NYS Music 20​15

Category: Funk/Soul/R&B

  • Bowlive VI – Soulive w/ Charles Bradley – The Screaming Eagle of Soulive

    In what has become an annual Olympics of sorts for NYC music lovers, Soulive kicked off their sixth annual eight show residency at Brooklyn Bowl, dubbed Bowlive VI, with Charles Bradley. Bowlive has become famous for special guest headliners and even more special surprise guests. This is the first year that it did not coincide with the Allman Bros. Beacon residency and standard sit-ins by the likes of Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, and Susan Tedeschi.

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    It was only fitting that local outfit WOLF!, consisting of band leader Scott Metzger (guitar, JRAD), Jon Shaw (bass), and Taylor Floreth (drums) opened the run in what may appear to be a passing of the torch of Brooklyn based rockers. Metzger awed the crowd with his shredding guitar solos and commanding stage presence as they rolled in with excitement for the main event. Before they left the stage, Metzger announced that they will be releasing their debut album this April on the Royal Potato label, with a record release party at Brooklyn’s Hometown BBQ April 2.

    Soulive took the stage with just the three core members Eric Krasno (guitar), Alan Evans (drums), and Neal Evans (keyboard, organ) to lay down a couple of funky grooves to get the crowd ready for what was yet to come. The first guests of the evening, The Shady Horns – Ryan Zoidis (sax) and Eric Bloom (trumpet) – who will be sitting in all eight nights, came out for soulful renditions of “Hat Trick” and “Vapor.” After much anticipation, the 66-year-old Charles Bradley, who was unknown until 2011, strutted out in a silver sequin tank top blowing kisses to the crowd. Bradley has a voice and stage presence akin to James Brown, whom he impersonated as Black Velvet up until his solo career was propelled by Dap-Tone Records. He crooned three of his original tunes to end the first set: “Ain’t It A Sin,” “The World (Is Going Up In Flames),” and “Why Is It So Hard.”

    The second set began like the first with the core three members taking the stage for a cover of the 1967 Jimi Hendrix tune “Manic Depression.” The Shady Horns were back out followed by Bradley and Metzger. Bradley took over again, pulling out some classic soul inspired dance moves as he fell to his knees with the mic stand raised high over his head. Bradley gave way to the first true surprise guest of Bowlive VI, Tash Neal (guitar, The London Souls) who closed the second set with The Beatles classic “Get Back.” The first night of Bowlive came to a close with two powerhouse guitarists on stage for a cover of Buddy Miles “Them Changes” with a mesmerizing solo by Neal.

  • Here’s the Plan: An Interview with Beau Sasser about his Escape Plan

    The newest and funkiest beep on the musical radar of the NY scene is Beau Sasser’s Escape Plan. The high-powered collaboration is led by the one and only Beau Sasser on the Hammond organ, vocalist Mary Corso, dueling guitarists Justin Henricks from Way Down/The Chronicles and Danny Mayer from Alan Evan’s Playonbrother with drummer Bill Carbone from Max Creek, fusing together rock ‘n’ roll attitude with a strong funk foundation. The funky five piece has been traveling across the country and back to bring a fresh, explosive sound that drops jaws and blows mind with serious guitar shredding, fierce rhythm and soulful key pounding.

    Check out Beau Sasser’s Escape Plan TONIGHT Feb. 27 at The Putnam Den in Saratoga Springs with The Nth Power. Doors are at 8:30 pm with music starting at 9:30pm and a cover charge of $15 at the door for the 18+ event. Click here to buy tickets in advance and to guarantee that you won’t miss out on a great show. The last stop for the Escape Plan of their winter tour will be Saturday Feb. 28 at the historic Nectar’s in Burlington, VT.

    I was lucky to catch up with Beau Sasser to talk about his escape plan, covering rock classics and highlights of their winter tour.

    Susan Rice: What are you escaping from and what’s the plan?

    Beau Sasser: The show is an escape for the audience for a little while, our goal is to create art through music and connect with the crowd and share in that journey, and its an escape for us too! The plan is make the world a better place through feel good music. The band has such a great vibe, we just want to share that with the audience.

    SR: How did you come to assemble the Escape Plan band members?

    BS: I’ve played with our drummer Bill Carbone in various bands over many years. We played together in the Melvin Sparks Band and now currently in The Z3. I met our guitarist Danny Mayer 3 years ago when Alan Evans(Soulive) put together his own group Alan Evans Trio which became Playonbrother, we traveled and played together alot over that time. I’ve connected with guitarist Justin Henricks and vocalist Mary Corso more recently in the last year or so and invited them to come play Funk Night at Bishop’s Lounge in Northampton, Ma, a weekly gig we do each Wednesday. This band really came together on those gigs and we realized quickly that it was something special.

