Christine Ohlman w/ George Baker Cafe 9

Need to make a point to tell the crew at c9 to get the website correct. The billing for this show had CM headlining, so I was surprised to enter just as she was ending her set. A good Take Me to the River and a later duet with GB was all I got from the beehive queen. Both of these artists are local legends, with GB having a stool in the joint with his name on it. Baker on guitar, drums, bass, and a Caucasian organ player that had to be one third of Baker's age. I always wonder how these associations happen, the kid looked like he could have been GB's paperboy. The band was tight and breezed through a nice set of soul and blues numbers. Excellent cover of Muddy Waters' Mannish Boy was the highlight.

Bassoonarama 12/18/17 Sudler Hall Yale

It's beginning to look a lot like bassoonarama, everywhere I go. The annual holiday concert and bassoon recital is gaining in popularity judging by the near capacity crowd at Sudler Hall. Some Christmas songs to start, followed by duets and trios of the Yale bassoon class ( there were six students and the bassoon playing prof). Selections by Mozart, Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz, and a lively composition by a South American composer. Some Christmas music to round out the evening seems to drown out the hyper-commercialized holiday madness and replace it with happy holiday sounds. The sound of the bassoon, and the bass-blast of the large contrabassoon, can be mournful in many settings. The arrangements of holiday classics shows the happier side of this underrated instrument.

Okey Dokey 12/11/17 Cafe 9

Another bad decision for a band name, Okey Dokey came from "the south". Didn't have a chance to preview the music for this manic Monday, which always makes for a curious listen. OD was a quintet with lead singer, guitar/vocals, lead guitar, keys, and drums. Scruffy twenty somethings, OD put out kind of a warp of soul, garage, and surf sounds. Campy frontman wore an ill-fitting US navy jumpsuit as he bounced and sashayed on and off the stage. Original songs had good harmony vocals. The band had the Deer Tick "don't give a fuck" ethos coupled with the wandering singer who could just as easily high five you as hump your leg, made for a guarded listen.

Landing Party 12/8/17 Stella Blues

Caught some second set material from LP, newest groove outlet from former Turbine frontman Ryan. Gathering Of The Vibes stalwarts Turbine dissolved when Ryan took a stint touring as harmonica maestro for Culture Club, I guess he "tumbled for us". On this outing, drummer, drum pad, bass, and Ryan on guitar, vocals, and 3-d printed harmonica. The jammy groove that was Turbine is still evident with Ryan attaching his phone to the guitar for a trippy effect. Maybe the guitar was calling the harmonica, " yo, 3-d printed ! That's dope". Didn't get the chance to dis the name Landing Party, isn't the whole point to "not land"? Anywho, local groovers still plying the trade to some paisley head bobbers.

Nels Cline/ Larry Ochs/ Gerald Cleaver Trio 12/8/17 Firehouse 12

Closing show of the 2017 Fall Season at F-12. Guitar chameleon Cline has been reviewed in this blog in various incarnations in the past. Lead guitar for the cult of Wilco where he joins Jeff Tweedy in a spin vs. spazzfest. In an acoustic duo configuration with an equally skilled Julian Lage, or on this particular evening a free-form burble-off with sax player Ochs, and drummer Cleaver. Cline isn't shy and he starts right in with some metal droney material. Ochs, a member of the ROVA Saxophone Quartet looked exactly like the muppet sax player. Droopy face, shades (at night), bald with scraggly long gray hair spooling down from the equator of his skull. Ochs burbled sideways to Cline's forward bursts, Cleaver cleverly keeping time in the back. Cline seemed obsessed with the technique of tapping the guitar neck from behind creating various sounds depending on where the fret hand was at the point of thwack. Cleaver at one point does some cymbal scraping that sounded like a bus with bad brakes trying to stop The second set consisted of one long improvised freakout which was not easy listening, but it is always great to be in close proximity to a truly original artist spewing his truly original art.

Benjamin Verdery Yale OIS, 12/6/17

Kind of an oxymoron, Yale prof and classical guitarist Verdery expounding on American Guitar at the office of international students. I usually see Ben in a less talkative formal setting at Sprague Hall, but it was a treat to hear him explain how guitar affected his formative years. He starts with The Ventures, Link Wray, and the genius of Les Paul. The showmanship of Chuck Berry and how he influenced the British Invasion. The blues work of Robert Johnson laid the groundwork for the creamy note bending of B.B. King. Hendrix's amazing take on The Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock followed by his acoustic rendition of Hear My Train A Comin ( a staple on many a Burke mixtape). Duane Allman's stellar use of bottleneck slide on Statesboro Blues and Joni Mitchell's open tuning technique on Amelia. Ben has collaborated with Andy Summers and Leo Kottke, and has taught indie royalty Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National. The underlying theme was that American Guitar reflects the melting pot that is America, a notion that seems to be under assault in today's vitriol. Ben closed with a couple of tunes, one was a beautiful slide inflected piece about a peninsula on the island of Maui ( Ben spends time in Hawaii), the other was his classical guitar reading of Purple Haze with touches of Hey Joe and The Wind Cries Mary.

Mark Mulcahy 11/27/17 Cafe 9

Mark Mulcahy moves into the 9 for a Manic Monday. Singer songwriter and frontman of the 80s band Miracle Legion, Mulcahy looks like the hipster dad that rips it up at "bring your parent to school" day. Regional success had ML cross paths with many a new wave act, though I can't remember seeing them back in the day (damn you foggy youth!). Mulcahy's wife died tragically young, and a star studded tribute "Ciao, My Shining Star" is well worth the Spotify search. The National, Thom Yorke, Michael Stipe, and Vic Chesnutt all lend their talents. On this evening, I miscued the start time and just caught the encores. Quavering version of Blackbird, REMish Jimmy, then closed with a soulful tune had an almost Robert Wyatt feel. Just Mulcahy on acoustic and a keyboard player showed this lifelong rocker in a perfect setting.

Glen Jones 11/13/17 Cafe 9

Acoustic finger style guitarist Jones played a Manic Monday at C-9. Jones plays the primitive guitar style pioneered by his friend and mentor the late John Fahey. Wordless acoustic 6 string, 12 string, and banjo songs are written in a circular style. Songs start with a distinct melody, meander, then come back around to lend a familiarity that is rare in instrumental music. Jones is a character, and the inter-song banter was great. One tune, "The Last Passenger Pigeon" was written after watching a documentary on man's hand in the extinction of species. "Across The Tappan Zee" was written before the name change to the Mario Cuomo Bridge. Jones told a hysterical story of writing an "un-Christmas carol" and playing it before an audience in Pittsburgh. At the song's lead-in, he sarcastically asked the crowd if anyone likes Christmas? Expecting full well that a crowd of bar denizens would jadedly moan at the specter of the holidays, an 8-year old named Audrey leapt at the question to respond that she LOVES Christmas. Glen did an immediate reflection and about face regarding the sentiment, and has since softened the tune and dedicates it to Audrey upon playing. Jones paid tribute to Robbie Basho and closed with a tune "The Giant Who Ate Himself" that paid homage to Fahey.

Wax Tailor and Friends 11/12/17 Spaceland

French DJ and Beatmaster came to Hamden with a couple of friends to bump on a chilly November night. Wax Tailor operates two turntables and an etch-a-sketch like sampler gadget that spits odd dialog from what sounds like 1950s American film clips. With a trippy video backdrop, WT scratched and sampled his way through tunes. One song had this mournful cello passage, another took clips from a Nina Simone song. His two friends were very distinct. A young female chanteuse ( I've always wanted to use the  word chanteuse, and a young French female coo-er gyrating in front of WTs beats with a name like Charlotte Seviegny seems like the perfect descriptor) sang and bopped to the music. Another friend was a young black male rapper, his rhymes coated the beats in a very different and complimentary fashion as the girl. The singers were never on stage at the same time. These three incarnations of the sound yielded three completely different takes on the music. Recent release By Any Beats Necessary is great. The show ended with WTs patented take on Que Sera Sera.

