Also in this week’s cover story: 10 local acts that ruled in 2015, dispatches from road life with Bully, our Top Local Albums Critics’ Poll and our annual Rock ’n’ Roll Poll.
Fun fact: Had a wrecking ball taken out RCA Studio A near the end of 2014 — as one certainly almost did — Chris Stapleton's Traveller would have been the final record cut there. A year later, you could say Stapleton's been his own Music Row wrecking ball, knocking the Nashville country establishment back into alignment, or at least something close to it, with the values of heart and soul that have always done a strange dance with the sensibilities of commercial savvy that have made Music City evolve at various times for better or worse. That's true Nashville — a walking compromise of a city.
In country music, Stapleton's is undoubtedly the story of the year. But on the fringes, the story is the same. JEFF the Brotherhood lost a major label deal, but not after Warner Bros. bankrolled their slickest sounding record, Wasted on the Dream — an album that, like most releases by the long-loved psychedelic stoner-punks, came out via their family flagship label Infinity Cat. The band started the year in industry bullshit upheaval, and ended it with a gig at War Memorial Auditorium, co-headlining with Diarrhea Planet. Sure, the latter band built a national following — much like Bully, the band gracing this issue's cover, and winners of the Scene's critics' poll for top local albums — by bringing big hooks to crowd-slaying performances night after night. But Diarrhea Planet never would have gotten the same exposure without that ridiculous name. That's Nashville savvy.
Taylor Swift may have extricated herself from Music Row for the greener pastures of pop late last year, but this is still where she learned her trade, and perhaps explains why she saved the biggest guest — Mick Jagger — in her star-studded host of 1989 Tour guest performers for Nashville. In Nashville, big moments matter. And whether it was Ryan Adams playing that long-awaited "Summer of '69" cover at the Ryman or Jack White reuniting The Raconteurs to back Loretta Lynn at Bridgestone Arena, 2015 was full of such moments. It was also a year of new stomping grounds. The city finally got an amphitheater, and East Nashville finally got a sizable rock club. Here, from kick-ass records to killer shows, the Scene's music scribes reflect on a year of highlights too numerous to fit in the confines of these pages.
Locals start working the big rooms
There was a time — and it wasn't all that long ago — when it seemed like almost every big tour or vanguard emerging artist skipped Nashville. You'd read about a band on every indie-cool tastemaker blog and hear about sellout shows at the Metro in Chicago or The Bowery Ballroom in New York City and hope that they might, against all odds, make it to Nashville and play a half-full Exit/In or Mercy Lounge at least once before realizing Music City was a dead market. Well, whether you can chalk it up to population growth, tourism or some kind of citywide cultural enlightenment, just about every artist at every level plays here now, and many draw big enough crowds to come back.
This year Nashville played host to rare-for-these-parts shows from the likes of Kraftwerk, Janet Jackson (on the same night!), Steely Dan, Sleater-Kinney, Shabazz Palaces, Phish, a somewhat-reunited Grateful Dead and some English upstarts called The Rolling Stones, in addition to return visits from hot-tipped or hyper-relevant artists like Run the Jewels, Chvrches, Death Grips, Die Antwoord and Eagles of Death Metal. Indeed, the big bands of the world play Nashville now. But the irony is that Nashville needs them less than ever — we've got plenty of nationally relevant headliners residing right in our backyard.
If 2014 was a year of growing pains, 2015 was a year of growing up and going big. That's not to say that future Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jack White wasn't already big, but none of his career-making, star-bronzing bands — The White Stripes, The Raconteurs or The Dead Weather — ever came close to headlining a Nashville gig as big as Bridgestone Arena. And when White did precisely that as a solo artist in January, it felt less like a ritual of rock star hero worship and more like the biggest local rock show ever. And not just rock, as White tapped former collaborator and country legend Loretta Lynn to take the direct support slot on the bill. White also threw venerated experimental guitarist (and veteran local indie-rock sideman and Stone Fox co-proprietor) William Tyler on the bill. It wasn't just Tyler's first time playing Bridgestone, he told the Scene soon after the show, it was his first time ever even setting foot in the building. And given a surprise mid-show Raconteurs reunion and a show-stopping Racs-backed Jack and Loretta duet on "Portland, Oregon," let's hope it's not White's last time at the Predators' palace.
