Buffalo is home to so many fantastic venues and hosts an endless, revolving stream of incredible artists all year long. When we had the pleasure of hosting Keller Williams at one of the best venues in Buffalo we knew we would be in for a treat. celebrate youth
Keller Williams is a long time staple in the jam band scene playing as a solo artist and with several other projects ranging from funk to blue grass. His high energy shows make up for in talent, creativity, and a magnetic, eternal, youthful jubilance what they lack in lights and lasers. Fans come out to hear the man play, to watch him layer each instrument, to marvel as he deliberately selects each note and nuance. A one man band for the ages, Williams refers to his sound as acoustic dance music, and I’d be hard pressed to describe it any better.
Williams resumed his solo tour in conjunction with the release of his 20th album Vape, with a much anticipated stop in Buffalo on what felt like the first sunny day this side of the millennium. He took to the stage to a sold out crowd at the Tralf Music Hall shortly after nine o’clock on a Friday night. Located in the heart of Buffalo’s theater district The Tralf is a gem of a venue, occupying the second floor, perched above a night club, and residing next to the historic Shea’s Performing Arts Center. When stepping outside at set break the juxtaposition offered by its locale is unmatched. Men in tuxedos escorting women in fine gowns through clouds of smoke and profanity, punctuated by the occasional drag queen or panhandler, make for a scene that’s as hard to replicate as it is easy to love.
Unfortunately, not everyone was feeling the love. The beefed up security at the Tralf resulted in several attendees being ejected from the capacity event. The limited wiggle room and constant chatter of the well liberated crowd made for a first set that was at times a challenge to enjoy. Williams persevered however and did not delay acknowledging the importance of the date of his performance here in Buffalo, rolling out a first set full of tributes to 4/20 including covers of Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It” and, Buffalo’s own, Rick James’ “Mary Jane”. He also delivered a soul soothing Tom Petty medley alongside several original tracks.
The second set saw a thinned out crowd and significantly less noise. Williams delivered some long time favorites like “Kiwi and the Apricot”, “Stupid Questions”, and a clever and entertaining “Super Hot Girl”- a truly comedic lyrical romp with Keller providing the perfect soundtrack. The highlight of the second set came as the crowd was expecting a cover of “Stairway to Heaven” and instead received a much welcome “All Along the Watchtower”. Williams dubbing the mashup “Stairway To Watchtower” to cheering fans. Keller Williams closed out his 4/20 party at the Tralf with an important reminder to “Celebrate Your Youth” before it’s too late.
It was a “Stormy Monday” for the blues inside the prestigious Cohoes Music Hall on April 16. The heavy rain didn’t put a damper on the blues fans that had stepped inside the music hall on a Monday evening to escape from the everyday stresses of daily life for a worry-free, entertaining evening of music from both Girl Blue and Serbian-Blues guitarist and vocalist, Ana Popovic.
Almost a full year since her last performance at the music hall, this time around, Popovic pulled out all of the stops as she continued to dazzle the audience with her electrifying guitar solos, captivating vocals, and a stunning cast of performers within her five piece ensemble that had joined her for her tour to promote her new three disk album Trilogy.
Popovic’s rhythm and horn ensemble were tight and in full swing throughout the entire evening. Her rhythm section begun the evening with an instrumental of their own rendition of “Ana’s Shuffle” from the album Can You Stand The Heat. They continued to jam along to the tune before Popovic, dressed in the similar red tank top, jeans, and heels that was previously worn at last year’s concert, joined the band on stage to play some solos on her guitar before moving on to perform a series of her songs from Trilogy.
“It’s great to be back!” called out Popovic to the audience as she had begun her song, “Can You Stand the Heat”, from her previous album. Song after song, Popovic and her ensemble were outstanding, never outshining each other as they performed their own riffs, rhythms, and solos for each song. Popovic took the time to introduce the City of Cohoes to her full ensemble before performing “Train” from Trilogy: Disk #1 (Morning) to a happy audience that was excited to also hear Popovic’s drummer, Cedric Goodman, play some riffs on the drums that got them dancing and moving in their seats. “Long Road Down” brought her listeners back in time to the times of being on the Oregon Trail while focusing on Popovic’s extensive travels as she had continued on her journey to further pursue music as she had moved from her origins of Belgrade, Serbia, to Amsterdam, Holland, Memphis, Tennessee, and settled in Los Angeles, California where she has currently resided for the past two years.
