The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 19, 2003, Page 7, Image 7
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PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, consisting of nine members, has been together for 26 years, and the band has traveled all over the world.
Louisiana band
brings Columbia
mix of genres,
dose of Dixieland
THE DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND
New Brookland Tavern
★★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆
BY ROB SEAL
THE HAMECOCK
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
brought a dose of Dixieland to the
New Brookland Tavern on
Monday night. The show was the
band’s fourth stop on a tour that
includes more than 50 perfor
mances from North Carolina to
California.
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
first started playing together at the
Dirty Dozen Social and Pleasure
Club in New Orleans in 1977.
Since then, it has toured in
more than 30 countries on five con
tinents and played with the likes
of Miles Davis, A1 Green, Wynton
Marsalis, The Grateful Dead,
Bonnie Raitt, Herbie Hancock,
and 2 Live Crew.
The band, which has only nine
members despite its name, plays
a mixture of traditional Dixieland
jazz, rock and R&B.
The show at New Brookland
showcased the band’s tight, horn
based grooves and considerable
improvisational ability. Though
only seven of the nine band mem
bers were there, the Dirty Dozen
Brass Band’s full sound didn’t lack
for blistering solos.
The latest studio album,
“Medicated Magic,” demonstrates
the band’s ability to adapt and
move in new directions. The al
bum includes special guest ap
pearances by Dr. John, DJ Logic,
Norah Jones and Robert
Randolph.
In addition to this wide array
of talented guests, the band also
included some favorite covers of
songs written by other New
Orleans artists on the album. Its
rendition of
Orleans Jazz across the country.
“Medicated Magic” was made in
tribute to their home city.
“Medicated Magic” is the 10th
album the group has released.
Despite its impres
The Meters’ nu. n»». DH« sivediscography, the
• cissy The Dirty Dozen Brass band s strong point
Strut” is a Band’s latest studio has always been its
high point |b “Medicated ^-energy live
on a solid al- shows.
bum. Magic,” demonstrates Though baritone
other the band’s ability to a,nd s°pran° sax
covers in- . player Roger Lewis,
dude adapt and move in one of the four re
“Africa,” pgW directions. maining original
also by the members of the
Meters; Dr.
John’s “Walk on Gilded
Splinters”; and Allen Toussaint’s
“Everything I Do Gon’ Be
Funky.”
Since first playing at the New
Orleans Jazz and Heritage
Festival in 1979, the Dirty Dozen
Brass Band has enhanced and per
petuated its own style of New
band, was displeased
with the amount of cigarette
smoke rolling onstage at the New
Brookland Tavern, the inconve
nience was rectified after he
asked the crowd to stop smoking
so much.
If the smoke, or lack thereof,
had any impact on the band’s abil
ity to play, no one in the audience
could tell.
The performance was as robust
as ever, featuring the same com
bination of traditional New
Orleans jazz and modern impro
visation that have made the band
such a lasting force in the music
world.
Despite traditionalist detrac
tors who disparage the band’s
practice of melding New Orleans
standards with a modem musical
approach, the Dirty Dozen Brass
Band has made enough of an im
pact on its home city that there is
now a Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Day in New Orleans.
Fans can only hope these guys
can keep churning out their in
credible live performances and
engaging albums for years to
come.
i
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@kotmail.com
TOP 10
These were the most requested
songs on USC’s student radio
station from Feb.9-16
1. “BRIGHT YELLOW BRIGHT
ORANGE”
_ Go-Betweens
2. “TALLAHASSEE"
Mountain Goats
3. “DEAR HOT CHICK”
_ Feable Weiner
4. “GIVE UP”
Postal Sprv/irfli
5. “HEARTS OF OAK"
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
6. “PEACHES: THE VERY BEST OF
THE STRANGLERS”
The Stranglers
7. “MUSIC IS BIG BUSINESS”
__All Mighty Senators
8. “NOCTURAMA”
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
9. “THIS IS THE GLAMOUROUS”
_New Wet Kojak
10. “SCOTTISH FICTION (EP)”
Idlewild
« i
Southern Circuit film series
to showcase indie filmmaker
Nickelodeon
plays host to
lesser-known
screenwriters
BY MEG MOORE
THE (iAMKCOCK
The Southern Circuit film se
ries, currently in its 27th season,
will screen its February selection
at the Nickelodeon Theatre on
Thursday night. The tour show
cases the work of lesser-known
filmmakers, and it stops at six lo
cations within the Carolinas,
Virginia and Mississippi.
Sponsored in part by the South
Carolina Arts Commission, the
program aims to expose audi
ences not only to critically ac
claimed films, but to the screen
writers who envision and create
them.
The season began in
September 2002, opening the year
with Montieth McCuUem’s film
“Hybrid.” Thursday will mark
the circuit’s fifth screening in
Columbia. This month’s presen
ter, Britta Sjogren, will be show
ing and discussing two of her
works: the short film “A Small
Domain” and her first feature
project, “Jo-Jo at the Gate of
Lions.”