Iron and Wine 11/10/17 College Street Music Hall

Iron and Wine is a folk pop group fronted by the enigmatic Sam Beam. The group on this evening consisted of Beam on guitar and vocals, cello, female keys and backing vocals, fantastic female drummer and backing vocals, and bass (electric and upright). The early catalog: The Creek Drank the Cradle, Our Endless Numbered Days, The Woman King (ep w/ Calexico)' ,The Shepherds Dog (my personal favorite), all were represented well on this outing. Beam has grown into his popularity evidenced by his confident stage delivery. The songs : Upward Over the Mountain, Boy With a Coin, House By The Sea, Woman King among many others were played not as direct readings but interpretations of these recorded favorites. Impressions of fan favorites are a delight and Beam connected on many counts. The sold out crowd hung on every literate line from this fantastic artist.

Songs After the Fact: Yale Art Gallery 11/9/17

Program of continuous music played by six Yale students interspersed with texts that were written in periods of conflict. The installation was styled after Phil Kline's "Zippo Songs" where WWII soldier diary snippets are heard over an Eno-esque backdrop. On this event, photos and video of war torn areas were on display while the ensemble remained unseen within an enclosed booth playing and reading texts. The program felt disjointed, some photos were powerful and the musicians were talented, but the spoken word got lost in the audio translation. I know we now live in a world where one is expected to watch TV, text, check news, weather, and listen to music simultaneously, but let's face it- none of those functions are successfully completed when governed by one fifth of your attention span. This program would have benefited by dropping the spoken word component, but I applaud the students and artists who lent their talents to the show.

Thor and Friends 11/6/17 Cafe 9

Woodworking former percussionist for the group Swans, Thor Harris took his friends on the road for a date at the 9. Harris played this monstrous homemade xylophone. Two other female xylophonists, female violin, and guy on guitar made up the quintet. The music was Philip Glass or Steve Reich like, drones and repetitive mallet work. Swans were infamous for their ear-splitting metal drone live outings, and one can see why Thor was part of the group. Songs ebbed and flowed while Thor added flourish with flute, clarinet, trombone, and even extreme triangle. You might think that Thor was fluent in these other instruments, but I say no, he only had to play two or three sustained notes to color the pieces to his liking. Based in Austin, Thor and friends made truly original sounds.

John McLaughlin & Jimmy Herring: A Meeting of the Spirits 11/4/17 Capitol Theater Port Chester NY

It is not a stretch to think Jimmy Herring, a 50-something axe-wielder, to be an acolyte of the amazing guitarist John McLaughlin. Herring opened the show at the Cap with his group The Whip. Herring on guitar, bass, Jeff Sipe on drums, Hammond B-3, and Jason Crosby on keys and violin. They rolled through their set, stopping for an amazing Revival (by the Allman Bros.) Herring has been part of Widespread Panic, Col. Bruce Hampton's Aquarium Rescue Unit, as well as incarnations of The Dead and The Allman Brothers. Herring's picking is solid, veering from jammy fills to Marc Ribot's downtown skronk. Sipe and Crosby are veterans of the jam scene, and unleashed their chops for the warmup.
English guitarist McLaughlin came to the US in the late 60s to play in Tony Williams Lifetime Unit. He soon became involved with Miles Davis and lent his skills to the seminal recordings Bitches Brew and In A Silent Way. As I read in the recent cover story of Relix, Davis told McLaughlin to "start his own thang" which led to the amazingly under-rated Mahavishnu Orchestra. On this evening, JM played the second set with his group the 4th dimension. JM on guitar, drums, bass ( looked like FatAlbert's pal Rudy and sounded like Victor Wooten), and keys. The final set had a mash of Herring's group and JMs group to play chestnuts from the Mahavishnu catalog. Fantastic set that had "hits" from Inner Mounting Flame, Birds of Fire, and my personal favorite Visions of The Emerald Beyond ( which I had on 8-track!). This farewell tour from a Titan that connects the Jazz dots to Miles and Trane was a gift to this sold out audience.

Joe Fonda Quintet 11/3/17 Firehouse 12

Bandleader and standup bass player Fonda had to explain that his quintet became a quartet when his female piano player broke a finger and was unable to make the trip to the Firehouse. The unusual makeup of the group was intriguing. Fonda on bass and sometimes flute, drums, French horn, and bassoon were the four. French horn and bassoon are rarely heard in a jazz format, and these two players were capable and worked well with one another. Fonda and the drummer were also simpatico and gave the feeling of a two on two quartet. Bowed bass led into a frantic plucked solo that was buoyed by the interplay of bassoon and horn. The group "unplugged" for "My Song", which was great and gave a good feel for the traditional timbre of both bassoon and French horn. Fonda's deft soloing swayed from gypsy groove to straight ahead workouts. Hugging his bass like an Armenian dad at the first dance of his daughter's wedding, Fonda jumped and rolled through the set. Excellent tune "Cornell" payed homage to the venerable Dr. West was a highlight.

Jon Langford's 4 Lost Souls 10/19/17 Cafe 9

Veteran Welsh-man-upon-Chi-town Langford had a stint at the 9 with his new group that grew out of a recording in Muscle Shoals. Langford saw cult success in the 80s and 90s with his group The Mekons as well as the Waco Brothers and Pine Valley Cosmonauts. The amazing Bloodshot Records is also closely associated with Langford. Jon on guitar, Dan Szymanski on guitar, bass, drums, and two African American female backup singers gave a full sound. Sounding like a country Joe Strummer, and looking like Brian Doyle Murray, Langford marched this group through mostly tunes from the new record. Show highlight was a stomper called Natchez Trace. Reminisced with Langford after the show as to whether the Mekons played the 9 or The (infamous) Grotto back in the day.

Myra Melford's Snowy Egret 10/14/17 Firehouse 12

Another barn-burner at the Firehouse, as Melford's group was staying in town to sharpen their chops and record at the fabulous F-12 recording studio. Melford on piano and bandleader wore a red leather jacket with dangly earrings and cool glasses. Maybe in her fifties, she looked like a librarian at a school of the future. She plinked and plunked looking like one of those bobbing flamingoes whose beak kept getting wet. Song structure changes and titles were her responsibility, as she let her supporting cast solo the heck out of the evening. Ron Miles on cornet oozed downtown cool. With his jacket and tie, he looked like a cross between Don Cherry and Malcolm X. He made great use of plunger mute on top of a straight mute, that's right double mute. Liberty Ellman was on guitar. I have seen him with Henry Threadgill' s group and he added a Marc Ribot flavor to the set. Tyshawn Sorey was on drums. In, around, and all over the standard kit. TS looked like Rosie Greer with drumsticks rather than knitting needles. He pummeled the kit as if to insure no one nodding off in the back. Scraped cymbals and nimble stick work was a real treat. The highlight was electric bassist Stomu Takeishi. ST looked to be of indeterminate gender. He had girly hair and wore what seemed to be a hospital johnnie. Shoeless on stage, ST tore it up, with bizarre facial gestures and sounds to complete the effect. If he recently escaped from a hospital, it was the "hospital of chops". Song titles like Attic, and The Other Side of Air made for a thoroughly enjoyable set.

Pigpen Theater Company w/ David Luning 10/4/17 Barwe

End of an era as Manic Productions bids farewell to it's Wednesday night free concert series in the back room of Bar. I got a little nostalgic at all the shows that I have been present in this room for. It seems that Bar will continue to have music, just not lined up by Manic's Mark.
David Luning was a singer-songwriter who reminded me of a low energy Langhorne Slim. Maybe it was the trademark hat, or the folkie drawl. Luning did a nice Springsteen cover.
PPTCo. is still a seven piece outfit ( reviewed in this blog 8/24/16). Multiple singers and instrument changes were backed by nice vocal harmonies. It seems that some of the cast has changed, but the sound was similar. Campy version of You're So Vain by Carly Simon was the highlight.

