Photo: Elektra

• Robert Randolph & The Family Band
• The Roots
• Phish
• moe.
• Medeski Martin & Wood

Robert Randolph
Photo: Edward Smith

Pedal-steel guitarist Robert Randolph joined the Del McCoury band, a traditional bluegrass outfit, during the Jammy Awards held June 28 in New York's Roseland Ballroom, for some southern-fried sounds. He sat in later with Derek Trucks, the most recent Allman Brothers Band guitarist, for a blazing blues jam. And while Randolph sounded perfectly in tune with each of these musicians, he wasn't exactly comfortable.

"The sound was messed up because the onstage monitors weren't working right," he said from his Irvington, New Jersey, home. "Also, everybody was wasted. It was real strange. I came home and all my clothes smelled like friggin' pot and cigarette smoke." The smoky club environment isn't an alien setting for most musicians. But Randolph, 23, isn't your typical musician. Although he's played pedal-steel guitar since he was 17, he's only been working rock venues for six months. During that short time he has attracted the interest of Rev. Al Green, Gov't Mule and the Allmans. Jazz keyboardist John Medeski (of Medeski Martin & Wood) and the North Mississippi Allstars recruited him for the upcoming (July 31) eponymous debut of the Word, a collection of originals and gospel standards done in a flashy blues style.

Before Randolph was introduced to the rock community, he played during services at the House of God Church near his home, where he cultivated his innovative style and continues to jam. Although he sounds like a cross between a country slide player and a Chicago bluesman steeped in the music of B.B. King and John Lee Hooker, Randolph developed his fiery technique long before he ever heard the blues.

"I knew who B.B. King was because I'd see him on TV, but I didn't really know what he sounded like," he admitted. "And I'd never even heard of guys like Buddy Guy and Hound Dog Taylor." While most churches accompany their services with choirs and organists, the House of God has a six-decade tradition of using steel guitars. After the pedal-steel guitar was introduced to the church during the 1970s, the style became known as "sacred steel." The sound has recently begun attracting a cult following in the secular world as well.

Randolph learned to play by watching other steel players in his church. He experienced an epiphany, however, when a friend at the church lent him a tape of the late blues-rock legend Stevie Ray Vaughan.

"I immediately went, 'Oh man, this guy's the best ever," he recalled. "It sounded so original and crazy to me because I didn't even know who Jimi Hendrix was. That led me to the Allman Brothers, the Meters, Gov't Mule and all this other stuff that really affected my playing." Shortly after Randolph discovered secular rock, it discovered him. After hearing Randolph play at a sacred-steel convention last year, a man named Jim Markel introduced the young musician to manager Gary Waldman, who immediately signed Randolph following an audition and booked him a gig opening for the North Mississippi Allstars in New York.

"John Medeski was there, and I guess he liked what he heard," Randolph said. "Right after the show, he was like, 'Hey, let's record a gospel album together: me, you and the Allstars.' I'm like, 'I don't know who you are but OK, no problem." Three weeks later, the sacred-steel prodigy found himself in Medeski's Brooklyn studio from 8 p.m. to midnight recording tracks for his first full-length album. The sessions went quickly, and The Word was completed in four days.

Although the album was recorded quickly and spontaneously, it sounds as vibrant, creative and inspiring as many a project that has taken 10 times as long. Medeski's keyboards chime like a cathedral organist and Randolph testifies passionately through his instrument. The introduction to "Call Him by His Name" includes a sinewy passage resembling a lone voice singing God's praises. "Waiting on My Wings" sounds like a jam between Eric Clapton and the Allmans.

"I want my music to lift people up and make them feel good," said Randolph. "When I play music, I try to bring it from my heart so it will connect to someone else's heart." Beside The Word, Randolph has two albums by his group, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, scheduled for fall release, although his manager is still negotiating with major labels. Al Green invited him to play at his Memphis church in September, and he'll join Gov't Mule onstage during their current tour. Finally, he's trying to arrange some dates with his new favorite band, the Allman Brothers. Randolph looks forward to all of these gigs, but his real goal is to integrate sacred steel with mainstream R&B and pop.

