State’s Man

Utah Phillips stays close to his roots

By Bruce Robinson

HE WASN’T BORN THERE, but Bruce “Utah” Phillips has chosen to be known professionally for the state in which he came of age, a wide-open slice of the West he continues to regard as his home. It was there he developed the leftist political perspective that shaped his subsequent activities as a labor organizer, political gadfly, and, most enduringly, folk singer.

While Salt Lake City in the 1950s may seem like an improbable place for such an outlook to take shape, it was a natural outgrowth of his upbringing. “My mother worked for the CIO [labor organization]. She was a radical, a red. And my father was a communist,” the 63-year old Phillips recalls in a phone conversation from his Nevada City home.

“The books were always there. There was never any pressure for me to be in certain ways, but the tools were always there, the tools that, if you absorb them, give you the analysis needed to figure out what’s going on around you.

“For instance, when I joined the Army and went over to Korea, I had the tools to understand cultural imperialism when I was lookin’ at it, and most of the people around me didn’t. So I spent a lot of time trying to explain it.”

That radical bent still is evidenced in his music– including a 1997 duet album with radical feminist folkie Ani DiFranco–and in Phillips’ repeated candidacies for the U.S. Senate and presidential campaigns. He brings his politico-folk tunes to the Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festival June 27-28 in Sebastopol at a star-studded tribute to the late Marin singer and songwriter. He also appears–along with Emmylou Harris, Kathy Mattea, Dave Alvin, and others–on Treasures Left Behind, Remembering Kate Wolf (Red House), a new tribute CD.

THOSE RADICAL ROOTS run deep. Returning to Utah after his tour of duty, Phillips rejoined the Industrial Workers of the World and plunged into labor activism and organizing. “I organized for the Utah Migrant Council and in a barrio in west Ogden and for the Poor People’s Party.” And even though Utah is hardly a hotbed of union strength–this was the state that executed labor organizer Joe Hill back in 1915, he points out –“I got along pretty well because I decided early on that the LDS [Latter Day Saints] people weren’t my enemies.

“The good thing about being a radical in Utah,” he continues, “is that the Mormons–who own the state–are dead-honest people. They’re wrong, but they’re honest. They play by the rules. They make up dumb rules, like anybody else, but they play by them. You can predict any response to a given provocation. I found out when I went east what corruption really is. They make up the rules–same dumb rules–and if you figure out how to beat ’em, they change ’em. So it’s much more fluid, much trickier.”

PHILLIPS HAS RECORDED infrequently over the past 30 years, but has seen dozens of his songs recorded by other artists, from long-time cohort Rosalie Sorrels to Kate Breslin and Jody Stecher’s 1997, Grammy- nominated Heart Songs.

It was through a Sorrels’ recording of Phillips’ “If I Could Be the Rain” that Phillips came to the attention of a young Kate Wolf. “She told me she listened to that record and said, ‘If he can do that, then I can,’ and she started writing songs,” says Phillips, who met Wolf when she invited him to an early Santa Rosa Folk Festival.

A generation apart in age, they were kindred spirits musically, and soon afterward began to tour together regularly. “I had started out singing in the east after I left Utah in ’69, and the audiences were pretty well developed,” Phillips recalls. “And I knew that they wanted, they needed, to hear Kate. They needed to hear something from the West besides me, and Kate was quintessential Californian. So I booked a long tour and we drove it, and she got to play in Hartford and Boston and all over everywhere.”

But even more than performing together, Phillips remembers Wolf, who died of leukemia in 1986, as a friend who pushed him to do more. “She would provoke me into doing things that I would otherwise take too long to do or never do,” he recalls. “She got in the habit of haranguing me to go through my journals, which were a bag full of papers with scribbles on them, and putting music to those songs, or demanding that I finish them.”

Predictably, Phillips has been a fixture at the Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festivals near Occidental, a classic folk-music gathering that, Phillips says, still falls short of his idea of genuine acoustic music. “The only way to make music acoustic,” he growls, “is to reach down and deftly disconnect your instrument from the second industrial revolution.”

The 3rd annual Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festival will be held Saturday and Sunday, June 27-28, at Caswell Vineyards west of Sebastopol. Saturday’s lineup features Laurie Lewis, Ferron, Greg Brown, Cheryl Wheeler, Utah Phillips, and others; Sunday highlights Nanci Griffith, Greg Brown, Utah Phillips and Rosalie Sorrels, Guy Clark, and others. Tickets are $32 a day or $60 for both days; discounts are available for seniors, students, and children. 829-7067.