Mdou Moctar w/ The Mountain Movers 9/26/17 Lyric Hall

First time seeing a show at New Haven's historic Lyric Hall in the Westville section. You enter the venue from Whalley Ave into a large sitting room, snake through a creepy hallway to a decidedly European room with a bar, another creepy hallway and into the intimate stage room. There was a balcony, but it was unclear if it was VIP or general admission. Local psych purveyors The Mountain Movers warmed up the crowd. Two guitars, bass, and drums filled the hall with sound. The young lady on lead guitar has been positively reviewed in this blog in her other incarnation, Headroom. Sparse vocals with loud guitar shards is the MM m.o. The crowd seemed at capacity and eagerly awaited Mdou Moctar. The group was a trio with Moctar on lead guitar and vocals,  rhythm guitar, and drums. The trio are from Nigeria and wore the traditional Touareg garb. The drummers face was completely obscured. Moctar is the real deal. Nimble playing of trance African rhythms, it looked like he was tickling the guitar. Shades of blues and Hendrix topped with vocals in their native tongue was intoxicating. I was close enough to notice that Moctar had awful teeth for a man that wasn't 30, Bedouin dentists must be few and far between. The trio whipped the crowd into a frenzy,  one revel ler hopped on stage and started throwing money around in a cringeworthy show of adulation. Moctar took it in stride, I even saw the fan give him a hug after the show. This was a fantastic show in a surreal venue.

Frode Gjerstad Trio with Steve Swell 9/22/17 Firehouse 12

Norwegian free jazz trio has FG on alto sax, Paal Nilssen Love on drums, and Jon Rune Strom on bass were joined by American Steve Swell on trombone. After a hilarious story by Swell which chronicled his time with the trio touring the states going from Waffle House to Denny's while nightly plying their brand of Nordic free jazz, before launching into a maelstrom of sound. FG had a Lester Youngian emboucher with a side of Dizzy Gillespie cheek puff. It appeared that Gjerstad's left brain was melting and came out the sax in a torrent of sound. PNL has played with Miles and other jazz luminaries and played in the vein of Scandinavian greats like Han Bennink. JRS was younger than the rest, but held his own with an active, percussive style. Swell was genuinely happy to play with these guys, and brought a jousting complexity to the sound. Swell was able to make wind and weather sounds through breathing and use of a plunger mute. I got a chuckle thinking about this troupe ordering Moons Over Mi-hammy at Denny's, and the waitresses at these joints having no idea the nature of their night job.

The Pixies 9/19/17 College St. Music Hall

The Pixies have been around since the 90s. Frontman singer and guitarist Frank Black, bassist Kim Deal, lead guitar, and drums comprised the quartet. Near capacity crowd at College St. was an unusual cross section of ages. Many fans were in their 40s and 50s, but there also was a cadre of 20 year olds. Did they stumble on their parents CDs? Are there new hits in the mix? Being around as long as they have, the Pixies had some charitable hits, This Monkey's Gone to Heaven, Where is My Mind?, cheeky cover of Here Comes My Man and Neil Young's Winterlong from the fabulous first Bridge School Benefit. Black's screech veered from punk insistence to angry dad with a couple of beers in him while Deal is the real deal. The Pixies seem to be comfortable in their position of rock royalty and occasional touring.

Kath Bloom, Rob Noyes, Alexander 8/20/17 Slade-Ely House

The Slade-Ely House on Trumbull St. in New Haven is an old home converted to a gallery and impromptu performance space. Maybe 30 people in attendance for this folding chair show. First up is local guitarist Alexander. Confident picking on his six string acoustic sometimes veered into new age territory. Next was 12-string acoustic maestro Rob Noyes.  The 12-string in Noyes words is a "beast", but his technique of thumb pick and strum was amazing. I heard Noyes hyped on the WFMU show Shrunken Planet, and he did not disappoint. Speedy, effortless tunes fell out of this beast.
Local freak folk legend Kath Bloom was the headliner. Bloom was joined onstage with another guitarist and a young woman on percussion and backing vocals which gave off a coffeehouse, talent show vibe. Bloom's childlike, homeless woman vocal delivery reminded me of Daniel Johnston. At one point, when the sound was being worked on (by Bloom's partner, Loren Connors), Bloom retreated to her backpack where she produced a pint of Jack Daniels to swig. One tune was written in the Grove St. Cemetery, another commented on her child's battle with schizophrenia.

Ocean Vuong w/ Braiden Sunshine 8/16/17 Hill-Stead Museum Farmington

The final night of the museum's Sunken Garden Poetry Festival started with music by Braiden Sunshine, a young singer songwriter type with some success on The Voice. Sunshine's songs were fairly sunny and full-voiced. One tune about Tennessee whiskey seemed odd because this young lad didn't seem old enough to know where his dad's liquor cabinet was, let alone raid it for some booze.
Hartford native and poet Ocean Vuong is a young Vietnamese-American who has work in many publications. Currently teaching at Umass-Amherst, Vuong was tiny, fragile, and effeminate. His poems came with brief whispered introductions. The poems were read in a different, slightly stronger voice as if he took on another persona. Weighty topics, his illiterate nail salon working mother in "A-B-C", or one about a gay couple being burned alive in Texas. The performance was brief, but heavy in a beautiful location.

Darius Jones w/ Allen Lowe 8/14/17 Bushnell Park

Final installment of the jazz in the park series started with saxophonist and jazz historian Lowe. I have missed his monthly gigs at Hamden's Best Video, so I am glad to have gotten a viewing. Melodic, with a good backing band, lulled the crowd into a false sense of security before the caterwaul known as Darius Jones took the stage. I have seen Darius several times at Firehouse 12, and his music is not for the faint of heart. "Uneasy listening" is how I categorized the sound. Jones squonked and squibbled his way through the set that sent much of the crowd running for the periphery. At one point, there was some stage banter about Marcus Garvey from which Jones touched on pieces of the Burning Spear classic. For most of the set, the crowd collectively scratched it's head wondering if they were listening to a radio station broadcast from the future. Kudos to Hartford Jazz to end the Monday night series with such a talented but difficult listen.

Newport Jazz Festival 8/5/17 Fort Adams, Newport RI

The Newport Jazz Festival has sprung back to life after years of syrupy or moldy fig offerings. Last year's outing included an epic performance from Kamasi Washington. The Saturday lineup went as follows:
Christian McBride Big Band: Bandleader bassist and voice of Jazz Night in America had a crew of Allstars on the main stage gave a taste of Mingus.
Vijay Iyer Sextet: Genius Grant recipient and piano visionary Iyer travels with this amazing piano that exudes a full and varied sound. His runs are speedy and effortless, an excellent modern bandleader.
Dominick Farinacci: Not familiar with this young trumpet player. Came with accordion and had a young singer blow up Screamin Jay Hawkins' I Put A Spell on You.
Rhiannon Giddens: Lead vocalist and banjo player for The Carolina Chocolate Drops was an odd choice for the mid-afternoon main stage act. Giddens has chops as shown on her Dylan takes on The New Basement Tapes recording. Her blend of old timey tunes and spirituals was a good break from the straight ahead offerings.
DJ Logic and Project Logic was a no-show, claiming to be "caught in traffic". While I've seen Logic many times in many incarnations, he seems to have a penchant for the no-show. Jason Moran and Vijay Iyer stepped in for a piano-centric fill in for Logic.
Allen, Carrington, Spalding: Geri Allen passed away in June and it seems the festival had time to change the program to a tribute to this excellent pianist. You guessed it, the versatile Vijay Iyer stayed on the stage with Teri Lynne Carrington on drums and Esperanza Spalding on bass. This was a great trio that I would hope to see more of. Spalding soared on the signature Allen tune Feed The Fire.
Antonio Sanchez and Migration: Building on his award winning soundtrack from Birdman, Sanchez' drum centered group rocked the Harbor Stage.
HenryThreadgill Zooid: Threadgill's large unit is not easy listening. Threadgill on bass flute and sax, with drums, guitar, tuba, and cello played to a small but fervent avant grade jazz crowd. Last time I saw this group was in the great acoustics of Wesleyan's Crowell Hall, the sound was swallowed up by the swirling winds of the fort.
Snarky Puppy: A downtown collaborative collective, SN closed the Saturday show with a bang. Multiple drums, guitars, keys, and horns SN seems like summer camp for sidemen. The group reminds me of The Lounge Lizards whose album Voices of Chunk is the namesake of this blog. While Lurie's Lizards had a distinct leader and task-master, SN seemed like the Occupy Movement's answer to downtown jazz. Some leadership is needed in a group that size to make sure that all participants are moving in the same direction. I enjoyed this group because I was close enough for critical viewing. The sound back by the portolets probably was more like a jazz boho train wreck.

