Program - Dan Zanes and Friends (Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 2 p.m.)
Contents
Introduction
The program will be announced at the performances.
Worldwide Tour Management, Pomegranate Arts.
Dan Zanes and Friends spring 2005 tour is sponsored by Bright Horizons Family Solutions.
Hancher Auditorium thanks:
- Peggy Scholz and The Wallace Foundation
- Media support from Iowa City Press-Citizen
- Picnic supported by Hy-Vee Food Store, Iowa City, Waterfront Drive
for support of Dan Zanes and Friends.
The generous support of our sponsors enables Hancher Auditorium to bring the world's finest performing artists to our region.
Cast
Dan Zanes and Friends, featuring
- Colin Brooks: drums
- Barbara Brousal: guitar, mandolin, vocals
- Rachelle Garniez: accordion, vocals
- Cynthia Hopkins: accordion, saw, vocals
- Yoshi Waki: bass
- and special guest Rankin Don a.k.a. Father Goose: vocals
Note from Dan Zanes
Hello Friends,
Thank you for coming out to sing, dance and laugh with us. I hope that when you look up at the stage and see the band throwing themselves into these songs you can picture yourself making music too. It could be a couple of neighbors on the front steps stamping their feet and clapping their hands to "Miss Mary Mack"; it could be a mother teaching her daughter two chords on the banjo (or maybe the daughter's doing the teaching); it could be a gang of three-year-olds holding hands and dancing in a circle while someone's father tries to make it through a Grateful Dead song on guitar; it could be a second grader and a teenager rapping over the sound of the local beat boxers while a grandmother plays the cuatro.
Whatever shape it takes, music is easy to make, it's fun, and it brings people together. Thank you for joining in today. I hope that when you leave here you keep on making some music of your own.
I'll be listening.
Love,
Dan Zanes
About the Artists
Dan Zanes was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1961, and spent time being a kid, first, in Texas and then in Fredericton, New Brunswick, where he can still remember enjoying ice hockey and Gordon Lightfoot. He ended up living on the edge of Concord, New Hampshire, where there were ponds and fields, and where today his mom, a photographer, still runs a soup kitchen.
He picked up the guitar when he was eight and began taking Leadbelly records out of the public library as soon as he was old enough to get a library card; according to his mother, "He was always very musical." But it was not until one night in junior high school while babysitting at a house that had some old Chuck Berry records that he fell in love with rock and roll. He was soon in a rock and roll band, the name of which he declines to recall, and when he won a scholarship to Phillips Academy, in Andover, Massachusetts, he was in another band for "about five minutes."
In 1981, Dan went off to Oberlin College in Ohio, where his number one goal was to start a really cool band. In the breakfast line on the very first day at Oberlin, he met Tom Lloyd. Zanes and Lloyd took their breakfast back to the dorm and right then and there started a band and soon left school and headed to Boston ("It was between Boston and Austin," according to Zanes), where they became known as the Del Fuegos. The Del Fuegos played in lofts, bars, small art galleries, clubs, barns, college dining halls, fraternity houses, gymnasiums, auditoriums, and, finally, big theaters.
Rolling Stone named the Del Fuegos "Best New Band" in 1984. Once, Bruce Springsteen jumped on stage to play "Hang on Sloopy" with them. As a Del Fuego, Zanes made several records—The Longest Day (1984), Boston, Mass (1985), Stand Up (1987), Smoking in the Fields (1989)—and had a hit single, Don't Run Wild. In 1987, Zanes married Paula Greif, the director of the video for the Del Fuegos song, "I Still Want You."
In 1991, after the Del Fuegos had broken up, Zanes and his wife moved to Cornwallville, N.Y. in the Catskills. There, Zanes grew chard, chopped firewood, and listened to a lot of gospel groups from the forties and fifties, including some of his favorites, Dorothy Love Coates, The Swan Silvertones and The Five Blind Boys from Alabama. He learned how to record music on his own and made a solo album called Cool Down Time.
When he and his wife, Paula, had a baby, they all moved back to New York City. Dan subsequently began playing music with a bunch of fathers that he had run into on West Village playgrounds while they were all playing with and/or standing around and watching their kids. The fathers playing music together eventually became The Wonderland String Band, which played at parks and parties and on a tape of songs that Zanes started to record at home.
The tape was a hit locally—i.e. on the playgrounds where he and his daughter played—and Zanes realized that he liked making music that families could enjoy together, as opposed to music that is just for kids or just for adults. So, he added a small number of women to his band ("I realized I was ignoring half my audience," he recalls), renamed it the Rocket Ship Revue, and began making a full-fledged homemade CD, enlisting the help of some people he'd met when he was a Del Fuego—Sheryl Crow, Suzanne Vega, and Simon Kirke, the drummer for Bad Company, for instance.
