WBEZ | Music

Congress Theater liquor license revoked

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:57:00 -0500

UPDATED 4:45 P.M.: NEW COMMENTS ON THE APPEAL AND THE PORTAGE THEATER

Controversial Congress Theater owner Erineo “Eddie” Carranza has lost his liquor license at the embattled Logan Square concert venue.

“We will appeal,” Carranza said.

Despite the city’s revocation of the liquor license, state law allows a venue to continue to sell alcohol during the appeals process.

The city issued an order to police to close the venue. But Carranza’s attorney Harlan Powell said the appeal was filed this afternoon and copies were forwarded to police, who should allow the next public event, a Latin music show on Sunday afternoon, to continue as scheduled.

Today’s decision from the Liquor Control Commission comes after three sessions of sometimes harrowing testimony before Hearings Commissioner Robert Nolan. His verdict made clear that he believed the charges made by the police officers who testified at those hearings.

According to Nolan’s ruling, the Congress “failed to report promptly to the police department illegal activity” and that “within 12 consecutive months five separate incidents occurred… involving acts that violated a state law regulating narcotics or controlled substances.”

“I’m certainly not happy with the ruling,” Powell said. He noted that it upheld only two of the five counts the city brought against the Congress. “I’m very optimistic,” he said of the appeal.

The first stop in that process: The city’s License Appeal Commission. Then comes circuit court, appeals court, and finally state supreme court if necessary.

Carranza has been fighting the city on several fronts for more than a year regarding the future of the 87-year-old, 5,000-capacity theater, which has become a hotspot for electronic dance music and hip-hop concerts under his ownership.

Deleterious Impact/Public Nuisance hearings based on complaints from neighbors and area residents began in March 2012, following the rape of a concert patron who’d been turned away from the venue that New Year’s Eve.

Early this year, the city Building Department closed the top two floors of the venue to concertgoers. On April 12, the city filed a lawsuit seeking the immediate closure of the whole building, citing a literally A-to-Z list of “hazardous and dangerous” code violations compiled by inspectors from the Health, Building and Fire Departments.

Carranza’s luck seemed to be changing when the city found sufficient progress 10 days later to revoke its request from the court for immediate closure of the building. Yesterday, the Sun-Times ran a story headlined “Congress Theater close to being clear of city violations,” though the top two floors of the venue remain closed.

If the revocation of the liquor license is upheld through the appeal process, it seems unlikely that the Congress can remain a viable music venue. And the future of Carranza’s second venue, the Portage Theater on the Northwest Side, also is thrown into question.

City sources say the revocation of the liquor license at the Congress means Carranza also could not hold a liquor license at the Portage.

“It certainly doesn’t help [Carranza to get a liquor license at the Portage] given what happened at this location [the Congress],” Powell granted.

Portage Park Ald. John Arena recently updated his constituents on the status of the Portage in an email blast to residents:

Since the Portage Theater reopened many years ago, Dennis Wolkowicz and Dave Dziedzic, under Portage Theater Management, LLC, have managed the theater. The corporation is the holder of the liquor and public place of amusement licenses.
For the city to issue such licenses, the city must vet and approve anyone who owns more than 5 percent of the interest in the corporation. The city also must approve any ownership interest transfer of more than 5 percent.
As you may recall, Erineo Carranza purchased the Portage Theater building last year. However, and despite some threats to evict the theater operators, Wolkowicz and Dziedzic continued to run the theater and hold the liquor and public place of amusement licenses.
I’ve recently been informed that Wolkowicz and Dziedzic have sold their company to Carranza. Even though the corporation that manages the Portage remains the same, Carranza would still need to apply to transfer the liquor license and public place of amusement license.
As you also probably know, Carranza has a history with the city’s Buildings Department, Liquor Commissioner, and neighbors at the Congress Theater.
Because of Carranza’s history, I have opposed him receiving a liquor license at the Portage until he can prove that he can be a responsible venue owner and liquor license holder. That opposition continues.
Carranza’s attorney has notified my office and the Liquor Commissioner that he does not intend to keep controlling interest of the corporation for long. He is looking for a buyer who will manage the theater.
In the mean time, Dennis Wolkowicz continues to manage the theater. Film and live performance programming continues.
Know that I will work hard to ensure that whomever manages the theater on a permanent basis treats our community with respect and is a responsible operator. I will let you know as soon as I know more.

Powell contradicted Arena’s email, however, saying that the upcoming film events booked by Wolkowicz will not be taking place and that the Portage soon will be closed to the public.

“[The email is] not correct. There will be no entertainment of any kind pending a complete renovation of the building,” Powell said. This is necessary because, “Nobody wants what happened at the Congress to happen at the Portage,” he added.

It is unclear how long the Portage will be closed.

“Eddie’s plan for the Portage is to work with the Alderman’s office and all relevant city agencies, bring the building up to code, and to create a first-class concert venue.”

Earlier reports about Carranza, the Congress and the Portage theaters:

May 1: Is the Congress Theater safe or not?

