You Can’t Judge A Blues Pianist By His Age Or Baby Face
Listening to A.J. Croce makes it seem that the channeling of spirits must be real.
Because that’s what this 25-year-old white boy must be doing when he sits down at his piano and opens his mouth to sing.
It seems the gravelly-deep voice that emanates from him - that belts out a wise-yet-fresh jazz/blues sound - must spring from an old spirit. That of a 50-year-old grizzled bluesman - absolutely. But a young man from San Diego? You’ve got to be kidding.
But there he is, with his baby face and only two-and-a-half decades on this planet, a piano virtuoso who is forging a well-deserved reputation as a talented singer and songwriter.
“I try to never write a song that can be dated, whether it’s by contemporary technological advances or current events or anything to that effect, ” Croce said during a phone interview from his San Diego home. “I try to write with a universal theme so it can be just as valid now as it could be 20 years from now, or 20 years ago.”
A.J. Croce, the son of folk legend Jim Croce, makes his first trip to Idaho this weekend for a three-night sold-out performance at Coeur d’Alene’s Tubs Cafe.
It is the most ambitious show yet put on by the relatively new establishment run by husband/wife team Tom and Kelly Sullivan. The couple will bring in a baby grand piano for the event.
A.J. Croce was born to Ingrid and Jim Croce. His father is known for such songs as “Time in a Bottle” and “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.” A.J. was not yet 2 years old when his dad died in a plane crash.
At age 4, the boy suffered a brain illness that rendered him completely blind for a time.
“It took four or five years for me to gradually regain sight in one eye,” Croce says. During that time, at age 6, he took up the piano, finding inspiration in Ray Charles.
“I was probably 8 or 9 when I really first heard Ray Charles and that had a huge influence on my piano and songwriting. It was an inspiration especially because of my sight.”
Croce began performing and writing songs when he was 12 and became a regular draw at his mother’s San Diego club called Croce’s.
He has since toured extensively, released two albums and opened for the likes of Willie Nelson, Ray Charles, Morphine and Lyle Lovett.
Like his voice, his writing style seems unnaturally mature for a man so young.
“The most important thing to me in writing is making sure I’m telling a story that’s understood by the audience,” Croce says. “As far as telling stories in song, I think (my father) was the master of it and I think for me hearing those songs and hearing the stories made a huge impact on me as a kid.”
The younger Croce tells his stories by using words sparingly and backing them up with a sound that is jazz, rhythm and blues, old-time rock ‘n’ roll and even some folk and country rolled into one coolly appealing package.
Croce and his band perform at Tubs starting at 8 tonight and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
Punk exchange
You just gotta give these women credit.
Picture this: Four Japanese exchange students with minimal music experience show up in less-than-diversity-friendly Spokane and decide to start - of all things - a punk band.
Meet The Buggers, a group of Spokane Falls Community College students who started playing at the bars even though only one of them has previous band experience and the rest just learned their instruments within the last year.
Now that takes guts.
“We just wanted to have fun because here, we have nothing to do but study,” says Rie Iwata, Buggers guitarist. “We wanted to have something like a hobby.”
Iwata calls the garage-punk Buggers “a comical band. Our lyrics are like kidding, joking.”
The lone musician with experience, Iwata has played guitar since she was 15 and previously pounded the drums for a psychedelic rock band in Japan.
She said the other members of the band - drummer Yoko Sato, bassist Ayumi Kamiharako and vocalist Hiroko Minami - jumped into their role as musicians a year ago.
The Buggers have only been performing together for four months. I haven’t yet heard them play, so I can’t tell you how good they are. But anyone with the chutzpah to move to a foreign country, form an all-woman punk band and get on stage in Spokane deserves a chance.
“Their enthusiasm is unrivaled,” says Brian Young of Spokane cowboy-punk band Chattanooga.
Catch both The Buggers and Chattanooga at Ichabod’s North tonight. They open for punker bands The Drapes from Portland and The Gain from L.A.