"I'd love to play with guys like R. Kelly or D'Angelo," he said. "My real dream is to play on a Michael Jackson record. I'm sure that's nearly every musician's dream. He's played with guys like Eddie Van Halen, and mixed orchestras in there, so I'm pretty sure I could do something with him. I'm hoping he'll get word of what I'm doing or hear it and say, 'Wow, let's get that going on a song or two.' I'd probably faint before I even got there." Not only has sacred steel provided Randolph with the opportunity to achieve mass popularity, it's helped him escape the drugs, violence and other criminal activities that have plagued many of his childhood friends. "I have a song called 'A Prayer,' which will be on my record," he said. "I wrote it after one of my friends was shot and killed. He was just standing on the street and a guy walk up to him and shot him at point-blank range. I was supposed to be with him that same night, but I went home and played pedal steel instead." He wasn't Randolph's only friend lost to inner-city violence. Another was killed during a drive-by shooting a few months ago. "It's so crazy," he said. "He was a drug dealer, and I grew up in that whole scene, so I could easily have gone that way. Playing pedal steel has definitely kept me alive."

• Medeski Martin & Wood
• North Mississippi Allstars

Phish's<BR>Trey Anastasio
Photo: VH1

The nominations for the second annual Jammys were announced Monday, and to no self-respecting jam fan's surprise, Phish lead the pack with six nods.

The Vermont quartet earned the right to compete in the prestigious Jam of the Year category with nominations stemming from May 22 "Ghost/Rock and Roll" jam and their Independence Day ad-libbing on "Gotta Jibboo," according to a spokesperson for the awards show. Phish's 10th LP, Farmhouse, will also compete for Studio Album of the Year against releases by the Disco Biscuits (They Missed the Perfume), Medeski Martin & Wood (The Dropper) and Ratdog (Evening Moods), among others.

Nipping at Phish's fins are moe. and the String Cheese Incident, with five nominations apiece, including moe.'s Dither receiving a nod for Release of the Year and two SCI concerts (July 17 and December 21) vying for Live Performance of the Year.

Presented by Jambands.com, Relix magazine and New York activist center/music club the Wetlands Preserve,..." the Jammys ceremony is scheduled for June 28 at New York's Roseland Ballroom. The Derek Trucks Band will serve as the house band, and additional performers are expected to be announced in the coming weeks, the spokesperson said.

Last year's Jammys were held at Irving Plaza, a smaller venue, and were highlighted by collaborative performances from Frogwings (with blues songstress Susan Tedeschi), Soulive (with guitarist John Scofield) and the Disco Biscuits (with Primus bassist Les Claypool). Winners included Phish, the Disco Biscuits, the Grateful Dead and moe.

"Last year we threw a great party, but this year we're going to step things up," Jambands.com Editor in Chief Dean Budnick and Wetlands owner Peter Shapiro said in a statement. "We will be taking the event to the next level in order to pay due tribute to the majesty and might of improvisational music."

• Phish
• moe.
• The String Cheese Incident
• The Disco Biscuits
• Medeski Martin & Wood

Dave Matthews performs Saturday at the New Orleans Jazz Fest
Photo: Matthew Weber

NEW ORLEANS — To paraphrase former New York Yankee Yogi Berra: No one goes to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival; it's too crowded.

Due to the Saturday appearance of the Dave Matthews Band on the seven-day event's second weekend, the festival set a single-day attendance record of 160,000. This figure shattered the earlier record of 98,000 visitors set in 1998, when Jimmy Buffett appeared, a festival spokesperson said.

While festival organizers may have been elated by this tally, the press of flesh made enjoying the music a challenge, turning a traditionally crowded day at the Fair Grounds into an often frustrating and occasionally frightening experience. Crowds pressing into the Acura Stage area, where Matthews performed, created an immovable mass through which concert-goers could neither enter nor leave.

