Live music comes back to New York’s Upper West Side this summer. Thefifth annual LOVE ROCKS NYC benefit concert for God’s Love We Deliver returns on Thursday, June 3, 2021. Produced by John Varvatos, LOVE ROCKS NYC will be shown as a live stream event courtesy of platform Fans.Live from the historic Beacon Theatre in New York City. Rochester native drummer Steve Gadd will perform as part of the amazing house band put together by Music Director and band leader Will Lee.
The stellar house cast will include Steve Gadd, Shawn Pelton, Eric Krasno, Larry Campbell, Jeff Young and Ricky Peterson. Ken Dashow will serve as the house DJ. The event will be hosted by Jeff Garlin from Curb your Enthusiasm, Michael Imperioli from The Sopranos, New York Yankee Bernie Williams and Special Guest Tina Fey of SNL. This years featured performers all-star lineup of pop, rock, blues and soul music stars to include Sara Bareilles, Jon Bon Jovi,, Gary Clark Jr., Billy F Gibbons, Warren Haynes, Joe Bonamassa, Emily King, Ledisi, Pedrito Martinez, Tash Neal, Fantastic Negrito, Ivan Neville, Robert Randolph, Nathaniel Rateliff, Jimmy Vivino, Yola and more to be added.
Steve Gadd, Robert Plant, Will Lee, Eric Krasno LOVE ROCKS NYC 2019
The past four LOVE ROCKS NYC benefit concerts have delivered a staggering array of music stars from legendary headliners such as Keith Richards, Dave Matthews, Mavis Staples, Robert Plant, Warren Haynes, Emmylou Harris, Buddy Guy, Andra Day, Ziggy Marley, Ann Wilson and Sheryl Crow to rising stars such as Leon Bridges, Marcus King, Allen Stone, Larkin Poe, Hozier and The War and Treaty.
LOVE ROCKS NYC 2020 served as a milestone as the first of many live streams last year with the touchdown of the pandemic before its performance last March. Upper West side resident Trey Anastasio helped carry the virtual torch at the end of last year with an 8 week residency to help raise money under the Beacon Jams for a charitable cause. This year’s concert event will also pay tribute to the NYC Front line workers who have played a critical role in supporting the city during the pandemic.
Dave Matthews LOVE ROCKS NYC 2020
Fans anywhere can experience this memorable night of music by signing up at loverocksnyc.com to receive a free live stream link. You can help support the organization through the special $20 = 2 Meals suggested donation option on the website. Love Rocks NYC has helped raise more than $13 million to date.
Derek Trucks and his wife, Susan Tedeschi were surprise musical guests at last March’s Love Rocks NYC benefit. Attendance was limited to venue and production staff, artists and their teams and media. “That was the day they shut down, no gatherings over 500 people. So they did the show just for the webcast with maybe 200 or 300 guests in the audience,” Trucks said of the night. “It felt so strange to look over the Beacon and see a few hundred people dancing and having a good time but keeping their distance. It was an odd scene. That one felt like the last party before the end of the world.”
Paul Shaffer, David Letterman, Jeff Coffin LOVE ROCKS NYC 2020
Last March’s most special guest David Letterman reunited with Paul Shaffer on stage in New York City for the first time in five years. Letterman made light of the newly presented restrictions for the live music entertainment world by quoting Tom Petty’s song “Letting You Go.” “It’s a restless world, uncertain times, you said hope was getting hard to find.”
Letterman elaborated, “After listening to that song, tonight it occurs to me that when things are hard, harder than they’ve ever been, even more troubled, you have got to look for something positive and one of the great gifts, one of the great blessings of life, honest to God, is live music.”
Firefly festival is back. The unparalleled East Coast music festival, nestled in Delaware’s picturesque Woodlands, has announced its return over September 23-26, 2021. The 2021 Firefly Festival, in conjunction with AEG Presents, will features a lineup that includes headlining sets from Billie Eilish, The Killers, Tame Impala, and Lizzo.
As the largest East Coast camping festival, Firefly has earned its reputation as one of the country’s rite-of-passage destinations for music lovers across the U.S. With a similar approach to bringing fans the larger than life experiences that helped establish the likes of Glastonbury and Reading/Leeds as must-attend events, Firefly has grown into one of the biggest, most-beloved music weekends in America.
Firefly’s return in 2021 will be exactly what fans needed from the live setting they’ve been missing for over a year — incredible sets from iconic artists; the best food and beverage offerings within the Delaware Valley; unique, festival-exclusive moments that only Firefly could provide; and so much more.
Sign up for exclusive presale access at fireflyfestival.com for your chance to secure weekend passes at the lowest price possible. Presale begins Friday, May 14th at 10 am ET. Pass Prices Start At $299 for Weekend GA and $699 for Weekend VIP.
With many camping packages and amenities to choose from, there is something for every fan. Camping packages include access to daily yoga, a beach club, silent discos, intramural sports, and permanent showers as well as a farmers’ market and general store. Ranger Stations throughout the campgrounds act as a community resource where festival-goers can access information, find support, and engage in other activities throughout the weekend. Camping Rangers are thoughtful, friendly, caring and informed staff whose sole focus is to ensure a positive festival experience for everyone.