But Jack White wasn't the only Nashvillian who got to headline a big gig and go home to his own bed. Cherub — a smooth-pop-infused EDM duo that built up a big club draw before striking a major-label deal and landing a charting single with the years-old repackaged single "Doses and Mimosas" — headlined the not-exactly-rave-friendly Ryman Auditorium and brought local neo-New Wavers Future Unlimited along to open. And that might seem like small potatoes to (now-major-label) Americana star Sturgill Simpson, who, in just a few short years, went from bagging groceries at the Turnip Truck in the Gulch to instantly selling out a three-night stand at the Mother Church. The second of those shows happened on Halloween as, just a few blocks away, former local house-show-circuit kings JEFF the Brotherhood and Diarrhea Planet were co-headlining their own theater show at War Memorial Auditorium. ADAM GOLD
Chris Stapleton
Country underdogs bite back at radio
To be or not to be — that was the question plaguing country artists as we entered 2015. To be or not to be on country radio, that is. In February, now former Sony Music Nashville CEO and Chairman Gary Overton espoused his philosophy to The Tennessean that "if you're not on country radio, you don't exist." This past year proved his statement not only false but also critically tone-deaf. Substance reigned over shallow hick-hop or shiny wallet chains, and while great albums from Kacey Musgraves, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, Aaron Watson and Sturgill Simpson didn't score many terrestrial spins, they sold actual copies and scored No. 1 albums — an even rarer feat.
Thankfully, 2015 was the year of the country underdog, not the bro-dog, something that felt improbable after songs like Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise" grabbed the Billboard chart by the balls and held it in painful 50 Shades of Ed Hardy-style submission for far too long. But by the time CRS (Country Radio Seminar) week rolled around in February, Simpson had signed a deal with Atlantic, and Watson — a Thirty Tigers artist whose album, coincidentally, is called The Underdog — was topping the charts, while never reaching commercial rotation. It was the beginning of a string of disconnects that proved how out of touch programmers were becoming with what fans actually wanted.
It continued: Musgraves sang about weed and lawn-pissing and Simpson LSD, with Stapleton taking the cake with the most polite and gracious middle finger of all: He released an exquisite album that swept the CMA Awards, stealing trophies from folks like Luke Bryan and Thomas Rhett, both of whom he's written songs for. This week, Traveller was nominated for numerous Grammys, including Album of the Year, alongside ex-Nashvillian and onetime product of Music Row, Taylor Swift.
Stapleton won three trophies at the CMA Awards and rattled the Internet with his Justin Timberlake duet, and that week he moved 177,000 units — wrapping critical acclaim, peer accolades and a commercial embrace into one crisp package. Still, he's gained only modest success at radio. At press time, "Nobody to Blame" sits at No. 27, behind Dierks Bentley's "Riser," which has been on the chart for 23 weeks. Before the CMAs he'd received 5,000 spins — which, in the context of fellow nominee Kenny Chesney's three-quarters of a million, is almost as good as zero, especially if you're going by Overton logic.
Stapleton didn't earn his CMA trophies by hitting voters over the head repeatedly through their car stereos, he did it by making an excellent record. Musgraves, Isbell and Simpson earned a combined nine sold-out Ryman nights in a five-week span the exact same way. Even Eric Church wanted to get in on the underdog game, releasing his newest LP, Mr. Misunderstood, first to fans and without any surrounding press — and not previewed by a radio single, which is downright unheard of on Music Row.
The question demands to be asked: In 2016, will radio programmers finally match consumer demand and critical praise to actual airplay? Time will tell, but this year proved one thing for sure: Overton, and his analysis, was wrong. Stapleton, Simpson, Musgraves, Watson and Isbell certainly do exist. Underdogs have both bark and bite. MARISSA R. MOSS
The year in new venues — East Nashville finally gets a big rock club, and Downtown finally gets an amphitheater
When we look back at 2015, we may indeed see this as the year when Nashville hit It City critical mass. But amid all the growing pains — from tall-and-skinny new builds to tone-deaf developers — we've filled in a couple of gaps in our live-music scene.
Take, for instance, East Nashville's longtime lack of a midsize club. While The 5 Spot, The East Room, FooBar and others continue to book quality pop, rock, country, hip-hop and DJ acts, The Basement East — opened in April and operated by the dudes behind Eighth Avenue haunt The Basement — fills a role that had long been vacant east of the river: that of a music venue that can hold more than a couple hundred people. In other East Side news, beloved restaurant-slash-bar-slash-show-space The Family Wash made a pretty significant move when it relocated from its spot on Porter Road to a roomier location on Main Street.
