Live Music

There is a phenomenon of the electronic age which seems to go hand-in-hand with the isolation of Man. Sitting in our single-family detached homes with green no-man’s lands separating houses from each other and even from the streets on which they are located, we can listen to pre-recorded and digitized music, completely cut off from the beauty of humanity, the spontaneity of humanity, the work of humanity. Music has become mere numbers written on silicon.

Gone are the reeds, strings, woods, and metals of the instruments. Gone is the sweat dripping off of Miles Davis’ forehead as he works to make beauty out of air. Gone is the nearly unbelievable (but I’ve seen it so I know it is real) accu-speed of Segovia’s fingers. Gone are the sequine-sheathed hips of the chanteuse swaying, keeping time like a metronome. Gone is the singer whose voice having reached the limit pushes more and stretches to reach the impossible note, the note that conjures memories of lives not lived. Gone is the shared experience of sitting in a small room with 300 other people listening, dancing, thrilling to the music. Those things just don't matter to the modern computerized recluse listening to music alone.

Don’t settle for what the corporations want to sell you. MP3s, iTunes, and CDs are mere artifice. But live performances are altogether different. They are genuine and real experience. To that end, I recommend the following musicians who are noted for the excellence of their live performances. I’m also including the names of a few good places to experience live music. I encourage you to look them over, buy tickets, and enjoy music the way it should be enjoyed: Live.

The musicians you should go see, and some places where you should see them.
Pink Martini, Steve Tyrell, Red Meat, Superdiamond, Madeleine Peyroux, Bimbo’s 365 Club, Marisa Monte, Gillian Welch , Kim Nalley , Eden Atwood , Carolina Herring , Lavay Smith and the Red Hot Skillet Lickers , Jazz at Pearls , Rube Waddell , Tilly and the Wall

A note about all of these acts. They are not listed because I even enjoy all or even most of the music they produce. For instance, I don't really like Tilly and the Wall. But they do something that is really neat. They eschew the drums other bands use. Instead they have a tap dancer. That alone makes for a fabulous live show. I mean, how often do you get to see live tap dancing today?


What musicians have you seen live who you think the rest of the world should see?