Willie Nile w/ The Manchurians 6/15/18 Cafe 9

Veteran local Blues-garage outfit The Manchurians were a quartet with drums, harmonica/vocals, bass/lead vocals, and guitar. These guys are present at many local shows and I notice the guitar player Dean Falcone was a year behind me at Hamden High. A friend asked me if Dean was in a band in H.S., and while I wasn't sure, I did remember him dressed in black and hanging with the goth kids at the time. Solid garage band with strong vocals, harmonica, and guitar licks.
Willie Nile is also a veteran rocker from Buffalo then NYC. He came to the 9 with his acoustic guitar and a bass player to offer some stripped down versions of his original rock and roll. He reminded me of Little Steven in looks and attitude. I'm pretty sure I heard him talk of opening for The Who, which is a long way from Cafe 9 on a Friday night. No matter, he's still plying his craft after all these years and seems to have benefitted from years being onstage. He spoke of "praying at the altar" of Bob Dylan and did a great rendition of Love Minus Zero No Limit from the Bringing It All Back Home LP, a tune that he played at Zimmy's 75th birthday celebration. After the show, I bored Willie with my Rolling Stones at Toads show to which he responded " rock and roll, that's what it's all about man."

David Keenan 6/11/18 Cafe 9

Armed only with an acoustic guitar and a thick Irish (specifically Dundalk) accent, young troubadour Keenan rolled through a brief set of original tunes. The most difficult configuration is the solo acoustic show, you are at the mercy of the relatively sparse crowd. Keenan had some tunes and some interesting stories between songs. From an explanation of Tir Na Nog ( Irish equivalent of never land), to the helping hand offered by troubadour countryman Glen Hansard in fostering the career of 20-something Keenan, the Irish stories always seem to amuse. A young talent who is putting in the touring necessity always gets kudos from me, especially when traveling from the old sod to do it.

Ben Goldberg Quintet 6/8/18 Firehouse 12

The quintet was Goldberg on clarinet, E-flat Albert system clarinet, contralto clarinet; Ellery Eskellin on sax, Mary Halvorsen on guitar, Michael Formanek on standup bass, and Tomas Fujiwara on drums. The clarinet is a striking jazz presence, coupled with some playing from the sawed off E-flat Albert popularized by Bechet, and the bizarre contralto that looks like a plumbing drain trap repair gone wrong, made for an excellent set. The firehouse is home court advantage for Halvorsen, Fujiwara, and Formanek who have been reviewed in this blog for their mighty trio Thumbscrew. Eskellin was an added bonus, tall and lanky, he had a Nordic presence. I say that because of his cool shoes, glasses, and hat, in addition to his playing that reminded me of Frode Gjerstad. Halvorsen's understated guitar work never ceases to amaze, she looks like a nerdy coxswain, controlling the boat from behind Leslie Stahl glasses. Mary is like an exotic saltwater fish, her wide eyes soaking in improv cues from her band mates, while oblivious to the fact that her form of expression is usually resigned to men. Formanek plucked and bowed with abandon, while hip Fujiwara looked like a Miami Vice stuntman epileptically supplied some brush work. It's hard not to evoke old time jazz with the use of clarinet, but this group deftly straddled old and new. A sublime take on Abide With Me, popularized by Theloniuos Monk but actually an old hymn, exemplifies the smash of old and new.

Bent Knee 6/4/18 Cafe 9

Bent Knee is a group of Berklee School of Music hipsters that have been brought to New Haven by Manic Productions back when the free shows were at Bar. The sextet was violin/vocals, two guitars, drums, bass, and a frontwoman on Korg and vocals. I remember dinging this group for the abrasive vocals and complicated song structure. On this evening, I embraced these qualities and found a more enjoyable listen. The woman's vocals ranged from Adelle-ey pop to Yoko-esque treated caterwaul often in the same song. The scruffy lead guitarist pogoed his way through jump stop leads that offered some Zappa tones. The violinist shaded some prog/punk songs, one even veered into Sister Ray territory. These are music students (or recent grads), and it showed.