Nashville's city center also saw an extremely significant upgrade this year in the form of a state-of-the-art open-air shed: Ascend Amphitheater. Operated by Live Nation — and with a total capacity just shy of 7,000 — Ascend has already hosted performers as diverse as Phish, Eric Church and Janet Jackson and been a part of this year's AmericanaFest proceedings. And speaking of Live Nation, the industry giants also signed on to operate the recently renamed 4,500-capacity Carl Black Chevy Woods Amphitheater at Fontanel, which had previously been booked by Live Nation's biggest competitor, AEG Live. Between those two spots and Graystone Quarry Amphitheater — slated to open in Thompson Station in 2017 — it would seem that the greater Nashville area has amphitheater fever. And it comes only nine years after Live Nation pulled out of Nashville in 2006 and left Starwood Ampitheater to rot out in Antioch, where its ruins still remain. Live Nation, it's also worth noting, acquired a controlling interest in Bonnaroo back in April. D. PATRICK RODGERS
Old Murfreesboro is alive and well in New Nashville
Three months ago, New Nashville claimed its latest victim.
Glenn Danzig's House, the venerable DIY venue that laid the foundation for the city's garage-punk firestorm between 2009 and 2011, was leveled in September after attempts to rent the spot for $1,400 per month — a hefty sum for a former police precinct in a working-class neighborhood — went unanswered.
It's an all-too-common sight in 2015, where former bustling hives of punks and creative folk are busted up in the name of progress. But as the core of the underground scatters to the 'burbs, it's picking up a familiar vibe: the utterly inventive, never-say-die spirit of Murfreesboro. The more things change, the more they say the same.
At the epicenter of this local rock 'Boro-nado is Tyler Walker (aka Meth Dad), whose Queen Ave. space brings a wildly eclectic kaleidoscope of posi-vibes, art shows, dance parties and rock 'n' roll. Tucked behind a post office on Dickerson Pike, it's the kind of place where you might see El Topo projected on a wall before a Turbo Fruits show.
Tour de Fun, the bicycle-powered music festival that took over East Nashville for the second year in April, deftly encapsulates the Meth Dad aesthetic. Spread across 10 venues, more than two-dozen bands played for a swarm of sweaty cyclists rolling hundreds deep. At one point, the dance party disappeared under a bedsheet while a dude in a muscle costume ripped a guitar solo. Now there's some real Murfreesboro shit.
On the other end of the DIY spectrum, Carter Routh's inaugural Dickerson Skyline mini-festival brought a raucous house party spirit to Charlie Bob's in October. Routh, who cut his teeth at 'Boro house shows with bands like the CCM parody group Christlove, pulled off a festival that felt like the best house party Nashville's had in years: an utterly unironic experience that reveled in having fun.
Elsewhere, the old guard of the underground scene continues to mosh on the fringes. Want to know where it's at? Just look for Savoy Motel, the Heavy Cream/D. Watusi/Cheap Time post-punk supergroup that popped up in the Fort Houston parking lot, at a Freakin' Weekend VI day show, and at New Life Records — where the sleepy West Nashville head shop was transformed into a Nashville's Dead-hosted punk rager.
In Wedgewood-Houston, not far from the rubble that was Glenn Danzig's House, Drkmttr continues the tradition of Little Hamilton and The Owl Farm as one of the sole local venues committed to all-ages shows. Led by booker Kathryn Edwards and a squadron of volunteers, the venue triumphed on an IndieGoGo campaign to give local metal a real home. And that's not even getting into the latest bumper crop of house venues, like Exponent Manor, Mouthhole and The Pussy Palace.
New Nashville may be well on its way toward achieving its goal of putting a construction crane on every street corner, but the underground scene isn't going down without a fight. LANCE CONZETT
Festival-palooza-roo
Festival season is getting longer in these parts. Never was that more apparent than back in mid-October, when an intimate crowd of dedicated concertgoers froze their asses off in Centennial Park, braving very un-Bonnaroo-worthy chilly temperatures to rock out to the Flaming Lips at the inaugural SoundHarvest Music Festival. Festival season, like many other things in Nashville, is also getting more crowded.
