SubCat/Aux Records Taste of Syracuse Stage Lineup

Music fans,
Look out. The big news is Aux Records and SubCat Studios are rockin' (and jazzin' and bluesin' and...) Syracuse, New York again this summer. Twenty-five acts in two days means music, music, and more music. Long live independent music! Below is the lineup from the Aux Records blog. I'll see you in downtown Syracuse on June 6 & 7:

Friday, June 6, 2008

12:00 – 12:25 p - Caleb Micah
12:30 – 12:55 pm - Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
1:00 – 1:45 pm - Steve Wolf & Blues Express
2:00 – 2:45 pm - Chris Lizzi
3:00 – 3:45 pm - The Barrigar Brothers
4:00 – 4:45 pm - Kh’ Mi
5:00 – 5:45 pm - Caesar Fadari
6:00 – 6:45 pm - The Action
7:00 – 7:45 pm - Mat Burke
8:00 – 8:45 pm - Huela
9:00 – 9:45 pm - Mike Brindisi & The New York Rock
10:00 – 11:00 pm - Torment The Vein

Saturday, June 7, 2008

12:00 – 12:25 pm - Pirate CNY Contest Winner
12:40 – 1:05 pm - The Andrea Doria
1:20 – 1:45 pm - Vapor Aevum
2:00 – 2:25 pm - Fairway
2:40 – 3:05 pm - Fazeshift
3:20 – 3:45 pm - HondoMesa and Midnight Mike
4:00 – 4:45 pm - 3rd & Main
5:00 – 5:45 pm - Grey Tide
6:00 – 6:45 pm - The Icon And The Axe
7:00 – 7:45 pm - Honor Bright
8:00 – 8:45 pm - Anorexic Beauty Queen
9:00 – 9:45 pm - Rocko Dorsey
10:00 – 11:00 pm - Merit

Find the artists online at:
3rd & Main – www.3rdandmain.com
The Action – www.myspace.com/bandtheaction
The Andrea Doria – www.myspace.com/theandreadoria
Anorexic Beauty Queen – www.myspace.com/anorexicbeautyqueen
The Barrigar Brothers - www.myspace.com/thebarrigarbrothers
Caesar Fadari – www.caesarfadari.com
Caleb Micah – www.myspace.com/calebmicah
Chris Lizzi – www.chrislizzi.com
Fairway – www.myspace.com/fairwaymusic
Fazeshift – www.myspace.com/fazeshift
Grey Tide – www.myspace.com/greytide
HondoMesa and Midnight Mike – www.hondomesarecords.com
Honor Bright – www.honorbright.net
Huela – www.myspace.com/huelamusic
The Icon And The Axe – www.myspace.com/theiconandtheaxe
Jeffrey Pepper Rogers – www.jeffreypepperrodgers.com
Kh'Mi – www.myspace.com/khmi
Mat Burke – www.myspace.com/matburke
Merit – www.gomeritgo.com
Mike Brindisi & The New York Rock – www.thenewyorkrock.com
Rocko Dorsey – www.myspace.com/rockodorsey
Steve Wolf & Blues Express – no website
Torment The Vein – www.tormentthevein.com
Vapor Aevum – www.myspace.com/vaporaevum

Photo of Corn-Bred at NAMA

This photo from Indian Country Today, by Shannon Burns, was taken at last year's Native American Music Awards (NAMA). Corn-Bred's Hondo Mesa Records release won "Best Blues Recording of the Year." The boys are looking good. They didn't have a new release for this year's NAMA, however they are heading back into the studio. Expect to see them at next year's NAMA.

3rd & Main's "K 'n' D" on ReverbNation

Hello cool noir jazz fans,
Hondo Mesa Records just put up 3rd & Main's cool recording of their original, "K 'n' D" on ReverbNation. You can listen to the entire tune. And speaking of tune, stay tuned for some exciting news about a special summer (free) 3rd & Main gig in Syracuse, NY. Syracuse is the boys' home town and they are excited to be playing a free summer concert for all their fans. For now... enjoy a listen to K 'n' D:

Star Spangled Banner -- Larry Hoyt

Larry certainly has a distinctive sound. Here is his version of the Star Spangled Banner:



Nicely done Larry.