Matthews is the mainstream manifestation of a diverse array of so-called jam bands that could be heard on and off the Fair Grounds during Jazz Fest's April 27-May 6 run. His two-hour set of love songs set in apocalyptic scenarios were often embellished with "jams" that were more set pieces than actual improvisations. Kicking off with "Two Step," Matthews' show included guest appearances by Lenny Kravitz and Paul Simon.

Kravitz joined him for a version of "All Along the Watchtower" that seemed to portend a Jimi Hendrix musical as arranged by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Simon reprised "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard," which he had performed on the same stage only 24 hours earlier during his own show.

Saturday's other big draw was local rap star Mystikal, who added to the day's frustration by arriving onstage 85 minutes late (10 minutes after his show was scheduled to conclude), keeping thousands of fans waiting in the hot sun. By way of assuaging the increasingly testy audience, a stagehand attributed the delay to a late flight, adding, "Nothin' but love, people, nothin' but love." Mystikal's tardiness was an aberration in a festival that usually runs with military punctuality. When he finally appeared, he was limited to a 30-minute set that included PG versions of such hits as "Danger (Been So Long)." The North Mississippi Allstars, who performed earlier Saturday, distilled the spirit of this year's festival with their knowing fusion of Mississippi Delta blues and its late-'60s psychedelic mutation. Led by Luther and Cody Dickinson, the Allstars performed nearly all of their 2000 album Shake Hands With Shorty, concluding with their famous version of Junior Kimbrough's "All Night Long," which weaves together echoes of the Grateful Dead's version of Bobby "Blue" Bland's "Turn on Your Lovelight" with the Allman Brothers' "Jessica." Medeski Martin & Wood, who performed at the State Palace Theatre Saturday night (across the street from where local groove purveyors Galactic were playing and around the corner from Gov't Mule's Southern-fried wall of sound) were among several jam-oriented groups that haunted Jazz Fest with late-night shows that blended improvised rock and R&B music with local flavor. MM&W, for example, added a local four-piece horn section, giving a brass-band bounce to fractured yet funky compositions standing somewhere outside the jazz or rock categories.

Sunday's diminished crowds came as a relief after the navigational difficulties presented by Saturday's onslaught. The day's big names were almost exclusively local and included 22-year-old rock and R&B improvisers the Radiators, R&B legend Fats Domino, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the timeless Neville Brothers, who closed Jazz Fest as they have for many a year.

It was also a great day to dig into the pleasures of Louisiana Cajun and zydeco music as one great group after another — including Balfa Toujours, Rosie Ledet and the Zydeco Playboys, Nathan & the Zydeco Cha-Chas, and C. J. Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band — hit the corporately branded Sheraton New Orleans Fais Do Do Stage.

Much of their music had an elegiac edge, insofar as 70-year-old zydeco bandleader Wilson "Boozoo" Chavis had died Saturday in Austin, Texas, following a heart attack. Chavis' "Paper in My Shoe" is generally acknowledged as the first modern recording of zydeco, Cajun music's rural Creole relation.

The crowds and corporate logos sometimes suggest that, after 32 years, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival may be a victim of its own success. But it's easy to forgive a festival that also presents such unrecognized talents as South African guitarist Philip Tabane, who turned in a set of spacious avant-traditional sounds Sunday, or that honored Louis Armstrong with a performance as stirring as clarinetist/bandleader Dr. Michael White's Saturday afternoon reanimations of Satchmo's classic Hot 5 and Hot 7 repertoire.

• Dave Matthews Band
• Dave Matthews
• Mystikal
• Lenny Kravitz
• Paul Simon

The Red Hot Organization, whose philanthropic endeavors contribute to AIDS research, will celebrate its 10th anniversary with two additions to its acclaimed series of compilation tribute albums and free downloads of Red Hot tracks both new and old.

