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Jeff Elbel + Ping news: Chicago area shows, FREE album, etc.

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:47:40 GMT

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In this newsblast:

* Chicago area Ping shows this week!

* Cornerstone 2009 recap + voting request for 2010

* FREE Ping album, etc.

* Ping “working crew” embroidered patch

* Jeff’s other music (featuring Harrison St. Ukulele Players)

* Thanks!

Hi, all. I hope everyone’s enjoying what’s left of summer. Godspeed if you’re heading back to school, or sending someone out to catch the bus in the mornings. There are Ping sets happening near Chicago soon, and we’d love to play some new music for you. We’re taking the Ping music to the bars, the churches and streets (one of each, anyhow) during September!

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Chicago area Ping shows this week!

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Ping line-up: John Blum, Mike Choby, Jeff Elbel, Maron Gaffron

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Thursday, September 3, 2009

Elbo Room

2871 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL 60657

(773) 549-5549

$8, 21 and over admitted

Map: http://tinyurl.com/mwdg3l

08:00pm – John Mahoney

09:00pm – Chris Flood

10:00pm – PING

11:00pm – Righteous Hillbillies

12:00pm – John Condon and the Benefit

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Saturday, September 5, 2009

The Warehouse – opening for The Wayside

308 E. Galena Ave., Aurora, IL 60505

(630) 859-0060

FREE admission, ALL AGES welcome

Map: http://tinyurl.com/llke3s

PING plays at 8:00pm

John and Michelle Thompson will play a special acoustic set of new Wayside material, followed by a fully-amped reunion set with Wayside veterans (including me [Jeff Elbel] on bass).

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Saturday, September 12, 2009

Art on Harrison [street fair]

Harrison Street between S. Lombard Ave. and Highland Ave.

Oak Park, IL 60304

FREE admission, ALL AGES welcome

Map: http://tinyurl.com/kp9hjh

Event website: http://tinyurl.com/mzxjsk

PING plays at 3:00pm

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Cornerstone 2009 recap + voting request for 2010

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This year’s Cornerstone Festival was a great time for Ping. We were on the schedule twice with the expanded line-up, played new songs, and had a blast with everyone who came to join us!

We’ve got multi-track audio from our Gallery Stage set, and a few friends filmed the show on Mini-DV. Expect a few nice YouTube clips this fall. If YOU were there, and filmed the set, please get in touch. I’d love to have another camera angle (particularly one with a view of the entire stage) to work with.

There’s a new slideshow of photos from Cornerstone at Ping’s website:

http://www.marathonrecords.com/ping/photos.html

Here’s a list of alumni, old and new, who played with Ping this year: John Bretzlaff: guitar, Kim Bretzlaff: vocal, Mike Choby: organ, Dave Dampier: percussion, Jeff Elbel: vocal/gtr, Matt Gadeken: violin, Maron Gaffron: vocal, Harry Gore: guitar, Stacey Krejci: bass, Andrew Oliver: drums.

Ping needs your VOTE! The polls are now open for Cornerstone Festival 2010. For a small-time band like ours, your input makes a huge difference. Please visit the poll online and choose these entries along with your other favorites:

“Jeff Elbel + Ping” (listed alphabetically under “J”)

“Andrew Oliver” (Ping’s drummer, who’s also one of my favorite songwriters)

Vote here (and THANKS!): http://tinyurl.com/ndsnf5

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FREE Ping album

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In 2004, Rev Hillstrom of Creation Station Media released Ping’s “Engine of Destruction” album via his Bootleg Live series. Recorded in 2003 on the Cornerstone Festival’s Gallery Stage, the CD was released as a limited run and quickly went out of print.

In June 2009, Rev graciously returned ownership of the Engine of Destruction album to Ping. We’d like to extend big thanks to Rev, and to everyone who purchased the CD back in 2004.

For a limited time, Ping is offering a high bandwidth (320 kbps) version of the Engine of Destruction live set as a free download. This show featured debut performances of three tracks from The Eleventh Hour Storybook studio album, in addition to material that has rarely been performed since. Download it here:

http://www.marathonrecords.com/ping/free_music.html

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Ping “working crew” embroidered patch

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Rather than making another t-shirt, Ping introduced an embroidered patch this year. I’ve never had a cooler band trinket. They look great, wear like iron, and automatically make you part of the crew: Lift heavy things for fun! Heck, sing lead vocal! I’ve got a patch over the pocket of my red Dickies 1574 work shirt, and another on my green shirt. You can see them in the slideshow mentioned above.

