Bacon Brothers; Rosie Ledet; Mandara; Ukulele Festival
By Seth Rogovoy

(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., July 6, 2000) - Bacon Brothers: High on the hog

It has become something of an annual tradition for the Bacon Brothers to perform as part of the season at Barrington Stage Company, and this season is no different. The brother-led band, which includes famous actor Kevin Bacon and his brother Michael, performs its eclectic rock- and soul-based original music at the Consolati Performing Arts Center in Sheffield (528-8888) on Monday, July 10.

This time out, the group comes with a new album, “Getting There,” the follow-up to its debut, “Forosoco,” whose title was an obscure acronym for folk, rock, soul and country. “Getting There” continues in the tradition of its predecessor, mining a middle-of-the-road acoustic-rock vein, one part Loggins and Messina, one part James Taylor, and a little bit contemporary country. In addition to the brothers’ own songs, the album includes versions of Tom Waits’s “Jersey Girl” and Smokey Robinson’s “Don’t Look Back.” In an Eagle interview a few years back, brother Kevin explained why an actor allegedly connected to everyone in the world by six degrees of separation would forsake the big payday of the silver screen to start from the bottom up in carving out a career as a rock performer.

“I don’t really get butterflies from making movies any more,” said Bacon. “One of the scariest things in the world was to get up and sing and play our songs in front of people. I’m someone who likes to test myself, to keep challenging myself, and this was a big test.”

In the 1970s, Kevin’s brother Michael, an Emmy award-winning composer, led a Philadelphia-based rock band, Good News, which recorded an album for Columbia Records. He also recorded two solo albums for Monument/CBS, and has had his songs recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis, Carlene Carter, Perry Como and Peter Yarrow.

The brothers first performed together as adults in 1994 as a lark, but one thing led to another, and before they knew it, the Bacon Brothers were in demand and as performing and touring act.

Opening the show for the Bacon Brothers will be Mary Ellen Bernard. A Pennsylvania native like the Bacons but now a self-described “diehard New Yorker,” Bernard comes with three albums in her pocket, including her latest, “Bus Stop,” a cabaret-inflected, eclectic pop-rock album including original songs co-written with husband/bassist/producer Paul Guzzone and versions of songs by the Hollies (the title track) and Aztec Two-Step.

Rosie Ledet: Zydeco woman in a man’s world

Rosie Ledet is fast becoming a staple on the local scene, having already performed at Club Helsinki and at Mass MoCA in North Adams. With her band, the Zydeco Playboys, the singer/accordionist wowed audiences in Northern and Southern Berkshires at those venues around Mardi Gras season this past February.

Ledet returns to Helsinki in Great Barrington tonight at 9.
A native of Church Point, La., Ledet learned to play accordion by watching her husband play, and practiced on his instrument while he was at work during the day. Ledet now fronts her bass-playing husband’s band. One of only a few women leading a zydeco outfit, Ledet has performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and has won three “Best of the Beat” awards from Offbeat magazine. Ledet’s new album, “I’m a Woman,” is an eclectic blend of styles, including some soul-infused zydeco (“Kisses in the wind”) and some stinging, Chicago-style electric blues (“I Know What I Want”).

Also at Helsinki this weekend, Robby Baier kicks off the first of his regular jam sessions scheduled to take place the first Friday of every month at the Berkshires’ hippest nightspot. And on Saturday night, Chicago’s Howard and the White Boys bring a whiff of that city’s hot electric blues to downtown Great Barrington.

Mandara: The rhythmic pulse of Africa

The sounds, steps and flavor of Africa will permeate the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art on Saturday, with programs throughout the day incorporating African music, dance, and cuisine, culminating with a dance party by Mandara in Courtyard D at 7:30 p.m. Mandara, which explores the relationship between ancient and contemporary African and American music, brings together the talents of Valerie Naranjo and Barry Olsen. A scholar of African music, Naranjo, a percussionist, has recorded and performed with the Philip Glass Ensemble, David Byrne, Tori Amos, Selena, Airto, and the international percussion ensemble Megadrums, which includes Milton Cardona, Zakir Hussein, and Glen Velez. Trombonist, pianist, percussionist, composer and arranger Olsen boasts an equally impressive resume, including stints with Ray Barretto, Paul Simon, Eddie Palmieri, Paquito D'Rivera, Airto, David Byrne, and Charlie Persip. Dance instructor Sandra L. Burton, a choreographer and Williams College professor whose research and travels in dance include Brazil, Trinidad, Nicaragua and West Africa, will be on hand to teach some basic African dance steps. The evening event will begin with a dinner featuring authentic African fare prepared under the supervision of Elizabeth Jackson, culinary historian and author of the West African style cookbook, “South of the Sahara,” beginning at 6:30 pm.

Earlier in the day, Naranjo will lead a free African drumming master class for children (all ages welcome). The class will take place at 1 pm in the Scaturro Courtyard under “Tree Logic,” the exhibition of upside-down trees. In case of inclement weather, outdoor activities will be moved inside.

Ukulele, Really

Strange but true, there will be a music festival devoted to that most misunderstood and unappreciated of instruments – the ukulele – this Saturday at 8 at Uncommon Grounds, in Great Barrington.

What’s being billed as a “Ukulele Extravaganza” will feature world-renowned ukulele players Jim Beloff and Oliver Brown, as well as the Berkshires’ own Ladies’ Auxiliary Ukulele Orchestra Traveling Ensemble, including Bernice Lewis and Cathy Schane-Lydon.

“People usually think of some campy novelty act like Tiny Tim when they think of the ukulele,” said Lewis. “But these guys are really skilled musicians who don’t have to rely on quirky personalities and falsetto singing to be entertaining.”

The Ladies themselves have also acquitted themselves well in concert around the area, and have done much for bolstering the dignity of ukulele music, such as it is.

For more info, call 528-3118.

Radio Beat

Another in our series of periodic tallies of the most-played recordings -- most new, some old – on our imaginary radio station:

1. Gary Lucas, “Improve the Shining Hour” (Knitting Factory)
2. Phoebe Legere, “Blue Curtain” (Einstein)
3. Roy Nathanson, “Fire at Keaton’s Bar and Grill” (Six Degrees)
4. The Nields, “If You Lived Here You’d Be Home Now” (Zoe)
5. The Stone Coyotes, “Situation Out of Control” (Red Cat)
6. Frank London’s Klezmer Brass Allstars, “Di Shikere Kapelye” (Piranha)
7. Stacey Earle, “Dancin’ With Them That Brung Me” (Gearle)
8. John Zorn, “Taboo and Exile” (Tzadik)
9. The Legendary Marvin Pontiac (John Lurie), “Greatest Hits” (Strange and Beautiful)
10. Kronos Quartet, “Caravan” (Nonesuch)

[This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on July 6, 2000. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 2000. All rights reserved.]

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