I just came from 1st Line & 2nd Line parade right down San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito CA – honoring Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records
for his documentary film released this evening indi production called “This Ain’t No Mouse Music” –
tonight’s the night!
Jon Hammond
By Jim Harrington <a href="honoring Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records
for his documentary film released this evening indi production called "This Ain't No Mouse Music" –
tonight's the night!
Jon Hammond
By Jim Harrington http://www.mercurynews.com/entertainment/ci_26552568/review-this-aint-no-mouse-music-fascinating-story
Chris Strachwitz has spent the past 54 years unearthing musical treasures, journeying into the shadows of America to record all sorts of artists who might otherwise never be documented.
His travels have fueled Arhoolie Records, the El Cerrito-based roots-music label that has issued 400-plus albums and more than 6,500 songs since its founding in 1960. Now, Strachwitz's long, strange trip is nicely chronicled in "This Ain't No Mouse Music!"
The documentary illustrates the dramatic impact Strachwitz's efforts have had on the music world — and on "world music." Notably, it shows how the Arhoolie recordings greatly helped popularize Cajun, Tex-Mex, bluegrass and other regional music styles while bringing some much-needed attention to such significant musicians as Tejano accordionist Flaco Jimenez, zydeco titan Clifton Chenier, bluegrass great Del McCoury and Texas bluesman Mance Lipscomb.
Given that impressive list, it shouldn't be a surprise that the soundtrack is one of the best things about "This Ain't No Mouse Music!" It's a remarkably diverse collection of styles and artists that — like the Arhoolie catalog itself — is simply sewn together with the common thread of Strachwitz's personal taste in music.
"I didn't want to record stuff that I didn't like," he explains in the movie, providing a de facto mission statement for his label.
Yet, Strachwitz seems at a loss when he tries to describe exactly what it is that attracts him to a song or artist.
"I don't know why I like it so much," he says about some unnamed piece of music in the film. "It's just got some guts to it. It ain't wimpy, that's for sure. It ain't no mouse music."
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The film never really defines "mouse music," but we're given the impression that it's music of the overly produced, highly commercial variety. And, yes, it's a safe bet that you won't hear "mouse music" on an Arhoolie record.
The film begins — much like Strachwitz's career in music — with the blues. Strachwitz is shown walking through the Arhoolie offices, housed in the back of his low-key record shop Down Home Music on San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito, with an album in hand. He takes it over to the turntable and drops the needle — unleashing Lightnin' Hopkins' "Big Mama Jump" — and then smiles like a kid in a candy store.
He's not just mugging for the camera. That's Strachwitz in a nutshell — a man who still dearly loves listening to music after more than a half-century in the business. And that's a mighty rare situation in the music industry.
"This Ain't No Mouse Music" works, in large part, because of Strachwitz's unbridled — and some would say unrivaled — enthusiasm for Americana music. He comes across on film exactly like he does in person: passionate, opinionated, motivated and incredibly down to earth. I interviewed Strachwitz in 2011, on the occasion of Arhoolie's 50th anniversary celebration, and the quotes from that chat read like slices of dialogue from this documentary.
He's a natural storyteller, blessed with many great yarns as well as a magnetic presence in front of the camera. Directors-producers Chris Simon and Maureen Gosling wisely keep the focus on him, fleshing out the briskly paced film with short interviews from other members of Arhoolie's extended family and representative music clips.
The film devotes the bare minimum to Strachwitz' boyhood in Germany and the family's flight in the 1940s to America, where he fell in love with the cornucopia of sounds coming out of his radio — hillbilly country, Mexican music, gospel, blues, etc. The film really takes flight after he moves to the Bay Area to attend UC Berkeley and embarks on series of musical treasure hunts to record artists deserving of wider exposure. The first Arhoolie release was the blues record "Mance Lipscomb: Texas Sharecropper and Songster" in 1960.
Watching people work in a recording studio can be as interesting as watching paint dry. Fortunately, Strachwitz favors "field recordings" — where an artist is taped in his or her local environs, no matter how rustic — which makes for some fascinating footage.
"My stuff isn't produced. I just catch it as it is," he says in the film. "I never had a studio — I never wanted a studio. Because I knew that the music I liked was all over the place."
Follow Jim Harrington at Twitter.com/jimthecritic and Facebook.com/jim.bayareanews.
