The Radar Screen
March 15, 2004
by Alexander Washburn

Some Guy Named Jimmy Smith

Despite the thousands of emails attesting to the fact, Radar Screen does not purport himself to be know all things musical. So when Radar Screen proposed to eXceptional Outcome (formerly known as Good Results) lead singer Mariella Gonzalez to join him at the Iridium Room to see “some guy named Jimmy Smith” my buddy and fellow 2Walls scribe Jeff Fishman, was right to fall off his bar stool in laughter.

Jimmy Smith is an organ legend and he set up shop all week in New York , playing the music of jazz guitar legend Wes Montgomery. Smith was joined on stage by guitarist Rodney Jones, whose album Soul Manifesto is certainly among the best records in recent years. Also joining Smith was John Wood, an Indianapolis-based bassist who has been playing with Smith for years. Even though the set barely lasted an hour, there is not denying the genius of Jimmy Smith. When Smith hit the organ he made it count and at one point even played with his mouth. Smith is also a trip, speaking gibberish between songs and demanding Brandy after the second song. The highlight of the show were Jones' guitar solos, and drummer singing classic blues lines like: “ Baby, take out them dentures, I want to suck them gums .”

After the show, Radar Screen caught up with both Rodney Jones and John Wood and their warmth and friendly conversation certainly made up for the short set. (Take note upcoming musicians always make time for your fans.) Jones is working on another Soul Manifesto record and is slated to head into the studio in the spring to record. Like the first record, expect Jones to bring an all-star line-up into the studio with him, as he tipped off Radar Screen that Bootsy Collins, Pee Wee Ellis, Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker will all be playing on the new record, making his upcoming record the New York Yankees of jazz records. As Wood told Radar Screen about the music scene in his old college stomping grounds in Broad Ripple, Mariella wowed the two jazz heavyweights with her band's promotional materials – palm cards and fliers designed by the talented modern artist Shana Lahr.

This Month Radar Screen Picks Up...

Fuel for the Fire by Big Fast Car. From note one, you know that Big Fast Car is high-energy rock and roll. The kind of rock and roll your parents told you to turn down. The foursome from Charlottesville released a record that updates the classic rock sound with a more modern feel. Radar Screen always likes a record with guitar hooks you can feel and chorus' you can belt out in the shower. Big Fast Car has them both in droves. These guys brings an impressive resume to the table, with its members having worked with Train, Four Non-Blondes and Queens of the Stone Age. Big Fast Car isn't TRL pop but a welcomed return to the kind of kick-ass rock music that made you pick up a guitar in the first place.

Into the Light by Arcade. This Muncie, Indiana foursome is the latest group trying to pick up the mantle handed off by such music giants as Throwing Muses and Luscious Jackson. Not only do they take the handoff smoothly, they've busted up the middle for some big yardage. Shaking off their punk-rock days, the band brings elements of rock, with the energy of punk into a daring album that not only pushes the boundaries of music, it redefines them.

I Lounge, Therefore I Am

This space has repeatedly mourned the demise of the New York jazz scene on countless occasions. With Smalls, Tobacco Road and St. Nick's in Harlem all closed within the past year, it's not hard to long for the days Miles Davis wrote in his 1989 autobiography, saying: “To have experienced 52nd and 53rd Streets between 1945 and 1949 was like reading a textbook to the future of music. You had Coleman Hawkins and Hank Jones at one club. You had Art Tatum, Tiny Grimes, Red Allen, Dizzy (Gillespie), Bird (Charlie Parker), Bud Powell, (Thelonious) Monk, all down there on that one street. Sometimes on the same night.”

The jazz lineup that drummer Claudio Rochat-Felix has put together at I Lounge has given Radar Screen reason to return to Tribeca, a place not the same for him ever since Mugger moved to Baltimore and Spartina with its fabulous grilled pizzas closed its doors. Keyboard player Tim Kennedy from Philly joined Claudio on stage, as did Nathan Peck playing the stand-up bass.

I Lounge is not only a great spot for live jazz it also serves as a training ground for upcoming talented players. Saxophonist Rob Bramlet is laying down notes that suggest he made the right choice picking up the instrument only four years ago. When saxophonist Brian Horton popped up for the weekly Thursday open jam, you knew you were in for a treat when he played his infectious melodies. Horton is a student of music and his education is clear when he picks up the instrument. The fellow Harlemite put live music at the Studio Museum on the Radar Screen, as well as heading his own trio weekly in Brooklyn. Hanging out at I Lounge you get the feeling that you're witnessing the future of music, and to that we're grateful.

A Year in the Life

This month marks the one-year anniversary of the debut of Radar Screen for 2Walls Webzine. Waxing nostalgic, Radar Screen decided to look up Danielia Cotton who made an appearance in the very first Radar Screen. Well, we're happy to report that Ms. Cotton is keeping busy and doing her best to prove that Radar Screen is in fact a world-class prognosticator. Ms. Cotton dropped an email to the newsroom saying that she is in the studio with producer/songwriter Kevin Salem and shopping a demo that has already caught fire in London and LA. Christine Marie also made the first Radar Screen and we will see Christine in her national television debut singing her single Darkened Shades of Blue on an episode of Blind Date airing May 6th.

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Liner notes: Are you an indie artist looking to be picked up on Radar? Got a show in the NYC area you'd like us to check out? Email Radar Screen at: radarscreen@2walls.com