My goal for 2019 is to write at least a little something about every show I see, preferably by the next day, we’ll see how it goes. I will compile weekly and post here as-is.
So, in that spirit, this is the fiftieth of hopefully 52 posts…
9Dec19 Rev Vince Anderson @ Union Pool
Was in the city for something other than a show last night, but how could you not stop by and check in on some residency on a Monday night? Yesterday, the choice was somewhat clearly going to be Rev Vince. He’s shifted the set times back a bit, so it’s not quite the late prospect it used to be, but still managed to get there right in the middle of setbreak, which was good because I had missed dinner and the El Diablo quesadilla in the Union Pool backyard was worth waiting in the rain for. Man, did that hit the spot!
By the time I had scarfed that down, Vince & Co were well into their Love Choir thing. Not much you can say about this show that hasn’t already been said. I’ve noticed that somehow the crowd at these shows is totally bimodal: the best people and the worst people end up in the back room at Union Pool on Mondays. Either you went there to see the music, or you happened to be there and happened upon a hey, this ain’t bad free show happening in the bar you were looking to get time-to-hook-up drunk at. It is what it is.
The set started at 11 and ended right at midnight and felt shorter than usual, but maybe it’s just because it was earlier. The band Vince had last night was top notch, two trumpets + Paula on baritone and the drums/bass/guitar combo were killer. As such, Vince seemed happy to let them vamp instrumental-style more than usual. There was a long instrumental passage in one song, another tune that was a straight instrumental period (paraphrase “this is a song about my barbecue sauce. it’s so good, it’s beyond words, so this song is an instrumental”) and then his “I Feel Good” song when everyone left the stage except the guitar/bass/drums and they just went into funkjam mode for a good 5+ minutes. Fun times, good shit, never a bad idea to stop by and visit on the good reverend every once in a while. Next week is his “holiday show” which I imagine is extra ridiculous and fun. If I didn’t have Park Slope resideNYC plans, I’d probably go.
10Dec 19 Battles @ MHOW
Really enjoyed the Battles show at Music Hall last night. Very full house, very fun hour-plus-and-quit-it set. Here’s my review for Bowery Presents.
12Dec19
Arp @ National Sawdust
If you listen to absolutely everything you can get your hands on, newmusicwise, you occasionally run into albums like Zebra from Arp. Shit that catches your ear, hey, this is pretty good!, then continues to creep up on you over time… hey, this is reallly good!. That one was one of my favorites from last year, one of those albums made by one guy (Arp is Alexis Georgopoulos) making every last sound you here in a studio somewhere, a creep-up-on-you electrogroover with some stunning tracks along the way. Realllly good. Over the summer, I saw that “Arp” was opening one of the shows at Summerstage, for Parquet Courts, and I just had to see how this was going to play out live. Like, was it going to be just this guy and a lot of samples or what? I was pleasantly surprised to find that he was playing with a full band and with a full band was able to really pop that music into three dimensions. I was looking forward to seeing that set, but it vastly exceeded my expectations; when it was over I wanted to know when I could see it again, how could I book these guys for my own show, more people had to hear this and to see it. A perfect blend of groovy and psychedelic, headspace crawler music with enough kick to get you dancing. I loved that set. Within a couple months I saw a PR release that Arp was releasing a “live” version of this music… and by “live version” it meant that he was re-recording it with that full band. That record, called Ensemble Live!, came out a month ago, not an exact recreation of Zebra with a full band, it’s actually much better, mixing those songs with other ones and taking the Arp sound and aesthetic to some really wonderful places.
That’s all a lot of introduction to seeing Arp again last night. In a way, it ended up being my 4th time through with Arp, the guy, the band, the music. When this show got announced, I knew it was going to be something special. Everything at National Sawdust is special, one of the great rooms of the city, one of the rooms where you can just go no matter what is playing and almost guarantee it will blow your mind. I don’t think I’ve ever not had my mind blown at NS and so, when this show got announced, I knew it was going to blow my mind. And it did.