Popovic is able to smoothly transition well from performing lead to slide guitar as she continued to play slide on “If Tomorrow Was Today.” Following suit to her empowering gym-based workout song, “Show How Strong You Are,” each of her key players in her ensemble rose to the occasion and performed their energetic, emotionally-felt awakening solos, from the jazz-lead bass playing of the bassist, back to Popovic, to the drummer, and on towards the other performers to close out their main set.
The blues wasn’t exactly going to end completely from Popovic and her ensemble. The band returned to the stage for their encore as they concluded the evening with a cover of Popovic’s “Mo’ Better Love,” and closing out the event with a cover of a song that she had discovered recently before she began recording Trilogy, “Fence Walk” from the Brooklyn, NY based band, Mandrill. Popovic’s interaction with both the crowd and with her own band members is both electric and entertaining to watch. Moving from side to side, Popovic joined in on the jam between her horn players, Jon Ramm (trombone) and Brad Walker (saxophone), on the right side of the stage as they had gathered around each other, creating a musical dialogue heard within their notes and soloing while closing out the evening. Popovic left the stage, leaving the remainder of the ensemble to continue to jam to the tune and close out the funky number on a high note that satisfied both the band and the audience.
Albany based act, Girl Blue, featuring vocalist and guitarist, Arielle O’Keefe, opened up for Ana Popovic and her band. Playing a set of eight original songs, O’Keefe did a great job performing solo to her tunes that were mixed in with her own vocals being recorded on a loop. My first time hearing O’Keefe perform live, the sound of her voice reminded me of a mix between Norah Jones, Regina Spector, Alanis Morrisette, and Katy Perry, as she had sung her own unique, original tunes that related back to teenage and early adult moments of angst, drinking, and other fun, significant moments within her life.
Surmiser’s latest EP, Hold The Static, will be available on June 8. The grungy garage punk band will celebrate the release with a show on June 9 at The People’s Cauldron in Rosendale. The band issued a music video for “Trains,” from the upcoming release, which debuted at New Noise Magazine.
‘Trains’ is about dead-end life in a small city and an analogy to the way that people in this place, and indeed these types of places, allow themselves to be derailed by anger, addiction and the patterns created of the previous generations mistakes.
The video was shot by shot by Mike Parish of 424recording.com. Jay Andersen at Bohemesphere in Saugerties recorded and mixed Hold The Static. It was mastered by Oliver Ackermann at Death By Audio, Brooklyn, NY.
The eclectic and spacey quartet Cold Lazarus celebrated their first anniversary by releasing a self titled LP comprised solely of original material that showcases the band’s musical originality and diversity. The band, which is based out of Jamestown, NY, is comprised of Adam Gould (vocals, guitar), Gavin Paterniti (bass), Marc Scapelitte (drums), and Drew Minton (keyboards). This band of talented musicians creates a hypnotic jam vibe that incorporates a multitude of varying musical genres that the band members refer to as Reggae-infused intellifunk jam rock.
Selections off of the LP like “Pieces,” that clock in at over 10 minutes, illustrate what Cold Lazarus is musically capable of. This track covers the musical spectrum of reggae, prog rock, and funk taking the listener along for a uniquely enjoyable cosmic ride.
“Butterflies,” another tune off of Cold Lazarus, is a more traditional reggae song with Gould’s guitar and Minton’s keyboards working in concert to create a sound reminiscent of Slightly Stoopid or Sublime. The number also features a pleasing saxophone solo by Minton, that provides a sense of warmth and depth while adding a nice bit of contrast to the piece.
Scapelitte’s skills as a percussionist and Paterniti’s skill on bass are excellently showcased on the intro of the LP’s fourth track “Shit’s Lit Farm”. Vocalist Gould lyrically depicts the trials and tribulations of dating and developing personal relationships in the digital information age. The number transitions into a fast tempo bridge that features Gould’s craftsmanship on the guitar and Minton’s heavy use of trippy synth, which eventually organically evolves back to the tune’s original refrain.
Cold Lazarus will kick off their CD Release Tour at Shawbucks in their home town of Jamestown on April 28. They will continue to tour in support of their new LP into the summer of 2018.
Scott Hannay Plays Video Games (Multiplayer Edition) opened up for Pink Talking Fish on Saturday, April 21 at Putnam Place, and have released the video for “Chemical Plant Zone” from Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Scott shares some insight on the set below.
“This particular multiplayer edition was significant to me, as I had Pat (Nolan) and Rye (Wylie), a rhythm section I’d played with locally in a number of different projects for years as I was growing as a musician, and also Colin (Shore), who enjoys the best games to win real money, and who I’d just spent more than a year out there in the trenches on tour with. Everyone came together without a rehearsal aside from a short bit of testing questionable sections at soundcheck, as is the way all of these sets have been. I have charts and notation put together to help separate parts for everyone, and keep communication clear so we can all have a super-enjoyable time playing the music of our childhood that a lot of us at the time never realized was so listenable and memorable…and then jam it out proper.”
