NYS Music 20​19

Author: Steve Malinski

  • Hearing Aide: Lucky Chops Self-Titled Album

    NYC’s brass-funk quintet Lucky Chops are releasing their brand new, self-titled album Lucky Chops to the public tomorrow. Fans who donated to support the album’s production were treated to the full album a day early.

    Lucky Chops isn’t their first recording, however, the 11-track album marks their first full-length studio effort that brings a collection of original songs to their growing fan base, marked by careful attention to detail in the compositions and production. Their first release, NYC, came out around the same time that their New York City subway performances gained viral attention on social media and is comprised mostly of covers, and subsequent single and EP releases that established a foundation of original material leading to this latest project.

    Lucky Chops performing at Brooklyn Bowl (April 2019)

    There is no single defining sound that the band has laid down on this latest release. By the fourth song, Lucky Chops has defined a well-crafted blend of original sounds for this multi-genre, multi-decade influenced banger of an album.

    The medium paced disco groove of “Halfway to the Hudson” leads things off with interludes laced with brassy, Daft Punk-inspired licks. From this catchy attention grabber, the album quickly flaunts a diversity in sound, traveling through a lighthearted “Dancing Babies” to the heavy, steady beat of “Traveler” where their own original dance style shines through.

    The album’s prominent track and first single, “Full Heart Fancy,” is the best demonstration of Lucky Chops’ writing and performing skills, with each of the five members featured throughout the song.

    The album, as a brass band recording, is naturally instrumental and sans vocals. However, a unique part of their compositions is that several of the melodies beg the attentive ear to search for its own lyrics to sing in tune or harmony with those melodies. “Flyway,” as an example, is a relaxed tune where the tenor sax line resonates with the familiar feel of Paul McCartney’s singing on “Yesterday.” Naturally, or even instinctively, unspoken words form at the tip of the tongue while listening to the album.

    In a broader sense, Lucky Chops brings that aspect out in many of the tracks by how well the subtlety (and sometimes the obvious) blend into their arrangements prominent elements of some of the pop music styles of 1950’s surf rock (“Dance Nights”), and 1990’s/2010’s alt/pop (“Familiar Places,” “Mo’ Mo,” “Memories”).

    Lucky Chops represents a step forward for the band in the effort and craft in composing/producing/recording, and for the perseverance they have shown fans through an unavoidable delay in the release. The band’s new music continues in the band’s tradition of having a wide appeal, enjoyed at home or at one of their high energy club/concert hall shows.

    Before heading out on an extensive European tour in a few weeks, Lucky Chops will be doing a special live stream performance on their social media channels today from the Times Square subway station (by the A-C-E lines/Port Authority) at 12:30 EST. The band will also host an additional special album sneak peek live stream/Q&A on their YouTube channel beforehand at noon. The album can be purchased and streamed here.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D5RFEiPbOk

    Key Tracks: Full Heart Fancy, Memories, Familiar Places

    Track Listing

    Halfway To The Hudson
    The Dancing Babies
    Traveler
    Dance Night
    Full Heart Fancy
    Flyway
    Pizza Day
    Familiar Places
    Memories
    It’s Not Goodbye
    Mo’ Momo

    Lucky Chops will return to touring around the US this spring with several East Coast stops (listed below), including two nights at Brooklyn Bowl. Full tour dates, along with ticket information, can be found here.

    March 27/28 – NYC – Brooklyn Bowl
    April 1 – Pawling, NY – Daryl’s House Club
    April 2 – Hamden, CT – Space Ballroom
    April 3 – Somerville, MA – ONCE Ballroom
    April 4 – Syracuse, NY – Syracuse University
    April 10 – Philadelphia, PA – The Foundry at The Fillmore
    April 11 – Washington, DC – Union Stage

  • We Are Golden, Part 2: The Celebration of Woodstock at 50

    The celebration they wanted – a weekend of music on the site of the 1969 Woodstock Music & Art Fair – continued following Arlo Guthrie’s opening performance to commemorate 50 years since the festival occurred.