The CD, Rocket Ship Beach, was also a hit. The New York Times Magazine called it "cool," and added, "Mostly, though, Zanes kids' music works because it is not kids music; it's just music—music that's unsanitized, unpasteurized, that's organic even." The second album, Family Dance (2001) is comprised of dance songs from a wide variety of musical traditions and features Loudon Wainwright III and Roseanne Cash. The third recording, Nighttime! (2002) is a little bit more mellow, maybe not bedtime music but at the very least dinner music; on it, Dan collaborated with Aimee Mann, Lou Reed, John Doe, Dar Williams, and others.
The most recent CD in the family series is House Party (2003), a rambunctious 20-song collection with a diverse instrumentation that, in addition to the usual guitars, banjos, upright bass and drums, includes such wild instruments as tuba, accordion, pump organ, djembe and saw. It's an album brimming with songs—the way a house party brims with people—in part because Dan invited friends and neighbors and all kinds of people to drop in and play and sing. Some of the people who ended up dropping by are: Deborah Harry, Angelique Kidjo, Grateful Dead's Bob Weir, English folksinger David Jones, and Philip Glass, as well as the Rubí Theater Company, and Rankin' Don (a.k.a. Father Goose).
More than a single celebratory event, House Party evokes a state of mind, indeed a whole worldview—or at least how Dan was feeling right after the party was over, just before he went to bed. Either way, Dan is hoping that people will feel the way he feels about getting together and making music after they hear House Party. He calls it "the musical version of the world I want to see all around me," which is pretty much an all-inclusive world filled with friends and gatherings and gardens and lots of fun and food and, of course, music. House Party has been nominated for a Grammy in the "Musical Album for Children" category.
2004 was the year of the Folk Series. Sea Music was released in the spring with a little trepidation on Dan's part. "I felt that this was possibly our most soulful record but was concerned that there would be a bit of mutiny, if you'll pardon the expression, when people saw that it was a collection of traditional maritime songs including drinking, drowning, homesickness, and talking fish." The reaction has been completely positive, a further testament to the idea that Dan's fans may be as interested in new handmade versions of beautiful old songs as he is. Sea Music also appeared in the Rolling Stone Hot Issue under the heading "Hot Maritime Sounds" quite possibly the first time a record of songs from the golden age of sail has been honored in that magazine.
The second CD in the series, Parades and Panoramas: 25 Songs Collected by Carl Sandburg for The American Songbag, was released in the fall of 2004. It's a modern, folk record based on the classic 1927 songbook. Dan and his usual scruffy troupe of singers and musicians drag these old time songs kicking and screaming into the 21st century—with acoustic arrangement, with traditional instruments, with tuba driven electric guitars. It's folk music for the un-folked; traditional music for rock-n-rollers. It's music appropriate for all ages, though adults and teenagers may not want to share.
Parades and Panoramas is packaged with a 60-page full color booklet which includes lyrics, chords, Carl Sandburg's writings about the songs, additional thoughts by Dan Zanes, and wild historical photos of American musicians from the turn of the last century. It has been featured on NPR's "All Things Considered" and "The Diane Rehm Show."
The Dan Zanes story had a lot to do with a rock and roller who started a label for family music, brought funny guests into the mix, sold a lot of records, and toured the country with his spirited and soulful band. Now the story has evolved as the music has evolved. In the process of digging up old songs for the family music CDs (while writing many new ones it should be said) Dan has rediscovered the traditional music that was so inspirational to him when he was growing up. It's being turned on its head and brought into the new century as he and his musical comrades take the songs from the past and sing and dance them into the musical future as a shared experience for people of all ages.
2005 is going to be another busy year. A concert/video collection DVD is scheduled for a fall release. Little, Brown and Company Books is releasing Jump Up, the second book collaboration from Dan and artist Donald Saaf in September. Additionally there is the release of two Festival Five projects, a boxed set of the first four CDs to be released in the fall, and a new family CD tentatively titled Social Music to be released in early 2006. Despite the hectic production schedule, Dan will be sure to make time to hang around and play banjo with his friends and neighbors.
Colin Brooks (drums) began playing drums at seven years of age. Growing up in Little Rock, Arkansas, his interest in music was cultivated by a supportive family and the Little Rock community. By age 14, Colin was playing drums professionally in the band The Numskulz. In 1998, Colin moved to New York City and joined the band Skeleton Key, which appeared on the television series "Trinity," and toured Europe with the band Primus. After touring Europe, Colin toured Australia and New Zealand with singer Bic Runga. Since his move to NYC, Colin has played with singers such as Dana Fuchs, Serena Jost, and with the band Betty. In addition, Colin played in the off-Broadway musical Betty Rules. He has just returned from a seven-week tour of North America with his chamber-pop combo Sea Ray. He is grateful to his family and to his hometown for being so encouraging and would like to thank Dan Zanes and Friends for having him along.
