Most Popular
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Barack Obama and Me
It was the year 2000 and I was a young hungry reporter in Chicago covering a young hungry state legislator
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Mescaline on the Mexican Border
Texas is the only state in the country where peyote is sold legally. Really.
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A Prison Cover-up During Hurricane Rita
For days after the storm, inmates in Beaumont lived without A/C, electricity or hot meals. Press releases kept saying everything inside was fine. Guards and prisoners agree — that was nothing but B.S.
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Little Bitty Burger Barn
"It's okay to be little bitty in the big city" is an apt slogan for this new burger joint, where sliders rule
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Ghost Town CFS: Carriage House Cafe
Step back in time — to a spooky old carriage barn with a monster chicken-fried steak
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Barack Obama and Me (246)
It was the year 2000 and I was a young hungry reporter in Chicago covering a young hungry state legislator
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Save Lobo: A Siberian Husky Mix is Sentenced to Die (28)
Why? Because he's big and intimidating and because one family complained about him over and over again
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A Prison Cover-up During Hurricane Rita (13)
For days after the storm, inmates in Beaumont lived without A/C, electricity or hot meals. Press releases kept saying everything inside was fine. Guards and prisoners agree — that was nothing but B.S.
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Are You Hot Enough for Citizen Lounge? (6)
All This Useless Beauty
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Rotten to the Corps: A Question of Justice at Texas A&M (140)
Thanks to A& M and a district attorney, two cadets escape punishment for beating in a student's face
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Are You Hot Enough for Citizen Lounge?
All This Useless Beauty
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Tired of the Hype, But That's All There Is
Next month, Houston gets to be a cool kid. But only for a week.
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The improbable redemption of Ashlee Simpson
"La La" Love You
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Rap's Rapidly Vanishing Female MC
The Why Chromosome
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A New Official State Song for Texas?
A case for a new — or different, anyway — state song
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Geraldo Rivera Is Stupid: A Review of His Panic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics in the U.S.
06:06AM 03/09/08 -
Weekend Music: Help Save the Houston Music Scene
03:54PM 03/07/08 -
To Do: Hockey and Roller Derby
04:12PM 03/07/08 -
Sausage Fest: Bangers and Mash at Red Lion Pub
11:40AM 03/08/08
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Recent Articles By Olivia Flores Alvarez
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“Face the Music: An Evening of Jazz Dedicated to Fighting AIDS in Africa”
Music for a good cause
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Downtown Houston Night Crawl
This is the “I didn’t know that!” tour
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“Richard Black: The Art of Cue”
HCCC presents works by craftsman Richard Black
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“Seeing Beneath Mount Everest: Probing a Breeding Ground of Destructive Earthquakes
Anne Sheehan talks about earthquakes, Mount Everest and scorpions
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Madame de…
What goes around, comes around
National Features
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SF Weekly
The Candidate
Our columnist knows Ralph Nader's running mate all too well.
By Matt Smith -
The Pitch
How Not To Be a Rap Star
First of all, lay off the Ecstasy.
By Nadia Pflaum -
Village Voice
Project Runaway
What becomes a gossip columnist most?
By Michael Musto
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Austin reminds us why Gershwin's music is so timeless.
Subject(s): Patti Austin
The most stylish of the group here is Avant Gershwin, Patti Austin's tribute to George and Ira Gershwin. The brothers contributed dozens of hits to the American songbook, including the eight Austin does here. "Love Walked In" and "Lady Be Good" are both especially nice, but the "Porgy and Bess Medley" is the standout cut. At over 17 minutes, it hits all the show's highlights, giving listeners a really satisfying dose of sass and wit, grace and tenderness. Austin captures the musicality of the Gershwins' tunes, making them seem timely without losing the timelessness of the songs. Lush, without being overproduced, the CD is a quiet treasure.
Although she gets plenty of accolades, Austin is still perhaps one of the most overlooked jazz singers performing today. Her range and finesse put her head and shoulders above more commercially successful folks like Dianne Reeves and Diana Krall. This is partly due to Austin's dedication to the essence of the music (she underplays her considerable chops and lets the song take center stage) and partly due to her choices. Having just come off a tour of symphonies with an Ella Fitzgerald show, Austin went right back in the studio in Germany to record Avant Gershwin. Both Ella and the Gershwin brothers are a little old-fashioned for today's audiences (too much thinking involved). Thankfully, Austin makes her musical choices based on the song rather than current styles.
