George Clinton 7/8/17 Hamden Town Center

Highlight of the Friday night Hamden Bandshell series with George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic. The traveling circus that is GC and P-funk have been funkin it up since the early 70s. While the cast of characters has evolved through the years (r.i.p. Bernie Worrell), GC's loose booty brand of Afro-futuristic funk is a sight to behold. With anywhere from 8 to 20 people on stage, the crew lightly adheres to P-funk hits from the songbook. GC, who must be in his mid70s, has amazing stamina. Clad in a shiny papal frock and a Thurston Howell III cap, GC assumes the role of funk master of ceremonies. Guitars, sax, backing singers and dancers, a half naked drummer, rappers, and crowd cajolers all have their place in this troupe. After a rainy day, a large crowd was on hand for the spectacle. I didn't recognize much from the first set except a lengthy rendition of Flashlight. Given the late start, a less seasoned artist might have stopped after the first set, but this is George Clinton, and nobody is gonna stop the party but him. The "encores" went on for another hour touching on Walking The Dog, P-funk wants to get Funked Up, and Tear the Roof Off The Sucker, before the obligatory and incendiary guitar solo that is Maggot Brain. I got a sense that the town elders (and local police) were nervous that this party may never end. Alas, all parties must end, and this one closed with a great version of Super Stupid, complete with a crowd sing-along of "shit, goddam, get off your ass and jam!"

United Folk Festival 7/1/17 Westerly RI

Very thankful for some friends to lead the way to the first year of UFF. Free and open to the public, this amazing lineup of indie-folk acts was expertly picked. We hit the scene during Woods, this freak folk act from Brooklyn has been positively reviewed in this blog before. The lead singer has an alarmingly high voice ( not quite Roy Orbison territory), that once you accept ,you can dig in to the well crafted original songwriting. This tight band veers from pop to psych very easily. Next up was The Low Anthem, a Providence- based outfit that has strayed from its early folk Americana (the Oh My God, Charlie Darwin release is excellent) into straight noise land. While I appreciate a good noise outing, this racket sent the twirling kids in the front row straight for the safety of their strollers. Next, on the smaller stage was Michael Nau, a big fella in a trucker hat sang calming folk that brought the crowd back from the rings of Saturn where The Low Anthem must currently reside. Langhorne Slim came to the party solo. Langhorne, from the Philly area is hysterical, if he comes to your town please go and see him. Comical song intros about ADD, his love of old people, his demons and sobriety, and the need for human kindness in the Trump era were particularly poignant. His brand of high energy folk and audience participation bits made for a thoroughly enjoyable listen. Next, on the small stage were The Barr Brothers. Brad on guitar and vocals, Andrew on drums were joined by another guitar, bass, and female harpist. The Barrs used to front the regional jam trio The Slip. The Slip were mainly instrumental jazz jam psychedelia. Towards the end of their run, Brad started to sing more and the Barr Brothers emerged. I watched the roadie mic the harp and told him I was a big Slip fan back in the day, he assured me that there would be no Slip material that evening. While the songs were different, the style of the brothers was very evident. The show closed out with one of my favorites, Blitzentrapper. These road warriors from Portland OR have been pegged with a "70s rock vibe", and I get the tag. The lead singer and guitarist has a well worn twang. Accompanied by bass, guitar/keys, keys/vocals and drums, Blitzentrapper is a festival staple. If I had to describe Blitzentrapper, I would equate them to those puffy South American sweaters worn by Starsky and Hutch, a comfortable period piece. You could sense that part of the draw for these bands, was the reverence for the lineup and the movement away from the craziness of Bonaroo. Getting old? Maybe, but in a graceful and rockin way

Gillian Welch 6/30/17 College Street Music Hall

No opener for this show, and was pleased to see signs "please no video, audio or photos- by request of the artist".  For the most part, the crowd complied which allowed them to focus on Gillian and musical partner David Rawlings. I have seen this duo before at a Newport Folkfest in the early aughts, they are still a polished country folk force from Nashville with great original songwriting. Over the years, this duo has released 5 stellar albums from Revival to The Harrow and The Harvest. Setlist included Orphan Girl, Red Clay Halo, My First Lover, Time the Revelator, Back In Time, I'll Fly Away, Scarlet Town, Hard Times, The Way that it Goes. Couple of encores that included Miss Ohio and some Johnny Cash rap followed by Cash's Jackson. Gillian did some knee-slap percussion and even some clogging ( cowboy booting?!) for good effect. I find it odd that the show and albums are just credited to Gillian, and not the Welch/Rawlings Duo. David Rawlings is an excellent picker and his solos got cheers from the crowd. Great harmony vocals, Gillian on acoustic and some banjo the near capacity crowd left happy with only pictures in their mind.