    SR: You’ve been touring heavily all over the area to promote your new sound. How have fans been responding to your new collaboration?

    BS: The response has been really incredible! A ton of buzz around this group and we’ve had alot of support and great shows, I think its fun for the fans to watch the evolution of a new band and be involved in the process.

    SR: What are three key factors for having a fantastic funk set/show?

    BS: I would say we try to keep energy, crowd connection and high voltage onstage vibe at the forefront of our live show.

    SR: When I saw your show at The Hollow in Albany on February 13th, you covered Frank Zappa, The Allman Brothers and Earth Wind and Fire. How do you pick which songs/artists to cover? Are the songs difficult to funkify?

    BS: We’ve been careful to pick some choice covers that fit in the funk vein. We love Frank Zappa and have a pretty good arsenal of FZ covers that are more from his seventies era band that really leaned on funk music a little harder than some of the other eras. Also we really try to take advantage of our double guitar situation, incorporating a few Allman Bros. tunes which lean more towards a southern rock vibe, we try to do our own arrangements to make them fit the show. “Taxman” by the Beatles is another cover we have been working on and we’ve taken more of a James Brown approach to it, utilizing two guitars in a rhythm/comping situation, making it easy to put some funk sauce on it.

    SR: Your Winter Tour is coming to an end. What was your favorite part? Would you change anything in particular? What’s next for the Escape Plan?

    BS: As the winter tour comes to an end I would have to say the highlight was our week run in California, we played House of Blues and had members of Fishbone, Pfunk, Umphrey’s McGee and Snarky Puppy join us onstage. Unbelievable vibe during the show and it was certainly a great party! The other highlight would be our show last weekend in our hometown of Northampton, MA at Iron Horse Music Hall. So many friends and family and great to play for the hometown crew here where it all started. That show was recorded and is being spread around the internet, the band played great and there is wonderful sound quality on that recording. The only changes we are making are to keep working on perfecting our set and our overall live concert experience, we’ve been using lights and lasers in the show on some choice performances and I’d like to make that a more regular part of the show. Up next is recording our new album which will come out in April, our spring tour that will bring us to jazz fest in New Orleans, and then festival season when all this snow melts!!!!

    Check out their live performance of “Love is Free” from Church of Boston on January 10 below.

  • JJ Grey and Mofro at The Egg

    The soul of the south warmed up Albany at The Egg on February 19 with JJ Grey and Mofro performing a riveting and inspired set of classic songs and new tracks from their new album Ol’ Glory, due out this month.

    Opening was The London Souls, now a duo, but still with a heavy sound that resembles a trio, even though the band didn’t seem to be as loud as they could have been. With a London rock sound and smooth blues base, they were augmented with the influence of The Beatles, The Guess Who, and especially Cream and The James Gang, particularly on the open-ended “Under Control” that closed their set.

    JJ Grey The EggJJ “50 shades of” Grey, with a slight twang in his voice from his Northern Florida home, where the accent fades a little, brought southern soul along with Mofro, a band that has been on the march for nearly 15 years and a perfect combination of forces. The stage was setup as an intimate room, inside another intimate room, The Hart Theater in The Egg Performing Arts Center. The lighting resembled a chandelier, a tapestry was the backdrop and floor and table lamps made it feel like JJ Grey and Mofro were performing in your own backyard. The band opened with “Hide & Seek” which had a hint of “Hush” by Deep Purple, followed a few songs later by the debut of “The Island,” a mellow and personal song off the upcoming release Ol’ Glory.

    “Brighter Days” displayed a building energy throughout which carried over in the back-to-back high power combo of “Orange Blossoms” and “Everything Good is Bad” to which the crowd roared with approval. The understated organ player Anthony Farrell shone on “Ho Cake” and “A Night to Remember,” the latter of which had hints of Bachmann Turner Overdrive.

    The encore was an expected “Lochloosa” starting with a dark stage and soul-filled organ and the band slowly assembling, and as Grey sang the opening line, the audience sang the second verse, knowing this heart and soul tune from 1100 miles away from its origin.

    JJ Grey and Mofro, The Egg – February 19, 2015

    Setlist: Hide & Seek, Every Minute, 99 Shades, The Island, Your Lady, Light a Candle, Brighter Days, Everything is a Song, Orange Blossoms > Everything Good is Bad, Slow Hot Sweaty, Ho Cake, Night to Remember

    Encore: Lochloosa, Ol’ Glory

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  • Winter Carnival 2015: Moon Hooch

    Two saxophonists, Mike Wilbur and Wenzl McGovern with a drummer James Muschler make up the phenomenal band Moon Hooch, who performed at Winter Carnival 2015. They call it “Cave Music” I call it the best new jazz out there, aka Rashim Roland Kirk.  Hold on to your drum hat and start your cyclic breathing,  this band will make you dance.

