The American Beauty Project

I attended both days of the American Beauty Project in NYC (January 20-21), and I enjoyed the event immensely. The place was mobbed both nights, and musical ecstasy was much in evidence both onstage and in the green room. Lots of excellent musicians hanging out, sharing ideas, working up new arrangements.

Here’s an excerpt from Jon Pareles’ New York Times review:

Catherine Russell, a longtime backup singer, was the concert’s discovery. With the Holmes Brothers, she turned “High Time” into wistful, sultry rhythm and blues. She sang “New Speedway Boogie” over a jazzy bass vamp and Larry Campbell’s mandolin, in a skeletal arrangement that only heightened the song’s philosophical reflections. And she merged her voice precisely with Jim Lauderdale’s classic country twang when he sang the deathbed testimony of “Black Peter” in a string-band arrangement.

In the concert’s biggest stylistic stretch, the Klezmatics jovially relocated the bluegrass oompah of “Cumberland Blues” to somewhere in Eastern Europe, where it could take on a hora interlude. Another klezmer musician, the clarinetist Andy Statman, played an instrumental interlude backed by the twangy drone of a Brazilian berimbau. There was no discernible Dead content but plenty of sinuous melody in a long, modal, Greek-flavored improvisation allegedly based on “Uncle John’s Band.” The banjo virtuoso Tony Trischka turned up with a Jerry Garcia rarity: a minor-key banjo tune, “Jerry’s Breakdown,” from 1964.

Cat Russell covered “New Speedway Boogie” on her 2006 album Cat; I played it on GD Hour #921. I didn’t realize what a stone Deadhead she was – she had a ton of stories to tell about her show-going days, and on Sunday she brought in her carefully-preserved ticket stub from her first show: 11/7/70 at the Capitol Theater in Oort Chester NY.

Another high point to my ear was “Attics of My Life,” sung by Rob Barraco, Larry Campbell, and Teresa Williams, accompanied only by Larry on baritone electric guitar.

I’m listening to the recordings from both days right now, trying to narrow down my list of favorites to a reasonable selection to play on the KPFA marathon February 3 (along with a terrific collection of backstage interviews). So much fine music!

For those who attended – and those who didn’t, for that matter – the very nice logo is available on t-shirts from Cafe Press. I just ordered one for myself.

Massive kudos to David Spelman for thinking this up and rounding up a fine colelction of performers to make the material sing.

Update: David tells me they’ll be streaming selected songs from the event on the American Beauty Project’s myspace page, and there are plans to release a DVD but he doesn’t know when.