Left XG

Left Lane Cruiser is the duo of singer/guitarist Freddie J. Evans IV and drummer Brenn Beck, from Fort Wayne, IN, and their music not surprisingly recalls that of the White Stripes, another twosome with the same instrumentation. Like the White Stripes, Evans and Beck are self-consciously primitive in their approach, and they are equally mannered in their effect. The main difference is that Left Lane Cruiser is more of a blues act. Beck stomps on his drums, and Evans plays familiar loud, heavy riffs on his electric guitar while howling into what sounds like a microphone not intended to handle vocals, such that his singing comes off distorted, even when he isn't yelling. For only two musicians, they make quite a racket, but their relentlessness can be enervating unless one really has a taste for it.

The Left Banke had been together for less than a year when their debut single, "Walk Away Renee," became a hit, and once the band began touring steadily, they started to fracture as Michael Brown, the group's 17-year-old wunderkind, songwriter, and pianist, decided he didn't care for life on the road. By the time the Left Banke cut their second album, Brown was out of the picture, as was producer and arranger Henry Lookofsky (he was also Brown's dad), and the lineup was down to a trio: vocalist Steve Martin-Caro, guitarist/bassist Tom Finn, and drummer George Cameron. Not promising circumstances for the creation of The Left Banke Too, but surprisingly it's a fine album that shows the group's second string had plenty of talent and a sound creative vision…

The provocative and beguiling Left Coast Chamber Ensemble (LCCE) comprises the crème de la crème of the San Francisco Bay Area’s musicians. Their motto: nothing is out of bounds, and anything is possible. Presenters of all types of music including small ensemble, vocal, orchestral, multi-media and operatic, a select group comes together for this recording of Olivier Messiaen’s seminal chamber work, Quartet for the End of Time. Written during the composer’s confinement in World War II, he maintained hope, expressing, “The abyss is Time with its sadness, its weariness. The birds are the opposite … our desire for light, for stars, for rainbows, and for jubilant songs.” LCCE co-founder and prize-winning composer Kurt Rohde echoes this sentiment in his Messiaen-inspired one wing for violin and piano, heard here in its world-premiere recording.

"Bayport BBQ Blues" is the new studio album by Indiana's favorite blues duo Left Lane Cruiser, featuring Freddy J IV on guitar and vocals, and Brenn "Sausage Paw" Beck on drums, washboard and trash kit. The album blends Freddy's commanding, gritty vocal rasp and positively nasty hoodoo slide guitar work with Sausage Paw's rhythmic stomp to make for a heady fire-starter for your house party, backyard barbecue or juke joint get-down. "Bayport BBQ Blues" is dedicated to the memory of the late Chris Jonson, creator of the Deep Blues Festival. This version includes the bonus track "Ophelia", featuring James Leg on keyboards.

Recorded during a 1979 tour of England, The Dirty Dozens is a unique snapshot of two overlooked Chicago juke-joint aces. Playing something of a musical version of the African-American game of oneupsmanship in the title, Jimmy and Frank trade off on vocal duties and bounce rhythm and lead licks off of one another like so many good natured barbershop insults. The recording quality here isn't crystal clear, but its rough edges are perfectly suited to the gritty blues these two journeymen let loose with.