| Indigenous frontman chasing the sun on his own
Guitar heroes don't come easy these days. There was a time generations were marked by their six-string icons. We know most of them -- Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Ritchie Blackmore and Eddie Van Halen -- just to name a few. Some hail hyper-speed wizardry or plodding tuned-down tones as the makings of a guitar god, while others are more inclined to use descriptions like "passionate," "emotional" and "soulful." Native Nakota Indian Mato Nanji falls in the latter category. He leads an idea more than just a band. He calls his music Indigenous. It's how he expresses himself in a number of different directions within his chosen genre, that of electric blues. Eight years ago vocalist and guitarist Mato, his brothers Pte (bass), and Horse (percussion) along with sister Wanbdi (drums) left their reservation in South Dakota to record "Things We Do," a tangled mixture of rocking blues with Stevie Ray Vaughan appeal.
Disposable Nation
In my teenage years, I was pretty handy with cars. Being decidedly working-class, we Jowerses favored used cars, somewhere between two and 10 years old. I did my own tune-ups, replaced my own rusted-out exhaust systems, stripped wrecked cars for parts and put those parts on my own cars. On any given day, I could fix just about any given car problem and get to where I wanted to go. But I felt the winds of change one day when my daddy, Jabo Jowers, pulled into the driveway with a lightly used 1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire. Jabo opened the hood like men did in those days when they wanted to show off a car. “Look here, boy," he said. “They tell me this thing's got a turbocharger." I looked into the cramped little engine compartment, which had tubes and wires crammed together so tight that there was no room for human hands or Craftsman wrenches.
Rock stinks? No, but for Geils, jazz and blues smell sweeter
He's gone from J. to Jay and from rock to jazz and blues. Smoky bars and concert arenas have transformed into jazz haunts and clubs, and leather and jeans have been replaced by a jacket and tie. For Jay Geils, the days of rocking with frontman Peter Wolf and the J. Geils Band are a universe away. These days, it's jazz, blues and swing from the likes of Count Basie and Duke Ellington that make his guitar sing. So, don't expect to hear "Centerfold," "Love Stinks" or "Freeze Frame" - a few of J. Geils' '70s and '80s hits - when the now 60-year-old ex-rock 'n' roller takes the stage tomorrow to kick off the season at Maudslay Arts Center in Newburyport. The reinvented Geils will be flanked by Gerry Beaudoin and their quintet for an evening of seminal jazz in the outdoor amphitheater.
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