Quincy Jones keynote at SXSW 09

He probably doesn’t know it, because there were always 200-2000 other people there as well , but WE knew it and it was AWESOME. It was like spending the day in the presence of giants and their ghosts and their shadows as Mr. Jones walked us through the amazing history of music in his lifetime, so much of which bears his unmistakeably great music mark.

After the extended keynote, Bob and I went to a panel celebrating the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue album. And guess who showed up and was asked to join the panel… Mr. Quincy Jones.  And so continued our wonderful day with Mr. Jones. If time allows, I’ll post more at a later time detailing more of the amazing conversations with Quincy Jones and the Kind of Blue panel, but for now…

As wonderful and amazing as Mr. Jones conversations were, what he brought to us musically was even more amazing and fantastic.

Get ready for it, because Quincy Jones has a new protégé, Alfredo Rodriguez – a pianist so intense, so beautiful and so emotive you never, ever want the music to stop. Just two months ago Rodriguez, a tender 23 years old, defected from Cuba where he was not allowed to tour internationally.

Alfredo Rodriguez at the Elephant Room in Austin

Rodriguez played after Mr. Jones’ keynote address Thursday afternoon, and again later that night at a SXSW showcase in the Elephant Room, displaying his amazing improvisational skills and beautiful artistic soul. Part of Rodriguez’ genius is his ability to be so playful and simple interspersed with moments of exquisite emotional intensity.  He takes a melody and weaves it in and out of harmony and discord while maintaining the pure integrity of the melody and the feel of the song.

Part and parcel with the music are the expressive faces and body language that Rodriguez deploys to communicate even further the emotion of the music without need for spoken word.  Much of this you can hear in the music and see in the videos, but to really feel the full impact of Rodriguez’ music you must see him perform live.  If you ever get the chance to see him live, do not miss it! It’s an experience of a lifetime.  If you don’t believe me, just ask Quincy Jones.

Alfredo Rodriguez and "patron" Quincy Jones

After Rodriguez’ performance at the Elephant Room, Mr. Jones gave us a a few more words from his heart, saying about Rodriguez “this young man makes me even happier than I already am to be alive” and finally adding “This is what music is about.”

Like Mr. Jones, Rodriguez projects a sense of humility and gratitude for his talent, which makes him feel all the more genuine and authentic – truly deserving of his wonderful musical gift.

I’ll post links to purchase Rodriguez’ music as it becomes available.  Meanwhile, here are a few links where you might find new information on this newly emergent artist:

• Alfredo Rodriguez’ official (I think) web site:   
  www.alfredomusic.com
• Alfredo Rodriguez’ facebook page:
  www.facebook.com/pages/Alfredo-Rodriguez/71659295609
• Alfredo Rodriguez on MySpace:
  www.myspace.com/alfredorodriguezmusic
• Follow Alfredo Rodriguez on Twitter:
  twitter.com/alfredomusic
• Alfredo Rodriguez on YouTube (QuincyJonesProd channel) :
  http://www.youtube.com/user/QuincyJonesProds

While Alfredo Rodriguez obviously will soon be very well known (that is to say, he’s not exactly “under the radar”), I was so touched by his music and his talent that I wanted to share him with you right away, now, so you don’t miss any opportunity to hear him play.   I’ve included some of the best videos I found on YouTube below.  Enjoy! But don’t miss a chance to see him live!

My Favorite:

But this one was awesome too:

Last, but not least, here is a video of Alfredo Rodriguez playing the Elephant Room at SXSW – Bob and I were sitting about 7 feet behind Mr. Jones, next to the loud but well meaning drunk you’ll hear hollering in the video. I’m afraid the video doesn’t really do it justice.  This encore had me in tears.

See the Quincy Jones Production Channel (QuincyJonesProd) on YouTube.com for more.

Other photos:

Quincy Jones Keynote at SXSW 09

A standing ovation from The Elephant Room

Alfredo Rodriguez at the Elephant Room

Someday this photo will be the coolest thing on the block! Oh, wait! Already IS!

THEM TERRIBLES lead guitarist Marcus Vaughn Affeldt

CFO Bob Carnahan and I arrived here in Austin last Friday to catch SXSW interactive, so even though yesterday was “Day one” of SXSW music, we’ve been in Austin for five days already!

The best band we’ve stumbled into so far is “MTV Breakout” (I didn’t know MTV still played music) band “THEM TERRIBLES” who were playing at Speakeasy Monday night. Check out photos of these tasty looking lads (did I write that out loud?) in our blog library. We found these guys because we begged a tour of their Gibson Tour bus Anny wanted to see the guitars and the bus driver urged us to see them. Good choice!

Marcus Vaughn Affeldt of THEM TERRIBLES

Probably their best known song, “Dreamers” [find it on ] , is a lovely ballad with lead singer Matt Green behind the keyboard. With an energetic and exciting stage show, great crowd building transitions, lyrical melodies and smoky good looks, this band gave us a great time.  I’d love to see them again.

These young men from Santa Barbara are made up of Matt Green on vocals, Marcus Vaughn Affeldt on guitar, Jimmy Marvitch on bass and Joey Benenati on drums. You can also find them on facebook or buy their songs on iTunes.

SXSW ‘09 Panel Explains – How NPR became the place to discover new music

As a example 0f the opposite tactic, I covered a panel on “How NPR became the place to discover new music” on Tuesday as part of SXSW ‘09 “Platinum Track” for our local Fort Collins community radio station, krfc.

