Rufus Wainwright 6/27/23 Ridgefield Playhouse

 First time at this comfortable venue. Opener was Lucy Wainwright Roche, she is Loudon’s child by the folkie Suzzy Roche. Suzzy has a sister Maggie that perform as The Roches. Introspective Brooklynite folkie, Lucy is a new mom who used her genetic deadpan comedic delivery to warm the crowd. Ended with a nice folk rendering of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” in homage to defiance needed to fight recent incursions on the rights of US citizens.

Rufus Wainwright is Loudon’s child by the folkie Kate McGarrigle. Kate has a sister Anna that perform as  Kate and Anna… wait a minute, is this deja vu within the same post? Loudon seems to have a very specific type. Rufus and band take the stage wearing bejeweled black tunics in support of his recent release Folkocracy. Joined onstage by guitar, keys, bass, drums, and backing singers sister Lucy and California vocal juggernaut Petra Haden. Two full sets of music that was rooted in folk but careened in all directions. A makeshift video feed showed Polaroids and videos of young Rufus interspersed with current Rufus videos set in Laurel Canyon. The Canyon is an oft-cited crucible of 70s folk a la CSNY and Joni Mitchell, and seems to be home for current Rufus. The setlist rambled: Black Gold, a collaboration with his mentor Van Dyke Parks, a Hawaiian song, an Italian song (sung in Italian), a show tune, an opera song styled for folk, Harvest by Neil Young (the album version has an excellent duet with Andrew Bird), Nina Simone’s version of Cotton-eyed Joe, Hush Little Baby, Islands in the Stream (yes, the campy chestnut by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton). He said that no folk show would be complete without some Bob Dylan, then launched into an excellent Ring Them Bells. Closed with an acapella close vocal harmony version of Wild Mountain Thyme, giving each member a verse. It seems that Loudon was onto something, by juicing the gene pool with musical talent mothers, father, sister, aunts, it seems he has created a musical omnivore by default. The name checks were plenty; residency at the Carlisle, writing and performing an opera with his husband in Madrid, duetting with Brandi Carlisle for Pride month, Laurie Anderson and Jimmy Fallon at his next month’s Montauk show, the list went on. Ridgefield Playhouse has upped its game. Normally a venue for artists in their twilight, was glad to catch this important artist in his prime.

Green River Festival 6/24/23 Greenfield MA

 Driving from Connecticut in the driving rain to see live music outside seems like a normal event, to me. So happy was I to be joined by a sold out crowd for the Saturday at Green River. Happier still to arrive at the venue to a dry parking lot. Armed only with my chair and a screen house that I definitely did not want to assemble, I was rewarded with an excellent day of music and weather. Festival blogs are blurry, so I will do my best to reconstruct.

Eilen Jewel : Regional warbler is a regular at this fest. Her alt-country stylings have matured.

The Felice Brothers: NY state crew survived the hard partying early days. One brother on accordion and keys, the main dude on guitar and vocals. Penn Station and Frankie’s Gun from the early aughts were nice.

GA-20: Black denim clad hairy blues trio from Boston. Wild speculation surrounding the name. Lead singer had dark aviators and a Caucasian Afro, maybe an Afreaux. I thought there was a bass, but it was actually two guitars and drums which exuded a heavy Black Keys racket.

Rubblebucket: UVM jazz nerds Kalmia Traver on bass clarinet, vocals, twirling and Alex Toth on trumpet and vocals led their troupe of merry pranksters for a rousing set. Joined by another trumpet/keys, guitar, bass, and drums, these seasoned jamsters have grown since the early vibes days. Part performance art, part music, the set was well received by the crowd. At one point, Kalmia announced it was “tutu time”, where, you guessed it, the band donned multi-colored tutus jammed, hopped off stage and snaked through the crowd.

Jupiter and Okwess: High energy African funk from the Congo. Led by the wiry Jupiter on vocals, gyrations, and conga, he was joined by two guitars, bass, and a drummer who wore a creepy wrestling mask. He sang mainly in his native tongue and encouraged the audience to jump onstage for the party. Jupiter has likened the shape of Africa to a revolver, with the Congo as the trigger.

