BuzzUniverse @ Wash Sq Park 5/10/08

There's nothing like jazzfest to get you revved up again to get to as much music as possible. Actually, there's nothing like jazzfest period.

BuzzUniverse has had a free show in Wash Sq Park for the past 3 years or so. I've gone by there each year, but I always seem to get there during setbreak. In years past, I didn't feel like waiting around, so I would leave right away. This year I went down there with the notion I would stay no matter what. I'm glad I did.

I probably got there soon after they went on break. They do usually have someone else playing in between their sets, which I think is a nice touch and a good idea. It's usually a solo acoustic artist, which makes sense so there's no issues with equipment, etc.

This year, I got there around 3:30 or so, and Kelly Carvin was on stage doing her solo singer/guitar player thing. I did enjoy the 1st couple of songs, I just was more in the mood to socialize and talk jazzfest and music than listen. Towards the end, it seemed rather long, but that's probably because of my aversion to that type of music unless it's very high above normal standards. I mean they've got to be in the top 1% on the scale of greatness. I have a lot more tolerance for instrumentalists. People around seemed to be enjoying it.

Buzz came back on around 4:30 and played til maybe 5:45 or so. I really enjoyed it and had a lot of fun dancing. I am familiar with a lot of their songs, but haven't seen them for a year or 2. They are gelling really nicely and I like the progression. I'm going to try to make the Sullivan Hall show next month, when they open for the Lee Boys with Marco. I also found out that the openers for Sullivan Hall need to bring in at least 50 people or they don't get booked again. That makes sense, and also means that the openers are going to tend to be on the good side.

I also like how diverse they are. It doesn't seem to matter what genre they are playing, they seem to gel together on each song. I also like that they have a drummer and a percussionist and that they have 2 reed players. I was enjoying Greg on the bass.

Here's the link for the Sullivan Hall show. Get there early for BuzzUniverse if you plan to go so you can catch them.

http://www.sullivanhallnyc.com/artists/lee_boys.htm