Sequenza21/The Contemporary Classical Music Weekly

Positively Sixth Street

For reasons too mercantile to go into I found myself in Austin, "the live music capital of the world," on Wednesday night and wandered over to the parking lot of the new Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum to hear a revue of best of Austin's music performers doing a private gig for delegates to the World Congress on Information Technology (don't ask). The program was put together by the versatile Stephen Bruton, who also emceed, sang and played lead guitar with most of the other acts. Like most revues that try to cover everything in one big musical orgy, the evening was a mixed bag and went on too long with many of patrons stumbling away for some shuteye and quiet barbeque digestion by the third hour--at which point Joe Ely, James McMurtry and Pinetop Perkins had yet to appear. I left after my fave Lou Ann Barton performed only a couple of numbers. (Terry Allen did only one.)

It was fun but I would rather have had an evening of just Lou Ann or Carolyn Wonderland (the red head in the picture above, with Stephen Bruton on guitar). Wonderland has a Janis Joplin-type of voice housed in a 100-pound body and plays a mean blues guitar to boot. I also really dug the great accordian player Joel Guzman and his singing partner Sarah Fox who perform great Mexican music together as Astex. Espanol no esta problema en Austin. There was even a string quartet called Tosca, composed of four comely lasses who played some more than credible Astor Piazzolla.

As always, the most gifted musicians were in the house band, especially drummer Brannen Temple and trumpter Ephraim Owens. This kid has dazzling chops.

Maybe this is just my still undigested pig sandwich talking, but despite having a great and lively music scene you can't help thinking that Austin is still Triple A; Nashville remains the "show." Finally, I didn't have time to visit the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial but that gives me an excuse to go back sometime.

p.s. For those of you in West Michigan, you can hear Christina Fong on WBLV (90.3) today at 3pm or you can listen via the internet here. Christina will be talking about Philip Glass's overriding concern for popular subject matter, authors and collaborators from 1983-1988, a period during which he started writing for the standard orchestra while at the same time changing the characteristics of his own electronic
ensemble.

posted by Jerry Bowles 5/05/2006