Jim Bianco
Live at the Hotel Café
By Samuel L. Wereb
 Gonzo troubadour
Jim Bianco, just off a Southwest tour with Glenn Tilbrook of
SQEEZE and a couple of dates supporting Gary Jules on the east
coast, has released a new CD of songs culled from his long running
Tuesday night stand at The Hotel Café in Hollywood.
Live at the Hotel Café spins a fresh new take
on the best songs from his debut, Well Within Reason,
which I reviewed here last year. Bianco signatures such as "Two
Birds" and "Cucarachas" are set to a new groove
and cook with the insane urgency of the mad men on TV's Iron
Chef competition.
The new songs showcased here confirm my previous statements
of Bianco's stunning talent for songwriting and pure entertainment.
(It's great to be right, for once.) Bianco is a natural live
performer, and light years ahead of all the indies I've heard
desperately trying to out-hip each other in uber-hip Hollywood.
He's a serious independent musician and this record is outstanding.
Live at the Hotel Café is at every turn gritty,
bluesy, stridently original and sharp. Behold the cutting edge
of underground alternative music. Way underground, to be sure,
but I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of this record.
Many times I've found live recordings to be poor in comparison
to more concentrated professional studio efforts. This one loses
nothing in translation. It sparkles with the glistening musicianship
laid down by this ensemble performing at their favorite venue,
and I can hear the crowd bouncing off the walls.
I took the easiest route to figuring it all out and called
Bianco on an off day. He explained the differences he's experienced
between recording studio sessions and live albums in his own
inimitable way:
SLW: Jim, I was demonstrably impressed with Well Within
Reason. Why do a live recording now?
JB: "I've never felt entirely comfortable with how
some of the songs sound on the studio record. The capabilities
that are extended to me in the studio aren't available in a live
show, and I can't authentically reproduce the vibe and high energy
of my live shows in a studio setting."
SLW: These songs certainly do have an entirely different
vibe than they did on the studio recording. Virtually everything
here is acoustic -- your guitars, the clarinet, harmonica, and
even an upright bass -- yet the songs seem to electrify the room.
They are so different now, it's like I'm hearing them for the
first time. Are you re-arranging the songs for live performances,
or what exactly is going on here?
JB: "The reason you're hearing them differently
is that we've now done these songs together maybe a hundred times,
all over town and up and down the coast, and the guys really
know what they are doing on stage. It's a live recording of
what we do best.
"The cool part about working out a live recording
is that in the editing process you get to carefully carve out
what would be the perfect pacing for a show. Rare is the chance
you get to listen back to an evening of your music, decide what
you would change about it, do so, and then deliberately misrepresent
it as the same evening of music. The whole idea is completely
egocentric and very manipulative which, I'm suddenly reminded,
is entirely consistent with what my girlfriend thinks about me."
SLW: You don't get to control all the outcomes in the studio
recordings?
JB: "It's Sam, right? Have you ever made a record,
Sam?"
SLW: No
JB: "Oh, well now you've piqued my curiosity. Have
you ever been in a band?"
SLW: Nope
JB: "Do you play music?"
SLW: No.
JB: "Amazing. Why the hell are you writing for a
music site and critiquing records?"
SLW: I guess because I love music and writing.
JB: "Well I love my car, but no one is paying me
to write a column for Motor Trend."
SLW: Well, you've seen my writing before. No one pays me
for this.
JB: "I'm not surprised, but I confess that I only
read the reviews that mention Jim Bianco in them. I'll try to
read some of your other stuff the next time I'm in the bathroom.
Perhaps I'll then be able to appreciate your perspective of
music."
SLW: Yeah, you've alluded to being egocentric and manipulative.
Do you know Ryan Adams, by any chance?
JB: "Bryan who?"
Jim Bianco is a dyed-in-the-wool smartass and a ferociously
talented musician and songwriter. He's no moping '90s poseur,
but a 21st century American original, whose live work is an all-out
poetic music-slam.
The kid is a brilliant lyricist at the ripe old age of twenty-five,
and these songs are like nothing I have ever known in any genre
- too smart for radio, even oh-so-earnest Public Radio. I recommend
listening to "Broken" sometime.
Count your blessings on one hand
Slap yourself in the face
But Fortune hardly speaks
So when you hear it make a peep
You've got to turn your other cheek just in case.
All our hands are filled
With a million things at once
And still we somehow seem not to do anything at all
Promises are only made of glass
They're just waiting to be broken
Bianco is embarking on a national solo acoustic tour in June.
Finally, some of us in flyover country will get to see him and
I'll be the first in line at any Ohio shows.
* http://www.jimbianco.com
for CDs, appearances and free MP3 samples.
Contact Samuel L. Wereb at wereb-at-rockzilla.net
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