Barbara Brousal (guitar, mandolin, vocals) is a singer and songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York who has performed with the Grammy-nominated folk group Dan Zanes and Friends since its inception. She has released three CDs of original material, Breathing Down Your Neck (1996), Pose While It Pops (2000) and Just About Perfect (2002). Her songs have appeared on the soap opera "One Life to Live" and the independent films Hold This and Manic. She composed the music for the play Brooklyn Bridge which had its premiere at The Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis in January, 2005.
Rachelle Garniez (accordion, vocals) is a native New Yorker, who writes and performs music in a wide variety of situations. She has released three CDs with her band, the Fortunate Few, and works regularly with artists such as choreographer Keely Garfield, aerialist Chelsea Bacon, guitarist Marvin Sewell, and violinist Jenny Scheinman among others.
Cynthia Hopkins (accordion, saw, vocals) is a creator and performer of unique music/theater projects featuring her band, Gloria Deluxe. These include Accidental Nostalgia (an operetta about the pros and cons of amnesia) which is currently touring nationwide; Must Don't Whip 'Um, a prequel to Accidental Nostalgia which is currently being created with a premiere planned for 2006-07; and Helping My Father Move, a piece commissioned by Dance Theater Workshop which will premiere in April 2006. In addition to creating full-length pieces of her own, Ms. Hopkins has worked as a composer, musician and performer for many projects, including Big Dance Theater's Another Telepathic Thing (for which she won an 2000 OBIE award for performance and a 2001 Bessie award for composition) and Song Before Love Songs, a composition commissioned by Bang on a Can which premiered in February 2005. For more information about these projects and/or the band Gloria Deluxe, which has produced five full-length albums and plays in venues around the country, please visit www.gloriadeluxe.com.
Rankin Don a.k.a. Father Goose (vocals) recalls that when he was a young boy his sister was persistent that he should be involved with music. Being too young to go to the clubs and fetes, his first experiences and interactions with music was using a mic and singing covers. He was already an underground superstar in Jamaica and Brooklyn when Notorious Bugs from Gyasi Record Label urged him to record for the mainstream. Soon after, he recorded the big hit "Baddest DJ," which sold over 100,000 copies in the U.S. and abroad. A year after, the "Real McCoy" was released and sold over 250,000 copies. He also recorded "The Big Race" with Roundhead, Screchie Don, General B, and Baja Jedd, and has performed with the best of the best, including, Freddie McGregor, Gregory Isaacs, 2002 Grammy nominee Beres Hammond and past Grammy award winners Shabba Ranks, Shaggy and Beenie Man. He is now a producer for Rock Tower Studios, known for its rich history in the foundation of reggae music. In his other life as Father Goose, he appears on all four CD releases by Dan Zanes.
Yoshi Waki (bass) was born in Fukuoka, Japan, and began to play jazz bass at age 20. Over the next few years, he emerged as a sought-after accompanist, with regular appearances at jazz clubs in Tokyo. In 1996, he moved to Boston to study at Berklee College of Music, where he was given an Outstanding Performer Award. After graduation, he went on tour for two years with the national tour company of Fosse. Yoshi currently lives in Brooklyn, New York and plays and tours with various groups in the city. Yoshi performed with George Benson, Cindy Blackman, Gary Burton, Terri Lyne Carrington, Mike Clark, Hal Crook, George Garzone, Horasio Hernandez, John Lithgow (Perfectly Ridiculous), Rick Margitza, Ben Monder, Nashua Symphony Orchestra, National Youth Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, Tiger Okoshi, John Scofield, Bob Sheppard, Steve Turre, among others.
Dan Zanes and Friends Worldwide Representation
Pomegranate Arts
Tel. 212/228-2221
Fax 212/475-0004
info@pomarts.com
www.pomegranatearts.com
Pomegranate Arts
- Linda Brumbach, Director
- Alisa Regas, Associate Director
- Kaleb Kilkenny, Business Manager
- Jim Woodard, Senior Tour Manager
- Sarah Engelman, Dan Zanes and Friends' Tour Manager
- Kelly Kivland, Associate
Press Agents
Sacks & Co., NYC, Carla Sacks, Blake Zidell, Anand Wilder
Business Management
Peter Wright/Virtual Label LLC
Record Label
Festival Five Records (tel. 718/222.2442)
Special thanks to Dave Shaby, Mary Schofield, and all our friends at Bright Horizons Family Solutions, www.brighthorizons.com.
© 2003-2005
The University of Iowa Center for Macular Degeneration
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