Marco has been positively reviewed in this blog many times. Unfortunately, the blog was not around when I sat on a young Marco Benevento’s speaker and watched over his shoulder as he madly plunked piano, organ, and all manner of keyboards, including a Playskool Baby, Baby grand at a late night session in a sweaty ski lodge. Onstage with his musical life partner Joe Russo on drums, the Duo, as they were, manned the door at the dawning of the Jam revolution. At that time, a young Marco soaked in a variety of jazz, blues, and pop influences. Fast forward to today, Russo and Benevento head up the Grateful Dead cover outfit JRAD (Joe Russo’s Almost Dead). Occasionally, as on this evening, Marco gets free from JRAD, and takes the stage to do his thing. I’ve likened Marco to a drug thieving Cheshire Cat, but I think he’s more of a cross between Rick Wakeman and Captain Jack Sparrow. Joined onstage by drummer, and fantastic young female bassist, the trio barreled through a set of originals, teases, and some clever covers. Bassist Karina is of indeterminate age. She could be anywhere between 15 and 35, although I did see her 3 years back, so 12 would be ridiculous. There is a 20 year trove of solo material to pull from and teases like Suzanne Vega’s Tom’s Diner were welcome. Some excellent almost disco passages made good use of the muscular bass. Show highlight was a frenetic cover of Harry Nilsson’s Jump Into The Fire.
Tuesday, November 22, 2022
Friday, November 18, 2022
Qwanqwa 11/16/22 Cafe 9
Billed as an Ethiopian Supergroup, Qwanqwa is a little multicultural. Electric violinist Kathe Hostetter was in Boston based African outfit Debo Band, and was decidedly Caucasian. The remaining 4 from Ethiopia played electric Krar, bass electric krar, “traditional drums/percussion”, and vocals. The sound was back alley Addis Ababa trance funk. The krar looked like a table leg stuck into a Kleenex box and had one string. The man played it with a tree saw shaped bow and got amazing tones with vibrato. The electric bass krar was even better, it looked liked a cigar box welded to an upholstery-free frame of a wing back dining room chair. It had six strings, and the man used his fret hand fingers between the strings to slur amazing bass riffs. “ Traditional drums” was a sit down drum kit with a series of toms and mini congas. The diminutive drummer was all over this set, with sticks or hands, he propelled the groove. The singer was a fireplug, and reminded me of Chaka Khan, in regard to her hair:body ratio. She sang in her native tongue and gyrated and vibrated when she was involved. She had a chair that she’d retreat to on off tunes, which was good, her contribution was tiring. The electric violin, is an odd duck. At times I got a whiff of 90s crew Afro-Celt Soundsystem, others, the vibe was down right Jeanlucpontyesque in a gypsy trance style. The highlight was Mela Mela, translated as “we can solve this together”, a drum centric rave, capped with ululating yelps. I can’t help but think of the Warren Smith rockabilly chestnut Ubangi Stomp, wherein the protagonist, a hapless, slightly racist sailor gets entranced by “the natives doin an odd lookin skip”. When the Captain yells “son we gotta go”, to which the sailor responds “ that’s awright, you go right ahead, I’m gonna Ubangi Stomp till I roll over dead” Now I’m not implying Kathe is a racist or a sailor, but she has been bitten by the rhythm. It was nice to note that their touring makes an effort to play to underserved communities. Highly recommend this group, traditional yet modern sound.
Sunday, November 6, 2022
Mike Doughty 11/5/22 Harbor Park
When this show first hit the radar, I chided Manic Productions as to their wisdom of having an outdoor show on the 5th of November. Seventy degree day and gorgeous weather, thanks climate change. Mike Doughty, the recovering heroin addict, the door man at The Knitting Factory at the height of the No-Wave downtown movement, and oh yeah, front man for the seminal beat-groove-funk vehicle Soul Coughing. The star burned bright for SC, 3 or 4 critically acclaimed slabs of literate pop released between 94-98. While Mike claims the SC experiment “almost killed him”, it sure produced a body of work that was tapped on this evening. Doughty is joined on stage by longtime compatriot Andrew “Scrap” Livingston on guitar. The two barrel through screwed down workings of SC songs and chestnuts from Doughty’s excellent post SC solo career. The arrangements were a treat for a super fan like me, never straying into the kitschy MTV Unplugged realm. Setlist included 27 Jennifers, White Lexus, Tremendous Brunettes, Shunned and Falsified, St Louise Is Listening, Blame, Circles, Super Bon Bon, Soft Serve,, Lazybones, How Many Cans, Sugar Free Jazz. He played my favorite anthemic ode “Busting Up A Starbucks”, which I urge all readers to give a spin. Ended the show with an excellent “I Hear The Bells” and encored with “True Dreams of Wichita”. Doughty is a wordsmith and had some fun with an AI story writing app. An industrious artist, it seems that Mike has been writing a song a week and posting on his website for free dissemination. Thanks to Manic for believing in the weather and delivering an excellent free outdoor show.