April 30: Congress Theater defends itself before the Liquor Commission (By Leah Pickett and Jim DeRogatis)

April 23: Congress Theater allowed to remain open, next inspection scheduled (Alison Cuddy reporting)

April 17: City wants the Congress shut down immediately

March 27: Chicago police official: Congress Theater ‘untruthful’ on night of underage drinking (Leah Pickett reporting)

March 8: The fate of the Portage remains a messy mystery

March 6: Congress Theater hearing rescheduled (Robin Amer reporting)

Feb. 22: Congress Theater restoration underway, but it’s got a long way to go

Jan. 16: Congress Theater liquor hearings begin with undercover cop’s testimony

Dec. 3, 2012: A rally to save the Portage Theater ‘as we know it’

Nov. 29, 2012: Congress Theater defaults on $4 million loan

Nov. 28, 2012: The Portage Theater uses Graham Elliot’s name in vain

Nov. 2, 2012: Congress Theater’s new security chief: An ex-cop with a troubled past

Oct. 31, 2012: Congress Theater police calls rank with Soldier Field, United Center

Sept. 23, 2012: How did things turn so bad so fast at the Portage Theater?

Sept. 22, 2012: New Owner of the Portage Theater moves to evict current operators

Sept. 16, 2012: Congress Theater splits with development partner

Sept. 11, 2012: The Portage Theater: What’s Eddie up to?

July 26, 2012: Congress Theater partners up… and looks to expand

April 18, 2012: Chicago officials scrutinize public safety, other neighborhood concerns at Congress Theater (Robin Amer reporting)

April 14, 2012: More trouble at the Congress Theater

March 28, 2012: Critical of Congress security, headliner brings his own

March 25, 2012: Congress Theater responds to complaints

March 22, 2012: City to Congress Theater: Clean up your act!

Congress Liquor License Revocation by Chicago Public Media

RADIO M: Fatha, Peter, Ludovico, Aida and more.

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:46:00 -0500

Where does the time go? That's the question that came to mind after Chicago Reader music writer Peter Margasak emailed me earlier this week informing me that last Friday was the third Friday of the month and he was supposed to be in for his monthly hit of new releases. Oops, I thought THIS week was the third Friday.

Not to fear, Peter is here and this month he's got some new tunes from Kenya, Iran, Nigeria and of course...Brazil.

I'll also play a bit of an interview I did earlier in the week with Italian pianist and Malian music lover Ludovico Einaudi.

Plus, that man with the pipe? He's the great Earl 'Fatha' Hines; a man who helped shape the sound of jazz piano in the 1920's. We'll hear his rendition of a popular Brazilian number.

Start off your holiday weekend the right way: with a heavy dose of Radio M!

Radio M 5-24 Playlist

9PM

Silvestri Montez Y Sus Guantanameros- El Avispon- Cumbia Beat Vol.1 – Experimental Guitar Driven Tropical Sounds from Peru 1966-76
Bombino- Amidinine- Nomad
Aida Nadeem- Risala- Out of Baghdad
Fanfara Tirana vs. Transglobal Underground- Weeping Willow Tree- Kabatronics
Pan Ron- Pros Reang Yeh Yeh- Groove Club 3: Cambodian Rock Intensified

9:30PM

The Lulu’s Band- Nana- Kenya Special: Selected East African Recordings from the 1970’s & 80’s
Barbara Eugenia- Coracao- E O Que Temos
Abubacar Sani & Fati Nigeria- Tofi- Bollywood Inspired Film Music from Hausa Nigeria
Farro Khzad- Avazekhan Na Avez- Sedayeh Del
Dieuf Dieufl deTheis- Mariama Yayou Salam-Aw Sa Yone Vol.1

10PM

Earl Hines- Girl From Impanema- Fatha
Ludovico Einaudi & Ballake Sissoko- Niger Blues- Diario Mali
Ludovico Einaudi & Ballake Sissoko- Chameaux- Diario Mali
Kiran Ahluwalia & Tinariwen- Mustt Mustt- Festival au Desert

10:30PM

Bob Marley & the Wailers- Who the Cap Fit- Rastaman Vibration
Lloyd Williams with Tommy McCook & the Supersonics- Goodbye Baby- West Indies Soul Vol.1
T.P. Orchestre Polyrythmo- Hwe Toew Hun- The Kings of Benin Urban Groove 1972-80
Lucila Campos- Toro Mata- Afro Peruvian Classics: The Soul of Black Peru
Duoud- Sable Emovant- Ping King
Acid- Hipguard- The In Kraut Vol. 3
Frente Cumbiero- Pitchito- Tropical Discotheque

Catching up on our rock reading: The Beats and Rock Culture

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:48:00 -0500

Most people at this time of year are compiling their stack of books to bring to the beach, so what say we music fans catch up on our reading and take a look at some of the best recent rock-related tomes?

Topping this list is Text and Drugs and Rock ’n’ Roll: The Beats and Rock Culture (Bloomsbury) by U.K. journalist and University of Leeds lecturer Simon Warner. The goal is a noble one: to explore the historical intersections between poets and novelists Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, and the rest of the Beat gang of the ’40s and ’50s with the rockers of the ’60s and later eras, as well as the influence of the Beats’ prose on the rockers’ lyrics. And with an academic thoroughness that doesn’t hamper the flow of his own pen, Prof. Warner does make dozens of illuminating connections between the two worlds, some obvious (Dylan and Kerouac; Ginsberg and his various brushes with the Beatles; later-day Beat rockers Patti Smith and Jim Carroll) but many much less so (we also get a discussion of Cream lyricist Pete Brown, a consideration of Kerouac, Tom Waits, and the song “On the Road,” and a look at Burroughs in the work of Genesis P-Orridge).

