Piano In Play

This just in from the newsdesk: the mighty Howe Gelb is coming to town this March. And with a piano trio at that, having - temporarily? - disbanded Giant Sand, his desert-rocking band of choice since the mid-eighties. I'm guessing he'll play a lot of songs from his jazzy and intimate Future Standards album, and that's cool with me. Can't wait.

Howe Gelb - Mad Man At Large

Burn Well

On the umpteenth Giant Sand album - Heartbreak Pass, out now - ole Howe Gelb just keeps on singing his personal desert blues. Nothing new under the sun then so, but its near-perfect laidbackness makes for an ideal soundtrack to a hopefully long hot summer still. Choice cut: the jazzy Gypsy Candle, a delicate duet with Lorna Kelly. "And the heart suffers its own beating just as well, as if it could be helped..."

Giant Sand - Gypsy Candle

Lost His Mind

The esteemed Charity Chic recently alerted me to Giant Sand doing a lovely cover of Johnny Thunders' immortal You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory, so it's time to up the ante a wee bit. Here's Howe Gelb and crew taking on a well-known Sabs riff monster, and in a wonderful desert lounge stylee at that. Boom!

Giant Sand - Iron Man

Welcome To The Desert

"Living on Tucson time..." Giant Sand mastermind Howe Gelb's been at it again. The man who gave us the wonderful Alegrías with his band of authentic Córdoba gypsies two years ago, the man with the whispery voice like a hot desert wind, now poses as a Coincidentalist. On the ultra-relaxed opener Vortexas he shares vocal duties with the one and only Bonnie Prince Billy. Beauty!

Howe Gelb - Vortexas

Lolie Dresses Slowly

I know I plugged Howe Gelb's recent collaboration with a band of authentic gitano flamenco cats from Spain here before, but as I just can't get enough of Alegrías, here's one more lovely track. "Eso no te pega..." One for the slowly but surely approaching end-of-year lists for sure.

Howe Gelb & A Band Of Gypsies - The Ballad Of Lole Y Manuel

Arena Gigante

"The rain disregards any agenda under the stars..." So Howe Gelb of Giant Sand-fame went all the way to Córdoba in sunny Spain to record an album with a local bunch of gypsy flamenco pickers. The resulting Alegrías just may be one of the most surprising, uplifting albums you'll hear this year.

Howe Gelb & A Band Of Gypsies - 4 Door Mavericks MP3

And as Fire Records happens to be in the process of re-releasing the complete Giant Sand back catalogue, here's a couple of their golden desert-rock oldies.

Giant Sand - Pathfinder MP3

Giant Sand - Mountain Of Love MP3