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Review: Bassekou Kouyate @ Morris Center
My mind was totally, terminally blown at last year’s Savannah Music Festival performance by Bela Fleck and his African guest musicians. The depth of mastery and feeling shown by those African masters was so profound, so beyond Western norms, so unlike anything else I’d ever heard, that other forms of music seem to pale in…
Today at the Savannah Music Festival: April 3
Saturday, April 3 at the Savannah Music Festival (final day). Here’s today’s schedule: The Tattnall Shapnote Singers: “Singing the Sacred Harp.” At 12:30 p.m., Bull Street Baptist Church. Free. Sensations 5. At 6:15 p.m., Telfair Academy. $47. Bill Frisell Trio/Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba. Jazz guitar and African music. At 6:30 p.m., Charles H. Morris…
From a local perspective: ‘The Last Song’ reviewed
No one in The Last Song ever utters the word Tybee. Not even once. Oh, someone does mention that the story is unfolding in Georgia, and a little sign about 90 minutes in reads “Tybee Island Baptist Church.” Anyone watching the film in, say, Switzerland, will probably think “Hmm, what a pretty little beach town.”…
The Last Song, Clash of the Titans
THE LAST SONG *1/2 Steve McQueen, Sally Field and George Clooney are among the many actors who successfully transitioned from the small screen to the large one (and don’t forget that fellow named Clint), but Miley Cyrus seems more likely to join the ranks of Kirk Cameron, Tony Danza and the Olsen twins, thespians who…
Review: ‘Forbidden Music’ @ Temple Mickve Israel
A stellar cast of talented classical musicians performed one of the most brilliantly conceived and executed events in the Savannah Music Festival’s history at Temple Mickve Israel this past Thursday night. The backstory is compelling enough: A selection of pieces written by Eastern European Jewish composers from the 1920s-1940s, the compositions themselves smuggled out of…
Today at the Savannah Music Festival: April 2
Friday, April 2 at the Savannah Music Festival. Here’s today’s schedule: Swing Central Competition. At 9 a.m., Lucas Theatre. Free. Sebastian Knauer/Jeffrey Kahane. Classical piano. At 6:15 p.m., Telfair Academy. $47. Bill Frisell Trio/Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba. Jazz guitar and African music. At 6:30 p.m., Charles H. Morris Center. $32. All-Star Swing Summit. At…
Review: Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi @ Johnny Mercer Theatre
Ah, here’s what marriage does to a man: The first blistering guitar run of the night came not from Derek Trucks — premier electric guitar prodigy of his generation and former Eric Clapton sideman — but his wife, Susan Tedeschi. The couple’s Savannah Music Festival concert Thursday night continued in this vein for quite awhile:…
Review: Emerson String Quartet @ Telfair
Introducing repeat Grammy winners the Emerson String Quartet from the stage as the “premier quartet of our day,” Fred Child, host of “Performance Today,” was on hand for the ensemble’s second consecutive all-Dvorak concert in the rotunda of the Telfair Academy, part of the Festival’s Sensations series. (For the uninitiated, the Sensations are in some…
Today at the Savannah Music Festival: April 1
Thursday, April 1 at the Savannah Music Festival. Here’s today’s schedule: Swing Central Showcase Performances. At 10 p.m., Rousakis Plaza (River Street). Free. Ken Peplowski and Howard Alden. Clarinet, saxophone and jazz guitar.At 12:30 p.m., Charles H. Morris Center. $20. Ben Tucker & Friends: 80th Birthday Celebration. At 5:30 p.m., Charles H. Morris Center. $37.…
Today at the Savannah Music Festival: March 31
Wednesday, March 31 at the Savannah Music Festival. Here’s the schedule: Dick Hyman. Piano salute to Fats Waller. At 12:30 p.m., Charles H. Morris Center. $20. Dick Hyman, Howard Alden and Ken Peplowskli/Gerald Clayton Trio. Jazz combos. At 6 p.m., Charles H. Morris Center. $37. Emerson String Quartet. At 6:15 p.m., Telfair Academy. $47. Dick…
Truckin’
The buzz started circulating when Derek Trucks was 11 years old. He was the nephew of Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks, and he played incredibly, unbelievably soulful slide guitar. Word was that this little tow–headed kid was the reincarnation of Uncle Butch’s late bandmate, Duane Allman. Derek, in fact, was named for the band…
Let’s stop blaming teachers for everything!