Unfortunately, for such a heavy read (it checks in at more than 500 pages in hardcover), Warner slights some Beat/rock connections that deserve a lot more discussion, including the admitted influence of Beat writers on pioneering rock critics Lester Bangs and Richard Meltzer; the way that Burroughs’ cut-and-paste methodology was adapted by Kurt Cobain (who pops up only very briefly), and the enduring allure of On the Road as a sacred text and a way of life for three generations of young musicians who’ve climbed in the van to cross America on indie-rock tours and/or indulge in the never-ending “quest for kicks.”

As you might expect, Warner does spend quite a few pages on the Fugs, including a moving tribute to Tuli Kupferberg. I’ve expressed admiration for these legendary ’60s weirdoes in this space before, as well as for bandleader Ed Sanders’ must-read tomes Tales of Beatnik Glory and The Family (the best book on the Manson clan). Now comes Sanders’ first-hand history and celebration of his group, Fug You: An Informal History of the Peace Eye Bookstore, the F*ck You Press, the Fugs, and the Counterculture in the Lower East Side (Da Capo).

Sanders’ recounting of the early ’60s through 1970 is episodic but always charming and engaging. “In this book of remembrances I decided not to drain to its dregs the urn of bitter memory, to paraphrase Shelley’s famous line,” he writes. Instead, “I have chosen to accentuate the energy, the wild fun, the joyful creativity, and the schemes of Better World derring-do and to consign as much bitterness and bad memories as possible to the halls of darkness.”

Fair enough, and, really, how scholarly, encyclopedic, or “objective” would we want the auteur who helped bring us “Group Grope” and “Boobs-a-Lot” to be? The lingering buzz of what we do get is more valuable: A deeper appreciation, sans Baby Boomer/Sixties clichés, of a period of anything-goes, no-rules creativity, and the feeling that, damn, it must have been a lot of fun to be there.

I actually was there for a different happening in a different era some years later: the burgeoning indie-rock scene across the Hudson River from the Lower East Side in the Hoboken of the early and mid-’80s. Recalling those particulars, as well as the broader nationwide underground they typified (and which would in turn nurture the alternative-rock scene of the ’90s) is one reason to revel in the pages of Big Day Coming: Yo La Tengo and the Rise of Indie Rock (Gotham) by Brooklyn-based music journalist, DJ, and musician Jesse Jarnow.

The other reason is, of course, to chart the history of the long-running band led by guitarist Ira Kaplan and drummer Georgia Hubley. Having seen their first shows at Maxwell’s in 1985, I for one would never have thought that I’d be looking forward to seeing them again for the umpteenth time 28 years later at this summer’s Pitchfork Music Festival, let alone that they’d have given us 13 wonderfully consistent albums in that stretch (including the latest, Fade).

Regardless of one’s familiarity with the band in its many incarnations, there’s plenty to learn in these pages. Not that these musicians are especially forthcoming: Kaplan and Hubley never have been big talkers, and they’re never more reticent than when chatting about themselves. Yet Jarnow knew that in some ways, they’d be the least interesting part of their own biography, and a more colorful, less Everyman band might only have distracted from the bigger story of indie-rock as it morphed and developed for better or worse from the nascent days of post-punk fanzines and college radio stations to Pitchfork, podcasts, and corporations looking for cool tracks to pilfer for hip TV commercials.

Follow me on Twitter @JimDeRogatis or join me on Facebook at Jim DeRo.

So you want to be a famous musician?

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:00:00 -0500

On May 15, prolific noise rocker Ty Segall announced that he will be releasing a new album this August called Sleeper: his seventh solo record and first 2013 addition to an impressive discography of over 35 releases (both solo and collaborative) since 2005.

But while some people idolize the 26-year-old garage-punk prodigy from San Francisco (his name was even trending on Twitter on the day of his announcement via Pitchfork), others still have no idea who he is.

Segall exists in an odd bubble of half-fame and half-obscurity, in which he can play to sold-out venues across the country and still hang out in local record stores without being bothered too much. Unfortunately, most aspiring rock stars won't even get that far.

The digital age is both a blessing and a curse for modern-day musicians. Websites like YouTube and Kickstarter can equal big business for artists, as online campaigns allow them to reach out to their fans directly via socia networking and potentially become viral sensations overnight.

On the other hand, free music streaming sites like Spotify and Pandora provide little financial yield for the musicians themselves ($0.004 per play if you're unsigned) and cannot be relied upon to cover the ever-mounting costs of travel, instruments and gear, recording sessions and software, album distribution and any additional publicity required to become a household name.

Also, it should be noted that unless you're playing sold-out ampitheatres á la Paul McCartney and Justin Bieber, ticket sales won't net you a fortune either.

Lots of musicians get a jumpstart due to wealth or family connections, like when Taylor Swift's investment broker father spent millions of dollars to finance her first album in 2006 and when Lana Del Rey's millionare parents bought her out of one contract to sign her with another more lucrative label for instant stardom in 2011.

Does it depress you that Kelly Osbourne (daughter of Ozzy) got a record deal to sing horrible Madonna covers, while scores of other truly talented bands and artists have dwindled into obscurity? Unfortunately, this kind of gross nepotism runs rampant in the music business today (see Jann Wenner putting his 22-year-old son in charge of RollingStone.com) and in most other areas of the entertainment industry as well.

So, how do artists make money when they don't already have the money to spend?

