John Zorn's "Songs For Petra" 5/24/18 Firehouse 12

Prolific sound artist Zorn composed some music and Jesse Harris wrote accompanying lyrics for vocalist Petra Haden. Haden, daughter of jazz bass giant Charlie, and one third of the singing Haden triplets rose to the evening's challenge. The all-star group included Harris on rhythm guitar and vocals, guitar prodigy-turned virtuoso Julian Lage, and solid rhythm section of drums and standup bass. Haden, dressed in a white pit crew jumpsuit, has a husky alto that reminded me of Laura Nyro. Lage starred in a tv show "Jules at 8" which showcased the prodigious talent for the world ( well, maybe the YouTube world) to see. While the songs had a jazzy backdrop, they were decidedly un-jazzy, which was welcome at this venue which is usually a temple of skronk. The tunes could have been lost 70s chestnuts reworked with a modern feel. You could sense that Lage was psyched to solo like a rock star, even choogling his way through a CCR-inflected number. Haden is a strong vocal presence, and just knowing that she possessed some genes from her late great father gave me chills.

Youth In A Roman Field w/ Olive Tiger and Leila Crockett 5/22/18 Cafe 9

Local opener Crockett was a big woman armed with an acoustic, some tattoos, and a homemade knit cap. She played delta blues and reminded me of Marissa Anderson.
Local songstress Olive was a perfect choice for a warmup act on this evening. Olive on cello, loops, guitar and vocals was joined onstage by a young man on violin and keys. The configuration led to an avant chamber pop sound. The vocals were stronger than on past listenings, and her command of loops was excellent. The indie cello is in, and Olive shines more than in her previous (other?) band Kindred Queer.
Youth In A Roman Field is a side project of Claire Weilen from the NYC indie-hipsters San Fermin. She said YIARF can range from one to eight musicians. On this evening, it was one, with Claire on vocals, violin, guitar, ukulele, and violin played like a ukulele. She was a young pixie from Queens, who had an odd violin style that swooped and swayed which helped make the sound ebb and flow. The songs were well written and her distinct vocal style had cabaret tones with a beautiful Billie Holiday slur. What is up with band name? With no nightly explanation, it seems like YIARF is striving for the world's longest band name.

Marco Benevento 5/17/18 Spaceland

Jam veteran Benevento descends on Hamden with the same power trio that has been positively reviewed in this blog before. Marco dressed in white with an Easter Island head on his shirt, sparkly Doc Martens, day-glo rimmed shades, and a rumpled tophat looked like a hippie cross between Sir Elton and The Cat in the Hat played keys and knobs. Young female Karina, seemed to be in her teens, on bass was also dressed in white with a shirt that read "we're using time for fun". Drummer Andy rounded out the group. Marco has a permanent smile and looks like his drugs are kicking in before yours. MB holds down the keyboard end of Grateful Dead tribute behemoth Joe Russo's Almost Dead (JRAD), and seems to need this outfit where he is in charge. Some originals included some great teases, Livin Lovin Maid, Tom's Diner et.al. The originals sounded like Vintage Violence-era John Cale, Howard Jonesian B-sides, and one workout that reminded me of Rush where the drums were, well, peart-y. As usual, the cover songs added meat. Marco said they just came back from the Big Easy and did a rousing take on Nawlins staple The Clapping Song by Shirley Ellis (" the monkey chewed tobacco on the street car line, the line broke, the monkey got choked, they all went to heaven in a little rowboat"). Karina took over for a high energy "Pepper", by The Butthole Surfers. Closed the show with Nilsson's "Jump Into The Fire" that had Benevento conducting the frenzy while standing on his keyboard. Final tune was his popular original "At The Show". Chameleonic Marco displayed many styles and led the listeners through a Cat In The Hat type of concert.

Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog 5/10/18 Cafe 9

Jumped at the chance to see in demand session guitarist and downtown legend Ribot fronting a power trio at the 9. Ribot on guitar, guitarro, voice and profane rantings;  Shahzad Ismailly on bass, some keyboard thing, and La-Z-Boy recliner; loose-limbed young lion Ches Smith on drums and congas. These guys can and have played many styles. Ribot has contributed axe-wielding to Elvis Costello, Tom Waits and countless others. I have often seen Smith at Firehouse 12 scraping some cymbals for Mary Halvorsen and other up and coming jazzbos. On this evening, it was Ribot's turn to let his hair down. (Just kidding, Ribot, mid-50s, has receding gray professor hair, as if he's played one too many gigs with one foot in a bucket of water and the other in a power outlet). Ismailly was an odd rangy figure who appeared to be a burn victim or someone that survived some cranium opening brain surgery. Smith,  tall and lanky, 30ish, flailed on the kit and congas even added some backing vocals to the "I'm your personal Nancy Spungen!". I have followed Ribot's career from the early 90s with Don Byron and The Rootless Cosmopolitans, seeing him at Middletown's Lo-fi venue The Buttonwood Tree, with jacket and tie throwing noise at John Lurie's Lounge Lizards ( the origins of this blog's name),' playing acoustic at the Gibson guitar fest at Fort Adams in front of a sheet music stand that had a sign that read "On Time". Marc Ribot is rarely "on time" ,his angular solos and hunched over playing style reminded me of the fantastic Duchamp-ian painting at the Yale Art Gallery of The Knifegrinder. A cubist huddled figure throwing sparks while knifegrinding, or axe-grinding in this case. For this show, the group's new recording YRU Still Here? was showcased. Songs veered from punk rants "I got the right to say fuck you!", to the Latin stylings of his mid-90s period. At one point, Marc launched into a monologue (dialog?diatribe?duolog?) plaintively stating "hippies...are not nice...anymore". Closed the show with a glorious punk-funk meth-fueled reading of Dave Brubeck's Take Five. Oy, or should I say Oi!

Michael Nau w/ The Dove and The Wolf 4/30/18 Cafe 9

The Dove and The Wolf was a female- centric band from Philadelphia. Two women on guitar and vocals, female drummer, and male bass player comprised the quartet. Good original songwriting benefitted from harmony vocals and the dual vocal attack. It is hard to believe, but the two female voice delivery is somewhat rare in popular music. Heart, Fleetwood Mac, Abba seem like caricatures. I enjoyed the set but have to say the band name is cumbersome, The Dove and The Wolf sounds like an item on the sale shelf at Crabtree and Evelyn.
Michael Nau and his band The Mighty Thread consisted of Nau on vocals and hollow-body guitar, lead guitar, drums, bass, and organ. Nau's well worn vocals were enhanced by this tight backing band. I heard strains of The Band ( thanks to the organ),  Van Morrison, and even Luna's Dean Wareham. Songs ranged from indie-folk to drawl-ey pop. Nau would be advised to do a little more inter-song banter to setup some songs, but overall an enjoyable listen.