The Wood Brothers: These guys have been positively reviewed many times in this blog. Oliver on guitar and vocals, Chris on basses and vocals, with Jano Rix on drums. Always a great set, these guys are seasoned veterans at this point. Good cover of Los Lobos’  I Got Loaded, Postcards From Hell, and Between The Beats (from the new record), One More Day. Festival highlight was their rendition of Luckiest Man from their first record. I’ve heard them play this many times, and I guess so has our crew at the fest because our entire tent spontaneously broke into the refrain at the same time.

Sammy Rae and the Friends: Main stage closer is always a crap shoot. This crew alleges to draw from classic rock, folk, and funk which seemed like too many lanes to drive down. Good cover of The Doobie Brothers Long Train Running.

Angelique Kidjo w/ The New Haven Symphony 6/10/23 Arts Ideas Festival

 Start of the Annual event on the New Haven Green, AK and the NHSO were blessed with nice weather. I will get the rant portion of this post out of the way. The show was listed to start at 6pm, we arrived at 545 only to get the obligatory “thankyou  half hour” followed by an opening set from a local drum healer troupe. At a Dead show, when the setlist moves to drums>space>Bertha tease> drums> space, it is one’s clue to visit a portolet either to A) pee or B) get high behind it. This same crew was at last years folk at the edge series and their insistence veered more military and less healing to my ears. So I guess we were 1.5 hours early given that the opener was listed nowhere in the plethora of emails and fb posts. Happy then to be rewarded with some lovely music from the Beninese-songbird Kidjo. Raised in Paris, her artist parents figure prominently. Her father promoted Women’s rights and she started a foundation to help educate West African girls. Her global love of music starts with African influences like Fela Kuti and Miriam Makeba but increases through the lens of Hendrix, Santana, and Aretha. Last years rendition of Talking Heads Remain In Light was classic. She sang some standards in her native tongue like a good reworking of Summertime. The symphony took a back seat and the sound configuration was challenging. She had a couple of dancers that were visible thanks to the big screens flanking the stage. AK is listed on Time’s 100 most influential people and her activism and positive message bear that out. If she was asked whether or not to list the opening act on festival information, I’m thinking she would say “ yes, please.”

WITCH w/ Death Valley Girls 6/7/23 Spaceland Ballroom

 Odd double bill of disparate sounds. DVG are a young female-centric California quartet. Young women at bass, drums, organ/vocals and a young man on guitar. The sound was punk and the lyrics had a lysergic bent. Front woman was a character and had large sea-green swoosh makeup around her eyes a la Dale Bozzio from Missing Persons. While I won’t make comparisons to the Go Gos or the Bangles, this crew showed the lineage of girl bands of yore. The singer urged patrons to meet her at the merch table to talk about the existence of aliens.

WITCH (We Intend To Cause Havoc) is from Zambia and seemed to have some releases in the 70s. I was curious to see the geometry of the players. Youngsters on bass, percussion, drums, and two guitars were joined by two elderly African men. The sound was full on Afrobeat with one of the original members on organ while the other sang. It was clear that someone, probably the bass player, coaxed these two (and their band name) out of retirement. The beat was infectious and the crowd was receptive. I would be remiss if I didn’t describe these musicians, as they were as disparate as the double bill. One guitarist was American, he wore a Flying Burrito Brothers country rock shirt and looked like Burt Reynolds. The other guitarist was Canadian and looked as if he were in a Romantics cover band. The percussionist played bongos and congas and was dressed in white overalls and wore a Gilligan hat. His “kit” was graced with a plush Woodstock (snoopy’s pal). The drummer was a young African American man from New Orleans. The bass player was a sight, at sound check he (they?) wore a satin jacket with the Fame logo on the back. During the show, they opted for an orange frilly pirate shirt. They is Dutch and goes by the name Jacco Gardner who has some excellent solo offerings. The Zambians were equally colorful. The organ player looked like a day-glo Art Blakey, and the singer appeared to be a psychedelic Huggy Bear. The twin guitar assault emphasized the James Browness of the afrobeat. I notice that the recent WITCH release has some nice rap vocal guesting from Sampa The Great.