Headroom w/ The David Nance Band 7/31/17 Cafe 9

Omaha Nebraska natives David Nance Band came through the region with their brand of guitar-driven rock on display. Singer and lead guitar Nance was wearing a Chrome Tshirt which is a good place to start comparing. Accompanied by rhythm guitar, bass and drums the band played loud guitar rock that was not quite metal, prog, or punk but touched on all three.
Headroom is a New Haven based outfit with three guitars, bass, and drums. The guitar army spewed songs with slow churning metal drone. The female guitarist and leader sometimes sang, but it was the  wall of squall that was the highlight. It was odd that two of the lengthy numbers sounded familiar to me. The first was a drone metal chug of Grateful Dead's Wharf Rat, and the other sounded like Danger Bird from Neil Young's fantastic Zuma record. While these two were not covers per se, the resemblance was striking. It might be a new hobby of mine to draw abstract parallels from decidedly non-covers.

Gary Puckett and The Union Gap 7/28/17 Hamden Town Center

What is it about 1968? Recent previous entry The Stylistics formed as did Gary Puckett and The Union Gap, must have been the hangover from the Summer of Love. Crowded Town Center for the final installment of the 2017 summer series. The benefit of riding the initial band success for almost 50 years is that the show is pretty well scripted. GP and the UG is no exception, they played songs from everyone and anyone with their "hits" sprinkled in. Lady Madonna, Quinn The Eskimo, Happy Together, Kicks, Runaround Sue, a bizarro Sonny and Cher song, a BeeGees tune were part of their repertoire. GP told a story of riding around the Arizona desert in a 68 red corvette with Glen Campbell which led into "By The Time I Get to Phoenix", natch. He is also of the age to pray at the altar of Elvis Presley, from which he pulled a few hits. Being "Union Soldiers", they did a fitting, but lengthy tribute to US veterans that came with a heartfelt plea to interact with the GP website in an effort to connect vets with available services. While I support and see the definite need for veterans affairs, for someone who was 5 in 1968, the conflicts which we have gotten into (Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan) in my lifetime have needlessly created a vet population. Striving for a world without war seems to be the best way to honor our military.

Reeves Gabrels 7/5/17 Cafe 9

Veteran shreadmeister Gabrels led his power trio into the 9. Gabrels' wife was manning the merch table handing out earplugs to anyone with an ear. Reeves has a colorful past playing with David Bowie in Tin Machine and axe-wielding for Robert Smith and The Cure. Shaved-head drummer, shaved-head bass, and Gabrels with, you guessed it, shaved-head played originals and covers with stadium style flourish. The song structure was similar, fractured Barrett-like vocals got sucked into the maelstrom that was Gabrels guitar soloing. Good covers of Bright Lights Big City, a slowburn bluesy intro to Who Do You Love?, ending with a rousing Messin With The Kid. I got a similar feel in Cafe 9 when I saw Adrian Belew, technically flawless stadium tested guitar pyrotechnics that blistered the club size crowd. Gabrels was a sight to behold, like some Seuss-ian Grampa that could shread like Eddie Van Halen, he even had a guitar tech bringing him the axe dujour.

The Stylistics 7/22/17 New Haven Green

Packed NH green for this seminal soul group. Four African-American male singers with matching white suits backed by a serious group of young musicians, bass, guitar, drums, and keys played the hits. For 49 years, the Stylistics have been plugging away on the soul train. Spotify the Stylistics and you'll remember songs, mainly from the 70s: You Make Me Feel Brand New, Betcha By Golly Wow, You Are Everything, Break Up To Make Up, and my personal favorite People Make The World Go Round. Mixtapes, CD ripped mixes, and now playlists I've curated have all payed homage with People Make The World Go Round either by this group or one of the many and varied covers. The enthusiastic crowd sang and danced for the whole set. I must say it felt good to be in the racial minority of the crowd, unity especially at a time when the racial divide seems to be politically exploding all around us.... People really do make the world go round.

Tedeschi Trucks Band, The Wood Brothers, and Hot Tuna 7/9/17 Simsbury Meadows

Good triple bill at a soccer field with a bandshell called Simsbury Meadows. Electric Hot Tuna was first up. Jorma and Jack are now in their mid-70s and have been road warriors mostly in an acoustic vein. Solid reading of Water Song from the Burgers album was the highlight. The Wood Brothers, Oliver on guitar and vocals, and Chris from MMW on bass (standup and electric) were joined by a drummer. This band has chops, and Oliver's southern twang was fantastic on the Band's Ophelia. My jamband life has seen Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks go from strangers to band mates to husband and wife. Their current lineup has 12 members, drums, horns, singers make quite the racket. The show was billed as the Wheels of Soul tour, with that many members the spotlight needed to be spread around. Good version of Bound For Glory. The Wood Brothers joined the crew for a rousing version of Sweet Virginia. Simsbury Meadows usually hosts the likes of the Hartford Symphony and were therefore ill-equipped to handle the beer drinking and peeing hordes of hippies.

George Clinton 7/8/17 Hamden Town Center

Highlight of the Friday night Hamden Bandshell series with George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic. The traveling circus that is GC and P-funk have been funkin it up since the early 70s. While the cast of characters has evolved through the years (r.i.p. Bernie Worrell), GC's loose booty brand of Afro-futuristic funk is a sight to behold. With anywhere from 8 to 20 people on stage, the crew lightly adheres to P-funk hits from the songbook. GC, who must be in his mid70s, has amazing stamina. Clad in a shiny papal frock and a Thurston Howell III cap, GC assumes the role of funk master of ceremonies. Guitars, sax, backing singers and dancers, a half naked drummer, rappers, and crowd cajolers all have their place in this troupe. After a rainy day, a large crowd was on hand for the spectacle. I didn't recognize much from the first set except a lengthy rendition of Flashlight. Given the late start, a less seasoned artist might have stopped after the first set, but this is George Clinton, and nobody is gonna stop the party but him. The "encores" went on for another hour touching on Walking The Dog, P-funk wants to get Funked Up, and Tear the Roof Off The Sucker, before the obligatory and incendiary guitar solo that is Maggot Brain. I got a sense that the town elders (and local police) were nervous that this party may never end. Alas, all parties must end, and this one closed with a great version of Super Stupid, complete with a crowd sing-along of "shit, goddam, get off your ass and jam!"

United Folk Festival 7/1/17 Westerly RI

Very thankful for some friends to lead the way to the first year of UFF. Free and open to the public, this amazing lineup of indie-folk acts was expertly picked. We hit the scene during Woods, this freak folk act from Brooklyn has been positively reviewed in this blog before. The lead singer has an alarmingly high voice ( not quite Roy Orbison territory), that once you accept ,you can dig in to the well crafted original songwriting. This tight band veers from pop to psych very easily. Next up was The Low Anthem, a Providence- based outfit that has strayed from its early folk Americana (the Oh My God, Charlie Darwin release is excellent) into straight noise land. While I appreciate a good noise outing, this racket sent the twirling kids in the front row straight for the safety of their strollers. Next, on the smaller stage was Michael Nau, a big fella in a trucker hat sang calming folk that brought the crowd back from the rings of Saturn where The Low Anthem must currently reside. Langhorne Slim came to the party solo. Langhorne, from the Philly area is hysterical, if he comes to your town please go and see him. Comical song intros about ADD, his love of old people, his demons and sobriety, and the need for human kindness in the Trump era were particularly poignant. His brand of high energy folk and audience participation bits made for a thoroughly enjoyable listen. Next, on the small stage were The Barr Brothers. Brad on guitar and vocals, Andrew on drums were joined by another guitar, bass, and female harpist. The Barrs used to front the regional jam trio The Slip. The Slip were mainly instrumental jazz jam psychedelia. Towards the end of their run, Brad started to sing more and the Barr Brothers emerged. I watched the roadie mic the harp and told him I was a big Slip fan back in the day, he assured me that there would be no Slip material that evening. While the songs were different, the style of the brothers was very evident. The show closed out with one of my favorites, Blitzentrapper. These road warriors from Portland OR have been pegged with a "70s rock vibe", and I get the tag. The lead singer and guitarist has a well worn twang. Accompanied by bass, guitar/keys, keys/vocals and drums, Blitzentrapper is a festival staple. If I had to describe Blitzentrapper, I would equate them to those puffy South American sweaters worn by Starsky and Hutch, a comfortable period piece. You could sense that part of the draw for these bands, was the reverence for the lineup and the movement away from the craziness of Bonaroo. Getting old? Maybe, but in a graceful and rockin way

