anthologysd.com

Tuesday nights at Anthology are already a hot ticket for jazz fans thanks to the acclaimed Anthology House Band – and now the menu is getting jazzed up as well.

In keeping with the “jazzy music,” Chef Eric Bauer is using Tuesday nights as his chance to improvise with the menu.”

“The great jazz musicians often improvise upon classic melodies and I want to do the same with classic American cuisine,” Bauer said.

For instance, a recent menu included Bauer’s versions of crispy chicken drumsticks flavored with lemon and thyme; macaroni and cheese mixed with braised pork shoulder and a French toast dessert that included frosted flakes, fresh peaches and white chocolate.

“Why should the musicians have all the fun?” Bauer said. “Just like John Coltrane might improvise over a classic melody, it’s fun putting my own spin on classic comfort foods.”

The bar snacks on Tuesday start at $3 and the entrees start at $12. In addition, the drink prices start at $4 with different wines featured each week. Considering that the cover charge for the Anthology House Band – which includes some of San Diego’s finest musicians – is only $5, you have the makings of a great meal with great music at a great price.
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Anthology is located at 1337 India Street in San Diego. For more information, go to www.anthologysd.com

Guitarist Larry Carlton, pianist Bob James, bassist Nathan East, and drummer Harvey Mason. The best of the best.

Three best-selling albums after their contemporary jazz chart-topping, solid-gold debut in 1991, Fourplay has lost jazz guitar speedster Lee Ritenour to the entrepreneurial lure of his own record label. Replacing Ritenour is hand-picked cohort Larry Carlton, whose three decades’ discreet success on the periphery of musical fame include gold albums, two Grammys, an Emmy nomination (and you may remember his 1968 “With A Little Help From My Friends”). Piano man Bob James, whose “Grand Piano Canyon” led to participating players forming Fourplay, has churned out panoplies of airy jazz pop since bidding adieu to his sturdier ’60s work with Sarah Vaughan. With the pedigrees of bassist Nathan East and drummer Harvey Mason–Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory, L.A. session work with Ellington, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock–one approaches Fourplay knowing that despite wallpapery compositions, their technical finesse will pull you over the top. -Mary Boles

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via SignOnSanDiego.com

By Nina Garin
Union-Tribune Staff Writer

DETAILS
Endoxi
When: Tonight, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Anthology, 1337 India St., Little Italy
Tickets: $7 to $22
Phone: (619) 595-0300
Online: myspace.com/endoxi or anthologysd.com

So maybe Chris Wilson’s band, Endoxi, isn’t the most popular one in San Diego.

He plays a groovy, Dave Matthews-esque rock that doesn’t quite fit in the trendy nightclub circuit.

But that doesn’t matter. Wilson has other intentions for his band.

“I know one day we’re going to be playing for millions of people,” he said. “And Endoxi is focused on delivering a pure message, we’re going to give rock ‘n’ roll a new face. It’s not about doing cocaine or having a bad attitude. We stand for living the good life, being pure, bettering yourself.”

Endoxi is actually a Greek term he learned from his grandmother that means “everything in its place.”

And for Wilson, 22, Endoxi isn’t just a cool-sounding band name, but a way of life. It’s living honestly and harmoniously and being a good person — and the attitude comes through in in his eclectic music.

There’s a little bit of R&B, some reggae and hints of jazz in the young band. It’s the kind of feel-good stuff you hear at outdoor festivals on a sunny day.

The group, which also includes saxophonist Joe Cardillo, bassist Kevin Wall and drummer Sean Sepulveda, recently won a People’s Choice award at the San Diego Fair’s Musicpalooza contest.

“Our fans are just really happy people,” he said. “You’ll see, like, a therapist and a guy who just got out of jail and an East Coast guy in basketball clothes in our audience. They may all look different, but really they’re all the same person.”

The songs are catchy enough to be played on local radio stations and earn the band spots on TV news programs.

And just when momentum was building, Wilson decided to mix things up by playing a stripped-down gig at Anthology tonight.

“I want to show everyone a different side to us,” he said. “This is how we are in a raw, simple state. I want to sit down and make some beautiful music. I want the night to be so beautiful that people are laughing and crying.”

If it sounds like Wilson thinks big, it’s because he’s been pretty lucky in the music business. He really has been at the right place at the right time.

Like when he was 10 years old. His family left San Diego and relocated to Mill Valley. That’s where he happened to make friends with musicians in a Top 40 band called Mr. Big.

(Remember that Mr. Big song? I’m the one who wants to be with you, deep inside I hope you feel it too.)

