For the last few years, I have aspired to write about every show I see. In reality, I have not even come close to doing so, I have barely written anything, which is a shame… for me, at least. So, I’ve tried to recalibrate my expectations of myself and am going to try and summarize each month of livemusic’n, hit some of the high points and try to wrap it up in a single theme that captures both the music and my thoughts on music and whatever. We’ll see how it goes!
ICYMI: October 2023: Nostalgia Acts
ICYMI: December 2023: Holiday’d
ICYMI: January 2024: Winter Jazzqueens
This February was, as we all know, a leap year February, which meant there was one extra day to livemusic or go to work or whatever. That got me thinking about shows with a little something extra, the concert equivalent to a 366th day. Maybe it’s the second show of the night or something you weren’t planning on hitting or maybe a special guest. Sure, just going out to catch some music is special, I strongly believe that there’s something compelling about any livemusic experience, even if it sucks. On the other hand, when a show has that lil somethin’ going for it, well, that’s one of the reasons why you go to the show in the first place, ain’t it?
Looking back over my livemusic February, there were plenty of 29th day delights mixed in there. A trip to visit my son in Syracuse allowed me to catch an “extra” Daniel Donato show at the Westcott Theater, in addition to the one in NYC at the Bowery Ballroom a few days later. Donato and his stupendous band Cosmic Country are rising higher on my must-see list, especially after a mindbender late night at Peach Fest last summer. The bonus hometown show in the Cuse was a rager and had all the highlights that have me so high on this band. A “jamband” in my personal definition, the band had me lost in a “wait, what song is this?” place multiple times within the first couple songs of the first set. Donato is bringing that jammy spirit to a traditional country Telecaster-fueled sound and the result is a mixture that sits at the cusp of country, Phish, and Grateful Dead/Allmans and it hits me right in a sweet spot, totally irresistible. The band is young and rages hard like a young jamming band should, almost too relentless with their improv. But I totally appreciate their appeal to a younger crowd and the fact that they’re hungry and on the road bouncing around the northeast in February, the way a young jamband should. After a couple days off, the band’s next show was at the Bowery, so I got to feel like I was “on tour” for a couple of days. I was intrigued by how different the NYC show, even as they played a surprising number of repeats from Syracuse. The BB DD&CC show leaned more into the country side for the first set, opening up into some jams, but staying focused on the songs a bit more. It wasn’t until the second set that the relentlessness got into full throttle, giving it a much different energy from the other show. I loved them both and love this band, but man, I was glad for the bonus night in Syracuse!
There was a similar vibe going on with the Joe Russo, Nels Cline, John Medeski show at Sultan Room a week later. It was actually two shows, an early and a late, and a big part of me was certain I only needed to hit one of these. This show was part of Joe’s newish regular series called “This is Going to be a Blast,” all of which have, indeed, been a blast, but, even so, I’ve been more than content to just see one set/night of them. But partly because I was feeling too lazy to deal with getting rid of extra tickets and partly because I just had a sneaking suspicion, I decided to go for the extra lil somthin’ and go to both sets. The early show was nothing short of stupendous, a rather miraculous meeting of the minds. I always wonder iff there’s any sort of discusion or coaching going on before the musicians take the stage. They’re clearly improvising, but possibly with some direction or intent, I couldn’t say. Because the way this trio played in that early set, there seemed to be a determination to make a certain kind of music. Nels Cline was in a zone I have rarely seen from him, explosive, melodic, mindbending, occasionally gorgeous guitar soloing. Nels can get out there, but on this night he seemed to be focused and tethered, all for the better. And of course Medeski and Russo had their say to, a set of jams that cannot be properly described in words. I think if you’re reading this, you probably share the “dream” of watching the best musicians in the world play improvised music at the highest quality, real-time composition of brain-building, body-moving music. That was what this set was, just simply as good as it gets. The dream. The late set was also fucking amazing, but was dark and rough-edged, as if the trio looked at the focus and single-mindedness of the first set, took a mirror to it and then, for good measure, smashed that mirror to bits. This was jagged, sharp, it’ll-cut-you shit, no less compelling or interesting than the first set, but a little more challenging. There were plenty of soaring, awe-inspiring moments in the late show, don’t get me wrong, but it was a different breed. Which show was the extra bonus? I guess if I can’t say, then they both were. Lucky me!
Sometimes the “extra day” comes in the form of a special member of the band. Less than a week after seeing Nels Cline in “as good as I’ve seen him” mode, I was at the Village Vanguard seeing Joe Lovano. While Joe Lovano is a great sax player and, sure, worth a trip the Vanguard, for me, the reason I was there on a Sunday night was the fact that Julian Lage was playing guitar. Lage being the guy who turns any normal-year band into a leap-year band. I love Julian in all forms, but when he’s not leading a band but rather making someone else’s band better, that’s when he elevates to “best ever” status. That was definitely the case backing Lovano, who was playing with a top-to-bottom killer quartet including Will Calhoun knocking my socks off on drums and Santi Debriano impressing on bass. But it was Lage, in a select few solo spots, that took the air straight out of my lungs and had my head shaking involuntarily in disbelief. The way he can find the essence and soul of someone’s music and not just make it better but fully bedazzle it, melting down gold bars and turning it into sparkling, high-art scuplture, it is something to behold. Something extra indeed!
