Thursday, September 4, 2008

Alternative History + Aethereal Bace @ Le Poisson Rouge 9/3/08

Awesome! Awesome bands, awesome venue, awesome vibe! I really love that place. It has great sound and I love how dark they make it for the show. I even like the lights, which are just some fun background lights, like pictures of stars or leaves or something on the wall. They do hit the artists faces, so I wonder if it’s hard on them. I doubt it, since the place is owned by musicians. They really thought things through.

I really want Garage a Trois to play there, without the tables of course. I think it would be a great place for them.

It was a double bill, with each band doing a 1 hour set.

Aethereal Bace is Nasheet Waits (drums), Eric Mcpherson (drums), and Abraham Burton (tenor sax). Can you imagine how happy I was with that instrumentation? It was phenomenal. They also had a didgeridoo sit in for a bit in the middle, which was awesome. This was my kind of music and I really hope they play more. They were supposed to play with E.S.T. at JVC Jazzfest, so I’m glad they got a makeup. It was improvising at it’s finest. Mainly just a few great musicians getting together to jam. There was some grooving parts and some quiet parts. I was reminded of this cd I have of William Parker, Hammiet Bluett, and Hamid Drake. I was also happy because it was no problem to stand behind the tables and dance. Actually, there are a few high tables back there, so I was able to put my drink down.

Alternative History is Ethan Iverson (piano), Nasheet Waits (drums) and Ben Street (bass). They are still contemplating the name, so it might change. They came together after playing at Small’s a bunch of times together. This band is about playing jazz standards. They say they don’t rehearse, but they did get together the other day to discuss what they wanted to play. Somehow, they started playing one of the tunes and then stopped to wait. Hmm. What were they doing with their instruments if they didn’t want to rehearse? I don’t really care, I just couldn’t help but wonder. Maybe they met in a room that happened to have a drum kit, upright bass, and piano, who knows. It was great, and they did a variety of standards. They said it came about due to their common love of jazz records. They didn’t stick to the same old standards, I didn’t know most of them. I did know most of the artists they were covering, though.

I had a great time and I loved how the 2 bands were pretty different. I was surprised there weren’t more people. Iverson has a big draw and it was only $15. I did go to the box office at lunchtime the day before and noticed they didn’t have it listed out front with the other advance shows. I figure it wasn’t as well advertised. It doesn’t really matter as that place is great even when it’s crowded. It’s not too tight. The chairs are nice and kind of roomy. I can’t wait to see the non-table setup.

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