(Above: Elvis Costello and the Imposters take the stage on a hot summer night at Crossroads KC.) Joel Francis The Kansas City Star Elvis Costello solved the age-old problem of what to do when an artist has too many great songs for one show – he brought them all onstage with him. Costello’s “Spectacular Spinning [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Elvis Costello’
Review: Elvis Costello and the Imposters
Posted in Concert review, Kansas City Star, review, tagged Alison, Back To Rockville, Davey Faragher, Elvis Costello, Jr. Walker, Lovell Sisters, new wave, Nick Lowe, Pump It Up, punk music, Purple Rain, Shabby Doll, Shotgun, Smokey Robinson, spinning songbook tour, Steve Nieve, the Attractions, Tracks of My Tears, Uncomplicated on August 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Rock Hall commemorates 35 years of Austin City Limits
Posted in band feature, Music history, tagged ACL, Austin City Limits, Austin City Limits Music Festival, B.B. King, Ben Harper, Bill Monroe, Damian Marley, Dave Matthews Band, Dolly Parton, Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, Ed Sullivan show, Elvis Costello, Hullabaloo, K'Naan, Mos Def, MTV Unplugged, PBS, Pearl Jam, Public Telvision, R.E.M., Ralph Stanley, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Rock Hall, Sessions at West 54th Street, Shindig, Soundstage, Unplugged, Wilco, Willie Nelson on May 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
(Above: Roy Orbison performs “(Oh) Pretty Woman” on “Austin City Limits” in 1983.) By Joel Francis The Daily Record The musical landscape of television was of a different world when “Austin City Limits” debuted on Public Television 35 years ago. Brief performances on late night talk shows or segments on “Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert” were [...]
Review: Allen Toussaint
Posted in Concert review, tagged Allen Toussaint, Crescent City, Dave Brubeck, Elvis Costello, Folly Theater, Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, Thelonious Monk on January 11, 2010 | 3 Comments »
(Above: A snippet of Allen Toussaint’s cover of Paul Simon’s “American Tune” from one of his regular appearances at Joe’s Pub in New York City.) By Joel Francis The Daily Record At his first-ever performance in Kansas City, New Orleans pianist Allen Toussaint transformed the Folly Theater into a place where “mardi gras” was a [...]
Classic Christmas Carol: “St. Stephen’s Day Murders”
Posted in Music history, Song Review, tagged Chieftains, Christian martyrs, Christian saints, Christianity, Christmas carol, Christmas history, Christmas music, Elvis Costello, Feast of St. Stephen, hunting the wren, Irish history, Paddy Maloney, religious history, St. Stephen on December 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
(Above: Ceoltoiri Chluain Tarbh [Clontarf] go on the wren in 2008.) By Joel Francis Information on St. Stephen is scarce. Everything known about his life is contained in two chapters in the New Testament’s book of Acts. Stephen was one of several men appointed by the 12 disciples to preach the gospel. A man “full [...]
Classic Christmas Carol: “Fairytale of New York”
Posted in Song Review, tagged Christmas carol, Christmas music, Elvis Costello, Fiachra Trench, Frank Sinatra, Kirsty MacColl, Pogues, Shane McGowan, Steve Lillywhite on December 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
(Above: “Fairytale of New York” may be the best modern Christmas song of all time.) By Joel Francis There aren’t many Christmas songs set in jail, but dang if songwriter Shane McGowan and the Pogues don’t turn lockdown sunny side up during the four and a half minutes of “Fairytale of New York.” “Fairytales” opens [...]
Review: Cross Canadian Ragweed
Posted in Concert review, Kansas City Star, tagged alt-country, Angus Young, Back To Rockville, CMT Crossroads, Cody Canada, country music, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Def Leppard, E Street Band, Eddie Van Halen, Elvis Costello, Guitar Hero, Lucero, Lucinda Williams, Mark Knopfler, Taylor Swift, Uncle Tupelo, young country on September 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
(Above: Cross Canadian Ragweed show off their new song “51 Pieces.” What’s with the Raiders shirt on an Oakie?) By Joel Francis The Kansas City Star The television show “CMT Crossroads” found a niche by pairing seemingly disparate artists like Taylor Swift and Def Leppard or Lucinda Williams and Elvis Costello for a one-hour performance. [...]
Elvis Costello – “Secret, Profane and Sugarcane”
Posted in Album review, tagged A Prairie Home Companion, Allen Toussaint, Allison Krauss, Bob Dylan, Brodsky Quartet, Burt Bacharach, Coward Brothers, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Grammys, Hear Music, John C. Riley, King of America, Lyle Lovett, O Brother Where Art Thou, Raising Sand, Robert Plant, Starbucks, T-Bone Burnett, Woody Harrelson on June 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
By Joel Francis When Elvis Costello picked up an acoustic guitar in the mid-‘80s after two baffling albums full of horns and keyboards, the result was one of the high points in Costello’s already-great discography. Costello teamed with producer T-Bone Burnett for that album, “King of America,” and 23 years later the two are back [...]
The Day the Music Survived
Posted in Music history, tagged American Pie, Bill Haley, Bo Diddley, Bo Diddley Beat, Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Don McLean, Elvis Costello, Elvis Preley, Eric Clapton, Fats Domino, Fender Stratocaster, Jeff Beck, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimi Hendrix, Joel Francis, Johnny Cash, Little Richard, Neil Diamond, Not Fade Away, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Beach Boys, the Beatles, the day the music died, the Rolling Stones, Weezer, White Stripes, Woodstock on February 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Above: “True Love Ways” is The Daily Record’s favorite Buddy Holly song. By Joel Francis Fifty years ago this week, the plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper crashed in an Iowa cornfield, claiming its passengers and 22-year-old pilot Roger Peterson. The event became known as “The Day the Music Died,” but [...]
Follow The Daily Record
About this site
Hire Joel Francis
SubscribeArchives
Tags:
15 jazz greats to emerge in the last 20 years (part two)
Posted in Album review, Industry commentary, tagged Afrika Bambaataa, Alice Coltrane, Andrew Hill, Cassandra Wilson, Christian McBride, Cole Porter, Dave Brubeck, Diana Krall, Don Byron, Elvis Costello, Fats Waller, Jason Moran, jazz, John Coltrane, Kora Jazz Trio, Martin and Wood, McCoy Tyner, Medeski, Prokofiev, Ralph Sharon, Ravi Coltrane, Tony Bennett, world music on February 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
(Above: The Kora Jazz Trio in concert.) By Joel Francis Continuing The Daily Record’s look at the state of jazz today, here is the second of three installments shedding light on 15 jazz greats to emerge in the last 20 years. Note that these musicians are not necessarily the 15 greatest jazz artists to arrive [...]
Read Full Post »