Selling merch: Retail CDs, vinyl, t-shirts, buttons, stickers, lighters, koozies and other creative items that are cheap to buy in bulk (and thus more likely to turn a profit).
Campaigning on Kickstarter: Need some extra cash for your next album or tour? This popular crowd-funding site is worth a shot (hey, it worked for Amanda Palmer!)
Dominating YouTube: Racking up views on this global channel could not only catch the attention of a major record label, but also garner you up to $1,500 per one million streams from advertising and/or corporate sponsorships.
Making a deal with iTunes: Independent artists usually see the most revenue from their albums via iTunes digital downloads. Full album downloads at roughly $9.99 could add up quickly, especially as you build your fanbase through touring and social-networking around the world.
Getting your song on a TV show: Start making those L.A. connections, because licensing fees for even just a small clip of one of your songs on a show like Breaking Bad could amount to a cool $250,000-$600,000 paycheck.

Many relatively well-known musicians still keep their day jobs; not surprising, considering that the average musician makes only $34,000 off their music in America each year before deducting expenses from touring, recording, etc. (which, given the rising prices of gas and fancy recording software, can wrack up quite the bill).

Even Pitchfork-famous indie artists like Grizzly Bear and Cat Power have struggled to make ends meet; so be practical about the pros and cons of a musician's lifestyle before committing to it full-time.

If you're only making music for the money, then you should get out now. But if you truly love what you do—and don't mind riding in a smelly tour bus, starting out in tiny venues and living off Ramen noodles for months (or years) until you get your big break—then ignore the haters and keep rockin' on.

Leah writes about popular culture for WBEZ. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr.

Ray Manzarek, founding member of The Doors, dies at 74

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:23:00 -0500

Ray Manzarek, a founding member of the 1960s rock group The Doors whose versatile and often haunting keyboards complemented Jim Morrison's gloomy baritone and helped set the mood for some of rock's most enduring songs, has died. He was 74.

Manzarek died Monday in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his family, said publicist Heidi Robinson-Fitzgerald. She said the musician's manager, Tom Vitorino, confirmed Manzarek died after being stricken with bile duct cancer.

The Doors' original lineup, which also included drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robbie Krieger, was only together for a few years and they only made six studio albums. But the band has retained a large and obsessive following decades after Morrison's 1971 death. The Doors have sold more than 100 million records and songs such as "Light My Fire" and "Riders On the Storm" are still "classic" rock favorites. For Doors admirers, the band symbolized the darker side of the Los Angeles lifestyle, what happened to the city after the sun went down and the Beach Boys fans headed home.

The Doors' vibe "has more to do with Charles Bukowski than it does with Farrah Fawcett," said John Doe of punk band X, a friend of Manzarek's for more than 30 years, referring to the poet and 'Charlie's Angels' star, respectively. "It has more to do with Raymond Chandler and Nathaniel West, and 'Sunset Boulevard' the movie, than it does with 'Beach Blanket Bingo,' right? ... It's a real dark place out in LA."

Next to Morrison, Manzarek was the most distinctive-looking band member, his glasses and wavy blond hair making him resemble a young English professor more than a rock star, a contrast to Morrison's Dionysian glamour — his sensuous mouth and long, dark hair. Musically, Manzarek's spidery organ on "Light My Fire" is one of the most instantly recognizable sounds in rock history.

But he seemed up to finding the right touch for a wide range of songs — the sleepy, lounge-style keyboards on "Riders On the Storm"; the liquid strains for "The Crystal Ship"; the barrelhouse romps on "Roadhouse Blues." The Doors always considered themselves "more" than a rock band and Manzarek, Densmore and Krieger often managed a flowing rapport that blended rock, blues and jazz behind Morrison's self-consciously poetic lyrics.

"There was no keyboard player on the planet more appropriate to support Jim Morrison's words," Densmore said in a statement. "Ray, I felt totally in sync with you musically. It was like we were of one mind, holding down the foundation for Robby and Jim to float on top of. I will miss my musical brother."

The Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. Their records have been reissued frequently and the band was the subject of a 1991 Oliver Stone movie, "The Doors," starring Val Kilmer as Morrison and Kyle MacLachlan as Manzarek, who complained that the film stereotyped Morrison as a hopeless drunk and also omitted calmer, more humorous times.

The Doors' fame has hardly faded even though they're one of the few groups not to allow their music to be used for commercials, a source of great tension among surviving members. Manzarek and Krieger reportedly supported licensing the songs, and Densmore has resisted. The group also feuded when Krieger and Manzarek formed a new group, Doors of the 21st Century. Densmore objected, and Krieger and Manzarek performed under various names.

Other Doors albums included "The Soft Parade," ''Waiting for the Sun" and their last record with Morrison, "L.A. Woman."

Manzarek briefly tried to hold the band together on the albums "Other Voices" and "Full Circle," neither of which had critical or commercial success. He played in other bands over the years, working with X and Iggy Pop among others. He also wrote a memoir, "Light My Fire," and a novel, "The Poet In Exile," in which he imagines receiving messages from a Morrison-like artist who had supposedly died.

He produced four albums for X, including another landmark album "Los Angeles," and played off and on with the band for three decades. Doe said Manzarek enjoyed his place in rock 'n' roll history.

"He enjoyed people's company greatly. He was always interested in what had been going on with you and he was an incredible teller of stories, a sort of raconteur of spiritualism and wild moments — 'weird scenes inside the gold mine,'" he said referencing a lyric from "The End."

"Ray loved to talk about and sort of mythologize, but it was all based in truth."

