Posts

Showing posts from 2009

Picks For 2009...

Image
*J-man's Picks* Top Bands of 2009 : Umphrey's McGee Umphreys McGee Live at The Orbit Room on 10.9.2009 Umphreys McGee Live at moe.down X Snow Ridge Ski Area on 9.6.2009 Umphreys McGee Live at All Good Music Festival on 7.11.2009 www.umphreys.com The Breakfast The Breakfast Live at Mill Street Brews on 11.13.2009 The Breakfast Live at Higher Ground Showcase Lounge on 10.30.2009 The Breakfast Live at River Street Jazz Cafe on 10.17.2009 www.thebreakfast.org Up and Comming In 2010: UV Hippo Ultraviolet Hippopotamus Live at Kaysans 5th Down on 7.10.2009 www.uvhippomusic.com Sexfist Sexfist Live at Schubas on 1.21.2009 www.sexfist.net Family Funktion & Sitar Jams Family Funktion Live At Nietzches www.sitarjams.com

Hiromi Uehara

Jerry & Bobby Christmas

12.18.09 Video for Breakfast

Here is the full video for the Breakfast's Harper Ferry show in MA: 12.18.09 Breakfast.

Summer Camp Announcements

Image
May 29th, 30th, 31st moe. (3 days) Umphrey's McGee (3 days) 1. Brainchild 2. Kinetix 3. Yonder Mountain String Band 4. Ragbirds 5. Backyard Tire Fire 6. Family Groove Company 7. Keller Williams 8. The Avett Brothers 9. Cornmeal 10. EOTO 11. Gov't Mule 12. Bassnectar ...

A Few Picks...

Image
Particle, Denver, CO 8.10.01 Lotus, Millvale, PA 2.17.06 UV Hippo, Fort Wayne, IN 10.24.09 Headies. -J-man

An NPR Story titled "Meeting the Monks" w/ Al from moe.

Image
Click here for the story.

Willie Waldman Project

Willie Waldman Project Live at The Red Devil Lounge on 5.13.09

The Breakfast

Here are a few Breafast sets that I groundscored from the Breakfast Archive: -J-man

Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood 7.5.07

The Breakfast w/ Steve Molitz

Whoa.

Larry McCray

If you don't know about him; you should. This cat is a total beast.

Garaj Mahal 6.21.08

Heady Medeski

Image
MMW @ Loyal Earth Festival 4.19.09

Sexfist Wins Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Contest!

Image
November 16, 2009. Chicago, IL. The Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Festival’s Last Banjo Standing tallied over 20,000 votes from Midwest music fans in the last month, yet a mere 7 votes separated 1st and 2nd place when voting ended at midnight on 11/16. Two bands earned it, so, two winners were crowned, as the Festival announced that both Sexfist and Great Divide will appear on the main stage with Bela Fleck & The Fleckstones, Dr. Dog and the Emmitt-Nershi Band this 12/12. They’ll split the cash prize and share in the opportunity to repay their loyal followings with back-to-back sets to commence the day’s Main Stage lineup. Blues fusion extraordinaires Great Divide will kickoff the mainstage event, followed immediately by the hootenanny that is Sexfist. ADDED BONUS: Sexfist has invited its fans to enjoy “Break-Fist w/ Sexfist” while taking in the Great Divide set. More to come on what the boys will serve. Sexfist, Chicago’s most politically incorrect band name, started as a duo in

Molitz, Logic, Freekbass Project

Image
DJ Logic, keyboardist Steve Molitz (Particle, Phil Lesh & Friends), and Freekbass are putting together a project to tour late winter/early spring 2010. They initially got together onstage for a jam during DJ Logic's set at the Church of Universal Love and Music in Pennsylvania over the summer. It turned out to be one of those magical musical moments, so they have decided to do some full shows together. These three talented musicians are asking people that are interested to go to Twitter and answer "Name the new DJ Logic, Steve Molitz, Freekbass groove project. Tweet using the hashtag #logicmolitzfreek or hit DJ Logic and Freekbass directly at twitter.com/projectlogic and/or twitter.com/freekbass . The person whose name is chosen will be on the Lifetime - Guest List to this "yet to be named band's" shows. Source: Jambase.com

