2011-05-13 The Buffalo News
STILL A FORCE
THE BUFFALO NEWS, MAY 13, 2011
Graham Parker and Garland Jeffreys. Not household names, perhaps, but anyone interested in the less-crowded side of the rock ’n’ roll street has likely bumped up their work over the past 25 years.
Parker and his band the Rumor have been widely credited as prime movers on the British “Pub Rock” scene which predated punk in the United Kingdom. Like a grittier Elvis Costello, Parker led the Rumor through a stirring stream of recordings during the ’70s, and hit an artistic peak with 1979’s “Squeezing Out Sparks.” e hasn’t stopped since.
Jeffreys cut his teeth in New York City, and has been perfecting a vibrant blend of R&B, reggae, rock, blues and soul for some 40 years. His latest album, “The King Of In-Between,” has received glowing notices, which is not surprising – throughout the collection, Jeffreys comes across with the force and passion of a man half his age.
Pairing Parker and Jeffreys seems like a no-brainer, since both deal in gritty and groove-heavy R&B-based rock, and both are songwriters with a strong and consistent narrative presence. They perform at 8 tonight in the Mary Seaton Room at Kleinhans Music Hall, in the first presentation by BPO Nation, an outreach program dedicated to audience development at Kleinhans. The S.B. Reeves Outfit opens. Tickets are $25 to $30 (box office). For info, www.bpo.org.
–Jeff Miers