Born and raised in Chicago, Manzarek studied piano as a child and briefly considered a career in basketball. After graduating from DePaul University, he headed west to study film at UCLA. A few months after graduation, he and Morrison met in 1965 on Venice Beach in California. As Manzarek would often recall, Morrison read him some lyrics — Let's swim to the moon/Let's climb through the tide/Penetrate the evening that the/City sleeps to hide" — that became the start of "Moonlight Drive."

"I'd never heard lyrics to a rock song like that before," Manzarek told Billboard in 1967. "We talked a while before we decided to get a group together and make a million dollars."

By 1966, they had been joined by Krieger and Densmore and were a sensation live, especially during the theatrical, Oedipal epic, "The End." They were the house band at the famed Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles before being signed by Elektra Records and releasing a self-titled album in 1967, one of the most talked-about debuts in rock history.

"Well, to me, my God, for anybody who was there it means it was a fantastic time," Manzarek told The Republican in Massachusetts during an interview last year. "We thought we could actually change the world — to make it a more Christian, Islamic, Judaic, Buddhist, Hindu, loving world. We thought we could. The children of the '50s post-war generation were actually in love with life and had opened the doors of perception. And we were in love with being alive and wanted to spread that love around the planet and make peace, love and harmony prevail upon earth, while getting stoned, dancing madly and having as much sex as you could possibly have."

Manzarek is survived by his wife, Dorothy; his son Pablo and two brothers, Rick and James. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Radio M: Oldies Night!

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:14:00 -0500

It's oldies night on Radio M! One of the great turns in global music in the last few years are the numerous re-issues of wonderful sounds from the past thanks to all those crate diggers around the world. This week on the show I'll dip into my bag of tunes from days gone by- not going beyond the 1970's. I know, that may seem like a random decade to end on but for me personally, as an 'oldies' yardstick the music has to be at least thirty years old to qualify.

So this week, 1970's rule but that doesn't mean the decades before are excluded. You'll hear sounds from 1940's Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), 1950's doo-wop from Cuba, Romanian cabaret from the '60's and so much more from the 1970's.

Hey, why not pick a fashion style from one of those decades and throw a Radio M flashback party?!

Radio M Playlist 5-17

9PM

Annisteen Allen- Take a Chance on Me- Jukebox Mambo: Rumba and Afro-Latin Accented Rhythm & Blues 1949-60
Derrick Morgan- You Never Miss Your Water- Moon Hop: The Best of the Early Years 1960-69
Los Zafiros- Bossa Cubana- Bossa Cubana
Petalouda- What You Can Do in Your Life- Psych Funk 101
Barrabas- Chicco- Musica Caliente
Sonny Okosuns & paperback Limited- Ohomi- The World Ends: Afro Rock & Psychedelia in 1970’s Nigeria
Shamaizedeh- Hard Groove- Persian Funk
The Son of P.M.- Hey Klong Yao- Hey Klong Yao

9:30PM

The Cold Storage Commission- Skokiaan- Rocket Infinity: The Global Rise of Rocking Music 1942-62
Sonny Rollins with the Modern Jazz Quartet – Mambo Bounce – Sonny Rollins with the Modern Jazz Quartet
Noor Jehan- Noor Jehan- Yeh Raat Jane Keya Keya- The Sound of Wonder
The Beginning of the End- Pretty Girl- Funky Nassau
Manito- Sock it to ‘Em JB- Soul Brazza: Brazilian 60’s & 70’s Soul Psych Vol.1
Derrick Morgan –Fat Man- Moon Hop: The Best of the Early Years 1960-69
Na Hawa Doumbia- Danaya- La Grande Cantatrice Malienne

10PM

Odilo Gonzalez – Sacude Zapato Viejo- Saoco!
Etoile 2000 – Diamono Tey- Dakar Sound 5^th Volume
The Flowers- Meekshi Manoo- Raks Raks Raks: 27 Golden Garage Psych Nuggets from the Iranian 60’s Scene
The Commandos- Penyselan – Intercontinental Transmissions Volume 1
Peregoyo Y Su Combo Vacana- Descarga Vacana- The Afrosound of Colombia Volume 1
Cumbia en Moog- Cumbia de Sal- The Afrosound of Colombia Volume 1
Fruko Y Sus Tesos- La Caminante- The Afrosound of Colombia Volume 1

10:30PM

Toni Iordache- Tinerete Tinerete- Music from a Bygone Age Vol.4
Dorothy Ashby- The Moving Finger- The Rubaiyat of Dorothy Ashby
George Danquah- Just For a moment- Hot & Jumpy
Sevil & Ayla- Bebek- Turkish Freakout: Psych-Folk Singles 1969-80
Sexteto Electronico Moderno – Comin’ Home Baby- Sounds from the Elegant World: Groovy Night Club Music from Uruguay 1968-71

Mayor Emanuel on the Uptown Music District: All talk, no action

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:22:00 -0500

In a must-see two-part report for WGN-TV on Tuesday and Wednesday plus a live call-in segment for CLTV, Randi Belisomo, one of the best broadcast reporters in town, dug deep into Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plans to create an Uptown Music District.

The mayor’s been talking about his vision for the area and for Chicago music since shortly after his election two years ago. But just as people having been boasting that “Uptown is coming up” for 25 years or more, nothing really has happened yet.

The lynchpin of any arts-based revitalization of Uptown is the restoration of the Uptown Theater, which is owned by Chicago-based concert promoters Jam Productions. They also own the neighboring Riviera Theater and do most of the major concert business at the nearby Aragon Ballroom. But restoring the Uptown is a $70 to $80 million job, far beyond Jam’s or any other Chicago concert business’s fiscal resources.

