Darius Jones Shades of Black 10/26/18 Firehouse 12

Was thinking of sitting out this DJ visit to the Firehouse. The past couple viewings were pretty screechy nails on chalkboard type blowouts. Jones sounded like Pharoah Sanders passing a kidney stone. Not that I mind this type of caterwaul, but one has to be mentally prepared. While other groups faded into the background of Jones' fire, this ensemble stoked, egged, and stole some fire. Sam Newsome on soprano sax, Cooper Moore on organ, Chad Taylor on drums, and Michael Wimberly on percussion joined the fray that is Darius Jones' alto sax. The set started with a gargantuan circularly breathed solo from Newsome, it had this jazz fan recalling the histrionics of Roland Kirk. Veteran of the NYC loft scene in the 70s, Moore is usually on piano ( or didley-bo, a bizarre stringed instrument crafted by this renaissance man). On this evening, Moore played organ, bopping and rolling his way through a variety of solos and call-and-response passages. The organ at times sounded churchy, at other times sounded like an avant garde ballpark companion. Imagine Cooper Moore as ballpark organist!...on Pluto perhaps(#stillaplanetdontstopbelieving). Taylor and Wimberly made quite the racket and provided a unifying force to keep the set from completely careening into a cacophonous maelstrom. Jones seems to gain weight every time I see him, on this evening he was wearing a t-shirt that said "Dope & Carefree & Proud & Black". His alto is assured, and moves easily from improvised skronk to collaborative harmony. He seemed very relaxed with Newsome who is a monster.

Toby Driver 10/22/18 Cafe 9

Toby Driver is the front man for Boston-based chamber metal outfit Kayo Dot. On this evening, it was a solo outing armed with just guitar and laptop. The songs were tectonically slow building squalls of sound. Sludgy, looped guitar and mournful vocals sounded like a movie score or a Twin Peaks bar band set. Driver's bio has him "singing" with such avant garde luminaries as John Zorn and Jeremiah Cymerman. With no song introduction or inter-song banter, the music felt like a soundtrack to a non-English speaking movie. Kayo Dot and Driver make an original  but somewhat unpleasant sound.

Arc Iris 10/15/18 Cafe 9

Providence-based art-pop trio Arc Iris was celebrating the release of Icon of Ego. The record has futuristic story songs set to a glam-EDM-performance art vibe. The trio consists of Jocie Adams on keys, guitar, vocals, and costume changes; Zach Miller on keys, synths, vocals,and drummer Ray Belli. I learn that Adams used to be in The Low Anthem and her departure seemed to coincide with my snowballing dislike of that band. The last time I saw AI, I seem to remember Adams wearing a spandex-Saran wrap combo. On this evening, a small changing stall was setup behind Adams' keys. The opening of the stall was downright vaginal, and Adams frequently entered to the sounds of instructional or meditative audio. Dueling keys, rapid time signature changes, odd dance moves, and dance floor ready drumming made for quite an experience. Adams vocal style reminded me of the baby talk prog sensuality of Kate Bush. While no costume changes for Miller, he too was a sight with a huge head of poofy hair that looked like a poodle fight when he swung to the groove. Adams' costume changes were worth noting: she started with a sheer one piece jumpsuit, moved to a red smoking jacket (shorts maybe?), with heels and a wrestling belt, and finished with a skin-tone bathing suit with hand prints stenciled and scarf made out of furry hands. This band truly needs the live experience, the cd wouldn't do it justice.

