Canyon Johnson Lights up the Bistro

Canyon Johnson is a San Francisco Bay Bluegrass band that plays all over. Tonight, they brought their tight, smooth and pleasing blend of singing and picking to the Bistro in downtown Hayward, California.

The Bistro features nightly music of various kinds, often Blues or Rock, but this warm Sunday it was Bluegrass, traditional -- in the style of Bluegrass legend Bill Monroe. Several of his legendary compositions were brought to life in the cozy confines of the corner bar and music venue.

The band comprises six people normally, but tonight, fiddler Amy Scher couldn't make it, so the five went on without fiddle parts and Amy's voice. But you wouldn't have known it unless they had told you. Every musician was spot on the whole three sets.

There were many fine moments from banjo picker Bob Regent, who, at the left, kept a serious expression most of the time. Eric Charles sang and strummed his handsome bluegrass mandolin. Jeff Caton played his guitar both as a strumming accompaniment and took many vocal and guitar leads. I am guessing that some of those mandolin and guitar solos might have been fiddle parts under normal conditions, but the guys acquitted themselves well. Jim Duber pounded out the necessary backbone of Bluegrass music on his bass--barefoot!

Bassist Jim Duber, often hidden behind the band

At the center of it all, tall, beautiful Patti (PJ) Finney sang many powerful leads and often accompanied Eric and Jeff. Her smile at those moments of three part harmony lit up the room.

You could tell from the way they played that Canyon Johnson know their stuff, and enjoy each other's company. When Patti, Eric and Jeff gathered together in front of the microphone, it felt like a moment in a roadhouse many years ago, when musicians, to amplify their traditional unamplified music, squeezed together in front of the sole microphone to project the sound.

The Bistro, a Hayward musical tradition, served up the usual nice mix of beers on tap, and the friendly crowd applauded enthusiastically.

The band plays often locally. See their website at canyonjohnson.org for the details.

Tony Rice's Voice - a Lost Treasure

I love Tony Rice's musicality. His guitar playing is sublime--superior--soaring above whatever song he plays and whomever joins him. Tonight I salute and sincerely regret the loss of his singing, even while his guitar picking remains. Tony, 61, suffers from dysphonia, and hasn't been able to sing since the early 1990s.

I first became aware of Tony's genius when he was playing "Dawg Music" as part of the David Grisman Quintet. He left in 1979, but he stayed active, and released albums as the Tony Rice Unit. This was instrumental, in the style of Grisman.

These days, I listen over and over to his incredible album, Tony Rice Sings Gordon Lightfoot. I savor Lightfoot anyway--having virtually every bit of his work (minus one tough-to-get concert album--probably available in vinyl only). This album is the aural equivalent of a massage. I put it on and lay back and enjoy--and often fall asleep. It got so I had to put the CD on in the middle so I'd get to hear the later tracks at all. This is no fault of Tony--the songs are good rousing bluegrass--but the musicality of everyone is so profoundly affecting that I simply relax. One especially stressful evening when I couldn't sleep I went out to the living room and put it on to try to get some sleep. It worked.

I have a CD called Quartet, by Peter Rowan and Tony Rice from five years ago. It features Tony with bluegrass legend Rowan and two fantastic female musicians/vocalists playing mandolin and bass. The ladies also sing the harmonies, because Tony can no longer do it.

I'll continue buying Tony's music, one album at a time, on iTunes. The Lightfoot tunes are spread across several, but he also has recorded many great bluegrass and folk classics. After listening to my collection as I washed the mountain of Thanksgiving dinner dishes, I just ordered up another album, Cold on the Shoulder. That's a Lightfoot, song, yes. So now I have two copies of Tony's rendition.

But, someday, I'll have all the Tony Rice singing there is, and there won't be any more. That's very sad.

Mike Stadler and Mary Gibbons Do It Again

You know you like a band when you seek them out and go see them again. That's what I did last night, when I heard Mike Stadler and Mary Gibbons play at the Frog and Fiddle in Alameda, California. Along with Chuck Ervin on upright bass and Jon Mitguard on pedal steel and dobro, they put out a smooth, clean, finely honed country western blend of bluegrass, folk and Texas swing that satisfies.

My friend Bruce and I got there just when it was starting out and heard a long first set from a table right in front. It was my first visit to the Frog and Fiddle, and I found it was a compact, friendly space with Guinness posters and guitars on the walls, a well-stocked bar on the right and intimate table seating in the rest of the place. I visited the surprisingly spacious (and pleasingly clean) restroom before I left and can tell that the place is well maintained.