The band was Alexis on piano (full on grand piano, this alone elevated the show above what they did in Central Park), as well as marimba and synth; a bassist, drummer, percussionist, and a guy playing keys, soprano sax, flute and electric horn and playing them all very well. That guy was the guy in the band, I thought, but the whole band, the whole ensemble as they’re called in the album title, was of the not-an-ounce-of-fat kind, nothing wasted, everyone sort of equally present in the sound, lose one of them and you lose the whole thing. And that whole thing was rather magnificent.
The opened with Georgopoulus playing a long slowly-developing fugue on the piano, something you’d maybe called “modern classical,” if you wanted to categorize it. This piano recital started off very quiet and slow and as it went on, each note on the piano seemed to multiply into two notes, each of those two into two more until there were a lot of notes on that piano, a cascade of music that picked up the rest of the band that built to a rather impressive roar. Roooar. Yeah, this band did roar, they were like a sleek big cat, easily recognizable as a cat, but not recognizable as any type I’d seen before, not a leopard or a cougar or a puma, but close. So, their sound, as t they went on, had recognizable limbs and shape to something you know, there were the afroambient grooves of Eno/Byrne and the orchestral wonders of Zappa and much in between. The second piece had Alexis playing a simple, but deliciously looping riff on the marimba, the wooden slats of the instrument evoking some prehistoric thing, and the band used this as the backdrop to a goopy-blob of slow-shifting grooves. The show was standing-room-only, which felt right at the start, but as the show went on, I did feel like maybe seats would have been better as they got into these mind-wandering tangles of philosophical funk. The soloist — the guy on keys and horns — had a just right feel, knowing how to keep the flames just high enough to keep the stew at a proper simmer. The soprano sax and the flute and definitely the electric horn thingie are instruments that can verge on a sound that’s too slick or even cheesy jazz, but this guy turned them into compelling leads, countering the laid-back rhythms and bringing out the best in Arp’s material. He took a few key solos, one long brilliant one in particular, that were very reminiscent of George Duke’s work with Frank Zappa, which is a very, very good thing. The bass/drums combo managed to keep things in their groove, even when things got weird or flipped back to the more classical feel. In between many songs, or maybe these were also “songs” in some sense, Alexis would build up more little tornadoes of piano, sweeping up the rest of the band into extended moments of what I can only assume were improvisation. It was a nice counter to the live-electronic-almost-dance sound. The band was so good, so perfectly matched with each other and the material, I could only wonder who are these guys and why don’t I know them already? I mean, what kind of cat is that anyway??
Check out those Arp records and, livemusicgods willing, check out Arp next time he/they play a show.
Wayne Krantz, Cliff Almond, James Genus @ 55 Bar (late set)
Although I was tempted to check out Nude Party afterwards, it’s never not the right call to head to 55 Bar. Last night’s late set was, as always, fucking awesome. James Genus is batting a thousand in the bass slot, a gentle-giant approach to playing his 5-string in the no-frills back corner of 55 Christopher St, oversized low-end that you think is going to knock you over when it comes for you, but only gives you a warm embrace, the hug of an old friend, when it gets there. And it does get there. The set featured a surprisingly small number of the usual-suspect covers last night, I think we only got “U Can’t Touch This” which seemed to operate at a too-fast-for-human-consumption pace. The highlight, as always, was “heavy metal riff” song. For once, I could feel this one coming from the start — typically the long-winding introductory improvisation betrays no sign of what’s coming — something like an ominous sky in Genus’ playing, that did nothing to dispel the jump-in-your-seat thrill when they finally jam their way to the theme and Wayne cracks the sky like so much blinding lightning, ba-da-da-da-da-da! So much fuckyeah. So much. Perhaps it was the weather or the show that preceded this or the fact that I had only gotten 3 hours of sleep the night previous or maybe it was the music, jams of indeterminate origin and destination, no foot holds, no where to rest your mental elbows, but my mind was zoning out more than usual last night… and ain’t that a wonderful thing. Kick ass.
There’s one more Wayne Krantz show of the year and there will only be a couple in Jan/Feb as he goes a-touring with K3. I would make it a priority to hit next week’s show at 55 Bar, featuring Evan Marien and Cliff Almond and maybe a sweet jam or two.
