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Matt Jaffe hits his stride with Undertoad – picking up where David Bowie left off

March 11, 2021

Matt Jaffe has hit his stride with his latest album, Undertoad. I have been following Jaffe since he was 14 and playing hugely good guitar at a house concert series in Northern California and have been waiting for this album since then. At the age of 16 he was discovered by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads and together they produced his first album. Seven good albums later, Undertoad has positioned him for the very big time. With 7 sophisticated songs that transcend the boundaries of rock and create an urgent universe of their own. Undertoad opens with “Broken Flowers” , a song that makes you sway, cry, and think as its hypnotic guitar and his high-pitched but perfectly modulated voice carry you into a Leonard Cohen-like cinematic world, but with a rock beat. Keeping up the energy in “Punch Drunk Love” Jaffe moves the pitch even higher, while staying smooth and addictive as he spins out a tale we all know. He stays in the deep emotional narrative mode with “Beacon in the [Read More]

The success of Binx: a case study in hard work, persistence and talent.

November 14, 2019

By Patrick O’Heffernan It is no secret that hard work and persistence are just as important as talent for success in today’s music world. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of very talented singers, musicians, and bands playing weekends in small clubs all over the country while they focus on their jobs during the week. Some, like the Wohl Band from Guadalajara, will succeed beyond weekend gigs, but most of them will move on in their profession and music will remain a weekend pleasure for them and their audiences. The artists that succeed are the ones who are not only superbly talented but spend almost every waking moment (and some sleeping moments) writing, arranging, playing, performing and recording music. They find a day job in the music industry that lets them learn, connect, and grow musically as well as pay the bills. They work to take – or create – every opportunity to introduce new audiences to their talent, and to hone and grow their art and expand their fan base as they [Read More]

“Oidos” byNancy Sanchez and Madame Recamier: breaks your heat and moves your feet

June 25, 2019

Patrick O’Heffernan (Los Angeles) “Oidos”, a collaboration between LA-based jazz singer and mariachi artist Nancy Sanchez and Mexico-based pop singer Madame Recamier is what I call a triple threat song – it fills your heart with emotion and your ears with pleasure while it makes you dance. “Tengo miedo de quererte tanto” they sing – I am afraid of loving you so much. We have all been there – an awkward romance that is just beginning, or is not quite reciprocated, or is moving too fast. It becomes the center of your focus, the single point of your emotional life. But it is hard – “Si me miras, alumbras mis pasos” – if you look at me, my steps light up. How can you give that up, no matter how afraid you are being hurt? The music answers the question: dance. Energizing our ears with the baile hupango – the dance music of Vera Cruz – Sanchez and Recamier sweep us along. Our hearts may be uncertain, but our feet know what [Read More]

Resiste by Eljuri: amazing music in a career of amazing music.

May 19, 2019

Patrick O’Heffernan I have been sitting with Eljuri’s new album Resiste for a couple of weeks, listening to it over and over. There is so much here – so many layers of music and meaning, so satisfying and yet so intriguing. Built around Eljuri’s guitar mastery and hypnotic voice and subtitled La Colección Reggae de ELJURI, the album blends reggae, heart, joy, at times otherworldliness, and irrepressible dance rhythms. It is simply spectacular. “Reggae music unites us… it takes away your troubles and makes you feel good” Cecilia Villar Eljuri says, pointing to the global love for the music of Jamaica and its ability to get people on their feet together regardless of their antagonisms. But this is who she is: born in Guayaquil Ecuador and raised in New York City, she moves naturally among cultures, languages, and genres, pulling together people in her wake. She spins out songs that that mirror the experiences of her life and, increasingly, of so many others. One of the top Latinx guitar players in the world, [Read More]

Muchachito vibrates Eastside Luv Wednesday night in a “total hoot”

April 8, 2019

Patrick O’Heffernan ( Boyle Heights) eights, CA) HEastside Luv Wine Bar, one of the focal points of the Mexican-American culture in LA, was vibrated down to its foundation Wednesday night by a Spaniard, Muchachito Bombo Infierno. Standing at the end of the bar with his personalized acoustic guitar and an amplified zapeteado platform, he bought his frenetic energy, stomping rhythms and howling humorous lyrics to the raised stage of ESL’s long bar. It was a not-to-be-forgotten night – or, as one fan said to me, a total hoot. Presented by Sunset Eclectico, la’s homegrown Latino fusion music, arts and dance promotor credited for bringing such talents as Flor Amargo and Mono Sound to La audiences, Muchachito put on a nonstop, rocket-fueled show that lasted forever – actually around 2 hours – and migrated from the stage to the dance pole at the other end of the bar and down to the floor where he sang, stomped, and laughed, surrounded by a forest of flashing cellphones. Muchachito (Jairo Perera) started as a singer and guitarist [Read More]

Amanda Abizaid smoothly shifts to gentle jazz Upstairs at Vitello’s.

March 26, 2019

Patrick O’Heffernan (Studio City, CA) I have seen Amanda Abizaid live twice, once at the Irish-themed rock club Molly Malone’s in the Fairfax district of LA and last week at Upstairs at Vitello’s jazz club in Studio City, a celebrity enclave just over the hill from Hollywood. Same songs, same orchestration, but different feels – both very entertaining. Abizaid is a tall, honey blond, green-eyed singer/songwriter originally from Lebanon but ensconced in LA for years. She was backed at Upstairs at Vitello’s by a new band working with her for the evening that was down-to earth and rock solid. As with all of her music it included Middle Eastern instruments like the saz (long-necked mandolin), and hand and frame drums. There was also a percussion rack with a collection of hanging metal devices whose names I do not know but whose sounds work really well. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, to an American mother and a Mexican/Lebanese father, she traveled the Middle East and Europe with her family until she was ten years [Read More]

SISSTER wows LA at the release party for her debut self-titled EP; San Diego’s is next, then the world.

February 11, 2019

Patrick O’Heffernan (Los Angeles) SISSTER wowed a n LA audience when she released her self-titled EP last week and demonstrated why she is so popular and so beloved. You could feel the love in the air at the Sunset Blvd multi-venue Los Globos when SISSTER strode onstage. Barely reaching my chin but with the power to fill a room with sound, the brilliant soloist, singer and composer from Chula Vista, California, blew the roof off of the club as she belted, wailed, and sailed through a kinetic nine-song set list and then came back for an encore. Produced by LA’s prolific The Living Sessions promotion group, the event was the LA release party for her new CD, Sisster – she has also scheduled a San Diego area party on Feb. 23 at Chula Vista’s Manhattan Bar. The diverse audience that crowded into the main venue at Los Globos were treated to an unforgettable experience, both in its musical power and prowess, but in SISSTER’s refreshing ability to connect lovingly and honestly with her [Read More]