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Pop: hot ticket
By GINA VIVINETTO, Times Pop Music Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 25, 2002
Chrome Yellow rising
Central Florida alt-rock band Chrome Yellow's buzz continues to build. The act, whose lead singer Charlie Gardner is a Tampa boy, played a stellar set at this year's South by Southwest conference for music industry honchos. Chrome Yellow also had a song picked to be on this year's SXSW compilation disc.
It's not just Gardner's look that commands attention -- his armful of colorful tattoos, his shaved dome, the elaborate facial hair that would make a Backstreet Boy jones for his testosterone. Gardner's got a heck of a yelp, too.
The band's sound, somewhere between Creed and Dave Matthews Band, with big hooks and sing-along choruses, is radio ready.
See for yourself when Chrome Yellow performs at 9 p.m. Friday at Gasoline Alley, 17928 US 19 N, Clearwater. The cover charge is $3 per person or $5 a couple for those over 21, $7 per person under 21. (727) 532-0265.
Jazz on the bay, this weekend
Those who remember soft-rock piano virtuoso Bruce Hornsby from his days with the Range, scoring hits like The Way It Is, may be puzzled at how frequently he pops up on smooth jazz radio, but he and pop-jazz diva Roberta Flack (The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face) are the headliners at this year's Smooth Jazz Concert on the Bay, Saturday and Sunday at Coachman Park in Clearwater.
Saturday, the featured artists are saxophonist-singer Pamela Williams, tenor saxophonist Richard Elliot and Hornsby. On Sunday, trumpeter Chris Botti, guitarist Peter White and Flack are featured. Local talent, including Eric Darius and Nu Soul Company, warms up the crowd each day. Gates open at 2 p.m. each day; music starts at 3.
Two-day general admission (bring a blanket or chair) is $27 advance, $32 at the gate; free for kids under 12. If you want an assigned seat (they'll provide a chair), it'll be $42 advance, $52 at the gate, no discounts for kids. No coolers, umbrellas, food or drinks allowed; food and beverages will be sold there. For information or to purchase tickets, check the WSJT 94.1-FM Web site (www.wsjt.com) or call the station at (727) 568-0941. Tickets also available through Ticketmaster: (727) 898-2100 or (813) 287-8844.
She croons the blues
Maria Muldaur is best known for the sultry Midnight At The Oasis, but Richland Woman Blues, her dynamite disc from 2001, is a fine collection of blues tunes from the 1920s and 1930s, sung with authenticity and finesse.
Whether Muldaur, 58, is singing pop, blues or gospel, she manages to sound seductive. Is it the voice? The song selections? On earlier albums, she wraps her sweet-as-molasses croon around I Wanna Be Loved and Gee, Baby Ain't I Good To You? Very often, Muldaur comes across as a wild woman in a blues joint, growling It Ain't The Meat, It's the Motion.
You get the full range at a Muldaur show. This is a lady who knows from life, sounding as blue as Billie Holiday one minute, tough like Memphis Minnie the next, then ending it all with a sexy, confident shimmy.
Maria Muldaur performs with Townhall and Dirty Dozen Brass Band at 5 p.m. Sunday at Skipper's Smokehouse, 910 Skipper Road, Tampa. $10. (813) 977-6474.
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