Christian Sands Trio Saybrook Underbrook Theater Yale 10/13/18

While driving to this show, I heard Christian McBride raving about a young lion pianist on his weekly NPR jazz show, Jazz Night in America. The pianist was Christian Sands, a twenty-something Steinway prodigy from the New Haven area. The Saybrook Underbrook theater is in the basement of Saybrook College on Elm Street, the info said to enter through doorway H. When we reached the destination, we saw signs for the show but needed to coax a student to use his ID to get us through the gate, we needed to coax another student to let us in the door, followed the signs past the billiards room (where the next Bert Kavanaugh was chalking his chops), to an awesome underground lair that was a concert space and recording studio. The show was another success from the Yale Undergraduate Jazz Collective, a group of over-achievers that sponsor some great free jazz events around town. Packed house for this piano, drums and bass trio. We sat on the stairs which turned out to be an excellent vantage point to view the lightning fast runs of Sands. The crowd was a mixture of coeds and local jazzbos. Sands had his younger brother Ryan on drums and Josh Allen on standup. The music was fantastic, drawing from Sands recent release. Christian reminded me of Marcus Roberts with a little Keith Jarrett thrown in. An awesome string muted intro to Blind Faith's ( Steve Winwood) Can't Find My Way Home was the highlight. Closed with a round robin I Got Rhythm. Need to praise and complain to the YUJC, great show but don't make me use fuckin Ron Weasly's Magic shopping cart to gain entry.

Mikaela Davis w/ Lyon Street Fire 10/11/18 Spaceland

New Havenites Lyon Street Fire were mid-set when I arrived at Spaceland. Two guitars, bass, drums, male and female singers were a groove rock outfit. Both of the singers were good and shared the duties equally. The group reminded me of Rusted Root in that they have multiple singers on top of the jammy backdrop. Forgot to ask them if they were actually denizens of Lyon Street, a hip location near a community garden spot I tend.
Mikaela Davis is a young harpist from Rochester. The harp is quite a sight and I felt for the young lady as she wheeled it in on a hand truck and hoisted it on stage. The band were some young mop top jam types. Guitar, in-your-face bass, and drums laid down the song structure for Davis' harp, sometimes keys and vocals. Her recent recording Delivery was highlighted on this evening. The songs were good but sometimes suffered from the goofy banality of jam lyrics. The harp made the evening, sometimes being bent to sound Asian, other times offering a bluegrass twang. There was even one jam tune with an extended raga feel. Davis did a St Vincent cover which seemed apt. I cracked up when she said " Stravinsky once told me that harpists spend 80% of their time tuning and 20% of their time playing out of tune". She said that there is YouTube footage of her re-stringing the thing.

Chuck Prophet and the Mission Express w/ Amy Rigby 10/10/18 Cafe 9

Singer songwriter Rigby has played C-9 several times. A veteran of the Nashville scene, she doesn't seem twangy enough for that town. Caught a few originals to warm up the near capacity crowd. Rigby has three brothers, and had a good tune about "trying to hang with the guys".
I saw Chuck perform twice at this summer's Green River Festival. His set morphed into more of a club-oriented affair on this evening. Many smartass "you know ladies and gentlemen" comments and audience participation parts had the multi-generational crowd grooving. His remix version of Storm Across the Sea was great. Setlist included: Bobby Fuller Died for Your Sins, Who Put the Bomp, The Left Hand and The Right Hand, Run Primo Run, the Wille Mays tune, Wasn't I Always a friend to You ( co-written with Alejandro Escovedo) were all great. Closed with an obscure cover of Bangkok and a syrupy instrumental (Sleepwalk maybe?). Glad to have seen this veteran rocker for the third time in 2018.

Unknown Band 9/30/18 Edgerton Park

Beautiful fall afternoon had me weeding and harvesting beats from the community garden patch. From a distance, I could hear the strains of a band playing a function at the park's carriage house. The first tune was Tom Petty's "Breakdown", a favorite from this clutched from the planet too soon rocker. Next up was an odd but lengthy intro to an even lengthier "Shakedown Street". So lengthy, that I was able to finish gardening and walk the park to peer through the bushes at this hip wedding. The band, as you'd expect, were hairy 30-somethings, obliviously grooving to their jammy output. The crowd, as you wouldn't expect, were a bunch of horrified, well-dressed oldsters parked at some circular tables in front of the band. Now I know it is a stretch for my live music blog to contain an entry pertaining to an unknown band at a show I wasn't truly at, but live music just happens. Traveling this world with big ears is some sage advice. To the hippie band at the oldster-laden wedding, I say "Play on Brother" because "The Music Never Stopped".