Let It Rock
Folk acts going electric is a story as old as 1965, when Bob Dylan stunned purists by recording half of his fourth release, Bringing It All Back Home, with — of all things — an ornery bunch of rock and rollers. That year, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band joined him…
Static
Introducing Avitiapalooza… If Tony Avitia hasn’t already clinched the title of Houston’s underground Bill Graham, he’s on his way to earning it. An Avitia-backed show is something of an event these days, thanks to the success of the annual showcases that feature acts on his local Broken Note label. Recently,…
Rotation
Grant Lee Buffalo Copperopolis Slash/Reprise Copperopolis is hardly the triumphant, back-to-the-wall effort you’d expect from Grant Lee Buffalo after 1994’s Mighty Joe Moon, a frequently brilliant near miss. If Mighty Joe Moon was the sonic equivalent of an all-you-can-eat buffet — garishly beautiful in its melodic and structural bravado –…
Tori’s Story
Plenty of songwriters draw upon low points in personal relationships to churn up their creative juices. Tori Amos, however, tends to take it a step further. She not only churns up memories of past partners and their actions, she disembowels them, tossing their remains against the wall before standing back…
Not the Same Old Junkies
It’s been a while, but the four members of Cowboy Junkies can actually say that they feel like a band again. For a long time, the instrument playing members of the Canadian group best known for its droning remake of Lou Reed’s “Sweet Jane” retreated into the shadows behind the…
Shiny Happy Creatures
In 1991, when she appeared on the Houston art scene as a Glassell School of Art Core Fellow, sculptor Sharon Engelstein’s knack for distinguishing herself in group shows quickly earned her recognition as a rising star. “Shiny and New” at Texas Gallery is her first major show in Houston in…
Woman to Woman
Too often, the term “black theater” conjures up some sepia-toned memory of Raisin in the Sun or A Soldier’s Play, works about the unavoidable oppression of poverty and ethnicity that focus on the African-American experience through the lens of the lower class. While there’s no arguing that an impoverished setting…
Hail the Cabbie
Just a few hours after John W. Hinckley Jr. tried to gatecrash his way into history by shooting President Ronald Reagan, the Associated Press reported that the would-be assassin was already claiming extenuating circumstances: the movies made him do it. According to an AP news bulletin, Hinckley was obsessed with…
Sleeping Dream
The litmus test for a successful story ballet often lies in the choreographer’s ability to hold onto the thread of the tale and let it pilot the dance. In this regard, the Houston Ballet’s current production of The Sleeping Beauty has to be judged a considerable success. Ballet Artistic Director…
Watch out, stock market,, here come the SOES BANDITS
It’s 8:15 on a Wednesday morning, and while much of Houston is still struggling to survive the rush-hour traffic, the SOES bandits of the Galleria are already prepared to make a killing. They’re cheek to jowl in front of banks of computers jammed into an office suite just above Lord…
Big Bang Theory
Don Simpson is gone — he died last January at 52, the victim of prodigious self-indulgence — but, as The Rock indicates, his influence lingers on. Along with partner and fellow producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Simpson established a signature style for splashy Hollywood products with such ’80s box-office behemoths as Beverly…
Old and Rare
The last time that Colleen Urbanek forgot where she was, she was walking across her parking lot, on the way to the mailbox. The sun was bright and the breeze was cool, and she couldn’t help herself. She said to the first person she met, “Isn’t this a beautiful day?”…
The Bender Difference
The irony of his second career isn’t lost on Richard Bender. “Until recently, a lot of firms would use outside resources when they had to downsize,” Bender explains. “I went into companies that were in trouble and had hired my consulting firm. Basically, what I would do is line the…
The Insider
Bettiismo and Anti-Bettiismo FBI sting hostess Betti Maldonado’s Port Authority ship may be taking on water rapidly, what with Mayor Bob Lanier and others musing aloud about the possibility of replacing her as the city’s representative on the commission. But Maldonado isn’t going down without a fight, judging by a…
Into the Den of Stockmania
For just a moment, it seemed as if there might be at least one good man laboring at Congressman Steve Stockman’s political sweatshop-cum-residence when I dropped in last week for an unannounced visit. Several raps on the front door had summoned a lanky young African-American volunteer named Booker T. Stallworth…
Letters
In Wrestling, There Is Hope Thank you, Jim Sherman, for a loving look back on the good old days of pro wrestling. [“Roots Rasslin’,” May 23]. As a kid, my family moved to Houston back in ’71. Within days of arriving, I discovered Paul Boesch’s Houston wrestling show. From then…
Press Picks
thursday june 13 George Lopez The hot Los Angeles comic has a three-day gig here, and if you can’t catch his act, you can pick up his new CD, Alien Nation. All weekend, the hard-working, socially conscious Lopez presents his pro-Latino gags, stuff universal enough to earn high ratings on…
Crawfish Tales
A woman I know claims to be a true expert in all that’s proper and good with crawfish done right. And according to her, Itz All Good on Cullen Boulevard can give the best mudbug palaces in Houston a run for their money. Having eaten there a few times myself…
Chefs’ Defection
Comings and goings: About the time that the Press’ recent review of benjy’s hit the streets, executive chef Dennis Boitnott left the employ of that young cafe to concentrate on his business of making fresh pastas and supplying them wholesale to restaurants. Owner Benjamin Levit calls Boitnott’s leaving a “friendly…