    Winter Carnival 2015 Moon HoochFunky, wild, free yet so organic is the groove that the only primal thing you can do is move. Let other bands do covers, this band has captured a unique sound that has propelled it from busking on subways to hitting the top numbers on Billboards jazz charts and packing dance halls around the country. Picked up by Mike Doughty (formerly of Soul Coughing) when he saw  them play in the subway and liked them so much that he had them open for him on a national tour. The Moon Hooch phenomena has just grown from festivals, to pastures, to museums, to cooking vegan in the van, to inducing alpha brain waves in the audience.  They just released their second Album, This is Cave Music, and they are an act not to be missed. Photos from their show at The Waterhole at the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival as well as prior to the show,with a giraffe.

    And yes, they tore the house down and all were dancing to…..jazz.

  • Rock n Roll Resort v5: ‘Electric Avenue’, First Wave Lineup

    Wicked Cool Productions is proud to present Rock n Roll Resort v5: Electric Avenue welcoming in its first wave lineup: Fishbone, Easy Star All-Stars, Twiddle x2, Consider the Source, The Werks x2, Organically Good Trio (featuring Paul from Slightly Stoopid), The Skints (UK), Beau Sasser’s Escape Plan,  Adam Ezra Group, Dangermuffin, The Kind Buds, Frank Viele, Formula 5, Gaslight Tinkers, Relative Souls, Strange Machines, Sprocket, People with Instruments, Demise vs Cheatcode & DJ N.E.B., Digital Storm, Political Animals, and The Mary Jane Jones. The Rock n Roll Resort v5 takeover happens April 30 – May 3, 2015 at the newly renovated Hudson Valley Resort & Spa, Kerhonkson, New York, in the heart of the Shawangunk Mountains in the gorgeous Catskills.

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    Tickets are on sale Monday, February 23 at NOON at rocknrollresort.com

    The v5: Electric Avenue installment of Rock n Roll Resort will showcase an inspired mix of super talent with over 60 hours of musical entertainment, collaborative live art, activities including a disc-golf tournament and mini-golf tournament, workshops and theme nights, cyberistic euphoria, delicious catering and even a festival vendor row; all at an affordable price and within the conveniences of the Hudson Valley Resort & Spa. Many artists will take the stage multiple times throughout the weekend, and many more artists will be announced for the second wave lineup.

    “For Electric Avenue, I wanted to blend a few concepts together. There’s The ‘Road to The Resort’ competition for up and coming bands, there’s the indoor vending that will be fashioned as an electric avenue, and there’s our continued relationship with the creative folks at Magic Hat Brewing,” says Shannon Plaquet, producer of Rock n Roll Resort. “It’s going to be one of the most diversified lineups of old school meets new school that we’ve ever had. We’ve dialed in pretty much everything in previous events and this one should be the best event yet.”

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    The full immersion Rock n Roll Resort experience is inviting and intriguing, expansive yet intimate, as fans, artists and craft vendors take over the grand resort. With music running from the afternoons until well past sunrise each day, super fans can dance into a frenzy, then walk back to their hotel rooms to re-energize or head to the dining hall for catered lunch or dinner. Rock n Roll Resort fans leave their tents at home and kick off the festival season in style!

    Rock n Roll Resort Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

    Check out our past coverage of Rock n Roll Resort here.

  • Southern Soul Arrives at The Egg with JJ Grey and Mofro on February 19

    JJ Grey & Mofro will perform at The Egg on Thursday, February 19 at 7:30 PM as part of the American Roots & Branches concert series. JJ Grey & Mofro’s blend of front porch soul, funk, R&B, blues, southern rock and down-home storytelling has made them a popular fixture on the American roots music scene for the past decade. The NYC-based band The London Souls, who draw inspiration from British bands such as Cream, The Beatles and The Hollies, will open the night.

    Tickets are $28 and are available at The Egg Box Office at the Empire State Plaza, by telephone 518-473-1845 or online at Theegg.org

  • Winter Carnival 2015: The Royal Noise at the Waterhole

    The first night of Saranac Lake’s annual Winter Carnival kicked off Friday night with The Royal Noise bringing the funk to the Waterhole.

    The Philadelphia-based band featured Saranac Lake native Mike LaBombard on saxophone and keys, along with Rodrigo Pichardo on bass and Aaron Zarrow on drums. The band played a free show in the Waterhole’s downstairs bar area, and it was packed with revelers honoring the outset of the weeklong winter festival, one of the oldest in the U.S., which has a theme this year of the Groovy ’60s. The Carnival queen, Linda Jackson, stopped by in her robe and crown after her coronation to celebrate with her subjects.

