Thursday, January 14, 2010

K3 @ Rose Live 1/13/09

This was a good way to go out being my last real show before vacation. K3 was great and Rose Live is a great venue for them. It's hard to see, but I don't think that really matters. It was good and funky and I was dancing my butt off in the little bit of room I had to work with.

I'm busy working and getting ready for vacation. I caught the last 45 min of the first set. I had to tear myself away before risking getting sucked into the 2nd set.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Henry Butler & Friends @ Joe's Pub 1/9/10

This was billed as a solo show. I was pleasantly surprised to see the stage was set up for a band.

I wish I could remember their names, the guitar, drums, and bass were all great.

Henry played the electric keyboard the whole set. Logistically, it was too difficult to switch up the piano and electric after he did the first 2 solo pieces. It was great regardless.

It was a bluesy and funky set - definitely my kind of set! I had a great time!

Davell Crawford @ Joe's Pub 1/9/09

Henry Butler was the headliner, but this worked more like a double-bill. Davell said he just came off of a 3.5 year hiatus. He did a 45 minute solo performance. Roberta Flack introduced him.

It was good. He started with some lively tunes, like a fast version of Iko Iko. He then got more sappy with Memories and a few others. It was good, although not my genre. A lot of people there seemed to love it.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Upcoming: K3 @ Rose Live

This is a great venue for them!

Wed Jan 13 9PM - KRANTZ CARLOCK LEFEBVRE (2 sets)
http://www.abstractlogix.com
"Wayne Krantz (guitar), Keith Carlock (drums), and Tim Lefebvre (bass), an adrenalized trio of slipstream virtuosos savvy enough to split the difference between the jazz and improv-rock crowds. Their new album, Left It on the Playground, is a roiling brew of hypercaffeinated exploration. Tracks such as "Rushdie," "Jeff Beck," and "It's No Fun Not to Like Pop" do uncanny things with time while navigating imaginary landscapes with confident precision at high velocities." - Village Voice
$12 cover

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Upcoming: Charlie Hunter Residency @ Rose Live

Yes! Another residency! I think I'm only going to be able to make one, but it's better than none. I'm going to miss many great shows by going away the 2nd half of Jan, but what can you do.

Tuesdays, January 5, 12, 19, 26
Charlie Hunter & Friends
At Rose Live Music , 345 Grand St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$12, $10 in advance, $10 w/ student ID
buy in advance here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/93669

the band: Charlie Hunter (8 string super-guitar), Eric Kalb (drums), Eric Biondo (trumpet), Curtis Fowlkes (trombone) and more TBA!

Marco Benevento Trio @ Sullivan Hall 1/2/09

This was awesome! Marco Benevento, Billy Martin, and Dave Dreiwitz. What a trio! I stayed up front for this one. I occasionally noticed murmur of talkers behind me, but up front everyone was very much into it.

Billy had a kit, a steel drum, and a big metal thing that acted like a drum. If there wasn't such a thing as a kettle drum, I'd be tempted to say it was a metal thing that looked like a big kettle, or turned over pot or something. Whatever it was, I liked the sound. There was one point where he was playing the kit with a maraca in his hand. His right hand had a drumstick and was mainly hitting drums, but sometimes cymbals. His left hand had a drumstick and a maraca and he was hitting the cymbal with the stick. It sounded awesome!

I have to admit, I'm getting somewhat tired of "The Real Morning Party". It will never be the same now that I've seen Skerik play sax on it. The first time they played it, they stretched it out and everyone did amazing solos. Amazing! I couldn't believe it when toward the end of the 1 hour set, Marco started it up again. It sounded good, I'm just sick of it. However, if he brought out this trio and billed the show as playing that song over and over, I'd go, and probably still love it. It's a good song, I just hear it too much anymore.

Anyway, that was quite an amazing set. I stuck it out for the 1st 5 minutes of The Slip, but bailed quickly. I think I would like them more if they had no vocals. That just ruins it for me.

Sullivan Hall 2nd Year Anniversary Party
featuring The Slip /
Marco Benevento Trio
feat. Billy Martin & Dave Dreiwitz (Ween)
w/ special guest opener
Stephane Wremble
plus special guests

Stephane Wrembel @ Sullivan Hall 1/2/09

I saw the 2nd half of their set, and it was good. I was right up front, so I could enjoy it. I saw him at Barbes a few years ago and have been wanting to get back. He didn't have the washboard player with him this time. It was a bass player and another guitar. It was very good and a great opener.

Wrembel plays in the style of Django Rheinhartd and he's great. He usually plays every Sunday at Barbes and it's very much worth getting to.

He mentioned that a great Django style player is coming from France on 1/23 to Joe's Pub and he doesn't record. This would be a great time to see him. I will be out of town, but I would consider it otherwise.

Government Mule @ The Beacon 12/31/09

Ohh yeah! I got there about 5 minutes before the 2nd set. I was on the floor in Row S center. See the killer setlist below.

