Best New Jazz Selection 2001 | Best Buy | Arts & Entertainment | Phoenix
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Best New Jazz Selection

Best Buy

We don't know who's behind the excellent jazz selection at these Valley superstores, but he or she is onto something. The Valley isn't exactly known as a jazz mecca, but to see the selection at Best Buy, you'd think that the late Thelonious Monk was in his prime. Best thing is, the stores aren't fixated on the "smooth" jazz pabulum that's infected the local airwaves for too many years. You want modernists Greg Osby, Don Byron, Joe Lovano, Regina Carter? You got 'em. You want oldsters Ellington, Fitzgerald, or Sun Ra? They're yours for the taking, and the prices are the best in town.

Best Rock 'n' Roll Restaurant

Plaid Eatery

Hidden in a modest strip mall and sandwiched between a coffee shop and a coin-op laundry in the shadow of ASU's campus, Plaid is the color of the East Valley's hippest little eatery. This nouveau Mediterranean bistro has become the top destination for Tempe's "in" crowd. Thanks to its extended hours and a menu heavy with healthful and vegetarian selections, Plaid has also become the choice eatery for those who keep odd hours -- or anyone with trend-setting musical tastes. Now that management has added a full bar, Plaid has also established itself as a late-night hot spot for musicians, artists, and scenesters of all stripes and colors. Headed by a friendly staff, tastefully decorated (the restaurant doubles as an art gallery) and replete with big booths and comfy couches, Plaid is the perfect place to eat, drink or just hang out.

Best Rock 'n' Roll Restaurant

Plaid Eatery

Hidden in a modest strip mall and sandwiched between a coffee shop and a coin-op laundry in the shadow of ASU's campus, Plaid is the color of the East Valley's hippest little eatery. This nouveau Mediterranean bistro has become the top destination for Tempe's "in" crowd. Thanks to its extended hours and a menu heavy with healthful and vegetarian selections, Plaid has also become the choice eatery for those who keep odd hours -- or anyone with trend-setting musical tastes. Now that management has added a full bar, Plaid has also established itself as a late-night hot spot for musicians, artists, and scenesters of all stripes and colors. Headed by a friendly staff, tastefully decorated (the restaurant doubles as an art gallery) and replete with big booths and comfy couches, Plaid is the perfect place to eat, drink or just hang out.

Best Classical Radio Station

KBAQ-FM 89.5

In accordance with NAFTA, KBAQ is prevented from broadcasting at too great a power lest its signal spill south into Mexico. Damned federal government, always keeping the little guy down.

In eight years, KBAQ has established itself as not only a topnotch classical station but also a formidable community resource for the lively arts. Enjoying a close working relationship with the Phoenix Symphony, and carrying a balanced diet of local and national acts (like the talk-performance show From the Top at 7 p.m. Sundays), KBAQ provides Valley listeners with the best contemporary performances of classical and chamber music. And this year the station took on a herculean challenge, mounting the "KBAQ 2001 Fall European Tour," a package tour of Budapest, Vienna, Prague and Berlin, with opera performances and gourmet meals included in the ticket price.

Despite the fact that Prague is so 1992, we applaud KBAQ's gumption.

Best Classical Radio Station

KBAQ-FM 89.5

In accordance with NAFTA, KBAQ is prevented from broadcasting at too great a power lest its signal spill south into Mexico. Damned federal government, always keeping the little guy down.

In eight years, KBAQ has established itself as not only a topnotch classical station but also a formidable community resource for the lively arts. Enjoying a close working relationship with the Phoenix Symphony, and carrying a balanced diet of local and national acts (like the talk-performance show From the Top at 7 p.m. Sundays), KBAQ provides Valley listeners with the best contemporary performances of classical and chamber music. And this year the station took on a herculean challenge, mounting the "KBAQ 2001 Fall European Tour," a package tour of Budapest, Vienna, Prague and Berlin, with opera performances and gourmet meals included in the ticket price.

