Digable Planets w/ Kassa Overall 9/15/23 Harbor Park Middletown

 Trekked to this show early to catch young jazz-hip hop drummer Overall’s set. By trekking, I mean park at the YMCA, walk under Rt 9, over some crusty RR tracks, through some construction zone, and past the condemned Harbor Park Restaurant, to get to the venue. A free show that requires one to register, I felt like I was in an outtake of The Amazing Race just to get here. Happy then to be joined by a large crew of young Friday night revelers. Overall rapped from behind the kit and walked out front to spit rhymes. Joined by another drums/ conga, keys, and soprano sax, this crew didn’t just straddle the jazz- hip hop line as much as create something new. Some cuts from his new star cameo heavy release Animals were tasty.

Headliner Digable Planets are hiphop royalty. Two releases in the early 90s, Reachin and The Blowout Comb helped define the genre. The original DPs: Butterfly, Ladybug, and Doodlebug reunited for a 30th anniversary of the Reachin record. Joined onstage by Overall and his brother Carlos on sax, and another pair of brothers on guitar and bass, they bumped through the hits. The music is rhyming interplay between the three rappers that leans more Timbo boots and jazz than Benjamins and Glocks. Ladybug still evokes Brooklyn cool but gave us a reality time check by announcing that her son attends UConn. Butterfly aka Ishmael Butler has had some post DP success with his afrofuturist outfit Shabazz Palaces. The set took in all the hits: It’s Good To Be Here, Pacifics, Where I’m From, Time And Space, Escapism, and Rebirth Of Slick. Daily extreme weather event Hurricane Lee spared us the rain but gave a windy, cool evening which seemed to mess with the sound.

Third World w/ The Legendary Wailers 9/14/23 Hartford Live

 First time at this year’s incarnation of “make Hartford cool again” free music series Hartford Live. As you recall, these concerts happen on an awkward triangle of green space and closed off roadway behind the Old State House. The Legendary Wailers opened the show. I didn’t expect Junior Murvin or Aston “Family Man” Barrett, but little did I realize that any liaison to Bob Marley’s acquaintance could birth a cover band. For all I know, the Legendary Wailers could be fronted by Bob’s paperboy. No matter, the catalog is legendary, with hits like Redemption Song, Get Up Stand Up, Slavedriver, Concrete Jungle and more pulsing from the bass heavy speakers. The lineup configuration is busy with guitars, bass, drums, singers, and female backup singers.

Third World are more of a pop reggae affair who had a few mild hits in the 70s.  Many members are from Jamaica and I believe some original members are still in tow. They played a few straight ahead reggae tunes before playing their top  hit  “Now That We’ve Found Love”. It’s rare to get a full night of reggae played by some legit rastas, which is why it was puzzling when the singer launched into a couple of opera tunes, sung in Italian! If I had to draw a map of music, opera would be on the North Pole, and reggae somewhere near Antarctica. I was chatting if there was an explanation of the inexplicable. Pretty well attended on a nice night in September.

CT Folkfest 9/9/23 EdgertonPark

 Annual treat for me to visit my community garden space and listen to top tier folk talent on the beautiful grounds of this park. As usual for September, the weather was sketchy with neighboring towns being drenched while this event was dry. This year featured two stages which begged for lazy strolling. 

The Bargain: Local folk impresario Frank Critelli sang accompanied by guitar and mandolin players. Seasoned presence and quirky songwriting were on display. Frank is wiry with a long white beard and looks like a punk Santa. Later in the day, some dude was handing out flyers for a Frank-oriented folk happening in a church in Meriden, sounds right.

Dom Flemons: Where to start, this multiple Grammy winning self-named American Songster is music and education rolled into a jolly African American modern day Burl Ives-alike. Solo onstage, he plays and expounds on a variety of traditional instruments. He started with rhythm bones, sticks he held between his fingers that clacked as a percussive background. Next was quills, a pan flute style tooter that must have been easy to assemble with Appalachian detritus. Banjo, guitar, and harmonica were also prominently employed. Flemons is an expert on Harry Smiths Anthology of American Music, the Bible on early folk and roots tunes curated by the Smithsonian. He described the Carolina “Piedmont” style and launched into a medley that included an Etta Baker song and Elizabeth Cotten’s Freight Train, a tune that is played out as much as the Free Bird request. A couple of tunes from his Black Cowboy release and his most recent offering of originals were excellent.

Beppe Gambetta: That’s right, nice Irish fella on the second stage. Just kidding, expert folk picker from Italy. Like a Father Bob Dylan Guido Sarducci, Beppe’s accent was hard to hide. It’s hard to discard the sociopolitical tenets of the folk idiom when coupled with an Italian accent. The tune he sang in his native tongue rang truer, even if I had no idea what he was singing.

The Barefoot Movement: Modern roots  purveyors from the Carolinas fronted by powerhouse vocalist and fiddler Noah Wall. She was joined by acoustic guitar, mandolin, and standup bass. A decade of touring has yielded a confident stage presence and delivery. She spoke of this novel “subscription service” whereby fans pledge a dollar a month and are rewarded with an exclusive cover song. On this afternoon, she belted out Roberta Flack’s Killing Me Softly and a smash of some traditional tune mashed with Led Zeppelin’s Heartbreaker.

Maria Muldaur and Her Red Hot Bluesiana Band: 80 year old Muldaur is still going strong. Having sung backup for countless recordings in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, Muldaur brought her brand of bawdy gumbo to the fest. A perfect reading of the Allen Toussaint Nawlins classic Yes We Can had the best swampy funk bounce. Muldaur’s pandemic homage I’m Vaccinated and Ready For Love was on point.