Firefly Music Festival is conveniently located within driving distance from major metropolitan areas on the East Coast, including Philadelphia (under two hours), Baltimore (under two hours), Washington D.C (under two hours) and New York City (three hours). Fans can also take advantage of Amtrak service to Wilmington, Delaware as well as SEPTA and Greyhound bus line service.
Visit FireflyFestival.com for more information.
The 2021 Firefly Festival line up (in ABC order):
Almost Monday Aluna Anna of the North Arlo Parks Atlas Genius Badflower Band of Horses Big Wild Billie Eilish Binki Blackbear Blossom Cage The Elephant Cannons Caribou Carolesdaughter Cassy Chris Lake Claud Clever Clozee Deep Sea Diver Denzel Curry Des Rocs Diplo Dominic Fike Duckwrth Duke Dumont Elohim Flo Milli GG Magree and Mija girl in red Glass Animals Gracie Abrams Grandson iann dior Jordy Judah and the Lion JXDN Kenny Mason Kennyhoopla Khruangbin The Killers Kim Petras Laundry Day Lizzo Lost Frequencies Lovelytheband LP Giobbi Machine Gun Kelly Madds Madeon Marc Rebillet Maria Isabel Megan Thee Stallion Michigander Middle Kids Missio Mt. joy Nelly Noga Erez Oliver Tree ONR Orion Sun Peach Pit Phoebe Bridgers Portugal. the Man Positive Movement Drumline redveil Remi Wolf REZZ Ritt Momney Roddy Ricch Role Model Royal & The Serpent Rossy Rozet Serena Isioma Slander $NOT Sofi Tukker St. Panther Still Woozy Sub Urban Surf Mesa Sylvan Esso Taking Back Sunday Tame Impala Tate McRae Trevor Daniel Turnstile White Reaper Wiz Khalifa
Russ Lawton and Ray Paczkowski ended 2020 with an eight week residency in New York City as part of the wonderful cast for Trey Anastasio’s Beacon Jams. Outside of TAB, the duo operate as the highly funky Afrobeat-influenced group Soule Monde.
They started 2021 ablaze, rehearsing before going into the studio for their fourth album release Mimi Digs It. The eight-track album digs an even deeper trench of grooves. The landscape of the recording comes from Central Vermont’s Sugarhouse Sound Studio on Mad River Road in Waitsfield.
Mimi Digs It is simple: Russ on the Gold Gretsch drum kit and Ray on Wurlitzer, Clavinet, and howling B3 Hammond organ. After just three days, the material was sent to Concrete Sound in Brooklyn for the finishing touches. For more insight on the new album the dynamic duo took some time in between a new session at Sugarhouse to speak with NYS Music for a lunchtime chat.
Matthew Romano: Hey guys. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us today.
Ray Paczkowski: Hey it’s Ray.
Russ Lawton: We’re open. We’re here for the afternoon rehearsing and appreciate your interest for the interview.
MR: I was able to listen to the new album this week on a road trip from Key West to New York State.
RL: Oh cool, yea its got that cruising kind of vibe to it.
MR: Biggest question on this project’s recording since it sounds so off-the-cuff is how much of this is improvisation and how much is composition?
RP: There’s composition and basically Russ will come up with a beat or I’ll come up with a melody or some chord progression and we put it together. We do the parts and sections of the songs. But then on any given night it can totally change… it can go in any direction. So when we went in the studio we kind of had a sense of how the structure should be. Then we would improvise.
RL: The perfect example of composition improv is the song “Gateway Drug.” It’s got the two sections and breaks down the middle. After we recorded that, we should have had a little bit of an idea. But that’s totally what we just did that day. It will probably never be that same way again. Ya know what I mean?
MR: Absolutely. This kind of music sounds so soulful in the moment that it can’t be recreated for what you’re feeling at the time. If that’s what ends up on tape then so be it.
RP: Yea its actually a beautiful thing.
RL: I think about “Tinyland.” It was the last thing we worked on before we went into the studio. Matter of fact, one of the sections was two days before and when Ray came up with that organ line in the beginning we were in the control room like, yea use that. It stays in my head everyday now (laughter).
MR: I wanted to ask you about your influences on Soule Monde’s sound but you guys are already in a unique category with a drummer/keyboard duo like this. Do any artists stick out?
RP: It’s pretty much straight my music. What I’m feeling. I would say as far as influences, that it’s more “the sound” players get. Not so much what they’re playing. Although, Someone like Jimmy Smith, those guys… Thelonius Monk, it’s amazing. They have their own melodic harmonic concepts going on. But really what I listen for is “the sound” that they’re getting. Like with Jimmy Smith, the sound of his organ. I had the privilege to open for him years ago and snuck up to his gear after soundcheck and was looking at all the settings. That’s what I’m interested in. “The sound” that comes out of that machine in a way.
MR: Funny you mention Monk. I passed along the Monks Tips for a Gig to Trey, Russ, and Tony at the Beacon Jams. Tony was quoted about your playing Ray. “He’s brilliant. I mean his playing is unlike anybody, he’s kind of playing like Monk in a rock setting that nobody does and he makes it work.”
May 2011: Ray, Russ, and Tony covering Monk
RP: (Laughter) Oh that was you? Ok alright.
RL: (Laughter) Yeah that’s great.
