NYS Music 20​16

Category: Regions

  • Catching up with Holly Bowling, Returning to The Massry Center on May 12

    Time has flown. It’s been half a year since we last spoke with Holly Bowling, who has been traversing the country performing the music of Phish, The Grateful Dead and more through her classical transcriptions of music from the two, and stops at the Massry Center on May 12.

    Since October, Bowling has found herself at two major festivals – Jamcruise, AURA, and performances in New Orleans during Jazz Fest, and is now amid a tour of the Northeast, with stops in Burlington (a birthday show at Higher Ground, May 11), New York City (a midnight set at Blue Note Jazz Club, May 13), and Syracuse (Westcott Theater, May 14).

    holly bowling massryHolly’s live show has evolved and developed quite a bit over the past six months as she has incorporated more Grateful Dead songs into her shows. Bowling says she “loves how the two catalogs can meld together and allow for an expanded range of musical styles and emotions.”

    Beginning last fall, when a show at the the Winery in Pittsburgh, PA, sold out, she quickly added a second show, but wanted something unique for the second night, and decided upon a show not strictly of Phish but also of Grateful Dead songs. Bowling says this is part of what she has found gives her “freedom to improvise into uncharted territory, take risks and see where it leads to, bringing the music to new areas and provide room to grow in the spirit of both of the two bands improvisational histories.”

    As a result of this catalog expansion, later this year, Holly will release an album of Grateful Dead songs arranged for classical piano, in a manner similar to her 2015 debut album Distillation of a Dream. Fresh out of the studio weeks ago before last weeks’ New Orleans Jazz Fest and her Northeast Spring Tour, the album’s music is slated to be quite different with a larger focus on improvisation, allowing more space for Holly’s own style of improv to come through, as opposed to Distillation where the songs were much more tightly arranged, closer to the original compositions. “There is a really interesting parallel between the two albums and the mix of the bands and freedom of the songs. It will be interesting to see how that develops in live shows as well as the album,” said Bowling.

    2016 began with Jamcruise 14, a first for Bowling both as a fan and performer. “The thing that really blew me away how it’s a multi-day music festival where each band who plays is still there for multiple days; it is unparalleled and special, on the water and in the tropics, it’s all pretty magical. The opportunity for connection and community when everyone is there really sets it apart.”

    Bowling recently performed at New Orleans Jazz Fest, having attended as a fan and now for the first time as a performer. A performance at The Little Gem Saloon, was ideal for Bowling: an emerging artists showcase for bands from New Orleans and other areas around the country who shared the bill together. With pianos upstairs and down, Bowling remarked that Little Gem “you have my heart.” Her show at Howling Wolf in the Den, a small room off to the side, was performed in between sets of Turkuaz (covering The Band) and Jazz is Phish (which followed ‘Thankful for Amy,’ a tribute to Amy Winehouse fronted by Elise Testone) “This was a super fun gig to play because the energy was super high. I came on at 2 am and the town and energy were electric and had the best energy going. Turkuaz was a tough act to follow, but I find it easy to get fired up by others and playing music is always a nice segue. I was already in that happy musical head space when I went out for my set.”

    Now in the Northeast, Bowling will offer a different show at The Massry Center than last October, factoring in Phish, The Grateful Dead and and “more improvisation, as the show concept has developed and as she’s gotten more comfortable with the music.” The Massry Center, frequently a venue for jazz and classical music, is a premier performance space and with Bowling in the room, the show can push the envelope in terms of the music people are typically seeing. “Bringing in different music to venues that is counter to what type of music typically appears there creates a hybrid of the two musical worlds that I love seeing music in.”

    Expect a unique and memorable show on May 12. Tickets are $20 or $10 for students.

  • Twenty One Pilots Announce Tour, Includes Albany and Brooklyn

    Twenty One Pilots will play the Times Union Center in Albany on January 25, 2017 as a part of their Emotional Roadshow world tour.

    The Twenty One Pilots tour begins in Cincinnati and continues throughout North America. It has already sold out two shows at Madison Square Garden in addition to two nights in Boston.