Gillian Welch 6/30/17 College Street Music Hall

No opener for this show, and was pleased to see signs "please no video, audio or photos- by request of the artist".  For the most part, the crowd complied which allowed them to focus on Gillian and musical partner David Rawlings. I have seen this duo before at a Newport Folkfest in the early aughts, they are still a polished country folk force from Nashville with great original songwriting. Over the years, this duo has released 5 stellar albums from Revival to The Harrow and The Harvest. Setlist included Orphan Girl, Red Clay Halo, My First Lover, Time the Revelator, Back In Time, I'll Fly Away, Scarlet Town, Hard Times, The Way that it Goes. Couple of encores that included Miss Ohio and some Johnny Cash rap followed by Cash's Jackson. Gillian did some knee-slap percussion and even some clogging ( cowboy booting?!) for good effect. I find it odd that the show and albums are just credited to Gillian, and not the Welch/Rawlings Duo. David Rawlings is an excellent picker and his solos got cheers from the crowd. Great harmony vocals, Gillian on acoustic and some banjo the near capacity crowd left happy with only pictures in their mind.

Daniel Bachman w/ Ava Mendoza 6/28/17 Bar

Thankfully, caught the whole set for opener Mendoza. Solo electric guitar and vocals. Mendoza had the choppy style of Marc Ribot. The vocals were smoky and low, and the song structure made it difficult to tell if they were ancient or postmodern. Mendoza has played with Sir Richard Bishop, savant axeman of The Sun City Girls, which is pretty impressive credentials. Closed with an excellent cover of Leadbelly's Goodnight Irene.
Daniel Bachman has been reviewed in this blog before. Acoustic, finger style, primitive guitar and some deft lap slide is Bachman's game. Unfortunately, the background din at Bar made it difficult for Bachman to ply his trade. I got close so as to not miss the sound. Unlike Xiu Xiu or E that have played over the noise in this room, Bachman can't really turn up to 11. It is amazing that the chatty clubbers had no idea what they missed right in front of them. Bachman's tunes are open and airy, reminding me of John Fahey or Glenn Jones. The final song had Bachman's pal on drone file folder harmonium while Daniel laid down some desolate picking that was reminiscent of Ry Cooder's soundtrack to the movie Paris, Texas.

Rusted Root w/ The Wailers 6/24/17 New Haven Green

Closing show of the pretty lackluster Arts and Ideas Festival. It rained early in the day, which is par for the A/I course, but the sun came out and dried up nicely for showtime. The Wailers are the current incarnation of Bob Marley's legendary backing band. Primarily young Rastas on stage, I couldn't get a straight answer from my reggae-centric friends as to the lineage from the famed group ( it could have been fronted by Marley's paperboy). The lineage didn't matter because the access to the hits was the reason for listening. Buffalo Soldier, One Love, Getup Standup, I Shot The Sheriff, the list went on and we knew them all. Good sound and capable singing ( even the I-threes were represented) made for a thoroughly enjoyable listen. Closed the show with a rousing Jamming and Exodus.
Rusted Root had a hit at the beginning of the jam era (mid90s). They have been riding that hit for decades and it has gotten a little stale. The hit's chorus has a jam-marchable moment of "send me on my way". A friend said that for the longest time he thought it was "simian the whale", which almost seemed like a better lyric. You can't blame RR's charismatic frontman Michael Glabicki for riding the one-hit wonder train, it would be weird if he showed up as a salesperson at Best Buy.

Walker Lukens w/ Rudeyna 6/21/17 Bar

Local art rockers Rudeyna are an interesting crew of scenesters blending pop, prog, and performance art for a heady blend of jams. Keys, guitar, bass, drums, and a Lebanese female singer. This group loves the stop-start time jumps of Zappa, with the frontwoman offering glimpses of Diamanda Galas. The complex tunes had the singer frantically jumping from lyrics to screeching to a beautiful hippie orgasmo-scat. High energy songs buoyed by an excellent rhythm section were a treat.
Walker Lukens was a nerdy white-boy soul singer from Austin TX. His group, the Side-arms were an indie leaning outfit that was a perfect backdrop for his neo-soul. WL danced around (in white sport coat) as if he was just signed to Motown. Good selection of original numbers showed flares of doo-wop and hiphop. Keys, bass, guitar, drums, with WL on keys, acoustic, and dancing.

Brandon Seabrook - Die Trommel Fatale Firehouse 12. 6/2/17

Guitarist Seabrook had quite the amalgam of players to accompany his controlled improv. The group was very symmetrical; two drummers, two standup bassists, a cellist, Seabrook on guitar and bandleader, and electronics/voice made a formidable racket. The drummers seemed to play complimentary, while the bassists veered off in opposite directions. The female cellist was at the center of the maelstrom with Seabrook on one side conducting with nods and hand gestures that looked as if he was in a constant state of being tayzed. The young man in pigtails on electronics/voice made an array of noises from growls and yelps to epileptic operatic warbles. Challenging music like this is better when viewed live, the visual cues and musical interplay make more sense. The second set got no explanation of  what Die Trommel Fatale meant, the music was cerebral, so maybe Brandon thought we all were clued in.

Girls, Guns, and Glory w/ The Palomino Brothers 5/24/17 Bar

Local rockers The Palomino Brothers played original songs. Lead singer had some swagger, his dance style reminded me of Peewee Herman or Martin Short.
G,G, and G has been reviewed in this blog before. Basically an outlaw country outfit, they were welcoming the return of their newlywed bassist. Nice amount of twang. Lead singer/rhythm guitar, lead guitar (also pedal steel), drums and bass (sometimes standup for a rockabilly feel). Singer frontman had a high lonesome weariness to his vocals that suited these tunes well. Highlights were Lonesome Train, Lonesome Track, cover of Rose of Tacloban and a nod to Chuck Berry with Johnny B. Goode.

Wreckmeister Harmonies w/ Thalia Zedek 5/17/17 Bar

Landed at Bar at the end of  hot day to a 20 minute version of Mungo Jerry's "In The Summertime" by New Haven troubadour and Kung Fu jam-master of ceremonies Tim Palmieri. The garage doors were open and it just felt like summer.
Thalia Zedek was reviewed recently in this blog when she came to Bar with her group E. Critically acclaimed punker from the eighties in bands like Come and some solo projects, Zedek has been honing her craft for decades. I had a funny interaction with her about playing at New Haven's famed Grotto back in the day. I noticed her guitar had one sticker FCK NZS, which probably meant Fuck Nazis that could have any number of significances. Zedek's mournful vocals and punchy solo guitar was a different animal than the ear-splitting Z. Jump stop closer was excellent.
The bio on Wreckmeister Harmonies was fascinating. Noise-drone collective whose members swell to 30, enjoys playing in unusual venues (tunnels, shipyards) that naturally amplify their noisy squall. On this evening there were two musicians. A young Asian female on keys, viola, and wordless vocals and a grizzled gray-bearded guitarist with laptop. The noise penetrated my 32 decibel rated earplug cocoon. The sound was almost acid new age probably because of the viola and vocals. Pre-show, the grizzly man passed by in a cloud of pot smoke which must have grounded him in the noisy fray. When he sang, he used words but the vocals low like Nick Cave, or the guy from Tindersticks. I had to laugh because the thought of a high, biker Santa mumbling at me while I was under twilight anesthesia was funny. There was nothing funny about WM's music, they were all business.

