It’s been a while since experiencing the downtown trio known as Spanish Fly (it’s NOT Steven Bernstein’s Spanish Fly). Bernstein on trumpet (standard, valve, and slide), Dave Tronzo on guitar, and Marcus Rojas on tuba. These three christened the Knitting Factory and have been scraping the sides of the jazz world since the 90s. The first number was spare, as if the trio was chasing you through the woods on a dark fall night. Bernstein had a table full of trumpet mutes that were mostly homemade, at one point while returning one to the table it skittered off on the Firehouse floor, with an elfin grin, Steve proceeded to knock the other mutes off just to hear the sound. He was an equal opportunity trumpeter, giving time to all three incarnations. The valve trumpet looked like a cornet held on its side, with a “ backbone” of keys running up the center. The slide trumpet looked like a trombone put through the shrink machine, muted, it produced a troll-like squeal. If you close your eyes and think of a prototypical tuba player, you’d be pretty close to Rojas. Portly, with phlegm colored rims to his glasses, Marcus could hold the low end or whisper odd Tasmanian devil noises into the mouthpiece. Tronzo, sitting, played mostly slide guitar. The guitar rhythms lent a backdrop to the theatrics of the others. These guys are musical omnivores, and gave a shout out to the recently departed Hal Wilner who produced many oddities with the likes of SF back in the day. One number was a letter written by Lenny Bruce to his mother. The three tag teamed sections while the other two played. The letter started with Lenny waxing nostalgic about Thanksgiving, it morphed into his money troubles, and ended with him suggesting that his mother start working at a Filipino whorehouse and giving him the proceeds. A screwed down If 6 Was 9 was epic, with Rojas holding the beat at NyQuil levels. Another hot jazz number had Bernstein chasing Tronzo around. Thoroughly original and enjoyable set to the rapt packed house.
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