    Many alumni from the 1969 festival returned to Bethel Woods over the course of the four days to breathe life into their memories, joined by younger generations looking to enjoy music and learn about a piece of 1960’s history.

    While not a major music festival production, Bethel Woods hosted performances during the afternoons leading up to the main stage acts. The two side stages on the upper lawn brought in both local, regional and national talent, including: In The Kitchen, Mike Miz, Lara Hope & The Arktones, Emily Mure, American Nomads (Friday), Murali Coryell, Catbird, Chogyi Lama, Ira & Max Stone, John John Brown (Saturday), and Jack West, The Whispering Tree, Jesse Kinch, Ian Flannigan (Sunday).

    Lara Hope & The Arktones

    Each of the three nights brought back performers from the 1969 festival. The Beatles never played Woodstock as they were busy working on their album, Abbey Road. However, Ringo Starr and his All Star Band brought Santana’s keyboardist back to the stage to jam on a couple of Santana’s early works and paid tribute to other performances from 1969, with a medley of tunes later in the set. Saturday brought Carlos Santana back to the stage, with a little help from The Doobie Brothers. Closing out the weekend was a powerful set by Creedance Clearwater Revival’s John Fogerty who, at age 74, rocked with the stage presence and humor of someone 30 years younger. Other 1969 performers to hit the stage included Blood, Sweat & Tears (new lineup) and Edgar Winter, who sat in with his brother Johnny for part of his Woodstock set.

    John Fogerty (photo by Kevin Ferguson/Bethel Woods)

    Scenes from the 1970 Woodstock documentary immortalized the weather that mired parts of the festival. Somewhat true to that form, some threats of weather and a short but heavy rain hindered the festivities a little bit. Spirits were kept up; some recreating the “no rain!” chants and others taking the opportunity to chat and share stories while activities were on hold.

    The weekend was a perfect pace to celebrate the history, and anniversary, of the Woodstock Music & Art Fair. Although the 50th anniversary weekend is behind us, the conversation will keep going. The Museum at Bethel Woods has done an excellent job at preserving and documenting the history of Woodstock with their permanent exhibit and their special exhibit, “We Are Golden: Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the Woodstock Festival and Aspirations for a Peaceful Future” which remains open through October.

    Stay tuned to NYS Music as we bring you parts three and four of our coverage, featuring stories from people who were there, including Nick & Bobbie Ercoline, Duke Devlin, and photographer/Hog Farm member, Lisa Law.

    Photos by Steve Malinski.

    Main stage photos below by Kevin Ferugson/Bethel Woods:

  • In Focus: Outlaw Music Festival 2019 Rolls Through SPAC

    For one of SPAC‘s final concerts of the 2019 season, the Outlaw Music Festival brought a full afternoon and evening of music and vendors to the park.

    This year’s Outlaw Music Festival tour began in Maine back in June and has featured a rotating roster of performers throughout the summer with Willie Nelson & Family as the anchor for each show.

    Joining Willie Nelson at SPAC were Pernikoff Brothers, Brothers Osborne, Alison Krauss, and Bonnie Raitt. Deadheads had been looking forward to Phil Lesh & Friends as part of the bill, but instead found themselves wishing Lesh a speedy recovery from a minor back surgery done earlier in the summer.

    Check out a few photos from the Brothers Osborne and Alison Krauss sets below.

  • We Are Golden: Arlo Guthrie Celebrates Woodstock 50th Anniversary at Bethel Woods

    Fifty years after the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair, many original festival goers and younger crowds alike returned to the site of the original festival to mark the golden anniversary at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. Last night opened the weekend with a performance by Arlo Guthrie, who bridged August 15 and 16, 1969 with a midnight set all those years ago.

    Though a bit scaled down from the crowds of approximately 400,000 in 1969, the few thousand people in attendance brought their old memories back to life (minus the mud and inconveniences); they were able to soak in the atmosphere – breathe air that’s never been breathed before, as Woodstock/Bethel Woods mainstay Duke Devlin said. Guthrie was the only artist to perform, but fellow Woodstock alum Melanie Safka stopped by for part of the evening.

    arlo guthrie woodstock

    Some rain changed the original plans for the night, but the screening of the Woodstock documentary film still took place in the pavilion. This change didn’t dampen any spirits though; while various artists’ performances were shown from the 1969 festival many original attendees were giving as much as standing ovations.