From the June 18-24, 1998 issue of the Sonoma County Independent.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

Homegrown

James Michin III

Mother nature’s child: Megan McElroy

Local artists showcased on new CDs

Megan McElroy
Buzz (Leave My ReMark Music)

MEGAN MCELROY’S music–playful, literate, delightfully inventive jazz-folk-blues songs of womyn-centered politics and lesbian love–are quite intentionally “not for everybody.” Not that the Santa Rosan is short of fans; McElroy’s electrifying, anything-goes live shows have won her a vast and loyal following throughout the county and beyond. Now the raw exhibitionist exuberance of those performances has been captured in McElroy’s first studio CD. Produced by women’s music pioneer June Millington, Buzz nicely showcases McElroy’s powerful guitar playing and her trademark scale-defying vocals. Especially good are the heart-stoppingly erotic “Sticky Fingers” and the tongue-tangling delight of “Court Jester”.
David Templeton

Ruminators
Wild West (Jackalope Records)

Rachel Tree
Water of Life (RT Productions)

AS THEIR NAME IMPLIES, the six-year span since their first CD release has given the Ruminators plenty of time to ponder the songs that make up this fine album. Unhurried and acoustic-based, the superb production by leader Greg Scherer, Doug Jayne, and Jeff Martin (of Joanne Rand’s Little Band) allows Scherer’s compositions to gently move the pure air on which they seem to float. Jennifer Goudeau shares vocals with Scherer, with instrumental assistance from Spiral Bound’s Terry Ann Gillette, former Hijinks’ Chip Dunbar and Ted Dutcher, Jim Hurley, and Rob Stinnett, among the collaborators. With Celtic roots planted firmly in American soil, their genuine sound reflects the cross-pollination of the contemporary folk-music scene, from countrified to Parisian cafe jazz. Meanwhile, singer Rachel Tree makes her debut with the Little Big Band rhythm section. Her earnest, wide-eyed vocals and organic songs pitch her in the New Sincerity camp of artists. Zero guitarist Steve Kimock and Terry Keady lend their talents on a couple of cuts to ensure all is solid on the musical front.
Terry Hansen

James K
A Giggle Can Wiggle Its Way Through a Wall (Rivertown)

Jim O’Grady
We Gotta Start Summer! (College Street)

A GIGGLE CAN WIGGLE … is a strong debut from Petaluma children’s music performer James K, a talented singer-songwriter working in the vein of Peter Alsop and Tim Cain, and offering powerful self-esteeming messages in a playful setting. These mostly original folk-oriented songs–melodically catchy enough for preschoolers and kindergartners, and lyrically sophisticated enough for kids up to sixth grade–have struck a chord in young hearts among local schoolchildren. Kid tested, kid approved. Meanwhile, local kiddie music star Jim O’Grady has released his third CD, a collection of hummable pop songs that touch on favorite children’s themes, including “I’m Not Made for Homework” and the timely “Summertime Is the Best.”
Greg Cahill

Vince Welnick
Vince Welnick & Missing Man Formation (Grateful Dead Records/Arista)

SONOMA COUNTY resident Vince Welnick, Grateful Dead keyboardist from 1990 to 1995, came close to becoming missing-in-action, sinking into a deep depression after the death of guitarist Jerry Garcia from which he thought he might never emerge. Enter Zero guitarist Steve Kimock (recently recruited by Dead members Weir, Lesh, and Hart into the Other Ones), who beckoned Welnick to Kene Eberhard’s Studio E in Sebastopol, where he was joined by bassist Bobby Vega and ex-Tubes drummer Prairie Prince in the original version of MMF. They launched into a series of live studio shows that are the genesis of this CD, with overdubs added later by a new version of the band. Some murkiness occurs from this process, but the CD benefits from Welnick’s charged vocals and accomplished ensemble performances.
T.H.

Rhythmtown Jive
On The Main Stem (Globe Records)

WITH FORMER Lost Planet Airman, bassist, and bandleader Tim Esch-liman calling Petaluma home, this veteran Bay Area band has been appearing with increasing frequency at local venues. Their seasoned brew of R&B has seen two previous releases, but it’s this album that will hoist their recognition factor, with the effervescent presence of Chuck Berry’s piano-man Johnnie Johnson on seven of the 12 cuts. Still, it’s very much the Jive’s show as Johnson blends seamlessly on original tunes (three by Johnson himself) and well-chosen covers, running the gamut from jump and boogie to straight-ahead blues.
T.H.

The Bill Horvitz Band
Dust Devil (Music & Arts)

SEBASTOPOL JAZZ GUITARIST Bill Horvitz, saxophonist and flautist Steve Adams (probably best known for his work with the critically acclaimed ROVA Saxophone Quartet), and drummer Joseph Sabella create rhythmically edgy improvisations that range from the multilayered opening track “Busy Mind” to the free-metal composition “Tic.” Horvitz’s fret work– frequently built around short, moody bass lines–is reminiscent of the late avant-jazz guitarist Sonny Sharrock. This adventurous ensemble is well versed in the groundbreaking modern jazz of John Zorn, Arto Linsey, and other fusionists. Horvitz shows a lot of maturity as a bandleader by creating a framework in which Adams can really stretch out.
Greg Cahill

Various Artists
That Mean Ol’ El Niño (Blue Jake Music)

A SINGLE-SONG CD that benefits the victims of the recent Rio Nido mud slide disaster, this rockin’ little tune boasts a landslide of local musicians and recording specialists in a total charity production. Doug Offenbacher penned the lyrics, piano-man Stu Blank composed the music, sang, and produced. this CD epitomizes Sonoma County’s cooperative musical spirit.
T.H.