Wow, February was overfilled with phenomenal music, it felt like way more than 29 days worth. I haven’t even gotten to perhaps the most bonus night of the month, which happened to be the first night of February. This was a Chris Thile show at the gorgeous David Geffen Hall. As an aside, it just occurred to me as I’m writing this that Thile is like the inverted Julian Lage. Lage is a generational talent that is (in my opinion) at his absolute best elevating other super-talented people’s music. Thile is also a generational talent that is (in my opinion) at his absolute best bringing other up super-talented people’s playing up to his level. The distinction is a subtle one, perhaps indistinguishible to the naked eye. I think of it this way: Julian pushes the people he’s playing with to the next level; Chris pulls them up to that next level with him. Both astounding to watch, both special. Anyway, Thile is a performer who is alllll about the extra, the bonus, the something special. He’s built his recent career around such, first with Live From Here, and now more recently with the Energy Crisis Music Hour series and the “65th Street Sessions” at Geffen Hall. These are events that are made not by Thile’s presence, but by the bonus musicians he adds to the lineup, A+-listers whom are already at a high level but, inevitable, pulled up even higher, to stratospheric, low-oxygen places that even the best rarely get to. It’s magic to watch.
On February 1st, the bonus was Billy Strings, who is not just an extra day added to the end of a month in the dead of winter, no no. Strings is a whole 365-day’er on his own, worthy of being in the conversation: bits of Thile, Lage, and Donato all rolled up one. The notion of Thile and Strings playing a set of music together was mindboggling, not just in terms of a meeting of the minds of two all-time talents, but also in the “what are thy even gonna play?!” kind of wonderment. As it turned out, they kept it simple. They played a set of bluegrass standards. And by keeping it simple, they actually kind of didn’t, they opened up a world of possibilities and somehow collectively decided that the best of all of them was just digging deep into what got them there, playing their favorite bluegrass tunes as well as you’d hear them play. Soloing one after the other, on top of each other, into and around and back again, two playful squirrels in constant pursuit, spiraling around a tree, one after the other, having more fun than you could possibly imagine. The set was, in a word, awesome. It was apparently the first time they played together and the mutual respect/love/admiration was so palpable you could almost literally smell it. And thee audience not only got to luxuriate in the music and this love and provide their own love, but they also got to witness the first musical encounter between two giants in the genre that will undoubtedly only grow in their giantness as the years go on. So not only was this show an amazing show, but a moment in history — a moment that everyone in that room will one day get to say they witnessed as these two grow into the titans of bluegrass, folk, jam, beyond that they’re destined to become. Hyperbole? Maybe! Oh! And this bonus of a show with a Russian Doll’s set worth of bonuses contained within also featured Cory Henry, seemingly an afterthought added late, but who actually was a February 29th for this February 1st show, adding extra depth and soul and spirituality to a night that was already larger than life. By the end of February there were already multiple shows of the year in the bank, must’ve been that extra day!
And to close out, I have to at least briefly mention the shows I saw on that extra day of February. Because even though the month was filled with big-name fireworks and best-in-the-biz talent, for me the lil’ somethin’ extras are just lil’, but are the best of them all. On February 29th I saw two show locally in Brooklyn. My first stop was at Lowlands Bar in Gowanus where you can catch A+ jazz for whatever you want to put in the tip jar multiple times a week. Tim Berne plays there most Thursdays including this one and he was, as usual, marveleous, playing on saxophone with Gregg Belisle-Chi on guitar and Tom Rainey on drums. This is high-level free jazz, occasionally wild-eyed, but also kind of cozy on a winter’s evening in a rather empty bar in Brooklyn. It’s so easy to do that you take it for granted that it’s there so when you add a stop there to your night or just go for a bit and then go home, regardless, it feels like a bonus, like you’ve found an extra 24 hours in your jeans pocket. That’s almost always the feeling I have when I go to Barbes which is where I headed next, a decent walk up to Park Slope from there. On this night there was an extra show waiting for me on 9th St, and that show had something extra as well. It was billed as James Buckley Trio… +2. A little lagniappe turning a supposed trio into a quintet and didn’t that make some difference. The band was: Buckley on bass, Ryan Dugre on guitar, Greg Paulus on trumpet, Luke Marantz on keys, and Josh Dion on drums. Holyfuckingshit!, this ruled. Heavy influenced-by-electric-Miles-Davis energy, electric in all the ways, good musicians made great by the ensemble they were in. Groovy and far-reaching and cerebral all at once, this was a great great set, vastly exceeded my expectations. Twas a great way to end the extra day on a month full of extras.
[note: I loved the James Buckley & Friends set so much, I had to see them again. As it so happens, I’m in the process of bringing back my Freaks Day Out series with afternoon shows in Red Hook. Buckley will be playing the first one this year, on Saturday March 16th. I hope you can come! Reach out for details]
February roundup:
28 shows = $56 donated as part of ther #livemusicchallenge to United Musicians and Allied Workers
Five Star Shows Seen in February:
! Chris Thile, Billy Strings, Cory Henry @ David Geffen Hall
! Joe Russo/Nels Cline/John Medeski @ Sultan Room
! James Buckley Trio + 2 @ Barbes
Reviews written in January (for Bowery Presents):
Jaime Wyatt @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