They invited Wilson to play guitar and sing with them on stage. He was only 11.

But that turned into a regular thing. Before long, Wilson was getting sponsored by guitar string companies and hanging out with Andre Pessis, a man who writes songs for such people as Bonnie Raitt and Tim McGraw.

“I was 14 and Andre was 60-something,” said Wilson. “But we were like brothers, we had this awesome chemistry.”

When Wilson’s family moved back to San Diego, he took all that experience and knew he had to form his own band.

At first, it was called Chris Wilson’s Endoxi but that name didn’t stick for long. “The music I write is way bigger than Chris Wilson will ever be,” he said. “Endoxi is an ideal that can’t just be represented by one person.”

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Union-Tribune
Nina Garin: (619) 293-1284

Via Dossier

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I thought I was going to see Vincent Gallo and Sean Lennon make weird psycho-ambient music together. Instead what I got was a similar ensemble to Gallo’s former band RRIICCEE, followed by Sean Lennon crooning away with his girlfriend Charlotte Kemp Muhl as The Ghost Of A Saber Toothed Tiger. All the same, totally worth 7 bones.

Gallo’s stage presence, in his white motorcycle jacket, back turned to the audience, a mess of dark curls covering his face (thankfully making illustrating the show a lot easier) provided sparse enough elements to compliment his musical minimalism – a vintage keyboard, his voice just above a lover’s whisper. The songs ranged from road tripping through space to post-apocalyptic love songs. Soft lyrics like “love me forever” and “The future’s not returning, bridges built for burning… Are we the chosen ones?” wafted through the room.

Then came Sean Lennon and the ridiculously pretty Charlotte Kemp Muhl. They were very convivial with the audience, and acoustic – a good contrast to Gallo’s electronic set. When switching to an electric guitar, Lennon laughed as he was repeatedly electrocuted by his instrument, and then began singing about unicorns down the yellow brick road. Charlotte Kemp Muhl’s strong vocals were wistful, sparkling.

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Click here for the original post on Dossier.

By George Varga, Pop Music Critic | SignOnSanDiego.com

Mike Stern is a monster.

No, he doesn’t destroy buildings with a single, explosive swing of his tail.

But he regularly destroys audiences, in the best possible way, with his combustible ax work and by (musically speaking) swinging his tail off.

Stern, who performs here Saturday and Sunday night at downtown’s all-ages Anthology (anthologysd.com) with the leading fusion band The Yellowjackets, has recorded 16 albums under his own name since 1985. He first gained widespread attention in 1981 as the blazing guitarist in Miles Davis‘ band, following stints with a late-1970s edition of Blood, Sweat & Tears and a band led by former Davis/Mahavishnu Orchestra drummer Billy Cobham.

Despite Stern’s fleet bebop chops, which he honed at Boston’s Berklee School of Music, Davis directed him to play high-octane blues-rock. This move frustrated the guitarist and more than a few of Davis’ listeners at the time.

But Davis, as usual, knew exactly what he was doing, and if people were confounded or annoyed, well, so what? Stern, meanwhile, went on to work with such elite saxophonists as Joe Henderson and Michael Brecker, fellow guitarists Jim Hall and Bill Frisell, bass innovator Jaco Pastorius and artists as varied as French violinist Didier Lockwood and San Diego singer Kevyn Lettau.

Stern and The Yellowjackets made their first joint recording last year. Titled “Lifecycles,” the 10-song album alternates between charged, post-fusion rave-ups, lilting ballads, neo-bop, tart blues and percolating postmodern funk.

The guitarist and the band are an inspired match, and Stern sounds as if he’d spent years establishing a musical rapport with keyboardist Russell Ferrante, bassist Jimmy Haslip, drummer Marcus Baylor and saxman Bob Minzter.

Yet, as good as the album is, I suspect this quintet will soar even higher on stage. If you go, arrive early so that you can enjoy your food before the concert begins. With music this charged, you won’t want to be eating when the notes start to fly — and fly they will.

By KELI DAILEY | SIGNONSANDIEGO STAFF WRITER

No pictures. No promotion. Make sure to put Vincent Gallo’s name before Sean Lennon’s.

That was the official word from the PR guy at Anthology, where the eccentric pair are playing at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 14.

And just what are the indie Republican (seriously Wikipedia?) and the son of a Beatle playing? A despairing kind of ambient art pop. It sits on a soft, dark cloud next to the late Elliott Smith, poring over photos of ex-girlfriends.

