The Star Online: Entertainment: Music
The Star Online: Entertainment: Music |
| Posted: It's hard to dispute that rock and roll and nasty behaviour invariably go hand in hand. AT some point, every rock and roll fan learns that almost all of their heroes are reprehensible people. Thieves, cheats, liars, addicts, hypocrites, rapists and murderers – welcome, one and all, to the rock and roll hall of infamy. I found out about the sordid lives of my favourite rock stars when I was a teenager – which is either the best time or the worst time to discover these things, depending on how you look at it. At that age, I had an insatiable appetite for learning about the dark corners of history. Certainly, popular music is a landmine for that sort of freak show. I remember comparing dirty secrets with my friends: "Did you know that Jerry Lee Lewis married his 13-year-old cousin?" "Oh yeah, well did you know that Jimmy Page worships the devil?" "OK, but did you know that James Brown has been to prison, for armed robbery?" "Well, have you heard about this guy named GG Allin, whose concerts are a mixture of sex, violence and bodily fluids?" Now, this was before Wikipedia or Buzzfeed lists, so these darkly fascinating trivia sessions could go on forever, or at least until our lunch period was over.  Naughty by nature: The late godfather of soul James Brown's tough background was reflected in his personality. As I got older, I became less drawn to the intricate details of horrible behaviour and more interested in why rock and roll was so loaded with bad boys. Was it because of the fame, or the access to drugs, or being surrounded by enablers? Well, sure, none of that helps. But the tradition of musicians being scoundrels didn't begin with the dawn of the rock era. If you wanted, you could trace this back to the heyday of the gypsy musicians, who would travel around Europe, get into trouble in a town and move on to the next one before the situation got too hairy. In rock's more immediate past, however, were blues and country singers who had to be pretty rough and tumble to survive in the world of juke joints and honky tonks. These were music venues where drunken brawls were common place, the audience was with prostitutes and bar owners would often try to cheat their "talent" out of being paid. You had to be kind of a pirate just to exist in this universe, much less have any success. People didn't really aspire to become musicians in these places; these bars were a last refuge for those who had little worth in civilised society. It's fitting that blues legend Robert Johnson has three gravesites and even more stories as to which of his indulgences finally took him down (but that's for another column). Chuck Berry, who made his name in blues clubs, comes from that hard scrabble tradition. On one hand, Berry might be the single, most important figure when it comes to shaping rock and roll. On the other, he has a reputation as one of the nastiest men you could ever meet. As a teenager, he stole a car at gunpoint (and was imprisoned until he turned 21). At the height of his fame, he was convicted of having sex with a 14-year-old girl who worked in a club he owned (and was imprisoned for a couple of years). Decades later, he was sued by all of the female workers at his restaurant because he had installed hidden cameras in the ladies restroom (he settled out of court with the 59 women for more than a million bucks). It's hard to square that awful man with the same guy playing rock and roll classics and duck-walking across the stage with a bright smile plastered across his face. You want to love Chuck Berry, the performer, and you don't even want to know Chuck Berry, the man. But that's what rock and roll forces us to do time and time again. And, eventually, you have to separate the music that you love from the people that disgust you. Because, yes, you can enjoy the Beatles' All You Need Is Love, and think it's abhorrent that John Lennon all-but ignored his young son while preaching to the world about understanding. You can relish the heavy metal hedonism of Motley Crue's hits and not condone that Vince Neil killed one of his friends while driving under the influence. You can absolutely adore the music of Ike Turner, Phil Spector, Keith Moon, Sid Vicious, Ted Nugent, Axl Rose and Eminem, and be completely disgusted by what they've done in their personal lives. Sometimes, that's harder than it sounds – especially because rock and roll is so often an excursion into taboo subjects. It's right in the name of the genre; "rock and roll" is a euphemism for sex, a subject that pop music, its fans and the media are still struggling with (see: Miley Cyrus two weeks ago). You can save yourself a lot of trouble by keeping it simple – enjoy whatever music you want to and stay away from making any rock star your role model. |
| KL International Jazz Festival is next week Posted: A slew of international acts confirmed for the Kuala Lumpur International Jazz Festival, happening next weekend. IT'S going to be one big carnival when the second Kuala Lumpur International Jazz Festival (KLIJF) takes place at the Universiti Malaya grounds on Sept 14. Jazz aficionados can expect a convergence of contemporary jazz, smooth jazz, straight ahead jazz, classic jazz, jazz rock, R&B, swing, funk, classic rock and blues. More than 100 musicians are expected to perform at the annual event, billed as Malaysia's biggest jazz festival. Headliners at the festival are contemporary jazz guitarist and Grammy-award winner Lee Ritenour, and alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, who has been creating ripples in the scene with his brand of fusion jazz. While Ritenour needs no introduction, Mahanthappa is an Italian-born, Canadian-raised, US-residing Indian musician who mixes various genres of music (predominantly Indian) and combines them with the language of jazz to create new form, which is still recognisably jazz. Other international acts slated to perform at the one day event include saxophonist Jessy J, ex-Billy Cobham guitarist Carl Orr from London; progressive jazz rock fusion groups The Subterraneans from Sydney and Kazutoki Umezu Kiki Band from Tokyo; R&B musician eZra Brown from New York and South African vocalist cum songwriter Zamajobe. Homegrown talents performing include veterans Jose Thomas and Jordan Rivers, who are familiar faces in the industry. Others include Cats In Love, UiTM Jazz Ensemble, UCSI Contemporary Ensemble, Ballads & Blues, John Thomas Trio and John Dip Silas. One of the festival highlights is a jazz tribute to the legendary P. Ramlee by The UM Big band led by director of Universiti Malaya's Cultural Centre Professor Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim. To go with the music, there will be booths offering art exhibits, good food, fashion, eco products, kids zone and a hot air balloon show. The KLIJF takes place from 11am to midnight on Sept 14. Festival Village entry tickets are priced at RM60 while All Excess tickets start from RM138. All Excess ticket holders are entitled to the village stages as well as all indoor shows at Dewan Tunku Chancellor. Tickets are available from www.tickethotline.com.my or by calling 03-7725 1177. Log on to www.klinternationaljazz.com for more information. |
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