2 Foot Yard + Jazz @ Jules 3/4/08

I started at Joe’s Pub for the early show. 2 Foot Yard is Carla Kihlstedt, Shazad Ismaily, and Marika Hughes, all stellar artists. I would describe it as “avant-alternative melancholic music”. The genre reminded me of The Arcade Fire in a way. It was good, I was just getting a little tired of all the downer songs. They even mentioned they don’t usually feel like writing songs when they’re happy. This was the cd release, so they had a lot of special guests that are on the cd, including Jim Campilango, a girl with an interesting name on guitar, and a violin, viola and cello. They also did many songs as a trio. They ended with their only cover, which was from The Carter Family, who got it from somewhere else. Overall, it was great, just a little sad after a while. I don’t think I want the cd.

I decided to stop at Jules, where they have live jazz on my way home. It’s at St. Mark’s Place between 1st and 2nd. I can’t remember the name of the band, but I saw this young French guitar player I’ve seen a few times at Louis 649. It was a pretty good trio. I think it was the bass player’s band. They walk around with the tip jar after the set. It’s a nice place with a nice vibe. It is a restaurant and there were a lot of talkers. Still, I sat close to the band at the bar and was able to drown them out pretty easily.