On March 13 the organization will release its 13th compilation, Red Hot + Indigo, a tribute to jazz composer/pianist/bandleader Duke Ellington that counts hip-hop combo the Roots, R&B crooner D'Angelo, singer Mary J. Blige, hip-hop duo Black Star, jazz trio Medeski Martin & Wood, post-rockers Tortoise, and electronic duo Propellerheads among its contributors. "We already tackled the others pillars of 20th-century music: [Antonio Carlos] Jobim with Red Hot + Rio, [George] Gershwin with Red Hot + Rhapsody, and Cole Porter with Red Hot + Blue," said Indigo producer Paul Heck. "So we wanted to pay tribute to Ellington as he was the last of those pillars standing." The album will be available exclusively through online retailer Amazon.com until early fall, when it will arrive at offline retail outlets.

Typically for the Red Hot series, the album features many first-time and unexpected collaborations: Black Star, bassist Ron Carter, and Hammond B-3 luminary John Patton join forces on "Money Jungle"; Medeski Martin & Wood's six tracks include collaborations with guitarist Kenny Burrell ("C Jam Blues"), Sex Mob trumpeter Steven Bernstein ("Haunted Nights"), and trombonist Art Baron ("Creole Love Call"); the Roots and D'Angelo - on keyboards - team for Ellington's "Caravan"; and Propellerheads and folk singer Martha Wainwright pair up for "Star-Crossed Lovers." The 17-track album also includes Tortoise's interpretation of "Didjeridoo," from Ellington's 1967 album Afro-Eurasian Eclipse, and Mary J. Blige's solo reading of "Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me." Red Hot + Riot, the oft-delayed, hotly anticipated tribute to Nigerian Afro-beat rebel Fela Kuti, is due later this year. Macy Gray, D'Angelo, the Roots' ?uestlove, rapper Common, Dead Prez, trumpeter Roy Hargrove, and Fela's son Femi will appear on the tribute to Kuti, who died of AIDS-related complications in 1997.

Red Hot is also auctioning off 50 copies of Physiognomy, a collection of photographs taken by Rolling Stone photographer Mark Seliger, each containing a different pictured artist's autograph.

The organization also offers free, full-length MP3 downloads of select songs from the Red Hot catalog at Amazon.com, where listeners can also make contributions to the organization.

Visit redhot.org for more information on the Red Hot Organization.

Following is the track listing for Red Hot + Indigo: 1. Medeski Martin & Wood - "Acht O'Clock Rock"
2. Black Star/Ron Carter/John Patton - "Money Jungle"
3. Mary J. Blige - "Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me"
4. Melky Sedeck - "Mood Indigo"
5. Les Nubians - "Come Sunday"
6. Medeski Martin & Wood/Art Baron - "Creole Love Call"
7. Propellerheads/Martha Wainwright - "Star-Crossed Lovers"
8. The Roots/D'Angelo - "Caravan"
9. Kenny Burrell/Medeski Martin & Wood - "C Jam Blues"
10. Don Byron/Dean Bowman - "Bli Blip"
11. Medeski Martin & Wood - "Mount Harissa"
12. Amel Larrieux - "Sophisticated Lady"
13. Kenny Burrell - "In a Sentimental Mood"
14. Terry Callier - "Satin Doll"
15. Medeski Martin & Wood/Steve Bernstein - "Haunted Nights"
16. Medeski Martin & Wood - "Blue Pepper (Dub)"
17. Tortoise - " Didjeridoo"

• Mary J. Blige
• Medeski Martin & Wood
• Duke Ellington

<i>Red Hot + Indigo</i>

NEW YORK — The Red Hot Organization, whose philanthropic endeavors contribute to AIDS research, will celebrate its 10th anniversary with two additions to its acclaimed series of compilation tribute albums and free downloads of Red Hot tracks both new and old.

