Airwaves

by Brian Goslow

Although jazz's new lions get most of the publicity these days, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band attract some of the largest crowds. The venerable institution returns to Worcester on April 18 at Mechanics Hall's newly reopened Great Hall. The show is sponsored by WICN (90.5 FM).

"They're coming up from New Orleans," says WICN jazz director Steve Charbonneau. "They're also going to be in Boston, but we're glad people from Worcester and inside of I-495 don't have to go there to see musicians of this caliber."

Charbonneau's been playing tracks from the group's 1989 recording, Best of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band of New Orleans, La. (Columbia). "It features 22 of their best-known recordings and traditional standards, including `Muskrat Ramble,' `Tiger Rag,' and `The Bucket's Got a Hole in It.'" The material was recorded between 1976 and 1988.

"Every quote and every adjective possible has already been used to describe them," says Charbonneau, who's had the honor of seeing them on their home turf. "It's a gas to see them surrounded by the concoction of everything going on there. They always bring in some new talent because you have to have some regeneration."

For Charbonneau, much of the group's aura is held in their instruments. "They hold the history. When you look at the trap kit of the drummer, it's been moved all over the world. There's soul in those instruments."

The group's latest CD was released earlier this week. Because of You (Sony Classical) was recorded at Ultrasonic Studios in New Orleans in December 1995 and includes the very appropriate "We'll Meet Again." If you're thinking of checking out the show, you might want to pick up tickets in advance. "It's usually a sellout show because there's lots of tradition," says Charbonneau, who adds, fans of traditional jazz should tune into WICN every Thursday at noontime for Riverwalk: Live from the Landing.

Jazz fans with access to the Internet can keep up with "The Worcester Jazz Scene" by visiting www.nesc.org/~dricklin/ worcjazz.html. Don Ricklin does a great job of staying in tune with what's going on in the clubs and concert halls and provides links to area performers (including WPI's various jazz ensembles, the Sonic Explorers, and Troy Nielsen) and Jack Wertheimer's Brownstone Records.

THERE WAS PLENTY OF OUTRAGE last week with word of what is believed to be the first instance of a label purchasing air time to get past a station's playlist. According to the SonicNetMusic News of the World, Interscope Records reportedly paid Portland, Oregon's KUFO-FM $5000 to play Limp Bizkit's "Counterfeit" (from its Three Dollar Bill Y'All CD) 50 times during a five-week period. In this age of broadcast deregulation, which has stripped most stations of their local identity, the move is seen as the first step toward FM radio resembling late-night TV with record industry-purchased "infomercials" introducing new releases.

In the case of Limp Bizkit, who have been selling out 2000 to 3000 capacity halls on their current tour (including a stop at the Palladium), one could argue so-called alternative stations should already be airing their music -- and their absence from the airwaves, along with other equally successful touring groups of the hardcore and metal genre, may be the real reason for the rapidly declining sales of rock music. Unfortunately, if this pay-to-play trend continues, it can be expected Limp Bizkit will be the exception rather than the rule, with painful amounts of worthless music forced upon our eardrums.