John Ellis + Subway Music + This is Our Music 5/14/08

I had to get to Jazz Standard for John Ellis and Double Wide. They had a few gigs in NOLA, but I kept telling myself it would come to NYC and I’d see it then. Then, I almost didn’t make it, but realized I could do 7:30 and then go to Galapagos for the This is Our Music series.

Matt Perrine, Jason Marsalis, John Ellis, and Sam Yahel could each entice me to go to any show they are in.

I was so glad I got the night with Yahel instead of Gary Versace. Don’t get me wrong, Gary’s pretty good. I just have a different take on organ players than most. I know that most of the musicians seem to love playing with Gary, and he is technically very good. I just feel there is something lacking when I see him. I know that I’m in the minority on this one because Brad Sheppick was definitely very happy to be playing with him the time I saw them at The Stone. Also, I was there when John and Gary first connected. It was a last minute fill-in gig at Bar Next Door, and they were very happy to have found each other. John even told the crowd it was their first time playing together. That was a pretty good show.

But, I digress. The Jazz Standard set last night was awesome. Very grooving. It was kind of too much that they were playing tunes off their new cd, “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow” in a place where you can’t dance. John seemed very happy to be playing for people eating BBQ.

Other than the sitting part, it did kind of feel like we were back in NOLA due to the music. I mean, how many bands have a sousaphone? Matt added so much to the music. It sounded very NOLA-ish. It was awesome.

On my way to Williamsburg, I had the pleasure of more sousaphone while waiting for the L train at 14th St. It was a drummer, with a full kit, a sousaphone and a trumpet and they were awesome. I wanted a cd, but not enough to risk missing the train. I did manage to get out a couple of bucks to throw in and I figure I will run into them again. It was very late Miles Davis sounding jazz and I loved it. I can’t wait to find out who they are.

On to Williamsburg. I’m loving the This is Our Music Series at Galapagos. I think it’s once a month, and I’m finding it a good way to get turned on to new bands I never heard of. I really think it has a Tonic feel to it. I did see somewhere that Galapagos is moving to DUMBO at some point, and Southpaw bought the current space. I do know there is a This is Our Music night on 6/11 with Bobby Previte, so I’m not sure when the move is going to happen.

I got there in time for the last 15 min of Matt Lavelle’s Tenor Tree, which was awesome. 3 tenors and a bass clarinet. I love bass clarinet. This was a great opportunity to notice differences in the sounds that can come from tenors and how the bass clarinet differs. For the portion I saw, Lavelle tended to hit more of the high notes. Most of the bass clarinet I’m used to is on the low notes, so that was interesting as well. I could really get into the music, which sounded awesome.

Then, I finally got a chance to see Knucklebean, and I really enjoyed it. A bunch of horns, electric bass, guitar and drums. It was spacey at times, up at times, and just my kind of thing. It was all improvised, which was cool. That seemed pretty late Miles influenced as well. I realized I see a lot of those guys out at various shows, so I’m sure they are absorbing a lot while enjoying the music. Last night they showed a film while they played. I didn’t pay too much attention to it, but it was kind of cool to have it in the background. I have a feeling this band can be quite different at times. I also loved how they naturally let a different one of them solo for a bit at times. I was really digging the bass. I will definitely be sure to see them again.

After all that, I had to stay for at least a little bit of the Matthew Silberman Group. That helped me keep up with my string theme, since there was a violin, cello, guitar, and upright bass. The sax from Knucklebean was the leader and composer. That was more jazzy and I enjoyed the song I heard. I left in favor of sleep, but if it were earlier I would have definitely stayed til the end.

Wednesday, May 14, 8pm, $10
This Is Our Music III
Curated by Brad Farberman
8:30PM - Matt Lavelle's Tenor Tree: Matt Lavelle (bass clarinet), Ras Moshe (tenor saxophone), Bob Feldman (tenor saxophone), Catherine Sikora (tenor saxophone)
9:30PM - Knucklebean: Brad Farberman (guitar), Adam Minkoff (bass), Nick Anderson (drums), Matt Silberman (saxophones), Matt Thomas (saxophones), Ben Syversen (trumpet), Kevin Moehringer (trombone)
10:30PM - Matthew Silberman Group: Matthew Silberman (tenor and soprano saxophones), Rob Hecht (violin), Greg Heffernan (cello), Travis Reuter (guitar), Christopher Tordini (bass), Max Goldman (drums)
myspace.com/mattlavelle
myspace.com/knucklebeanmusic
matthewsilberman.com