On Vincent Gallo, solipsism and hookup tunes

I bought Gallo’s sedated lounge album “When” (Warp Records) back in 2001. I’d say listening to it alone in my studio was better than playing it during makeout sessions. But just barely.

Anyway, I emailed Gallo, asking for a photo. I added something about when I liked to play “When,” and he asked for a picture of ME instead.

Gallo’s an eccentric nearing 50, and all that living means his path’s crossed with many New York nuts and luminaries. He once played in a band with Brooklyn artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Yet his music is not stuffed and overripe with experience (or something offensive, Gallo is L’enfant terrible in interviews, and upset the world over his oral sex scene with ex-girlfriend Chloe Sevigny in “The Brown Bunny”).

Instead Gallo goes for musical minimalism … a vintage keyboard, his voice just above a lover’s whisper … like Joao Gilberto, whose delicate “Besame Mucho” cover is also a good hookup backdrop.

Check out Vincent Gallo’s MySpace.

On Sean Lennon, Xanax and celebrity hounds

Sean Lennon’s melodies are well-suited to those quirky, sometimes intense intellectuals who dress in ironic kitten T-shirts, who are looking for an escape hatch back into their adolescence, who pass out Xanax pills at their house parties.

I actually like Lennon’s piano progressions: They walk sleepily over slowed down rhythms. But his vocals are delivered a little timidly for my tastes. He tries to be heard, but comes off like a sensitive kid at an all boys’ school being bullied into selling chocolate.

I wonder how many anti-anxiety drug users will be at this show? How many who just want a sneaky-poo because of Lennon’s parentage (and Gallo’s movies)? And can people with panic disorders be celebrity hounds, too?

Sean Lennon’s last album “Friendly Fire” came out in 2006. “Into the Sun” got a better reception back in 1998. Check out his MySpace.

On The Ghost of a Saber Toothed Tiger

The opening act, The Ghost of a Saber Toothed Tiger, stars Sean Lennon and a hottie he’s kissing in the band’s MySpace pics, Charlotte Kemp Muhl. Her voice is wistful, sparkling, something I could hear over a Paul Williams score, singing a duet with Kermit the Frog.

She adds something to the Lennon melodies. That something would be stronger vocals.

There’s been a lot of “hot buzz” about the newly rediscovered Rosé wines. We have some incredible offerings worth the hype! Sometimes mistaken for a sweeter wine such as a “white zinfandel,” Rosés are more frequently off-dry to dry in nature and displays appropriate fresh fruit flavors that lean toward the strawberry and raspberry side of the fruit spectrum. Long acquainted with the warm, balmy days of summer, a fine Rosé is the perfect versatile accompaniment to many of the season’s delectable grilling fare from savory meats to hearty fish.

Here are our recommendations and favorites to sample:

Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé
Domaine Tempier is a French offering from the Peyraud family, who bottled its first Rosé in 1943. The vineyard is located in the Bandol appellation, near the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. To this day, the Peyraud family boasts their “vineyards are kept in perfect condition” – an organic cultivation method is followed and chemical fertilizers are never used. This Rosé has a distinctly powerful style that matches well with a relaxing summer evening.

Les Vignerons de Tavel “Cuvee Royale” Tavel
Situated on some of the richest soil in France’s Rhone Valley, this winery’s Rosé is noted for being listed on many of the French 3-Star restaurants. Enjoy the flavors of this steady, velvety full-bodied wine boasting delicate aromas of cherry with your next dining experience at Anthology.

R. Lopez De Heredia Rioja Crianza Vina Tondonia
This authentic family-run winery located in the Rioja region of Spain, follows a long traditional winemaking style from vineyard to bottle. This Rose is smooth and fresh with body and complexity due to barrel aging. An excellent complement to any summer dish. It goes well with spicy and hot food, and perfect with chilled meats and vegetables.

Posted on San Diego Entertainer Magazine on Monday, August 3, 2009
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If Taco Tuesday isn’t your thing, opt for something a little classier at Anthology in Little Italy.

While there’s nothing wrong with dollar tacos and half-priced margaritas the size of fishbowls, “Jazz Up Your Tuesday” offers San Diego’s more “refined” patrons a blend of fine dining and great music weekly, at a starving college student’s price.

Priding itself on food made from farm-fresh, local ingredients, Anthology has made a name for itself as one of San Diego’s best dining and live music establishments (check out our review here). Come early for happy hour (5:30 – 7:30) where special menu items, including select drinks, are all under ten dollars.

The house band starts around 7:00, at which time the restaurant starts charging a whopping $5 cover.