Mandingo Ambassadors 9/19/21 Best Video

 Re-scheduled from a no rain rainout in August, a trio of ambassadors made the trip north from Brooklyn. Led by griot guitarist Mamady Kouyate and aided by female percussionist and sleepy rhythm guitar/ van driver this group brought some high life to the deck for a Sunday afternoon show. Kouyate is skilled and steeped in tradition. The guitarist also manned a somewhat cheesy canned backing sequencer, whose purpose was to flesh out more sounds from a 10 piece ambassadorship, but came off like Eddie Van Halen playing Metallica karaoke from a Walmart setup. It would have been better to just have the trio play, as the backing sounds served up too much “sameness” for the songs. The happy vibe plays well, and I read that various iterations of the group hold down a Wednesday night residency at the ultra-hip club Barbes. In watching this group, I thought about early “happy” African music evolving in to socially conscious Afrobeat and it’s parallel to Ska moving to roots reggae. The “hey wait a minute” moment for colonialized people proved to be a potent inflection point for both genres.

Allison Miller, Wendy Eisenberg, Nick Dunston 9/17/21 Firehouse 12

 The triumphant, though masked and proof of vaxed, return of the Firehouse jazz series. With reduced seating, and only one set of music, you could feel the pandemic pent up need for live jazz from performers and audience. Miller, the drummer, was the leader, with Boston based shredder Eisenberg on guitar, and Dunston on standup bass. Miller seems like an exotic and cool aunt who infrequently blows into town with lilac spiked hair, turns you on to Sun Ra, then returns years later to see how you’ve “evolved”. The drum kit was spare, but she had a seemingly endless array of shakers, bells, and assorted pokers. One bell looked like she swiped it from the Bronze Age exhibit at the Met. Her sound was not forceful, but shaded with sounds and noises. Sheet metal, shoe horns, and brushes made for an atmospheric listen. At one point she dropped a mallet and seamlessly grabbed another tool from the bag as if that was part of the improv. Eisenberg is newer to the scene. She squeaked and squiggled before launching into full blown cacophony on most tunes. At one entry, she sounded like a mosquito, before latching on to the drum and bass groove. She sang one haunting “ballad” that started with the lyric “my silent nightmare is watching me”, creepy, yet inviting. Dunston played an admirable bass, his instrument looked like it spent too many hours in baggage claim. Almost full crowd for this most welcome return. Miller said the trio was hanging out at the Firehouse for a few days to bang out a new record.

King Crimson w/ The Zappa Band 9/5/21 Westville Music Bowl

 The Frank Zappa sound lives on through a maze of relations and affiliates. A potent stew of rock, jazz, and sophomoric humor is the backdrop for continual invention and re- invention. The lineup for this group is Mike Keneally, Scott Thunes, Ray White,, Robert Martin, Joe Travers , and Jamie Kime. The set list mirrors tunes played on the last show of the FZ 1988 tour. Peaches en Regalia, What’s New in Baltimore?, City of Tiny Lites, Florentine Pogen we’re a few of the highlights. The group closed with an appropriate version of the tune Andy, a chestnut from the One Size Fits All record.

Robert Fripp is still steering the prog monster known as King Crimson. The stage setup was imposing. Three full arena rock drum kits were side by side on the fore stage with the second tier of non drummers consisting of Mel Collins on saxes, flute and keys, Tony Levin on all varieties of bass, singer guitarist who took the role of Greg Lake, and cranky Fripp on guitar and knob twiddling. KC sound has evolved from late sixties orchestral faerie fluff, to menacing seventies prog metal, to eighties power quartet virtuosity. It was mesmerizing to watch three talented drummers play off or with one another. Each drummer came with a “side dish”, one with gongs/bells, another with keys, and the last with a variety of shakers and noise makers. There was one passage where each tried to shift the time signature and watch the next try to catch up. The set list included such heavies as Lark’s Tongues in Aspic pt 1, Epitaph, Court of The Crimson King, Islands, Red, and One More Red Nightmare. Encored with 21st Century Schizoid Man. The show was enjoyable, and the novelty of 3 drummers was a sight. I do think the schmaltzy Greg Lake- isms fall short on the 2021crowd, but there is “safety in drummers”.