RIJF 2010: Day Six

Started off the evening with another peek at Trombone Shorty. At least this time I got to see him play some horns. It was definitely a lot better than the bit I caught earlier, though still, not living up to the hype for me. When there is so much other interesting music to choose from out there, it is tough to settle on a heard it all before funk outfit. Funk: easy to play, difficult to master.



Next up, Eivind Opsvik Overseas, an avant-garde band from NYC. This was my pick of the night, featuring Kenny Wolleson on drums, who played the 2009 fest with Bill Frisell, one of the best shows I caught all last year. This set did not disappoint, with Wolleson dancing around an implied beat and the rest of the band layering on top of that. Beautiful, thought-provoking, at times jarring, others droning (in a good way). I made the mistake of finally catching a set at Max at Eastman Place to see Adam Niewood instead of coming for the 2nd set of Overseas. Niewood was greatly disappointing, standards that were sub-standard, and he pulled out an electric sax that just sounded plain awful. Left soon enough to just catch the tail end of the Overseas late set, and thankfully the 40 or so of us still there was able to get them to come back for one more.



Before that I let myself get carried away into John Taylor's world. Solo piano that gets compared to Keith Jarrett's solo work a ton. It is quite different in my eyes though since Jarrett is completely improvised whereas this is composed. Still, remarkable playing, wonderfully engrossing and moving music. He was one of a handful of artists this week that got so lost in his music he couldn't remember what he played. Seriously, that keeps happening a lot. Been dragging this week what with full days at work followed by working a full night at jazz fest (not sure which job is tougher), so I couldn't stick around Taylor's set for as long as I probably should have for fear of falling asleep.

Capped off the night with the Hackensaw Boys. Hot damn the Hackensaw Boys. These guys put the pep back in my step. Blisteringly good old-time string band music, raucous, loose, and scraggly. Ended their set by getting everyone to come up front and crowd around the stage. Then they played a few songs completely unmiced, "just like it used to be." They played well after 11, and were still urged back on for an encore. Claiming that it was "past curfew" they played one more unmiced, though it would have brought the house down to turn the volume back up one more time. Still, best set at the Abilene yet.

RIJF 2010: Day Four and Jeff the Brotherhood

Rushed to get in line for another fill of Bassekou at Kilbourn Hall and arrived as the line was already shuffling in. So guess I didn't to rush in for that one, the place was empty. What gives? Even at peak it was only a little over half full. Sitting up close I got a new perspective on what I had seen the night before. I would also make it back for the late set (had to drag my friend over to see what was what). The early set matched very closely the early set from the Big Tent, but the late set was almost entirely different, so I was glad I made it for an unprecedented third set. Last year I definitely made a point to hit as much as I could, constantly moving around, but so far this year I find myself sticking around longer at one artist instead. And I have to say, it's been working out great. Typically with this type of music (though what I have seen so far has been anything but pigeonholed to one "type") the whole is greater than the sum, meaning, stick around and get the whole picture and you will be rewarded. Anyway, in the late set a woman from the audience got up on stage to sing some traditional American blues and scatting over the background of the Malian blues that were being played. It seemed to be completely unplanned as Bassekou's wife who was sitting in the audience for that number came on stage, whispered in his ear, and next thing you knew this woman was on stage. Haven't seen it noted anywhere who she was. Her friend also made it on stage for some African-style dancing later in the show. Definitely something different. The singing was very cool to see, a nice juxtaposition. I won't go into detail here, but seeing the instrumentation and the techniques up close was eye-opening and intriguing. Someone told me they were "horrified" by the men playing gourds with strings. So wrong on many levels... The crowd for the late set grew in size during the set and they finally got enough of an ovation to coax an encore.

From there stopped in for Stanley Jordan at the Harro East. This set is getting a ton of buzz, though I may be the lone dissenter on this one. I have some preconceived dislike for him from previous experiences, so take this for what its worth. Yeah his playing and technique are unique and at first unbelievable, I find artists like him (and yes, there are others with similar styles) to get overburdened in style in detriment to the music. I would rather hear all of the compositions he played in a different manner if given the choice, style alone can't wow me. But anyway, yeah, he is amazing at what he does. Hadn't seen him mix in the piano before, that was cool to see.

Moved on to Amy Lavere at Abilene. From complex to simple. Some bands have a way of reminding you that the formula for great music can be a pretty simplistic one. Write great songs, assemble the right pieces, and play them well. There is nothing sexier than a female bass player. And it doesn't hurt if she is beautiful and has a great voice. It would be great if Amy could go through life singing instead of talking, because her speaking voice was oddly childish, high pitched nasally or something weird. But her singing voice was reminiscent of the old-time country singers. At the Abilene Stage the music is way to quiet and the chatter is way too loud and persistent. Nonetheless, with some straining of the ears, I could make out that the acoustic portions of the set were the best. The guitarist in the group absolutely ripped on acoustic. He wasn't too shabby on the electric either, but whew, the acoustic was hot.



Stopped in for a few tunes from Trombone Shorty and was seriously disappointed. For the 15m I was under the Big Tent with him it was nothing more than a very good wedding band. I plan to give him another shot or two in the next couple of nights since he is playing for three nights, I can only hope it gets better.

I finished off the evening by giving a big middle finger (figuratively) to jazz and headed to the Bug Jar to check out Jeff the Brotherhood. Yeesh, talk about a 720 degree turn, my head spun around a few times after a blistering guitar solo opened the set for this guitar/drums duo. Shredtastic and LOUD, really could have used some earplugs. They proceeded to pound through my eardrums and chest and had my neck on a vertical swivel for the next 30m. On any other night I would have been disappointed with the brevity, but it was the perfect dose on this evening. During the last tune the guitarist sauntered through the crowd manhandling his axe and like any great rocker kneeled and laid down on the ground, when a woman from the crowd in a short slinky dress straddle him and danced over him slowly. Rock and roll through and through. Ears still ringing...

Download the previous night's show from nyctaper.