The Weather Report

Image
"Founders pianist Joe Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter first met and became friends in 1959 as they had both played in Maynard Ferguson's Big Band. Zawinul went on to play with Cannonball Adderley's group in the 1960s and Shorter with Miles Davis's second great quintet where both made their mark among the best composers in jazz. Zawinul later joined Shorter with Miles Davis's first recordings of fusion music as part of the studio groups which recorded In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew , although Zawinul was never part of Davis's touring line-up. Weather Report is, despite this, often seen as a spin-off from the group of musicians associated with Miles Davis in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Initially, the band's music featured extended improvisation, similar to Davis's Bitches Brew -period work, and instrumentation included both a traditional trap set drummer (Alphonse Mouzon) and a second percussionist (first Airto Moreira, later Dom Um Romão). T

The Original Fish - Country Joe & The Fish

Image
Of all the music I have listened to from the 60s, Country Joe & The Fish seem to stick out the most. Besides the impact The Grateful Dead, The Beatles, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Janis Joplin/ Big Brother & The Holding Company, etc. had on the development of Psychedelic Rock, which in turn influenced many varieties of Rock... Country Joe and The Fish represent a lot of what the counter-cultural movement stood for and are definitely one of the most, if not the most underrated band on the scene. Their lyrics being strongly anti-war or psychedelically driven, really shows the image they were putting across. Their music? It developed through the years. Electric Music for the Mind and Body is an acid drenched album full of great organ/ guitar solos and trade offs. The bass player lays down some great lines and at the same time allows for space so the other members can jam. As the years went on they added orchestration to their compositions in addition with the psy

Henhouse Prowlers

Image
... Have you ever come across a band that the mere thought of the band itself, not being more popular, boggles your mind? As you stand listening to the music; the people around you, (often times fewer in number than most shows you attend) dance uncontrolably. Smiles from ear to ear, the bar constantly serving beer to people looking over there shoulder in excitement of getting back to "action". From songs you've never heard prior, to great renditions of classic traditionals, song after song has you purely wanting more. For me The Henhouse Prowlers are that band. With tight instrumental exchanges and clean, often family like harmonies resinating through your eardrums, to your heart, to your feet. There is nothing else to do but dance, smile and be happy to be in the presence of good company. I was first introduced to The Prowlers through a friend of mine who played for a band called The Flatbellys. After bringing up his understaning of our mutual love for bluegrass music;

Review: Disco Biscuits & UV Hippo 10.28.09

Image
Jes, Greg, and I decided to drive down to Kalamazoo, MI for the recent Disco Biscuits show and Ultraviolet Hippopotamus after-show. We arrived in Kzoo, and got in. I had to wait a little for my friend to show up with my ticket, so Jes and I waited outside. As we waited we watched 3 people get kicked out, a couple people freaking out about it, others seemed happy to not be going to jail. We already knew this was going to be rowdy. The Disco Biscuits played the Kalamazoo State Theater, a beautiful theater with what I would say to have pretty good acoustics. The crowd, was the usual bisco crowd, spun out kids everywhere, everyone a total mess, security roaming around everywhere, kicking kids out who were zonked out on chairs, running through the aisle chasing people. It was seriously out of hand. At one point we noticed a dreaddy pregnant lady. I had to take a break from the crowd at that point. Despite the sheer ridiculousness of the crowd, the show for the most part was really good.

Review: moe. Halloween, Albany.

Image
The moon lit the evening sky, as a mass of people lurked out in front of the Washington Square Armory. The energy was high, and the excitement was clear. Entering the castle-like venue it was it became apparent that it was going to be a packed house, and sweltering hot. Upon passing through security, the lobby opened up to what appeared to be a large gymnasium. The house lights dimmed, the stage lit up and out came moe dressed in skeleton costumes. Approxamately two and a half weeks after their last show (due to tour/date cancellations) moe came out heavy. The first couple of songs sounded good, with some good guitar work and a tease of what was to come in the light show. Then the song "Farmer Ben"... This song provided some rapping as well as a bummer of a vibe for the crowd, who was left looking around in confusion. Following up that mess was a version of Paul Simon's "Call Me Al". This was one of the songs on the fan based setlist voting that I did not reall

Review: Lotus in Buffalo, 10.20.09

Image
We arrived at The Town Ballroom, to a line of people in costume. As we neared the front of the line we noticed a surprisingly heavy amount of searching by security. I was heavily patted down for what felt like two minutes. I was told I could not bring my camera into the venue, and I explained to the a gentleman holding the "press list" that I was on the list, but did not have a camera pass. Typically I can talk my way into or through any situation. Although tonight, with this extremely heavy security presence, it was not going to happen for The J-man. As I headed back to my car a made a quick decision to swing by Lotus' bus to see if I could talk to someone about getting a photo pass. Luckily for me there were two gentleman stand next to the bus. One of the gentleman; Luke Miller,(who plays guitar and keys for Lotus) was kind enough to walk around to the front enterance with me and get me and my camera into the venue. On the walk around the block Luke and I spoke of his

