No surprise here: the Police plan to release a live CD and DVD documenting the 2007-08 reunion tour.

Stewart Copeland confirmed the plan for Billboard.com, saying the sets will be drawn from shows recorded Dec. 1 and 2 in Buenos Aires, Argentina last year.

The DVD also will include a documentary about the reunion, "Better Than Therapy," directed by Copeland's son, Jordan.

"He totally gets right under our skins, the little bastard, and his analysis of the group is better than any I've seen," Copeland said. "It's unbelievable to see the early rehearsals compared to where we're at now. Some of them were so raw we had to take them out, some of the scenes. But he's still got the nitty gritty there, with us each grappling with the reality of life in the band again."

And despite the wishes of fans, the Police really do seem to be done this time. Copeland said that while there was a possible "who knows?" in the back of their minds, the tour was always planned "as a very finite thing." He said an attempt to record a new version of "Truth Hits Everybody" that reflected the newly slowed down (read: more boring) version played on tour failed. "We went into the studio, laid down a backing track and immediately disagreed about where to go with it."

Having seen the tour in Chicago last summer, I'll probably fork over money for these sets, more as a souvenir than with any hope of it being something I'll wear out from use. The band was at its peak when it recorded The Police Live! (and perhaps at its most dangerous on the earlier set from 1979 included in the set), and I don't reach for that more than once every few years. An older, grayer, slower version of the band (Police v. 2.old) might have tantalized live because it was my first and only chance to see it, but without that visceral rush, I fear the music will leave me cold.

Labels: music, the Police

Charles Ardai is set to do for the pulp adventure novel what he has already done for the pulp crime novel. Ardai, whose Hard Case Crime imprint will celebrate its 50th title later this year (his own Fifty to One), has announced a new imprint, the Adventures of Gabriel Hunt. The series, which will launch next summer, will “chronicle the travels and travails of modern-day explorer Gabriel Hunt, who scours the globe in pursuit of precious artifacts, lost civilizations, and secrets that could save the world…or destroy it."

Much like the Hard Case books, the covers will be original paintings in the classic style (the image at right will adorn the first).

“These books are for anyone who grew up reading H. Rider Haggard and Edgar Rice Burroughs or watching Harrison Ford wield his bullwhip at the movies,” said Ardai. “We’re talking classic adventure fiction, complete with horses, snakes, shovels, pickaxes, torches, traps, bottomless pits, barroom brawls, jungles, jewels and just about everything else that’s ever made your heart beat faster.”

In a neat twist, each book will be credited to Gabriel Hunt, though some familiar Hard Case Crime authors will actually pen the works. They’ll take him to Borneo, Guatemala, Turkey, Egypt, Antarctica and the Kalahari Desert, according to Ardai.

The series will debut in May, with a new book due every other month after that. If Hard Case Crime is any indication, these will be well worth reading.

Labels: books

Perhaps the only good thing to come of the devastating flooding that has hit our area hard is the unscheduled opportunity to catch a Dan Bern show. Bern, a native of the area, was in town to visit his mom, but stuck around when he realized he might be able to do something to help out. That something became a benefit concert last night in Iowa City and his participation in a theater project in Cedar Rapids the next two weekends.

I came to Bern's music late. I knew he was a local boy made good, but hadn't heard enough about him to make me curious. Then, as an entertainment writer for the local paper, I had the chance to interview him to preview a show. I got his latest CD at the time, New American Language, and the great music within coupled with his easy-going demeanor and sharp wit made me an instant fan. I've kept up (and filled in his back catalog) ever since. I've had the chance to interview him a couple other times since (including last week for CorridorBuzz.com for a piece to preview this month's appearances) and he has always been gracious with his time and willing to indulge the odd question or two.

So, it was no surprise he was willing to perform to benefit area artists. His concert last night raised money for CSPS, a great performing arts and gallery space in Cedar Rapids that was inundated with flood water, and to establish an artists relief fund. It was a relatively brief show, but it offered plenty of highlights. He opened with "Black Tornado," a perfect way to start a set: "If you judge me tonight, judge me by the songs I write. That's who I am to you," he sang. The song, like several from the show, was drawn from New American Language, including "Turning Over," "Toledo" and "God Said No." He also pulled out "Estelle" and "Jerusalem" from his first, self-titled album, and "I Need You" from his great Fleeting Days album and at least a couple of unreleased tracks, "World War" and one about the year 2014.

