We just received a message to the Clyde Stubblefield Band myspace page from a band in Helsinki, Finland called “The Soultwisters.” They wrote a tribute song in honor of the Original Funky Drummer, Clyde Stubblefield. The song is simply titled “Clyde”. You can check it out at their myspage page.
I’ll be sure to pass this along to Clyde. I’m certain he appreciates the honor and will dig the tune!
I rarely tune into any of the squakbox news shows, either conservative or liberal. I just don’t have the patience to listen to the shouting matches that invariably errupt. During the Democratic primary, though, I have seen more of Keith Olbermann, who I initially dismissed with a distaste for his overstyled hair and his chic designer glasses.
That said, I was surprised and energized by the very candid editorial statement made by Olbermann last night, sent to me by my vigilent friend, Eric Koppa. Olbermann reminds us why we need a new President and just how damaging and painful it has been to have suffered under eight years of George Bush Jr. and his administration of fear and elitism.
Thank you, Keith Olbermann, for channeling the country’s frustration with our current President without watering down the message or the emotion. The November election can’t come soon enough.
I always enjoy discovering upcoming gigs by reading about them in the paper before actually getting notice from the band. We have pretty good communication amongst the band members, but there are over ten of us. Sometimes we miss a gig announcement (or two).
Summer is looking like a Funky Good Time, indeed.
Here’s what I know:
The Clyde Stubblefield Band will be playing the Middleton Big Event, Saturday, June 14th from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. with headliners Koko Taylor and everyone’s favorite Milwaukee band, The BoDeans.
Also, I just read in this week’s Isthmus (featuring on the cover friend-of-the-band, Fraizer, who is now a famous Gomerokie singer) that The Clyde Stubblefield Band will be playing this year’s Madison Roots Festival on Satuday, August 2nd at Willow Island at the Alliant Energy Center with headliners G Love and Special Sauce and The John Butler Trio.
Nice work, Clyde. I knew you had some gigs brewing, but I didn’t know they’d be “big stage” shows.
Add to that list the Saturday, June 14th afternoon gig the Clyde Stubblefield Horns are playing with Jimmy Voegeli and supporting band, The Crashers, at the New Glarus Brewing Company brewery expansion party. And add one more gig with the same lineup with the Clyde Horns at the Belleville American Music Festival (BAMFest), Friday, July 11 from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
So put those dates on the calendar and we’ve got some summer fun (and work) ahead of us!!
Just days before last Saturday’s annual Mifflin Street Block Party, local city officials decided to uphold a noise crack down, despite petitions and protests by local residents to ease the restrictions. Now, to be clear, I have never even attended the block party in it’s 40 years, however, I’m pretty familiar with the scene, i.e. huge crowds of college students packing into a crowded location to have fun and drink lots (and lots) of beer.
The debate of the merit of such events aside, it’s a shame to deny the opportunity for live bands to play in a downtown Madison block party in the middle of a sunny Saturday afternoon.
If you DON’T have live music, what DO you have? Really, just an overcrowded drunk tank full of students with not much to do except drink…and drink…and drink. Allowing a few bands (or good DJ’s) to entertain in some organized fashion would give the block party a sense of a celebration and not just another excuse to get wasted.
Fortunately, Alderman Mike Verveer seems to be thinking along similar lines. Of course, I’m sure his proposal to “regulate” the annual block party into an event like the newly city-sponsored Halloween “FreakFest” will be met with predictable resistance by students who want the no-holds-barred block party tradition to continue the same as it ever was. But with 438 arrests made, a new high for the event, it looks like the trend is only moving toward regulation, or crackdown.
I, for one, would dig seeing a few live band stages added at each end of the closed off blocks. The police have a job to do, local resident have rights to enforce regulation in their neighborhood, and god knows, college students sometimes need safety restrictions put in place for their own good, whether they like it or not.
So I guess we’ll just wait and see what the future holds for the 40 year old annual party fest.
In the meantime, big ups to the unknown band in the photo for their renegade, impromptu performance on the upstairs balcony of this home. I wonder if they were ticketed or arrested?
The photo reminds me of a Jah Kings gig we did from the 2nd story deck of Dominic’s in Ann Arbor at the 1994 Hash Bash. Oh, the days of college youth. May we preserve them, but with the least impact to the rest of us who (thankfully?) are a few moons past those days.
My ten-minute later follow up:
So here’s what the Mifflin Street Block Party is competing with, another perspective on Madison parties, none other than your any-given-Saturday home Badger football game. What a hilarious write-up, because you know it’s true for almost everyone in the student section.
Is this what the Mifflin St. B-Party should become (or already is)?!? Maybe live music could save folks from themselves…or maybe not. It’s Madison, in all it’s greatness, or not.
This past Friday, the New York Times ran an article chronicling some of the artistic and cultural contributions that the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (A.A.C.M.) has spawned from four decades of activity. The A.A.C.M. was created in Chicago during the 1960s to help unify, organize and promote the full breadth of musical and artistic energies surrounding the avant-garde or “free” jazz scene that was thriving at the time. One can only look back forty years later and marvel at the prolific catalog of recordings and artist careers that continue to this day.
At the center of the A.A.C.M.’s activities has always been a modest, thoughtful, but musically powerful genius of a performer and composer, which of course, is Madison’s own Roscoe Mitchell, an original member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago and found member of the A.A.C.M. A new book by trombonist George Lewis, called “A Power Stronger Than Itself: The A.A.C.M. and Experimental Music,” is due out next month by the University of Chicago Press. This is most certainly a “must read” for fans of Roscoe Mitchell’s artistic career and musical journey.
So my only question is when will we see you back in Madison, Roscoe? He has been in Oakland, California for the past year as an artist-in-residence at Mills College. But Madison has been Roscoe’s home for over twenty years (probably more), and I think it’s safe to speak for all of his (and Wendy’s) friends here in Wisconsin that we hope to see you soon in Madison again this summer!
In the meantime, it’s time to pre-order that book…
Assuming the local deluge of rain, sleet and/or snow abates, a couple of my favorite spring pastimes will take off (some literally). Spring generally means warmer weather, wind, outdoor activities and yard work. This spring is no exception. My recreational tendencies fall into two main categories, namely, kiteboarding and soccer.
Kiteboarding
The season got off to a great start with a week-long trip to Cape Hatteras at the end of March. Seven straight days of riding in insanely great conditions helped advance my strength and skills leading up to our local kiteboarding season. If you’re interested in kiteboarding, check out the local kiteboarding forum. It’s a great resource for learning about the sport, meeting local riders, finding out where to ride, and snagging nice gear deals.
Outdoor Soccer
I think it is safe to say that the Mad City Kickers team (KEVA over-30 men’s league) hit rock bottom last spring. We endured a challenging and long 0-7-1 record, suggesting the need to make some serious improvements to avoid a repeat disaster. Over the winter break, recruitment was a priority. Our core team members scoured the local sports pubs, gyms, indoor soccer facilities or any other locations where we could potentially find new players.
You can meet the team at the Mad City Kicker’s new website:
It was a daunting task, but we certainly found success by collectively recruiting something like 15 new soccer mates, including a REAL goalie! Honestly, it’s an entirely new team. With the leadership of our former manager who has returned to resurrect MCK, we have been conducting weekly practices preparing for our first outdoor game.
Unfortunately, due to excessive rain, our first two games have been postponed. With rain in the forecast, tomorrow’s game is threatened, as well. Nonetheless, we have been using the extra time to train and get to know each other. Given what we have seen so far in practice, it’s almost certain that we will be much improved over last season. Great work, gentlemen!