While Emanuel talks about the benefits that a renovated theater would bring in terms of attracting other businesses, and he suddenly turns into Richard M. Daley while waxing rhapsodic about planting flowers and creating pedestrian plazas to make the musical triangle of the Uptown/Riviera/Aragon a lot prettier, more inviting, and presumably free of homeless people, prostitutes, and drug dealers, he doesn’t say a word about exactly where the funds for any of these improvements will come from in a time of budgetary crisis.

Hence the skepticism of the comments from me included by Belisomo in her report. Yet just as revealing as the mayor’s lack of specifics for turning Uptown around—or the fact that there were no concrete plans for fostering music in this city in his much-ballyhooed Cultural Plan—is Emanuel’s response to the question of why Chicago does not have a music office like those in other musical hotspots such as Seattle, Portland, Nashville, Memphis, and Austin. (Belisomo’s full interview with the mayor on music is online.)

Yes, Emanuel says, those cities have music offices. But:

They have offices; we have the largest music event, Lollapalooza, in the world. Number two, we have Pitchfork. Number three, we have Blues Fest. Number four, we have the Gospel Festival. They have offices, we have events, and I will take events over an office.
Number two, I did just create, Michelle Boone and I, two positions totally dedicated at the cultural office towards music. So nobody doubts Chicago’s commitment towards music. We are the city of festivals and a very vibrant music city. We have Common and Kanye West and Jennifer Hudson. Yes, other cities have offices. I’m not interested in having an office to have an office; I want to have these kinds of events.
We took the Gospel Festival and put it in Bronzeville, so that it’s part of the Bronzeville neighborhood. We have a mayor that really enjoys it and promotes it. We have Buddy Guy; we did a kickoff, a sendoff for him when he went to the Kennedy Center for an award, and we have the largest musical festival in the country with Lollapalooza. And we’re going to continue to do those things to promote our local artists, the festival scene, and other things that will keep Chicago as the premiere destination in the music world. But just saying I have an office…
We also are holding in the fall a music seminar in the city of Chicago. Austin does it [a music office]; it works for Austin. We do what we need to do in Chicago that’s the right thing for Chicago.

There are many problems with those comments, not the least of which is the visual image of Emanuel getting jiggy while listening to Kanye, Common, and Jennifer Hudson. But the key is that he sees Chicago as “the city of festivals,” and that he cites Lollapalooza and Pitchfork as the two things the music scene should be most proud of.

This blogger and other music critics and journalists have written often about how the 365-days-a-year small-business heart and soul of the Chicago music scene—the small clubs and independent concert promoters—have been hurt for almost half the year by these major festivals encroaching upon them by signing hundreds of acts to exclusive contracts that put them onstage at the festivals but nowhere else in town. If Chicago has festivals but fewer clubs, Chicago eventually will no longer have that vibrant music scene the mayor mentioned in passing.

What’s more, Lollapalooza is owned half by a company based in Austin, Texas, and half by a talent agency based in Hollywood, California—the one run by the mayor’s brother and major fundraiser Ari. And last year was the first year it paid the entertainment taxes that every other major musical event in this city always has paid by law.

For its part, the Pitchfork Music Festival is half owned by and named for a company that left Chicago for New York several years ago. And one of this year’s headliners is R. Kelly, another of those acts Chicago can brag about… or maybe not, given that whole child pornography mess. The mayor might have been smart not to mention him.

Chicago doesn’t need to have a Music Office just to have a Music Office. It needs to have a Music Office to work as the liaison between the real local music businesses—record stores and recording studios as well as clubs and promoters—and city government, to look out for their interests not only in the bureaucracy, but in the brutal competition with those giant out-of-town festivals and mega-corporate promoters that Emanuel favors but which are squeezing the little guy out of business.

Oh, we also should mention that the Park District just gave Live Nation, the company that counts brother Ari Emanuel on its board of directors, a long-term deal for a 30,000-seat concert venue on Northerly Island.

In any event, the mayor seems of two minds about the music office idea, saying both that we don’t need one, and also that he just created one. That office, if it exists, has yet to do anything beyond granting a short interview to the Chicago Tribune. And this is a situation not unlike the fabled Uptown Music District: Nothing is going on, there’s no real progress, but our mayor is happy to talk about and take credit for it anyway.

Why Kelly Rowland's 'Dirty Laundry' is one of the most important songs of 2013

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:45:00 -0500

I am thinking about my friends and acquaintances in high school, how they arrived to class with bruises on their arms.

"What happened?" we used to ask.

And then they whispered something about their boyfriends, a volatile argument, and how it was their "fault." They would brush questions aside, blaming themselves for the violence in their relationship. My friends were across the racial and ethnic spectrum, but their situations were eerily similar.

On Wednesday, former Destiny's Child member and solo artist Kelly Rowland released "Dirty Laundry," a highly emotional, personal, and startlingly blunt song about her career and personal life. Production-wise, "Dirty Laundry" is as clear and straightforward as the lyrics. Structured with steady, yet ominous piano chords and a static drumbeat, "Dirty Laundry" plays like some of the best confessional r&b songs. Rowland sings:

Started to call them people on him/I was battered/He hit the window like it was me/Until it shattered/He pulled me out and said 'Don't nobody love you but me/Not your mama not your daddy and especially not B'

In the song, Rowland talks about her feelings in the industry and a violent relationship with an ex, but her situation is applicable and relevant to the circumstances of her listeners. According to a study from the U.S. Department of Justice in a compilation of statistics from the American Bar Association's Commission of Domestic Violence, "Black females experienced intimate partner violence at a rate 35% higher than that of white females, and about 22 times the rate of women of other races." As a singer in the r&b genre with audiences largely both black and female, Rowland's release can act as a call for action and a means of shedding light on an issue that still receives little attention.

