12/20/2006 11:46:00 AM Local hit parade makes last-minute shopping a breeze
"Winter Song, " featuring Gerry Hyatt Bergstrom, soprano, is one of many local CDs ready for the holiday season. Others include work by local musicians Paula Lalish, Dave Sheehan, Andy Mackie, Dukes of Dabob, Lisa Lanza and more.
Last-minute holiday shopping has never been so easy, thanks to the wide array of talented local musicians who've stepped into recording studios during 2006. The list below is our very own hit parade, but you can't find any of it on iTunes - you have to get out to get it.
Most CDs are available at Quimper Sound, Crossroads Music and other venues as noted.
Island Time
Paula Lalish
www.paulalalish.com
Paula Lalish makes it sound as if Marrowstone Island is the place where Westley and Buttercup from "The Princess Bride" settled down to live "happily ever after" and this is their sequel 40 years later. One would have to be a real curmudgeon not to enjoy Lalish's original, sweet, humorous lyrics set to the strains of her harp and other stringed instruments. The Marrowstone National Anthem "Island Time" captures the essence of the "pretty little island in the fog and rain" beautifully, and "Troubles" provides lighthearted wisdom that boils problems down to amoeba proportions. This CD is perfect for middle-aged lovers who have been together since the beginning of time, but everyone else will love it too.
Summer Flowers
Dave Sheehan
www.rainshadowrecords.com
Sheehan shows strong songwriting talent with this upbeat, folksy collection of tunes backed up with some of Port Townsend's finest musical talent: George Rezendes, George Radebaugh, Brett Pemberton, Dave Meiss, Bill Kiely, Meredith Hobria, Todd Fisher, Peter Evasick and Chuck Easton. Ten percent of this CD's sales go to projects and organizations working for social and environmental justice. Sheehan is a regular feature at Bread & Roses' new live music program on Thursday nights - check him out sometime.
Winter Song
Gerry Bergstrom
Hot off the presses is a CD by Port Townsend's beloved soprano Gerry Bergstrom accompanied by pianist Lisa Lanza, oboist Anne Krabill, oboe and cellist Alison Roth. Bergstrom sings Brahms' "Ave Maria" along with Mozart, Puccini and others. Perfect for opera lovers. This CD is available at the benefit concert for Bergstrom at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 27 at First Presbyterian Church in Port Townsend.
Live at the Valley Tavern
The Dukes of Dabob
All the way from Port Hadlock comes this CD with more than an hour of New Orleans-style Dixieland jazzy swing. Popular tunes included are Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child" and Louis Armstrong's "Swing That Music." These guys and one lady - Jerry Yahna, Mark Holman, Ernie Landes, Erick Lindstrom, Dick Thompson, Fred Johnson, Owen Mulkey and Mary Lou Montgomery - are real pros at the music scene. Many of them hold music degrees, some are retired teachers, all of them have everything it takes and more to get a crowd of people out of their seats and on the dance floor. Also available at The Bayview Restaurant in Port Townsend and the Valley Tavern in Port Hadlock.
Plastic
Captain Incognito
www.myspace.com/captainincognito
Shed bands come. Shed bands go. But all the kids (and some adults too) know that Captain Incognito (Nico Janssen, Kyle Hove and Conor Sisk) is the reigning shed band, and it's not just because Conor's cool mom owns the shed either. Captain Incognito's original alternative rock music shows its members actually put some thought into what they're doing as their star keeps creeping upward. This CD of four songs is a great bargain, so don't be a cheapskate and copy from a friend.
Creature Sleeper
Love Doll Swingers
This is more great music from the often-ignored under-30 local crowd. Local music guru George Rezendes has called Usana, the songwriter behind this CD, one of the "most original musicians in this town." The band's bass player is the popular Food Co-op cashier Walter. The title track, "Creature Sleeper," has a repetitious, hypnotic effect, and birds, bees, rabbits and all sorts of animals have a great time in the final cut, "Birds and Bees." Just go along with it and you will too.
Barcarolle
Lisa Lanza
Last summer, Lisa Lanza treated the community with a concert and CD release of works composed by revolutionary pianist Frederic Chopin. Lovers of romantic era classical piano music will certainly appreciate these flowing diapasons beautifully played by one of Port Townsend's finest musicians. This is music that never gets old no matter how many times it's played.
Freedom Calling Me
Phyl Sheridan
This piece of Port Townsend musical history is a collection of Sheridan's best original folk songs and ballads about the world around us on the Quimper Peninsula. Thank goodness for Cathy Jahns, who has worked tirelessly to keep Phyl's music alive after his death earlier this year. Proceeds from this CD's sale go to the production of a third Sheridan album featuring blues music. This CD is destined to be a classic, so get a copy now, not later.
More Songs from the Homeland
Andy Mackie
www.andymackie.org
Andy Mackie is so legendary that Phyl Sheridan wrote a song about him. Here, Mackie pays tribute to his Scottish heritage with harmonica and vocals that celebrate traditional songs from his childhood. The proceeds from this CD benefit Andy's foundation that provides instruments and free music lessons to children as well as scholarships for college-bound seniors, but despite the good cause that Mackie promotes ceaselessly, this music is superb in its own right.
In the liner notes of More Songs from the Homeland it says Andy "believes that music is a God-given gift that needs to be shared."
Amen to that. Share (but don't copy!) any or all of these recordings during the holidays or any other time of the year.
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