NYS Music 20​16

Tag: brooklynbowl

  • The New Stew Stirs Up Brooklyn Bowl

    On Monday night in Brooklyn, recently-formed supergroup The New Stew, recreated the underappreciated live album Bill Withers: Live from Carnegie Hall. Walking onto the unusually danceable floor of the Bowl during the opening classic “Use Me”, you had the sense that those in attendance were not only there to hear Withers’ tunes, but also to see these well practiced musicians cook up something special.

    “Friend of Mine” concluded with Yonrico Scott (longtime member of The Derek Trucks Band) abandoning his percussion kit, grabbing a bongo, and joining lead singer Corey Glover (Living Colour/ Galactic) at the front of the stage while he beat the drum so hard that the audience could see wood chips flying off the seemingly handmade mallet. As a side note, this band was not a cover band, but a tribute band, and these sizzling improvisations continued to come to life all night while staying true to the set list created by Mr. Withers over 40 years prior.   Wither’s first hit, “Ain’t No Sunshine” found Glover pouring his heart out over the microphone while Roosevelt Collier closed his eyes and sent Withers a “thank you” in the form of “sacred steel” lap guitar notes. After the song faded away, Glover asked the room, “Why these songs so old and still so relevant,” which felt like the theme of the evening.

    On the day after Mother’s Day, “Grandma’s Hands” felt appropriately placed and gave the audience one more slow groove before jumping into “World Keeps Going Around.” Dave Yoke (Susan Tedeschi Band) on the 6-string, provided some friendly soloing competition with Collier on lap steel. The crowd ate it up during the uplifting rendition, which led to the first true love song of the night, “Let Me in Your Life.” In any great set list, the artist develops peaks and valleys from slow songs to barn-burners (or Bowl burners in this case). “Better Off Dead” out of the aforementioned song was definitely the transition piece missing from this beautiful puzzle. In the 15 years of the songwriter’s performing career, Withers became know as the “Troubadour of Soul,” covering many different genres. This one can definitely be filed as “F” for FUNK! Kevin Scott’s (Col. Bruce Hampton’s Pharaoh Gummit) bass spiced up the stew while Jared Stone (Stone’s Stew) added flavor from behind the drum kit.

    One thing missing from the original live recording was the witty banter provided by Withers in regards to his band and what influenced the writing of many of the tracks. In true tribute fashion, Glover connected with the audience in the same way when he stated “I wish I was down there watching that” in reference to Collier’s boiling hot solo during “For My Friend.” “I Can’t Write Left Handed” is like an R&B version of a wartime Johnny Cash song, which makes sense considering Withers shared some similarities in terms of the songwriters’ backgrounds. The two were humble, had a unique sense of humor and were proud to fight for independence and entertain the country they served (coincidentally Withers was born of the fourth of July). Another similarity between the two icons is their respect for their fellow man and few tunes cover that topic better than “Lean On Me.” After so many magical moments in the evening, it is hard to pick one highlight, but “Lean On Me” appeared to be the most anticipated song of the night as Withers fans new and old hugged it out during this spirit-lifter. The extended “call me” refrain was repeated almost a dozen times as the audience and band came together to complete a touching duo of slower tunes.

    Matt Slocum (Oteil and the Peacemakers) displayed his talent on the keys while teaming up with Collier and Scott during “Lonely Town, Lonely Street” to get the Bowl shaking again. Glover grinned from ear to ear after crushing “Hope She’ll Be Happier” and the room let him know it. The New Stew took us to church for the “Let Us Love” set closer which left the guests hungry for more as they returned for the medley encore of “Harlem/Cold Boloney.” The night ended with a Glover led call/response of “Do you feel good? Yes, yes, yes. Do you want to go home? No, no, no!”

    In a world where cover bands, Youtube and Spotify are the most prevalent means of listening to the sounds of yesteryear, rare supergroup tribute bands like The New Stew come along to not only bring us back in time, but to bring us back in spirit. While Bill Withers and his band provided the musicians with a soulful framework and influence, each member added their own special sauce to the dish making it a special that we hope to see on the Brooklyn Bowl menu again.

  • Turkuaz Ends Sold Out 3 Night Run at Brooklyn Bowl

    On Saturday April 9,  Brooklyn’s own Turkuaz closed out their three-night run to a sold out crowd at Brooklyn Bowl.

    After the opening band, Sidewalk Chalk, began heating up the room to a simmer, Turkuaz brought the crowd to full on boil with their opening song “Lika” from their 2015 Digitonium release. Next up was “Chatte Lunatique” off of the Zerbert album, which had the crowd, brass section and backup vocalists bopping up and down in synch. Each band member sported their own signature, color-coded Members Only jacket on stage, reminiscent of a funky bag of Skittles that had somehow taken human form and hypnotized the Brooklyn Bowl. By the fourth song, and their first cover, Sam and Dave’s “Hold On, I’m Comin’” everyone from the back bar to the front of stage could taste the rainbow as the classic soul tune raged on.

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    The band took a minute to wipe the sweat from their faces before tackling “Lift It Up” into their most listened-to Spotify tune, “Bubba Slide,” off the Future 86 album. “Who were you two days ago/I’ll be damned if you should know,” are the opening lyrics to “Bubba” and on the third night of transformational Brooklyn run, the words took on a different meaning. There was a feeling in the room that something special was happening. We were witnessing a new brand of funk while simultaneously time-traveling to the golden age of the genre.