Last week’s news that the entire staff of Beach High School will be out of a job at the end of the school year — principal, teachers, even the janitor — hit town like a thunderbolt. While not entirely unexpected — the school was entering its eighth year on the “needs improvement” list, part of…
Seductive Saracina
The label “Saracina” may not be a household name, but if I mention “Fetzer,” most wine drinkers would recognize the name. But the Fetzer family, particularly former CEO John Fetzer, has not been involved with their namesake since selling the brand to beverage giant Brown–Forman in 1992. The brand is a New World success story.…
Random bites: Bayou Cafe, Mirage, Cilantro’s
Bayou Cafe I have high expectations when I see Cajun food on a menu,. After all, it’s a cuisine built around integrity, tradition and freshness. That’s not what I found at Bayou Cafe. I do enjoy the exposed brick and dark wood funkiness – and the awesome, open–window view of the river. I arrived early…
Stupid is as stupid does
A man was arrested for damaging the antique police cars parked outside police headquarters on Habersham Street. Shortly after 3 a.m., detectives who were working late heard the sound of glass breaking outside. They looked out a nearby window and saw a white male kicking the vehicles. They went outside and the heavily inebriated suspect…
Dancing into The Station
SCAD presents its world premiere of the dance performance The Station this weekend at the Trustees Theater. The light–hearted show brings together a total of 30 dancers and is the brainchild of SCAD performing arts professor Vincent Brosseau. As the title indicates, much of the action takes place at a train station. “Originally, I came…
Jerry Joseph, Joe Buck, Lubriphonic
With a cult following as big as his adoptive home state of Colorado, singer/songwriter Jerry Joseph is one of those guys you’ve probably never heard of, but throw enough stones and you’ll hit someone who has. A marble-mouthed, guitar-wielding performer whose rich, lyrical songs often invoke historical (and hysterical) figures, Joseph fronted the Rocky Mountain…
Nuclear bailout, part three: No guarantees
This is the third and final installment of a series exploring the financial impact of expanding the nuclear facility Plant Vogtle. The first piece looked at the federal tax dollars being used to subsidize nuclear energy development. The second part explained the rate increase passed by state legislators to help Georgia Power finance the project.…
Dead in the water
There’s something foul on the Savannah River. And it’s not the stinking remnants of last week’s diesel spill. As sure as there’s green beer on St. Paddy’s Day, a homicide will be committed aboard a Riverboat Cruise vessel every Thursday night — right under the noses of the passengers, who will then try and point…
The master from Mali
Let me get right to the point: Bassekou Kouyate is one of the best musicians in the world today. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Check him out on YouTube, whether in concert or just in his living room with a few friends, tearing it up on his n’goni, an African…
Uncovering history
While Savannah wears its history on its sleeve, there’s still a considerable amount of the city’s past that remains buried — not in cemeteries, per se — but all across the area. At the Grove’s Creek site, on Skidaway Island, UGA professor Erv Garrison has spent the last 17 years helping to uncover the remains…
Like son, like father
Not only is he one of the most revered figures in bluegrass, Del McCoury is considered the genre’s most progressive old pro; the Del McCoury Band is known for its innovative song choices and arrangements, and for pushing the proverbial envelope, tradition–wise. Still, for that Appalachian “high lonesome” sound, he is the vocalist to beat.…
Dirty dozen
In an unusual twist, the stage production of Twelve Angry Men began life as a TV screenplay for the CBS series Studio One. Written in 1954 by Reginald Rose as the golden age of American TV drama kicked off, the narrative is typical of that tense but hopeful time, innocent compared to today’s usual blend…
Exhibits & openings this week
Aldwyth: Work v./Work n. – Collage and assemblage 1991-2009 by this reclusive Hilton Head artist, now in her 70s. Jepson Center for the Arts through 5/17 Call for instructors – The City’s Department of Cultural Affairs is accepting resumes for visual art and performing art instructors for Summer Break Art Camp June 7-August 27 at…
The truth about Bohemian Grove
A friend recently told me about something called the Bohemian Grove where supposedly the leaders of our country meet annually to hold bizarre satanic rituals including burning things in front of a 40-foot statue of an owl. As proof she had me examine a dollar bill where in the corner there appears to be a…
More Texas justice
Lead Story • More Texas Justice: In March, juries in Smith County and Matagorda County sentenced Henry Wooten and Melvin Johnson III to 35 years and 60 years in prison, respectively, for possessing small amounts of drugs (but enough under Texas law to allow jurors to infer an intent to distribute). Wooten, 54, had 4.6…
