Oh My Goddess aerial performers during Break Science
The start of festival season is an exciting time in our musical community! The cold of winter melts off our dancing legs and the anticipation of weekend and week-long non-stop musical events become reality. For New Yorker’s, the New York festival season kicked off in Kerhonkson, NY on April 1, 2011with the Rock & Roll Resort.
The different acts brought an amazing array of musical talent and diversity, from the beautiful vocals of The Nigel Hall Band, to the funky grooves of The Sam Kininger Band, Eric Krasno & Chapter 2 as well as Lettuce and the late night beats of Break Science. The Royal Family left their mark on Rock and Roll Resort 2011 in a deep way.
Eric Krasno (Lettuce & Chapter 2)
For an in-depth overview of each of these acts, please check out my articlefor The Royal Family Records website
Steve Kimock Residency: Night I @ Sullivan Hall (03.23.11)
Steve Kimock (Photo by TinyRager)
Guitarist extraordinaire, Steve Kimock (Zero, Crazy Engine), kicked off a three night residency at Sullivan Hall last night in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The crowd was thin as not many New Yorkers braved the lightening hail and sleet storm that came through unexpectedly. Those who did were delivered an intimate, magical musical treat.
Joining Steve Kimock on Sullivan Hall’s stage last night was the acclaimed New Orleans pianist Henry Butler, bassist Andy Hess (Govt Mule, Black Crowes, John Scofield) and Steve’s son, John Morgan Kimock (Crazy Engine), on drums. There were a few surprise guests as well. After only one song into the first set, the foursome welcomed Donna Jean Godchaux (The Grateful Dead) and guitarist Marc Muller, from Dead On: Recreating The Grateful Dead Note For Note, graced the stage for the remainder of the set.
Kimock Residency (Photo by K. Dugan)
JMK (Photo by K. Dugan)
Now just for perspective on my love for Steve Kimock, I just need to throw a little info out there. When I am I am asked to think of a musician that closely resembles or embodies Jerry Garcia or his spirit, my mind almost always shoots to Steve Kimock. There really is no other name that ever seems to push Kimock’s out of my mind as a front runner. He is a musician I look to as a teacher. He is a musician who is constantly willing to connect with his fans, willing to nourish new talent when he discovers it and constantly pushing the envelope of where he can take you with his guitar.
Click HERE for video of their rehearsal of “Crazy Fingers”
Butler and Kimock (Photo by K. Dugan)
There was a stimulating sense of connection within the venue last night. The lack of audience members did not create an empty feel as the music filled the space magnificently. The first set was a straight up Grateful Dead infused vibe! “Nana’s Chalk Pipe” started it off with Henry Butler’s New Orleans infused key play over the trippy Kimock guitar. It was amazing, such a unique combination of sounds hitting such a small stage. “Watch The River Flow,” an improved song with Donna Jean joining the stage for lyrics, followed. “Crazy Fingers” brought the headiness up, up, up. The group would break into free for all jams that flowed for minutes at a time, “Scarlett Begonias” showcasing each artist’s talents. Kimock, seated on a stool, would close his eyes and melt into the jam from time to time. It was moments like these where you could feel the air of Garcia around you. Marc Muller couldn’t have been more on point and it took a while for her vocals to warm up but once they did, Donna Jean’s voice and pure connection to Jerry helped stimulate the energy surrounding us. They ended the set with a killer “Franklin’s Tower,” where Henry Butler made it clear to us that he felt the music, felt the spirit of Jerry within him. I have never heard Henry Butler sound quite like he did last night.
The second set was supremely funkier. Andy Hess’s bass lines found their way to the forefront of the songs and Chris Burger (Alphabet Soup) joined the stage for a free style rap session that lasted over 15 minutes with deep exquisite solos brought out by each musician. Ironically rapping of “rain” on such a gloomy night, he reminded us of the “yin and the yangs” of life which brought a completely different vibe from the first set. Afterward, we welcomed the weather that was in store for us when we exited the venue. The remainder of the set delivered us a stage full of talented musicians jamming away at their leisure with a melodic under tone that helped lead them through to the end of the set.
Chris Burger (Photo by K. Dugan)
Set I
Nana’s Chalk Pipe
Watchin’ the River Flow*
Crazy Fingers
Scarlet Begonias^
Eyes of the World
Franklins Tower
*Donna Jean Godchaux remains onstage for set 1
^Marc Muller from Dead On remains on stage for set I
Set II
Thing One
All Together Now *
Something You Got
It’s Up to You
*with vocals by CB (Chris Burger of Band of Brotherz/Alphabet Soup)
Next Wednesday, March 30, 2011, Steve Kimock will be back on stage welcoming Drummer Adam Deitch, Marco Benevento and Marc Friedman (The Slip).
Being asked to write for The Royal Family Records website has been one of my greatest accomplishments. I discovered Soulive in Charlottesville, Va back in 2000 and have been following their talent ever since. Eric Krasno is one of my top ten favorite guitarist, I won’t tell you at which spot he lies 🙂 Alan Evans is a beast on the drums and what Neal Evans can do with his hands is spectacular, playing both the bass and keys himself.