    Twenty One Pilots tourTwenty One Pilots have garnered much success recently with their hit “Stressed Out,” which has spent months on the Billboard Top 40 chart and won iHeartRadio’s award for Alternative Rock Song of the Year. They’ve also recently received nominations for the 2016 Billboard Music Awards.

    Tickets go on sale beginning May 13 at noon, and pricing begins at $46.50. In addition to Albany, they will also play Brooklyn on Jan. 20.

    JANUARY
    17 Providence, RI Dunkin Donuts Center
    18 Bridgeport, CT Webster Bank Arena
    20 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center
    21 Newark, NJ Prudential Center
    22 Charlottesville, VA John Paul Jones Arena
    24 Allentown, PA PPL Center
    25 Albany, NY Times Union Center
    27 Pittsburgh, PA Consol Energy Center
    28 Chicago, IL United Center
    29 Moline, IL iWireless Center
    31 Madison, WI Alliant Energy Center Memorial Coliseum

    FEBRUARY
    1 Omaha, NE CenturyLink Center
    3 Wichita, KS INTRUST Bank Arena
    4 Sioux Falls, SD Denny Sanford Premier Center
    7 Bozeman, MT Brick Breeden Fieldhouse
    8 Boise, ID Taco Bell Arena
    10 San Jose, CA SAP Center
    11 Sacramento, CA Golden 1 Center
    14 Fresno, CA Save Mart Center
    15 Anaheim, CA HONDA Center*
    18 Las Vegas, NV Mandalay Bay Events Center
    19 Tucson, AZ The Tucson Arena
    21 Tulsa, OK BOK Center
    22 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
    24 Birmingham, AL BJCC Arena
    25 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum Complex
    26 North Charleston, SC North Charleston Coliseum
    28 Tampa, FL Amalie Arena

    MARCH
    2 New Orleans, LA Smoothie King Center
    3 North Little Rock, AR Verizon Arena
    4 Memphis, TN FedEx Forum
    5 Louisville, KY KFC Yum! Center
    24 Wellington, NZ TSB Bank Arena
    25 Auckland, NZ Vector Arena
    27 Brisbane, AU Entertainment Centre
    29 Adelaide, AU Entertainment Centre
    31 Melbourne, AU Rod Laver Arena

    https://youtu.be/VRpU9KJmVGs

  • Albany’s Move Redefines Music Festivals

    Close your eyes and picture the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words “music festival.” It’s a safe bet that you’re picturing an outdoor stage, maybe a few. Maybe there’s an accompanying camping area with tents as far as the eye can see. And there’s definitely food and merchant vendors lining the parameter of the grounds. Now erase those images from your mind, because the Move Music Festival in Albany, NY is nothing like this.

    Move Music FestivalYes, the fifth annual festival held April 22 – 24 featured 100 artists in myriad genres ranging from bluegrass to funk and on to reggae. But with 10 venues in locations across “SmAlbany,” ticket holders have free range in the city with the added comfort of knowing they have their own bed to look forward to at the end of the night.

    Bands included The Arkells, Food Will Win the War, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad,  New Madrid, Roots of Creation, The Big Takeover, Hard Soul, The Titanics, Eastbound Jesus, The Parlor, Mirk and tons more.

    While some venues did feature outdoor stages under tents, the majority of acts at this Indian ledge Music Group production made home to indoor stages at small to moderate sized bars.

    More than live music performances, Move not only gives exposure to regional talent but it provides musicians with insight on how to conduct their careers in today’s independent music scene. In addition to live performances, artist are able to participate in interactive panels with industry professionals to help with the development, management and progression of their music careers.

    With so many acts and venues, the Move Music Festival is best experienced firsthand, but below you can re-visit some of the acts that rocked Albany in April.

  • The Show Goes On: WRPI’s Steve Daub Bids Farewell to ‘Stormy Monday Blues’ This Week

    It’s a Monday night in Troy, and radio host Steve Daub shuffles into the WRPI studios with a small duffel bag of CDs in hand, ready to pick through some of the new local and national blues records on the shelf. At the top of the 8 o’clock hour, his distinct voice carries the words, “You’re listening to Stormy Monday Blues on WRPI-Troy,” over the intro riff of the blues tune of the same name. This Monday, he will give that intro on the radio one more time.