Despite the fact that Prague is so 1992, we applaud KBAQ's gumption.

Best Rock Radio Station

KOOL-FM 94.5

These days, recognizing a radio band as the best rock station is a fairly backhanded compliment. With unsettling styles like teen pop, rap-rock and nu metal dominating playlists, it's a wonder most folks haven't completely abandoned the FM dial for AM talk formats or the safety of CD players and tape decks. Without anything even approaching a progressive station here in the Valley, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that we would bestow this honor on KOOL-FM, a station playing nothing but golden oldies. Tuning to 94.5, you're likely to find a song with a melody, and the closest thing you'll get to a boy band is the Box Tops. Instead of being forced to endure inane teen divas like Britney and Christina, KOOL at least boasts classic inane teen divas like Lesley Gore and Shelley Fabares. How does that grab you, darlin'?

Best Rock Radio Station

KOOL-FM 94.5

These days, recognizing a radio band as the best rock station is a fairly backhanded compliment. With unsettling styles like teen pop, rap-rock and nu metal dominating playlists, it's a wonder most folks haven't completely abandoned the FM dial for AM talk formats or the safety of CD players and tape decks. Without anything even approaching a progressive station here in the Valley, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that we would bestow this honor on KOOL-FM, a station playing nothing but golden oldies. Tuning to 94.5, you're likely to find a song with a melody, and the closest thing you'll get to a boy band is the Box Tops. Instead of being forced to endure inane teen divas like Britney and Christina, KOOL at least boasts classic inane teen divas like Lesley Gore and Shelley Fabares. How does that grab you, darlin'?

Best Club For Modern Rock

Modified

No booze, no jukebox, no dress code, and no social-climbing clotheshorses. Just music, music, music. And lots of artwork on the walls.

Modified, a tiny performance space in a converted antique shop in the middle of a street with nothing else on it, is one of those great ideas that shouldn't have worked. But in two and a half years Modified has garnered nothing but critical hosannas, largely on the strength of its aggressively no-frills mandate. Patrons sit on benches, or at one of a half-dozen small tables, or cross-legged on the floor. Performers set up no more than a foot away from the nearest audience member. Performer and patron can't help but vibe off each other's energy, lending shows at Modified a rare intimacy. And while local bands still make up the bulk of Modified's roster, several nationally known acts (such as Austin's Knife in the Water) have enjoyed it so much they've come back for repeat performances.

Best Club For Modern Rock

Modified

No booze, no jukebox, no dress code, and no social-climbing clotheshorses. Just music, music, music. And lots of artwork on the walls.

Modified, a tiny performance space in a converted antique shop in the middle of a street with nothing else on it, is one of those great ideas that shouldn't have worked. But in two and a half years Modified has garnered nothing but critical hosannas, largely on the strength of its aggressively no-frills mandate. Patrons sit on benches, or at one of a half-dozen small tables, or cross-legged on the floor. Performers set up no more than a foot away from the nearest audience member. Performer and patron can't help but vibe off each other's energy, lending shows at Modified a rare intimacy. And while local bands still make up the bulk of Modified's roster, several nationally known acts (such as Austin's Knife in the Water) have enjoyed it so much they've come back for repeat performances.

Best Venue For Local Acts

Lucky Dragon Restaurant

When the restaurant/art space Lucky Dragon closed up its ancient, Burgundy-soaked digs on University Drive, those of us whose aesthetic tastes run to the outré were saddened beyond the telling. But the LD's new incarnation on McClintock, while cleaner and better lit, has delivered on its promise to keep down-and-dirty local arts alive in the Valley. And it still makes a blazing kung pao chicken.

Apart from its more refined menu, the second incarnation sports intimate booths and spiffy cloth-draped tables aplenty -- easily three times the previous seating -- and a generous complement of funky hangings by amazing local artists. But the real draw is its showcase for area bands, from release parties to farewell shows, on the sizable stage. It won't be long before the Dragon enters Valley music history as a place to see and be seen.

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