Simone Felice w/ Smoke Signals 12/2/12 Cafe Nine

Opener Smoke Signals was a two man guitar outfit that played high energy rock. Played a good cover of Springsteen's Atlantic City.
   Simone Felice had a three piece outfit with fiddle, standup bass, and Felice on guitar and vocals. Felice, better known as one of the Felice Brothers and the Duke and the King, played songs of drugs, booze, prostitution, and abuse because "that's what I know best growing up in a degenerate community in upstate New York." Capable playing and singing. Covered I Shall Be Released in homage to neighbor late great Levon Helm. Felice also covered Atlantic City, seems that superstorm Sandy reached all the way up to the Catskills.

Black Light Dinner Party w/ Child Actor 11/28/12 Bar

Opener Child Actor was billed as a local electronica duo with one member studying with Anthony Braxton at Wesleyan Univ. They also were purported to be pals with the local hip hop presence Ceschi. These notes attracted me to this show. Unfortunately, synthy shoegaze dreampop highlighting the female breathy vocals was what materialized. Child Actor may have talent, but they found it difficult to pull off live.
    Black Light Dinner Party from NYC were more polished. Their sound was like Grizzly Bear with high range vocals and washes of sound. Keyboards, drum, bass, and guitar-vocals. Tight songs with thoughtful lyrics look promising for BLDP.

The Steel Wheels 11/16/12 Cafe 9

Oregon string band billed as a cross between The Avett Bros. and Old Crow Medicine Show was a very apt descriptor. Made it in for their second set which was great. Lead singer played acoustic and banjo, a second acoustic with mandolin, fiddle , and string bass rounded out this very tight quartet. Made great use of their old-timey microphone for There's a Rain Comin Down with close-vocal harmony and shaker stick. Covered a Tom Waits tune and closed with a great Shape I'm In by the Band.

Blitzen Trapper w/ The Mercies 10/27/12 Arch St Hartford

Opener Mercies starts off this show with a Grizzly Bear-esque set. Manic Productions making use of Arch St in the gentrified Convention Center section of Hartford. Blitzen Trapper takes the stage for a country-rock-metal set. Three guitar army with harmonica, shakers, multiple keyboards, capable bass, and drums. Hits from eponymous debut and Destroyer of the Void and two recent releases make for a rousing set. Covered Hey Joe, Dukes of Hazard Themesong, and concluded the evening with an awesome cover of Zeppelin's Good Times, Bad Times. BT had a good spot at Newport Folk and opened for Wilco on tour of the west. Portland Oregon natives BT are a band to watch.

Satchmo At The Waldorf Long Wharf Theater 10/16/12

Satchmo is a play about the end of Louis Armstrong's life and reflections of race, respect, and the early jazz industry. Masterfully acted by John Douglas Thompson, the actor switches personas with lighting changes. The two central characters are Armstrong and his manager Joe Glaser. In an age of segregation, Glaser a Chicago jew with mob ties manages the career of Armstrong and handles while profiting from stardom. Spurned by the beboppers, Armstrong was regarded as an Uncle Tom. Armstrong wants to set the record straight that he paved the way for the artists of the 60s. The interplay ( by the same actor!) of Armstrong and Glaser was powerful. Glaser commanded the rights and riches to Armstrong's catalog and appeared to be blackmailed into handing them over to mob affiliates. Armstrong like so many artists of the time was stripped of the rights to his music. This powerful play is an excellent depiction of race and the early days of jazz.

Jamie Saft Trio Firehouse 12 9/28/12

Billed as the "New Zion Trio", this incarnation with pianist leader Saft was just that. Roots-dub-jazz is the best way to describe this sound. Echo, delay, reverb attached to the repetitive drum and bass laid the back drop for Saft's soundscapes. Saft moving from Steinway to organ to casio played a variety of layers on the dub anchor. Plug Saft into Pandora and you'll get dub, jazz, jewish folk, and metal. With that kind of affiliation the world, and definitely Firehouse 12, is his oyster. Closed out the set with a jazz classic I couldn't place woven with the kitsch reggae of "Pass the Duchy".

Love of Everything 9/5/12 Bar

Love of Everything was a Brooklyn duo with a habit of looped phrases with a decided indie-rock sound. A free Wednesday show at Bar needs to grab you to stay...this one didn't.  It's not that I'm only partial to the loop in the jam context, a la Keller Williams. LOE had a good idea in the use of the loop, but lost me with muddy angst vocals.  With guitar and voice, and drums, this duo had potential just needed to lean on the loop more