    SMalinski - Steve Daub - WRPI-1

    Steve Daub in the studio, May 2016

    Underneath the stadium-style lecture halls of the Darrin Communications Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute resides the university’s radio station. WRPI pumps out music and programming with all sorts of content from the whacky musings of Harmando in the morning to the Capital District EDM staple of DJ Scooter’s “The Sounds of Now” on Friday nights. In between sits many other notable programs, including Steve Daub’s “Stormy Monday Blues.”

    Daub began officially hosting the program in April 2000 after co-hosting it with former host Bill Burdick on a few occasions. Just over 16 years later, “Stormy Monday Blues” will again be passed on in a similar fashion. The program was started in the early 1980s by Jim Barrett (River Street Beat Shop, Troy) as a spin-off of his long-running program, “Kaleidoscope,” which currently airs on WVCR at Siena College. Since then, some of the hosts include Dave Thomas, former Smithsonian post-doctoral associate Kip Lornell, and Bill Burdick.

    A mainstay of “Stormy Monday Blues” over the past few years has been frequent, live in-studio performances and interviews with local blues artists, some such as Rhett Tyler and Professor Louie & The Crowmatix taking residency status. On top of being a prominent figure in advocating for the patronage of live, local blues performances, this lead to Daub’s November 2012 induction into the NY Blues Hall of Fame.

    Steve_Daub_Great_Blues_DJ_Albany_11-11-12WEB

    Soon after Daub’s concurrent retirement from his professional career comes a relocation that will make him unable to make it to the studios to keep doing the show, but he is leaving it in good hands. Regular listeners of the program have become familiar with the new voice of the show over the past few months.

    Though Daub is leaving “Stormy Monday Blues” this week, he by no means will part ways with music. While he wraps up some odds and ends around the Capital District through part of the summer, he plans on filling in some air time on WRPI, perhaps making an encore appearance on “Stormy Monday Blues.” He is looking forward to splitting more of his time between New York and New Orleans to take in the rich music scene and culture of the city where he already makes an annual pilgrimage for the New Orleans Jazz Festival, and he may look to pick up some on-air time in the Crescent City at Tulane University or the renowned jazz and blues station WWOZ.

    SMalinski - Professor Louie - Paramount Hudson Valley-1Prof. Louie, a frequent “Stormy Monday Blues” guest, performing at Paramount Hudson Valley in Peekskill, Oct. 29 2015

    An inductee of the New York Blues Hall of Fame as a musician (February 2015), Sonny Speed has a wealth of knowledge of the blues, which he will bring with him as the new host of “Stormy Monday Blues.” As an accomplished musician and record producer, Speed has opened for some big names including the Zombies, Cactus, Leslie West, Leon Russell and Toby Walker, among others. On top of that, he has shared the stage with Joe Louis Walker, the Drifters, Murali Coryell, Taz Cru and Chubby Checker to name a few. Speed has been getting acclimated to the radio environment as a co-host with Daub for the past handful of months.

    Sonny Speed WRPISonny Speed at the keyboards

    It wasn’t entirely a chance encounter that brought Speed to the WRPI studios. Daub and Speed have worked together in the past judging blues events, meeting at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs.

    As Sonny recalls:

    I was hosting the Capital District Blues Network jam at Caffe Lena some time this past December. Steve was there watching the acoustic jam and later that night he called me to the back room and says ‘I want to talk to you about something. I’m going to be retiring and I’d like you to take over my show. I think you’ve got a good fit with what I’m doing there.’ He didn’t want to go to just anybody who didn’t have a depth in the blues.

    Speed owns Sun Spot Studio in Saratoga Springs and has produced more than 75 albums, so hosting a radio program that incorporates live sessions will be a natural fit for him.