MR: Yea, Ray you turned me on to Brian Blade with Chick Corea and Christian McBride at Beacon Jams. They ended up winning the Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album this year. I was able to speak with Steve Gadd last month about his work with Chick Corea and he mentioned a story about Chick jumping behind drums to work something out. Have you ever jumped behind the kit Ray?
RP: I don’t play drums at all but I’ll have sort of a basic kind of rhythmic idea. Like “CC’s Dream,” that song. I hear this sort of reggae thing but I wouldn’t even know what to call it, but I hear this rhythm in my head. I show Russ the rudimentary and he took it from there and made it into something cool.
RL: It’s called collaborating. No matter what it takes to get the idea across because sometimes you don’t totally know what is in somebody’s head. I played with these African percussionists for a long time and man we would put this stuff together. Talking about influences that’s on a lot of Soule Monde still is this band I was in, Lofty’s Zzebra. Afrobeat sound mixed with a rock edge influence. But even with me, certain snare things, I’m like yea that’s John Bonham. Even the first song “Tinyland” my daughter said sounds like Bonham in the beginning. Also, Art Blakey kind of sounds are an influence. I got to see him one time which was amazing.
Lofty’s Zzebra
MR: Is it safe to say this album compared to previous ones has a little bit more straight funk grooves over Afrobeat?
RP: Yea this seems more of a funk base. There’s a tune called “Ollie ’88” we worked hard on for a long time. That kind of informed some of the rhythms on this album. But I think you’re right. Ya know in the past, “Take My Hand” and “Mina” were definitely more Afrobeat-based.
MR: How about the funky title track “Mimi Digs It”? Wasn’t it inspired by one of your chickens, Ray?
RP: Yea when we were rehearsing for the recording. We have a bunch of chickens here, one in particular named Mimi. Ya know it gets loud in the barn when we play and all of the chickens would run away except for Mimi. Ya know I think maybe she was deaf or something (laughter). She would like to get up on the keyboards and were like, “Oh Mimi Digs it” and that became the name of the track and then the record.
MR: Could have also been a nod to Mimi Fishman who was a great artist.
Mimi Fishman Art, Eggplant Diner Syracuse
RP: I’m waiting for Jon Fishman to call and say, “What are you making a record about my mother?” Yea our friend Pappy Biondo from the band Cabinet did the cover art for the album.
RL: Yea he’s a good friend of ours that lives in Vermont. He did our album cover for our last Christmas song too.
MR: I was able to get through on the Beacon Jam streams to revisit an infamous Trey Anastasio Band show from Utica’s Stanley Theater in October of 2002. The crowd was rocking to the beat of the humanity and plaster fell from the balcony. Trey, Tony and Cyro spoke on it. What do you remember about that infamous gig?
RP: We were watching it from the stage and, ya know, started commenting, “Man, that balcony is really moving!” The local fire marshal is always at a show. Then Trey’s like, “You see that balcony moving!?” And then he calls, if I remember right, “Sand.” Ya know because it was gonna be a heavy groove and then the fire marshal came on stage “No No No!”
RL: The fire marshal is like can you play something more mellower? We’re like “no” (laughter).
MR: I know you guys were in the middle of “Mr. Completely” before it all came to a halt and went acoustic. Did a fire marshal also come on stage for Valentine’s Day in Red Bank, New Jersey 2010 during “Sand” as well that prompted the house lights on mid-jam to a quick conga line by you guys through the crowd back to the stage?
RP: No that was because someone pulled the alarm. They were ejecting someone and he grabbed the fire alarm on the way out
MR: What is it about “Sand” that is the ultimate groove to get everyone in the house moving?
The best way to listen to the band’s new record is from their Vinyl option that includes a signed copy and even a batch of Ray’s homemade syrup from his farm. The duo will play live to start the Summer concert series in 2021 at Sugarhouse where they recorded the album on May 29. Make the trip to Central Vermont and watch these guys lay it down for yourself. You can grab tickets here.
Creative Concerts has announced yet another show at Apple Valley Park in Lafayette, NY, with Southern rock on tap on June 19, 2021 with The Allman Betts Band performing and special guest, St. Louis based duo River Kittens opening the show.
Like previous events announced in this outdoor series, events will be socially distanced, with fans being able to purchase tickets in roped-off PODS for parties of 2, 4 or 6. In an effort to create a safe experience for guests, a carefully throughout site plan has been developed allowing for temperature screenings and surveys to be conducted upon entering the event grounds. To adhere to social distancing guidelines, all PODS are spaced a minimum of six feet apart. A variety of food and beverage options will be available for purchase. Site map and FAQ for the venue can be found at applevalleypark.com/faq
Tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday, May 7th at 10am at applevalleypark.com
The Allman Betts Band includes Devon Allman & Duane Betts on guitars and vocals, Berry Oakley Jr. on bass, Johnny Stachela on slide guitar, John Ginty on Hammond B3 (Robert Randolph/Dixie Chicks) and Devon Allman Project percussionists R. Scott Bryan (Sheryl Crow) and John Lum. The show features original music from their two recent BMG albums, songs from their solo projects as well as classic songs by The Allman Brothers Band, the legendary group founded by Devon and Duane’s fathers, Gregg Allman & Dickey Betts.
Their sophomore album, Bless Your Heart, was released on August 28, 2020. Like their debut album, Bless Your Heart was recorded at the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Studios and produced by Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price, John Prine and Elvis Presley).