He closed with three songs he wrote for the Cedar Rapids play, "Moving Home." He told me last week that he was approached by the director to write a song and ended up writing 10. So, he decided to join the cast so he could sing them all. The play is derived from personal stories about the flood, and Bern's songs were inspired by the script. He sand "Crooked Little Stream," "Sometimes All You Do is Pray" and "A Place to Go Home To," which he said closes the show. He had the small crowd sing the chorus - "A place to go home to, a place which will stand" -- while he "rapped" underneath, dropping lines like "rain, rain go away."

It was a good show, though it didn't help things entirely: as we exited, a heavy downpour soaked us. At least for now, it wasn't enough to bring the rivers back out of their banks.

Labels: music

I took in a lot of great jazz over the weekend thanks to the Iowa City Jazz Festival. I was working, reviewing some of the sets for CorridorBuzz.com (including Friday, Saturday and Sunday). The festival headliners were all excellent: Medeski, Martin & Wood on Friday, John Scofield on Saturday and Joshua Redman on Sunday. I got what I expected from MMW and Scofield -- funky, groove-based jazz -- but was pleasantly surprised by Redman. You can't rest on the phenom thing for too long, so I knew he had the goods, but I've never been moved by his music on record. Live, he was electric, playing with passion and enthusiasm. He played accompanied by just bass and drums, so there was no chance to lay out, no break, no rest. He brought it for about 80 minutes with little more than the time between songs and the occasional drum or bass solo to even get a breath.

The event is something to look forward to all year, as we don't get a lot of big name live jazz here in Iowa City very often. There is a very talented group of players in the area, thanks in part to the great jazz programs at the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa just up the road in Cedar Falls, so we do have the opportunity to hear live jazz (though not as often as we should). As for big draws, however, we now must wait until November when Brad Mehldau comes to the UI's Hancher Auditorium, assuming that damage from the devastating flooding over the past several weeks can be repaired in time.

Photos by Loren Keller.

Labels: jazz, music

The Feelies have reunied to perform three shows over the next four days in New York, including two at Maxwells (technically in Hoboken) and one opening for Sonic Youth on the Fourth of July. It's a welcome return, one made all the more welcome for the reported fact that co-leaders Glenn Mercer and Bill Million are writing songs again.

According to a piece by Jon Pareles in the New York Times (which has a great photo mimicking the cover of Crazy Rhythms), "They have learned three dozen songs and are writing more, with the goal of recording again." Of course, they do so with "no manager, no recording contract and no tour dates planned beyond Independence Day."

I interviewed Mercer last fall, a piece about his fantastic 2007 solo debut, Wheels in Motion, that includes this exchange about his old band:

You recruited many fellow Feelies for the recording of the record, but decided not to issue it under the band's name. Is that due to the absence of Bill Million? Do you foresee making music with him again?

While recording the demo tapes, I began to notice how much the material sounded "Feelie-ish" and it was easy to imagine what the songs might sound like played by the Feelies. That's when I started to consider getting involved with my old band mates. At one point, I even considered making it a Feelies record, so I approached Bill with the idea. His response was that he'd love to re-unite the band to perform and record, but that the time wasn't right just now. It just didn't seem right to call it a Feelies record without Bill's involvement.

Good to know we'll get some more "Feelie-ish" music in the near future.

Labels: music

It's funny how, if you wait long enough, people who have been seen as cult acts and a marginal mainstream presence begin to take on the patina of classicism. To wit, Dexter Romweber, the singer and guitarist behind Flat Duo Jets, recently signed a deal with Bloodshot Records. There are those who loved FDJ -- I was ambivalent at best -- but the band was largely ignored. Want proof? What was the band's last album? If you said 1998's Lucky Eye, please show your FDJ fan club card. Regardless, Romweber is back (where's drummer Crow?) as a solo artist. First up, the near-requisite comeback vehicle, a duets album, this one featuring Cat power, Neko Case and Exene Cervenka. He also is joined by his sister, Sara, whose more-impressive pedigree includes stints with Let's Active and Snatches of Pink.

