The Old 97s 9/27/23 Spaceland

 Packed house for a Wednesday to view veteran alt country rockers Old 97s. The band has been together since the late 90s with front man Rhett Miller on vocals and acoustic, Ken Bethea on lead twang guitar, backbone Murray Hammond on bass and vocals, and propulsive Philip Peeples on drums. Miller stated that it was their 30th year together, which is a long time for a band that lives on the periphery of success. They hit the scene with the likes of Ryan Adams and Neko Case penning tales of love and loss and drinking shot through the alt country lens. The live shows are high energy rock and roll that showcase a mix of punk and twang energy. The crowd was mid 50ish and knew the words to most songs. The only person in the room that didn’t appear to age was Rhett Miller. Not sure if it was the long swirling hair, his style of dress, or that he did a solo show at the fountain of youth, but Miller looks exactly the same as when he broke onto the scene. I haven’t followed their career intently, but a Spotify cruise shows some pretty regular releases over the years. The setlist had some notable standouts Rollerskate Skinny, Doreen, Timebomb, Question, and Niteclub.

A Concert Celebrating The Poetry of Langston Hughes 9/23/23 Battell Chapel

 Any excuse to see music in the venerable venue that is Yale’s Battell Chapel is always welcome. On this evening, the Yale Institute of Sacred Music (ISM) hosted two vocal ensembles to illuminate the poetry of Harlem Renaissance wordsmith Hughes. The Cerddorian Vocal Ensemble ( Welsh for “musicians”) was a 25 mixed voice group  and was directed by artistic director Dr. James John. The Unsung Collective is a non- profit organization “ devoted to celebrating people of color in Western art music in NYC” and was directed by Dr. Tyrone Clinton. We arrived late to catch the end of CVE’s set Three by Langston, America Will Be!. U C then took the stage (altar) and performed the Dream Keeper, The Negro Speaks of Rivers, and Dreams. Choral groups are outside of my musical comfort zone, but there is no denying the talent needed to cohesively sing as one. Several members of each group took solos and each had some spare piano accompaniment. From my balcony view, it was striking to see the Caucasian CVE followed by the African American UC. The ensembles “integrated” for the final Afro- American Fragments. Hughes made poetry relatable by ditching the Thees and Thous in favor of vernacular which afforded an artistic springboard for many black musicians.

Ches Smith’s We All Break 9/22/23 Firehouse 12

 A “ visual and musical riot” is the best way to describe drumming juggernaut Smith and his troupe of Haitian voodoo musicians. Anyone who has been to the Firehouse knows the stage and acoustics are intimate, what to do then but put ten people, mics, and their instruments up there. The group was actually two groups. A jazz quartet with Smith on drums, Matt Mitchell on piano, Berlin-based bass wunderkind Nick Dunston on standup,  and multiple Grammy nominee Miguel Zenon on sax were paired with 3 female vocalists and 3 male conga and tanbou players. Zenon had to stand in the hallway for goodness sake. I knew I was in for it when the guy at the door offered up earplugs. The music was a fascinating blend and bounce of the two genres. Traditional Haitian songs and chants were spread over a jazz backdrop. The drummers were nonstop with one guy singing counterpoint to the ladies. Not sure if it was by design, but the range in the singers age was noticeable with a 20ish, 30ish, and a 60ish performer. The Haitian drummers were fascinating to watch, they maintained eye contact with each other so as to seamlessly shift gears and tempos. Zenon was a perfect choice for this endeavor, being of Puerto Rican descent, he has spent decades mining the fertile landscape of Latin and world jazz. Mitchell plays at the Firehouse often, his unkempt appearance matched his feverish runs. When he wasn’t playing, Mitchell stared off into space, like some Buckowskian tortured prodigy, whose artistic brainwaves seemed too much for this world. Dunston is an in demand artist, with forays into electronic composition, he is an accomplished artist in his own right. The website listed Immanuel Wilkins on sax as well but he must have been cut from the lineup (or he would have had to set up on Crown St!). Last, but not least, is Ches Smith. His bio is a dream lineup of boundary pushing appearances with Marc Ribot, Tim Berne, John Zorn, Darius Jones, Vijay Iyer, Nels Cline, Terry Riley, Mr. Bungle, and Xiu Xiu. His lanky frame hitting the kit as if he were a marionette. The groups seemed like an unlikely pairing, as if the jazz nerds were forced to sit at the lunch table with the ethnic kids. The result was something better, something new, a testament to the advantages of diversity.