This Old Heart of Mine

Hey guys,
Remember this... Rod Steward and Ronald Isley. A favorite of mine:

R.I.P. BUDDY MILES

Another great one is gone. Buddy Miles played with Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, and others. Late in life he got his second wind and was coming up again. God Bless you Buddy. Here is a video of Buddy Miles and his pal Carlos Santana playing "Them Changes" live.

Jazz Trio Live From Japan

I'm sitting in the Hondo Mesa Records studio (East) in Syracuse, NY. It is 10:00am on Sunday morning. I am logged into Second Life and listening to the Ashiya Jun Trio, live from Japan. The time in Japan is 11:00pm. The trio is made-up of all Japanese musicians -- Ashiya Jun on Acoustic Piano, Hatsune Nishi on Electric Bass (she kicks ass), maxmax Miles on Drums. Fantastic. The photo is a shot of their avatars. As they stream the live sound, the avatars are on on stage playing.

Ulf Oesterle featured in Jerk Magazine

My friend and fellow indie record label owner, Ulf Oesterle, is featured in a Jerk Magazine story this month. The story, "For the Record," written by Liam McCabe and photographed by Katie Dalrymple, Maren Guse and Nick Ruggiero describes how Aux Records was formed. A big part of the story is devoted to how Aux Records and the SAMMY award-winning band Merit hooked up. It's a good read.

Oscar Peterson singing?

Hey guys,
I'm in New York City right now. I've been here for about a week and I'm heading back to Syracuse on tomorrow on the 10:45 train. My last post, promised a story about the late great Oscar Peterson's singing at the CCC Jazz Festival.

Until recently, I didn't know Oscar sang. A couple of nights ago, in a jazz club around 92nd and Broadway, my friend Larry told me that Oscar did sing, recorded himself singing, and that he (Larry) had a very rare copy of that recording.

This kind of takes the interest out of my promised story. I didn't think Oscar could sing. When I saw Oscar at the old State Theatre in Cleveland (during the CCC Jazz Festival sometime during tne decade of teh 1980s), he only played piano. He didn't sing. Larry told me that Oscar had a wonderful singing voice, but he sounded too much like Nat King Cole. In fact, he sounded identical to Nat King Cole, so he stopped singing (on records, anyway).

Here is my story of the great CCC Jazz Festival and Oscar Peterson. Oscar comes on stage (after the drummer and bass player had been playing for a little bit). He starts playing. It sounds great. He grabs the mic, that was laying on his grand piano and announces the next song. While he is playing, I hear this "eek eek eek" sound. This sound continues through the entire song. When the song ends, the eek eek eek ends. Oscar introduces another song and starts playing. That "eek, eek eek, is back. I start looking aroud to see who is rocking in their squeeky chair making that sounds. I find no indication of this.

As it turns out, Oscar is kinding half humming, somewhat singing, basically vocalizing with his playing. It is totally off tune and basically sounds like, "eek, eek, eek, eek," and so on. He never turned off his mic after introducing a new song and the mic was picking up on his vocals.

After about three songs, the "eek" faded into the background and I never really heard it again. Oscar put on a wonderful concert. CCC Jazz Fest was a big hit and I miss Cleveland.
Best regards,
Dennis

Oscar Peterson

So long to another great...Oscar Peterson. I saw Peterson in the mid-1980s. He was the headliner for the CCC Jazz Festival in Cleveland, Ohio. Wow. What a show. The concert was held in the old State Theater on Euclid Avenue. I have been telling a story about that night for years. I'll tell it here when I get some time. It has to do with Oscar's singing. Yes, singing. In the mean time, enjoy this clip of Oscar Perterson and Count Basie playing "Slow Blues."

Corn-Bred NAMMY photo

The Native American Music Awards recently posted the official photographs of the 2007 award winners. Check out the NAMA website and click on the "Photo" for the shot of Corn-Bred holding the NAMMY! Corn-Bred won for best blues recording of the year.