Bloodshot also will issue a new project from author Jonathan Lethem and songwriter Walter Salas-Humara is scheduled for September. You Are All My People from I'm Not Jim. According to Bloodshot, the two met at a Silos show. Lethem wanted to give Salas-Humara some of his books as a thank you for two decades of great music. A friendship ensued, as did a songwriting project that led to an album's worth of music. Salas-Humara said Lethem wrote very quickly:

"We would discuss the framework for a tune and he would be writing while we were talking. Then minutes later he would have several verses with internal rhymes, a chorus and a bridge. I was completely on the spot -- I now had to come up with melodies just as fast. We ended up with 11 songs at the end of day two." The production team The Elegant Too --Philip Hernandez and Chris Maxwell -- then rebuilt Salas-Humara's tracks, sometimes replacing everything but his vocal.

Hard Case Crime will celebrate the release of its 50th book with a party July 8 in New York.That milestone publication -- Fifty-to-One by Hard Case editor Charles Ardai (who wrote two previous HCC books under the name Richard Aleas) -- actually won't come until November, but it's worth celebrating. The idea behind the book is a good one: it's split into 50 chapters, each named after one of the 50 books in the series. "The novel tells the story of how Hard Case Crime was founded in 1958 by a scoundrel who (among other things) thought it might be fun to publish a gangster's memoir -- only to find himself in hot water with both the Mob and the police after learning that the memoir was not quite the true story he'd thought..." Ardai writes.

Several of the people behind the now-defunct music magazine Harp have moved operations online with a new product, Blurt. From the looks of things, it hews very closely to the editorial and design style of Harp, which is certainly not a bad thing. The site

It’s an interesting project: The actual digital magazine is exactly that – a magazine-like publication where the pages are flipped with a click of a button. It feels very much like an issue of Harp online. The content is similar is well, with features on Joan As Policewoman, My Morning Jacket, Ray Davies, My Brightest Diamond, and Alejandro Escovedo, among many others. It also includes CD reviews, as well as those of books, DVDs and merchandise.

Publisher Scott Crawford lauds its “green-minded, digital only format.” A cynic, of course, would remind Crawford that Harp wasn’t worried about the non-greenness of paper until the bottom fell out financially. That said, it’s a nice presentation despite the fact that I’ll miss having a paper copy to cart around.

Blurt also will include a daily-updated web site that offers additional features and interactive content.

Labels: books, crime fiction, magazines, music

I was a major Hall & Oates fan as a kid, but would now consider the band to be a guilty pleasure. That's probably not fair -- there shouldn't be anything guilty about appreciating good pop songwriting -- but the band did itself no favors with its last couple of releases before taking a long hiatus. "Private Eyes"? Sure. "Maneater"? Not so much.

If anything is clear, however, it is that myself and all of my peers in the mid-1980s made Daryl Hall a very rich man. He gives a little something back in the form of a relatively new web show, "Live From Daryl's House." I came across it thanks to a tip on a Nick Lowe mailing list indicating that Lowe had appeared on Hall's show. I checked it out and found a great live set and a an intriuging new show.

The show is essentially this: Hall and his longtime colleague T-Bone Wolk perform songs with a visiting musician at one of Hall's homes. There are four: Upstate New York, Maine, the Bahamas or London. Lowe visited Hall in London. There, the three musicians performed a handful of songs, including "I Live on a Battlefield," "Shelly My Love," "Cruel to be Kind" and "Rome Wasn't Built in a Day." Played on three acoustic guitars, the songs chime and ring in the castle-like house, while Hall's background harmonies make one pine for future recorded collaborations.

The show debuted in November, and Lowe's is the eighth episode thus far. Previous episodes featured Travis McCoy from Gym Class Heroes, KT Tunstall and, of course, John Oates, among others. Are are viewable at the show's site. They blend acoustic performance with a sort of "Storytellers" vibe that suits the format well.

Perhaps this will offer a bit of career rehabilitation for Hall. Regardless, it's yet another great source of live music on the web.

Labels: music, web