Songs After the Fact: Yale Art Gallery 11/9/17

Program of continuous music played by six Yale students interspersed with texts that were written in periods of conflict. The installation was styled after Phil Kline's "Zippo Songs" where WWII soldier diary snippets are heard over an Eno-esque backdrop. On this event, photos and video of war torn areas were on display while the ensemble remained unseen within an enclosed booth playing and reading texts. The program felt disjointed, some photos were powerful and the musicians were talented, but the spoken word got lost in the audio translation. I know we now live in a world where one is expected to watch TV, text, check news, weather, and listen to music simultaneously, but let's face it- none of those functions are successfully completed when governed by one fifth of your attention span. This program would have benefited by dropping the spoken word component, but I applaud the students and artists who lent their talents to the show.

Thor and Friends 11/6/17 Cafe 9

Woodworking former percussionist for the group Swans, Thor Harris took his friends on the road for a date at the 9. Harris played this monstrous homemade xylophone. Two other female xylophonists, female violin, and guy on guitar made up the quintet. The music was Philip Glass or Steve Reich like, drones and repetitive mallet work. Swans were infamous for their ear-splitting metal drone live outings, and one can see why Thor was part of the group. Songs ebbed and flowed while Thor added flourish with flute, clarinet, trombone, and even extreme triangle. You might think that Thor was fluent in these other instruments, but I say no, he only had to play two or three sustained notes to color the pieces to his liking. Based in Austin, Thor and friends made truly original sounds.

John McLaughlin & Jimmy Herring: A Meeting of the Spirits 11/4/17 Capitol Theater Port Chester NY

It is not a stretch to think Jimmy Herring, a 50-something axe-wielder, to be an acolyte of the amazing guitarist John McLaughlin. Herring opened the show at the Cap with his group The Whip. Herring on guitar, bass, Jeff Sipe on drums, Hammond B-3, and Jason Crosby on keys and violin. They rolled through their set, stopping for an amazing Revival (by the Allman Bros.) Herring has been part of Widespread Panic, Col. Bruce Hampton's Aquarium Rescue Unit, as well as incarnations of The Dead and The Allman Brothers. Herring's picking is solid, veering from jammy fills to Marc Ribot's downtown skronk. Sipe and Crosby are veterans of the jam scene, and unleashed their chops for the warmup.
English guitarist McLaughlin came to the US in the late 60s to play in Tony Williams Lifetime Unit. He soon became involved with Miles Davis and lent his skills to the seminal recordings Bitches Brew and In A Silent Way. As I read in the recent cover story of Relix, Davis told McLaughlin to "start his own thang" which led to the amazingly under-rated Mahavishnu Orchestra. On this evening, JM played the second set with his group the 4th dimension. JM on guitar, drums, bass ( looked like FatAlbert's pal Rudy and sounded like Victor Wooten), and keys. The final set had a mash of Herring's group and JMs group to play chestnuts from the Mahavishnu catalog. Fantastic set that had "hits" from Inner Mounting Flame, Birds of Fire, and my personal favorite Visions of The Emerald Beyond ( which I had on 8-track!). This farewell tour from a Titan that connects the Jazz dots to Miles and Trane was a gift to this sold out audience.

Joe Fonda Quintet 11/3/17 Firehouse 12

Bandleader and standup bass player Fonda had to explain that his quintet became a quartet when his female piano player broke a finger and was unable to make the trip to the Firehouse. The unusual makeup of the group was intriguing. Fonda on bass and sometimes flute, drums, French horn, and bassoon were the four. French horn and bassoon are rarely heard in a jazz format, and these two players were capable and worked well with one another. Fonda and the drummer were also simpatico and gave the feeling of a two on two quartet. Bowed bass led into a frantic plucked solo that was buoyed by the interplay of bassoon and horn. The group "unplugged" for "My Song", which was great and gave a good feel for the traditional timbre of both bassoon and French horn. Fonda's deft soloing swayed from gypsy groove to straight ahead workouts. Hugging his bass like an Armenian dad at the first dance of his daughter's wedding, Fonda jumped and rolled through the set. Excellent tune "Cornell" payed homage to the venerable Dr. West was a highlight.

Jon Langford's 4 Lost Souls 10/19/17 Cafe 9

Veteran Welsh-man-upon-Chi-town Langford had a stint at the 9 with his new group that grew out of a recording in Muscle Shoals. Langford saw cult success in the 80s and 90s with his group The Mekons as well as the Waco Brothers and Pine Valley Cosmonauts. The amazing Bloodshot Records is also closely associated with Langford. Jon on guitar, Dan Szymanski on guitar, bass, drums, and two African American female backup singers gave a full sound. Sounding like a country Joe Strummer, and looking like Brian Doyle Murray, Langford marched this group through mostly tunes from the new record. Show highlight was a stomper called Natchez Trace. Reminisced with Langford after the show as to whether the Mekons played the 9 or The (infamous) Grotto back in the day.

Myra Melford's Snowy Egret 10/14/17 Firehouse 12

Another barn-burner at the Firehouse, as Melford's group was staying in town to sharpen their chops and record at the fabulous F-12 recording studio. Melford on piano and bandleader wore a red leather jacket with dangly earrings and cool glasses. Maybe in her fifties, she looked like a librarian at a school of the future. She plinked and plunked looking like one of those bobbing flamingoes whose beak kept getting wet. Song structure changes and titles were her responsibility, as she let her supporting cast solo the heck out of the evening. Ron Miles on cornet oozed downtown cool. With his jacket and tie, he looked like a cross between Don Cherry and Malcolm X. He made great use of plunger mute on top of a straight mute, that's right double mute. Liberty Ellman was on guitar. I have seen him with Henry Threadgill' s group and he added a Marc Ribot flavor to the set. Tyshawn Sorey was on drums. In, around, and all over the standard kit. TS looked like Rosie Greer with drumsticks rather than knitting needles. He pummeled the kit as if to insure no one nodding off in the back. Scraped cymbals and nimble stick work was a real treat. The highlight was electric bassist Stomu Takeishi. ST looked to be of indeterminate gender. He had girly hair and wore what seemed to be a hospital johnnie. Shoeless on stage, ST tore it up, with bizarre facial gestures and sounds to complete the effect. If he recently escaped from a hospital, it was the "hospital of chops". Song titles like Attic, and The Other Side of Air made for a thoroughly enjoyable set.

Pigpen Theater Company w/ David Luning 10/4/17 Barwe

End of an era as Manic Productions bids farewell to it's Wednesday night free concert series in the back room of Bar. I got a little nostalgic at all the shows that I have been present in this room for. It seems that Bar will continue to have music, just not lined up by Manic's Mark.
David Luning was a singer-songwriter who reminded me of a low energy Langhorne Slim. Maybe it was the trademark hat, or the folkie drawl. Luning did a nice Springsteen cover.
PPTCo. is still a seven piece outfit ( reviewed in this blog 8/24/16). Multiple singers and instrument changes were backed by nice vocal harmonies. It seems that some of the cast has changed, but the sound was similar. Campy version of You're So Vain by Carly Simon was the highlight.