Scott Hannay Plays Video Games (Multiplayer Edition) will next perform on Friday, May 25 at JP Bruno’s in Glens Falls, NY as part of the official 102.7 WEQX Primus Afterparty. The lineup includes Scott Hannay – keys (Mister F), Matt Pickering – drums (Mister F), Lowell Wurster – percussion (Lucid), Matt Richards – keys (Formula 5), Bill Comstock – bass (Brickdrop) and Matt Dempsey – guitar (Cosmic Dust Bunnies) More info can be found here. Read our January interview Scott and get a behind the scenes look at from where his unique project developed.
For comparison, here’s a gameplay video of the Chemical Plant Zone on Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
The Disco Biscuits played night two of a three-night run at The Fillmore in Philadelphia last weekend on April 20.
The show featured two seamless sets of Biscuits who dusted off both “Commercial Amen” and “Boom Shanker,” both of which hadn’t been played since 2010. The Disco Biscuits next head to Asheville and Colorado at the end of May, along with hosting their annual Camp Bisco in July.
April 20, 2018 Setlist
Set 1: Helicopters > Little Betty Boop > Commercial Amen > Helicopters, Save The Robots
Aqueous concluded a brief headlining run with a stop at The Haunt in Ithaca on Saturday, April 21. With nary a repeat for these four shows, the jams were plentiful and on this springlike evening (finally) the improv took a darker, more sinister vibe for much of the show which enthralled the enthusiastic crowd.
To celebrate five and a half decades on the air, SUNY Geneseo’sWGSU will host a music festival and food truck rodeo on Friday, April 27 from 4-7 pm. “Genny Fest” takes place on the college campus and is free and open to students and the general public.
Festival-goers can catch music from up-and-coming New York City musicians, all-girl rock band Jackknife Stiletto and singer-songwriter Allison Leah. Seven food trucks will be on site, so there’s sure to be something for everyone. Proceeds from t-shirt sales and donations of cash or nonperishable food will benefit Foodlink.
Following the festival, The Geneseo A Cappella concert takes place at the College Union Ballroom (tickets are $5, and will be available at the door).
I first caught Hartley’s Encore late last year when they performed at Guthrie Bell’s 25th anniversary show at The Hollow. Funk is on the rise in Albany, and Hartley’s Encore honed in on the reason why – the influence of funk forefathers Soulive whose albums are influencing the next generation of funk musicians. Their self-titled debut album is an alive EP, all killer, no filler.
The core of Hartley’s Encore – Luke Malamood, Jeff Nania and Chris Oliver – graduated from Guilderland High School in 2003, but their playing together goes back to the early 90’s when they were in first grade and Luke learned to play piano at Jeff’s while Jeff was learning trumpet. The core of Hartley’s Encore, Luke Malamood (keys/vocals), Jeff Nania (saxophone) and Chris Oliver (guitar) sat down with NYS Music to get behind the band name, talk about their early introductions to funk and their love of Soulive.
Pete Mason: Where does the band’s name originate from?
LukeMalamood: It comes from the time Chris and I were working on this project in fall 2016 and Titanic was on TV and my daughter was watching it and as the ship is sinking, the band keeps playing even as they know they are going to their certain death, but it provided relief for those who were trying to survive. The band leader, Wallace Hartley, is the one who says ‘it’s been an honor and a privilege’ and it was easy to find some info about him. In a loose way, this is right around the time we’re gearing up for the craziest presidential election ever, and people were saying the world is coming to an end, so Hartley’s Encore is a loose tribute to the band and bandleader and we think it’s important that we do what we do.
Chris Oliver: For me, the encore thing, when we decided on it, it was real in an historical sense, but Luke and I have played together for years, and he and I reuniting was its own encore. So it made sense to have the name Hartley’s Encore.
PM: What was the experience like working with Alan Evans (Soulive) at Iron Wax Studios?
Jeff Nania: We did the second Chronicles album with Alan and one thing I like about this approach is that he doesn’t make you try to sound a particular way, he has the mics and know-how to make you sound the best. Before having heard us, because we didn’t have any recordings yet, he asked for three records we really liked that he could use to get a vibe for our sound.
