Safe Refuge

Fugee Wyclef Jean uses his solo album for a round-the-world adventure

Comments (0) By Gilbert Garcia Thursday, Jan 15 1998

Wyclef Jean is scheduled to perform on Sunday, January 18, at Club Rio in Tempe, with Coolbone, and John Forte. Showtime is 8 p.m.

Mesa Comes Alive: Hollywood Alley will be the site of a live recording this weekend, as a host of bands will play over two nights (Friday, January 16, and Saturday, January 17). The live compilation album, tentatively dubbed Live at Hollywood Alley, is the brain child of Hillbilly Devilspeak bassist Tom Reardon, who put together the lineup and provided his band's recording gear. The Friday show will feature Les Payne Product, Seven Storey Mountain, The Mericans, and Trunk Federation, while the Saturday show moves into harder and heavier terrain with Hillbilly Devilspeak, Slavic 747, and Captain Crust and the Supernaturals.

Six-Million-Dollar Band: Larry Elyea's Mind's Eye Digital Recording studio has relocated from Mesa to Tempe. Elyea, also the leader of the wildly eclectic Bionic Jive, says that the new locale feels "more like a real studio," with more than twice the space that his old 1,000-square-foot facility offered. Bionic Jive is presently readying its debut CD for a February 13 release.

Last Call: The next four months of shows amount to a farewell tour of sorts for local blues legend Big Pete Pearson, who not only plans to leave Phoenix in mid-May, but also to retire from live performance at that time. Pearson says he is retiring at the urging of doctors, because he has emphysema and high blood pressure, both of which continue to be aggravated by secondhand smoke in nightclubs. Pearson will be moving to Maine, where he can be closer to his relatives.

--Gilbert Garcia

Contact Gilbert Garcia at his online address: ggarcia@phoenixnewtimes.com