Apple Valley Park is located in beautiful LaFayette, NY. With its rural atmosphere, rolling hills, and expansive fall foliage, it has proven to be a wonderful home to the annual LaFayette Apple Festival since 1973. More recently it has expanded to host other live entertainment events, including a few successful drive-in concerts in the fall of 2020.
For Volume 16 of GarciaLive, the archival series looks back at the debut of Jerry Garcia Band at Madison Square Garden (MSG) on November 15, 1991.
GarciaLive Volume 16 finds the world’s most recorded musician in the world’s most famous arena at the midway point in one of his longest and most celebrated solo tours. While Garcia was no stranger to MSG, November 15th marked the Jerry Garcia Band debut in the vaunted venue. Though just two months removed from the Grateful Dead’s sold-out 9-night residency at the Garden, the crowd’s eruption as the houselights dimmed revealed the immense excitement for Garcia’s return.
Poster by Mike DuBois
The buoyant set-opening “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” signaled the feeling was indeed mutual. Love remained a central theme throughout the evening with stunning versions of Smokey Robinson’s “The Way You Do The Things You Do,” Van Morrison’s “He Ain’t Give You None” and “Bright Side of the Road,” and Dylan’s “Simple Twist of Fate,” among others.
A near-automatic highlight of any latter era Jerry Garcia Band set, this performance of The Manhattan’s “Shining Star” is so poignant it became the centerpiece for the 2001 compilation of the same name. The extended takes on “Ain’t No Bread in the Breadbox” and “Don’t Let Go” which followed offered the band plenty of room to stretch out with the latter yielding the deepest improvisations of the evening. Not one to treat encores as de rigueur, Garcia finds the perfect sentiment to close the night with the timeless “(What A) Wonderful World” sending everyone home walking on air.
Included in the physical copy are detailed liner notes written by Relix editor-in-chief andJambands.com founder Dean Budnick, which includes reflections from Melvin Seals, Jacklyn LaBranch, Dennis McNally and John Popper. Popper’s band, Blues Traveler, was the opening act for the 1991 show. GarciaLive Vol. 16 is set for a June 25 release.
Disc One // Set One: 1. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) 2. Struggling Man 3. He Ain’t Give You None 4. Simple Twist of Fate 5. Lay Down Sally
Disc Two: 1. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down 2. My Sisters and Brothers 3. Deal
Set Two: 4. The Way You Do The Things You Do 5. Waiting For A Miracle 6. Shining Star 7. Ain’t No Bread in the Breadbox
Disc Three: 1. Don’t Let Go 2. That Lucky Old Sun > 3. Bright Side of the Road
Live music is making its way back into our weekend plans. The Oteil Burbridge band featuring Pete Lavezzoli on drums, Tom Guarna on Guitar, and special guest Jason Crosby on keyboards performed for two nights at the North Beach Bandshell in Miami Beach, FL on April 24 and 25. Over two days the quartet had a Grateful Dead heavy setlist, nicely blended with Oteil’s originals and covers of his favorite artists.
The breeze kicked in to start the two night run. They open with a cover by The Weather Report that brought all of the “Elegant People” from the beach. It got the whole crowd immediately grooving. A first set dead classic “Sugaree” start the psychedelic blues for the sun soaked masses. A cover of Jerry Garcia Band “Cats Down Under the Stars” keeps it flowing with Melvin Seals drummer Lavezolli and Oteil locked in ” Cats on the bandstand, give em each a big hand, Anyone who sweats like that must be all right.”
Believe it or not the band follows with another Grateful Dead classic that was played under the Miami Beach haze during soundcheck for “Here Comes Sunshine.” “Hard to find” an end of a first set, the quartet close with “King Solomon’s Marbles” to send everyone looking for their own after they cleared the stage.
The second set started with a beautiful Jerry solo classic “Rubin and Cherise.” The words on the Florida shore singing “the breeze would pause to listen in before going on its way again, Masquerade began when the nightfall finally woke.” Another Jerry tune up next for “Gomorrah” helped “Blow the City off the Map, left nothing there but fire”
Oteil brings you back to Brooklyn Bowl for a “Butter Biscuit” next, then a transition to a Grateful Dead S.O.S. on the beach. “Help on the Way” into “Slipknot” gets another Oteil original weaved in with “Too Many Times” before crescendoing into “Franklins Tower.” It was a funky roll in the dew to close the first set.
Keeping the crowd in a Grateful Dead like glow the band starts the encore so quiet you can hear the ocean. Oteil’s voice on “Stella Blue” reminds you the wave is crashing “In the end there’s still a song, comes crying like the wind, down every lonely street, that’s ever been.” As expected after a Dead heavy show like this you would assume this was the end.
Nope, during the encore the band paid tribute to Sugarloaf with their cover of “Green Eyed Lady.” Its lyrics perhaps another nod to a day on the beach. “Green Eyed Lady windswept lady , moves the night the waves the sand, Green eyed lady…ocean lady.” Out of nowhere, Oteil’s ensemble threw everyone for a loop on their way back to the Miami scene.
After an hour long soundcheck in Miami Beach, Oteil Burbridge took some time to talk with NYS Music
Matthew Romano: I am so glad I got to see the show last night before speaking today. Do you remember the Buddy Miles record that had a cover of Allman Brothers Band tunes “Dont’ Keep Me Wondering” and “Midnight Rider”? I can’t help but hear your same soulful interpretation of these Dead songs.