CO: Tower of Power Tower of Power, The Meters Rejuvenation and Dr. John Desitively Bonnaroo were the three we shared, and it’s pretty clear to some extent that we wear our influences on our sleeve. When we got there, he said ‘give me a year’ to reference, and I said “Whatever year ‘Hey Pocky Way’ came out.” (1988) Alan was pretty hands off and wanted to make us sound as good as he could. I was pretty intimidated from a musical standard but I went in there and he lets you go in there and do you. He prioritizes the artist remaining true to who they are, and as a guitar player and songwriter we were allowed to go in there and just be us.
LM: There was an intimidation factor working with Alan that grew out of the first time I saw Soulive in October of 2003. We had just graduated from high school and a bunch of our friends had gone to Bonnaroo and everyone was all about Soulive. When we went to see him, it was incredible seeing any of them. Neal Evans is my hero, he has to be one of the funkiest dudes on the planet. His left hand I would put up against any bassist in the business. When Neal was active in Lettuce, even with Jesus Coomes who’s a monster bassist, Neal was also hold down the bass parts. Even though I’d met Neal and Alan, it felt like hallowed ground just being there with Neal’s brother. It was like hip hop beats with jazz and funk. He was probably the biggest question mark having met Neal and (Eric) Krasno in the past, but Alan I didn’t know too well. He was the coolest guy and I couldn’t have asked for this experience to be any better and professional. I got to play on one of Neal’s organs and he was the coolest, sweetest dude. Justin Henricks had a great experience working on the Wurliday record so it was a no brainer for us to work with him. He met and exceeded our expectations. Both Wurliday and Hartley’s Encore had the album mastered by Brad Smalling at EverGroove Recording Studio, so two funk bands from the Albany area got the same treatment done on their first albums.
PM: What were the early funk experiences that tipped you towards making genre of music?
CO: I was probably the last person to get on the funk train. When I moved back to Albany a few years ago, Luke sent me a Meters album and “People Say” was the one that hooked me.
LM: I have been obsessed with Soulive since I first saw them play at Rev. Hall in the fall of 2003. Are they a “funk” band per se…I mean, I hate labels in music to begin with. Plus, I’ve yet to read a definition of the word “funk” anywhere that I can wholeheartedly endorse. To me, with funk, it’s like, I know it when I hear it. Soulive is jazz, soul, hip-hop, and of course, funk. More importantly, I look at Soulive, and their cousins Lettuce (really the whole “Royal Family”), plus probably Dumpstaphunk and Galactic, as the godfathers of the growing modern funk/soul scene, as it currently exists. I was in college from 2003-2007, at Villanova, right outside of Philly. Between being at home and being away at school, with all of the incredible Philly venues at my fingertips, I got to see all of these modern funk/soul godfathers when I was relatively young, and I listened to them a lot (Jamiroquai too). Those guys never shied away from celebrating their influences, so through them, I got really turned-on to a lot of the funk/soul OGs: James Brown, Parliament/Funkadelic, Stevie Wonder, The Meters, Earth, Wind & Fire, Tower of Power, and Average White Band, to name a few. Of course I had heard “Cold Sweat,” “Superstition,” “September” and even “Cissy Strut” before, but these modern godfathers really wet my appetite to go back and dig in some more.
Then, (though I’d spent one boozy night in NOLA with some buddies during my senior year in college), my first real trip to New Orleans was in March 2009, a that trip changed my life (in more ways than one). Among other things, I made my first trip to the Louisiana Music Factory, a legendary record store in New Orleans, and got my hands on my first Meters record, which I believe was Rejuvenation. As one of my favorite singer/songwriter/pianist/keyboardists, Jon Cleary, has said, “Funk is the ethnic folk music of New Orleans,” and once I got my first real taste of that, being down there, I was hooked. Ever since then, with multiple trips back to New Orleans, countless nights at Brooklyn Bowl (especially for Bowlive!), and really me just digging deep into the genre, I’ve connected the dots between the modern funk/soul godfathers of today’s scene and the OGs. I am now way down the funk/soul Rabbit Hole, have been for years! It feels real good in here, and there’s a lot of love to go around, so I’ve got no plans of coming out any time soon!
JN: I think I discovered Soulive in my sophomore year of high school. When I was younger my dad was a jazz head and I was constantly listening to jazz in high school, especially Blue Note records which was legendary label, with Wayne Shorter and Coltrane’s most famous albums. I was dating a singer/songwriter who she worked at Coconuts in Stuyvesant Plaza and she gave me a handful of CDs. There were two that popped out – Medeski Martin and Wood’s Shack-Man and The Dropper. Soulive Turn it Out was the first record I had heard of theirs. I dug it at the time because Blue Note was putting out some new jazz and I was coming at it from a new angle.