The Meat Puppets w/ Mike Watt 5/13/17 Spaceland

Mike Watt is the ferocious bass player from the seminal LA punk band The Minutemen. Masters of two minute shards of hardcore, The Minutemen along with The Germs, Black Flag, and The Circle Jerks are an integral part of the punk lexicon. Tragedy struck The Minutemen with the death of guitarist and founder D. Boon. Watt was left to poke his bass into whatever punk amalgam would have him. Sonic (and Ciccone) Youth, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane's Addiction,  and Nirvana all crossed paths with this versatile bassist. Watt's current touring group was a trio with guitar and drums. The bass is way out front with acrobatic fills and runs. Watt looked like a grizzled Lewis Black with unintelligible yelps above the fray. Even if one could understand the lyrics, one might not "understand" the lyrics because Watt has invented his own language or "spiel" to accompany his songs. The liner notes to 1995's Ball Hog or Tugboat came with a mini translation "dictionary" to help one decipher lyrical content. Watt closed his set with a Blue Oyster Cult song.
The Meat Puppets are the same relative vintage as Mike Watt. Hailing from Arizona, The Meat Puppets must have been birthed from a tequila-laden saguaro given their penchant for Western swing crossed with face-melting psychedelia. Brothers Curt and Cris Kirkwood on guitar and bass came with drummer and rhythm guitar. It was all about the brothers, bassist Cris looked like Moses while Curt resembled Jesus. It would be fun to watch these brothers have a "Leggo my eggo" moment. The genre-jumping was jarring, it was hard to parse get along little doggie whistling with maggot brain guitar fuzz workouts. No matter, this was truly an original bill of original musicians that played music that was...original.

Hollis Brown w/ National Reserve 5/3/17 Bar

Opener National Reserve reminded me of many bands. Big fella on lead guitar and vocals, rhythm guitar, drums, bass, and organ were the National Reserve. The singer looked like Leslie West of Mountain, or Bob "the Bear" Hite from Canned Heat. Straight up rock and roll songs with juicy guitar leads and punchy organ fills sounded like The Band crossed with the Byrds. They did a great Neil Young-ified cover of Gillian Welch's Miss Ohio complete with "yak choking on a soup bone" guitar solo.
Hollis Brown hails from NYC. Guitar/vocals, lead guitar, drums, bass, and organ/vocals made up the group. I noticed that they are performing at this year's Mountain Jam. Tight original songs had a rocking Americana feel. They pulled local Blues axeman Neil Caputo on stage for an excellent take on Dylan's Meet Me In The Morning. The organ player croaked out an ok version of the Beatles Oh Darlin. Hollis Brown also covered Jesse Malin's She Don't Love Me Now which is ironic given that I saw Jesse perform that tune a few months ago at this very same venue.

Bud Collins Trio 4/27/17 The Outer Space

Didn't realize that BC3 was part of some local band showcase, which explains the early start time. BC3 hail from Storrs CT, home to the main campus of Uconn. When I was a student in the 80s, BC3 was a staple at Hooligans or Huskies, plying their pre-Phish quirky jamminess. Guitar/vocals, bass, keys/vocals, keys, and drums were their current lineup. Nasally jams punctuated with Zappa time jumps, Trey-like leads, and Moog touches reminded me of the Steely Dannish jams of Percy Hill. One of the first CDs I ever purchased was In The Land of No by BC3, I haven't seen this group since that time, a lifespan of an entire music delivery format. The vocals show age, but the musicianship is still solid.

Richard Bona Trio w/ The Randy Weston Sextet 4/23/17 Toad's Place

The show was billed as "Africa into Jazz, Jazz into Africa", the crowning event of the Yale Undergraduate Jazz Collective's weekend festival. Opener Weston is a true giant in the jazz world. At 91 years old and 6'8" tall, Weston has been at the jazz piano since the early 60s. He is a direct disciple of Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. Born in Brooklyn, Weston had a straight shot to the jazz scene brewing at Minton's Playhouse. In the 70s, instead of moving to Europe like most jazz expats, Weston moved to Morocco to absorb the African roots and rhythms. On this evening, it was Weston on piano, tenor sax, soprano sax and flute, bass, African percussion, and drums. Amazing set from this nonagenarian who shows no signs of slowing down. Weston's long fingers made confident and acrobatic runs, he was truly in charge. Excellent conga work, a great flute solo, and an unusual but deft bass style were some highlights. In my recent reacquaintance with the world of vinyl, I came across a copy of Weston's Berkshire Blues which I am thoroughly enjoying.
Richard Bona is a Cameroonian bass player who came with piano and drums for his trio. Bona plays a five string electric bass with effortless moves. The pianist was great, but paled in the chair occupied by Weston. Bona's songs were equal parts Youssou N'dor and Jaco. The African singing lent a nice touch to the jazz affair. In surveying the walls at Toads, I realize how many bands I've seen from the Stones and Tin Machine to Jack Bruce and John Lee Hooker. This venue is in the twilight of its lifespan and has never been a home to jazz, but on this particular evening, this particular jazz fan had a smile from ear to ear.

Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah 4/23/17 Yale Art Gallery Theater

Caught the last few songs of this Sunday afternoon performance. The show was another leg in the Yale Undergraduate Jazz Collective's weekend long festival. Christian Scott is a Nawlins trumpet player. He was backed by an expert crew of young lions. Scott played the Dizzy style of trumpet ( you know the one where the bell shoots up at an obtuse angle). The group had piano, bass (standup and electric), sax, and monster drums. The suffix on Scott's name comes the fact that he is Donald Harrison Sr.'s grandson. This grandfather was one of the original Chiefs. Christian, at 34, is now a Chief (hence the suffix). Scott, pianist, and drummer cut their teeth together at Berklee in Boston. Scott recounted this fascinating tale of the grandpa Chief. Every Sunday the Chief would bag all the food in the house and walk the entire city giving it away, when he ran out, he'd stop and buy more for the 7 hour walk. Young Christian went on these walks and saw faces, hungry, happy, ashamed, all took the Chief's offering. The grandpa Chief is credited as uniting the wards and the other Chiefs through food, love, and inclusion. The final piece was an epic battle between trumpet and drums, with Scott blowing his horn straight at the kick drum, the result was less a cancelling of sound but a melding of the ferocity....wow.

M'balia 4/22/17 Yale Art Gallery Theater

I heard from a friend that the Yale Undergraduate Jazz Collective were staging a free weekend long festival with free concerts at various venues around Yale. The Art Gallery theater was a perfect place to see jazz vocalist M'balia. When I arrived, it seemed like some students were warming the place up. From the Peanuts gang, Lucy was on piano, Pigpen on standup bass, and Schroeder ( probably booted from piano by Lucy) was on drums, all they needed was Peppermint Patty on thumb piano to round out the group. M'balia, an impressive stage presence, joined the crew. Big hair, big earrings, big voice and attitude poured out of this singer. The Peanuts gang were her band, and they all had chops. M'balia charged through her set with the kids holding fast to her coat tails. "April in Paris" and Cole Porter's "Just One of Those Things" were great. She also put lyrics to some original compositions to great effect. The band was tight, especially piano, showing flourishes of McCoy Tyner and Mulgrew Miller. M'balia sounded at times like Betty Carter crossed with Jill Scott. She definitely had control of the kids and worked them for an impressive set. My one complaint was with the crowd, this afternoon crowd of hipsters and academics felt compelled to clap at each handoff of the solo baton which disrupted some song flow. I was happy to be in attendance, and clapping at the conclusion of each tune rather than five times during each song seemed like an appropriate level of appreciation.