14Dec19
Live From Here @ Town Hall
The final LFH of the year is always a special thing. I’ve caught the last two, in fact the first time I ever saw one was a year-ender, probably still the best one I’ve seen. It doubles as a kind of Christmas party which is the perfect vibe for Live From Here. My full review is here, please do read it. I think the absolute highlight was the Greensleeves which is one of the better things I’ve seen done on the show, just jaw-droppingly good. The whole show was great, Sara Bareilles was amazing and even Los Lobos, who i always find to be a snooze, was good. It’s funny, I saw Dave Hill at the Landlady holiday show and he did the same sketch both then and Saturday. I think Saturday’s version was better, he had a guitar in hand and did these funny riffs in between. Anyway, you should see the bit, it was worth seeing a second time. Looking forward to more in 2020!
Roots & Ruckus Fest @ Jalopy
Afterwards I went to Jalopy to check out part of their Roots & Ruckus festival. Roots & Ruckus is a weekly residency put on by Feral Foster. Basically every Wednesday 4 or 5 different acts play, including a set from Foster, it’s a free show and they pass the basket around for each one and you throw a couple bucks in. It’s got a verryy old time vibe, especially in that room. Jalopy is a very special spot in the city, a place that makes you feel like you’re not in Brooklyn anymore, both because of the space and the music they have there and the energy overall. I love that you can get $3 popcorn there.
Anyway, they have a yearly party kind of thing, this was the 5th one celebrating the longstanding residency. Four nights of basically the same scene: multiple acts, pass the basket in between. I was excited to hit Saturday’s because Nora Brown was playing and I am kind of mesmerized by this kid. She’s 13 or 14 years old, but has a very old soul and you never once think about how young she is when you’re listening to her. She plays banjo and sings and both her playing and her voice sound like something from a dusted off old wax cylinder from an unearthed archive of folk and Appalachian music. For many songs she tells a bit about how she found them and the origins and you can tell she has some sort of prodigy-type gift for the music, not just playing it, but feeling it and living it. Needless to say, her set was magnificent. She played a couple instrumentals and sang a bunch, even one a capella, brought up a fiddle player to sing and play on a couple as well. Her set was a bone-chillingly awesome 30 minutes, transportive, entrancing, wow! Brown put out an album a couple weeks ago and it gives a pretty good feel for her sound. As I tweeted after her set, the best thing in NYC folk right now might very well be this 14-year-old kid.
Feral Foster sounded nice, I’ve seen him a few times, I dig his voice and his songs, always good to see him. I also just love his energy, like he’s got this overwhelmed, too-busy-to-think-straight thing going, but somehow totally manages. Ali Dineen did a couple songs with him and then did her own set. Her folk was very much of the topical kind, she talk and sang about a few “current events” kind of stuff, somehow in equal doses of we’re all screwed and it’s going to be alright if we work together. She’s got an album coming out in January as well. Both her and Brown’s albums are actually out on Jalopy Records, so the culture is strong in the best way possible at Jalopy. Would have loved to catch Spirit Family Reunion next, I love those guys and have seen them a few times, but not enough to catch a later train, alas. Check out Roots & Ruckus on Wednesday’s at Jalopy! Maybe the best deal in town!
15Dec19 Tyler Childers (Liz Cooper & the Stampede opened) @ Brooklyn Steel
Last night I caught Tyler Childers & Liz Cooper at Brooklyn Steel. I really loved both of these sets. My full review is here, do read it, but the short version is that Liz Cooper completely destroyed her set, playing entirely brand new material and just kickassing the fuck out of it. Wow! She is ready for the leap, no doubt. Tyler Childers was also quite great, in much different ways… kind of a strange pairing in retrospect (a guy next to me kept going on and on about how bad the Liz Cooper set was. “It was so bad!” I can’t imaging being the kind of person who needs to go on so loudly in public about something you don’t like, but {shoulder shruggy}. Anyway, Childers was more straight country, with a great band, some nice breakdowns, great voice and songs, the real deal all around. The Sturgill Simpson/Tyler Childers show at MSG next spring is gonna be something else, I can tell already. Childers more or less sold out Brooklyn Steel two nights in a row on his own, so I imagine MSG will be hopping for that one. Pretty cool.
