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Pop: Hot Ticket
By GINA VIVINETTO and JOHN FLEMING
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 31, 2001
Your handyman
James Taylor has been at it for 30 years. Taylor, 53, is as famous for his own songs such as Fire and Rain and Sweet Baby James as he is for his renditions of other people's tunes, including Carole King's You've Got A Friend and Buddy Holly's Everyday.
Taylor pretty much kick-started the whole 1970s "sensitive" singer-songwriter genre by pouring his heart -- and the intimate details of his love life and his heroin addiction -- into his music.
In 1972, Taylor married singer Carly Simon. The couple spent the 1970s being famous together before divorcing in 1979.
Recently, Taylor married longtime girlfriend Caroline "Kim" Smedvig. In April, they became parents -- via a surrogate mother -- of twin boys. Chances are, Taylor will be singing about that soon, too.
James Taylor performs at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Ice Palace, 401 Channelside Drive, Tampa. $25.75-$45.75. (813) 301-2500.- GINA VIVINETTO, Times pop music critic
The wide horizons of country
Jimmy LaFave has a voice so grainy and seductive it can power a vigorous roots rock tune or a tender ballad. The Austin singer just released Texoma, a tribute to America's heartland -- or at least Texas and Oklahoma. It's filled with bluesy roadhouse rockers and sprawling, cinematic soundscapes. LaFave is a topnotch storyteller and interpreter. Check out his version of Papa John Phillips' San Francisco, remarkable not for its hippie dippiness, but for its sadness.
Singer-songwriter Slaid Cleaves opens for LaFave. Cleaves is a mellower sort, playing clearly written country folk numbers about desperate characters. Cleaves, 36, got his start in music during his junior year of college when, on an airplane trip to Ireland with his girlfriend, she dumped him before the plane even landed, leaving poor Cleaves with much time -- and heartache -- to process.
LaFave and the Slaid Cleves Band perform with Night Tribe at 8 p.m. Fri. at Jannus Landing, Second Street between Central Avenue and First Avenue N, St. Petersburg, and at 8 p.m. Sat. and 6 p.m. Sun. at Skipper's Smokehouse, 910 Skipper Road, Tampa. $15 advance, $20 day of show. (813) 238-8001.
-- GINA VIVINETTO, Times pop music critic
Zappa vocalist sits in with Bogus Pomp
Fans of Frank Zappa have another fix coming Saturday when Bogus Pomp plays at Club More, with former Zappa vocalist Napoleon Murphy Brock. "Every time Napoleon has performed with us so far, it's been a large venue, either Mahaffey Theater or Jannus Landing," said Jerry Outlaw, guitarist and co-founder of Bogus Pomp. "This will be a lot more intimate."
Bogus Pomp, a 10-piece rhythm and blues band that plays only Zappa music, has appeared with the Florida Orchestra, the Buffalo, N.Y., Philharmonic and the Persuasions.
"This time we'll be playing mainly music from Zappa's great '70s bands, from albums like Roxy & Elsewhere and One Size Fits All," Outlaw said.
The guitarist makes a point of inviting fans to bring audio and video recording equipment if they're so inclined. "It's really cool that people do that and spread the music around for free."
Also on the Zappa front, there's a fascinating CD out of his music played by a Finnish group on baroque-era instruments. That's right, favorites like Uncle Meat, Inca Roads, G-Spot Tornado and The Idiot Bastard Son on harpsichord, lute, strings, woodwinds and other 18th century instruments. Ensemble Ambrosius has great arrangements and really rocks in demonstrating Zappa's enduring artistry on The Zappa Album on the Bis label.
Bogus Pomp plays at 10 p.m. Saturday (doors open at 9 p.m.) at Club More, 703 Franklin St., Clearwater. Tickets: $15. (727) 466-6673.
-- JOHN FLEMING, Times performing arts critic
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