    Rhett Tyler WRPIRhett Tyler performing on “Stormy Monday Blues,” Nov. 23, 2015

    Speed lists several big-name blues artists as his favorites starting with Toby Walker, Albert Collins, Buddy Guy, Keb’ Mo’, and New York-based artists Slam Allen and Joe Louis Walker. Though he has a similar taste in the blues to Daub, Speed is looking forward to presenting his own take on the genre while bringing in new and returning live studio guests and continuing his own music activism to get people out to see live music.

    Although “Stormy Monday Blues” will just be CDs from the studio this Monday,  be sure to tune in as Steve Daub signs onto the show one last time to share some memories and words of thanks before drifting into the night as Sonny takes over to finish the rest of that evening’s show.

    Catch “Stormy Monday Blues” as it continues every Monday with Sonny Speed from 8 to 10 p.m. on WRPI, broadcasting to the Capital District at 91.5fm and worldwide at wrpi.org.

  • Tight Reggae Riffs At The Tralf With Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad

    In what’s become an almost annual event now,  Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad (GPGDS) passed through the Tralf Music Hall in Buffalo on April 16th.

    Level 7 started the night off playing some funk by George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, as well as other classic funk and hip hop. Their lyricist had a good stage presence, and got the early crowd into it. He also sat in with GPGDS for a song during their 2nd set. GPGDS makes such mellow, happy and easy going music. It’s the type of sound that a fan of any genre of music can get into and enjoy. That Saturday night at The Tralf was no different; as soon as they hit the stage the crowd started moving. They put on a great show for the hometown crowd that night. Their tour continued on afterwards but they expressed a few times how good it was to be back home for the night.

    Overall, it was a great night of music. Panda kept their momentum rolling in between sets. They hit the stage for their second set and started right where they left off as they brought The Tralf alive that night. No complaints from my end. How can you complain when you get 2 live sets of a riveting act like GPGDS for less than the price of a tank of gas?

  • Dream Theater Presents ‘The Astonishing’ At Radio City Music Hall

    Not too far off Broadway a production hit Radio City Music Hall. Was it a concert?  A theatrical production? Yes. A homecoming show for most of the band members, Dream Theater ‘The Astonishing’ tour made a stop at the famed concert hall – a well-fitting venue for this show in particular.

    Dream Theater

    The band veered off their beaten path to try something a little different while delivering the progressive metal sound they helped define. This tour caught some fans off guard at first, disappointed some who had set their own expectations in advance, and grabbed the attention of the rest.

    Dream Theater presented their epic rebuttal to Rush’s 2112 and distant cousin of Queensrÿche’s Operation: Mindcrime, The Astonishing, in its entirety. The album was recently released on January 29, making it very fresh with some time still needed to take in the 130-minute long monster. Regardless, a start-to-finish live presentation was quite fitting for a tour in support of the album’s release.

    dream theater the astonishingThe show had plenty of the staples of a Dream Theater performance: Petrucci carrying out his psycho exercises on guitar, Mangini’s big drum sound, and Rudess’ busy keyboard lines. Given the presentation of the music the show was very scripted and the focus was split on following the story behind the music. Those looking for the typical Dream Theater experience may have found a slice of it but will have to wait until the next tour. They stuck to their guns with presenting just The Astonishing, with no encore of other material.

    The story behind The Astonishing is set in a futuristic version of the United States where music is made entirely by machines (NOMACs). Its plot follows the good guys (Ravenskill Rebel Militia) as they try to overthrow the bad guys (Great Northern Empire of the Americas). The progression of the story is told as the songs weave between ballads and Dream Theater’s trademark sound. The album version is fully orchestrated beyond just the five-piece band, something that was perfectly transposed to the stage through live programming.

    The live presentation of the story of The Astonishing was well executed. It maintained a balance between concert and theatrics, weighted more heavily toward the concert component. The projections accompanied the music and helped convey the songs rather than taking a place at the forefront of the show. Maintaining the futuristic dystopian appeal the show occasionally felt like a walk-through of  the video game Portal. For those who have no idea what that is, let’s leave it that the show had a rather technological feel to it.

    Though it was a different show than the typical for Dream Theater, it was an interesting change of pace to have a combination of music and story. Going into the show without a thorough understanding of the story and the right mindset was a slight distraction from the music. Despite this, Dream Theater’s performance of The Astonishing was well thought-out and seeing it a second time would make it more enjoyable than it already was.

