After Dark: Expressive music mixes with espresso at cafe Published in the Islander 09/10/04 BY ALEXANDRA HOYT Staff Writer At some Shore-area venues this weekend, the aroma of fresh-brewed coffee will mix with the rhythms of live, original music, resulting in a "premium" blend of entertainment. Brewing at the Indigo Coffeehouse, 1208 Route 34, Aberdeen, is a lineup of singer-songwriters that includes self-expressive, Jersey-bred musicians Ken Shane at 9 tonight and Michael Brett at 9 p.m. tomorrow. Michael Brett is among the singer-songwriters scheduled to perform tomorrow at 9 p.m. at the Indigo Coffeehouse in Aberdeen. Brett, of East Windsor, was raised in the artists' haven of Roosevelt amid "professional artists of all persuasions -- from painters to weavers, poets to potters," according to the Roosevelt Arts Project's Web site -- a homespun nonprofit group devoted to promoting the arts in their community. Citing Roosevelt jazz pianist and composer Laurie Altman as an early influence in a recent interview, Brett said Altman was his music teacher at Roosevelt Public School and "introduced me to music and my love of music." Early in his career, Brett sang his own songs in talent shows, he said. While writing commercials for the radio as a college intern studying communications, he said he realized he wanted to "hear myself more than anything else." He played regional venues for several years, including Kenny's Castaways in New York; the Corner Tavern and the Court Tavern, both in New Brunswick, and John & Peter's Place in New Hope, Pa., according to www.mbrett.net/bio on the Web. In his first compact disc titled "done." -- a collection of six songs released in 1998 -- he mixes musical genres of "rock-pop, folk (and) alternative with smidgens of jazz and disco," according to the site, while drawing creative inspiration from the Beatles, David Bowie, Brian Wilson, the Bee Gees and Parliament Funkadelic. Why the title "done." for the start of a recording career? "People kept asking me, 'When is it going to be done?' " he said. He described himself as a "control freak." "I'll try to be perfect, taking my time . . . so it's exactly how I wanted it to be," he said. The CD's songs are "filled with a lot of harmonies," he said, adding the collection is "more instrumental with a lot of acoustic guitar, vocals and over-dubbing." He concentrates on the musical rhythms of sound and uses a drum machine for all the tracks. Since then, he said he's "grown a little," and released a purer sound with his second and most recent CD, "Electrophobia," in 2002. "Trading in the electric guitars," according to the site, "and toning down the multilayered vocal over-dubs a bit" -- as the title suggests, the collection of songs reflects his own "rock-folk style," he said, with a more rock than folk sound, citing the Beatles and Bob Dylan as influences. The songs are completely acoustic with no drums, little over-dubbing and added acoustics played by friend and jazz guitarist Jim Popik of Hopewell, he said. Adding to the purity of form are lyrics drawn from personal inspiration, he said. The album's lyrics are "part dark, part whimsical, part sarcastic, but completely personal," according to the site, and it features his songs "What You Say Isn't Always What You Do", about a friend's drug abuse, and "Point of View (Pretty Thing)", about the beauty and love he feels for his nieces and nephew, according to the site. "Religious Faith," the last song on the CD, "basically was written right after Sept. 11," he said, and self-reflects on all faiths in general, including his own degree of faith, in the shadows of that day's tragic events. He'll be performing on the anniversary of Sept. 11. Warming up the stage for Brett tonight is singer, songwriter and guitarist Ken Shane, who grew up in Atlantic City before moving to North Jersey. He released his first CD, "South Ridgeway Avenue," in 2003. Writing most of the songs on his CD, which features a warm, Springsteen-esque sound strummed with an acoustic guitar, Shane's poetic lyrics, as in his songs "Disappeared," "Invisible" and "Sacred Heart," include images that capture a feeling of melancholy at the ending of summer at the Shore and the ephemeral nature of life. His song "Summer and Smoke" begins, "Summer has ended again this year, The carousel's run out of steam, September is always so bittersweet, The beginning and end of a dream, And me I just missed the pageant, Miss America turned a blind eye, The world in my hand, turned into sand, I guess I'll never know why." Conjuring nostalgia for the Shore's glory days and speaking of the quietude of its wintertime, his lyrics from "Disappeared" include, "These streets can look so forlorn here, Like a Madonna streaked with tears, Winter isn't kind to these beach towns, So they sleep until summer draws near, But for me it's all in shadows now, Cause memory can be so weird, Those were the days leading up to the deluge, Right before it all disappeared." Also set to perform at the Indigo Coffeehouse is musician Patti Bramson at 8 tonight. Anita Ferrer performs at 8 p.m. tomorrow, followed by Janey Todd at 10 p.m. Singer-songwriter Anita Ferrer of Bradley Beach, also called the "Asbury Park Angel," "crosses over genres in her music with her unconventional chordings combining folk with cool combinations of jazz, funk-blues and Latin elements," according to her Web site at www.asburyparkangel.com. Ferrer's songs are recorded under collections titled "I'll Fly High" and "Asbury Park Angel." For more information on The Indigo Coffeehouse, call (732) 566-6233. Jon Caspi, an alternative blues, pop-vocal artist, performs 8:30 p.m. tomorrow at Espresso Joe's, 50 W. Front St. in Keyport. For more information, call (732) 203-9499. For what's brewing in music after dark this weekend at No Joe's Cafe, 51 Broad St. in Red Bank, which features local acoustic folk and pop acts, call (732) 530-4040. home