The statistics for domestic violence are sobering. We assume that because we are not actively talking about it all the time that it is not there. We assume that if it is not in front of us everyday that it can't possibly exist. And yet, the numbers do not lie. The number one killer of African-American women ages 15 to 34 is homicide at the hands of a current or former partner, says the ABA. As well, only 17% of African-American sexual assault survivors report their assault to the police. The importance of this song and Rowland’s experiences can’t be reiterated enough. Later in the song (and years after her relationship ended), she sings:

I got my shit down pat/Think I had it good/And they don't know how bad/Fooled everybody/Except myself/Soaking in this hurt/Bathing in the dirt

Like many of her listeners, Rowland kept her experiences a secret. Outside she exuded strength and charisma, but inside she kept a secret. She was shamed herself, never being able to reveal her experiences to the public.

The question of how much a public figure owes the public is debatable. I do not believe it was Rowland’s responsibility to reveal this part of her life. And as the lyrics of the song indicate (Phone call from my sister; 'What's the matter?'/She said, 'Oh no, baby, you gotta leave') family and friends like Beyonce knew. But Rowland’s experience began nearly a decade ago. The courage to speak out can be difficult for many. If only one woman listens to Rowland's work and sees in it the courage to speak out that is one life potentially saved.

Art can and should mean different things to different people. As a whole however, art in and of itself is something that we consume constantly and voraciously. Music is the most accessible form of art. We seek in it something personal and true. It is no surprise that a variety of different genres exist to speak to both our personal tastes and our desire to clarify and reiterate life's questions through notes, chords, or lyrics. In "Dirty Laundry," Rowland reveals her truth. That it is shocking to the public reflects our unwillingness to address an insidious facet of our culture.

Britt Julious blogs about culture in and outside of Chicago. Follow Britt's essays for WBEZ's Tumblr or on Twitter @britticisms.

Chance the Rapper paints a giddy yet profound picture of South Side life

Tue, 14 May 2013 15:25:00 -0500

Even in the midst of an epidemic of violence that’s earned Our Town the nickname of Chiraq, life on the South Side is anything but one-dimensional. Gangs, drugs, poverty, a fundamentally flawed school system, and the despair that comes from knowing that so many people in a position to help just don’t give a crap are inescapable facts. But so are love, hope, community, and reveling in a thousand humble joys—from grilled cheese sandwiches to birthday parties at Chuck E. Cheese, and from smoking weed to dissing Kobe Bryant—all of which combine to make life worth living.

Alternately giddy and profound, veering from braggadocious to comically self-deprecating, and equal parts slacker pothead and street philosopher, on his second mixtape Acid Rap, Chance the Rapper paints the most complete portrait of young male African-American life on the South Side of Chicago since Kanye West gave us The College Dropout in 2004. And he shows every indication that he’ll prove to be just as a formidable and necessary a voice in hip-hop.

The national spotlight on the artist born Chancelor Bennett has been so intense that his story already is well known: Barely out of his teens now, this resident of West Chatham was punished with a two-week suspension from Jones College Prep in Spring 2011, and he dropped his first mixtape 10 Day to prove the teachers who said he had no talent, the younger brother who competed with him, the classmates who wouldn’t sleep with him, and anyone else who doubted him wrong.

That motivational tale is, of course, as old as rock ’n’ roll itself, and musical history is one of the many things Chance knows a little something about. “I got the Chicago blues,” he raps on “Everybody’s Something” from his new set. “We invented rock before the Stones got through.”

In a nod both to Acid Rap bettering its predecessor and these 13 tracks being best appreciated on “repeat” in a steady loop of insinuating grooves and elastic rhymes, singer Lili K. opens and closes the set by cooing, “Even better than I was the last time.” Indeed Chance is, though at other points, he questions whether he’s got the goods (“And I’m hungry, I’m just not that thirsty/As of late, my verses seem not so verse-y”) or paints a most unflattering portrait of himself as a chain-smoker who stinks so bad of cigarettes that his mother and grandmother won’t hug him. (And remember, tobacco still is a bigger addiction, in the hood and everywhere else, than any illegal drug.)

These and other expressions of self-doubt or self-loathing really are deflections, however. Rhyming over melodic and often very Kanye-like backing tracks (the two share a fondness for building on sampled dusties), Chance’s way of viewing the world and his skill at delivering those observations in a deceptively laidback but consistently gripping style are uniquely engaging and thoroughly undeniable. And he knows it.

This is as true of those moments when the artist is just goofing around or riffing off the top of his head—waxing nostalgic about hours whiled away with The Rugrats “back when Mike Jackson was still Jesus,” say—as it is of much deeper fare, including his crises of faith (“I still be asking God to show his face”; “Why’s God’s phone die every time that I call on Him?”) and the conflict between the enduring allure of the mythical gangsta lifestyle and the harsh and painful truth of the reality.