Oteil Burbridge: Yes I do! I kind of just do it. You can’t do anything to suppress your roots. Not really trying, it just comes out like that. But there was something that really gave me confidence to lean in more on my approach. I don’t know if you’ve heard George Porter sing “Eyes of World”? It’s my favorite “Eyes of the World.” The way he sings it, holy crap, just blew me away seeing that. So I was like yea man do it like you feel it. You know just let it come, let it be what it is.
MR: Well being here in Miami where you just recorded with Page McConnell and Vida Blue for a record we didn’t know what to expect out of your catalog this weekend for a set.
OB: I don’t with Vida Blue material because they are still on the road and we still play. Allman’s aren’t playing, I mean Dead and Company is playing, ya know as slow as we are doing everything. If you notice we do a lot of different versions with this band. We do the the old funkier, sluttier “Loose Lucy” and the faster funky kind of “They Love Each Other,” the long “Eyes” the “Terrapin.” What else? The funky “Bertha.”
OB: So we can just lean in the funk.
MR: I was able to speak with John Mayer on Tales From the Golden Road on Sirius XM and got his angle on bringing his own texture to the Dead and Co. sound. You are in the same boat bringing a whole new edge and vibe to this music that gives it a new form of life.
OB: I mean it just comes out that way. It’s really about being given permission by yourself, the original members, the crowd, and especially the old crew.
OB: Ya know it mattered to me, what AJ thinks, what Jarukie thought. It matters what Derek Featherstone thinks. Ya know all the original crew that’s been here much longer than me. So even to have them and friends approval means the world.
MR: Well how about big Steve Parish who has come Upstate New York to go on his own tour speaking about all his years behind the amps of the Dead for every show?
OB: When you get Parish’s seal of approval, wow. All those guys, Dennis McNally, Bill Walton. When Bill Walton says you’re good, you quit worrying. But John and I have been very lucky to be graced by all those people, the crowd, the original members. I count them as family.
MR: Well being at the first Dead and Company show on October 29, 2015 at Times Union Center (The Old Knickerbocker Arena), it was only appropriate for you and John to open with “Playing in the Band.”
OB: (Laughter) For sure. That was a harrowing night. That was a trip, that beginning time.
MR: Well, I love that 6 years later your able to lead the pack with some funk on this repertoire for two nights on the beach in Spring 2021.
OB: Well i mean there is so much funk in the Grateful Dead’s music. The Jerry Bands’ music. Its just like there for the picking. So i just lean in to it
OB: Thats where I come from, ya know? I come from James Brown and Parliament Funkadelic. Earth Wind and Fire, Stevie, Larry Graham, J.V Collier and James Jamerson.
MR: How about Larry Graham creating the slap bass technique to fill for the drummers spot that was absent
OB: Yeah the drummer didn’t come so he had to bass the drum with his thumb and the snare and hi hat with his slap and the plucking part yeah. Tonight we’re gonna do a tribute to Paul Jackson in Head Hunters that just passed. It was the last tune we did during soundcheck today was “God made me Funky.”
MR: That had me dancing outside and threw me for a loop before I came in to talk to ya. I walked in the room feeling like Cleo McDowell in Coming to America…”I’m not sure what to do…I feel like break dancing.”
OB: (Laughter) For Sure. I’ve seen it at Dead shows, people start popping and locking! This weekend has been the biggest amount of people this band has played for. It was great to see that many bodies in motion again.
Later that night Oteil and Friends played one more Saturday night for an audience on Miami Beach.
The crowd immediately responded to the Oteil instrumental “The Happy Dance” to start the evening. Another highlight of Oteil’s solo catalog came next with “Rooster.” His words nailed it over the old Peacemakers groove, “There’s not much time to get your house in order, you can watch as the darkness grows, keep on trying to disguise yourself, but the ugliness still shows, you better clean it up before the rooster crows…”
Then a Dead heavy first set that included the funked up “Bertha” and “Loose Lucy.” The Dead vibes unfolded at the end of the first set with “China Cat Sunflower” > “China Doll” > “I Know Your Rider.” A set ending fake out with “No More Doubt,” another Oteil and the Peacemakers original. With even deeper lyrics “Call out to the grave, I am a mirror to the clouds, you can rest assure there will be no more worry,” to officially end the set.
After a short break the band opened with two covers, Jaco Pastorius’ “Opus Pocus‘ and Donny Hathaway’s “Magnificent Sanctuary.” These tunes are certainly hand picked by Oteil as they are a major influence on his sound.
Oteil Burbridge in Jaco Pastorius Park, FL
The band then closes the rest of the set with The Grateful Dead catalog where ocean breezes flow. After a funky “They Love Each Other” they launched into “Estimated Prophet” > “Terrapin” > “Morning Dew.” Oteil was quoted on his first vocal take on Dew, “I feel like I’ve been through enough in life to do it justice, I hope you enjoyed it.”
Oteil Burbridge Band Setlist April 24 25
The encore for the two night beach run was a tribute to Paul Jackson of the Head Hunters for “God Made me Funky.” Let’s be glad he is out touring this kind of music in 2021. Oteil helps carry the torch for new comers to the scene. It was Miami Beach resident Chris Collins first show who celebrated his father Bobs birthday Friday night. Bob toured for four years with the Dead.