PM: What has the Albany reception been like, having only started out a little more than a year and a half ago?
LM: I’d give credit to Justin (Henricks) who started the Funk Night at City Beer Hall (ed note: now held at Parish Public House) that started to be a time when I could get out to see live music again after having two kids. Much like funk night, the reception has been pretty consistent and incredible as we’ve had max capacity shows and shows with like seven people there. In the funk and soul genre, we’ve only had a jam band thing in Albany and that overlaps to the funk scene, as well as an Indie scene. I think there is a healthy scene here in Albany and we can do it with the best in terms of being a small city. There are a lot of things that go into the reality of venues on given nights. Early on, we leaned heavily on friends and family to turn out. But gradually, slowly, we started to organically make some fans, the kind who keep coming to shows and we know by name. We were lucky enough to have Greg Bell add us to some big shows, including his 25th anniversary show. Slowly but surely, we started to see some people organically catching onto this, and that’s really what I think our goal would be – play once or twice a month and get people out to the show and have a celebration.
CO: Both Luke and I will admit we are better songwriters than musicians. When we put our heads down and kept getting big on our own, Jeff took us under his wing, and given his playing in the region for the past seven or so years, we started to meet musicians and people who were in the scene and it kind of allowed us to get to where we are now and it helped us tremendously. I got out to see Justin Henricks and people who were doing it in Albany and that connection came from Jeff.
LM: this is a snapshot of who we are now, and we can attribute it to people like Greg Bell putting us on shows and NYS Music giving us some love and helpful in getting us to be able to be welcomed in this community.
Hartley’s Encore released their self-titled debut album on April 20 and will have to album release shows in coming weeks. Catch them at The Hollow on Friday, April 27 with Victory Soul Orchestra and at Bowery Electric on May 18 with Sauce on the Side. At both shows, Luke, Jeff and Chris will be joined by a rotating rhythm section of Josh Gordon and Brad Monkell (bass), Mike Gilet and Erik Pravel (drums), Phil Chow (trumpet), and Alex Gonzalez (percussion). Hartley’s Encore is now available on Spotify and Apple Music.
Buffalo rap group 14 trapdoors – Short Moscato, Bendyface and Wza – have partnered with Mass Appeal to premiere the video for “Holy Water,” a vividly mind-altering experience. The self-produced single unveils clever rhymes traded bar-for-bar atop a minimalistic track highlighted with an echoing bass, ticking snares and haunting operatic rock backing ad-libs.
Directed by S’likedat, the psychedelic rollercoaster reflects on their hometown life in Buffalo, New York and symbolizes their cleansing relationship with music. 14 trapdoors explains, “Holy Water supposed to cleanse the soul. We use music to cleanse our soul. The music is our holy water,” with Short Moscato calling the song “a collage of our lives.”
With the focus on the Queen City, Wza says, “We wanted to show the world how we get down here in Buffalo. The video is a tripped-out glimpse into how we’re living and the friends and fellow artists we surround ourselves with for motivation and inspiration.” And that trippy video by S’likedat? Bendyface considers it “either the cure or cause of epilepsy.” They’ll perform at Mohawk Place on Tuesday, April 24.
14 trapdoors have self-made a sub genre of hip hop, coined New Trap Boom Bap, and draw on a wide range of influences that span Aesop Rock, Big L, El-P, Jay Z and fellow Buffalo artists Westside Gunn and Conway, as well as Pink Floyd, Prince and Led Zeppelin. “People who gravitate toward the golden age of ‘90s boom bap will fuck with it because we focus on lyricism and new age youngins will fuck with it because we have songs with a more ‘trappy’ vibe,” Bendyface says.
The rappers met on the Buffalo hip hop scene and decided to pool their assets during the summer of 2016 when they all happened to release projects at the same time. They are all solo artists and Bendyface is also a member of the duo Chronic Collective. WZA mixed and mastered their recordings, resulting in them spending a lot of time together at his studio.
The name 14 trapdoors pays homage to their hometown. The 14 represents the summation of the digits in their 716 area code and trapdoors is a reference to the city’s DIY scene. “Everybody you know is trapping something out their house, whether it deals with music, art or drugs, and when you are a rapper, you need all three of those things,” WZA says. “So you find yourself walking through many trapdoors.”
They attribute their sound to Buffalo, a city where one of hip hop’s most respected eras still gets its props. “Our whole stance on music is that It’s all about truly being yourself and being honest with yourself,” WZA says.