    The 9-piece jammed on with a few more originals before capping off the first set with their second cover of the night, “I’ve Got a Feeling” by a band founded far away from Williamsburg, The Beatles. Just before the tkenna_turkuaz_bkbowlN3_024cover began, the audience started to thin out for a fresh beer or cigarette during what was sure to be the break of an already stellar set until they heard the opening riff to this Let it Be classic. People began sprinting back inside to be part of the action and as the cigarette flames were extinguished outside, a new fire started within. Since the last time Turkuaz ignited the Brooklyn Bowl flame in 2015, the band’s sound has evolved through hard work, relentless touring and attention to their craft. Ask any die-hard Turkuaz fan and they will tell you that the band gets better every time you see them in Brooklyn. Smiles covered the group’s faces as they proudly sang the symbolic lyrics “Everybody had a good year, everybody let their hair down, everybody pulled their socks up, everybody put their foot down.” Oh, yeah!

    Set two’s energy picked off right where the first left off as Taylor Shell’s bass pumped out an extra groove-able intro to the Digitonium tune, “Doktor Jazz.” As if the band wasn’t hot enough on their own, they called tkenna_turkuaz_bkbowlN3_021upon James Casey (Trey Anastasio Band) and his saxophone wizardry to add some gasoline to the blaze. The band was just getting started as Casey exited the stage after a short lived, but memorable sit-in. The crowd appeared to have stretched their legs during set break as they put on an all-out dance clinic during the sexy “Desert Island,” “Coast to Coast,” “E.Y.E. (Lookin’ Good)” threesome of originals.

    An extended version of “Tired of Talkin’” led the band to show the heavily-breathing crowd mercy after “Digital Love” to cool things down for a moment, well, slightly. As the second set was coming to a close each tkenna_turkuaz_bkbowlN2_036member was placed under the spotlight during “Gogo, Mr. Dodo,” but especially Shira Elias, who was dressed like a feminine synth pop version of the yellow Power Ranger. She definitely took lead on this second-set highlight as she shook the Brooklyn Bowl with her soulful pipes.

    As Sunday morning was officially upon us, the band came out to cover one more song, The Talking Heads, “Take Me To The River.” Since the early days of Turkuaz, it has been no secret that the Heads have been one of the main influences from their tongue-in-cheek lyrics to their strange attire and genre melting sound. “Take Me To The River” may be one of the most covered and influential songs on the jam-band or funk circuit in the past 40 years and this group absolutely nailed their take on the Al Green penned piece. The climax came after the band collectively dropped the crowd into the funky waters of the venue.

    Hours after the show ended the caption on the Turkuaz Facebook page reads, “This was truly one of the most special weekends we’ve experienced as a band.” After that power-funk spectacle, it is safe to say that the growing fan base had a pretty special weekend as well.

  • Turkuaz and lespecial Funk It Up Night Two at Brooklyn Bowl

    Turkuaz continued their 2016 Digitonium Tour with a 3 night run at Brooklyn Bowl, featuring lespecial for their second night. If any NY funk lovers were looking for something to do for 3 days in April, this was it.

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    lespecial opened the night of groovy dancing and brought a lighter, funkier version of their death-funk/future-groove with some staples from Omnisquid such as “Fruit Wolf Dance”, “Sugaboi”, and “Pressed For Time”tkenna_lespecial_bkbowl_020 (guitarist/vocalist Gruskauskas’ vocal range truly shines on this track). The trio from Boston also featured classic cover of Les Claypool’s “My Name is Mud”, some new music in collaboration with some Turkuaz members and even a cover of Tears For Fears’ “Everybody Wants To Rule The World.” I’ve mentioned before in previous reviews, lespecial is truly one of my favorite bands to experience live as their genre-bending capabilities are unmatched!

    Succeeding their funk-band-in-arms, Turkuaz took the stage and opened with a fitting “Introduction” from their recent album, Digitonium. Following a strong intro, a very funked up “The Rules” from the 2011 album Zerbert , had the crowd dancing and bopping from the floor to the bowling lanes. It was at this moment I realized what I had been missing; Turkuaz truly brings the funk and I had seen the light in only their second song of the night. Each piece of the band plays a very integral part as each member not only brings their extreme talent to each instrument and vocal aspect but also their own unique style. Some favorites from the night included “The Generator” and “King Computer” from Digitonium and “Tip Toe Through the Crypto” and “It’s So Hard” from the Stereochrome EP.

    Turkuaz’s second set was very special as they dedicated the entirety of it to The Band. They opened with a very funky “Chest Fever” followed by an affectionately soulful “Ophelia” and then an extremely heartfelt “The Night They Drove Dixie Down.” “Up On Cripple Creek” seems to have been made for them to cover as they certainly shined in all aspects whilst rocking the track. Naturally, during “The Weight”, a beautiful sing-a-long manifested from the crowd and a very dancey “Don’t Do It” got everyone moving and shaking. Closing out with a fervent and almost spiritual “I Shall Be Released” it’s an understatement to say that Turkuaz did these anthems justice; they put their all into every track and made each one a unique experience. Turkuaz is an amazing spectacle of talent, color and funk. If you consider yourself a fan of live music and have not experienced a Turkuaz show, you’re doing yourself an injustice.