On March 13 the organization will release its 13th compilation, Red Hot + Indigo, a tribute to jazz composer/pianist/bandleader Duke Ellington that counts hip-hop combo the Roots, R&B crooner D'Angelo, singer Mary J. Blige, hip-hop duo Black Star, jazz trio Medeski Martin & Wood, post-rockers Tortoise and the electronic duo Propellerheads among its contributors. "We already tackled the others pillars of 20th-century music: (Antonio Carlos) Jobim with Red Hot + Rio, (George) Gershwin with Red Hot + Rhapsody and Cole Porter with Red Hot + Blue," said Indigo producer Paul Heck. "So we wanted to pay tribute to Ellington as he was the last of those pillars standing." The album will be available exclusively through online retailer Amazon.com until early fall, when it will arrive at offline retail outlets.

Typically for the Red Hot series, the album features many first-time and unexpected collaborations: Black Star, bassist Ron Carter and Hammond B-3 luminary John Patton join forces on "Money Jungle"; Medeski Martin & Wood's six tracks include collaborations with guitarist Kenny Burrell ("C Jam Blues"), Sex Mob trumpeter Steven Bernstein ("Haunted Nights") and trombonist Art Baron ("Creole Love Call"); the Roots and D'Angelo — on keyboards — team for Ellington's "Caravan"; and the Propellerheads and folk singer Martha Wainright pair up for "Star Crossed Lovers." The 17-track album also includes Tortoise's interpretation of "Didjeridoo," from Ellington's 1967 album Afro-Eurasian Eclipse, and Mary J. Blige's solo reading of "Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me." Red Hot + Riot, the oft-delayed, hotly anticipated tribute to Nigerian afrobeat rebel Fela Kuti, is due later this year. Macy Gray, D'Angelo, the Roots' ?uestlove, rapper Common, Dead Prez, trumpeter Roy Hargrove and Fela's son Femi will appear on the tribute to Kuti, who died of AIDS-related complications in 1997 (see "Macy Gray, D'Angelo, Others Honor Fela Kuti" for more).

Red Hot is also auctioning off 50 copies of "Physiognomy," a collection of photographs taken by Rolling Stone photographer Mark Seliger, each containing a different pictured artist's autograph.

The organization also offers free, full-length MP3 downloads of songs culled from the entire Red Hot + catalogue at amazon.com/music-redhot, where listeners can also make contributions to the organization.

Visit redhot.org for more information on the Red Hot Organization.

Red Hot + Indigo track list:
1. Medeski Martin & Wood — "Acht O'clock Rock"
2. Black Star/Ron Carter/John Patton — "Money Jungle"
3. Mary J. Blige — "Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me"
4. Melky Sedeck — "Mood Indigo"
5. Les Nubians — "Come Sunday"
6. Medeski Martin & Wood/Art Baron — "Creole Love Call"
7. Propellerheads/Martha Wainwright — "Star-Crossed Lovers"
8. The Roots (featuring D'Angelo on keyboards) — "Caravan"
9. Kenny Burrell/Medeski Martin & Wood — "C Jam Blues"
10. Don Byron/Dean Bowman — "Bli Blip"
11. Medeski Martin & Wood — "Mount Harissa"
12. Amel Larrieux — "Sophisticated Lady"
13. Kenny Burrell — "In a Sentimental Mood"
14. Terry Callier — "Satin Doll"
15. Medeski Martin & Wood/Steve Bernstein — "Haunted Nights"
16. Medeski Martin & Wood — "Blue Pepper (Dub)"
17. Tortoise — "Dijderidoo"

• Mary J. Blige
• Medeski Martin & Wood
• The Roots
• Mos Def
• Talib Kweli

Cue the jazz bunnies.

Playboy, the Hollywood adult-entertainment powerhouse founded by ever-swanky Hugh Hefner and longtime producers of the Playboy Jazz Festival, will soon test record-industry waters with its own jazz label, an imprint of Concord Records. Playboy Jazz plans an array of releases, from live compilations to soundtracks.

The label's first release, due May 8, will be Blonde, the soundtrack to an upcoming CBS miniseries based on the life of the first Playboy magazine centerfold, Marilyn Monroe. The disc features guitarist Kenny Burrell, bassist Ray Brown and trumpeter Roy Hargrove.