I would say that 2nd set started at around 10:45 - 10:50. Started with just Warren and a percussionist, Marc QuiƱones, from the Allman Brothers. I was so psyched to have additional percussion, I really looove percussion. I already heard it was going to be a Woodstock night, so I wasn't surprised. I expected them to have a female singer that could do Janice and Jefferson Airplane. I wasn't expecting anything quite so awesome as Dana Fuchs. I've seen her in the Blues listings a lot, but I had no idea she was that great. She had the personality and the voice to really pull it off. She was awesome. She was the star in Love, Janice. (I'm ashamed to say I lived a few blocks from the show at what is now Le Poisson Rouge and I never saw it. I wanted to, it was just a different era for me.)

Warren knows how to select songs! Warren can play guitar! Hearing him playing Santana was amazing. He can play anyone, sing anyone, he is simply The Man! I loved how they did "Dance to the Music" soon after the countdown.

At "Everybody Must Get Stoned", I couldn't control myself and headed down the aisle. Security was coming down and clearing it out, but those of us on the left side of the aisle were able to stay, I think they didn't realize there were no seats there, we just added one to the row. I was down there in the 5th row for the remainder of that 2nd set. At the end of that set, Warren announced they were going to continue with Woodstock instead of their tradition of going back to Mule for the 3rd set. Yeah!

The 3rd set was just as awesome, perhaps somehow even better by a degree. This show was pure heaven. It ended at around 2:30. I had such a good time! I was so happy, and tired and I really didn't need anymore. I figured Rebirth at Sullivan Hall would be too crowded to enjoy. It turns out it was a good move. I heard later that Rebirth ended at 3:15, which seemed wrong.

I must also mention how much I like this bass player. He was great. Danny Lewis also played a lot of guitar and he was good. It highlighted how much of the music back then was guitar-focused. I used to have a dream I could go back in time and live in that era, and especially go to Woodstock. I have to say, in my older wisdom of today that dream doesn't exist. We have better sound, we have all the digitally-remastered recordings, and we have such great artists today. I'm pretty happy to have it as it is today. I can't believe how much great music I get to see all the time. I would love to time travel to some shows back then, but I love how today's musicians have built on the past.

They made me nostalgic for The Greatful Dead shows I used to see in college. I haven't been nostalgic for those in ages. I never saw Dark Star live, but I had some good memories of all those shows at the Philadelphia Spectrum and the occasional roadtrip to Hartford or Pittsburgh. That was a good time!

I was shocked those were the same horns from 2 years ago. OK, at first I was disappointed, I couldn't believe Warren would hire them again. I thought they added nothing last time. I was pleasantly surprised that they were better this time. The sax was OK, but the trombone and trumpet definitely had their moments. There were some good parts with them. I realize I'm spoiled by all the stellar horn players I get to see so often.

I'm looking forward to hearing this show again! What a night!

Set 1
Bad Little Doggie
Inside Outside Woman Blues
Larger Than Life >
Frozen Fear
Forevermore
Painted Silver Light
No Need To Suffer
Mule > with Highway Star Tease
Whole Lotta Love >
Mule

Set 2
Freedom*$ (Warren & Marc)
Coming Into Los Angeles*$ (Without Matt)
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
Going Home*
Ball & Chain*@#
Piece Of My Heart*@#
Savior*$ >
Jingo*$
Soul Sacrifice*$
Delta Lady*$@#
Let's Go Get Stoned*$@#
With A Little Help From My Friends*$@# >
New Years Countdown >
With A Little Help From My Friends*$@#
Dance To The Music*$@# >
Music Lover*$@#
I Want To Take You Higher*$@#

Set 3
Fish Cheer* (Matt Solo Acoustic)
Dark Star*$ >
Somebody To Love*$@
I Put A Spell On You*
Don't Do It*&#
Mean Mistreater*
Helplessly Hoping* (Warren acoustic with Marc, Danny, Dana & Pam)
"Don't Eat The Brown Acid"
Helplessly Hoping Reprise*
I'm Free* >
Listening To You

Encore
Star Spangled Banner* >
Purple Haze*

* First Time Played
# Buford Osullivan - Trombone, Pam Fleming - Trumpet, Jenny Hill - Sax
@ Dana Fuchs - Vocals
$ Marc Quinonnes - Percussion

The Word @ Terminal 5 12/31/09

I couldn't resist hitting the first part of this. Who knows, this could be my last chance to experience this band, they don't come around much. I also had a ticket to Mule, but I wanted to get in some of this first.

They were only allowing VIP tickets to go to the 2nd level. The 3rd level was probably closed altogether. It looked like there weren't many people upstairs. I thought that wasn't a bad idea to keep most everyone on the 1st level.

The sound really is terrible there. Still, I enjoyed the first couple of songs so much I could get by the sound. It was intense and awesome. They started at 9:40, which seemed a little late.

I did start gradually getting bored after that. At 10:30ish I just knew it was time to bail and get over to The Beacon, so I left. I'm very glad for those 1st couple of songs. After that, I couldn't even drum up much enthusiasm for Medeski. I will say that Luther is an awesome guitar player. That was a good warmup for what was to come at my next stop. The bass was killer. I'm looking forward to seeing North Mississippi Allstars in Feb.