In between shows you can listen to Oteil’s podcast with great artists. The crew heads to B Chord brewing Company in Virginia on June 4 and 5 for their next two night run. Dead and Company 2021 tour will be kicking off August 16th in Raleigh, North Carolina, and running through Halloween, with a three-night stand at the iconic Hollywood Bowl on October 29th, 30th, & 31st.
Central New York’s Creative Concerts have announced that Blackberry Smoke will perform at Apple Valley Park in Lafayette, NY on Tuesday, June 29. Tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday, April 30 at 10am at applevalleypark.com
Apple Valley Park is located in beautiful LaFayette, NY. With its rural atmosphere, rolling hills, and expansive fall foliage, it has proven to be a wonderful home to the annual LaFayette Apple Festival since 1973. More recently it has expanded to host other live entertainment events, including a few successful drive-in concerts in the fall of 2020.
Throughout their career, Blackberry Smoke— vocalist/lead guitarist Charlie Starr, guitarist/vocalist Paul Jackson, bassist/vocalist Richard Turner, drummer Brit Turner, and keyboardist Brandon Still—has embodied Georgia’s rich musical legacy, honoring the people, places and sounds of their home state. As the band celebrates their 20th anniversary this year, their reverence for Georgia has only deepened.
On their latest album, You Hear Georgia, the follow-up to 2018’s critically acclaimed Find a Light, Blackberry Smoke is further celebrating these roots with 10 new songs that feel like Georgia, accented by the addition of Grammy-winning producer and fellow Georgia-native, Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlile).
Over the years, Blackberry Smoke has toured with ZZ Top, Zac Brown Band, and Eric Church, while the group’s last four full-lengths reached the top 10 of the Billboard country charts, with two of these albums (2015’s Holding All The Roses and 2016’s Like An Arrow) landing at No. 1. You Hear Georgia reinforces that the band members have come so far together because they also can rely on one another for support and creative direction, no matter what the circumstances.
Having played music together for so long, it does become a sort of a telepathic thing, where we all are nodding our head at the same time, like, ‘A-ha, I know what this feels like,’ or what it should feel and sound like. That’s what makes it so enjoyable to be in a band: to play with the same dudes decade after decade. Because when you land on something that works to you, you don’t want to stop. You want to keep doing it.
Charlie Starr, vocalist/lead guitarist for Blackberry Smoke
Like previous events announced in this outdoor series, events will be socially distanced, with fans being able to purchase tickets in roped-off PODS (Personal Outdoor Dance Space) for parties of 2, 4 or 6. In an effort to create a safe experience for guests, a carefully throughout site plan has been developed allowing for temperature screenings and surveys to be conducted upon entering the event grounds.
To adhere to social distancing guidelines, all PODS are spaced a minimum of six feet apart. A variety of food and beverage options will be available for purchase. Site map and FAQ for the venue can be found at applevalleypark.com/faq
Spring of 2021 marks a first time release from the unexpected duo of Mick Jagger and Dave Grohl. Like anyone waiting around at home for the world’s next move, Mick Jagger had the idea for a new song while sitting in limbo. The single “Easy Sleazy” was sent to Dave Grohl who says “It’s beyond a dream come true. Its the song of the Summer, with out a doubt”
The duo sent parts to each other back and forth over the past month, with Mick Jagger on vocals and guitar and Dave Grohl handling guitar, drums, and bass. Mick says of the duo “Dave likes it ’cause it rocks hard. I like to rock hard, too, so it feels good in that way.” The song covers almost all of the world’s hot topics from the view of someone who might still have Sympathy for the Devil.
“Shooting the vaccine, Bill Gates is in my bloodstream, It’s mind control… there’s Aliens in the deep State.” Jagger’s lyrics immediately suggest not wanting to fall in line with the masses right now. “I haven’t written loads of songs about it. ‘Eazy Sleazy’ is the only song I’ve written on this subject. I wrote it quickly a few weeks ago”
Jagger’s point of view on the experiences of the kind of general long lock down is relatable. “You see a pretty girl, but you can’t take any chances before the vaccine. And then all the silly things that you could try and do to pass the time because you feel you got to “better yourself.” Everyone tried to do something, didn’t they? Cooking and dancing and learning another language badly.” Jagger expresses this during the tune while singing, “I think I’ve put on weight, I’ll have another drink and clean the kitchen sink”
He addresses his own angle during this time on whether or not he actually tried to better himself. Mick Jagger is as open as we all should be to one another when loved ones are checking in “Not really, to be honest. No. It’d be so stupid if I said, [puts on sarcastic voice] “Oh yes. I did say that I bettered myself. It was an introspective time for me.” It’s a piss-take out of all these things; I mean, you try and learn another language and all this.”
Remembering when Mick first went solo outside of the Memory Motel of The Rolling Stones in 1970, he released “Memo From Turner” with lyrics all ready reflecting on previous times experience. 51 years later, Mick is still relevant to the times and the world around him. This single is his newest memo to all: “Please Me, It’ll be a Memory You’re Trying to Remember to Forget.”
When you talk about the colorful landscape of all the distinct soulful musical genres, it’s safe to say Steve Gadd has explored all of them behind his drum kit. The comfortable corridor of his Upstate New York roots groove comes from growing up in Monroe County in the town of Irondequoit.