With large corporations soaking up the last of the smaller, independent radio stations (or putting them out of business) the panel tells us that many seekers of new and inspired music are turning more and more to public radio as curators of great new original music.

Bob Boilen, host of All Songs Considered, and Anya Grundmann, NPR Music Executive Producer, shared their excitement about recent and upcoming music projects. One such project, which premiered with the launch of NPR’s music site (http://npr.org/music) was “Project Song” where artists were videoed in their efforts to write, produce and record a song in just a couple of days. Challenges such as this give artists a unique situation where they can exercise their creativity in new ways, said Boilen.

The Decemberists

Certainly NPR’s music site (http://npr.org/music), which features over 45,000 artists pages, is a vast list of music to be discovered. Panel members say that 50-65% of the music they discover comes from public submissions (such as agents, publicists, and artists) and the remainder comes from friends recommendations.  Having reviewed some of  NPR music’s band recommendations, I would say that if you’re into the quirky “All Things Considered” type of folksy, music, you’ll love the NPR recommendations.  If you love rock and roll, metal, pop, jazz or most other types of music, you may want to look further.

When asked whether or not NPR should consider narrowing their focus, rather than trying to be of general appeal, Boilen said that inclusive, rather than exclusive was more what NPR was about. Grundmann added, “Narrow is not necessarily where we want to be.” She also indicated that NPR was planning to beef up their jazz content to a more meaningful level.  Looking at the bands that the panel and NPR in general recommended (Weird Weeds, The Decemberists, The Heartless Bastards), I would suggest that NPR does have a narrow focus quirky, folky bands with unusual instrumentation (pots and pans for percussion, guitars played cross legged on the floor with a bow and so on).

The audience requested (and got) the following recommendations for great music to check out at SXSW ‘09: Grizzly Bear, Sgt. Dunbar and the Hobo Banned, The Blind Pilots, The Weird Weeds, and The Decemberists. You can see more of their SXSW ‘09 recommendations on their “All Songs Considered” page.

The Avett Brothers

Other panelist joining in the conversation were Carrie Brownstein, NPR’s Monitor Mix blogger and former Sleater-Kinney bandmate and Jody Evan, Program Director at KUT radio, and NPR affiliate in Austin. The panel was moderated by Fast Company magazine Senior Writer Anya Kamenetz.

I did enjoy the band, The Avett Brothers, at the NPR sponsored concert at Stubbs. This band not
only had a much more exciting and engaging stage show, but also included a cello, which is the lead instrument in one of our favorite up and coming new bands, Post Paradise out of Fort Collins, Colorado. We’ll be writing up a review of Post Paradise very soon (promise).

Sparks started off her set with Cold War, the lead track off her latest album, Under This Yellow Sun. This song starts out with a nice guitar hook that immediately grabs you, and follows through with gripping lyrics that bring home a cold but personal story of failing relationships.

According to the buzz in the bar, Chris Kirkpatrick from N’Sync was somewhere in the back of the bar and the staff was entertaining said celebrity by setting off alcohol fueled pyrotechnics (where is the Austin fire department when you need them), which must have been disconcerting for Sparks as she pounded out her set on an acoustic guitar, but if that was the case then she hid it well!

I met Tori Sparks almost four years ago at a Future of Music Policy Summit where we were introduced by songwriter’s advocate Fred Cannon (Sr. VP, Government Relations at BMI) of who told me she was going to be a star. Sparks is still young and polishing her style, but it’s clear that Cannon knows his stuff. Sparks is a “Do-It-Yourself” artist with her own record label Glass Mountain Records. Search for Sparks on YouTube and you’ll see her recording “Under This Yellow Sun” in the studio and spending 9 hours screening tee-shirts, along with videos of interviews and performances. You’ll also find Tori Sparks on the cover of the April/May 2008 issue of City at Night Magazine.

That Friday night in Austin, Sparks set covered range of songs from her new CD (Under This Yellow Sun) which is a real gem. Bob Carnahan has already lost his copy of the album to his wife who confiscated it for her commute to work! We also saw Sparks perform at the Colorado Music Summit last year in Denver, Colorado, where she put on an exciting and passionate performance to a house of about 15 people, undaunted by the size of the audience, and engaging every single one.

You can also check out Tori Sparks on MySpace and Facebook. I’d recommend catching her act the next time she’s in your town.

Bob and I were walking down 6th Street here in Austin on our way to a SXSW party, and as we walked past Nuno’s we heard some awesome blues guitar coming out the door, and decided we’d stop in after attending some sxsw “official” parties. Best idea we had ALL night, maybe all week! We stopped in a few hours later and the blues coming out the door were so incredibly soulful, rocking and pure we couldn’t believe it –then we recognized the pianist, whom we’d seen with Kenny Wayne Shepherd last year – the legendary, grammy award winning Pinetop Perkins!

No wonder the blues were so deep and rich, because this man knows how to lay it down, and does it effortlessly. As he rolled through these amazing blues you don’t really realize the man is in his mid-nineties, because he’s as young and vibrant in his music as the young guys he’s playing with only with that incredibly old soul that only a true blues man can have.

According to local Austin songwriter, Lee Duffy, Pine Top was displaced during Katrina, and has settled down here in Austin where he’s been taken in as one of their own by the Austin music community. And I couldn’t resist getting my picture taken with the amazing Pinetop Perkins. He’s certainly still got his mojo workin’!