SoundHarvest, which also booked festival circuit up-and-comers like Benjamin Booker, Allen Stone, and local-rock faves The Weeks and Them Vibes, was the last in a crop of first-year festivals sprouting up in Middle Tennessee in 2015. But has the local festival bubble burst like the balloons the Flaming Lips rained over a thousand-or-so fearless freaks in Centennial Park? The balloon-to-audience-member ratio was smaller than promoters probably would've hoped, and spotless porta-potties by a football-field-length chasm between the back of the crowd and the main gate were a sign that many fatigued festivalgoers sat this one out, or got their fill for free during Lightning 100's ever-growing, masses-attracting, big-bill-boasting Live on the Green series. The over-under on whether SoundHarvest will return in 2016 looks less than encouraging.
One festival we can count on definitely not returning to Nashville is the Ink-N-Iron Kustom Kulture Festival. With an outlaw country, rockabilly and legacy punk-friendly lineup touting acts from Wanda Jackson to Suicidal Tendancies, and a 13-year history as a well-drawing, established event in Long Beach, Calif., Ink-N-Iron looked promising on paper (and on interstate-side billboards that promoters purchased to plug the festival). But holy hell, this thing — which limped to a sad, lonely death over four embarrassingly under-attended days in August at Bicentennial Mall State Park— was a goddamn disaster, in every way save for the natural kind. A minute (literally!) before he was to take the stage for the second of two performances, Merle Haggard canceled and publically shamed promoters on social media for stiffing him on the first performance.
Between those confidence-building business practices and a mostly customer-bereft festival grounds — not to mention body artists at the (somewhat) adjacent tattoo convention at (somewhat) nearby Municipal Auditorium — that felt more like a rockabilly zombie apocalypse than a bitchin' rock festival, from there the wheels came off this hot rod pretty quickly. But is that really Nashville's fault? Every aspect of Ink-N-Iron — especially a ticketing policy that granted mainstage views only to VIP purchasers — was so egregiously inept that it came as a shock to absolutely no one when promoters reportedly filed for bankruptcy.
Willie Nelson headlines the inaugural Pilgimage Music and Culture Festival.
The inaugural Pilgimage Music and Culture Festival, which debuted in Franklin in late September — just one week after AmericanaFest once again brought a global audience to myriad Nashville venues for the biggest (nearly) citywide talent showcase this side of SXSW — was by all accounts a success. Not only did Pilgrimage hit its equal-parts-modest-and-ambitious attendance goal of topping 10,000 concertgoers a day, judging by the good vibes in Franklin's sprawling, idyllic Harlinsdale Farm, and crowd reactions to epic sets from the likes of Willie Nelson, Wilco, Jimmy Cliff, Cage the Elephant, Neko Case, Chris Stapleton and dozens more on that par, it seemed likely that most of that audience will return in 2016, especially if the lineup is as solid.
And then there was Swimville — a rock and country festival and glorified supermodel meet-and-greet to-do celebrating the release of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition 2015, held in downtown Nashville during the dead of winter. Yeah, we're still trying to make sense of it, too. Nevertheless, Kings of Leon and Mikky Ekko rocked out at the Schermerhorn while an undeniably winning lineup of locals like Nikki Lane, Holly Williams, Will Hoge, Rayland Baxter, Chris Stapleton (yes, again!), The Ettes, Moon Taxi and The Weeks melted faces (and bikinis or whatever) in a heated tent on Lower Broad. ADAM GOLD
From the rebirth of local radio to groundbreaking studio gadgets, crowd-funding supports a bounty of local music projects in 2015
Since the birth of crowd-funding, artists have used Kickstarter, IndieGogo and other platforms to skip the label system and go directly to fans for the financing to record, release and market new albums. Beloved local-rock establishment The Features' fifth full-length, Sunset Rock, might not have seen the light of day without a successful PledgeMusic campaign. Even Nashville-residing major-label rock commodity Cage the Elephant, on RCA Records, turned to PledgeMusic to push preorders of its forthcoming Dan Auerbach-produced LP Tell Me I'm Pretty with fan-friendly deluxe incentives. But 2015 was also a year in which crowdfunding was instrumental in bringing non-album-related music projects to life.
Following four years of development, during which they relied heavily on input from a diverse crop of Nashville musicians, entrepreneur Mike Butera and the Artiphon team launched a Kickstarter campaign for Instrument 1 — an electronic controller you can strum, pluck, bow, tap or play like a piano, a potential boon to performers and music educators alike. They needed $75,000 to finance the first production run; within six hours, they beat that goal, ultimately netting $1.3 million in preorders. The first units are expected to be in backers' hands in January.
