It is of Rodrigo y Gabriela's newest album Mettavolution.
It is always fun to hear what these two are up to and Mettavolution ha some inspired playing and accompanying production from David Sardy which spices up the formula a bit. The album art fits the tunes as the record ends with a cover of Pink Floyd's "Echoes" and while not a must hear version the other efforts make up for it.
The best festival in America kicks off today and hopefully you are attending. If you can not get to the Big Easy for The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, WWOZ has the answer.
You can stream the festival through their website. This is one of the best radio channels in the country, so you should pop in and stream them regularly, but these next two weekends are a must if you can't be there.
We will be down next week, and can not wait. Oh yeah and peep a few videos of non headlining acts playing this weekend, how have we never heard of Luther Kent and Trickbag before!??!:
You have heard Dennis Coffey play even if you do not recognize the name. Coffey was the guitar player in the Funk Brothers, the famed Detroit session musicians who were the backbone of Motown. Coffey has played with Edwin Star, The Supreme's and RtBE's favorite contribution from him, the killer funked up wah-wah funk guitar on "Cloud 9" by the Temptations, as well as countless other tunes. This live album captures he and his band back in 2006 and is a collection of jazzy/funky instrumentals.
This is the third vault release from Coffey (the first two being Hot Coffey in the D: Burnin' at Morey Baker's Showplace Lounge and One Night at Morey's: 1968) and the first of his to showcase himself as a band leader.Coffey still has the skills even in old(er) age and while he shines on Live at Baker's his supporting cast is pretty top notch as well. Gayelynn McKinney on drums, Demetrius Nabors on keys, Damon Warmick on bass round out his quartet and allow Coffey to run off-kilter or funky at his choosing.
The setlist from this instrumental live set focuses mostly on jazz and soul covers, kicking off with the quartet's take on Freddie Hubbard's "Little Sunflower" and "Chicago Song" by Marcus Miller. The bands sound dips into smooth jazz adult contemporary at times, but the exciting playing, lead by Coffey manages to mix things up at the right times.
Never afraid to stretch out the group takes their own unique approach to the jazz standard "Moonlight In Vermont" with some warbling lead lines from Coffey which are skittering and experimental. The group drop into a famous tune the front-man originally recorded for Hitsville, USA, "Just My Imagination" letting it flow for over ten minutes weaving in and out of funky soul and experimental jazz.
The highlight of this release hands down is the quartets take on the Coffey original, and his only hit, "Scorpio". This tune which reached the top ten in 1971 and has been sampled by tons of artists, is hot during this rendition, blazing from the get up. The funky riffing and angular playing from Coffey leads the charge as McKinney drum fills, push things along; a brilliant live rendition captured for posterity.
Other highlights are the groups tasty take on the Miles Davis "All Blues" which allows Warmick to lay down a robust bass line while the band swirls in Grateful Dead psychedelicfashion before album closer "Dinks Blues" briefly allows Coffey one final toying with his pedals as the band rolls along proving this crew can keep this funky/jazzy style up all night long.
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Support the artist, buy the record and peep some video below:
It is of Dumpstaphunk's 4/20/19 set at Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg Brooklyn, NY.
These guys are one of our favorite live acts and one of the best funk collective's going. Three great vocalists, all amazing players, killer covers, funky originals. Definitely check them out when you can. We plan on seeing them in just over a week when the take the main stage on May 2nd at the 50th Annual Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans.
Also, extra thanks to the people at Brooklyn Bowl and the Band for the amazing tickets, RtBE normally don't take pictures at shows, but tough not to when you are this close.
Schenectady, NY based retro rockers The Abyssmals first proper full length release Gospels, Hymns and Other Trash! is a winning combo of surf influenced garage rock and psychedelic stoner impulses.
Even before the record spins the cover arts is straight out of the mid-sixties as the five piece; vocalist/guitarist Jarpon Reyes, drummer Nick Nigro, bassist, Boris Cahrenger Multi-instrumentalist/percussionist, Muffy Reyes and guitarist Bob Forget, play with those early rock styles over the ten tracks on the record, moving from dirty low down hip-shakers to cosmic journeys into the unknown.
Opening with a brief introductory surf rock instrumental the outfit announce their retro love before the marching beat and trippy strumming of "Sleepwalker". Gospels, Hymns and Other Trash! moves between upbeat and spaced out, but the band works best when they let the hallucinogenics kick in and get out of their heads, a highlight being the psychedelic swirling of "Mansion of Happening". The dreamy closer "Kiss, Kiss Abyss" and the droning groove workout "Good Faith" which warbles and tambourine shakes its way out into the unknown are two other slower joints which burn down with shimmering trails.
The quartets more upbeat numbers like squawking echo driven "For All of Time", the bass driving Nuggets ready "Death Row Messiah" and groove based "No Sleep 'Til Low Beat" are all solid examples of overloaded garage rock, the best of these being the motoring diesel of "See You Go" which cooks with slamming snares, a ripping guitar solo, keyboard popping and vocal "Woah!" punctuation, but the group seem to be expanding it's horizons. A track like "Nobody Cool" finds the band combining heavy metal ready riffs with softer tranquil passages resulting in an interesting grimy/heavy/outer space jam; a direction worth exploring further.
Like The Black Angels the group are taking their sonic palette cues from an era past, but shaking them out into a modern days with success. Already having a few tunes in Netflix The Punisher this group is making waves from Upstate, NY, as a complete record Gospels, Hymns and Other Trash! should be listened to at three in the morning with a good buzzing light show as the strobe lights and psychedelics both shine their high beams.
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Support the band (from Schenectady no less!), buy the album and peep some video:
In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's artists, The Rolling Stones performing a live cover of "Like A Rolling Stone"
This month we have a special focus on Artists who will be playing the 2019 Jazzfest in New Orleans. Today we highlight the legendary, Rolling Stoneswho play on the Main Stage Thursday, May 2nd. Update: Due to Mick Jagger's health issues the Stone's have canceled their '19 North American tour dates.
The Stones are doing double duty this month as they are also the focus of our Masters series.
Thoughts on Original:
The song that launched a true revolution, with an opening snare drum like a dead man's last pistol shot baby. "Like A Rolling Stone" is mega in all fashions, Dylan is accusatory, mad, feed up, zoned out, poetic, rambling and always moving with he sound as the track is large and in charge even today. One of the Bard's top 3 songs any which way you break them down, Like A Rolling Stone has been covered
Cover:
Thoughts on Cover Artist:
We have been chatting about The Rolling Stones all month here at RtBE. They are one of the quintessential rock and roll bands and we dig on them hard.
Thoughts on Cover:
A fun cover and not something normally associated with this group. Sure, they make break out a blues cover or one of their deeper cuts, but most of the time this group sticks to the hits and making the fans happy.
While Mick cheekily says the song was written for them, their performance is fun if not earth shattering. Such a great song, even a standard run through is exhilarating...and a standard run through from one of the best bands in the world helps.
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Leyla McCalla!
Every April we have a special showcase for bands who are playing this years Jazzfest in NOLA. Today we will focus on Leyla McCalla who will be playing Friday May 3rd on the Fais Do-Do Stage.
RtBE has only recently became aware of Leyla McCalla, but in that short time have been super impressed. From her amazing newest solo albumCapitalist Blues to the powerful Our Native Daughters release Songs Of Our Native Daughters the former Carolina Chocolate Drop has already had an active 2019 and she still gets to play at Jazzfest in a few weeks.
Pro-shot with pro-sound from Festival Worldstock 11/12/16. Enjoy:
