Donna the Buffalo w/ Birds of Chicago 9/6/19 Edgerton Park

Annual CT Folkfest at Edgerton Park saw good weather and solid turnout. The music runs all day with a bevy of local folkies and some organic-centric food trucks. We arrived for Birds of Chicago, the brainchild of guitarist singer songwriter JT Nero and singer fiddler Allison Russell. On this evening they added a third musician on guitar. The acoustics could have been better but a good set from this young group. Russell was a solid singer and her stage presence reminded me of Rhiannon Giddens. They had a speedy jam workout for their finale which was great.
Donna The Buffalo has been satisfying the jam world since the early aughts. Had a fond memory of seeing them at a roots festival in Lowell MA in 2003. Jeb Puryear on guitar and vocals and Tara Nevins on fiddle, guitar, accordion, and vocals are the focal point of the troupe. Organ, drums, and bass round out the quintet. Good mix of Cajun informed, hippie folk, and lyrical nerdiness had the crowd swaying. Nice rendition of the Cash nugget Ring Of Fire. Heard a great interview with Nevins who said they had a recent bus breakdown and crowd funded a replacement in less than a month, the Internet is good for something.

Kaleta and The Super Yamba Band 8/8/19 The State House

Leon Ligan-Majek is a veteran Afrobeat and juju guitarist better known as Kaleta. He is credited with time in Fela's Egypt 80, King Sunny Ade's African Beats, and more recently spending time playing with Ms. Lauryn Hill. Kaleta has located the perfect backing ensemble, Brooklyn's Super Yamba Band. SYB is a loose collective of young Afrobeat acolytes who must have jumped at the chance to support this living lifeline to the originator of the genre. The group of hipsters had conga/ talking drum, drummer ( and band wrangler), bass, lead guitar, sax/ keys, trumpet to provide Kaleta's backdrop. The sound was pure danceable Afrobeat with all musicians double timing it on shakers or cowbells. Kaleta prowled the stage showing off his apprenticeship with the master which was dotted with a Toots Hibbert grunt and Fela-style "everybody say Ya Ya"s. Told a funny story of his brother locking him in a room with James Brown records. Afrobeat is an amalgam of African rhythms mixed in a stew of James Brown and Sly Stone for extended funk soul jams. Show highlight was the Fela cover "Black Man's Cry".

Newport Jazz Festival , Fort Adams 8/3/19

Beautiful weather this year brought the crowds to the NJF Saturday. Always difficult to remember all the great things I saw, but here goes:
Joel Ross and Goodvibes: Young man vibraphonist had cool dreads and sharp backing band. Claims to be a protege of vibes master Stefon Harris.
James Francies Flight: Saw this young man light up the keys when he played with Nate Smith at YUAG. Big man from Houston has played with Pat Metheny and the Roots, not bad for a 23 year old.
Jenny Scheinman and Allison Miller's Parlour Game: Jenny on violin and Allison on drums, with bass and piano brought some gypsy swing. Scheinman does a good guest spot on Christian McBride's Live At Tonic recording.
Ravi Coltrane and David Virelles: Downright creepy how much Ravi looks like the old man. I've seen him several times and he has grown into the chops sown by the late great. Virelles on piano was a real treat. Some middle-aged Lions right there.
Makaya Mckraven: Chicago drummer and self proclaimed "beat scientist", MM has studied with the masters (Yusef Lateef, Archie Shepp). Solid crew playing with him, if he introduced them I didn't hear.
Dee Dee Bridgewater and the Memphis Soulphony: Jazz vocalist Bridgewater has had a checkered career. Largely overlooked in the 70s, Dee Dee moved to France to hone her chops. Excellent tributes to Ella , Horace Silver, and Lady Day emerged. On this outing, Dee Dee pays tribute to her birthplace with a horn filled slice of classic R&B and soul tunes.
Buika: Critically acclaimed Spanish chanteuse, Buika gave us some jazz influenced flamenco fusion on the main stage.
Ron Carter Trio: Standup bass legend Carter's bio reads like a Who's Who in jazz. Part of Miles catalog, Monk and many others. I've read that he's credited on thousands of recordings. On this date he's joined by guitar and drums. Ron's recent recording has him paired with novelist, poet, and painter Danny Simmons.
Ghost Note: Spin-off from the Snarky Puppy collective, this percussion and horn heavy crew were an odd assemblage. Lead man on drums, guitar player dressed as a super hero, bass, two guys on saxes and flutes, and a keyboard player. They kept calling out the keys man to say that he was in Toto. While I find this hard to believe, I really can get behind a band that boasts a super hero, a little Asian guy, and a keys man from Toto. They didn't bless the rains down in Africa, but they could have.
Hailu Mergia: So much music at this festival that they feel compelled to set up a tiny stage in a room in the fort and call it the Storyville stage. The headliner at this stage was Ethiopian accordionist Mergia who had some success in the 70s. The room was packed so we had to listen through the wall, sounded jamming, should have been outside.
Hancock, McBride, Colaiuta: The festival always lets me check at least one jazz legend off my must view list. On this day, Herbie Hancock ruled. Mostly piano, but some organ, he played his early monster composition Dolphin Dance and an awesome rendition of Footprints written by his friend Wayne Shorter. Joined by festival organizer and general jazz man about town Christian Mc Bride on bass and veteran drum wizard Vinnie Colaiuta. Hancock just turned 79, he did not look or act it.
Kamasi Washington: The Saturday closed with the Afro- futuristic jazz of Kamasi Washington. Joined by his regular crew, female vocalist, multiple drummers, monster bass, his father Ricky on sax and flutes, and Kamasi at the center of the maelstrom channeling Sun Ra and Duke Ellington and John Coltrane in the same circular breath.

Cycles w/ The Alpaca Gnomes 7/29/19 Cafe 9

Local gnome-hatted groovers AG are ever present in jam oriented shows. Whether I'm standing with them in the crowd, or they are on stage plying the jams, AG implies a hippie presence that I usually felt at the Vibes festivals. While I missed most of their set, there was enough pixie dust in the air to welcome Cycles. A true power trio, Cycles consisted of guitar/ loop pedals, furious slap bass, and multi-genre frenetic drumming. Like many in this genre, their woeful singing/ songwriting capabilities took a way back seat to their instrumental prowess. The guitar player was stellar and could easily switch from Jeff Beck to Eddie Van Halen to Jimmy Herring. At times, the loop pedal sound distortions detracted from his game. The bass player loped and slapped his way through songs reminding me of Rob Derhak from jam originalists moe. The bass also had some Claypoolian thumpery that could give tunes a sinister edge. The drummer kept pace with it all, shading funk and hiphop where necessary. The big question is what to do when you know you can't sing, Cycles took the approach of sampling people who can sing and blending them through the loop effect. One rap tune that audience members under 30 seemed to know was chopped and screwed to sound like a fourth member. Show highlight was Madonna's "Ray Of Light" put through the sequencer. Spotify this tune from 2001 GHV2 Madonna release and imagine an ecstasy-fueled jam blowout of the tune. Maybe Cycles should get Madonna to guest vocal.

Martin Courtney w/ Ryley Walker 7/23/19 Spaceland Ballroom

It is rare to go to a show and be very interested in the opener and have no knowledge of the headliner. On this evening, I made it to the Ballroom early to catch the force of nature known as Ryley Walker. Spotify Ryley and you get a mash of Brit-folk, raga-space, and guitar histrionics that are difficult to discern from your streambox. Catch him live and you see a self deprecating guitar wizard dotted with hysterical inter song banter. The last time I saw Ryley, a native Chicagoan, was the marathon final game of the World Series in which the Cubs won. The game lasted so long, with a rain delay, we were the last two in the bar. Good set this evening pulling from his several releases: Roundabout from The Halfwit In Me, and a stellar Primrose Green ( check that album cover for a cheeky homage to Van Morrison's Veedon Fleece). The highlight was an extended raga infused If I Were A Carpenter, the Tim Hardin one, not the sucky imitators. I urge readers to deeply listen to this artist, gems abound.
Martin Courtney is the front man for the indie band Real Estate. He has a solo record and was praised by Ryley as a "great songwriter". I didn't get that sense, he seemed like a lo-fi Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie. The songs were stripped down and Martin seemed uncomfortable sans the clubby millennial mope-core that usually occupies his audience. Martin would do well to imitate Ryley and drink a big glass of Idon'tgiveaFuck before the show. Maybe I should follow my own advice and give Martin a deep listen.

Ali McGuirk w/ Dharmasoul 7/11/19 Wellfleet Preservation Hall

Countless summer walks had me go by this venue located in the town center of our favorite Cape Cod destination. So nice serendipity to see some live music in its basement concert space. Dharmasoul is a duo of guitar/ vocals and drums. Caught the last few tunes of their set, bluesy and soulful, not what you might expect from these decidedly nerdy white guys. The singing was capable but the guitar licks were large.
Ali McGuirk is a young singer songwriter who played electric guitar. Her choppy playing style was excellently off set by her monstrous vocal delivery. Many songs from the 2017 offering Slow Burn. The mournful heft off her singing style belied her age. Wonderfully screwed down deconstruction of the Dionne Warwick/ Burt Bacharach concoction I Say A Little Prayer. AM pulled the Dharmasoul crew on stage for her second set. At first, her solo-oriented guitar style clashed with the DS axe man. After a tune or two, she deferred the guitar shading and focused on her strong suit, singing. Closed with an obscure Bill Withers tune that I could not place.

Erin McKeown 6/30/19 mActivity

Final show of the spring concert series at mActivity had singer songwriter McKeown. Haven't seen her in many Newport Folkfests, Erin has made a wide and varied career. In 2018, Erin released the soundtrack to her musical Miss You Like Hell about an undocumented mother reconnecting with her daughter while traveling across the US. The opening tune was an acapella rendering of Mirrors Break Back. Good versions of Aspera, To The Stars, and The Queer Gospel. Erin gave props to being the last day of Pride month, but was quick to point out as a lesbian, every day is pride day. Good version of The Mountain Goats, Jenny. One of my favorites is Blackbirds, a bluesy start stop number that she has been playing for years. Whether on guitar or organ, Erin is a seasoned artist who has honed her talents over the past twenty years.