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The "All-Star Tribute to Johnny Cash" is part of TNT's Master
Series, which debuted last year with "Burt Bacharach: One Amazing
Night." Additional artists will be added to the lineup in the near
future, though it's uncertain whether the Man in Black will climb
out of the audience and play himself. Cash, who suffers from a
degenerative nervous system disease and is currently recuperating
from a bout with pneumonia, does hope to go back into the studio in
March to begin work on his third album with producer Rick
Rubin . . .
Jewel, who is now identified on press releases as
poet, best-selling author, actress and, oh yeah, multiplatinum
recording artist, expanded her weighty resume last night at a New
York press fete with the announcement of her new charity, Higher
Ground For Humanity. The brainchild of Jewel's
mother/manager/look-alike Nedra Carroll, HGH aims
to promote "global community and individual action to inspire
positive change," with funds to be dished out to various
humanitarian organizations. Jewel will spread the HGH gospel at a
series of benefit concerts sponsored by Vogue magazine,
which hosted the festivities. The first show will be in Aspen,
Colo., this Friday (Jan. 22), and will be taped for a VH1 special
airing March 6 . . .
Some might call it karma, others a post-modern version of "the dog
ate my homework," but either way, we have to admit that we had to
stifle a chuckle at news that Rob Garza, frontman
of ambient-electro combo the Thievery Corporation
claims to have been robbed at gunpoint over the weekend -- with the
baddies absconding with sizable portions of the band's forthcoming
second album.
Garza allegedly was leaving his girlfriend's apartment in
Washington, D.C.'s Adams-Morgan neighborhood on Saturday (Jan. 16)
morning when he was approached by an armed man who demanded he
surrender all his valuables. Since the
producer/multi-instrumentalist falls into the dreaded "critically
acclaimed" category, he wasn't able to cough up much in the way of
actual cash. Nevertheless, Garza is feeling a hole in his
pocketbook, since he'll have to re-enter the studio in order to
re-record masters for the as-yet-untitled disc, which was slated to
be released in March. Diehard fans -- or those who're feeling
charitable enough to toss a few extra bucks to the Thievery boys --
can assuage themselves with the soon-to-be-issued Abductions
and Reconstructions, an album featuring Garza remixes of
tracks by David Byrne, Rockers Hi
Fi and a host of others. Our irony desk suggests that the
weekend's events might prompt Garza to try a re-christening in
order to change his luck. Might we suggest "The Guy Who Found A Big
Bag of Unmarked Bills on the Sidewalk"? . . .
To date, 1999 has not been a banner year for Chicago. First, the
Windy City gets buried beneath two feet of snow; then
Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen
and Dennis Rodman bolt from the Bulls; and now --
as the least of three evils -- Frank Orrall,
leader of hometown Poi Dog Pondering, has divided
the group as wide as Moses did the Red Sea. Orrall sent a note via
the band's Internet listserv explaining that Poi Dog needs to go
through some changes. "There is a feeling when an entire group is
on the same musical page and everything is flowing forward -- and
we enjoyed that for years -- unfortunately that feeling has been
lost," he wrote. Poi Dog, the eleven-piece "rock orchestra" that's
hosted U2-sized crowds in the Chicago area, was whittled down to a
mere five members earlier this week, leaving space for, among other
positions, a guitarist, bassist and drummer. Fans needn't worry: A
source close to the group promises that, in addition to their
forthcoming album, Natural Thing, hitting stores on April
20, Poi Dog will play a series of shows at Chicago's Vic Theater to
bid farewell to this current lineup of musicians . . .
The RSN Staff (Jan. 21, 1999)
- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC.
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