Poke around in any audio streaming service and you'll find curated content, from Google Play's human-tweaked playlists to Apple Music's Beats Radio channels, hosted by personalities like Zane Lowe, formerly a high-profile U.K. radio DJ. Without a doubt, the appetite for a human element of sharing music lives on in spite of the rise of streaming, and two crowd-funded projects focused on old-school terrestrial radio reflect how Nashville is participating.
A dedicated group of DJs, many of whom once graced the airwaves as community volunteers on Vanderbilt's much-missed WRVU, landed an FCC construction permit for WXNA 101.5-FM. Thanks to more than $55,000 from Kickstarter backers, the community station is on track to begin broadcasting a tantalizingly eclectic smorgasbord from a studio above Grimey's in June. Worker's Dignity, a nonprofit that fights for the rights of low-income workers, announced that it received a permit for WDYO 104.1-LPFM. Its goal is to amplify the voices of the underrepresented — and their diverse cultural backgrounds — by making them responsible for news and music programming. Backers answered the call with more than $11,000, and the station signs on in June, as well.
Crowdfunding campaigns also helped our music community rally around those in need. Legendary road manager Phil "The Road Mangler" Kaufman was in a serious motorcycle accident, longtime Exit/In doorman Kenny Highers lost part of a leg to diabetes, up-and-coming singer/songwriter/bandleader Allen Thompson injured his spine in a diving accident, and ace songwriter Tommy Womack was T-boned by a semitruck. All faced significant medical expenses and recovery time, which can spell financial disaster in an industry not known for its benefits plan. In addition to a wealth of benefit shows, GoFundMe campaigns organized by friends and family netted more than $68,000 combined to help them along until they could get back on their feet. STEPHEN TRAGESER
2015, the year in death
Nashville lost some iconic music figures this year, and the list of the departed includes producers, singers, songwriters and instrumentalists. Music City also mourned the loss of groundbreaking movers and shakers who advanced the cause of country, rock and Americana with ceaseless energy. Their passing diminishes us, but they left behind plenty of great work that reminds us how innovative Nashville musicians have always been.
That's Hermitage, Tenn.-born soprano singer Millie Kirkham singing the background vocals on Ferlin Husky's 1957 "Gone" and Elvis Presley's "Blue Christmas," cut the same year. Kirkham, who also lent her chops to recordings by George Jones and Bob Dylan, died in Nashville on Dec. 14, 2014, at age 91. Legendary novelty-country singer and multi-decade Opry star Little Jimmy Dickens, who hit with 1965's "May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose" and later recorded with Brad Paisley, died Jan. 2 at 94. Country-bluegrass songwriter Dixie Hall, who died on Jan. 16 at age 80, wrote hits on her own and collaborated with her husband, Tom T. Hall. Known as "Miss Dixie," Hall was also a noted philanthropist.
Country star Jim Ed Brown, who scored with his 1967 single, "Pop a Top," died June 11 in Franklin, Tenn. The Arkansas-born singer had been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame a week earlier. Pop-country pioneer Lynn Anderson topped the charts with her 1970 version of Joe South's "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden," and the North Dakota-born singer became the first country artist to headline and sell out New York City's Madison Square Garden. Anderson died July 30 at age 67.
Steel-guitar innovator Buddy Emmons, who revolutionized the instrument both musically and technologically, died July 29 at age 78. The Indiana-born musician played on many sessions with country, rock and pop artists. Emmons often worked on dates with producer, arranger and songwriter Billy Sherrill, who added rich textures to recordings by George Jones, Tammy Wynette and Johnny Cash. Sherrill also produced Elvis Costello's 1981 country covers LP Almost Blue. He died in Nashville Aug. 4 at age 78.
One of Nashville's finest producers, Atlanta-born Chip Young opened his Murfreesboro recording studio, Young 'Un Sound, in 1968. Young produced and played guitar on Billy Swan's 1974 hit single "I Can Help" and recorded albums by Jimmy Buffett and Delbert McClinton, in addition to playing guitar on Dolly Parton's "Jolene." He died Dec. 20, 2014, at age 76.