The patches are 4.25” x 1.75”. They can be stitched on, or ironed on. They’re great for shirts, caps, backpacks, etc. See a close-up of the patch here:

http://www.marathonrecords.com/ping/merch.html

If you find a good place to plant your patch, send a photo for Ping’s website!

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Jeff’s other music (featuring Harrison St. Ukulele Players)

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I’ve had a great time lately working with other musicians. Highlights:

* Played bass on national television via WGN with the Sharpe

World Music Ensemble. See video on Facebook:

http://tinyurl.com/krxos8

* Toured with soul-rock band Maron, playing Hammond organ,

Wurlitzer and guitars in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio

and Michigan

* Played lead guitar with North at The Ark in Ann Arbor, MI,

celebrating the release of their excellent “Drowning in Sky”

album. I arranged the “vocal orchestration” for their single

“I Miss Crashing.”

* Performed with members of Mumble in Detroit, and produced

recording sessions for their upcoming “Happy Living” album

* Performed with Beki Hemingway and Jonathan Rundman,

literally steps from my own home

* Mastered Green Choby’s beautiful “Carry Me Back Home” album

* Produced a recording for the Harrison St. Ukulele Players,

which has been played many times during DJ Terri Hemmert’s

“Breakfast with the Beatles” program on Chicago’s WXRT-FM.

* Joined the Harrison St. Ukulele Players at the Fest For

Beatles Fans, playing with a big group including Earl Slick

(David Bowie band), Greg Hawkes (the Cars), the Hudson

Brothers, and Glen Burtnik (Styx)

The Harrison St. Ukulele Players are a fun, community-oriented group who gather weekly at Eastgate Café in Oak Park, IL to play Tin Pan Alley tunes, Beatles songs, Hawaiian music, etc. The group has been invited to play at many local events and never fails to lift spirits. Upcoming:

Harrison St. Ukulele Players

Blockbuster release party event for The Beatles: Rock Band

589 N. McLean Blvd., Elgin, IL 60123

(847) 468-1800

FREE admission, ALL AGES welcome

Map: http://tinyurl.com/nw4nfa

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Thanks!

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Thanks for supporting independent music!

Jeff Elbel

jeff@marathonrecords.com

http://www.marathonrecords.com/ping

Greg Hawkes (The Cars): short Q&A

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 16:45:06 GMT

Published today in the Weekend section of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Speaking With: Greg Hawkes

August 14, 2009

BY JEFF ELBEL

When touring with New Wave pioneers the Cars, Greg Hawkes required a back-breaking number of beefy road cases to haul the synthesizers used to recreate the signature riffs of hits including "Shake It Up" and "Drive." These days, he often travels much lighter.

Hawkes' intricate "The Beatles Uke" CD features 15 Fab Four favorites rendered solely on the instrument many still associate with Tiny Tim's plinky "Tiptoe Through the Tulips." Hawkes, whose discography also includes Paul McCartney's "Flowers in the Dirt" LP, will perform Beatles and Cars favorites on ukulele at this weekend's Fest for Beatles Fans.

Question: Are you a lifelong Beatle fan?

Greg Hawkes: My first concert was seeing the Beatles in 1964, when I was 11. It was September in Baltimore, Maryland. They started with "Roll Over Beethoven." I remember they did "Things We Said Today," and Ringo sang "Boys." They played "She Loves You," but they did not do "I Want to Hold Your Hand" [both were U.S. No. 1 singles].

Q: What sparked your interest in ukulele?

GH: It was a Valentine's Day gift from my wife. Once I started playing it, I was hooked. It's such a charming little instrument. After I'd been playing for just a couple of months, I found that George Harrison was a big uke fan and thought, "That's pretty neat!" And later, Paul started using it as a tribute to George in his shows, playing an arrangement of "Something."

Q: Do you have more ukuleles than keyboards now?

GH: Yeah, I'm afraid so. [Laughs] I've got over 30 of them. I've become friends with a guy who's got over 280, though, so I feel like a mere novice.

