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AsianConnections
is proud to present the adventures of Ben Fong-Torres, our Renaissance
man: author, broadcaster, and former senior editor and writer at Rolling
Stone Magazine. This
guy's our hero! Ben
was a featured character in "Almost Famous," the Oscar and Golden
Globe-winning film by Cameron Crowe. March Madness, the Musical, and a Joint Effort with Willie Nelson by
Ben Fong-Torres
I was there to conduct an onstage interview with Robbie Robertson, the lead guitarist and songwriter of The Band, whose farewell extravaganza in 1976, The Last Waltz, became a landmark rock film, directed by Martin Scorsese. Now, it's being reissued as a spiffed up DVD from MGM and a vastly expanded soundtrack from Rhino. (It'll also have a theatrical run starting April 5th in San Francisco, where The Band debuted in 1969 and signed off that Thanksgiving Eve in '76.) That session went fine, thank you, but the real reason for hitting Austin is the music, the parties, the schmoozing, the friends you get to see, and, of course, the barbeque. It's a time and place for musical discoveries. Especially given the crises facing the music industry, with labels complaining about online downloading of music, and musicians suing labels over contracts, and fans tiring of prefab pop stars and soulless boy toy bands, it's exhilarating to witness some promising beginnings. Watch, especially, for Norah Jones, 21, from Dallas, quietly assured and possessed of a voice both evocative and unique. Shades of Sade, and informed by jazz the way Shelby Lynne is informed by country. On the rockier side, Jesse Malin, out of New York City, has moved from the punk of D Generation to a muscular, melodic rock sound, which knocked out the packed house at the Continental Club. Two years ago, I saw the rockabilly legend Wanda Jackson there, and she was at SXSW again, this time to bask in the spotlight of a film, Welcome to the Club: The Women of Rockabilly, by Beth Harrington, and a book, Shake, Rattle, and Roll by Holly George-Warren, who put together a panel, "Rockabilly Fillies," including both Jackson and Harrington.
Other highlights: Seeing Petty Booka, a ukelele-wielding pair of young women from Japan, on the sidewalk outside Yard Dog, posing for photos and prepping for their part of Japan Nite....Getting a CD from the Japan Nite people of Love Psychedelico, who weren't at the festival, but whose cool Sixties music and pastiche of English, Japanese, and mysterious tongues are still ringing happily in my head....Soaking in some of Alejandro Escovedo's musical, By the Hand of the Father, which will connect with anyone from an immigrant family....Experiencing Courtney Love in the flesh, as she see-sawed between blasting the record industry for various wrongs and cracked up the packed ballroom with sensational gossip and histrionics....Gossiper Miss Truth offers a short report....After the Robbie Robertson session, I was greeted by a woman who remembered meeting me in 1975, when I was in town with Bonnie Raitt for a Rolling Stone cover story. Natalie Zoe was a fledgling singer then; now, she's one of Austin's most beloved jazz-pop vocalists. When she popped up at the Continental that night, totally by coincidence (I swear!), we became inseparable, as she whisked me by van to the Steamboat, a dazzling new location for Danny Crooks' legendary club, where local industrial rock faves Pushmonkey were threatening to bring down the walls. Much more genteel was Natalie herself, doing a Saturday night showcase at the Elephant Room, where for her finale she was joined by Malford Milligan, a sweet-singing personification of soul, on a gorgeous Zoe song, "Feels Like Home." You can sample it on her site, www.nataliezoe.com.
After another stop at the Steamboat, for excellent sets from Abra Moore and Sixpence None the Richer, Natalie invited me to drop by Threadgill's for a "gospel brunch." Other friends had already hipped me to the brunch. What we didn't know is that the three performers every Sunday are Milligan, Natalie, and long-time soul singer Donna Hightower, who did "When the Saints Go Marching In" as Ella Fitzgerald, Pearl Bailey, and Louis Armstrong. What a way to say goodbye, and God bless, to the live music capital of Texas, if not the world! I had a chance to sit with Willie Nelson onstage at the Gavin Seminar, a music industry confab in San Francisco the other week. I'd last seen Willie 20 years before, for an article for Parade. He's as mellow as ever, and a better comedian than ever. He's on the best-seller lists with The Facts of Life and Other Dirty Jokes, a fascinating melange of on-the-road journal, love letters to friends past and present, memoirs, and, yes, risque jokes. And his latest album, The Great Divide, finds him paired with Rob Thomas, Sheryl Crow, Brian McKnight and, believe it or not, Kid Rock. "I think a lot of people were surprised that Kid Rock and I did something together," he said. He recalled the producer of the CD suggesting the pairing. "I said it�s a great idea, but can he sing?" Willie said. Nelson, the composer of some of the most memorable songs in country and pop music, said he once wrote three songs in a week in Texas, while commuting from home to a nightclub gig. "I wrote 'Funny Home Times Slips Away,' 'Crazy,' and 'Night Life,'" he said. "It was a good week." It�s been a good life for the 69 year-old Willie, who went on from San Francisco to sing in the closing ceremonies of the Olympics. He'd also represented, nicely, on Tribute to Heroes, the TV fundraiser for victims of Sept. 11. Willie led the all-star cast (which included Bruce Springsteen, U2, Mariah Carey, Neil Young, Celine Dion, Stevie Wonder, Wyclef Jean, Sting, Tom Cruise, Chris Rock, and Tom Hanks) on the finale, "America theBeautiful." "That day," he said, "everybody was in a highly emotional state. I saw every artist go out and do what they did. By the time it was my turn to sing, it was hard to do." As always, Willie came through. Like a hero.
Click to Ben
Fong-Torres Articles Index |
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