Gadd, who celebrates his 76th birthday on April 9, has been playing drums since he was 11. At this age was his first out of State gig on The Mickey Mouse Club in California after winning a National Talent Round Up Course by Walt Disney.
Steve Gadd by Artist Maria Friske
His music education continued in New York State as a member of the Rochester Crusaders local drum corps in High School. In 1968 he graduated from Eastman School of Music in Rochester. He was then drafted into the United States Army and played the next three years in the Army Band. In 2005 he received an honorary Doctorate degree from Berklee College of Music. In 2017, Eastman School of Music awarded him and Chick Corea with honorary Doctorates as well. In 2019 Steve Gadd Band self titled album won him a Grammy award for best Contemporary Instrumental Album.
A journey like this for Gadd is one that is always evolving however, this month he just released a live recording of his band from The Blue Note Tokyo. After a stay in England this past March and returning to LA he took time to talk with NYS Music about the ride. Sir Paul McCartney once said about Dr. Gadd, “Stevie’s a great drummer, no point having him unless I use his style, this great distinctive style”
Steve Gadd and Paul McCartney
Matthew Romano: Thank you for taking the time to speak with NYS Music today about Past, Present, and Future Music experiences in the State.
Steve Gadd: Absolutely. My Pleasure. Thank You.
MR: Tell me about growing up in Rochester going to see live music in Monroe County at the Ridgecrest Inn that started to put the groove in you.
SG: Everybody they brought in was great. Art Blakey, Oscar Peterson, Ray Bryant and his brother Tommy Bryant with Papa Joe Jones, Slam Stewart. I used to take my drums and sit in and play with those guys when i was a kid. Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Ventura, Gene Krupa, they brought all the big names in. It was fantastic and it was a small room. They had matinees on Sunday afternoons where they would let me and Chuck Mangione sit in with them. We had a lot of fun. A lot of great memories.
MR: Do you remember a piano player from Syracuse at that time by the name of Vinny Falcone?
SG: Sure I know Vinny, he ended up working with Sinatra. He was a great keyboard player man.
MR: Speaking of great keyboard players, At a Montreal Jazz fest you mentioned that Chick Corea helped show you some ideas on drums you were working out for yourself in the Sixties while developing a sound.
SG: Yea he did, I had got a new set of drums. I went from a 22 inch bass drum to an 18 inch bass drum and when I switched them out Chick wanted to come to the Club when I did it. He was a Tony Williams and Elvin Jones kind of freak. He loved their playing, He went up and just sort of played and I had been trying to figure out what guys like Tony and Elvin were doing for a long time. I did it by slowing the record down to speed 16 to understand. They were doing a lot of new things that haven’t been done. Seeing the way Chick approached the drums and how free he was helped make sense of a lot of the questions I had. Ya know he just had a great approach to everything and a great touch. The freeness.
Chick Corea and Steve Gadd
MR: Is there anything that sticks out from all the studio and live sessions playing with him over the years?
SG: All of my memories of playing with him were great. His level of consistency and level of playing music just kept on growing. So all of the projects were memorable. One that sticks out because it was a live thing with strings and horns and two different bass players was Leprechaun. The thing that’s different about that than the other albums is that everybody was live and the arrangements were pretty amazing. I’ll never forget that.
MR: Chick had a great quote about Return to Forever on playing music that has already been written, “Playing something old? You don’t create in the past or the future, you do it now, is it old? Is it new? I say its just all creation.”
SG: Right. He was a true artist, there’s no doubt about it.
MR: How did you start your years with Eric Clapton, in the studio or on the road?
SG: We started together live in the 90’s on a blues tour he was doing and then he kept on using me for different things after that.
MR: How about the most raw blues project you did with him on the “Sessions for Robert Johnson” with Billy Preston, Nathan East, Doyle Bramhall II, and Chris Stainton. As an interpretation of the infamous and mysterious acoustic record from the Delta Crossroads?
SG: Eric brings the songs in and takes the lead on that stuff. For the most part he’s got it mapped out in his head. Sometimes an idea might make it flow better and he’s open to that. The players that he hired are hand picked guys that he liked how they played but most importantly loved where their hearts were musically. Ya know what I mean? It was like these are people that are his soulmates. It was fun and great to play with Billy Preston too.
MR: Any stand out moments over the years playing with Eric? Or the same concept as memories of playing with Chick where all the nights are unforgettable?
SG: Yes. They are all on a bigger level. Some because of the sound, the energy of the audience. Along the way some are more magical than others. But for the most part the bar is high, that’s the way we feel. We go up there and leave it all on the bandstand.
MR: Your last live release with Eric Clapton is from The Budokan in Tokyo. He mentions it’s the best place he has played in 40 years. Your band’s new album is from Japan as well and playing off what you said about the audience. Does a disciplined fervor for live music make for a better performance?
SG: I mean you always go off the audience. When you get it musically to a level where everyone on the bandstand is having fun and can hear each other and you can trust the audience is hearing it the way you are it gets to a spiritual level. In Japan or wherever you are. That’s the goal.
SG: You don’t get a lot of those opportunities, those were ridiculous size audiences. That’s not an everyday occurrence for me, it was great. Gerry Niewood who I grew up with in Rochester played at that show as well on Saxophone. The stage was a few stories up to get it high enough for everyone to see and hear. It was pretty spectacular.
