Concert review | An angry Dr. John is a fine Dr. John at winery show

Concert Review |

Dr. John is peeved.

He's annoyed at the White House, angry at the mayor of New Orleans and the city's police force, mad at insurance companies, carpetbagging contractors, chiseling roofers and other cheaters making money off the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.

His agitation animated the longtime singer-songwriter-pianist's performance Friday night at the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in Woodinville, where he appeared with his band, the Lower 911. They shared the bill with the Neville Brothers, making it an all-New Orleans night.

The good Doctor has every reason to be upset, and his aggrieved condition has sparked some of his finest songwriting, playing and singing in years. His latest album, "City That Care Forgot," crackles with righteous indignation, including curses and insults at President Bush and other politicians. The CD sadly notes Katrina's toll on people and the environment but also offers hope.

He featured songs from it, including "Promises, Promises" ("The road to the White House, paved with lies"), "We Gettin' There" ("Ask anybody if they knew / A friend that died from suicide") and "Say Whut?" ("Say it's a job well done / Then you giggled like a bitch / Hopped back on Air Force One").

And yet there was an overriding sense of renewal and even joy in his set, especially during an extended version of "My People Need A Second Line," also from the new CD, which had concertgoers dancing and marching in a line, headed by a lady spinning a parasol.

"Life is a near-death experience," he sang in another new song, "You Might Be Surprised," which had an uplifting theme. "We always underestimate ourselves," he sang.

Resplendent in a shiny blue suit, gray fedora and matching gray ponytail, he played a big black grand piano, surrounded by his six-man band, including a locally recruited three-piece horn section. In addition to the new songs, he played some of his classics, most notably the funky "Right Place Wrong Time."

The Neville Brothers first performed publicly on another Friday the 13th, in 1977, at Tipitina's in New Orleans, and the four celebrated that long-ago night in their funky, rhythmic set, backed by a four-piece band. Charles played honking sax, Cyril pounded on bongos and other percussion instruments, Art was on organ, and sweet-voiced Aaron sang lead on most of the songs. They evoked the unbowed spirit of New Orleans, and had the crowd happily dancing in the cool night air.

Patrick MacDonald: 206-464-2312 or pmacdonald@seattletimes.com

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American artist Robert Rauschenberg dies

MIAMI (Reuters) - Acclaimed American artist Robert Rauschenberg died at his home on Captiva Island in Florida at the age of 82, his gallery said on Tuesday.


Rauschenberg, labeled a titan of American art by The New York Times, had been ill for a while and died Monday night, Jennifer Joy of the Pace Wildenstein gallery in New York said.


Rauschenberg, born in Port Arthur, Texas, in 1925, spearheaded a style in the 1950s he came to call "combines," which incorporated aspects of painting and sculpture and eventually included objects such as a stuffed eagle or goat and street signs.


He became one of the most influential artists reacting against Abstract Expressionism, according to a Guggenheim Museum biography, while a Pace Wildenstein biography said Rauschenberg's work was part of "virtually every important international collection of contemporary art."


"Robert Rauschenberg felt art should reflect the real world, three-dimensionally," said Catherine Saunders-Watson, editor-in-chief of arts publications Style Century Magazine.


"In some ways, his genius could be compared to that of Picasso, who found inspiration in the common objects of everyday life," she said. "Rauschenberg viewed virtually any physical object as having exploitable artistic potential."


In the 1960s, he began silk-screen paintings and then embarked on a period of more collaborative projects that included performance art, choreography, set design and art-and-technology combinations.


In 1970 Rauschenberg established a permanent studio on Captiva island, off Florida's Gulf coast, where he made his home.


"I usually work in a direction until I know how to do it, then I stop," he said in an interview in 2000, the Times reported.