Get some!
Following their music over the years, I knew that this is where their musical headquarters lay when I decided to move to NYC. I knew that my musical pallet would get a wide variety of musical flavors to choose from moving here in 2004 but it wasn’t until I fully immersed myself in the culture of music in NYC that I realized just how much there was to see and hear.
The lovely female voices of The Royal Family
Bowlive 2010 was announced last March on the heels of my re-entry into NYC’s musical culture after 6 years being taken away due to life’s responsibilities. Once I realized what this musical event was going to entail, I knew I couldn’t miss a single show.In addition to Bowlive containing all the Royal Family projects, we were delivered some of soul music’s greatest musicians and singers over a 10-night run. Unbelievable…
Ragin'
Don’t believe me? Go buy the 2010 Bowlive DVD on Amazon!! The 112-minute feature includes special guest appearances by Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, Susan Tesdeschi, DJ Logic, Ivan Neville, Oteil & Kofi Burbridge, Robert Randolph, ?uestlove, Rahzel, The London Souls, the Shady Horns, Nigel Hall, Danny Sewonik, Tash Neal, Raul Midón & more!
Taylor Hicks & Lenesha Randolph @ 2011 Bowlive
By the time Bowlive 2011 had come around, I was in place to write for The Royal Family and cover each night of Bowlive. This was a dream come true as I had placed various members and groups of The Royal Family in my “Top Ten Favorites” lists since discovering them. This writing project was unmatchable in terms of excitement and it poured out in my writing without any help.
Adam Smirnoff and Nigel Hall @ Bowlive 2011
Over the course of 10 days, this musical marathon exposed hungry music lovers to over 25 artists, such as old school Funkateers, saxophonist Maceo Parker and keyboardist Bernie Worrell and jazz legend, guitarist John Scofield and pianists James Hurt and Ivan Neville. As well, many were introduced to the amazing young talents such as vocalist Alicia Chakour and trumpeter Maurice Brown. We were treated to the poetry in motion of rappers WAX, Pharoah Monch and Talib Kweli as well as the amazing musical talents of the Burbridge brothers, flautist Kofi and Bassist Oteil. Our minds were blown as horn player Karl Denson and pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph brought the spirit of John Coltrane and Jimi Hendrix respectively to the stage for us all to climb to the highest heights of musical ecstasy. Corey Glover, Yonrico Scott and DJ Logic were all lying in the cut bringing their own flavors. Behind it all, what really made this musical marathon amazing is the chemistry and talents of Eric Krasno, Neal Evans and Alan Evans, the brilliant New York City Soulfunk trio Soulive.
Karl D is the man!
Here is a link to each of my nightly reviews on The Royal Family Records website. Enjoy!
Bowlive II: Night Three – Soulive w/ Alecia Chakour and Bernie Worrell @ The Brooklyn Bowl
(Photo by Allison Murphy)
(Photo by Allison Murphy)
The Royal Family just keeps raising the bar as the third night of Bowlive 2 was spectacular!!! Any night where the new musical generation of a genre gets to play with an old school member something magical happens on stage.
The vampy Alecia Chakour engaged the audience with her soulful vocals to open the evening. Chakour’s emotive voice was a nice change from the Nigel Hall and WAX sets that opened the previous nights. She is a phenomenal power behind the microphone similar to the likes of Joss Stone but better. Chakour spoke of family and a theme that would define the evening was unleashed.
The addition of Alecia Chakour to The Royal Family has been a pleasant surprise this year. The combination of Nigel Hall and Alecia Chakour’s voice is seamless. His vibrant, smooth voice melds wonderfully with Alecia’s calm, sexy vocals. Their tonality and harmony on top of one another is flawless. Their chemistry, amazing as he dances around her and she locks eyes with him. So long as they continue to perform together, they will become a force to be reckoned with, without a doubt.
The ever hilarious MC Mike Gibney introduced Soulive speaking of his new haircut and how sharp he looks for this awesome band! Soulive started their set with tracks such as “Something” from their latest album Rubber Soulive. The Shady Horns, consisting of Ryan Zoidis and Cheme Gastelum, stepping in for Sam Kininger, were brought out to compliment the jazzy/funk trio on a KILLER “Hat Trick,” where Gastelum was given room to release a spectacular solo. Nigel Hall came out to lend his vocals to “Do the 2” and “Too Much” with help from Alecia Chakour.
Set List: Beatles medley, Something, Upright, For Granted, Hat Trick, Doin’ The 2, Too Much
A group that helped define a genre, Parliament Funkadelic was the bearer of multiple musicians that helped developed what FUNK sounds like and stands for!! Band leader George Clinton lead the Mothership of musical freaks to the promise land through his vocals, songwriting and outrageous character. Bassist Williams “Bootsy” Collins is considered highly influential in his funk bass styling. Then, you have Bernie Worrell, an amazing keyboardist who brought the synthesizer to the forefront of funk.