Interesting side note: The Gain’s drummer, Corky Pigeon, was a regular in the old “Silver Spoons” television show.
Cover is $4. Show starts at 9:30 p.m.
Nearly naked men
(Lest you all get the wrong impression of me, this next bit was assigned to me by The Bosses.)
The Chippendales - the dancing men, not the chipmunks nor the furniture - will be baring their buffed bods at Cavanaugh’s Inn at the Park on Monday night.
In case you’ve been living in a monastery, these are the guys who dance and take off a lot of their clothes - right down to their G-strings I hear - while women swoon.
It’s been 10 years since these dancing hunks of beefcake performed in Spokane, says Pete Blue, show promoter.
“It’s the best version of Chippendales that they’ve ever had,” he says. “There’s more production, more choreography, more excitement.”
The Chippendale literature describes the show as “passionate, romantic and stimulating.
“Not since Elvis have women been so moved by a performance of such sheer male energy.”
Those of you inclined to be so moved should show up at 8 p.m. with $30 in hand for the close-up look and $25 for a view from a distance.
(Sheesh, I think I’m blushing.)
The Celts are coming
For those who dig the uniquely cool sound of Celtic-infused rock and folk music, this is the week to get your fill.
The ever-popular Clumsy Lovers (previously called the Six Million Dollar Band) are back in town tonight at Outback Jack’s.
Along with the usual instruments, this six-piece band from Vancouver, B.C., uses a violin, accordion and mandolin to create a groovy, danceable sound.
On Tuesday night, The Paper Boys bring their Celtic talent to the Fort Spokane Brewery. This is the band the Clumsy Lovers formed out of when that band broke up in 1993, said Chris Jonat, bassist for the Lover’s.
The difference? Jonat describes the Paper Boys as more folk and pop influenced while the Clumsy Lovers are “more of a rock band.”
Catch the Clumsy Lovers with SDM and Tiana at 9:30 tonight at Outback’s. Cover is $4. The Paper Boys appear Tuesday at Fort Spokane Brewery at 9:30 for a $3 cover.
More mucus
How much nose slime can one columnist write about?
Last weekend found Spokane horror rockers Snaut playing their first gig in nine months to a packed house at the Northern Corner.
This weekend finds another heavy, aggressive band called Snot - notice the different spelling - again at the Northern Corner.
I sense a theme here.
This five-piece band from Santa Barbara, Calif., is touring to promote its debut album titled “Get Some,” due out May 27 on Geffen Records. Be prepared for an all-out assault from rabid guitar riffs and pounding rhythms that occasionally give way to fluid grooves.
Show starts at 9:30 Sunday night. The cover charge was not available at presstime.
Worth a Look
Mumbo Jumbo performs at the Fort Spokane Brewery tonight and Saturday. This nine-piece rhythm and blues band goes beyond the usual guitar and drums and includes a slip horn, sax, trumpet and keyboardist. “We do a lot of big band stuff, very danceable, very upbeat, no cry-in-my-beer stuff,” says Rick Smith, the bassist. Cover is $4.
A Toronto septet called One Step Beyond will brew up a soulful jazz/funk/Latin vibe at the Fort Spokane Brewery Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. Cover charge is $5.
Swimming in music
Thanks to everyone who responded to my first Nightwatch column last week by mailing in their band info and music suggestions.
I am now absolutely swimming in music. And I love it.
During a crash course of Spokane’s music scene last weekend - I took in bits and pieces of eight bands - I realized there is something out there for everyone.
Those who think otherwise are spending too much time sitting in front of their TV sets.
Please keep the feedback and show schedules coming. Feel free to call me at (509) 459-5089, fax me info at (509) 459-5098, send flat mail to Winda Benedetti, the Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, 999 W. Riverside, Spokane, 99201, or e-mail me at windab@spokesman.com.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: NIGHTWATCH PICKS Best bets at area clubs: TONIGHT AND SATURDAY: A.J. Croce, a Tubs Cafe in Coeur d’Alene TONIGHT: The Buggers and Chattanooga at Ichabod’s North