Daniel Bachman w/ Ava Mendoza 6/28/17 Bar

Thankfully, caught the whole set for opener Mendoza. Solo electric guitar and vocals. Mendoza had the choppy style of Marc Ribot. The vocals were smoky and low, and the song structure made it difficult to tell if they were ancient or postmodern. Mendoza has played with Sir Richard Bishop, savant axeman of The Sun City Girls, which is pretty impressive credentials. Closed with an excellent cover of Leadbelly's Goodnight Irene.
Daniel Bachman has been reviewed in this blog before. Acoustic, finger style, primitive guitar and some deft lap slide is Bachman's game. Unfortunately, the background din at Bar made it difficult for Bachman to ply his trade. I got close so as to not miss the sound. Unlike Xiu Xiu or E that have played over the noise in this room, Bachman can't really turn up to 11. It is amazing that the chatty clubbers had no idea what they missed right in front of them. Bachman's tunes are open and airy, reminding me of John Fahey or Glenn Jones. The final song had Bachman's pal on drone file folder harmonium while Daniel laid down some desolate picking that was reminiscent of Ry Cooder's soundtrack to the movie Paris, Texas.

Rusted Root w/ The Wailers 6/24/17 New Haven Green

Closing show of the pretty lackluster Arts and Ideas Festival. It rained early in the day, which is par for the A/I course, but the sun came out and dried up nicely for showtime. The Wailers are the current incarnation of Bob Marley's legendary backing band. Primarily young Rastas on stage, I couldn't get a straight answer from my reggae-centric friends as to the lineage from the famed group ( it could have been fronted by Marley's paperboy). The lineage didn't matter because the access to the hits was the reason for listening. Buffalo Soldier, One Love, Getup Standup, I Shot The Sheriff, the list went on and we knew them all. Good sound and capable singing ( even the I-threes were represented) made for a thoroughly enjoyable listen. Closed the show with a rousing Jamming and Exodus.
Rusted Root had a hit at the beginning of the jam era (mid90s). They have been riding that hit for decades and it has gotten a little stale. The hit's chorus has a jam-marchable moment of "send me on my way". A friend said that for the longest time he thought it was "simian the whale", which almost seemed like a better lyric. You can't blame RR's charismatic frontman Michael Glabicki for riding the one-hit wonder train, it would be weird if he showed up as a salesperson at Best Buy.

Walker Lukens w/ Rudeyna 6/21/17 Bar

Local art rockers Rudeyna are an interesting crew of scenesters blending pop, prog, and performance art for a heady blend of jams. Keys, guitar, bass, drums, and a Lebanese female singer. This group loves the stop-start time jumps of Zappa, with the frontwoman offering glimpses of Diamanda Galas. The complex tunes had the singer frantically jumping from lyrics to screeching to a beautiful hippie orgasmo-scat. High energy songs buoyed by an excellent rhythm section were a treat.
Walker Lukens was a nerdy white-boy soul singer from Austin TX. His group, the Side-arms were an indie leaning outfit that was a perfect backdrop for his neo-soul. WL danced around (in white sport coat) as if he was just signed to Motown. Good selection of original numbers showed flares of doo-wop and hiphop. Keys, bass, guitar, drums, with WL on keys, acoustic, and dancing.

Brandon Seabrook - Die Trommel Fatale Firehouse 12. 6/2/17

Guitarist Seabrook had quite the amalgam of players to accompany his controlled improv. The group was very symmetrical; two drummers, two standup bassists, a cellist, Seabrook on guitar and bandleader, and electronics/voice made a formidable racket. The drummers seemed to play complimentary, while the bassists veered off in opposite directions. The female cellist was at the center of the maelstrom with Seabrook on one side conducting with nods and hand gestures that looked as if he was in a constant state of being tayzed. The young man in pigtails on electronics/voice made an array of noises from growls and yelps to epileptic operatic warbles. Challenging music like this is better when viewed live, the visual cues and musical interplay make more sense. The second set got no explanation of  what Die Trommel Fatale meant, the music was cerebral, so maybe Brandon thought we all were clued in.