One for the Road— It’s an exciting time for local crooner Tommy Gearhart. Last September, he released a collection of standards called Autumn Serenade ; his way of cracking open a window in a charming but creaky old house, inviting a fresh breeze to circulate through its rooms and ruffle the pages of the American song book. And now velvet-voiced Tommy will carry the torch of, well, torch jazz on a four-city tour across the Midwest (specifically, he’ll light up Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, and Cincinnati). Here in his home town, however, you can see Tommy off to a successful tour at an intimate concert he’ll perform at the Washburn Piano Company on Friday, March 16, at 7:30 p.m. He’ll be backed by his quartet and, for a special treat, a rare Bechstein concert grand piano. The $40 admission is on the steep side, but it also includes an invitation to a private reception after the show, where I’m sure Tommy will make it extra worth your while by plying you with snacks and glowing praise for the outfit you’ve chosen for the evening. You’ll never know unless you call 264-1801 or e-mail friendsoftommy@gmail.com.
Music To Your Ears
It’s a Zine, Not an Unholy Metal Festival— Experimental/noise prophet Raven Chacon (search his name on the alibi.com archives for a brief rundown on some of his projects) just sent me a little note announcing the arrival of the second issue of his music zine, Death Convention .As Raven explains it (as only Raven can), "An issue of Death Convention hits the streets every time a swarm of weirdo/all-ages shows comes to ABQ. It serves the function of a flyer. Within the Spanglish pages = info about the show(s)."And when I says "his" music zine, I’m not assigning Raven ownership of the thing. Death Convention is more like a free-form, free-for-all notebook with a mutating cast of voices, all gurgling up from within the noise music community (a good percentage of them loosely affiliated with experimental music collective Cobra//group). As Raven points out, not all of them are in English—or necessarily human, really. Pick up a free issue at your favorite local and "un-snob" coffee shops, bars, music stores and the Mystery Box. (For detailed directions on what the Mystery Box is and where to find it, consult the blog at alibi.com. I’ll post something on it ASAP.)