Digable Planets w/ Kassa Overall 9/15/23 Harbor Park Middletown

 Trekked to this show early to catch young jazz-hip hop drummer Overall’s set. By trekking, I mean park at the YMCA, walk under Rt 9, over some crusty RR tracks, through some construction zone, and past the condemned Harbor Park Restaurant, to get to the venue. A free show that requires one to register, I felt like I was in an outtake of The Amazing Race just to get here. Happy then to be joined by a large crew of young Friday night revelers. Overall rapped from behind the kit and walked out front to spit rhymes. Joined by another drums/ conga, keys, and soprano sax, this crew didn’t just straddle the jazz- hip hop line as much as create something new. Some cuts from his new star cameo heavy release Animals were tasty.

Headliner Digable Planets are hiphop royalty. Two releases in the early 90s, Reachin and The Blowout Comb helped define the genre. The original DPs: Butterfly, Ladybug, and Doodlebug reunited for a 30th anniversary of the Reachin record. Joined onstage by Overall and his brother Carlos on sax, and another pair of brothers on guitar and bass, they bumped through the hits. The music is rhyming interplay between the three rappers that leans more Timbo boots and jazz than Benjamins and Glocks. Ladybug still evokes Brooklyn cool but gave us a reality time check by announcing that her son attends UConn. Butterfly aka Ishmael Butler has had some post DP success with his afrofuturist outfit Shabazz Palaces. The set took in all the hits: It’s Good To Be Here, Pacifics, Where I’m From, Time And Space, Escapism, and Rebirth Of Slick. Daily extreme weather event Hurricane Lee spared us the rain but gave a windy, cool evening which seemed to mess with the sound.

Third World w/ The Legendary Wailers 9/14/23 Hartford Live

 First time at this year’s incarnation of “make Hartford cool again” free music series Hartford Live. As you recall, these concerts happen on an awkward triangle of green space and closed off roadway behind the Old State House. The Legendary Wailers opened the show. I didn’t expect Junior Murvin or Aston “Family Man” Barrett, but little did I realize that any liaison to Bob Marley’s acquaintance could birth a cover band. For all I know, the Legendary Wailers could be fronted by Bob’s paperboy. No matter, the catalog is legendary, with hits like Redemption Song, Get Up Stand Up, Slavedriver, Concrete Jungle and more pulsing from the bass heavy speakers. The lineup configuration is busy with guitars, bass, drums, singers, and female backup singers.

Third World are more of a pop reggae affair who had a few mild hits in the 70s.  Many members are from Jamaica and I believe some original members are still in tow. They played a few straight ahead reggae tunes before playing their top  hit  “Now That We’ve Found Love”. It’s rare to get a full night of reggae played by some legit rastas, which is why it was puzzling when the singer launched into a couple of opera tunes, sung in Italian! If I had to draw a map of music, opera would be on the North Pole, and reggae somewhere near Antarctica. I was chatting if there was an explanation of the inexplicable. Pretty well attended on a nice night in September.

CT Folkfest 9/9/23 EdgertonPark

 Annual treat for me to visit my community garden space and listen to top tier folk talent on the beautiful grounds of this park. As usual for September, the weather was sketchy with neighboring towns being drenched while this event was dry. This year featured two stages which begged for lazy strolling. 