  • Larkin Square Announces 2016 Summer Concert Series in Buffalo

    Music lovers in Buffalo have more options for free music this summer. Larkin Square will return for a fifth summer season showcasing 38 Buffalo-bred musical acts including Aqueous and Savannah & the Kings during their weekly 2016 Wednesday night concert series.

    Live at Larkin offers a free, family-friendly event packed with music, food trucks and community groups. The concert series will run through Aug. 31. The free series is made possible through sponsorship with First Niagara and Independent Health.

    The series will kick off on June 1 with a six-act opening night headlined by annual favorites John and Mary & the Valkyries, with each of the acts representing at least one local music nonprofit organization.

    The series also host theme nights. This year will include an evening titled “Buffalo ’66: Cash & Stones Revisited,” marking the 50th anniversary of the week in which both legends performed in Buffalo. “Latin at Larkin” will feature complete dance lessons before each band, while “Sinatra’s Second Century” will feature music from Frank Sinatra.

    “We’re excited to welcome the public to a new chapter of Live at Larkin with this most ambitious lineup to date for our original flagship event,” said Larkin Square Director of Fun Leslie Zemsky in a press release. “We continue to be amazed at the depth and quality of the Buffalo music scene – We can’t wait to hula hoop to these sounds of summer!”

    Live At Larkin

    June 1 John and Mary & the Valkyries w/ Fredtown Stompers, Freightrain, Verve Dance Studio, Carol McLaughlin & Magnitude, French Quarter Hounds

    June 8 Aqueous w/ Jettison

    June 15 Outer Circle Orchestra w/ Tiger Chung Lee

    June 22 Unity Band w/ Will Holton, 4 B-Lo, Buffalo Concertina All Stars

    June 29 Stoneflower w/ A Band Named Sue ft. Ring of Fire Cast Members

    July 6 La Krema w/ Sol y Sombra, Salsa Sarah Dance Lessons

    July 13 Tom Stahl & the Dangerfields w/ Savannah & the Kings

    July 20 Miller & The Other Sinners w/ Preach Freedom & Connect

    July 27 Reign of Kindo w/ The Tins

    August 3 Brian Higgins & The Exchange Street Band w/ The Stone Bridge Band, Keith Shuskie ft. John Higgins

    August 10 Dive House Union w/ Jony James Band

    August 17 Rear View Ramblers w/ Uncle Ben’s Remedy

    August 24 Nelson Starr & The Franciscans w/ Joey Giambra Jazz Orchestra

    August 31 The Buffalovebirds w/ The New Good Neighbors

  • Canalside Announces Annual Summer Concert Series 2016

    The free summer concert announcements are keeping music fans in Buffalo excited. The city’s popular and free Canalside series announced its Thursday night concert series this week. Canalside is hosting 12 concerts starting June 9 and running through August 25, 2016.

    canalside 2016This year’s lineup includes a variety of acts that span over a wide variety of musical genres. The Buffalo Philaharmonic Orchestra will take the stage once again in “A Tribute to David Bowie.” Other highlights of the lineup include Public Enemy, Zappa Plays Zappa, and Claypool Lennon Delirium.

    Canalside‘s weekly events will include a variety of food trucks and vendors. All of the concerts are free and open to the public, and all start at 6 p.m. VIP packages are available.

    Event organizers will be offering local area musicians the chance to open this summer’s concerts through a Battle of the Band contest held in conjunction with local arts magazine The Public.

    Canalside Thursday concert series lineup:

    • June 9: Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaries
    • June 16: Frank Turner with special guest July Talk
    • June 23: Public Enemy
    • June 30: Frankie Ballard
    • July 7: Dweezil Zappa Plays Frank Zappa
    • July 14: Shakey Graves and Preservation Hall Jazz Band & Wild Child
    • July 21: The Arcs and Mariachi Flor De Toloache
    • July 28: BPO “A Tribute to David Bowie”
    • August 4: Tritonal
    • August 11: Lowest of the Low and Serena Ryder
    • August 18: Coolio
    • August 25: Claypool Lennon Delirium

  • An Interview with the Gifted Kofi Burbridge

    It’s not often a band picks out Buffalo, NY in their list of tour dates to set up shop for a two-night run. This weekend though, Tedeschi Trucks Band with longtime keyboardist/flutist Kofi Burbridge will be playing Saturday and Sunday (Mat 7 and 8) at The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo.

