Live Music and Happy Feet @ The Irregardless

Now in its 35^th year, the Irregardless restaurant on Morgan Street in Raleigh is an institution, remembered by long-time customers as a veggie-only throwback to the 60’s. Actually, meat and fish have been on the menu for twenty years (see Metro’s February 2010 issue) - and more recently live music, with local artists performing jazz, blues, blue grass and folk every evening save Monday and an acoustic brunch on Sunday.

On jazz Tuesdays, share a small plate of buffalo chicken macaroni and cheese and a bottle of red from a NC vineyard as the docile riffs of smooth jazz saxophonist Bill Mann ebb and flow lightly along. Or post up at the bar and sip on a locally brewed pale ale and take in the jazz guitar stylings of Christopher Wear. Whether you sit five feet from the stage, or on the opposite side of the restaurant, the sound quality never deviates.

Traditional Wednesday offers a range of performances from bluegrass pickin’ with the Duke Street Boys to the hypnotic sounds of The Magnolia Klezmer band. And even on the “Irregardless Best Friday”, with Lou Pedro and Friends rocking out, the dining experience remains pleasant and the music an enjoyable addition to the ambiance..

If you just wanna’ dance, and sometimes we all do, check out “Dancing after Dark Saturdays” and get down to some soul, rhythm and blues from The Moon and the Stars, or cut a rug with Raleigh singer and performer Joyce Hawley and her Rhythm Section.

And there is nary a cover charge, one more reason to check out the wide variety of live music offered nightly. Go to www.theirregardless.com for the music schedule and find out more.

-Dan Reeves

Raleigh Vibraphonist Hits Top Of Jazz Charts With New CD

For the last three decades, Raleigh-based vibraphonist Steve Hobbs has gained respect and admiration from jazz fans all over the world. His straight-ahead, bebop, hard-swinging potency keeps him in demand and never without a gig.
His steady fame gave him the creative freedom to create his latest album, Vibes, Straight Up, his first effort as a player only, taking on the music of others. The album has maintained the No. 1 position on the Jazz Week charts for over four weeks and placed high in unexpected places, such as Up with Florida, a publication that usually rates jam bands.

Critics here and abroad are praising Hobbs for this new exploration with other people’s music. He chose nine pieces, mostly pertaining to the South, improvising with an edgy style uniquely his own that expresses his passion for jazz while illuminating his roots as a Southern man. Hobbs jokes about fellow players being surprised by his accent, but he is dead serious when it comes to sending out a message through his music about what the South once was, how it has grown and how it stands today.

His inspiration for the recording grew out of his heritage as a Raleigh boy and his disappointment and concern with the stereotype that all Southerners are slack-jawed racists. If that were the case, says Hobbs, how could the South produce amazing jazz music?

Vibes, Straight Up is No. 1 in the Netherlands, home of his record company — Challenge/Twinz — but they wouldn’t allow Hobbs to name this record Down South because of the possible backlash from Europeans who still hold the stereotype that the South is Disney World with ragtime music playing in the background. Hobbs points out that some central Europeans are “shit talkers” anyway, and that a lot of their “Eurojazz” — as he calls it — has “no rhythmic vitality.”

The record company chose instead to use a shot of Lady Liberty for the album cover, and Hobbs is cool with that: The record is certainly a celebration of the South, but it also holds a New York edge. Through the music and his words in the CD insert, Hobbs feels his mission is accomplished.

He proudly confessed an e-mail from his personal hero, vibraphonist Mike Mainieri, made it all worthwhile: “Congrats on your CD! Downloaded it today on iTunes. You sound killin!”

Joined by Bill O’Connell on piano, bassist Peter Washington and John Riley on drums, Hobbs was in familiar and enjoyable company. The quartet sailed through and recorded the album in about five hours, maybe four if you count lunch.
Between recording and touring, Hobbs devotes his time to the “wonderfully gifted and talented” Powell Elementary School in Raleigh where he teaches vocal music and directs a 27-member mallet ensemble consisting of glockenspiels, xylophones, marimbas, piano, drums and other instruments. Hobbs proudly states: “It's a cutting-edge school where teachers work together to teach kids reading and math through many mediums.”

He is currently composing music with kindergarten kids, who already rhyme words they compose for lyrics. “All the teachers at Powell are teaching in multi-faceted ways … it's pretty amazing. How's that for narrow-minded people from the South?”

Visit www.stevehobbs.com for more.

-Dan Reeves

2nd Annual Concert to Benefit the Tisch Center

The Moderate, John Pringle, and Trances Arc, are coming together to raise money for The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center Saturday February 27th at The Pour House in Raleigh. The Tisch center works diligently to care for kids and young adults stricken with Brain Cancer. The work they do is crucial in a time when Cancer is still haunting the young and old leaving many in the dark, terrified, and in pain. All proceeds go directly to the Tisch Center. Admission is 10 dollars, but please feel free to give more at the door or donate online or by snail mail. Last year was an amazing event filled with good friends, great music, and boundless generosity. This year will be just as great the tradition will carry on.