Q: Maybe your friend should join you in Chicago. Have you heard about the Guinness record attempt for largest ukulele ensemble scheduled during the fest?

GH: Yes. Apparently, there was a gathering in London [in June] where about 850 ukulele players got together. So, they've got their work cut out for them. But I'll be right up there; how could I not? Everybody should come out!

• The Fest for Beatles Fans, today through Sunday, Hyatt Regency O'Hare, 9300 Bryn Mawr. Tickets, $32-$47. Call (866) 843-3378; thefest.com.

Les is more

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:40:51 GMT

Rest in peace, Les Paul! You made the world a better place. Louder, too.

SPIN CONTROL: Cy Curnin, "Solar Minimum"

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:46:19 GMT

Reviewed for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Cy Curnin, "Solar Minimum," (S.A.R.L. cycurnin.com)
*** (3 stars out of 4)

As singer for topical 80s rockers The Fixx, Cy Curnin has unleashed his share of brimstone with songs like the apocalyptic "Red Skies at Night." Curnin has always seemed an optimist at heart, nonetheless. This is, after all, the man who took a tumble and found himself "Saved by Zero."

Not so with Curnin's third album, an effective distillation of the spirit of the times. Weary of bailed-out corporate fat cats and those failing to heed nature's warnings, Curnin testifies like unheeded prophet Jeremiah during “In the Palm of Our Hands.” "Better Luck Next Time" closes with the dire summation, "... if there is a next time." ["Oh, my sweet life," Curnin asks wistfully elsewhere, "what have I done to you?"

If there's any sunshine among the shade, it's that these songs are wake-up calls rather than welcoming gestures into perdition. “Hold On” offers soulful comfort for dark moments. The atmospheric funk of “It Finds You” laments empty struggle, while anticipating serenity’s arrival in due time. ]

Though Fixx guitarist Jamie West-Oram is a welcome guest on songs such as the agitated “Bleed,” the album’s standouts sound positively un-Fixxed. "Silent Chains" is revelatory, a moonlit ballad underpinned by expressive piano. "Simply Complicated" mirrors the interaction between David Bowie and pianist Mike Garson on Bowie’s spacious and underrated "Bring Me the Disco King."

Curnin frequently stretches into shapes that would seem awkward within Fixx context. "The Other Side of the Story" finds Curnin's keening tenor dimmed to a dusky blend of Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen. A nakedly emotional spoken piece, “The Weight” will wrench the hearts of absentee fathers. Though uneven, these experiments are creatively bold.

- Jeff Elbel

This version is 278 words, as submitted. Text cut by my wise and powerful editor is in [bracketed italics].

Ping slideshow

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:26:05 GMT

Jeff Elbel + Ping performing at the Cornerstone Festival: July 01-02, 2009
(Thanks to Jeff Holland, Angela Behm, Jonathan Dix and Andy Taylor!)

Click on the slideshow for a larger view.

REVIEW: The Horse’s Ha, “Of the Cathmawr Yards,” (Hidden Agenda)

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 04:43:38 GMT

Reviewed for The Chicago Sun-Times.

The Horse’s Ha, “Of the Cathmawr Yards,” (Hidden Agenda)
****

Chicago lost a musical treasure when the Zincs disbanded in 2008. The group’s 2007 album “Black Pompadour” fused influences including Television, afro-pop and the Smiths while attaining top marks on several year-end lists. Save your tears, though. Apparently, Jim Elkington had new challenges in mind.

The British expatriate’s resonant baritone and dry delivery most closely mirror his Zincs effort with the cool jazz and self-depricating prose of “Left Hand.” “A pox on this man let down by his own left hand,” croons Elkington, joined by bandmate and Eleventh Dream Day veteran Janet Beveridge Bean. The rumble and buzz of Nick Macri’s upright bass and a downcast trumpet solo worthy of Burt Bacharach (courtesy of Calexico’s Martin Wenk) transport listeners to the corner booth of a dimly lit cocktail bar.

The album’s moonlit blend of acoustic sounds is slow and sophisticated, though improvisational cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm creaks and groans his way through a rollicking story of mother nature’s revenge called “The Piss Choir.” The undulating rhythm of “Map of Stars” also throws off sparks.