    Check out a few images from yesterday’s happenings at Bethel Woods, and stay tuned to NYS Music for more on this Woodstock anniversary weekend. Bethel Woods continues the celebration with performances by Ringo Starr, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and Edgar Winter (Friday), Santana and The Doobie Brothers (Satruday), and John Fogerty, Tedeschi Trucks Band, and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (Sunday).

    Tourism at the site this weekend is restricted to only those who have tickets and travel passes specific to each day.

  • In Focus: The Wolf Emerges with Dead and Company at Citi Field

    Dead and Company returned to play a mainstay of their tours, Citi Field, on June 23 for an all-around solid show with a seemingly near capacity crowd in tow and The Wolf

    Perfect weather ushered in the first set, filled with mellow jams and easy grooves. Since the band’s inaugural shows in 2015 at the Times Union Center in Albany and Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, fans have seen a partial core group of Grateful Dead members with a few guests grow into the new touring force in the wake of the Grateful Dead. John Mayer’s increasing share in vocals and frontman duties alongside Bob Weir manifested from the first refrain in the opening song “St. Stephen.” In a surprise to fans, Jerry Garcia’s famed Wolf guitar was played by Mayer for the entire show, which added a subtle accent to his imitation of Garcia’s style.

    The second set resembled the construction of a late 1970s Grateful Dead set anchored by two giant ballads, “Terrapin Station” to start the set and a post-Drums/Space “Morning Dew.” In contrast with these two more-scripted songs, the rest of the set took to a rather lengthy jam with “Truckin’” expanded well beyond its original form, teased upon in the outro of Space, including a few doodles from Mayer which briefly echoed a bit of David Gilmour’s guitar style. The set concluded after a rather short encore break and a melodious “Breakdown Palace” (the show was possibly running into a venue or local curfew).

    Set 1: St. Stephen -> Cold Rain and Snow, Samson and Delilah, High Time, They Love Each Other, Ramble On Rose, Sugaree, Jack Straw.

    Set 2: Terrapin Station, Althea, Scarlet Begonias -> Fire on the Mountain -> Drums -> Space -> The Wheel ->  The Other One -> Morning Dew.

    Encore: Brokedown Palace.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BzFMfJFlUoG/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

  • Set Your Controls: Nick Mason Revives Pink Floyd Roots

    Though Pink Floyd has been retired since their 1995 “Pulse” tour (with the exception of the 2014 release of The Endless River) all three surviving members of the band have treated New York City to different flavors of the live Pink Floyd experience. Roger Waters made a statement with his present-day adaptation of The Wall at Yankee Stadium in 2013. David Glimour mesmerized Manhattan with three nights between Radio City and The Garden. This past weekend, Nick Mason propelled the Syd Barret era back into the limelight, presenting works from the band’s earliest recordings.

    In comparison to large venue shows, The Beacon Theatre provided a much more intimate experience and prompted many to share stories about their first experiences seeing the band in smaller venues before the show even began – a reminiscence which become even more real later in the show.

    Nick Mason and Guy Pratt performing at the Beacon Theatre

    The intro riffs of “Interstellar Overdrive,” from Pink Floyd’s first album, were quick to establish the theme of the show, something to which Mason remarked upon after a couple of songs. He dismissed considering his band some sort of Pink Floyd tribute-act or a nostalgia machine. His band wasn’t a random assemblage of musicians either. Joining him on bass was Guy Pratt, who toured with Mason, Gilmour and the late Richard Wright, on the post-Waters Pink Floyd tours; on guitar, Gary Kemp, a longtime friend of Mason’s. Kemp’s familiarity and Pratt’s Floyd touring experience were evident in many aspects of the night from performance style to the band’s chemistry and character, just to name a few. It all created the genuine Pink Floyd-esque show Mason intended. Also joining Mason was Lee Harris (former guitarist for The Blockheads) who effortlessly flowed along with Kemp to re-create Syd Barrett’s sound, and Dom Beken on keys, dialing in Richard Wright’s style.