Producer Bob Johnston helped transform Nashville's music scene in the '60s through his work on Bob Dylan's world-historic, Nashville-recorded Blonde on Blonde full-length. Johnston, who also worked with Dylan on 1965's Highway 61 Revisited and produced records by The Byrds and Leonard Cohen, died in Gallatin, Tenn., Aug. 14 at age 83.
Nashville also lost two champions of local music whose influence extends into Americana and rock. Dave Cloud helped reinvent Nashville rock with his band, Gospel of Power, and as a sonic explorer who combined basic rock 'n' roll with more experimental fare. Some of Cloud's work was compiled on this year's full-length release Today Is the Day That They Take Me Away. Cloud died Feb. 18 at age 58.
A veteran of the Los Angeles country-rock scene, drummer Billy Block moved to Nashville in the mid-'90s and began hosting Western Beat Barn Dance/The Billy Block Show, a weekly live stage and broadcast show featuring country-rock and Americana performers. Block would continue to host various incarnations of the show for two decades. He died March 11 at age 59. EDD HURT
Surveying the year in jazz and blues on the local scene
Any year that sees such giants as B.B. King, Ornette Coleman and Allen Toussaint pass on is a tough one. Yet their loss underscores the ongoing challenge that confronts jazz and blues artists both locally and nationwide. All these greats remained relevant their entire careers, regardless of hit albums or radio airplay.
Jazz and blues are still a vital part of America's musical vocabulary, even though its principal performers (with a few exceptions) are seldom included in the pop music/star/celebrity equation. Instead, they are asked to be simultaneously faithful to established traditions while extending them in a manner that resonates with people who never saw King, Coleman or Toussaint in their prime.
This year, several local artists successfully mastered this dual obligation. One aspect was the organizational/advocacy end. Saxophonist Evan Cobb began hosting the Acme Jazz Brunch, while dynamic saxophonist Jeff Coffin began what he labeled a Jazz Composer's Collective, linking some of the region's finest players and writers into an evolving and delightful aggregation.
The Sessions at Steinway series offered the opportunity to hear musicians being interviewed by musicians, and the Nashville Jazz Workshop gains more national acclaim every year for its blend of academic training and performance exposure.
Nashville also hosted many special celebrations: Cassandra Wilson and Michael Feinstein paying homage respectively to Billie Holiday's and Frank Sinatra's centenaries; Rahsaan Barber and the Music City All-Stars honoring the 50th anniversary of John Coltrane's immortal A Love Supreme; Jazz on the Move with a Billy Strayhorn memorial at TSU. Add to that list Ramsey Lewis playing music from his hit The In Crowd in recognition of its fifth decade, and saxophonist David Liebman and another august lineup reviving Miles Davis' groundbreaking 1972 session On the Corner.
Another pleasing development is that additional venues for jazz and blues concerts are emerging beyond the Schermerhorn, Ryman, 3rd & Lindsley, and Nashville Jazz Workshop's Jazz Cave. City Winery Nashville periodically presents artists such as Shuggie Otis, while The Franklin Theatre hosted Booker T. Jones (and offers John Scofield Thursday, Dec. 10). The Robert Glasper Experiment played Marathon Music Works; the NJW brought in legendary bassist Rufus Reid; and MTSU (another site where there's a lot more happening than people think) brought Bill Cunniffe to Murfreesboro. Even smooth-jazz fans got a top act in saxophonist Dave Koz, while the Nashville Jazz Orchestra collaborated with the duo of Delfeayo Marsalis and Herlin Riley in a demonstration of what makes Crescent City jazz so unique and special.
On the blues side, Ted Drozdowski's Scissormen demonstrate how to balance classic and contemporary virtues, as does the superb team of Andy T and Nick Nixon. Buddy Guy returned to Nashville ever more determined to keep the flame alive. Jazz on the Move also tipped its hat to the Latin side by revisiting the percussive magic of Tito Puente's music.
Not even a die-hard optimist would conclude Nashville's jazz and blues scene is the equal of centers such as Chicago or New Orleans, but it would be equally mistaken to fail to notice all the worthy activity in our midst. When you can turn on syndicated radio shows and hear Christina Watson's or Monica Ramey's vocals, the banjo/piano wizardry of Béla Fleck and Chick Corea, Beegie Adair's timeless and memorial interpretations of standards and classics, or the infectious energy of Markey Blue, that's a sign Music City's jazz and blues artists are staking a claim beyond the city limits. RON WYNN
Bully
