left at the end of their set). The headliner for the night was Shemekia Copeland, with a good set of lungs and huge audience appeal. They put Shemekia at the Dance Stage for Saturday night, and I'm sure she rocked the night away.

Sunday was more food and drink and much more music. I was really pleased to see Leward Ka'apana from Hawaii, playing guitar and ukelele, and I also caught a bit of polka from Stanky & The Coal Miners (making me miss Yosh and Stan Schmenge, the fabulous Schmenge Brothers). I caught the tail end of Eden Brent, from Greenville, Mississipi, who plays boogie-woogie on the keyboard, reminiscent of Marcia Ball. I caught Nathan & the Zydeco Cha-Chas, good dancing music for sure, at the expense of missing Nukariik, the Inuit throat singers - it was a tough call, but you can't see them all. I am enthralled by throat singing, but I love zydeco dancing. Lots of downtown to wander around in, catching bits of music here and there, more food, more drink, but got back to JFK Plaza in time for Dervish's Sunday performance and another great set. Followed by Le Vent du Nord, from Quebec, mining the same Celtic vein as the Irish band. Very talented and vibrant band, and much to my delight, in an absolute no-brainer, Le Vent du Nord extended their set, bringing Dervish on to accompany them for three numbers to close out the set and the festival.

taj mahal 7/27

Back to Portsmouth, this time to Prescott Park to see Taj Mahal, who was playing as part of the park's Arts Festival. Lovely little park on the harbor, and with the show starting at 7:30, it was ideal for family picnics and a laid-back evening in the setting sun. Joining Taj onstage were Bill Rich on bass and Kester Smith on drums, for an evening that started with "Fever" and just went with the 12-bar blues pretty much all night long. Such that, nearing the end of the show, he introduced "Sitting on Top of the World" with "We'll take it down a notch," at which point there was a round of boos. "OK, then, if that's what you want, as Frank Zappa said, 'Commence to bleed, commence to bleed, commence to bleed.' " It was pretty funny, especially since it wasn't close to a Frank bleed, but nonetheless, it had everyone up dancing. He squeezed his show into 90 minutes, ending with everybody's favorite, "Corinna." Terrific to see him. He hasn't changed much over the years, just keeps doing his thing.

k.d. lang 7/12

It was off to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to catch k.d. lang at the Music Hall. It's a nice venue, almost intimate, with no bad seat in the house. I've been enjoying k.d's voice and music since she arrived on the music scene in the late 1980s. I think I first saw her in a tribute concert with Johnny Cash that was filmed in black and white and aired on TV. In k.d's duet with Cash, they sang "Crying," and I was hooked. You can still see a lot of Cash in her mannerisms and style today. In '92 she came out with the album Ingenue, a collection of pop tunes that veered away from anything country, and she's continued to explore different musical veins ever since.

Her show tonight was a cornucopia of all her styles, dipping into the backlist frequently, but with a huge dollop from her new album with her band Siss Boom Bang - the album's called Sing It Loud and she does. I was glad to hear the old ones, too, "Miss Chatelaine," "Constant Craving" and "Hallelujah" - it was like Singalong Jubilee in the room on all of the old tunes, plus a lot of respect for the newer songs.

A big nod to Lucy Wainwright, sister to Rufus, daughter of Loudon, who opened the show. Very charming, very personable, and a delightful performer. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

manzarek rogers band - 5/6

Kudos once again to the folks at Tupelo Music Hall for continually booking the place with great acts, like Ray Manzarek and Roy Rogers. It was a four piece band, with Kevin Hayes on drums and Steve Evans on bass (the latter two having one song where only they played an instrumental - tremendous musicianship, and you can see why they're in the band). Manzarek Rogers pretty much rocked the place, playing a lot from their most recent album, Translucent Blues - it was the blues all night long, swamp blues, 12-bar blues, even "Greenhouse Blues." Glad I got to see them, especially Roy Rogers, who first came to my attention with the album he did with Shana Morrison - Everybody's Angel. He plays a mean guitar. It was thoroughly enjoyable to get the chance to see him play this night. I see they've got a couple of dates at the end of October - worthwhile checking them out. You can check out their website, and listen to a few clips from the new album here: http://manzarek-rogersband.com/