The Bargain: Local folk impresario Frank Critelli sang accompanied by guitar and mandolin players. Seasoned presence and quirky songwriting were on display. Frank is wiry with a long white beard and looks like a punk Santa. Later in the day, some dude was handing out flyers for a Frank-oriented folk happening in a church in Meriden, sounds right.

Dom Flemons: Where to start, this multiple Grammy winning self-named American Songster is music and education rolled into a jolly African American modern day Burl Ives-alike. Solo onstage, he plays and expounds on a variety of traditional instruments. He started with rhythm bones, sticks he held between his fingers that clacked as a percussive background. Next was quills, a pan flute style tooter that must have been easy to assemble with Appalachian detritus. Banjo, guitar, and harmonica were also prominently employed. Flemons is an expert on Harry Smiths Anthology of American Music, the Bible on early folk and roots tunes curated by the Smithsonian. He described the Carolina “Piedmont” style and launched into a medley that included an Etta Baker song and Elizabeth Cotten’s Freight Train, a tune that is played out as much as the Free Bird request. A couple of tunes from his Black Cowboy release and his most recent offering of originals were excellent.

Beppe Gambetta: That’s right, nice Irish fella on the second stage. Just kidding, expert folk picker from Italy. Like a Father Bob Dylan Guido Sarducci, Beppe’s accent was hard to hide. It’s hard to discard the sociopolitical tenets of the folk idiom when coupled with an Italian accent. The tune he sang in his native tongue rang truer, even if I had no idea what he was singing.

The Barefoot Movement: Modern roots  purveyors from the Carolinas fronted by powerhouse vocalist and fiddler Noah Wall. She was joined by acoustic guitar, mandolin, and standup bass. A decade of touring has yielded a confident stage presence and delivery. She spoke of this novel “subscription service” whereby fans pledge a dollar a month and are rewarded with an exclusive cover song. On this afternoon, she belted out Roberta Flack’s Killing Me Softly and a smash of some traditional tune mashed with Led Zeppelin’s Heartbreaker.

Maria Muldaur and Her Red Hot Bluesiana Band: 80 year old Muldaur is still going strong. Having sung backup for countless recordings in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, Muldaur brought her brand of bawdy gumbo to the fest. A perfect reading of the Allen Toussaint Nawlins classic Yes We Can had the best swampy funk bounce. Muldaur’s pandemic homage I’m Vaccinated and Ready For Love was on point.

Quasi w/ Ava Mendoza 9/6/23 Spaceland

 Last time Mendoza was in the area, I arrived late and missed her set. I made sure to get off the couch early on this evening. I have seen her multiple times through the years and her sound has evolved. Somewhere between Wendy Eisenberg and Marc Ribot, Mendoza’s jagged lines and effects pedals were in full force. Ava is an in demand session guitarist and I gushed with her regarding her Curriculum vitae during the set break. Studying with Fred Frith at Mills College, collaborated with tUnEyArDs on scores for Buster Keaton films, played with Sir Richard Bishop, Weasel Walter, William Parker, Nels Cline, Malcolm Mooney, and Nate Wooley. She has become more confident with singing and was able to augment her stellar fretwork with lyrics. Her hairstyle has also changed, a vintage Diana Ross pouf seemed incongruous to the music being made.

Quasi is the Portland OR based duo of Sam Coomes on organ and Janet Weiss on drums. Both are left coast music royalty with Coomes spending time with Elliot Smith and Built To Spill while Weiss played with Bright Eyes and Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks in addition to her main job as chief thumpstress for Sleater-Kinney. Coomes also has a storied career as producer. The music on this evening was loud and visceral. Coomes organ made quite the racket, he even had a small theremin-type noise box that he played with his foot. The organ was stenciled with the word WROCK, which I’m sure had some significance. Weiss was also a force of nature, her drumming was tribal, marchy, or speedy punk in nature. She was able to lend backing vocals while flailing on her kit. These two have been making music since the 90s and showcased some tunes from their recent release Breaking The Balls of History.