The catchiest bits in the multi-part suite “Pusha Man” are the hook-filled refrains: “I’m you pusha man/Pimp slapping, toe taggin’/I’m just trying to fight the man” and “I’ve been riding around with my blunt on my lips/With the sun in my eyes, and my gun on my hip,” which are both as insidious and as insinuating as anything Dre and Snoop delivered back in the day. But Chance, who lost his best friend to street violence, is setting up the cliché only to tear it down: “They murder kids here/Why you think they don’t talk about it? They deserted us here.” And then he drops the 10-ton truth as casually as if it’s another toss-off about weed: “I heard everybody’s dying in the summer, so pray to God for a little more spring/I know you scared, you should ask us if we scared, too/If you was there, then we just knew you’d care, too.”

I do believe Chicago’s crisis of the streets just got its “Ohio,” right down to the way those lines echo Neil Young’s “What if you knew her/And found her dead on the ground/How can you run when you know?”

To be sure, this is not to say that Chance is p.c., and despite his admitted fondness for LSD, he sure ain’t no hippie backpacker. He’s just a young and very talented guy who’s trying to make sense of a crazy world and have some fun while doing it, and he doesn’t give a damn about fronting as a badass. Like Kanye, Lupe, Common, and Rhymefest from the pre-Sosa pantheon of Chicago hip-hop greats, he’s fearless in showing that he has a conscience and real emotions. Though we know he loves his grandma, it’s impossible to imagine Chief Keef rapping, as Chance does, “What’s better than tripping is falling in love/What’s better than Letterman, Leno, Fallon, and all of the above… What’s better than yelling is hollering love/What’s better than rhymes, nickles, dollars, and dubs/There ain’t nothing better than falling in love.”

For his talent, for his courage, for the breadth of his vision, and for a worldview that refuses to be bludgeoned into nihilism, Chance is a thousand times the artist Keef is… though venturing to say so will no doubt stir up this critic’s critics, the wisenheimers who maintain that I don’t know sh*t about hip-hop because I prefer mine free of hate and clichéd posing. Witness this recent Tweet:

Everyone, enjoy listening to this Chance the Rapper tape, now, while you can, before @jimderogatis's cosign makes liking it impossible
— Chris LG (@chrislagreca) May 5, 2013

Gee, it sure would have been nice to pan this disc, if only to prove my friend above wrong. But I can’t do it. Acid Rap is a masterpiece, and it’s your loss if you let me keep you from allowing it to enrich your life.

Chance the Rapper, Acid Rap (self-released)

Rating on the four-star scale: Four stars.

Follow me on Twitter @JimDeRogatis or join me on Facebook.

Congress Theater gets another pass from the city

Thu, 09 May 2013 12:10:00 -0500

In his third appearance in Cook County Circuit Court Thursday facing a long list of building, health, and fire code violations at the 87-year-old Congress Theater, controversial venue owner Erineo “Eddie” Carranza once again was given the “all’s clear” to continue operating.

During the court appearance, which lasted less than five minutes, attorneys for the city and Carranza updated Judge James McGing on building renovations, including the removal of obstructions from passageways in the corridors and installation of back-up lighting on the upper floors. Another inspection was scheduled for May 22, with another court date the following day.

Judy Frydland, the deputy corporation counsel who is the city’s top building code enforcement official and the attorney prosecuting the case, said that there is a “small show” tomorrow night (the Electric Circus DJ event), but nothing else is scheduled past that date. This, however, contradicts the theater’s list of upcoming concerts advertised on its own website.

Carranza’s lawyer said he wants a “short court date” for May 23, because they only have a few “minor” repairs to go and then they’ll be “ready to rock and roll,” reopening the upper floors and restoring the capacity to one of the largest music venues in the city.

Thursday’s quick hearing comes as no surprise, since after filing a lawsuit on April 12 seeking the immediate closure of the Congress based on a harrowing, 26-item, literally A-to-Z list of “dangerous and hazardous” building, health, and fire code violations, the city flip-flopped a mere 10 days later and declared that the main floor of the venue could remain open, though the second and third floors have been shut since January, and capacity is reduced from over 5,000 to 3,000.

Frydland told this blog on May 1 that the city “tries to work with” venues like the Congress because, “Theaters are like churches… They’re also older buildings with large assemblies.” Of course, crowds dense with 18-year-olds—some of them over-served with alcohol or high on drugs, according to testimony before the Liquor Commission—generally do not dance the night away in most churches.

As Chuck Sudo wrote on Chicagoist on April 23, “Carranza has nine lives, a genie who granted him three wishes, a lucky rabbit’s foot, a backyard full of four-leaf clovers, and a horseshoe planted firmly up his ass.” Well, we now can assume that there also is a rainbow hovering over his Logan Square theater, as well as a stash of wishbones in its basement.

Carranza may not be so lucky on other fronts, however. While the latest Deleterious Impact/Public Nuisance hearing Tuesday found the Department of Business Affairs cautiously optimistic about progress, the owner is awaiting a ruling about whether the Congress can keep its liquor license, following three hearings before the Liquor Commission that included testimony about fights, drug activity, and security’s mistreatment of concertgoers.

The venue owner also may be stymied in his plans to bring more music to another vintage theater at Six Corners on the Northwest Side, the Portage, which he purchased last September, two months before his bank filed a $4 million foreclosure suit (since settled) against the Congress.

On Wednesday, the City Council granted the Portage Theater landmark status, which could frustrate Carranza’s plans for the venue to host live music as well as movies. Ald. John Arena (45^th) has expressed extreme skepticism about Carranza and live music at the venue, and he praised the landmark designation on his Facebook page.

“May the light from the projection booth shine long and bright for generations to come,” Arena wrote.