Garcia Peoples, Chris Forsyth, and Ryley Walker 12/28/19

My show attendance has waned a little in 2019, but this evening should count as three. Epic triple bill of guitar psychedelic jamminess from some of the top minds of this genre. Initially taken aback by the complete inverse of the stated lineup, the reason became clear as the show evolved. New Jersey hippes Garcia Peoples took the stage first. Two guitars, muscular bass, drums, and a Mr. Rogers sweatered dude on keys. Rhythm guitar and bass player took some vocals, but it was the mop top pyrotechnics of lead guitarist that seared the cortex. Imagine a cross between Jerry Garcia and Buckethead ( if you don't know Buckethead, please YouTube y'all some) with a smattering of Steve Howe. This guy had a built in trip-o-meter that was set to 11. GP's set was almost over before they played anything remotely recognizable from their excellent recent slab One Step Behind, a record that boasts the sax and flute playing of the lead guitarists dad who is credited on some Miles and Stanley Clark outings.
Chris Forsyth, from Philly, is an experimental guitarist with ties to Television's Richard Lloyd. His downtown cred is bolstered by affiliations with Loren Connors and Derek Bailey. He is usually backed by a unit he calls the Solar Motel Band, on this evening he used the capable services of GP. Forsyth also has an excellent 2019 release All Time Present, from which he played a fantastic rendition of Mystic Mountain, a fitting spotifyable slice of this evening's offering.
Next up was solo Ryley Walker who sarcastically quipped " it should be easy following those two raging bands". The evolution of Ryley is striking, from the early Brit folk meanderings of Primrose Green to the recent Thurston Moorey items on Deafman Glance, his output showcases his restless spirit. Kind of an asshole ( a quality that I admire in an artist), Ryley enjoys interacting with the crowd verbally with one exchange commenting on CT's moniker of the Nutmeg State, and it's infamous resident Vince Mc Mahon. The music on this evening was electric guitar noodling, he claimed he got some toys for Christmas. He did play The Roundabout from his excellent 2016 release and welcomed the entire crew onstage for a drone-psych finale.

Bassoonarama 12/16/19 Sudler Hall

Wouldn't be Christmas season without an installment of Dr. Frank Morelli's bassoon class doing their annual holiday recital. The 2019 concert was "Happy Anniversaries", a musical stroll through some important dates. In 1894, the Yale fight song Boola Boola March hit the charts (via pony express I guess). The tune sounded as if it was made for 8 bassoons. In 1969, yes you heard right, women were first admitted to Yale. In honor of this woefully out of date date, Morelli accompanied the female bassoonists in his class. In 1924, the former dean and professor of composition Ezra Laderman was born. Laderman composed a solo piece for his student and protege Morelli. In 1678, Antonio Vivaldi was born. The male members of the troupe performed a couple of movements of the Concierto in C major. In 1969, the first of the Godfather movies was released. Scored by the peerless Nino Rota, the bassoon crew played the Godfather waltz, the Godfather theme, Michael's theme and the Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana. All of these selections were familiar and striking in the hands of the crew. Also in 1969, the world watched the moon landing. In homage to this event, the bassoons played Fly Me to the Moon and Moonlight Serenade. In 1969, Sesame Street began, you probably don't remember the episode where Big Bird says " what the cluck is going on here?, you mean women can't go to Yale?! Boola Boola my ass!". In honor of this great show, the bassoons played Rubber Duckie. The final date was 1919, the year that Yale changed its official color from green to blue. The medley started with Kermit's Bein' Green, on to Duke Ellington's Mood Indigo, and ending with the Elvis classic Blue Christmas. The sight and sound of multiple bassoons having fun means Christmas to me.

Patty Larkin 12/15/19 mActivity

Patty Larkin is a singer songwriter from Wellfleet. On this evening, Patty played what happens to be the final concert at mActivity. Turns out that the gym hours bump in to Fernando's East Rock Concert Series. Patty has amassed a decent body of work over the past 30 years. The "Regrooving The Dream" record would be a desert island pick for me, and her live album "A Go Go" gives a good view of her live experience. In scrolling through her discography, one sees that Patty  works and re works tunes over the years. Setlist included: Best of Intentions, Chained to These Loving Arms, Coming Up For Air, Tango, Dear Heart, Beg To Differ. Show highlights were the self-deprecating Don't and the closer Book I'm Not Reading. Encored with a frenetic rendition of Me And That Train. Yes, we " believe girls can play guitar".

Lage Lund Trio 12/6/19 Firehouse 12

Norwegian born Lage (pronounced Log-A) Lund on hollow body guitar was joined by Will Vinson on sax and Orlando Le Fleming on standup bass. I am a fan of Scandic ( maybe Nordic) jazz. Clean picking, melodic sax, and sturdy bass was more composed than improvised. Lage said that one tune was recorded with Kurt Elling on vocals, with lyrics penned by his wife. Lund has also done a stint with Maria Schneider's big band, so the modern composition is in his wheel house. The tunes sometimes veered into a jazz-Americana feel, like what I enjoy from Erik Friedlander. Final tune was from one of the greatest composers of all time, Morning Glory by the inimitable Duke Ellington.