I didn't write down the numerous tracks the band played, but Mike and Mary are both fine solo singers and a strong duet. Jon sang a few himself while working the beautiful pedal steel and occasionally, his dobro. Chuck kept up a strong pulse and even leaned in for four-part harmony on one number. Mike likes to switch between his acoustic and electric guitars and sometimes puts his mandolin on his broad shoulders for a more bluegrass-style song.

I was once again pleased to hear three songs by a favorite of mine--Hal Ketchum. Mike took the lead on two while Mary led on Past the Point of Rescue--one of Hal's most popular tunes.

Putting the talent up front is a nice draw to pull folks in from the street, but the club is also lining up regular music performances, so Alameda is becoming a real place to go for live entertainment.

Blue Blog

It all started last night driving home, when I saw the baby blue old Chevy pickup with no roof and beautiful billet interior details, lowered to car height. Then, a minute later, a nice Navy Blue Mazda3--one of my favorite current "regular" cars. I began thinking about blue.

My wife's car is blue too--Liquid Blue Metallic--and that paint cost plenty when we special ordered it five years ago. My dad's 1964 Corvette was that shade too. I have a blue Plymouth van whose paint is peeling on the roof--it's less blue than when new.

What about music? Well, there are the blues themselves--the simple three-chord structure used by musicians for years. I don't know how long. I do know about B.B. King and Lucille, his guitar. There are the Moody Blues, who aren't really a blues band, and more obscure, the Blues Magoos. Blues Image is responsible for the early 1970's hit Ride Captain Ride. Try forgetting that once you've been reminded of its existence.

Joni Mitchell recorded an early lp called Blue. I have it on my iPod. The Beatles aren't a blues band but John Lennon wrote and recorded Yer Blues on the White Album and George's For You Blue has a real traditional, acoustic sound. The list goes on--how about the Blues Project? Blues Traveler? Fats Domino singing "Blue Monday?" Van Morrison wailing Blue Money? Love is Blue?

Hey, what about bluegrass?

What else? I'm always happy to see the big blue roof of an iHop. I love their Harvest Grain 'n' Nut pancakes, with scrambled eggs and bacon. Just had them last night. More healthful are blueberries, known for their antioxidant properties (I always think of rust prevention when I hear that word).

There are blue states -- with a majority of Democratic voters. If blue is good or bad in this case depends on your political bent.

My favorite blue is the color of the sky, which changes all the time. They sold a VW New Beetle years ago that was that color.

Am I feeling blue today? No.

Incredible: Modern Mandolin Quartet and Tim Weed

Tonight, I drove myself into the far reaches of Western Marin County to hear what I expected would be a fine evening of music. It turned out to be an amazing experience of virtuosity and warmth played to an appreciative audience.

The show, at the Dance Palace in Point Reyes Station, opened with Tim Weed, who is to regular banjo plucking what Beethoven's 9th Symphony is to Chopsticks. Even the great Flatt & Scruggs got nothing on this guy. The complex and classical passages that leap off his fingers wowed the crowd--including me. I have heard bluegrass picking and I've heard classical masterpieces. This lean, youthful looking man with a full head of white hair delivered both.

Tim played solo at first--including a fine Spanish style composition. He plays enough notes per minute for five people. He then called up his significant other, who played a wonderful Indian tamboura. It's the drone accompanyment heard in Indian classical music. Who knew that the humble banjo could sound like an Indian sarod? It was spellbinding.

Then, before turning over the show to the Modern Mandolin Quartet, Tim brought up Dana Rath, a founding member of that group and ace mandolinist, for a gorgeous duet.

Then, the Modern Mandolin Quartet settled in. They can play chamber music--because they replicate the normal string parts. Instead of two violins, a viola and a cello, they use two mandolins, a mandola and a mandocello (which looks about the size of a guitar). The group includes Dana Rath and Matt Flinner on mandolins, Paul Binkley on Mandola and guitar and Adam Roszkiewicz on mandocello and guitar. They formed in 1985 to introduce the mandolin family to more people and to commission new works for the instruments. They began recording in 1988. Many recordings have followed.

They performed a couple of incredible selections, then broke for a friendly intermission. That gave me a chance to acquire a CD of Tim's (he autographed it for me and we spoke for a couple minutes) and one of the quartet. It's from 2004, but they are going in to record a new one soon. It will include Dvorak's American Quartet, part of which the group set on fire in the second half of the program. That second set started with Bernstein's "Cool" and went on to include a few pieces that the group has played for many years, and the exquisite Pavanne by Gabriel Faure. They played the Flower Duet from Lakme--an opera--gorgeous!

At the end, they brought Tim back and they played some amazing Bill Monroe bluegrass music. Then, as an encore, Tim set them up in a "jam" that gave the show a triumphant finish.

The intimate venue meant you could meet and get to know the performers a bit. I will definitely follow these artists, and hope you will, too.