With a scarf on his head, Nigel Hall led the masses through a medley of P-Funk tunes. Where some might say the “Dr. Frankenstein” was the highlight others will argue that “Flashlight” blew the cobwebs out our minds! During “Mothership,” Bernie Worrell played the keys as Neal Evans perfectly projected a sound that emulated a spaceship landing. It was amazing and uplifting to say the least.
(Photo by Allison Murphy)
During “Dr. Frankenstein”, my personal favorite RIPPING JAM of the night, hilarious bassist, Chris Loftlin, comes to the front of the stage, takes the microphone and proceeds to sing the children’s tune “Little Mrs. Muffit,” throwing us his ROCK HORNS and amping up the audience more then ever. He is so unbelievably fun, hilarious, vibrant and awesome! I adore Chris Loftlin. Check it out:
Set List: Up For the Downstroke, Mothership, Dr, Frankenstein, Flashlight, Do That Stuff
Are you ready for more? Tonight Krasno and the Evans Brothers welcome pedal-steel guitarist Robert Randolph (Robert Randolph and the Family Band, The Word) to engage Brooklyn Bowl’s audience in yet another night of soulful music..
Obscure hip-hop artist WAX opened the show with a few solo songs warming the crowd up before members of Soulive and Lettuce joined for a horn-raging “I Can’t Remember Your Name” and “Shake” As the musicians were plugging in, WAX recognizes that his mic is the only one whose is working. “I can talk mad shit now! All ya mamma’s are fat!” He looks at Krasno and says: “I didn’t say yall could come out and play.”
Not sure how to express how I felt about him but I knew I liked whatever he was doing once the band joined in. I wish I could have understood him better but as I walked around the venue, I could never find a spot that feed me his lyrics in a way I could understand. Here is what I mean:
This is a little better:
The vibe was different from last night’s performance as the audience was filled with more hip-hop heads rather than old school Maceo Parker fans. However, just like last night, the energy was the UP UP UP! Prior to the performances, you could find members of Lettuce and Soulive roaming around the venue. Where as last night it was packed so tight, so early, the musicians knew to stay in the cramped backstage area they normally reside. Even guitarist Kirk Yano was roaming the floors for a while.
There was a raffle that began to help raise awareness and monies for New Orleans Musicians still effected by Katrina. Buying a ticket for $5 locks you into a possibility of snagging one of the three tapestries created by Michael Weintrob (Michael Weintrob Photography) picturing the members of Soulive in three amazing settings. Check it out:
(Photo by Michael Jurick)
Fear and Loathing was playing on the big screen in the middle of the room. I had to smile at that one. Tonight, I also realized that Michael Weintrob (Michael Weintrob Photography) and two of my favorite NYC based photographers, Dino Perrucci (Dino Perrucci Photography) and Allison Murphy, (Allison Murphy Photography) had released a limited edition book of pictures from Bowlive 2010 ($75) all signed by the band on opening night! I’ve looked at the book and everyone should get this one if you were there and have any emotional connection to the musical run that started a GREAT tradition at the Brooklyn Bowl!
This evening would mark Soulive’s twelfth birthday. Around 10:20pm, Nigel Hall introduced the members of Soulive and the bass heavy “Steppin” started it off. They played into a set of songs from their first album Get Down, released in 1999!
Soulive – Get Down! Album Track Listing 1 So Live! 2 Uncle Junior 3 Rudy’s Way 4 Cash’s Dream 5 Turn it Out 6 Brother Soul 7 Right On
(Photo By Allison Murphy)
“We are going old school yall,” shouted Alan Evans. There is something about his voice and the way he MCs, I just immediately snap to attention when I hear him. Love him. He continued to tell a story of how there was so much hype over last year being Soulive‘s ten birthday that it was overlooked that it was really their eleventh birthday. So, the record was set straight and “Rudy’s Way” was next, followed by a drumming solo by brother Alan Evans.
A raging Lettuce set closed out the night with sensational hip-hop artist Pharoahe Monch stepping in and spittin’ his way through “Welcome to the Terradome,” “Shine,” “Desire” and many of his signature songs. This set was pure fire as drummer Adam Deitch beat on busted cymbals and Neal Evans almost knocked over his keyboard as they played with fierce excitement.
(Photo by Allison Murphy)
(Photo by Allison Murphy)
Neal Evans has really stood out in my mind over the past two nights. He is really amazing. He holds down a position in a band that not many other artists hold down as he plays the bass line on the keyboards. I love when I fall in love with musicians over and over again and right now, I’ve fallen in love with Neal and his amazing skill of playing the bass-keys. I’d love to get inside his brain and his closet as he is always wearing killer kicks.
(Photo by Allison Murphy)
“Cash’s Dream,” Nigel’s favorite Soulive song as he would later tell me, followed and I remembered that even musicians are big fans too!
Musical Musings of a Tiny Rager 