Dean and Britta - 13 Most Beautiful...Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Test.

After the amicable breakup of late 90's early 2000's cult chill-rock outfit Luna, handsome front man Dean Wareham and bombshell bassist Britta Phillips got married, released 2 critically acclaimed albums and have since made Dean and Britta it's own musical entity. They've also maintained a fulfilling tour schedule, exposing new fans to their romantic world of dreamy melodies and mysterious moments while keeping Luna fans at full attention. This tour features screen tests shot by Andy Warhol from his days with the likes of Lou Reed and Edie Sedgewick at The Silver Factory. The reels will be projected above Dean and Britta while they provide the sounds. How cool is that? The performance will be held at the Reynolds Industries Theater at Duke Thursday evening.

Recommended listening:

Luna - 23 Minutes in Brussels

Dean and Britta - You Turn my Head Around

Harry Connick Junior @ DPAC 2-16

New Orleans jazz pianist, songwriter, and somewhat decent actor Harry Connick Jr. is performing at the Durham Performing Arts Center Tuesday night. Be prepared for an evening chock full of hits from his latest album ,Your Songs, plus a string of jazz standards and big band staples accompanied by his Orchestra. Purchase tickets online or at the DPAC box office.

The Foriegn Exchange, Tortiose @ The Cat's Cradle This Weekend

Two talents meet online and begin a relationship trading beats and cuts of their own music, one in Raleigh and the other in Holland. Two years later The Foriegn Exchange debuts their first record Connected. Yet, songwriter Phonte from Raleigh and Danish producer Nicolay still haden't met. After positive reviews from insiders in the world of dj's, and the hip hop community at large, Nicolay moved to Wilmington, NC and now The Foriegn Exchange is on the road promoting their sophomore release, Leave it All Behind, which promises a deep declaration of the duo's capabilities as songwriters and musicians. See them at The Cat's Cradle February 14th.




Chicago based Tortoise will bring their one of a kind progressive instrumentalist post-rock to The Cat's Cradle Sunday evening. Tortoise has gained admiration by expanding the boundaries of indie modern rock by fusing minimalism and elctronica. Their live shows are outwardly mellow but inwardly fraught with complicated musical textures making for an intense experience.

Recommended listening:

The Foreign Exchange - "Leave it All Behind"

Tortoise - Live at Werchter ( full set )

Galactic @ The Lincoln Theater

Back again to take their audience into their world of funked out space jamming, New Orleans' own Galactic is playing at The Lincoln Theater this evening. Prepare yourself for an evening of extended saxophone and guitar solos, tons of drums, and some very exciting experiments with electronic music.

The Great Steve Winwood @ The DPAC

Not many rock and rollers have withstood the test of time and taste like Steve Winwood. He has always maintained a steady position in the world of music, from his early days with Eric Clapton to his triumphant march through the treacherous 1980's, a time when a man of his ilk could easily sink as a has been attempting a new career. Winwood now tours comfortably with a laid back posse of pros. Heavy use of percussive instruments has increased greatly in his live show along with his own gift as a multi-instrumentalist. His current act seems to be working just as well as any before. Hope to hear anything and everything from his cannon of solo work and with The Spencer Davis Group, Blind Faith, Traffic, and Go tonight at The Durham Performing Arts Center.

Double Barrell Benefit this weekend

The term "college radio" doesn't have the curious appeal as it once did in the "left of the dial" days when anything of importance and excitement could easily be discovered on campus FM stations across the country. If you haven't gone XM yet and you still listen to the good ole radio, I suggest you tune into 88.1WKNC, NC States college station. The students there have have a finger on the pulse of a burgeoning music scene that is starting to draw some much needed attention away from the garbage heard most everywhere today. This Friday and Saturday night WKNC is hosting the 7th Annual Double Barrell Benefit at The Pour House Music Hall in Raleigh. Both nights promise to deliver WKNC's mission statement:"music that doesn't suck."

Friday February 5th :

Max Indian
Bellafea
Veelee
The Light Pines

Saturday February 6th:

Roman Candle
Spider Bags
Midtown Dickens
The Tender Fruit

Haiti Relief Benefit

February 4th, The Pour House in Raleigh welcomes some of the areas finest musical acts around to perform to raise money to help those suffering in Haiti after the devastation from the January 12th earthquake. The amount of support already from the heart of the musical community has played an essential role in helping Haiti get back on its feet. Whether it's local bands or pop stars, the power of music is drawing an incredible amount of attention to this tragedy. Recommended donation at the door is $12.00.

Acts / Recommended songs:

Chatham County Line - "Chip of a Star"

A Rooster for the Masses - "No Party Downtown"

Filthybird - "Portraits"

Roger Gupton - "Out of the Silence"

The Debonzo Brothers - "21"

And Bilinski - "Silver Gull Motel"