Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog 5/10/18 Cafe 9

Jumped at the chance to see in demand session guitarist and downtown legend Ribot fronting a power trio at the 9. Ribot on guitar, guitarro, voice and profane rantings;  Shahzad Ismailly on bass, some keyboard thing, and La-Z-Boy recliner; loose-limbed young lion Ches Smith on drums and congas. These guys can and have played many styles. Ribot has contributed axe-wielding to Elvis Costello, Tom Waits and countless others. I have often seen Smith at Firehouse 12 scraping some cymbals for Mary Halvorsen and other up and coming jazzbos. On this evening, it was Ribot's turn to let his hair down. (Just kidding, Ribot, mid-50s, has receding gray professor hair, as if he's played one too many gigs with one foot in a bucket of water and the other in a power outlet). Ismailly was an odd rangy figure who appeared to be a burn victim or someone that survived some cranium opening brain surgery. Smith,  tall and lanky, 30ish, flailed on the kit and congas even added some backing vocals to the "I'm your personal Nancy Spungen!". I have followed Ribot's career from the early 90s with Don Byron and The Rootless Cosmopolitans, seeing him at Middletown's Lo-fi venue The Buttonwood Tree, with jacket and tie throwing noise at John Lurie's Lounge Lizards ( the origins of this blog's name),' playing acoustic at the Gibson guitar fest at Fort Adams in front of a sheet music stand that had a sign that read "On Time". Marc Ribot is rarely "on time" ,his angular solos and hunched over playing style reminded me of the fantastic Duchamp-ian painting at the Yale Art Gallery of The Knifegrinder. A cubist huddled figure throwing sparks while knifegrinding, or axe-grinding in this case. For this show, the group's new recording YRU Still Here? was showcased. Songs veered from punk rants "I got the right to say fuck you!", to the Latin stylings of his mid-90s period. At one point, Marc launched into a monologue (dialog?diatribe?duolog?) plaintively stating "hippies...are not nice...anymore". Closed the show with a glorious punk-funk meth-fueled reading of Dave Brubeck's Take Five. Oy, or should I say Oi!

Michael Nau w/ The Dove and The Wolf 4/30/18 Cafe 9

The Dove and The Wolf was a female- centric band from Philadelphia. Two women on guitar and vocals, female drummer, and male bass player comprised the quartet. Good original songwriting benefitted from harmony vocals and the dual vocal attack. It is hard to believe, but the two female voice delivery is somewhat rare in popular music. Heart, Fleetwood Mac, Abba seem like caricatures. I enjoyed the set but have to say the band name is cumbersome, The Dove and The Wolf sounds like an item on the sale shelf at Crabtree and Evelyn.
Michael Nau and his band The Mighty Thread consisted of Nau on vocals and hollow-body guitar, lead guitar, drums, bass, and organ. Nau's well worn vocals were enhanced by this tight backing band. I heard strains of The Band ( thanks to the organ),  Van Morrison, and even Luna's Dean Wareham. Songs ranged from indie-folk to drawl-ey pop. Nau would be advised to do a little more inter-song banter to setup some songs, but overall an enjoyable listen.

Susie Ibarra: Dream Time Ensemble 4/20/18 Firehouse 12

Made it to the second set of Ibarra's current incarnation. The name Dream Time Ensemble was apt, the groups' chamber, cinematic, jazz easily straddled these genres. Ibarra on drums and percussion, cello, violin, guitar/keys, electronics, and voice made up the sextet. None of these players stepped in front, the music was definitely a collaborative affair. The great Yuka Honda, from Cibo Matto, was on electronics but her sound was swallowed by busy-ness of the group. The vocalist chirped and gurgled and seemed not to add much to the sound. The strings layered on Ibarra's kit-work was the meat of the evening. These songs belong on some odd documentary film soundtrack.

The Messthetics w/ Savak 4/19/18 Spaceland

Savak, from Brooklyn has been reviewed in this blog before. I retract the prog-metal banner I bestowed on them last time and am replacing it with 80s era punk. Two guitar/vocalists, bass, and drums threw a lot of sound. One tune sounded exactly like Gang Of Four, while another reminded me of very early Adam and the Ants. Original songwriting and churning guitars made for a good set.
The Mesthetics were and instrumental power trio. Drummer and bass player were part of the 90s rock band Fugazi based in D.C. The third member was an avant-savant guitar shredder who had a Buckethead feel. Fugazi had some popularity and this rhythm section had arena level chops. The tunes ranged from Red-era King Crimson to the cinematic sparseness of Tom Verlaine's fantastic Warm and Cool release. I give these guys credit for re-inventing themselves, their years of touring, soundechecks, and travel have them well suited for another round of musical success.

Nicholas Payton Trio 4/13/18 Sudler Hall Yale

Headline event of the 6th annual jazz festival at Yale put together by the Yale undergraduate jazz collective. The emcee for the evening, I'm assuming the spokeskid for the UJC, breezed in carrying his longboard (skateboard), the preferred mode of transportation for a twenty-something jazz fan. Sudler Hall filled to capacity to see Grammy winner and New Orleans trumpeter Payton. Joined onstage by a couple of young lions, Barry Stepehson on standup bass, and Joe Dyson on drums, the trio played much from the excellent recent release Afro-Caribbean Mixtape. Payton moved easily from trumpet to organ then piano fleshing out multiple sounds from the tight trio. Stephenson's deft bass work held the pace while Dyson's drum fills with brushes and sticks made him sound more experienced for his young age. Payton also had some tape loops of spoken passages that seemed to emanate from his phone stationed on the piano, he even plaintively sang a tune. Payton is an icon, gaining popularity scoring Spike Lee films in the 90s. Show highlight was an audience participation number " Jazz is a Four Letter Word".

Steve Earle and The Dukes w/ The Mastersons 4/10/18 College St Music Hall

Opener The Mastersons was a duo. Young man on guitar and vocals and a woman on fiddle and vocals. Standard country-folk fare, I laughed that the guy had a Rick Derringer complex ( ascot and urban cowboy boots and jeans).
I love Steve Earle, and must admit that the past few viewings have been solo outings. On this evening, Earle played with The Dukes consisting of the Mastersons, drums, bass, and a multi-instrumentalist who played pedal steel, organ, accordion and the like. Earle spent the first half of the evening paying homage to Copperhead Road, an early recording with the title hit and a couple other songs worth remembering. Steve seemed nervous fronting a band, as if he had to out duel everyone. The antics of the guitar tech made me tired. Usual lefty banter from the solo Earle was replaced with rushed stories of Earle's life of yore. Great twangy version of Hey Joe was the show highlight.

The National Reserve 4/9/18 Cafe 9

Brooklyn rock and rollers The National Reserve jammed for a modest crowd on a manic Monday. Drums, bass, lead guitar ( dude played hella slide), and front man Sean Walsh on guitar and lead vocals. This band is firmly steeped in 70s rock, and reminded me of Blitzentrapper or Alex Bleeker and the Freaks in that these guys probably were toddlers in the 70s. Good selection of originals in support of a new release. Covers were even better with Ronnie Lane's "Roll On Babe", "Trouble In Mind", and an excellent version of Dylan's "She Belongs To Me" (gracias Mattie). Show highlight was the Gillian Welch cover "Miss Ohio". At one point lead singer Sean said " we love it here in New Haven, we've never been to this city before", which is funny because I reviewed them in this blog playing the back room of Bar on 5/3/17! After the show, I took the opportunity to kook Sean by telling him that not only has he played this town, but he played the same awesome Gillian Welch cover. He must be forgiven as he is a refugee of the road.