Having received two advanced
degrees in film from the
University of California at Los
Angeles, Sjogren first aspired to
write about films, yet has since
realized a talent for concocting
her own screenplays instead. The
movies being screened on
Thursday are not new.
“A Small Domain” was award
ed the Grand Jury Prize for Best
Short Film at the 1996 Sundance
Film Festival, while “Jo-Jo at the
Lion’s Gate” made its debut in
1992. Yet they represent the work
of an independent screenwrit
er/director who is not afraid to
experiment with her medium.
“Jo-Jo at the Gate of Lions”
exemplifies an ironically inno
vative style of filming; it was
shot in black and white. The de
cision to film sans color
stemmed from both financial
constraints and Sjogren’s inten
tion to let the message of the
screenplay, not the mechanics,
dominate.
The screenplay was inspired
by Sjogren’s visit to the site of
Joan of Arc’s imprisonment in
France; it explores the issues of
martyrdom and self-sacrifice,
and specifi
cally ad
dresses the
woman’s in
volvement
with such
themes.
Like Joan of
Arc, the
film’s main
character
hears voices
within, and
struggles to
find her
place amid
the de
mands of
love, life
and her ap
parent high
er calling.
I_I
PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK
Showcased filmmaker Brltta
Sjogren will be discussing her
work at the Nlckolodeon.
seclusion that
such conflicting
forces can create
within a person.
While the sounds
and nuances of ev
eryday life contin
ue in the back
ground, the film
remains focused
on the lonely
Beatrice isolated
yet immersed in
the everyday.
In addition to
showing her films
at various locales
this week, Sjorgen
will lead a screen
writing workshop
at USC-Beaufort on
Saturday.
mi_ __
UJUgl Oil o
award-winning short film “A
Small Domain” also examines
life from a female perspective.
Based on the memories of the
film’s star, Beatrice Hayes, the
film reflects upon the death of
the 95-year-old Beatrice’s hus
band, who died on their wedding
anniversary 35 years, ago.
The 18-minute film tries to
juxtapose the timelessness of
memory with the vivacious pre
sent, exploring the em,otional
x lie pi v&i mu
will focus on the subject, charac
ter and structure of a film, and
will also allow attendees the op
portunity to receive critiques of
their work. The workshop will be
from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the USC
Beaufort Performing Arts
Center.
The cost is $60 for students and
$75 for the general public.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmaiUx)m
CD REVIEW
Kings
keep it
in the
family
“HOLY ROLLER NOVOCAINE”
Kings of Leon
irkirk out of ☆☆☆☆☆
BY CHARLES TOMLINSON
THE GAMECOCK
A band coming out of
■ Tennessee playing Southern
rock — that’s not so hard to be
lieve. But Kings of Leon —
brothers Nathan, Caleb and
Jared Followill, as well as
cousin Matthew Followill —
combine their countrified style
with blues and garage rock a
la The Who.
me foliowm orotners
learned the rudiments of their
raucous sound in, of all places,
church.
Their father, Leon, evange
lized around the South as a
Pentecostal minister. He also
exposed the boys to rock ’n’
roll. The brothers learned to
play their instruments by
bashing away during the row
dy worship services. But be
fore Kings of Leon, the
Followill brothers automati
cally assumed they’d go to
Bible college and become
preachers like their father.
But they pursued rock mu
sic. On their debut EP, “Holy
Roller Novocaine,” Caleb’s
Southern drawl is strong
whether he growls on a sub
dued verse or wails over a dis
torted chorus. His vocals are a
little bit Adam Duritz on
“Molly’s Chambers” and more
like Tom Petty on “Wasted
Time.”
Jared’s rubber-band bass
tone complements Caleb and
Matthew’s wild, Southern
fried guitar chords. Nathan’s
colorful, straightforward
drumming propels the songs
out of the bluesy depths of
Tennessee.
A 1+V»r»n crV» thn honH
achieves a bawdy, sloppy
sound on its debut EP, the
Followills display a soulful
mastery of their instruments.
If their music ever sounds
slovenly, it’s because they
wanted it to.
“California Waiting” is
easily the album’s catchiest
track. It opens with a bluesy
solo by Matthew and coasts
into a lofty chorus with the
brothers harmonizing on the
hook. “Wicker Chair” shuf
fles along sadly like a mod
ernized version of a song a
bluesman might sing on his
front porch.
The sly “Holy Roller
Novocaine” is sung from the
viewpoint of a quack evange
list who seems to be taking ad
vantage of a woman. Caleb’s
vocals are scathingly honest;
his voice even cracks during
the first verse. And the cho
rus — “God’s gonna get us
back, God’s gonna get us
back” — suggests that God
will take His wayward chil
dren back. Or, more likely,
that they will face His wrath
somedav.
Kings of Leon might have
decided to forgo Bible college,
but the members still thank
God and family foremost in
their EP. And they should —
God gave the Followills the
power to rock, and daddy Leon
gave his sons the sounds of
Neil Young and the Rolling
Stones when their mother
wasn’t in the car.
Comments on this story?
E-mail gamecockmixeditor
@hotmail.com