Saturday, Feb. 20 at 10:30 p.m. PBS-HD Channel 6
In Tune features the musicians, stories and emotions that motivate, inspire and evolve live music in Tucson and Southern Arizona. The program is hosted by jazz vocalist Katherine Byrnes and produced by Luis Carrión and Arizona Public Media.
Segments of the upcoming edition of In Tune include:
Calexico in Session
A Convergence of Musical Expressions
Calexico is a band from Tucson that creates a distinctive sound by bringing together many performers and musical styles. Comprised of two core members -- Joey Burns and John Convertino -- Calexico became its own entity in 1996 with the release of "Spoke." A wide variety of tours, performances and recording sessions with other artists (Neko Case, Victoria Williams, Richard Buckner, Iron & Wine) have allowed Calexico to develop its own sound. Over time, Calexico has featured a revolving cast of musicians and instruments. This episode of In Tune features conversations with the core members and performance clips of some of the songs that have made fans across several continents.
Watch the complete performance of Two Silver Trees.
Transcending Musical Boundaries
The music of Namoli Brennet is often labeled as folk, but if you listen closely, you can hear her lyrics and tone pushing beyond the boundaries of this catchall generic term. Brennet herself finds it difficult to try to categorize her sound. "That's for some sort of objective third party to try to decide," she says, just before conceding that she's primarily a singer-songwriter who is trying to deliver an artistic vision while being true to herself.
"Being true to herself" is an ongoing process, and she says that being Trans is simply a natural outcome of that need to have integrity. Brennet was born male, and transitioned to female, and she says that without embarking on this transformative journey she would not have been able to write and perform music with any sort of creative substance. "It was impossible for me to get to (this) point creatively without uncovering the purest and most authentic version of myself," she says.
Watch the complete performance of Black Crow.
Folk Fusion with a Distinctive Voice
Leila Lopez has been exploring, discovering and broadening her musical mind since she was a small girl growing up in Tucson. Having first learned to play the guitar from listening and watching her father when she was eight years old, she has embarked on a lifelong relationship with music and songwriting. Wrapping her heart and hands around the cello in grade school, Leila broadened her knowledge of music theory and strengthened her lyrical intuition. She has since found inspiration in a variety of instruments, including the drums, bass guitar, flutes, hand percussion, violin and mandolin.
Watch the complete performance of Pick Your Prize.
Electric Mississippi Blues
Tom Walbank's Delta Blues
Tom Walbank and the Ambassadors are: Tom Walbank on Vox, Harp, Melodica and Guitar; Mike Bagesse on Guitar; and Dimitri Manos on Drums.
Tom Walbank's journey has taken his electric, Mississippi Delta-style blues from England, to Scotland, San Francisco and eventually to Tucson, Arizona, where he and his wife -- in classic blues style -- arrived by train in 2001.
Music critics of Walbank's raw blues style have placed him sonically "somewhere between the Delta and Chicago." The two guitar/drums line up is credited with giving Tom Walbank and the Ambassadors the ideal foundation for reinventing the low-down sounds of early electric blues, captured for public television viewers in this episode of In Tune.
Walbank considers the harmonica his primary instrument, but he plays several - adding that it's not the instrument itself that counts, but how a player conveys emotion using the instrument. "Blues is about many emotions, not just being bummed out," Walbank says. "It's about anger, joy - all these different things."
What projects are you working on?
Tom: Current projects I am working on are a CD of music I recorded for the local film by Patrick Roddy-Good Boy. I did the score to the movie and it included songs of Amy Rude's as well. I am also doing a harmonica, piano duets album with Arthur Migliazza.What music are you listening to these days?
Tom: I am listening to mine and Arthur's recording , trying to think how we can do the best job on mixing, mastering, post production stuff. Repeated listening to your recordings sounds self obsessed but is part of the job. For non work listening,Al Green's last album is a killer.What do you like about the music scene in Tucson?
Tom: What I like about Tucson's music scene is its' love of music. This is what makes the scene. What I dislike about the scene is... oh you got me on that one, can't think.
Download and buy Tom Walbank and The Ambassadors Sugarmama CD.
Check out Tom Walbank's music:
- Watch performance of Six Black Mares
Recorded 2008, Tucson, AZ by Jim Blackwood - Watch performance of Jaguar Blues
Recorded 2008, Tucson, AZ by Jim Blackwood
Vocalists Looking to the Past
The Silver Thread Trio
The Silver Thread Trio is: Gabrielle Pietrangelo, Caroline Isaacs and Laura Kepner-Adney. Their bassist is Sean Rogers.