MR: Like all major musical gatherings in New York State history I don’t think anyone knew the performance would be so big.
SG: It was fantastic. I don’t know what they were anticipating but I know they were happy at the end.
MR: Going across The Great Lawn to the Upper West Side’s Beacon Theatre in March 2020 you were on drums as part of the house band for the Love Rocks NYC Benefit. That was the your last live performance in New York and also coincidentally the first socially distant concert to be streamed as the pandemic touched down that day. It limited us in the sold out theater to only 300 people. The house band alone had almost 20 people on stage. Highlights of the night was your cover of Derek and the Dominos “Why Does Love got to be so Sad?” with Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks . You also locked in a groove with percussionist Pedro Martinez for Dave Matthews set as well.
SG: Will Lee puts a good house band together for that event. I have played with Derek Trucks at one of Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festivals but that was my first time playing with Dave Matthews which was great.
MR: Your former percussion player with Paul Simon, Cyro Baptista, helped carry the beat at The Beacon Theatre at the end of last year for an eight week residency with Trey Anastasio. It served as the only other major groove to come out of The Upper West Side most recently.
SG: Trey Anastasio of Phish? Yea, Cyro and I played with Paul Simon for The Rhythm of the Saints. I’ll have to check it out.
MR: Speaking of being part of Paul Simon’s rhythm section over the years, did any of your time in the Army help inspire the almost military like precision on your iconic “50 Ways to Leave your Lover” groove?
SG: No the Army band was like a Buddy Rich kind of thing. What your talking about was from Drum Corps. When I was in Rochester Crusaders and Empire Statesmen. A lot of the rudimentary stuff I used came from there
Steve Gadd as a member of the Rochester Crusaders
MR: Spring just started. What’s on the horizon for 2021?
SG: We just released the new live album and waiting on some tours that keep getting rescheduled. I did a book on drum exercises that’s going to be released. I think Ill continue to write them. I enjoy it. A lot of new ideas came to mind. Different stickings and using the rudiments in various ways. It’s like a snare drum exercise book. I’m mainly just trying to stay in shape and stay creative so I’m ready for when things open up.
MR: Staying true to your always changing chameleon man like musical background behind the drums of all different types of soul music. Can we keep expecting new tempos out of you in 2021 as well?
SG: I hope so. It keeps evolving. Ya do the best you can every new day. Thank god you have another one to live and ya give it your best shot. Ya know what I mean?
On April 1, Rochester native, drummer and producer Dr. Steve Gadd released Steve Gadd Band at Blue Note Tokyo, from a tour of Japan in December 2019. That same year The Steve Gadd Band’s self-titled album won a GRAMMY for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. The group also played the Rochester International Jazz Festival that summer, leading up to this year end performance in Japan.
The line up features former Beatles collaborator David Spinozza on guitar in lieu of Micheal Landau, Jimmy Johnson on bass, Kevin Hays on keyboards, Walt Fowler on trumpet and Dr. Gadd on drums.
Blue Note Tokyo is a jazz venue in the Aoyama district of Tokyo, Japan that seats about 300 people and makes for an intimate performance. The band played to the disciplined fervor the crowd has for live music. Frank Zappa alumni Walt Fowler helped write the musical intro to the show, an arrangement from the film Cape Fear. The same theme is also found in the new series Ratched, which serves as a prequel to One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. The whole band feeds the chilling composition, segueing to an iconic Gadd pocket groove for the tune “Where’s Earth?” World-renowned musicians like this might need some help finding it when their sounds stretch outside of our planet.
Gadd switches to a Latin beat on the drums securing his role as the consummate chameleon man of different musical genres for “Timpanogos.” Fowler and Spinozza then spread out nicely intertwining spicy solos before Hays helps cool things down with his Fender Rhodes. For those looking for a signature Gadd drum solo during the performance, there is only one to remind you why the man behind the kit is headlining the venue. “One Point Five” trails off Jimmy Johnson on bass to a full drum crescendo to end the song.
When asked about the tune “Way Back Home,” and if it has any significance to the comfortable corridor of his Upstate New York roots, Gadd said,
I like the song, I’ve played it with a lot of different bands, I did a live album in Rochester and titled it after that. I like the groove we get on it no matter how we do it, we get a good feel, it grooves, that one for me it keeps building, it gets pretty intense at the end and it takes a while to get there but it feels great the whole way to me, I love that track.
Steve Gadd
Only two tracks have vocals on the ten song performance. During a take on Bob Dylan’s “Watching the River Flow,” Hays channels appropriate lyrics for today: “That this ol’ world, will keep rolling on you know, so I’m gonna sit right on this bank of sand and watch the river flow.”
The bonus track on the Blue Note Tokyo album “Foameopathy” is one of five tracks (including “One Point Five”) played live from the GRAMMY Award winning album that year.
We worked hard mixing it too, my son Giancarlo and I, and then Rich Breen mastered it and sprinkled some magic over the whole thing and I like the way it sounds.
Steve Gadd
Keep an eye out for a full interview with Dr. Steve Gadd about his musical origins in Monroe County to his performances around the world. Download the album here.
Key Tracks: Wheres Earth?, Timpanogos, Way Back Home