The Decemberists 4/15/17 College St. Music Hall

The Decemberists, Portland Oregon's literate band of indie-prog-folk rockers brought their genre bending show to a sold out College St. Fronted by the the nerdy charisma of  singer guitarist Colin Meloy, aided by keys/accordionist Jenny Conlee, lead guitar (also played pedal steel), bass (electric and standup, drums (melodica too), and two female backup singers put forth a polished and relaxed show. It's been a couple of years since their last release, but the back catalog of songs gave them a sufficient pool to draw from. The setlist included: Down By The Water, O Valencia!, Dear Avery, We Both Go Down Together, The Crane Wife, Lake Song, The Wanting Comes in Waves-repaid, Odalisque, Red Right Ankle, The Chimbley Sweep, and the new Everything's Awful (Meloy's take on the state of the Union). I saw this band at a Newport Folkfest about ten years ago and I must admit that they have grown on me since that time. The quirky hyper-literacy couched in revolutionary war era murder ballads presents an independent indie rock group that has snowballed in popularity. Meloy, a total wordsmith, has hundreds of years of English to pull lyrics from. I was amazed that the crowd seemed to keep up with this wordy juggernaut, the dude next to me sang every song. Rhyming parapet with arabesque or using terms like ventricle and prevaricate made me feel like I was studying for the SATs

Xiu Xiu w/ Headroom 4/12/17 Bar

Local psych outfit Headroom is a veritable guitar army. Three guitars, bass, drums, and a guy on what looked like an old Royal typewriter. Sludge and fuzz drenched instrumentals are the M.O. of Headroom. At one point, the churning wall of guitar squall morphed into a wordless drone metal reading of the Dead's Wharf Rat.
Xiu Xiu is an avant rock trio that has been plying their oddball craft for twenty years. Tributes to Nina Simone, film music, and a recent stint doing the music of Twin Peaks in their trademark drone metal delivery. On this evening Xiu Xiu was a duo, a diminutive Asian woman on drums and synths, and a quirky male singer on caterwauling guitar. The singer's schizophrenic style reminded me of Pere Ubu, Fred Schneider, David Byrne, Wayne Newton, Norman Bates (for his violent stabbing of his lone cymbal), and even the guy from Spandau Ballet at times. Good set played to a packed crowd. Wild cover of ZZ Top's Sharp Dressed Man was the show highlight.

Diet Cig w/ Daddy Issues 4/5/17 Bar

Opener Daddy Issues is a female power trio from New York. Guitar/vocals, bass/backing vocals, and drums formed the group. Punk and grunge were the formula for their original tunes. These girls are in their 20s and were happy to be on tour. The singer reminded me of Syd Straw fronting Husker Du. The song "Creepy Girl" was the highlight.
Diet Cig from New Paltz are a duo. Female vocals and guitar and a male drummer oozed pop punk numbers. The singer bounced around the stage like Peter Pan while the drummer pushed the high velocity pace. Some duos have limited sound, but the strong vocals and stage presence filled the room.

Kevin Morby w/ Waxahatchee 3/29/17 Spaceland Ballroom

Waxahatchee is the brainchild of Katie Crutchfield. Armed with just an electric guitar, Crutchfield is a solo indie folk artist. Deliberate droney picking was the backdrop for heartfelt songs. The local library has copies of her recent Ivy Trip and earlier Cerulean Blue recordings. She reminded me of the melancholy of Sharon Van Etten.
Kevin Morby is also a singer songwriter who played mainly acoustic guitar. I noticed that he played bass in an early incarnation of the band Woods that was favorably reviewed in this blog. Like so many artists, Kevin resides in Brooklyn. Strong vocals and deft picking had me thinking of Grant Lee Philips (of Grant Lee Buffalo fame). Strains of Van Morrison and Dylan could also be heard, he even tried to rhyme "easy" with "baby Jesus" which was a Dylanesque stretch. Kevin pulled the first opener, Mary Lattimore, a harpist, onstage to accompany him on keyboard. The harp gave an ethereal effect to the song. I realize that solo performers rarely play as long as full band sets, but Kevin's show ended abruptly with no encore.

Laura Stevenson 3/22/17 Bar

Indie-pop songstress Stevenson is from Long Island. Stevenson on guitar and vocals, bass, female drummer, keys/accordion, and an older than the rest fella on lead guitar. Good songs and a clear full voice played to a large crowd. A stoner contingent must have traversed the Sound, they knew all the lyrics and we're almost on the non-existent stage at Bar. Laura's voice morphed from smart-ass slacker Juliana Hatfield to alt-country crooning of Emmy Lou Harris. Song structure ranged from high energy punk to heartfelt ballads. Tight backing band allowed this singer songwriter to shine.

Chris Goutreau w/ Snake Union Neverending Books 3/11/17

Part of the monthly Uncertainty Music Series that highlights new and experimental music at the decidedly lo-fi Neverending Bookstore. Musty and dimly lit, a sad amalgam of discarded office chairs (mine had a non-functioning back) and a stage that looks unfit even for creepy puppet shows is the venue. Snake Union was a synth duo who coaxed squeaks, squiggles and beats from a tangled mess of laptops and wires. Vocal snippets were looped to an ethereal effect with one dude on "lead laptop" and the other on "rhythm laptop". One sequence sounded like a seagull being strangled. It's hard to appreciate the lack of performance movement associated with this type of music, I mean the lead guy looked as if he was garnishing a salad or performing CPR on a very small animal. I liked their dreamy duo sound.
Chris Goutreau (sp?) was a solo knob-twiddler. His unit looked like a window box chia pet of colorful wires and connectors. His sound was more grating and choppy than Snake Union. He rocked autistically while lifting and re-inserting connectors yielding loud pops and crackles which put forth an odd sounding cyborgasm. Always interesting to see who makes it to a show like this, these guys could compose the national anthem for Bleep or Blapland.

Heat 3/8/17 Bar

Montreal quartet Heat brought a good dose of jangle pop to a sparse post-Lips show at Bar. Guitar, bass, solid drums, and charismatic frontman on rhythm guitar and vocals. Original songs and solid vocals reminded me of Luna and in particular Dean Wareham. The singer had one of those large 1960s looking guitars. The Montreal music scene is fertile, and these guys are traveling down the east coast for their mini pre-festival tour.

Flaming Lips 3/8/17 College Street Music Hall

It's hard to believe the last time I saw The Flaming Lips was at a 1999 Berkshire Mountain Fest. On that occasion, the Lips festooned the stage with cartoon inflatables while showing video of  brain surgery. Fast forward 17 years and this lysergic band of merry pranksters hits the College Street Music Hall. The stage was flanked by two huge inflatable mushrooms. Wayne Coyne, the grizzled frontman for the Lips emerged with a huge Mylar balloon sculpture spelling out "Fuck Yeah New Haven" which  floated over the crowd. The recorded history of the Lips has been varied, The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi, Embryonic, The Terror in addition to homage projects to Pink Floyd and the Beatles. The evening was made even trippier with an excellent light show. Wayne sang Bowie's Space Oddity while floating over the crowd in a huge clear balloon. Lips shows are always happenings and this evening was no different. Good setlist of old and new songs.

DJ Logic w/ Broca's Area 2/24/17 Arch St. Hartford

The last time I attended two concerts at two venues in two different towns on the same evening had me watching DJ Logic as the bar closed. Broca's Area is a Hartford based groove band that seems to be the house band at Arch St. The highlight is their female singer who has seemed to have gained some sass since my last viewing. A Jill Scott cover and some decent originals were a good warmup for Logic.
DJ Logic comes correct with two "turntables and a laptop". He seamlessly weaves beats and loops from song fragments. Like most in his trade, Logic is a master of ebb and crescendo that keeps the crowd bumping. One continuous song that was decidedly un-shazamable had pieces of Hendrix's Fire, some Blood Sweat and Tears intro as well as other slightly recognizable snippets. One young hipster highfived me and remarked how cool it was that an oldster like me was enjoying the set. I nodded in agreement, but could have lectured him on the fact that I have seen Logic many times before, probably when this kid was in diapers. No matter, live music is in the ear of the beholder.

