Keeping it real - Robert Randolph and the Family Band heat up an otherwise cold Bloomington night in February. The venue appeared to be oversold and the fans couldn't get enough of the blues-rock-jam band whose entire repertoire seems to be graced by the roots of southern gospel. Rose Hill Drive, who has enjoyed oppportunities as opening act for Van Halen, was inaudible. While they seem to have practiced their classic rock licks, one could not help but draw obvious parallels to "That 70's Show" or the movie "Detroit Rock City".

ROBERT RANDOLPH
ROSE HILL DRIVE

Best selling author, Stephen King, recently wrote to the effect that James McMurtry may be the fiercest songwriter of modern day. I couldn't agree more. McMurtry has consistently demonstrated an intuitive and insightful sense of story-telling throughout his recording career. People, places and times are recalled with stark honesty and painted in words more vivid than a picture. What seems to bind it all together is the overwhelming realism employed by the artist. Listen to the words. You know these people, you've been to places very much the ones described, but maybe it's been a long time since you were there. That's the magic of McMurtry's gift. His concert at the Patio in Indianapolis is one that I have long anticipated and it was nothing short of expectation. Particularly nice was the fact that the small size venue added an extra ambience to the set.

SETLIST:
St Mary of The Woods
Fraulein O
Red Dress
No More Buffalo
60 Acres
Rachel's Song
Out Here In The Middle
Choctaw Bingo
Lights Of Cheyenne
Levelland
Max's Theorem
I'm Not From Here
Too Long In The Wasteland
Rex's Blues

Meet & Greet: James McMurtry

JAMES McMURTRY

OVER THE RHINE

CALIFORNIA GUITAR TRIO with Tony Levin and
Pat Mastelotto

This turned out to be an incredible opportunity to see California Guitar Trio along side two stellar players best known for their connections to King Crimson. CG3 are also tied to King Crimson, as they were all students of Robert Fripp in his League of Crafty Guitarists. Of course the opportunity to see and hear Tony Levin in such an intimate venue was bonus. Fabulous show.

Meet & Greet: California Guitar Trio + 2 (Paul Richards, Bert Lams, Hideyo Moriya, Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto)

CALIFORNIA GUITAR TRIO

MARK KNOPFLER

Nevermind the many comparisons to Eric Clapton and other strat cats, Mark Knopfler is without a doubt the heir apparent to American guitarist Chet Atkins. The former Dire Straits frontman continues to hone his craft at writing meaningful songs, whether they be about people, historical events or the occasional novelty value topic. It may have been a more common path to have continued in the rock/blues genre, but Knopfler has incorporated a fair amount of old school Nashville and sounds of native Scotland into his work as well. On this tour, Mark Knopfler and his band of not-so-famous, but noticably capable players tear through a two hour set of Mark's solo work plus some crowd pleasing Dire Straits hits.

The show starts off with a mix of favorable solo tracks, including "Why Aye" , "What It Is" , and "Sailing To Philidelphia" combined with the occasional Dire Straits track, such as "Walk Of Life". Clearly, MK was getting a feel for the show and for the venue with quiet, often conservative guitar contributions. By the fifth or sixth number of the show, Knopfler gave a nod to the band as he tore into the classic favorite, "Sultans Of Swing". At this point he obviously felt things were falling into shape nicely and unloaded a barrage of inspired guitar on an audience who came to here him play. The rest of the two hour set consisted of only a shortlist of tunes from his current release, Shangri-La, one of my favorites, "Rutiger" from Golden Heart, and "Speedway At Nazareth" , a song familiar to Indianapolis fans because it includes a verse about the Brickyard. The show closed with "Money For Nothing"

MARK KNOPFLER

CALIFORNIA GUITAR TRIO

Unlike the show a few months back, this concert was strictly CG3 without Tony Levin or Pat Mastelotto. Also unlike last time, the setlist was completely different, which made for a great evening of music. For guitar geeks like myself and even the ordinary listener, you have to be awestruck by the fretskill of Bert Lams. The show lasted about 90 minutes and ranged in styles from bluegrass to classical, rock to surf guitar. The great thing about attending a CG3 concert is that you need not be familiar with their CD's in order to know some of the content. This evening's show included Symphony #9, as well as an acoustic version of Queen's popular "Bohemian Rhapsody". The setlist also featured theme music from "The Good The Bad & The Ugly" and another familiar western, blended seamlessly into The Doors classic, "Riders On The Storm". Also previewed at this engagement was an excerpt from Jon Anderson's new concerto for four guitars - obviously performed only on three guitars. For an extra interesting encore, the trio elected to perform a track from the popular movie soundtrack to "Napoleon Dynamite"

Meet & Greet: California Guitar Trio (Paul Richards, Bert Lams, Hideyo Moriya)

