list.in.to.chicago this week: 03.14.2005

Bring on the O'Rock! And the McJazz!

Okay, I'll stop now, if only because you're green with envy.

Really stopping now.

Pick of the week
If you're into that crazy jam band sort of thing, Rusted Root (Thursday, House of Blues) should be a good show. I meant to give them a better listen than I have in the past while at the office, but limited Internet connectivity sorta put the kibosh on Rhapsody. Also based on very limited listening, Marianne Faithful (Friday at Park West) looks intriguing.

And while I've certainly come a long way since hating them so passionately in middle school, I can't quite bring myself to recommend Duran Duran (Friday at Allstate Arena), although I think maybe I just did.

In the "if you can find tickets" department, you've got the wildly disparate Motorhead (House of Blues) and Jill Scott (Chicago Theatre) shows on Saturday night.

list.in.to.COZ
Diver will be doing the St. Patrick's Day thing up in Evanston this time around, at the new Celtic Knot on Church Street. And if that's too far away, we'll be going acoustic next Wednesday at Cubby Bear.

Recap
I didn't go to any shows last week. I have no excuse. However, I must once again stress that you, the reader, can submit comments about a show you saw during the week, and as long as I get them by Sunday night, they may make it into the newsletter. Heck, it can be about your own show. I'm all about self-promotion.

3.14   monday
Cheer Accident with TV Pow with Boris Hauf, Rotten Milk (Empty Bottle)
One of Chicago's stranger rock bands at the Bottle on a Monday.

3.15   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
I've got to start airing out the songlist in advance of my solo gig on April 3rd at McGee's, so who knows what I'll pull out of the book.

Sunday Morning Chameleon with Mike Magione (Schubas)
After seeing Keane, and watching the increasing popularity of Snow Patrol, there's absolutely no question that these guys are working that same sort of audience, with lots of medium tempo, heart-on-sleeve tunes that go over really well with the ladies.

Tesla (The Vic)
The main tagline for this show and tour is the "Five Man Acoustical Jam 2005," in reference to the band's 1989 breakthrough album. But the secondary tagline, at least up until this week's ad, was something like "where it all began." Except that album wasn't their first.

3.16   wednesday
Rusted Root (House of Blues)   SOLD OUT!
Lots of fans of jam bands are surprised when I say I don't listen to these guys, because they're very percussive. I just have such a longstanding distate of that hippy noodle dance that I haven't given them a good listen.

Long Count Quartet (Tryst)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Part of me wants to pass an ordinance that free jazz shows have to actually be "free jazz." Not that I don't like the post-hard bop that Steve and his buddies put out every Wednesday, I'm just a sucker for silly shit like that. As evidenced by the eight million times I've made that same joke in this newsletter.

Tomasz Stanko Quartet (HotHouse)
Okay, maybe it's because I grew up in the Golden Age of the Polish Joke, but I'm really amused that trumpeter Stanko's quartet is touring to support an album called Trio.

3.17   thursday
Diver (Celtic Knot, Evanston)   SEE COZ LIVE!
We couldn't possibly make it through St. Patrick's Week without a full band Diver show. This year we'll be gracing Evanston's newest Irish bar, which is somewhere on Church Street.

Rusted Root (House of Blues)
Same as Wednesday, except this one apparently is not sold out.

Sidewinders (Green Dolphin Street)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Haven't given a shout out to Dan Peters and crew in a while, but they just got themselves a record deal a couple months ago, so bully for them.

3.18   friday
Duran Duran with Clear Static (Allstate Arena)
DeRogatis railed on the 80s in the Sun-Times last week, but in spite of the VH-1 overload, I don't think it was as bad as he makes it out to be. If there was a persistent flaw with the MTV-fueled new wave era, it was that not a lot of bands could sustain themselves for an entire album. Singles, however, yielded some memorable songs, and nobody did that better than Duran Duran, now boasting it's original lineup at the expense of former Missing Persons and Frank Zappa six-stringer Warren Cuccurullo, who had been with the band up until last year.

Marianne Faithful with Fernando Saunders (Park West)
PJ Harvey and Nick Cave contributed to Faithful's latest recording, and the result has been drawing some pretty favorable press. I heard one track on the radio last week, and it sounded really good.

Tito Jackson with Otis Clay (Fitzgerald's, Berwyn)
I have to assume it's that Tito Jackson, as you'd figure any other entertainer would have changed his name so as not to be associated with the Jackson clan. Curious timing to be out on the road, though, isn't it?

3.19   saturday
Motorhead with Corrosion of Conformity, Zeke, Brand New Sin (House of Blues)   SOLD OUT!
The ugliest singer in rock, and Lemmy would probably be the first to tell you that. And I still haven't looked into the umlaut problem.

Jill Scott with Common (Chicago Theatre) SOLD OUT!
Regular readers know that I'm a big fan of the whole neo-soul movement, and these two go at it from both the more traditional R&B and the hip-hop angles.

Ravi Coltrane Quartet (Jazz Showcase)
The son of the late, great John Coltrane finally seems to be stepping out on his own now that longtime Coltrane drummer Elvin Jones, whose band Ravi had played in for years, has passed away. Tuesday through Sunday at the Showcase.

3.20   sunday
Nicholas Barron's Hyperactive (Long Room)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
With Sumo finally departing from Elbo Room, and Liquid Soul only playing sporadically at Martyrs', this is sort of the last bastion of the old acid jazz guard, although the sound of the band is pretty far removed from the old Swimmer days. Still funky, though.

Yakuza with SubArachnoid Space, Paik, Monostripe (Empty Bottle)
One of the guys in Yakuza is the new sound man at Elbo Room. Seems like a nice enough guy. I've seen this band around for a long while now, but not ever live and up close.

Rusted Root (House of Blues)
Same as Thursday, which is to say the same as Wednesday, except this one apparently is not sold out, either.