Could we resist a little stoke? I think not....
Thursday, March 17, 2011
SJ 2011
Sharon managed to score a date-perfect launch date for San Juan this year - May 22nd. Putting together the trip details now, updates to follow.
Could we resist a little stoke? I think not....
Could we resist a little stoke? I think not....
Stan The Man
Did a really good interview with Stanley Clarke a couple of weeks back. I have a vague recollection of getting him sometime back in the 90's, and my impression of him as a relaxed, self-effacing and friendly guy was fully borne out in this interview. Apart from the stuff we used in the piece, he expounded on RTF's early days, Weather Report, Jaco, Jeff Beck and Michael Vick. Haven't had an interview this fun or productive in years.
So, we caught his gig at the Boulder Theater last weekend. Victor Wooten and his band opened, and as much as I like Victor (interviewed him once or twice - nice guy), I was pretty disappointed by his set.
Lots of pointless noodling, showy theatrics from his band (including his brother, who can play keyboards with astonishing alacrity when he really wants to) and generally long on audience pandering and short on pure musicality. Now a fixture in the jamband legion, Wooten was playing to a crowd that was surprisingly heavy with his own fans, so no surprise. But to the extent that he felt he had to show up with chops a-blazin', in deference to the headliner, it didn't work for us. We're looking forward to the original Flecktones reunion, and the tour, if there is one.
Stanley's set was better, although likewise a bit heavy on the lead-bass firepower.
Like the RTF show we caught three years ago, Stanley's solos are too long. His new record has some great pieces on it, but between his and his drummer's solos, we heard too few of them. They did a very nice, if a little over-dramatized, read of Mingus' "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", in addition to one or two cuts from the new CD. The clincher and redeemer for us was an utterly luminous read of RTF's "No Mystery", with Stanley on upright. Mainly acoustic, tight as a drum through the grueling head sections, the piece just bounded and danced throughout. Beautiful.
Clarke's Alembic electric bass, honed by many years of lead playing, is still a fearsome weapon, but we were intrigued by a few passages he did on upright - plucked, arpeggiated sections - that hint more promisingly at the deep musical affinity that Clarke has with the instrument...buried, to our ears, a little too deeply behind the solo firepower.
Still fun for a droopy old fusioneer, who despite a few complaints about the show, is nonetheless glad to have The Man still around and still workin' it.
So, we caught his gig at the Boulder Theater last weekend. Victor Wooten and his band opened, and as much as I like Victor (interviewed him once or twice - nice guy), I was pretty disappointed by his set.
Lots of pointless noodling, showy theatrics from his band (including his brother, who can play keyboards with astonishing alacrity when he really wants to) and generally long on audience pandering and short on pure musicality. Now a fixture in the jamband legion, Wooten was playing to a crowd that was surprisingly heavy with his own fans, so no surprise. But to the extent that he felt he had to show up with chops a-blazin', in deference to the headliner, it didn't work for us. We're looking forward to the original Flecktones reunion, and the tour, if there is one.
Stanley's set was better, although likewise a bit heavy on the lead-bass firepower.
Like the RTF show we caught three years ago, Stanley's solos are too long. His new record has some great pieces on it, but between his and his drummer's solos, we heard too few of them. They did a very nice, if a little over-dramatized, read of Mingus' "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", in addition to one or two cuts from the new CD. The clincher and redeemer for us was an utterly luminous read of RTF's "No Mystery", with Stanley on upright. Mainly acoustic, tight as a drum through the grueling head sections, the piece just bounded and danced throughout. Beautiful.
Clarke's Alembic electric bass, honed by many years of lead playing, is still a fearsome weapon, but we were intrigued by a few passages he did on upright - plucked, arpeggiated sections - that hint more promisingly at the deep musical affinity that Clarke has with the instrument...buried, to our ears, a little too deeply behind the solo firepower.
Still fun for a droopy old fusioneer, who despite a few complaints about the show, is nonetheless glad to have The Man still around and still workin' it.
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