If there’s a secret ingredient to the band’s recipe, it’s Charles Rumback’s drumming, influenced more by post-bop greats like Elvin Jones than anyone on today’s indie-rock scene. Rumback’s brushed snare and clattering fills during “Asleep in a Waterfall” combine with Macri’s bass and Elkington’s tumbling guitar to suggest a steam locomotive struggling uphill with a wheel missing. Bean sings about a shipwrecked diva who digs her own grave, spinning a sense of eerie beauty.

- Jeff Elbel

Free PING music, and Cornerstone invitation

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:56:07 GMT

Free album (limited time): Engine of Destruction - Live 2003

PC: Right-Click album cover and choose "Save As ..."
Mac: Click the cover.
Trouble downloading? E-mail jeff@marathonrecords.com for a hassle-free Yousendit link.

High bandwidth: 320 kbps .mp3 files, bundled as a .zip archive. Total size is 93 MB.

Donations appreciated but optional
Enjoying the music is mandatory.

Cornerstone Fest 2009: Join Ping at the Gallery Stage on Weds, July 1, 2009 @ 4:15pm.

We’ll be playing new songs, and we’ll have a blast if YOU are there!
In celebration of our 2009 performance, Ping offers this live set from 2003.
We’ll announce an encore appearance (different material) during the Gallery show.

In 2004, Rev Hillstrom of Creation Station Media released Ping’s Engine of Destruction album via his Bootleg Live series. Recorded in 2003 on the Cornerstone Festival’s Gallery Stage, the CD was released as a limited run and quickly went out of print.

In June 2009, Rev graciously returned ownership of the Engine of Destruction album to Ping. If Rev locates any stray copies of the CD, we’ll offer them for sale on his behalf. We’d like to extend big thanks to Rev, and to everyone who purchased the CD back in 2004.

For a limited time, Ping is offering a high bandwidth (320 kbps) version of the Engine of Destruction live set as a free download. This show featured debut performances of three tracks from The Eleventh Hour Storybook studio album, in addition to material that has rarely been performed since. The studio prototype of “All in All” will remain a rarity for those with the original CD. Click the album cover to download a .zip file with ten mp3s.

You’ll also note that there is a button for donations. This is strictly optional. While we’d certainly appreciate your support, we’ll love the thought of you digging these songs even more. Enjoy the music!

Track Listing:

01. Introduction by John J. Thompson
02. Mary Across the Ocean
03. Here Comes the Sunburn
04. Miracle Rain
05. Bedouin Girl
06. Radio Flyer
07. Engine of Destruction
08. Dig
09. Getting Ahead of Myself
10. Time to Leave

Line-up:

John Bretzlaff: electric guitar
Kim Bretzlaff: vocal
Chad Dunn: percussion
Jeff Elbel: vocal, acoustic guitar, bass
Stacey Krejci: bass, organ
Andrew Oliver: drums

Ping's embroidered patch arrived today!

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:55:39 GMT

I love embroidered patches, and now I've got my very own. Stitch-on or iron-on. 4.25" x 1.75". Design by Brian Heydn.

Price is listed at $3.99 per patch + $1.91 to ship one patch.
If you want one and $5.90 is outside the budget, just let me know and I'll send one.

Ping: 11th Hour Tour Embroidered Patch
Made for fun, not profit - Buy this cool patch and join the band!
$3.99 + $1.91 shipping = $5.90 total [combine shipping on multiple items at Marathon Records]

Wear this patch and instantly become part of the crew!
Tune things. Lift heavy road cases. Heck, sing lead vocal!
1.75" x 4.25". One size fits all. Iron-on or sew-on.
For shirts, caps, bags, etc. I'm putting mine over the pocket of a Dickies 1574 work shirt.

AVAILABLE NOW.

Occidental Brothers Dance Band International: "Odo Sanbra" review

Wed, 20 May 2009 22:06:20 GMT

This review appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times on May 17, 2009.

AFROPOP | Occidental Brothers Dance Band International, "Odo Sanbra" (Thrill Jockey)

Chicagoans are learning to share these local fixtures (often abbreviated OBDBI), who are gaining nationwide momentum with lightning speed. The Brothers' sound is rooted in Central and West African dance music. Guitarist Nathaniel Braddock adds expertise in highlife and dry guitar to the jazz and Television-influenced post-punk he plied with local rockers the Zincs. The combination appeals to seasoned Afropop fans and indie-hipsters alike.

