Boy am I in a frenzy! I mentioned last week that Reservoir Music is moving to 711 Route 28, just east of the Hickory Barbecue, and the preparations have my head spinning! And we haven’t even started to actually move yet! Stop by our original spot at 3179 Route 28 in the next two weeks for great moving sale bargains! I’m lowballing anything I don’t have to move.

As you might have guessed from my live music picks from two weeks ago, and the picture I ran with last week’s column online (at www.reservoirmusiccenter.com and www.hvmusic.com), I went down to the city to see my old friend’s in Bobby Keys and The Sufferin’ Bastards, and they did not disappoint! For those of you who somehow missed my column from two weeks ago, or just plain don’t know who Bobby Keys is, he’s the sax player from a little combo called The Rolling Stones. Never an official member of the group, Bobby has nevertheless played on every Stones’ album since 1969 (except for a brief leave of absence from 1975 to 1979) and has been on every Stones’ tour since 1970! But that’s far from all! Bobby also played the immortal sax part on John Lennon’s “Whatever gets you Through the Night”, George Harrison’s “What is Life”, and the blazing sax solo on Dion’s “The Wanderer”. In his spare time, he also guested on albums by The Who, Delaney and Bonnie, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen, Harry Nilsson, Leo Sayer, Ringo Starr, Carly Simon, Dr. John, Marvin Gaye, Lynrd Skynrd, Faces, and other albums with members of The Beatles! Plus he played the baritone sax part on Elvis’ “Return to Sender”! And really, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The guy hit the road with Bobby Vee in 1956 at the age of 15, joined Buddy Holly within a year, and never looked back! Bobby Keys has been a touring musician at the highest levels of the music world since 1956! Is there anyone he hasn’t played with?

Well, anyway, we went down there and the opening act seemed pretty good until Bobby and his troupe of top shelf musician’s started their set. The band included members of The Georgia Satellites, John Fogerty Band, Lynrd Sknrd, The Black Crowes, and The Brooklyn Cowboys, and they rocked their way through a selection of Bobby Keys’ greatest hits – “Brown Sugar”, “Whatever gets you Through the Night”, “The Wanderer”, “Can’t you Hear me Knockin’”, “What is Life” and many, many more. A splendid time was had by all!

And speaking of The Rolling Stones, word has it that their 50^th anniversary tour will be postponed until 2013. Apparently, Charlie didn’t join up until ’63, so that’s their official birthday! In other Stones’ news, Mick and Keith both stuck their toes in the water last month, Keith performing with Eric Clapton and others for the “Howling for Hubert” benefit at The Apollo Theater, and Mick by playing at The White House for President Obama’s tribute to The Blues. Really Mick, The White House? While Keith was at The Apollo? Well, therein lies the keys to their separate personalities!

Anyway, we’d better get busy with this week’s live music picks, cause it’s a busy week for music! Dear readers, did you know that there are approximately 350 - 400 musical events each week in the New York City area alone? That’s not even counting the Hudson Valley and the Capital Region, all of which I must report on in order to keep my readers informed! That’s a lot of sortin’ just to come up with the dozen or so shows I recommend, but I do it because I care! So, here we go.

Thursday, March 22 – Peaking band THE BLACK KEYS are at Madison Square Garden, and the MARLEY BROTHERS, Stephen, Damian, and Julian are at the Best Buy Theater in Times Square. Up in the Hudson Valley, way up, Pete Jacobs and his band of Berklee students, DIRTY BLIND, open for JEFFERSON STARSHIP at The Oneonta Theater.
Friday, March 23 – Tonight it would be nice to be able to split oneself into two or three people to catch all the great music happening this evening. BERNIE WORRELL, major player in the ParliaFunkadelicment thang and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, brings his BERNIE WORRELL ORCHESTRA with special guest Jimmy Destri from Blondie, into The Brooklyn Bowl. Besides his historic work with Parliament-Funkadelic, Bernie’s played and recorded with Talking Heads, Public Image, Ltd., Keith Richards, and a whole host of A-list others. If you’re nearby, go! FIONA APPLE is at The Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight. I love Fiona Apple! Her song “Criminal” is a desert island disc for me! Frontman RHETT MILLER of Americana group The Old 97’s stops in at the City Winery and CITIZEN COPE, one of the better newer, younger artists of the last decade, makes his first appearance at Carnegie Hall. Moving upstate, we have Woodstock’s own LEVON HELM at the Tarrytown Music Hall for the first of two nights. Continuing up the Hudson, ALEXIS P. SUTER returns to The Falcon in Marlborough, and at The Bearsville Theater the OFFICIAL BLUES BROTHERS REVUE, endorsed by John Belushi’s widow, brings their mix of comedy and RnB to Woodstock. Finally, up in Hudson, AVONDALE AIRFORCE pulls into Club Helsinki. Now, I’ve never heard this band, but Peter Aaron knows his music, so this should be at the very least, pretty good.
Saturday, March 24 – LEVON finishes his weekend at Tarrytown Music Hall, SIMONE FELICE BAND is at The Falcon, and THE FAB FAUX are at The Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ. Also, at The Bearsville Theater, the REGGAE SPRING JAM DANCE PARTY, featuring a mix of live bands and DJ’s, will dub the house.
Sunday, March 25 – Legendary reggae group, TOOTS AND THE MAYTALS are at The Brooklyn Bowl for the first of two shows.
Monday, March 26 – The lovely and talented FIONA APPLE brings her show to The Bowery Ballroom in Manhattan. I already told you that I love her!
Tuesday, March 27 – TOOTS AND THE MAYTALS are back at The Brooklyn Bowl for a second night, and BB King’s will be hosting a CELEBRATION OF SUN RECORDS 60^th ANNIVERSARY featuring ROBERT GORDON and the band from the Broadway show, MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET.

And of course, THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND is still at The Beacon Theater in Manhattan, finishing up their annual three week run this week.

The weather is beautiful and the nights are rockin, so get out and support live music.

Have a great week!

Fred Perry is the owner of Reservoir Music Center on Route 28 in Shokan, and founding member of Alt-Country supergroup, The Brooklyn Cowboys, is from a 3rd generation musical family and lives in the Hudson Valley, where he does what he can to promote live music.