John Zorn's "Songs For Petra" 5/24/18 Firehouse 12

Prolific sound artist Zorn composed some music and Jesse Harris wrote accompanying lyrics for vocalist Petra Haden. Haden, daughter of jazz bass giant Charlie, and one third of the singing Haden triplets rose to the evening's challenge. The all-star group included Harris on rhythm guitar and vocals, guitar prodigy-turned virtuoso Julian Lage, and solid rhythm section of drums and standup bass. Haden, dressed in a white pit crew jumpsuit, has a husky alto that reminded me of Laura Nyro. Lage starred in a tv show "Jules at 8" which showcased the prodigious talent for the world ( well, maybe the YouTube world) to see. While the songs had a jazzy backdrop, they were decidedly un-jazzy, which was welcome at this venue which is usually a temple of skronk. The tunes could have been lost 70s chestnuts reworked with a modern feel. You could sense that Lage was psyched to solo like a rock star, even choogling his way through a CCR-inflected number. Haden is a strong vocal presence, and just knowing that she possessed some genes from her late great father gave me chills.

Youth In A Roman Field w/ Olive Tiger and Leila Crockett 5/22/18 Cafe 9

Local opener Crockett was a big woman armed with an acoustic, some tattoos, and a homemade knit cap. She played delta blues and reminded me of Marissa Anderson.
Local songstress Olive was a perfect choice for a warmup act on this evening. Olive on cello, loops, guitar and vocals was joined onstage by a young man on violin and keys. The configuration led to an avant chamber pop sound. The vocals were stronger than on past listenings, and her command of loops was excellent. The indie cello is in, and Olive shines more than in her previous (other?) band Kindred Queer.
Youth In A Roman Field is a side project of Claire Weilen from the NYC indie-hipsters San Fermin. She said YIARF can range from one to eight musicians. On this evening, it was one, with Claire on vocals, violin, guitar, ukulele, and violin played like a ukulele. She was a young pixie from Queens, who had an odd violin style that swooped and swayed which helped make the sound ebb and flow. The songs were well written and her distinct vocal style had cabaret tones with a beautiful Billie Holiday slur. What is up with band name? With no nightly explanation, it seems like YIARF is striving for the world's longest band name.

Marco Benevento 5/17/18 Spaceland

Jam veteran Benevento descends on Hamden with the same power trio that has been positively reviewed in this blog before. Marco dressed in white with an Easter Island head on his shirt, sparkly Doc Martens, day-glo rimmed shades, and a rumpled tophat looked like a hippie cross between Sir Elton and The Cat in the Hat played keys and knobs. Young female Karina, seemed to be in her teens, on bass was also dressed in white with a shirt that read "we're using time for fun". Drummer Andy rounded out the group. Marco has a permanent smile and looks like his drugs are kicking in before yours. MB holds down the keyboard end of Grateful Dead tribute behemoth Joe Russo's Almost Dead (JRAD), and seems to need this outfit where he is in charge. Some originals included some great teases, Livin Lovin Maid, Tom's Diner et.al. The originals sounded like Vintage Violence-era John Cale, Howard Jonesian B-sides, and one workout that reminded me of Rush where the drums were, well, peart-y. As usual, the cover songs added meat. Marco said they just came back from the Big Easy and did a rousing take on Nawlins staple The Clapping Song by Shirley Ellis (" the monkey chewed tobacco on the street car line, the line broke, the monkey got choked, they all went to heaven in a little rowboat"). Karina took over for a high energy "Pepper", by The Butthole Surfers. Closed the show with Nilsson's "Jump Into The Fire" that had Benevento conducting the frenzy while standing on his keyboard. Final tune was his popular original "At The Show". Chameleonic Marco displayed many styles and led the listeners through a Cat In The Hat type of concert.