‘This Ain’t No Mouse Music!’
Documentary about music historian Chris Strachwitz, founder of Arhoolie Records in El Cerrito
* * *
Rating: not ratedDirectors: Chris Simon and Maureen Gosling
Running Time: 1 hour, 32 minutes
Also: Elmwood Theatre in Berkeley will host a Q&A with Chris Strachwitz and musical performance following the 7 p.m. screening on Friday (www.rialtocinemas.com); the Roxie Theatre in San Francisco will host a Q&A with filmmakers Chris Simon and Maureen Gosling and live music after 7 p.m. screenings Friday and Saturday.”>http://www.mercurynews.com/entertainment/ci_26552568/review-this-aint-no-mouse-music-fascinating-story
Chris Strachwitz has spent the past 54 years unearthing musical treasures, journeying into the shadows of America to record all sorts of artists who might otherwise never be documented.
His travels have fueled Arhoolie Records, the El Cerrito-based roots-music label that has issued 400-plus albums and more than 6,500 songs since its founding in 1960. Now, Strachwitz’s long, strange trip is nicely chronicled in “This Ain’t No Mouse Music!”
The documentary illustrates the dramatic impact Strachwitz’s efforts have had on the music world — and on “world music.” Notably, it shows how the Arhoolie recordings greatly helped popularize Cajun, Tex-Mex, bluegrass and other regional music styles while bringing some much-needed attention to such significant musicians as Tejano accordionist Flaco Jimenez, zydeco titan Clifton Chenier, bluegrass great Del McCoury and Texas bluesman Mance Lipscomb.
Given that impressive list, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the soundtrack is one of the best things about “This Ain’t No Mouse Music!” It’s a remarkably diverse collection of styles and artists that — like the Arhoolie catalog itself — is simply sewn together with the common thread of Strachwitz’s personal taste in music.
“I didn’t want to record stuff that I didn’t like,” he explains in the movie, providing a de facto mission statement for his label.
Yet, Strachwitz seems at a loss when he tries to describe exactly what it is that attracts him to a song or artist.
“I don’t know why I like it so much,” he says about some unnamed piece of music in the film. “It’s just got some guts to it. It ain’t wimpy, that’s for sure. It ain’t no mouse music.”
The film never really defines “mouse music,” but we’re given the impression that it’s music of the overly produced, highly commercial variety. And, yes, it’s a safe bet that you won’t hear “mouse music” on an Arhoolie record.
The film begins — much like Strachwitz’s career in music — with the blues. Strachwitz is shown walking through the Arhoolie offices, housed in the back of his low-key record shop Down Home Music on San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito, with an album in hand. He takes it over to the turntable and drops the needle — unleashing Lightnin’ Hopkins’ “Big Mama Jump” — and then smiles like a kid in a candy store.
He’s not just mugging for the camera. That’s Strachwitz in a nutshell — a man who still dearly loves listening to music after more than a half-century in the business. And that’s a mighty rare situation in the music industry.
“This Ain’t No Mouse Music” works, in large part, because of Strachwitz’s unbridled — and some would say unrivaled — enthusiasm for Americana music. He comes across on film exactly like he does in person: passionate, opinionated, motivated and incredibly down to earth. I interviewed Strachwitz in 2011, on the occasion of Arhoolie’s 50th anniversary celebration, and the quotes from that chat read like slices of dialogue from this documentary.
He’s a natural storyteller, blessed with many great yarns as well as a magnetic presence in front of the camera. Directors-producers Chris Simon and Maureen Gosling wisely keep the focus on him, fleshing out the briskly paced film with short interviews from other members of Arhoolie’s extended family and representative music clips.
The film devotes the bare minimum to Strachwitz’ boyhood in Germany and the family’s flight in the 1940s to America, where he fell in love with the cornucopia of sounds coming out of his radio — hillbilly country, Mexican music, gospel, blues, etc. The film really takes flight after he moves to the Bay Area to attend UC Berkeley and embarks on series of musical treasure hunts to record artists deserving of wider exposure. The first Arhoolie release was the blues record “Mance Lipscomb: Texas Sharecropper and Songster” in 1960.
Watching people work in a recording studio can be as interesting as watching paint dry. Fortunately, Strachwitz favors “field recordings” — where an artist is taped in his or her local environs, no matter how rustic — which makes for some fascinating footage.