For Western music points of reference, Braddock's lilting guitar on the title cut recalls the curlicue figures played by former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr on Talking Heads' "Nothing But Flowers." Those anticipating links to Paul Simon's "Graceland" might hear passing similarity in native Ghanaian Asamoah Rambo's effortlessly precise drumming and Joshua Ramos' slippery contrabass, but the Brothers' rhythm section is decisively hotter and settles deeper into authentic African culture.

Rambo and trumpeter/vocalist Kofi Cromwell were in popular Ghanaian highlife band Western Diamonds together, with little background in 1980's Europop -- the better to make an affectionate version of New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" their own. Braddock has said the song's progression mirrors a highlife variant called sikyi. Cromwell's ever-so-slightly broken English only adds appeal.

The cover song is a canny introduction, but the album's highlights are band originals. Though sung in Cromwell's native Fante dialect, the jubilant chorus of "Odo Bra Wa Wa Wa" is immediate singalong material. Andrew Bird, another local devotee of African music, adds stirring violin to "Mafiwo." OBDBI mainstay Greg Ward's joyful saxophone dances through "Circle Circle Circle."

Jeff Elbel

Gilberto Serna

Tue, 19 May 2009 03:42:49 GMT

I met an inspirational person today - Gilberto Serna, a master craftsman still working from the old Deagan mallet percussion company of Chicago. I finally took my old Deagan concert bells over, which are a complete set that I found in Tucson, AZ when I was there for the Tape Op conference a few years ago. The bells are in good shape, but the housing is useless. Mr. Serna is going to build a new case and frame, and tune the bells precisely.

The J. C. Deagan company no longer exists, though it operated for more than a century. Mr. Serna occupies a large warehouse space in the same building, where he has worked since 1968. The Deagan name is still on the clock tower above the building. Mr. Serna's company is called Century Mallet Instrument Service. He showed me around his workshop.

The old tube tuning gear was actually my favorite thing to see. We walked by a photo of a master tuner from the early 30's (whose name I believe was Schiller). He was working in front of the exact same pieces of equipment which Mr. Serna now uses. Mr. Serna has a small Deagan showroom with examples of some old pieces - calliope bells from 1888; a beautiful, ethereal sounding set of shaker bells from near the turn of the 20th century which I got to play briefly, a marimba built to perform for the coronation of King George - solid brass construction, over 200 pounds; another marimba built for the 1933 Century of Progress World's Fair in Chicago; the last vibrahorn that Serna hand-built under the Deagan name (available for sale at $38K); J.C. Deagan's first full-year ledger from the late 19th century (1889, if I recall properly), etc. It would have been easy to spend a couple of hours investigating the artifacts, papers and musical instruments in this room, but Melinda was waiting outside (this is certainly not a guilt trip in her direction, I left her sitting much too long for what was anticipated to be a drop-off service order).

Mr. Serna may be the last of his kind in this field, with such master craftsman experience and technique. His type of skill is a rarity, in any case. I know that he's in such demand that he is flown to Vienna twice a year to work there. In addition to repairing and maintaining old instruments in his shop and around the world, Century Mallet has many newly built mallet percussion instruments for sale.

Happily, Mr. Serna said that he was very impressed with the condition of my bells, and he'd set them up better than they'd ever been. It'll cost a little, but it really seems like an opportunity not to pass up. He offered to set them up as contemporary bells, tuned to A442. I answered that unless he strongly recommended otherwise, I'd rather have them dialed in as they were originally designed (A440) in 1926. [Trivia fact: In 1910, J. C. Deagan persuaded the American Federation of Musicians to adopt A=440 as the standard universal pitch for orchestras and bands.]

Mr. Serna has no computers in his office, though he says the company owns one - his grandchildren use it to answer emails. He wrote out my invoice by hand into a spiral notebook, and told me to call him in a couple of weeks.

He also told me that the building has been sold to a new landlord which will require all of the current tenants to relocate next year. "I don't even want to think about it," Mr. Serna told me, when I conjectured about the scale of relocating an operation such as his. He believes that the new owner will choose to keep the Deagan name on the clock tower.