In June, the 23rd annual Playboy Jazz Festival will retake its customary residence at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. R&B diva Nancy Wilson, bluesman Keb' Mo', the Afro-Cuban All Stars and Brooklyn trio Medeski Martin & Wood will perform June 16; Soul legend Isaac Hayes, hometown funksters Ozomatli, afrobeat scion Femi Kuti, saxophonist Joe Lovano, bop saxophonist Wayne Shorter and vibist Stefon Harris perform June 17. Comedian Bill Cosby will once again host.

The label also plans to release live compilations culled from previous Playboy Jazz fests. Playboy has been associated with jazz nearly since its 1953 inception, consistently running profiles and reviews alongside the undressed young women who serve as the magazine's raison d'être. On the first page of Playboy's first issue, Hefner wrote that his magazine's ideal reader would be a man who spent his evenings with "music on the phonograph" after "inviting in a female acquaintance for a quiet discussion on Picasso, Nietzsche, jazz, sex." Monroe, of course, was that issue's cover girl.

• Nancy Wilson
• Keb' Mo'
• Afro-Cuban All Stars
• Medeski Martin & Wood

After marking the release of their live acoustic album with a five-night stand in New York, the jazz-influenced jam trio Medeski, Martin & Wood will take its show on the road for a similarly stripped-down tour.

• 4/12 - New York, NY @ Angel Orensanz Theatre
• 4/13 - New York, NY @ Angel Orensanz Theatre
• 4/14 - New York, NY @ Angel Orensanz Theatre
• 4/15 - New York, NY @ Angel Orensanz Theatre
• 4/16 - New York, NY @ Angel Orensanz Theatre
• 4/22 - Auburn, AL @ Auburn University
• 4/29 - Geneva, NY @ Smith Opera House
• 5/1 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 5/2 - Durham, NC @ Carolina Theater
• 5/3 - Atlanta, GA @ Roxy Theater
• 5/5 - Memphis, TN @ Beale St. Music Festival
• 5/6 - New Orleans, LA @ Saenger Theatre
• 5/7 - New Orleans, LA @ Riverboat
• 5/9 - Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall
• 5/10 - St. Louis, MO @ Mississippi Nights
• 5/12 - St. Paul, MN @ The Woman's Club
• 5/13 - Chicago, IL @ Park West
• 5/14 - Detroit, MI @ Clutch Cargo
• 5/17 - Boston, MA @ Jordan Hall
• 5/18 - Boston, MA @ Jordan Hall
• 5/19 - Portland, ME @ State Theater
• 5/20 - Philadelphia, PA @ Zellerbach
• 6/1 - Seattle, WA @ Moore Theater
• 6/2 - Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
• 6/3 - San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theatre
• 6/5 - Oakland, CA @ Yoshi's
• 6/6 - Santa Cruz, CA @ Palookaville
• 6/8 - Anaheim, CA @ Sun Theatre
• 6/9 - San Diego, CA @ 4th & B
• 6/10 - Los Angeles, CA @ Henry Fonda Theater

• Medeski Martin & Wood

With a live acoustic album on the way, jazz fusion jam outfit Medeski, Martin & Wood will give the work a proper send-off with five straight acoustic shows in New York.

• 4/12 - New York, NY @ Angel Orensanz Theatre
• 4/13 - New York, NY @ Angel Orensanz Theatre
• 4/14 - New York, NY @ Angel Orensanz Theatre
• 4/15 - New York, NY @ Angel Orensanz Theatre
• 4/16 - New York, NY @ Angel Orensanz Theatre
• 4/22 - Auburn, AL @ Auburn University
• 5/5 - Memphis, TN @ Beale St. Music Festival
• 5/6 - New Orleans, LA @ Saenger Theatre
• 6/17 - Indianapolis, IN @ Indy Jazz Fest

• Medeski Martin & Wood