    The setlist included several favorites from the early Floyd catalogue, which haven’t been played live in many years by either Gilmour or Waters, and dug into some rarer songs off those albums. Some box-sets and re-releases brought some of these songs back into the light, but other songs in the set like “Green is the Colour” and “Vegetable Man” were a treat from the realm of obscurity for dedicated fans in the audience. Pratt got his wish to pick a song to play on this tour. For Gilmour’s mid/late 2000’s tour, Pratt was given the chance to choose a song for the setlist, to which he suggested “The Nile Song.” He joked that the idea clearly wouldn’t fly as it wasn’t popular, “[that] album was half the cost of all the other Pink Floyd albums and everyone had it.” However, the heavier/louder psychedelic sound was welcomed at the Beacon Theatre and didn’t disappoint the crowd.

    Nick Mason performing at the Beacon Theatre

    With New York a major crossroads and hub in the music world, the unexpected can happen. Mason was telling a story about not being able to play the shiny gong behind him in the early years for “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun” because of a certain bandmate that always took that job from him. During which, Roger Waters emerged from the shadows of stage right to the gasps of the audience. Without a bass in hand, Waters performed the lyrics of the song, capturing an original recording and early performances of it.

    The two former Pink Floyd members had been on stage together during Waters’ The Wall tour and previously during the band’s 2005 Live 8 reunion set. But, this is the first time in many years members of Pink Floyd have collaborated on stage for one of that band’s early songs. The surviving members have reunited to a limited degree in the years since the full 2005 reunion, (the three appeared briefly on stage in 2011 with a special appearance by Gilmour) and the experience NYC got with Waters and Mason will probably be the closest thing to a Pink Floyd reunion at this point, but these moments will certainly be welcomed.

    Setlist: Interstellar Overdrive, Astronomy Domine, Lucifer Sam, Fearless, Obscured By Clouds, When You’re In, Remember a Day, Arnold Layne, Vegetable Man, If -> Atom Heart Mother -> If (reprise), The Nile Song, Green Is The Colour, Let There Be More Light, Childhood’s End, Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, See Emily Play, Bike, One of These Days

    Encore: A Saucerful of Secrets, Point Me at the Sky

  • Woodstock Co-Creator Michael Lang Addresses Opposition to Modern Lineup

    In a recent interview with TMZ, Woodstock co-creator Michael Lang spoke about some of the backlash received over the announcement of the lineup for this summer’s Woodstock 50 festival taking place in August at Watkins Glen International Speedway.

    The festival is marking the 50th anniversary of the iconic 1969 Woodstock Music and Arts festival held in Bethel, NY which Lang co-created along with Artie Kornfeld and others at Woodstock Ventures.

    The announcement of the lineup of the 50th anniversary festival came with some dissent from Woodstock 1969 “purists” who saw names like Miley Cyrus, Jay-Z, and Chance the Rapper in the lineup. When asked, Lang told TMZ that he “wanted to make it a contemporary show for the audience we are expecting (which is young), and make it a show that touches all genres…This is a contemporary Woodstock for today.”

    Each of the three days of Woodstock 50 includes several of the original 1969 performers and nods to those original acts including Dead and Company (of Grateful Dead fame), Carlos Santana, John Fogerty (Creedance Clearwater Revival), John Sebastian, Melanie, Amy Helm (daughter of Levon Helm from The Band), David Crosby (of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young), Canned Heat, and Hot Tuna.

    woodstock co-creator Michael Lang

    Back in November 2018 at the Long Island Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony, in which Melanie and Woodstock co-creators Lang and Kornfeld were inducted, Lang skirted around discussing details about the who, when, and where of a 50th anniversary event as plans were in progress at the time. However, Melanie wasn’t shy about suggesting her interest in being part of a reunion or anniversary event during a recollection of her part in the 1969 festival.

    Melanie sharing some stories and laughs at the November 2018 Long Island Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony

    Woodstock 50 is happening at Watkins Glen August 16 – 18; visit woodstock.com for full lineup and more information.