From the June 18-24, 1998 issue of the Sonoma County Independent.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

Funkin’ Groovin’

Jimmy Katz

Jazzmatazz: Medeski, Martin, & Wood slip into the Mystic Theater.

Medeski, Martin, & Wood play jazz you can dance to

By Bruce Robinson

IF WE GET a basic feel for something,” says Billy Martin, drummer for the funky jazz trio Medeski, Martin, & Wood, “we start to work on a bit of form and shaping it. That can happen in the studio or over a few months on the road. It’s always evolving.

“It’s never written down in detail because we’re always changing the music, trying to express different things.”

That has been apparent from the beginning, as their debut recording, 1992’s Notes from the Underground, served notice that Medeski, Martin, & Wood were ready to include in the group’s musical mix most anything they ever had heard. Elements of funk, hip-hop, blues, avant garde, and rock all melded into an intensely rhythmic stew that immediately won critical attention.

More recently, the band has shown a willingness to go anywhere–even if it means stepping out of the spotlight–to explore those musical interests. After seven years together–during which they have recorded five highly regarded albums (as well as the funky Get Shorty film score), played uncounted club and concert dates, and reaped a trunk full of glowing reviews–Martin, keyboardist John Medeski, and bassist Chris Wood found themselves in an unfamiliar role last fall.

The acclaimed trio sat in as the hand-picked sidemen for celebrated jazz guitarist John Scofield on his recently released A Go-Go (Blue Note).

“John called us up and asked us to play on his next record,” Martin relates, “and we thought it would be a good idea.”

The shift into supporting roles on another artist’s songs and arrangements “wasn’t awkward, it was quite natural, just like getting together with any musician and making music,” he adds. “We were there, trying to help him express his music in our way. It was really just a matter of playing together, rehearsing a little bit, and putting it on tape.”

Though different than their recent collective work, this was nothing new for the threesome. “We grew up playing with people who always put charts in front of us,” Martin shrugs. “We’re all musicians who are eager to play and share ideas with other musicians.”

And that has not changed. In fact, Martin says, he is as open as ever to further outside collaborations. “Anybody who has an interesting story to tell, I would be more than happy to work with them.”

It was that same openness that brought the trio together in the first place. All three were active in the New York-to-New England jazz circuit, and they knew one another by reputation first. “I had heard about John and Chris, they’d heard about me, and we eventually crossed paths and decided to hang out and play,” Martin recalls. “We played and it felt logical, like everything was possible. And we got along as friends, so it was an instant hookup.”

WITH MARTIN’S crisp and varied drumming anchoring Wood’s melodic bass work, and Medeski’s fluid keyboards–especially the fat Hammond B-3 sound–fleshing out the harmonics, the threesome quickly gained a reputation for grafting wide-ranging jazz improvisations onto a deeply funky set of grooves.

And while he is unquestionably the keeper of the beat, Martin insists the creation of the groove is not just his contribution.

“The drummer is always expected to be able to play a good dance beat, which I’m always striving for,” he says, “but the rhythm comes from John and Chris, too.”

So it’s scarcely surprising to hear Martin tick off a list of influences that begins with master jazz drummers like Roy Haynes, Max Roach, and Elvin Jones, but quickly branches out to include Zigaboo Modeliste of the Meters, as well as 20th-century American composers Charles Ives and John Cage. “All that stuff has an influence,” he says. “I hear rhythms and textures and melodies in everything.”

Those omnipresent influences have continued to manifest in Medeski, Martin, & Wood’s recordings, including the forthcoming Combustication, which is due out from Blue Note toward the end of the summer. Unlike their previous disc, Shack-Man, which was cut in the remote Hawaiian studio that inspired its name, the new set was recorded in New York City, and is informed by the urban edge of that environment, as well as the relatively generous amount of time the threesome had to prepare it.

“We spent more time in the studio, using the studio like an instrument to help bring the music to another level,” Martin says. “We experimented a lot more, improvised a lot more. “

As for the new material, “A lot of it is spontaneous compositions,” he explains.

One way the group has stretched its stylistic boundaries is by recording the same set of compositions with two engineers of distinctly differing philosophies. “One had more of a hip-hop approach and the other had more of a chamber music approach,” Martin recalls, contrasting those approaches as “capturing the magic of the moment,” compared with “getting an almost crystal-clear natural sound.”

Somewhat surprisingly, “they ended up sounding pretty cohesive,” he laughs.

With those sessions wrapped, the threesome is back on the road. “Touring is always a priority,” Martin says simply, “because playing live is what we do.”

Medeski, Martin, & Wood perform Tuesday, June 16, at 8 p.m. at the Mystic Theater, 21 Petaluma Blvd. N., Petaluma. Tickets are $18.50. For details, call 765-6665.

From the June 11-17, 1998 issue of the Sonoma County Independent.

© Metro Publishing Inc.