    The band released their latest album, Let Me Get By, earlier this year to strong reviews and will certainly be drawing up that and other deep cuts for an exploratory two nights in the Queen City.

    While the group is fronted and named after the marital pair and supremely talented Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, the talent runs deep in the group. Kofi Burbridge and Derek’s former band the Derek Trucks Band is someone long deserving of a little limelight. We got the chance to sit down and hear about Kofi’s story and how that folds into the band’s upcoming stint.

    Interview Kofi BurbridgeNYS Music: What instruments do you play and what fueled your passion?

    Kofi Burbridge: Flute and keyboards are primary. That’s what I make my living on, but I came up attempting to play a lot of other instruments – the bass being one of them. Oteil and I actually explored a series of instruments. We got lucky because we had a set of parents who saw that we were interested. Like any responsible pair, they made us get our work done first and then we could play. It showed them though that we were really passionate about getting into music, so they invested in lessons and things like that. We had the benefit of my dad’s extensive record collection as well. He’s not a musician per se, but an extreme connoisseur of music. We had this treasure waiting for us, not knowing it was treasure waiting for us.

    NYS Music: When coming up and going to school in Atlanta, you wrote “Kam-Ma-Lay”, which later became a Derek Trucks Band song for the group’s third album, Joyful Noise, in 2002. What was it like seeing that come to life after being shelved for a while?

    KB: It was a resurgence I would say. We (the band) were in a situation where we needed tunes and everyone was scrambling and bringing what they had to the table. I had been listening to Derek and the band for some time and knew Yonrico from working with him ten years prior to DtB. By the time I heard the band, they had this flavor that was really cool – lots of different genres. They obviously had the southern rock thing, but with straight ahead jazz and some Latin flavor as well. I felt “Kam-Ma-Lay” might be a good one for this particular recording. That was a big time fun tune to do and everyone got really into it. I had the sections of the tune and Derek put the melody on top.

    Interview Kofi BurbridgeNYS Music: You mentioned Yonrico Scott (former DtB drummer), what was it like working with him?

    KB: He brings a positive force to the space every time. That was his aim and he’s always bringing joy – and I use that word specifically to describe his style. He also really likes to nail his stuff down. He is so much fun to play with and fires up the whole band. It’s like you’re going to a party when you’re playing with him and the cat’s always got pocket.

    NYS Music: Todd Smallie is no slouch either right?

    KB: Well, you know, he was one of the first ones I noticed in the band. I mean they were all throwing down big time, but I was like, “check this bass player out – moving that thing all over the place to these tunes.” He’s part of pioneering that whole style. He was one of the people who showed you could approach the bass the same way you could approach the guitar. It’s a fret board, you know? It really opened up the approach on bass – so yeah, when I saw Todd I told Oteil he had to see him.

    NSY Music:  What’s the biggest difference between what the Derek Trucks Band was doing and what Tedeschi Trucks Band is doing now?

    KB: It’s hard to say. There are more people in TTB, so we’re featuring moments at a different pace. You only have so much time to say the things you want to say. Couple that with more of a song environment with Susan’s interactions and what she brings to the show and we also have the horn section which adds a completely different tonality and allows for different styles. There’s a whole lot more to bring in comparison to DtB, but I would say DtB had way more freedom in terms of moments to improv. I remember Derek throwing solos all around. There was a point I remember Derek saying, jokingly, “Hey man I’m getting tired of soloing so much.” All along the way, Derek has wanted to up his game and I think that’s what he’s trying to show now at this stage in his development. He really is a fantastic band leader and lets you play what you want to play if it’s appropriate for what he’s going for. I’ve never had this much creative freedom with any band. It’s the most I’ve been able to open up in any band situation, especially in one like this with so many people.

