Bill Fontana 4/19/24 CCAM Studio Yale

 First time at the CCAM (Center for Collaborative Arts and Media) clubhouse in a brutalist enclave behind the Yale Rep Theater. The CCAM nerds have done it again bringing octogenarian soundscape sculptor Fontana in for an installation and Q and A. He spoke of his vast experiences recording the natural and human world. Commissioned by a wealthy patron to accessorize his Frisco area estate, Fontana buried 10 speaker systems around the property that pulsed various frequency loops of water bodies that he recorded around the world. Niagara Falls, the Nile et al had a subliminal audio effect to those strolling the grounds. Multiple microphone placements on buildings in the city of Cologne gave rise to a long form drone from the city piece. Synthesized fog horn bellows from SF bay. Magnified tree noises from a Sequoia forest. My favorite, positioning himself in an Australian rain forest in the 70s to witness a total eclipse away from people but in line with the eclipse path. He said that the bird call pattern went from the normal, seemingly call and response mode, to simultaneous squawks as the eclipse approached, to silence during the event, and then reversed order back to normal. The piece today was Silent Echoes: Notre Dame. To commemorate the fifth anniversary ( to the day) of the Notre Dame fires, Fontana’s piece had multiple large scale video loops of the views from the 10 refurbished bell towers of the historic cathedral. He recorded and amplified the activity of the bells as they responded to the din of the city. He said the bells acted like big sonic ears, the result was a bell drone loop that changed when one walked through the darkened studio room at CCAM viewing the vertigo inducing video. I chatted with Fontana and wife, asking him how he got permission to be in all of these places, “perseverance “ his wife chimed, seemed that she dealt with the administrative part of his work. Another fascinating endeavor sponsored by well connected undergraduate art theory kids.

Joe Morris w/ William Parker 4/14/24 Real Art Ways Hartford

 Sunday afternoon show as part of Joe’s “Improv Now” series. These two master improvisers collide for four string based workouts. First tune has them on their home base instruments, that is Parker on acoustic bass and Morris on electric guitar. They said that they met in the 80s, and this long relationship manifests with a telepathic quality to their music.  Morris, with eyes closed, squiggled while Parker plucked and bowed, spending time in and around strings. Next offering had Parker on ngoni and Morris starting on ngoni-tar and then moved to the floor to bang on some percussion. The ngoni is a west African instrument with a dried gourd of a base, stretched animal skin (usually goat), a neck with several strings to be plucked. Parker said that he was reading poetry in a park in Brooklyn and was approached by the mystical Don Cherry, who befriended him and turned him on to the instrument. In a similar fashion, Morris received a package from Parker with a small jeli ngoni which he then fashioned into a ngoni guitar or ngoni-tar. The third tune had Parker on guimbri and Morris on a banjo and then switched to a banjuke ( for those keeping score, a banjo ukulele). Parker mumbled some wordless vocals to shade this one. Parker is a downtown kook, he had a pink knit cap with green dots that made him look like an avant garde strawberry. Morris had long straggly gray hair that looked like he stuck a fork in a light socket while prepping to teach his course on differential sonic equations. Joe has taught music theory at the New England Conservatory for years and has the look of a crazed intellectual. Parker announces that he is going to throw an ice cream party and that we are all invited, which seemed random, but coming from this renaissance man, anything is probable. The final offering had Morris on acoustic bass and Parker on shakuhachi ( Japanese longitudinal end blown flute) and some sort of metallic mini vuvuzela. Parker also sang a little “ death has died today, god is in tears, and the devil has a big old grin”. It was a treat to see these two old friends spending an afternoon, laughing at conventions. They are not constrained by musical norms,  normal musical instruments, or even the mode of delivery. Check Parker’s prolific Spotify presence and you are just as likely to hear an electronic piece as hearing him sing an indigenous ditty.