Hallucination Engine - Material

Image
"Hallucination Engine is a 1994 album by the New York based music group Material. The album mixes jazz, dub and Indian music." This album is absolutely amazing. Bill Laswell, Wayne Shorter, Zakir Hussain, and Bernie Worrell to name a few. One of the best electronic projects i have come across in a while... Personelle: * Bill Laswell – basses, beats, loops, samples, etc * Wayne Shorter – soprano and tenor saxophones * William S. Burroughs – voice ("Words of Advice") * Liu Sola – voice ("Eternal Drift") * Simon Shaheen – violin and oud * Nicky Skopelitis – acoustic and electric 6- and 12- string guitars, coral electric sitar, baglama and Fairlight * Bernie Worrell – electric piano, Hammond B-3 organ * Bootsy Collins – space bass * L. Shankar – electric violin * Sly Dunbar – drum kit * Jeff Bova – synthesizers * Jihad Racy – ney * Jonas Hellborg – acoustic bass guitar and fretless electric bass * Zakir Hu

Steve Molitz/Dj Logic Project

Image
(Source: Jambands.com ) "Steve Molitz will play a free show with DJ Logic at Brooklyn, NY’s Brooklyn Bowl this evening. The Particle keyboardist will join Logic for an evening of improvised music as part of the venue’s weekly Monday Night Football party. The two musicians recently shared the stage at Brooklyn Bowl and plan to form a new band with Freekbass later this year. Molitz is in New York for a performance with Playing for Change at Town Hall, while the New York-based Logic also performed with Carly Simon earlier this morning on Good Morning America."

Gettin' Dizzy

Image
So I felt after posting a Miles section, i might as well post the man that Miles not only cited as his favorite trumpet player, but also his idol and mentor as a trumpeter coming up in the 30s and 40s. Dizzy's speed and tone along with his complex and catchy writing skills has made him one of the best and most influential Jazz trumpeters ever. If you know of Dizz and dont really listen, i recommend giving him a try. His unique skills made him ahead of his time allowing him to collaborate with other musicians of that time that were also ahead of their time. Such as the Bird, Monk, Blakey, and of course his "apprentice" Miles. "Together with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz. He taught and influenced many other musicians, including trumpeters Miles Davis, Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, Arturo Sandoval, Lee Morgan, and John Faddis. In addition to featuring in the epochal moments in bebop, he was instrumental in

Zimmer's Picks (DeadStash)

Image
Originally, I was hoping to dedicate this installment of Zimmer's Picks solely to great versions of Slipknot!. However, as I waded through my myriad of Dead-shows, it became impossible to discern between an "epic" Slipknot! and an off-the-hook Help>Slip>Franklin's. As any true fan will attest, the three-song-sandwich is probably the best way to enjoy any of these phenomenal tunes. And, personally, hearing one without the others always leaves me feeling particularly unsatisfied. The Help>Slip>Franklin's combo was always a great jam-vehicle for the Dead.....especially during the exploratory Slipknot! sections......and has truly earned it's reputation as a fan-favorite. In putting together the shows for this installment, it was really hard for me not to limit my search to mid/late-70's shows. For my money, Help>Slip!>Franklin's was never better than it was from '76-'78; but there are, of course, some hidden gems out there from la

Review: Family Funktion & Sitar Jams

Image
... I walk into the Abilene Bar, a two story house located in Downtown Rochester. The enviroment is quaint yet boasts a classy/casual/relaxed/at home kind of vibe. I find a table off to the side, within' plain view of a setup reminisant of a basement band. The drum kit, tucked off into the corner, was decorated with yellow prayer flags. Immediately to the left; was a rug, with a pillow, effects pedals and a mini synthesizer. To the left of that; the bass set-up with additional effect pedals and amps. I introduce myself to the three gentleman who, at the time were setting up/checking the sound. The Soundcheck abruptly comes to an end as the three wander off in their own direction. One of the gentleman, the sitar player introduces himself to me as Naryan, and follows up with several questions about my being there. After expressing my enjoyment of the band, my one and only time seeing them, my opinions of their music and building a fan base; Naryan seemed very comfortable and receptiv