Quasi w/ Ava Mendoza 9/6/23 Spaceland

 Last time Mendoza was in the area, I arrived late and missed her set. I made sure to get off the couch early on this evening. I have seen her multiple times through the years and her sound has evolved. Somewhere between Wendy Eisenberg and Marc Ribot, Mendoza’s jagged lines and effects pedals were in full force. Ava is an in demand session guitarist and I gushed with her regarding her Curriculum vitae during the set break. Studying with Fred Frith at Mills College, collaborated with tUnEyArDs on scores for Buster Keaton films, played with Sir Richard Bishop, Weasel Walter, William Parker, Nels Cline, Malcolm Mooney, and Nate Wooley. She has become more confident with singing and was able to augment her stellar fretwork with lyrics. Her hairstyle has also changed, a vintage Diana Ross pouf seemed incongruous to the music being made.

Quasi is the Portland OR based duo of Sam Coomes on organ and Janet Weiss on drums. Both are left coast music royalty with Coomes spending time with Elliot Smith and Built To Spill while Weiss played with Bright Eyes and Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks in addition to her main job as chief thumpstress for Sleater-Kinney. Coomes also has a storied career as producer. The music on this evening was loud and visceral. Coomes organ made quite the racket, he even had a small theremin-type noise box that he played with his foot. The organ was stenciled with the word WROCK, which I’m sure had some significance. Weiss was also a force of nature, her drumming was tribal, marchy, or speedy punk in nature. She was able to lend backing vocals while flailing on her kit. These two have been making music since the 90s and showcased some tunes from their recent release Breaking The Balls of History.

William Tyler and The Impossible Truth w/ Garcia Peoples 8/22/23 Space Ballroom

  Jersey jam juggernauts Garcia Peoples have been positively reviewed in this blog before. Two guitars, bass, keys and drums make quite the racket. The show took place in the Space’s front room, smaller and more intimate, this room is usually reserved for quiet folkie offerings. GP is anything but quiet and I caught the last half of their set.  The tunes are stretched to the limit with elements of jam, krautrock, and jazz ebbing and flowing through the din. I’ve heard a version of their song One Step Behind recorded on WFMU that took 32 minutes to complete. Guitarist Tom Malach has good genes, his father Bob, who sometimes graces the stage, played flute and sax for Miles in the 70s. I would urge all readers to envision their fathers interacting with an acerbic icon like Miles Davis, ouch.

William Tyler is a guitarist from Tennessee. On this evening, he is joined by a stacked band of Nashville musicians. Bass, drums, and the session master Luke Schneider on pedal steel allowed space for William to explore. The beauty of having this show in the small room was my viewing location of the pedal steel, I could see that Luke had picks on all five fingers while operating a chrome phallus on the slide hand. Tyler has played with luminaries like Bonnie Prince Billie and supported indie vehicles Lambchop, Wooden Wand, and The Silver Jews. Tyler’s solo material is varied and reminds of other middle America masters like American Garage-era Pat Metheny, Paris -Texas soundtrack style of Ry Cooder, or the quirky fingerpicking of Leo Kottke. Tyler reveled in the band setting and obviously enjoyed turning it up to 11. Great set from this fascinating artist.

Ripe w/ Joe Samba 8/20/23 Harbor Park Middletown

 First offering from this year’s “ make Middletown cool again” series put on by Manic Productions at Harbor Park. Nice setting on the Connecticut river with some food trucks and a small stage. The word of the day is Yachtrockification. The act of filing down the sharp edges of any music genre smooths the product in an effort to increase popularity. Sonny Rollins and Kenny G are both considered jazz saxophonists, but one of them Yachtrocked the genre. On this evening, reggae-light purveyor Joe Samba takes the stage first. Reggae is a summertime vibe and Samba was capable in the delivery. A big fella lefty guitarist from Massachusetts, Samba rolled through his set. Cheeky reggae-fied cover of Dean Martin’s Mambo Italiano was a microcosm of Samba. 

Ripe is regional jam-pop outfit that graces many a festival stage. Big guy front man was backed by guitar, bass, drums, trumpet, and trombone. The set was yachtrocked jam-pop on the order of OAR or Spin Doctors. They opened with the trans positive cover of Lola by the Kinks. Ripe seemed to attract a younger crowd, and many knew the words to their”hits”. Free music, outside, nice weather is always welcome. I would have preferred some pointy edges though.

Govt. Mule 8/15/23 Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater Bridgeport

First time at this venue to get a view of Warren Haynes and company. The show was billed as Dark Side Of The Mule, their take on some Pink Floyd classics. The first set showcased original Govt. Mule tunes, a mixed bag of Molly Hatchet-like B-sides and other southern fried jamminess. Original songwriting and vocal prowess have never been the strong suit for the Mule, it is drum, bass, and guitar pyrotechnics that turns heads. Songs like Bad Little Doggie, Blind Man  In The Dark, and Lay Your Burden Down were capable. The classic instrumental Thorazine Shuffle was a highlight. The final song of their original set was titled Same As It Ever Was……nope, that will always be a refrain from Once In A Lifetime.

The second set was the meat of the tomato, a delicious sampling of Floyd classics. The entire Wish You Were Here record tumbled out, Shine On (I-V), Have A Cigar, Welcome ToThe Machine were deftly executed. Other classics appeared, Comfortably Numb, Breathe, Money, Run Like Hell, and two of my Meddle favorites Fearless and One Of These Days. Jackie Greene surfaced for the last few tunes for vocal duty and guitar counterpoint to Warren. Govt. Mule has always been a force in the live setting, and this show did not disappoint. The rub on this venue has been the possibility for bad sound, the open air and proximity to the water could give rise to problems, but not on this evening.