  • Hearing Aide: Balkun Brothers ‘ReDrova’

    Emerging from CT with an explosive, funkified blues-rock sound, Balkun Brothers have been touring heavily up and down the East coast in support of their first full-length studio album, ReDrova.

    The trio features Steve Balkun on guitar/vocals, Nick Balkun on drums and Caleb Battersby on bass/vocals, creating a new age soulful blues with hard-hitting attitude. They’ve been voted “Best Blues Band in Connecticut” for the past two years in a row and ReDrova is a powerful testament to the title. The 12 track album covers a diverse taste of Balkun Brothers flavor with foot stomping, high-speed chase tunes to swampy Americana punk. The Balkun Brothers have shared the stage with such acts as Dopapod, Johnny Winter, Joe Bonamassa, Mike Dillon and many more with hundreds of shows set at festivals and legendary clubs across the country.

    The album kicks off with an organized mess of a crescendo from the trio before slamming into heavy, classic rock guitar riffs and rhythms that throw the listener into the music with full force. The impressive rock star vocals with lengthy note holds and range are enthusiastic cliff hangers throughout the entire album. The blues rock is a swampy surprise as the twang of the guitar blends with the deep bass notes and steady percussion perfectly each time. The album takes a turn to slow it down for a heated focus on the sensual melodies only to segue into an upbeat New Orleans’s jazz for a ‘spin me around the dance floor’ free for all. Each song is fresh with an energetic punk meets blues rock and a heavy twist of Elvis Presley charm.

    ReDrova is available on their website for $10 as a digital download or as a hard copy at any of their shows. Catch them this weekend when they return home to Connecticut to perform at The Main Pub in Manchester on Friday, February 6 and to Upstate, NY on Saturday February 7 at Syracuse’s Funk n Waffles with special guests Canopy. Check out their website for all their upcoming New England show dates because with their hot new album release, this is the band to look out for this year.

    Key Tracks: Oh Yeah! (Last Jam), Got My Boots On, Sally’s Blues

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  • Hearing Aide: Years & Years, “Y&Y EP”

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    They say you should never judge a book by its cover, but what about judging a band by their album artwork? It’s an interesting concept. As a musician, I’ll admit I enjoy the contents of a record way beyond its initial art, but as I’m gazing along multiple music search engines, I have to say bright colors do catch my eye first. But what does this have to do with British band Years & Years and their new album? Everything.

    Many have been drawn to this talented trio’s previous releases, including their 2012 single “I Wish I Knew” and 2014 super hit “Real.” However, it wasn’t music alone that brought me to the masterpiece that is Y&Y EP. Once the intricate design of the album cover caught my attention, there was a sudden urge to listen to the entire collection, which of course, I did.

    In typical EP fashion, the EP contains only four tracks, each contrasting in style. The opening track “Desire” leads us in with what some would consider to be a champion pre-game anthem, with an engaging house-inspired pulse courtesy of beat master Emre Turkmen. The combination of Turkmen along with bassist Mikey Goldsworthy was the start of Years & Years back in 2010. Since then, Olly Alexander’s soulful vocals have been added to the band after Goldsworthy heard him singing in the shower. With the addition of Alexander, Years & Years have been gaining great success before even releasing a full-length album, like undergoing an extensive UK tour. The tender mix of bluesy melodic lines and urban dance blends make this band very distinct to listeners, especially for tracks like “Take Shelter” and “King.”

    Placed last in the EP is a track entitled “Memo,” which you could say is the outlier of the Y&Y EP. With subtle use of electronic embellishments, Alexander plays block piano chords as he sings jazzy vocal syncopations. His use of vocal trilling is similar to that of Tracy Chapman, yet there’s an intimate softness in his voice that is close to the style of James Vincent McMorrow. While the song may leave the EP on a rather gloomy note, it shows great versatility within the group that leaves us anxious for a full-length album. While there’s no official word on what this group will do in the studio next, we will surely be keeping watch, at least for some new artwork to marvel at.

    Key Tracks: Desire, Take Shelter, Memo

  • Photo Gallery: March Fourth Marching Band at the Fox Theater

    “Holy Shit! Holy Shit!” That’s what the crowd at Boulder’s sold-out Fox Theater began chanting as the March Fourth Marching Band closed out their foot-stomping set of percussive funk and jazz tunes. Holy Shit, indeed. The Portland, Oregon band could blow the lid off an Iowa grain silo buried in construction-grade concrete if given the chance. So, the roof of the recently renovated Fox proved no match for the raucous members of March Fourth. As one concert-goer exclaimed following the show, “That was a carnival with a concert!” With stilt performers and acrobats tossed in with a dizzying array of horns, snares, and bass drums, the members of March Fourth beat its way into the hearts of enthusiastic crowd long before the band stampeded the floor and railings for their rousing finale.