Sarah Azzara returns to the stage Saturday night after taking a short break. Here is a track recorded at the State Theater last May. "Mercy" remains one of my favorite songs from Sarah's first record. I remember recording the studio version and we literally just kicked into it without rehearsal. This solo acoustic version really highlights the lyrics and Sarah's vocal stylings rather than the studio glitz of the released version.
Listen to more from this show »

Sarah Azzara: vocals, acoustic guitar.

Shame Girl has come back to life lately. This track is exactly why I started this blog, to document spontaneous composition. Here we can hear Alexis bring a riff and the others shape it with beats and guitar chords, changing the tempo early on. I love to hear Sarah shape lyrics and croon over parts as they are convalescing.
Listen to more from this rehearsal »

Sarah Azzara: vocals, guitars; Alexis Sainz: bass; Kaeri Johnson: drums. Words and music by, Alexis Sainz, Sarah Azzara, Kaeri Johnson.

I have been rehearsing a lot with Sean McArdle. He has a bunch of shows coming up and a new band to break in. Chris Grier has taken over from Lida on bass and instead of Will on second guitar we have Carrie Ferguson (of the Break-Ups) on organ. The sound seems bigger and more dynamic. Here's is the complete set we plan to play on Friday.

More music at seanmcardle.com ».

Sean McArdle, guitar/vox; Ben Azzara, drums; Chris Grier, bass, Carrie Ferguson, organ. All songs written by Sean McArdle.

Pup Tent had a very groovy summer! We did tons of tracks at Cue Studios and are sifting through them now, so look for a release hopefully this Spring? We have a show this Sunday, October 1st at the Warehouse Next Door with the Ex-Models and The Foreign Press and should be a wild time. Here is a mashup of different improvs from versions of "It's Cold In Here" to get you ready for the weirdness.

Keep up with the PUP at the Pup Tent Yahoo Group.

Phil Duarte, guitar/vox; Ben Azzara, drums; Ted Watts, bass/bg-vox. Song written by Phil Duarte.

Here is a slice from the Alkem Benefit at the Warehouse Theater, with DCIC and Greg Osby from earlier in the month. Mike Sebastian, the sax player in DCIC mentioned once that if you let the music take over it just flows without thought, like transcendental meditation. There was certainly a lot of that happening at this point, and as usual I defaulted to what I know best, funky break beats and Greg and the band picked up on it perfectly. You can listen to the whole performance in the DCIC MP3 Vault (Login Required).

Alkem just set Greg up with a Blog. It's just starting out, but check it out.

Greg Osby, alto sax; Ben Azzara, drums; Jonathan Matis, guitar; Mike Sebastian, reeds; Daniel Barbiero, bass

I am going to back into the studio with Stella Schindler to record her second record this month. Here is one of my favorite songs "Simon Montgomery" that we've been rehearsing. I like the vocal hook and the dirge quality, especially the tender change after the verses. It's the song I have repeatly going through my head after we practice.

Stella Schindler, guitar and vocals; Paul Miller, bass; Ben Azzara, drums

There's some good DCIC shows coming up, including tonight at Fort Reno with The Evens if the rain and or heat doesn't kill us. But the show to catch is this Saturday, August 5th at the Warehouse Theater with jazz-giant Greg Osby.

Here is a track from our rehearsal yesterday. I named this track "Summertime and the Living is Hot", since it sounded to me like Mike was playing the first couple of notes of Summertime. Also my practice room, normally a sanctuary from the heat is not being spared in this all too hot summer. Even the recording levels sound too hot.

Ben Azzara, drums; Jonathan Matis, guitar; Mike Sebastian, reeds

Sarah is taking a short hiatus for the next month but will be back in action soon. So to tied you over, here is some classic Sarah Azzara band from the Velvet Lounge back in 2002. It is from Sarah's second CD "Love and Hate Among the Stars". On the studio version we used a moog for a lot of the underlining melody and bridge solo, so this is a more stripped-down rock version than the psychedelic epic that made it to the album.

Ben Azzara, drums; Sarah Azzara, vocals, guitar, Paul Miller, guitar, Kendall Nordin, background vocals, Mike Ratel, bass. Music and Words by Sarah Azzara

A good friend of ours got married last month and there was lots of guests staying with us at the house. Jury and Dario, both musicians, just loved our practice room. We jammed for a couple of hours one night--we had lots of fun and the cats can sure play. I dubbed the band the Randoms for the random stuff we played. Here is a little Wind Cries Mary with an extended vamp for Sarah to croon over. We started out kinda of messy but tightened up at the end, like all good jams. I just love how, no matter where people are from, that music has a way of bringing it all together.

Jury, guitar; Dario, bass; Ben Azzara, drums; Sarah Azzara, vocals. Music and Words by Jimi Hendrix

Pup Tent is playing over at the Warehouse Next this Monday June 5th. We are openging up the show so come early. Here is a track from our practice the other day. We were messing around with effects on the voice. The vocals track may be a bit too loud in this mix but I like the compressed nature of the instruments coupled with the spacey voice.

We have started our own Pup Tent Yahoo Group, sign up today and we'll keep you up on the shows we have planned this summer.

Phil Duarte, guitar/vox; Ben Azzara, drums; Ted Watts, bass/bg-vox. Song written by Phil Duarte.