Muhal Richard Abrams Quintet 2/24/17 Crowell Hall Wesleyan CFA Middletown

Dr Muhal Richard Abrams has been involved in the jazz scene for over 60 years. A
legendary pianist, Abrams is co-founder of the Chicago based AACM ( Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians). The AACM is responsible for connecting jazz to youth in communities around the country, by providing access ,safe concert spaces, and mentoring of the next generation of creative musicians. The quintet was Abrams on piano, Jonathan Finlayson on trumpet, Bryan Carrott on vibes, Reggie Nicholson on drums, and John Hebert on bass. The set started with Abrams using mallets on the piano strings, he looked like someone's grandpa checking a distributor cap. He slid back into a solo before yielding to Finlayson then Carrott then Hebert. I have witnessed many icons at this venue: Charles Lloyd, Henry Threadgill, Don Byron, and Anthony Braxton among others. Abrams and the AACM were at the forefront of the free jazz world and it was obvious by his command of piano. I have seen Carrott with the Lounge Lizards and with Dave Holland and the full vibes sound was on full display with the beautiful acoustics of this venue. Hebert is a staple at Firehouse 12 and his bowed and plucked solo sounded like a chainsaw being thrown down a flight of stairs (which I know he'll take as a compliment). The set was two long pieces that focused on solos and improv from each member. Abrams is an icon, and in his 80s, it was a treat to see him share his vision to a crowd of about 300. Sitting in front of me was a crew of students, probably musicians, whose jazz knowledge and reverence that I eavesdropped on, was astounding. It was comforting to hear that a new generation of appreciators is out there and listening.

The Dig w/ Communist Daughter 2/22/17 Bar

Communist Daughter were a hipster outfit from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Lead guitar/ vocals, bass, drums, keys/ multi-instrumentalist, and a female vocalist made up the quintet. Indie pop with nice guy-girl harmony vocals. The multi-instrumentalist had a xylophone that was poorly mic'd so that it appeared like air-xylophone. Chatted with the bassist who said the next gig was The Music Hall of Williamsburg.
Headliner The Dig was a synth pop quartet that reminded me of  a cross between Deer Tick and Hot Chip (maybe Deer Chip and Hot Tick). The front man singer even had the same psychotic gleam in his eye like the Deer Tick singer. Pop songs started slow and ebbed and swelled with dueling falsetto vocals. This band is better appreciated live.

G-nome Project w/ Mushroom Cloud 2/8/17 Bar

Local group Mushroom Cloud is often the pick to open shows for the jammy techno crowd. A trio of guitar, bass, and drums played instrumental funk jams kind of like Eric Krasno's Lettuce or The New Mastersounds. The guitar player had a handle on the tight blaxploitation groove, and the stand in bass player was impressive. Thankfully, they didn't close with an acapella Free Bird.
G-nome Project is billed as a livetronica outfit from Tel Aviv. Funky guitar, nerdy but active bass, high energy propulsive drums, and keys comprised the quartet. It was too much for me to ask for a politically charged, sample based international throwdown. Instead, we viewed a capable house band of rave culture. Good, diverse crowd of dancers and a couple of painters throwing some trippy images to canvas while the music was bumping. Like many international groups, they had a good grasp of dub used to extend some jams. Without vocals, and no inter-song banter, this quartet could have come from Burlington VT, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Marco Benevento w/ Superhuman Happiness 2/7/17 Spaceland Ballroom

Saw the last few tunes of SHH, a regional groove outfit who announced it was their last show. Sad, but I'm sure that these trio of multi -instrumentalists will appear in other forms. Female singer and two guys on keys/synths and some brass.
Marco Benevento has been playing jam keyboards since the early aughts. His early partner as The Duo, was drummer Joe Russo. MB's group on this evening was a trio, with a young female bass player and a drummer.  Jazz, jammy meanderings with MB employing loops and effects to shade the songs. Marco sang on most tunes, comfortable in a voice that was not always used. The young lady played hella bass, muscular riffs that lent a prog bent to the affair. Hard-working drummer played fast and loud on most songs. MB wearing orange neon shades, and a crumpled tophat, looked like the m.c. at electric forest. Good long set of mainly original tunes were well received. A decent LedZep tease, cover of a tune by The Knife, and an amazing bass intro to Jump Into the Fire by Harry Nilsson.

Mates of State 1/25/17 Bar

Caught the last few tunes of the Mates residency at Bar. Like in the old days when I saw Barrence Whitfield and the Savages three times in a month, continued viewing fosters a familiarity that allows a music nerd to compare and contrast delivery, energy, and band cohesiveness. On this outing, the Mates pulled Pencilgrass trumpeter and head-bobber Panos on stage for great effect. After the show, the Mates offloaded boxes of CDs of solo projects in an attempt to keep the local love burning. It made me sad to think of the sad state of monetary compensation for these dedicated artists.

Sound and Vision: Questlove, Kimbra, Yale Symphony Orchestra 1/25/17 Schwarzman Center

The evening's program was the opening of "Blackstar Rising and The Purple Reign. Celebrating the Legacies of David Bowie and Prince". The Schwarzman Center is the soon to be renovated large hall to the right of Woolsey Hall when entering from Grove St. The hall was hot and had poor acoustics that swallowed the sound of the YSO who opened the program. The YSO played student arrangements of selected Bowie and Prince works. For Bowie, Space Oddity, Starman, Heroes, and Modern Love. The Prince selections: Controversy, Darling Nikki, U Got the Look, and When Doves Cry. These songs are difficult to arrange for symphony, but the students did an admirable job.
   After a brief intermission, the stage was cleared for what was termed "a critical deejay session with Questlove and Kimbra in conversation with Professor Daphne Brooks".  Ahmir Questlove Thompson is drummer and co-founder of the hiphop band The Roots, author, dj, producer, and
late night frontman for the bands on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show. Quest is also a professed Prince-ecologist. Kimbra is a young pop star from New Zealand. Her claim to fame is that she is the female voice heard on Gotye's 2011 pop sensation "Somebody That I Used To Know". Quest handled talk on Prince telling tales of taboo sexuality, career low point (opening for the Rolling Stones early in his career), the originator of the remix (played two mixes of Little Red Corvette) and the notion of boundary pushing R&B star turned rock and roll star turned oversized persona all with a backdrop of an extreme work ethic that fueled greatness. Kimbra, who can't be thirty, spoke of her circuitous entry into the Bowie canon. She started with the African rhythms contained on the album Lodger. Kimbra dissected the layered nursery rhyme chaos that is Ashes to Ashes stating that this type of complex pop song is rare today. Her final choice was Let's Dance which evoked stories of producer Nile Rogers lending his pop and funk magic wand to the record. More events in this celebration include screening and conversation with film-maker D.A. Penne baker of Ziggy Stardust, talks with Sheila E., and an art gallery performance with TV on The Radio.

Mates of State 1/11/17 Bar

Local  husband and wife pop duo Mates of State are setting up a January residency for three consecutive Wednesday nights at Bar. Usually a residency implies workouts of tunes in progress or collaboration with some local musicians. On this evening, MOS played to a group of hardcore fans that head bobbed and sung along to every song. MOS have been at the pop trade since 2000, with some reasonable success. I noticed they have about 50k followers on Spotify. Man on drums and vocals, girl on Korg keys and vocals. Solid songwriting and great layered vocals made for an enjoyable set. It seemed as though these guys were getting back to their roots, feeling some local love, and getting out of the basement to get some feedback on their live material. I have seen these two many times before, at the Vibes, at Bar, and at some small local outdoor fests, they always seem to please.

Woody Pines 1/3/16 Cafe 9

Nashville troubadour Woody Pines made a stop in New Haven. Like a cross between Leon Redbone and Django Reinhardt, WP said he played 220 dates last year. WP on national steel, standup bass, and a reed man who played saxes and clarinet. With a down-homey vocal delivery and excellent support from bass and reeds, WP played a journeyman's set. Hot jazz, Nawlins, Hank Williams, even a great cover of Junco Pardner done in a mambo style. The subtle addition of clarinet or tenor sax bent these tunes to the early 1900s. WP said he is aiming for a corner in Austin during SXSW to see if he could catch a recording break, with his effortless blend of old and new he may be on to something.