CALIFORNIA GUITAR TRIO

ACOUSTIC ALCHEMY

U.K. based Acoustic Alchemy stopped in at the Jazz Kitchen for two performances in support of their latest release, "American English". What began as an impressive guitar duo has over time evolved into a much larger band with a broader sound. Although the current album features a roster fo 6, a smaller quartet version of the group performed a very intimate show here. The group's co-founder, Nick Webb, passed away several years ago, replaced by the very capable Miles Gilderdale on guitar. His partner, mainstay Greg Carmichael, completes the string section of the band. The newest member of AA is drummer Greg Grainger from Baltimore, MD. Rounding out the quartet is pianist Terry Disley, who has joined Acoustic Alchemy on and off for a number of years. The evening's show got underway just as a severe storm passed throgh the city. This caused a few minor electrical problems, but all sound issues were worked out quickly. To begin, the band's manager introduced the program as a unique words and music performance, with any number of anecdoatl stories of the band's history being told by the members themselves. The 90 minute setlist spanned the entire AA catalog and featured several crowd pleasers, including "Mr. Chow" and "Red Dust/Spanish Lace".

ACOUSTIC ALCHEMY

AL DiMEOLA

A larger than average Music Mill turn out for a pioneering jazz/fusion guitarist who has not played the Indianapolis area for a long time. From the start of the show, DiMeola wasted little time re-introducing himself (to anyone who may have forgotten) as the reigning king of 10 fingers on two hands. Al DiMeola fans will almost immediately acknowledge two distinct periods in the guitarist's career. First, the 70's proved to be Al DiMeola's most popular, as he pioneered the jazz/fusion genre along side John McLaughlan, Stanley Clarke, Paco Rivera and others. While often employing latin-american sounds in his music, DiMeola blazed as a leading guitarist of the era, known for his lightning fast yet controlled attack. Post 70's jazz saw a reduced interest in fusion, while DiMeola pursued an often softer sound. Eventually, the name "Al DiMeola" faded from conversation. This concert tour clearly re-asserts the jazz-fusion era DiMeola in prime form.

Along side DiMeola this evening, Mario Parmisano keyboards, Ernie Adams drums, Victor Miranda bass, and the evry animated Gumbi Ortiz percussion.

AL DI MEOLA

JOHN SCOFIELD

This was the third show of four total booked by Scofield at the Jazz Kitchen. Two shows, two nights and wow, what a treat for fans of jazz guitar! John Scofield performed an evening of music paying tribute to one of the all-time greats, Ray Charles. Of course the arrangements were designed to be showcased by a world class guitarist such as Scofield. Charles classics such as I Got A Woman, I Don't Need No Doctor, Sticks & Stones and countless others were served up with steaming guitar solos, while the beautiful Georgia was the highlight of the evening for me.

JOHN SCOFIELD

JON ANDERSON

Jon Anderson: for over 35 years, the unmistakable voice of the progressive British rock group, Yes. Then there was that other commercial Yes formation featuring newcomer guitarist, Trevor Rabin (90125-era). And let's not forget the other formation Yes, legally remembered as Anderson-Bruford-Wakeman-Howe. Anderson is probably lesser remembered for his 1980's collaborations with the greek maestro, Vangelis. In addition, Anderson has delivered a number of solo outings, including my favorite, Animation. How would anyone begin to create a setlist from this?

The performance was designed to feature Anderson, unaccompanied save for a few instruments and midi-effects. In performing the obligatory Yes-classics, Anderson was hit-and-miss. The hits were Soon (excerpt from Gates of Delirium), And You And I, Wondrous Stories, I've Seen All Good People and White Buffalo. The misses included rambling ventures into song segments, unrecognizable except in lyrical content. These featured parts of Close To The Edge and The Revealing Science Of God. Completely missing the mark was an ill-advised performance of the 1984 hit, Owner Of A Lonely Heart, featuring Anderson's vocal and the bare bones chord structure of the song strummed acoustic.

The show lasted nearly 2 hours with encores and the audience was generally pleased with anything Andersoon wanted to do, including a few songs from the Jon & Vangelis collections. In all the show was quite enjoyable, topped off by a meet-n-greet afterward.

Meet & Greet: Jon Anderson

JON ANDERSON

NEIL DIAMOND

Neil Diamond is the king of showmen. If this was not true, he would not have packed the house at Conseco Fieldhouse just days before Christmas at a minimum ticket price of $77. Such was the case Dec 9th. While Diamond sounded a bit winded from time to time, he is an elder statesman of the entertainment business, this is his first outing in a few years and the show was nonstop service to hitsville. Huff and puff all you want to Neil. The band was of course tight and from where I sat, the lead guitar player was significantly louder than his counterparts in the band.

SETLIST:
Crunchy Granola Suite
Desiree
Remember Me
Beautiful Noise
You Got to Me
Kentucky Woman
Cherry, Cherry
Play Me
Love on the Rocks
America
Thank the Lord for the Night Time
Forever in Blue Jeans
You Don't Bring Me Flowers
Wake Up The Band
Be
Lonely Looking Sky
Skybird
Holly Holy
Sweet Caroline
I'm a Believer
Glory Road
And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind
Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)
I'm on to You
We
Shilo
Red Red Wine
Soolaimon
I Am ... I Said

ENCORE:
Cracklin' Rosie
Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show

NEIL DIAMOND