The Silver Thread Trio specializes in updated Americana music, putting new life in traditional music of the past. The group takes traditional folk songs and creates its own unique three-part vocal arrangements, bringing an updated version of old-school Americana to the Tucson music scene.
Their rich, intricate harmonies have been described as “angelic” and “intoxicating.” Music genres range from dusty folk to bluegrass and Appalachian numbers, to spirituals, to standards like Moon River, with the occasional polka thrown in for good measure.
“Every so often a generation finds this music and brings it back to the forefront, and makes it meaningful to them,” says the Trio’s Caroline Isaacs.
What music are you listening to these days?
Caroline: I’ve been listening a lot to the band we will share the stage with tonight—The Willard Grant Conspiracy. I like music that has interesting rhythms and syncopation and, of course, strong female vocals. But really anything that is complex and interesting to listen to
Laura: Alt country. Band of Annuals has such a complete and polished sound, and I love Jeremi Hanson’s voice. Honey Honey is a band out of LA that opened for a bigger act at the Rialto, and they blew me away—there were moments where I thought, “this is what I want my group to sound like some day.” Also, Loveland is my favorite local band. Dave Bryan writes some gorgeous songs
Gabrielle: I’ve been listening to Muddy Waters lately, wondering if I can arrange one of his tunes with a 3 part female perspective in mind. I’ve also been listening to a mix CD I bought last summer from the Zapatista community in Chiapas. It’s a compilation of political ballads and love songs. My sister gave me a Calexico mix with material I’d never heard before; I loved it. Mostly, I listen to children singing every day, due to my profession as a fine arts elementary teacher for the OMA program.What projects are you working on for the future?
We are in the process of promoting our CD, released in December, and playing more outside Arizona. We have some new material, including an emphasis on writing original music, which we’re really excited about. Our roots are in a cappella music, but we’ve been adding more instruments, which is a continual learning process for all of us. Sean Rogers plays on the record and usually joins us for shows on upright bass.
Download or buy Silver Thread Trio’s debut CD.
The Desert Rock Movement
Howe Gelb of Giant Sand
Tucson, Arizona-based musician Howe Gelb is the epicenter and creative force behind the evolving configurations of the band Giant Sand for over a quarter century. “Giant Sand is a mood," Howe has explained. Gelb’s impressive catalog of music goes back to 1983, and he can easily claim some 40 albums to his credentials as both a band leader and a solo performer.
In Tune profiles Gelb’s assorted styles of music – from threads of country and the Southwest to infusions of jazz and punk, and whatever other unique sounds happen to be inspiring Gelb to another creative, musical journey of unique notes and beats. “It has to do with the trip rather than the destination,” Gelb says.
Browse catalog of Howe Gelb and Giant Sand recordings.
Check out Howe Gelb's music:
- Vortexas
Recorded April 17, 2009 at St. Phillips Church, Tucson, AZ by Jim Blackwood - Watch performance of Spiral
Recorded April 17, 2009 at St. Phillips Church, Tucson, AZ by Jim Blackwood - Watch performance of Blue
Recorded April 17, 2009 at St. Phillips Church, Tucson, AZ by Jim Blackwood
- Sat February 20 at 10:30 p.m. on PBS-HD
- Sun February 21 at 3:30 a.m. on PBS-HD
Katherine Byrnes is a Tucson-based jazz and blues vocalist and University of Arizona Music Program alum. She has taken her experience as a student of the stage and applied it to jazz performance, studying under the direction of Anne Phillips and Jeff Haskell. She's a former member of Vocal Ease, an all-female a cappella group, and continues to develop her skills performing as a vocalist for the University of Arizona Recording Studio Combo.
Arizona Spotlight's Mark McLemore talks with In Tune host, jazz and blues singer Katherine Byrnes.
Check out Katherine Byrne's music:
- Caravan
feat. Sergio Mendoza Y La Orchestra
Recorded May 2, 2009 at The Rialto Theater, Tucson, AZ by Jim Blackwood - Insendsatez/How Insensitive
from her 2006 self titled CD - I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles
from her 2006 self titled CD
About the producer of In Tune
Luis Carrión is an award winning producer at Arizona Public Media, contributing stories for television, radio and online. He’s a graduate of the University of Arizona Media Arts Program, and his work often highlights the extraordinary stories present in our community but sometimes hidden just beneath the surface of our daily lives.