Joshua Abrams and The Natural Information Society 6/3/23 Wadsworth Atheneum

Basement theater under the gallery, who knew? Couldn’t think of a better place to view this unusual group. Leader Abrams played the Guimbri, a three stringed homemade-looking bass, Mikel Avery on drums and hand percussion, Jason Stein on bass clarinet, and Lisa Alvarado on harmonium and set design. The music was African trance with the guimbri leading the exotic sounding charge. Josh had an effect pedal that emitted a metallic echo from the guimbri strings to give an industrial clang. The drummer flowed effortlessly, quietly tapping and scraping all surfaces on the kit. Some drums were cloaked in fabric as to muffle or obscure the beat. Drums are critical in any type of trance or drone offering and Avery rose to the metronomic challenge. The bass clarinet is an awesome instrument. While echoes of Eric Dolphy  emerge when a bass clarinet is played, I am amazed by the timbre and scope of the sound. Stein’s contribution to the drone was more nuanced, entering and exiting with a regal wail. Alvarado was a sight to behold, dressed in a fluorescent mauve frock. She is also a visual artist working with brightly colored fabrics and tapestries hung as a backdrop to the stage. The Wadsworth devoted an exhibit space in the main gallery to closely view her work. She looked as if Olive Oyl (yes Popeye’s gal) ran an ashram made from caution tape. The harmonium is another unusual instrument, it looks like a large breadbox with a bellows attachment. A sit down bagpipe driven by the bellows was a perfect trance inducing item. As a whole, these musicians worked telepathically, with Abrams’ occasional head bobs the only conducting present. The concert consisted of two long form trance pieces, the second one was titled Descension from Constriction. Abrams is originally from Philly, in the 90s he played bass in a group called the SquareRoots which morphed into the Roots after his departure. Moving to Chicago, he was quickly absorbed into the Windy City’s fertile post rock scene hanging with Tortoise, Jeff Parker, and the Bitchin Bajas. This music is challenging but rewarding. The listener that can let the sound wash over them is rewarded with a happy hypnotic groove courtesy of a world class guimbrist.

Nick DiMaria and Indigo Seven 6/2/23 Firehouse 12

 Local trumpeter DiMaria gets a showcase at the Firehouse spring series. One of the hardest working jazz nerds in the New Haven area, Nick has, and will play any venue. While not as straight ahead and “out there” as many groups to grace this stage, Nick’s take on 70s fusion was a welcome addition to the roster. Joined by guitar, drums, bass (electric and standup), keys (piano and organ), the group took a stab at On the Corner-era Miles. A flood of fusion memories came back. Whether it be the Larry Coryell guitar stylings of his Eleventh House project, Chick Corea’s Return to Forever, or even the mighty Mahavishnu Orchestra. The group has several offerings on Bandcamp and played a confident set. The keyboard player was excellent and the toggle between piano and organ backed by the bass toggle shaped the tunes. The organ evoked some JanHammertime in spots.

Baba Commandant w/ Emily Robb 5/31/23 Cafe 9

 Emily Robb was a solo guitarist from Philly. She hovered over the electric and spit shards of dissonant shrapnel. The result was abrasive but hypnotic and I just caught the last tune.

Baba Commandant hails from the tiny African country Burkina Faso. The set started with guitar, bass, and drums setting the groove. The ample crowd parted and a tiny figure approached the stage. We learn that this diminutive shaman is BC. He played tambourine, sang, growled, and played something that looked like a kora. A guitar playing friend could only commit to “kora-like” in describing his instrument. The music was decidedly Afro-beat, as BC sang in his native tongue. Most tunes had some call and response passages that kept the crowd dancing and engaged. The bass player and drummer were younger than the other two, and bassist acted as translator/ ambassador. No sooner did I comment that the bass player could join Santana, when a Burkina Fasoan rendition of Jingo appeared. At one point, the bassist asked the crowd to shape the song, “how you like? Salty, sugary, or spicey?” The guitar player was definitely older, but like BC, he could have been 30 or 70. The show seemed to be fostered by the excellent Sublime Frequencies record label. True afrobeat is a rarity in the US, many like Antibalas or Kaleta and the Super Yamba band, have one member with African roots and a crew of Brooklyn hipsters. I’m not dogging this configuration, we can’t all be from Ougadougou (the capitol of Burkina Faso). I’m always amazed at the confidence of these intrepid travellers and am glad they made the trip. Keep an eye out for this crew at a summer festival, you won’t be able to stop dancing.