Tag Archives: The Band

RIP, Levon Helm

Levon Helm Drumming
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Musician and Actor Levon Helm (Born Mark Lavon Helm), best known as the Drummer for The Band, has passed away on April 19, 2012 after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 71 years old. I was fortunate to see Levon play drums once, during a taping of the the short-lived Sundance TV Show, Spectacle, which was hosted by Elvis Costello. Levon appeared on the Build a Band episode, where he was joined by fellow musical legends such as Nick Lowe, Richard Thompson and Allen Toussaint. What an amazing set those guys put together! The East Portland Blog has an excellent Obit and remembrance of Levon’s life at This Link that’s both heartfelt and extremely compelling. Worth checking out even, or perhaps especially, if you didn’t know much about him. RIP, Levon. You will be missed.

Gail and Jamie’s Rad Adventure at The Apollo!

Spectacle Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello Hosts Spectacle On The Sundance Channel

A few days ago – actually it was the night I returned home from my whirlwind trip to Reunionpalooza in California – I got an email from my friend Jamie inviting me to go see Elvis Costello with her at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. When I first read her email, because I was delirious and not really paying attention, I thought this would be a standard Elvis Costello concert performance. But it turned out that the show we went to last night was a taping for this program called Spectacle, which runs on the Sundance Channel. It’s a regular weekly TV series, hosted by Elvis Costello, where he interviews and performs with various iconic musicians and celebrities. Elton John is the show’s Executive Producer, which explains so much
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