Nat Adderly Jr. 4/13/24 AFAM Cultural Center, Yale

 First time at the African-American Cultural Center at Yale, a hallowed hall sandwiched between the Yale Cabaret and the hippie enclave The Group W Bench. April brings May showers but also the Yale Undergraduate Jazz Collective’s annual weekend festival. The collective is a revolving cast of well-connected jazz nerds that put on several shows with top tier talent. Nat is an alum (‘77) and has a five star jazz pedigree. His father Senior and uncle Julian “Cannonball” are pillars of 60s and 70s Jazz. I’ve come to realize that cornet playing senior wrote the standard “Work Song”, one of the most copied songs in the jazz canon. Junior plays organ and assembled a quartet of bass, sax/flute, and drums.  As a connected jazz man and a degree from Yale, Nat has spent most of his time as musical director for Luther Vandross. Soul and R&B hits need to be arranged and scored, and Nat has the chops to serve up hits for his boss. The set was wide ranging, started with the Wayne Shorter composition Yes And No, then on to a rolling workout of Oliver Nelson’s Stolen Moments. Vandross tasked Nat to arrange Superstar by the Carpenters, which apparently was a huge hit despite having “no business being played on the radio at 10 minutes”.They played an uptempo version of the tune with flute standing in for the vocals. Next up is the Philly soul fave People Make The World Go Round with an excellent galloping bass backdrop. Final tune was You and I by Stevie Wonder. The world is full of musical siblings and often the level of success differs, I mean who can forget Thelonius’ lesser known brother Chip. Nat jr. has forged a career as a well connected musician, it was nice to see him cut loose in a familiar surrounding.

Marco Benevento w/ Ghost Funk Orchestra 4/10/24 Spaceland

 Happily caught the last few tunes from NYC-based opener GFO. A sprawling 9 piece, two guitars, bass drums, sax, trumpet, trombone, and two female vocalists had trouble fitting on stage. They reminded me of the heady nadir of local funkateers Deep Banana Blackout. Blistering trombone solo and sassy vocals could turn any gathering into a party. Seems like I review Marco on an annual basis, I’ve likened him to a keyboard playing Cheshire Cat, a benevolent drug thief, the list goes on. On this viewing, he seems like the kid who mastered 3 tier chess playing while you were struggling with beginners play. He plays multiple keys simultaneously, Korg, Moog, sometimes even banging on a Playskool model. He has dispensed with the tophat, the glow-rimmed spectacles, and other outfits in favor of his true self. Lightly bearded, long hair, he looked like Leon Russell up there. He is joined by the amazing Karina Rykman on bass and vocals and Chris Corsico on drums. Karina looks like Jan Brady as a whirling dervish on frenetic bass and vocals. Their recent release BarnBurner was recorded at Levon Helms barn in Woodstock and shows the live layout. Original compositions Greenpoint, Solid Gold, Let it Slide, At the Show, were sprinkled in with some stellar covers. In reverence to Levon, they played This Wheel’s On Fire, Pink Floyd’s Fearless with a bluesy Bennie and The Jets section. Marco spends most of his time in the preeminent Grateful Dead vehicle Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (JRAD) and Karina has her solo gigs opening for any and all jamband. I even spied Karina’s long blond hair flailing on the set of  Late Night with Seth Myers. Closed with a first run of Rock and Roll by the Velvet Underground with Karina doing her best Peppermint Patty vocals. Ended the night with Nilsson’s Jump Into The Fire. I was a pretty avid viewer of The Brady Bunch back in the day, I must have missed the episode where Leon Russell comes to the door and tells Mike and Carol that he is taking the middle lovely lady on the road.

Mofro 4/4/24 College Street Music Hall

 Self-proclaimed “swamp cracka”, JJ Grey is the singer and front man for the Jacksonville FL outfit Mofro. With no “hits”, Mofro follows the Wilco acumen of relentless touring and sticking to the script. In this case, the script is southern fried rock with a side of Memphis soul and lyrics steeped in environmental stewardship. I first jumped on the bandwagon in the early 2000s after viewing a memorable belting of Galactic-backed, rainstorm fueled Sympathy For The Devil. On this evening, Grey said his visits to New Haven started in the late 80s with stops at Toads and the ill-fated Moon ( on Whalley Ave). They’ve come a long way baby as evidenced by two new monster beautifully painted tourbuses. Decent crowd for a Thursday to get a couple hours of Mofro. The current band is Grey on harmonica, guitar, organ and vocals with bass, drums, percussion, lead guitar, organ, trumpet, sax/flute, and two female backing singers to round out the 10 piece. An affable front man with a confident stage presence, Grey inhabits soulful ballads and choogling rockers and seems genuinely glad to call and response with the ladies. Mofro has released a steady stream of music that has produced multiple singalongable chestnuts over the years. New songs from the recent Olustee record were peppered in. Solid renditions of Orange Blossoms, Lochloosa, On Fire, A Woman were right at home with new songs Top of The World , The Sea, and the cover tune Seminole Wind. Mofro was embraced by the jam crowd for his laid back approach and pro environment tunes and has forged a successful career spinning tales of cherishing the natural world.