“My stuff isn’t produced. I just catch it as it is,” he says in the film. “I never had a studio — I never wanted a studio. Because I knew that the music I liked was all over the place.”
Follow Jim Harrington at Twitter.com/jimthecritic and Facebook.com/jim.bayareanews.
‘This Ain’t No Mouse Music!’
Documentary about music historian Chris Strachwitz, founder of Arhoolie Records in El Cerrito
* * *
Rating: not ratedDirectors: Chris Simon and Maureen Gosling
Running Time: 1 hour, 32 minutes
Also: Elmwood Theatre in Berkeley will host a Q&A with Chris Strachwitz and musical performance following the 7 p.m. screening on Friday (www.rialtocinemas.com); the Roxie Theatre in San Francisco will host a Q&A with filmmakers Chris Simon and Maureen Gosling and live music after 7 p.m. screenings Friday and Saturday.
*LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE: HammondCast 15
Jon’s archive https://archive.org/details/HammondCast_15
HammondCast 15 for KYOU Radio, this show just before Jon blasts over to Hamburg Germany to record a new album at NDR Radio. Special guest recordings of Jon with radio legend Al Jazzbeaux Collins telling the story of Jon’s composition “Train Song” and with Chuy Varela talking about the meaning of Jon’s song “Get Back In The Groove” played 2 different ways: from “Hammond’s Bolero” CD 2003 release (instrumental) and a 1981 version from DTI Records label with Frank Biner on vocals and Jon covering all the instruments + Dave Danza on the drums. Last song: “Czechoslovakian Salsa Song”-JON HAMMOND Trio.
HammondCast is the music of Organist/Accordionist Jon Hammond *Member American Federation of Musicians Union Local 802/Local 6/ASCAP Publishing-JON HAMMOND International, Inc. “The FINGERS…are the SINGERS!”
http://www.HammondCast.com
Music, Travel & “Soft-News”
Reviewer: Bobby Kimball – 5.00 out of 5 stars5.00 out of 5 stars5.00 out of 5 stars5.00 out of 5 stars5.00 out of 5 stars – August 29, 2012
Subject: Jon Hammond is pure genius….
I love Jon’s music, and he’s also one of the nicest, most talented guys I’ve ever met. God Bless you Jon. Keep that “Best Music” coming….Bobby
Youtubes of every song we played in Auster Bar Hamburg going backwards Jon Hammond Band
http://youtu.be/BqtFWKBeC0c “Cooking at The Auster Bar”
http://youtu.be/9P8yZiXgWfI “Tribute to Cannonball – Mercy Mercy Mercy”
http://youtu.be/MdQi8mAslzE “Tribute to Bobby Timmons – Moanin’ / Blues”
http://youtu.be/jtAaQLH_BYk “Late Rent – Them Song”
http://youtu.be/orpLWd66-Hw “No X-Cess Baggage Blues”
http://youtu.be/LFhxrDs6PbQ “Lydia’s Tune – Bossa Nova”
http://youtu.be/MxpIJesOJXQ “Pocket Funk”
http://youtu.be/q4_lNnwzxrU “Auster Blues and Jazz
Jon’s archive http://ia802300.us.archive.org/27/items/CookingAtTheAusterBarJonHammondBandWithNDRHorns/Cooking%20at%20The%20Auster%20Bar%20Jon%20Hammond%20Band%20With%20NDR%20Horns.mp4
Jon’s archive https://archive.org/details/AwesomeFunkyJazzTributeToCannonballNDRHornsJonHammondBand
Full High Definition Version:
Awesome Funky Jazz Tribute to Cannonball NDR Horns feature on Jon Hammond Band Auster Bar Jazz Series concert Hamburg Eimsbüttel.
Welcome Knut Benzner – NDR Redaktion!
NDR Horns on Jon Hammond Band: L to R Michael Leuschner t., Lutz Büchner t.s., Fiete Felsch a.s.
Funky Heinz Lichius drums, Michael Leuschner trumpet, Lutz Büchner tenor, Friedrich Fiete Felsch alto, Joe Berger guitar, Jon Hammond organ + bass
Chris Strachwitz, Arhoolie Records, Down Home Music Store, El Cerrito CA, San Pablo Ave., Jon Hammond, Blues, Jazz, Cajun, Zydeco, Clifton Chenier, Organ, Accordion
Hammondcast's Weblog 
