Organist Tony Imperatrice channels 'world's greatest' in Edinburgh Fringe show
Also, RIP Bruce Conte, Happy Birthday Food not Bombs and some concert news.
Virgil Fox is considered the greatest organist of all time, which sounds like some hyperbole given the full timeline of organ music.
Fox certainly introduced the instrument to a new, hip audience of mostly rock and roll fans with a series of laser-light-filled concerts in the 1970s.
This followed a particularly wild show playing the music of Bach at the Fillmore East.
“The crowd cheered and danced and this became the touring show called ‘Heavy Organ,’ ” says Tony Imperatrice, who’s tribute to Fox is currently playing (virtually) at the Edinburgh Fringe.
“This show was a clean break from my earlier shows,” Imperatrice says, who should be known Rogue Festival audiences, at least.
“My first shows were autobiographical fourth wall narratives. There was music, but it only served as an accent. In ‘Bach n Roll The Unconventional Life of Virgil Fox’ the music is a fully integrated part of the story,” he says.
The show does features some of the music that made Fox famous, but Imperatrice is clear up front that he’s got nothing on the greatest organist of all time.
“I cannot play like Virgil and I make that clear so the music is presented as part of the storytelling.”
Imperatrice has been angling for the Edinburgh for years now, partly because the audience is more primed for classical music, and organ in particular.
“In the USA, I’m likely the only organist on the Fringe Festival circuit,” he says.
“In Edinburgh there are several organist playing concerts,” though he is the only organist doing a one-man show.
You can see “Bach-n-Roll, the Unconventional Life of Virgil Fox,” Aug. 19 and 25.
RIP, Tower of Power guitarist Bruce Conte
Bruce Conte, the Sanger-born guitar legend who played with Tower of Power during its heyday in the 1970s, died this week.
News of his death was announced on the Friends of Bruce Conte Facebook page on Monday and fans and contemporaries quickly began posting tributes and remembrances.
In a post on the Tower of Power Facebook page, band leader Emilio Castillo said Conte was known for having “a totally unique signature sound,” and that he was “absolutely one of the funniest guys ever.”
“We will all miss laughing and playing with him.”
Before his move to the Bay Area, Conte was a fixture in the Fresno music scene. He grew up in area and played in a number of bands in the 1960s including The Road Runners, The Chandels and later Common Ground, with his cousin Victor Conte.
It was in the later band that he developed his signature R&B, jazz that would dominate his solo career post Tower of Power, according to one official bio.
Conte made a brief reunion with Tower of Power in the mid 2000s.
He was diagnosed with leukemia in 2012.
Happy Birthday Fresno Food Not Bombs!
The Fresno Food Not Bombs anniversary party is one of the most under-the-radar and underappreciated annual music events in town.
For the last 15 years or so (memories among organizers being what they are) volunteers with the nonprofit have put together a concert pot-luck as a way to celebrate the work (and also raise some money to continue the efforts).
For the organization’s 25th anniversary, the team passed on the live event and put together a 30-minute video tribute instead.
Per Blake Jones (one of the event’s organizers and leader of the Trike Shop):
“Our little birthday film for Food Not Bombs 25th is finally all snipped together. It’s home-made fun, but features 11 unique performances by eight different acts ...
Musicians who had played past shows (and a couple who were new to the fun) were asked to just set up their phones and contribute a song for a special video ‘birthday card’ and commemoration of these many years of the group’s consistent service.
Most kept the casual and fun approach, some took it a step further and produced quick little mini-videos … but all of the performances are unique and special to this little film.”
About half of the musicians are local to the Fresno: Including primary show organizers Blake Jones and the Trike Shop, plus Ron “Doc” Morse, Dale Stewart and Chelsea Jones. The rest come from around the state: The Armoires (from Burbank), The Corner Laughers (Redwood City), Mike Glendinning (Oakland) and John Ashfield of the Bobbleheads (San Francisco).
“If you splice together these spontaneous musical moments with archival pictures of meals being prepared and folks being fed, and a few more greetings from local friends, you get a taste of the great spirit of community and caring that has been a consistent and wonderful characteristic of this bunch of Food Not Bombs folk for 25 years,” Jones says.
Food Not Bombs prepares meals 9:30-11 a.m. Saturday mornings at in the courtyard at Fresno’s Wesley Methodist Church. Meals are served at the north-west corner of Roeding Park, just outside of the tennis courts at Noon.
System of a Down + Faith no More set date at Save Mart Center
First we got news that Anthrax is coming to the Big Fresno Fair.
And now, System of a Down has set a date for the Save Mart Center. AND they’re bringing Faith No More and Russian Circles as openers.
The show is Oct. 16. Tickets are on sale now.
For someone who grew up on metal shows at Selland Arena or at the Wilson or later Rainbow Ballroom, this is all welcomed news. And after that time Gwar totally destroyed Tioga Sequoia (with Sacred Reich opening) one wonders if Fresno might be seeing a renaissance of metal music coming its way.
Events list Aug. 15-21
The Strikingly Originals, with 30 Minute, 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 20 at Tulare Street Bistro. $10.
Motown Night, with with The Licorice Pimps + DJs Green Giant and Conor Miles, 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21 at Strummer’s. $5, 21 plus.
Summer Sweat 2021, with Brian Cade, Jacq Maliq, Daze Baby, Tyrelle Williams, Isiah Payne and Boha, plus DJs, vendors and more. 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21 at Tioga Sequoia beer garden. Free.
J. Worra, 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21 at Fulton 55. $10-$20.