Music Tonight: Superb local Indie band Sacred Spirits is holding down the every-Tuesday residency at The Comet in Northside for January, performing free sets every week this month at around 10 p.m. on the club's weekly "Bike Night." The Spirits recently announced that their stunning full-length debut, Some Stay, will be released "officially" in June on vinyl, cassette and as MP3s. The album came out last year ("unofficially," I guess) as a free download from locally-based The Recording Label. The June release will feature a different track order and additional songs, according to the band's blog. (You can still download the TRL version here — just PROMISE you'll buy the new version when it comes out, OK?) Sacred Spirits have also added a new member, guitarist/keyboardist Taylor Burns. —-
Momentous Happenings in Music History for January 10
On this day in 1985, Ted Nugent was on TV, shooting a gun. Not so unusual now, but back then, Nugent was still seen as a "musician" and not "rightwing nut job" (kidding, I respect Nugent's stubbornly immovable opinions; don't agree in the slightest, but I respect them). Anywho, here's Ted in prime time back in the ’80s, when Damn Yankees were just a glimmer in Night Ranger's eyes. Miami Vice was never better. If you'd like to see the full episode … well, what the hell's wrong with you?
Born This Day: Musical movers and shakers born Jan. 10 include: Folk/Rock star Jim Croce (1943); famous offspring and singer in his own right, Frank Sinatra Jr. (1944); rocker (and soon-to-be multiple Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee) Rod Stewart (1945); Steely Dan cofounder Donald Fagen (1948); Folk/Pop star Shawn Colvin (1958); member of Kurt Cobain faves The Meat Puppets, Curt Kirkwood (1959); booming baritone singer for Crash Test Dummies, Brad Roberts (1963); and one of the greatest drummers to ever lay hands on sticks, Max Roach (1925).
Roach, who passed away in 2007 at the age of 83, had his beats all over the history of early Jazz (and his influence remains as strong as ever), working with pioneers like Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Eric Dolphy, Stan Getz and Charles Mingus. He also recorded many albums as bandleader, starting with 1953's Max Roach Quartet on the Fantasy label.
If you had to sit through 10 minutes of drum solos (say, tied to a chair, at gunpoint), but could choose who was doing the soloing, anyone who wouldn't pick Roach hasn't heard him (or is just a Buddy Rich diehard). Let's avoid that, shall we, by watching 10-plus minutes of Max together. (You never know.)
