Caveman w/ Telegram Scam 12/14/16 Bar

Local opener Telegram Scam was a rock outfit drums,guitar, a guy on Korg, and a female vocalist. Original songwriting was ok, and some good drumming. Woozy vocalist showed signs of surf punk, but sang out of tune. This band needs to practice, I hope the moniker is a play on the Syd Barrett song.
Brooklyn hipsters Caveman opened for Phosphorescent last time in the area. Keys, drums, bass, guitar, and frontman on guitar and vocals. They sounded like a poppier Grizzly Bear. Full sound and good guitar solos. Ended the show with a nice slurry, trippy take on Iggy's "I Wanna Be Your Dog".

Bassoonarama 12/12/16 Sudler Recital Hall Yale

Annual holiday performance of bassoon grad students at Yale. Curated by Professor Frank Morelli and his gaggle of bassoonists, the crew performed "the classics as they were meant to be played". They took the stage with the loping theme to Alfred Hitchcock's tv show. Morelli and various incarnations of six students played selections by Prokofiev, Korsakov, Liszt, and Shostakovich. Occasionally, the monstrous contra bassoon was enlisted for true low end assistance. The bassoon is a  truly expressive instrument and when played by a group they give an impressive sound. After intermission, some oboes and an English horn came out for some jazzy takes on the nutcracker. The show closed with a rousing version of the Sabre Dance. The bassoon is a wooden instrument with a double reed that looks like a rocket launcher with a metal wick, it's low sound was a favorite of early cartoon theme songs.

Jesse Malin w/ No Line North 12/7/16 Bar

No Line North is a local Americana outfit. Frontman on guitar/vocals, bass, drums, and violin comprised the quartet. This band sounded like Son Volt with some undeveloped vocals. The violin was a nice touch. I'm not sure of the difference between violin and fiddle, but this young man had a good grasp on violin flourish. Closed their set with a Frank Black cover.
Jesse Malin is a rock and roller that reminds me of a cross between Ryan Adams and Peter Wolf. A great talent that graced this free show as a warm-up to his opening for Peter Murphy the next night. Guitar, bass, drums, sax, trumpet, with Malin on guitar and vocals. The set started out with a few quiet numbers until Malin got pissed at some chatterboxes in the back. He launched into a rousing cover of the Pogues' "If I Should Fall From Grace With God", turned up to 11 as if to taunt the audience members who couldn't shut up. A dozen rockin numbers followed. If you listen to the first couple Malin songs on Spotify, you'll get a cover of Paul Simon's "Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard" and a duet with one Bruce Springsteen. This was a high energy rock and roll show.

Turkuaz w/ The New Mastersounds 12/4/16 College St Music Hall

I thought this bill was reversed with NM headlining, but we entered to the funky stylings of these instrumental Brit-soul ravers. NM have been positively reviewed in this blog before, a sweaty late night at a Gathering of the Vibes. Drums, bass, funky hollow-body guitar (like Wes Montgomery), and keys started the evening. The two female singers from Turkuaz came on stage for a few soul numbers. NM have been tour warriors, spreading their brand of instrumental soul grooving for well over a decade.
Turkuaz have been part of the regional jam funk scene for a while. Made sense for them to headline, given the sheer size and scope of their sound. Baritone sax, sax, trumpet/keys, lead man on guitar/vocals, another guitar/keys, captain crunch colored bass, two drummers, and the ladies made up the ten piece outfit. One drummer was part of the Snarky Puppy collective of Brooklyn jazz funksters. Songs flowed freely with booty shaking funk abandon. The ladies had an almost familial knack of shimmying in perfect unison. Turkuaz is a leader of the jam-jazz-big band genre, if there is such a category.

Mothers w/ E 11/30/16 Bar

Thankfully caught the entire set from sludge punk veterans collaborating in the guise of E.  A recent glowing review in Wire of E's recent release on Thrill Jockey piqued my interest. Thalia Zedek on guitar was part of Live Skull in the 80s and Come in the 90s. Jason Sanford from the band Neptune played guitar, vocals and "devices". Gavin McCarthy reminded me of Oneida's Kidd Millions on drums. Zedek played churning shoe-gazey guitar histrionics with some inaudible lyrics, while McCarthy backed with a motorik presence. Sanford was an amazing part of the bass-less power trio. His "guitar" was hand-crafted from welded 4-gauge wire. Frets, pickups, strings, tuning pegs, the whole thing was a wire sculpture that made it almost invisible on stage. Invisible but definitely not inaudible, Sanford's command of  pedals and effects applied color to Zedek's pulse. I chatted with Sanford about his equipment and got some awful photos of the invisible guitar.
Mothers was an indie quartet consisting of guitar, bass, drums, and front woman on rhythm guitar and vocals. The singer sounded like Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval crossed with the Velvet's Mo Tucker. Decent original songwriting and capable delivery  was overshadowed by the monster presence of the opening act.