Soprano Sax

Soprano Sax

Something I Said -- Brian "Snowman" Powers, premiere saxaphonist

SIS-Brian "Snowman" Powers

Dwight Hobbes -- Twin Cities Daily Planet

There was Snow in July in downtown Minneapolis, and it was smokin' hot. His show at the Fine Line was my first time catching sax ace Snowman the Soulman and His Ice-Cold Band, but I'd seen Brian "Snowman" Powers plenty as a member of Afro-Cuban rock powerhouse New Primitives, making some of the most ungodly noise known to humankind, playing the pure and absolute hell out of a saxophone. As New Prims frontman Stanley Kipper puts it, "Man, Snow is terrifyin'."

You name the style of music and Powers, a seasoned session man and nationally-known producer (Odessa, Oleta Adams) can play it. For his incarnation as Snowman the Soulman he has elected to go with a sort of rock fusion anchored by funk. The whole night at the Fine Line, he stayed close to the anchor and proceeded to get, as the saying goes, funky as a fat man's drawers. His Ice-Cold Band comprised a killer crew: Jay Corkran (drums), Daren Markk (bass), Chico Perez (percussion), "Downtown" Bill Brown (accordion, keys, organ), Todd Bergren (electric guitar), and Todd Ernster (acoustic and electric guitar). Powers alternated among alto, tenor, soprano, and baritone saxes. Everybody except Enrster is on the album From My Soul to Yours (MGS Records). Which is too bad, because Ernster played incredibly tasty—downright stunning—solo after mind-blowing solo. To be sure, From My Soul to Yours stands up just find. It's just that, well, maybe Ernster'll be on the next CD.

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What marked the night even more than Powers's prowess on sax was his instinct as an arranger: the instinct that helps make From My Soul to Yours a winning effort. It is, no matter how strong the artist, very easy for most listeners to lose interest without a vocalist in there. Instrumentalists simply are not known for holding an audience spellbound for very long. This guy, however, shrewdly shifts textures, fattens the sound here, thins it out there, and without the slightest contrivance, keeps coming up with unexpected places to take the music.

Opening was gifted singer-songwriter J Pierre, who accompanied himself on acoustic guitar with a tight four-piece backup. The overall impression brought to mind a fella from Zimbabwe who comes through these parts every once in a blue moon, Oliver Mtukudzi. It's a sparse sound that leans on minor and major-7 chords for a lush texture. Real fascinating stuff. Pierre's voice washed out a couple of times at the high register, but his set was solid. He has, by the way, been taken under the wing of Yohannes Tona, who's producing J Pierre's in-progress CD.

About the Author

Coming: "Angels Don't Really Fly" EP by Dwight Hobbes & The All-Star Hired Guns featuring Alicia Wiley. The crew: Me, Alicia Wiley, Stanley Kipper, Chico Perez, Jeff "Boday" Christensen, Aaron "Orange A.C." Cosgrove and Yohannes Tona. Singer-songwriter Dwight Hobbes recorded the single "Atlanta Children" (BeatBad Records) and gigged 10 years in the Long Island/NYC area, including The Other End, Kenny's Castaways and My Fathers Place. Fronted the Boston blues band Midlight. In Minneapolis, Hobbes opened for David Daniels at First Street Entry, James Curry at Terminal Bar, sat in with Yohannes Tona, Alicia Wiley at Sol Testimony's Soul Jam, The New Congress at Babalu, Willie Murphy at the Viking Bar and Wain McFarlane & Jahz at Lucille's Kitchen. Dwight Hobbes still drops in at the occasional open mic around town. Dwight Hobbes has written for ESSENCE, Reader's Digest, Washington Post, Minneapolis Star Tribune, St. Paul Pioneer Press, City Pages, Mpls/St. Paul, MN Law & Politics, Pulse of the Twin Cities, Twin Cities Daily Planet, Women & Word, San Diego Union-Tribune, The Circle, to Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder (where he contributes the commentary columns Hobbes In The House and Something I Said. He's spoken his mind over National Public Radio, Minnesota Public Radio and KMOJ in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Was regularly featured as guest commentator on NewsNight Minnesota (KTCA-Minneapolis/St. Paul) and Spectator (Minneapolis Television Network). His monthly column "Hobbes In The House" in MN Spokesman Recorder comments on domestic abuse and rape. His plays are Shelter - produced at Mixed Blood Theatre by Pangea World Theater, Dues - produced by Mixed Blood Theatre, University of Southern Illinois in Point of Revue, selected for Bedlam Theatre's 10-Minute Play Festival and published by Playscripts, Inc. You Can't Always Sometimes Never Tell - produced by Theater Center Philadelphia, Long Island University, reading at The Kennedy Center and published in the anthology CENTER STAGE, In the Midst - produced by Long Island University, starring Samuel E. Wright. Hobbes spoke on the panel "Farewell To August Wilson" at the Guthrie Theater, broadcast on Conversations With Al McFarlane (KFAI, KMOJ). Twin Cities Daily Planet articles archived at www.tcdailyplanet.net/dwighthobbes

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