    Interview Kofi BurbridgeNYS Music: What can fans expect with the first two-night run of Tedeschi Trucks Band in Buffalo?

    KB: Whenever we do get two nights, it’s a lot of fun. We get the chance to play a show, get into the city some more, and come back to another show. One of the trickiest things for a bandleader is to feature so many elements within one night. We can really stretch out over two and go deeper.

    NYS Music: So tell us more about this Brothers project with your brother Oteil, and Neal and Alan Evans.

    KB: Yeah, we’re really excited about that as well. Alan, Neal and Oteil were on the Jam Cruise and they must have had a ball because all of a sudden Al got the feeling and said we have to do this. Personally, I’ve been trying to figure out how to manage my time on and off the road. I had to put my foot down on myself and get busy while I’m off the road. Right after I came off this last run with TTB in Australia and Japan, I flew up to Al’s studio in Massachusetts. We had two good days and came up with four tracks. It was much needed and I’m so glad we kicked it off. I can’t wait for the finish. Hopefully there will be some shows, but I’m not sure that’s on the burners just yet.

    Interview Kofi Burbridge

    NYS Music: What is the feel of the recording?

    KB: Definitely some heavy funk to it, but like I said it’s still in the oven. I’m 100% sure it’s going to be everything that we want and a great kickoff for us. There were lots of ideas being thrown on the table and it was just fantastic.

    NYS Music: Is there a release timeline yet?

    KB: It’s hard for me to say. I think Al actually has a better answer for that than me since he’s handling the logistics of it.

    NYS Music: What other projects do you have going on?

    KB: I’m working on a personal project myself and trying to get in the studio to get something done this year and released in 2017. That’s really important to me right now. It’s another bigger project on my burner right now and will cover flute and keys. It will probably be more of a writing project, but hard to say since I’m still putting a lot of the pieces together. It will definitely include a lot of people that I currently work with.

    NYS Music: Ending on a topical note, what are your thoughts on Prince’s passing and how did his music and the recent events impact you?

    KB: He was definitely a part of my generation. He was 57 and I’m 54, so it definitely touches home on just a basic human level. There have been so many people at this age passing, not just musicians but friends as well. It’s kind of a major wake-up call at the moment since it was so unexpected. It’s a very scary thing.

    When I went to his show just a few years back, it was the first time I had ever seen him. I had been waiting to hear all of my favorites like “Little Red Corvette” and some other older ones. I had no idea what I was about to see since Prince had gone through so many incarnations and bands. I mean, the man had so much music. I thought it was probably going to be everything, and it was truly all of that. It was an excellent show. He came out sparkling; I mean the dude was way past ten! He loved the fact that he was performing. That was the biggest thing that I got out of the show. He was happy to be on stage and to be performing the music. It really fired him up. It fired up the entire audience and everyone was into it. What really blew my mind, and was the major icing on the cake, was that he remained there after the show and continued to play on the piano! You could just hang if you wanted. I’m like, this man has storage. He has terabytes of music. It was amazing! It’s serious love.

  • Road Trip: Bunny Wailer and Highway 50 at the Ogden in Denver

    They say this is a bad year for music legends. They say all the good ones are gone. Shhhhh! Don’t tell that to Bunny Wailer, the last original member of the legendary Wailers. Because, not only is he alive, but skipping and skittering across stage while belting out tropical sun-drenched roots reggae songs with sinewy finesse. The three-time Grammy winner recently assembled a robust band along with a buzz-cut sharp horn second called the Solomonic Reggaestra. Wailers assemble sparked the Ogden Theatre last week in Denver, Colorado with jaunty renditions of classic Wailer favorites like “Trenchtown Rock.” Local ska/reggae favorites, Highway 50, led by former Samples keyboardist, Al Laughin, started the evening with lemon bright set of melodies punctuated by the brass jags of The Horns of Destruction. The bloggers may not have it quite right. Maybe it hasn’t all been bad this year for music legends. And they aren’t all dead. Not by a back roads Jamaica mile.