Born from the depths of the 2020 Pandemic, Neon Avenue is a group of Capital Region musicians came together to play the music of the Grateful Dead. With the stalling of the music industry, a creative outlet was needed for these 5 individuals. What was first a casual get together playing some dead tunes quickly escalated into a singular goal of putting together a live stream. Something special happened during these early sessions/shows and a “one-and-done” livestream turned into something much more.
In less than 2 years as a band, Neon Avenue has made quite a stir in the ever popular (and saturated) Gratefully-inspired tribute scene, growing quickly to become one of the bigger draws in the Upstate NY capital region Dead scene. The band brings a fresh take on the Grateful music that you know and love while placing an emphasis on improvisation, unique setlist construction, deeper cuts into the grateful songbook and a primal energy that they draw from their loyal fans during live performances. With past appearances at the Town of Hoosick Falls concert series, Long Lake’s “Meat.Beer.Music” music festival, as well as scheduled appearances at Lake George Steamboat Company’s “Rock the Dock Music Festival”, “Rockin’ on the River” for the city of Troy, and numerous headlining shows around the Capital region, the word has certainly gotten out about this band. Composed of veteran musicians from numerous local groups like Formula 5, Slipknot! (80’s/90’s Dead tribute), Stone Revival Band, Knot Dead, Jocamo, and more, this combination of players has set out to push the boundaries of the standard Dead tribute.
The group of Joe Davis (Formula 5), Mike Urbon (Knot Dead), Mike Cassels (Stone Revival Band, Jocamo, Knot Dead), Mike McDonald (Formula 5, Knot Dead) and Doug Klein (Slipknot, Robanic, Knot Dead) were re-inspired playing the music of the Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia Band, Ratdog, and others. While existing in an endless sea of 1970’s era Grateful Dead tributes, this group strives to separate itself with a dedication to unique arrangements of setlists and song segues, utilizing extended improvisation, playing deeper cuts from all eras of the Dead, JGB, and Ratdog songbook.
If you’re in New York and looking for traditional folk music, you might be surprised to find roots closer to home than you thought. While the genre is often associated with the South, in reality, Upstate New York – particularly the Adirondacks – is home to a vibrant past of traditional music composed of folklore, work songs and rich oral traditions.
Dave Ruch, a Buffalo-based musician, music educator and folk music archivist/historian has been delving deep into the history of traditional music of the Adirondacks for the past 30 years. As he explains, the Adirondacks, with its great wilderness and rural flair provided a perfect breeding ground for the diverse style of music that originated there.
Lumber workers gather, dancing and making music in the Adirondack camps for entertainment | Photo from woods.tauny.org
The Roots of Adirondack Music
Traditional music as it is commonly known is a genre of music specific to a certain region and local people or culture. It is typically anonymous music, passed down orally and serves as an expression of the life of people in that given community. Traditional Adirondack music in particular is further characterized by a few key elements as Ruch explains.
“So much of it goes back to work in the woods, lumbering being one of the main occupations there throughout the 19th century and into the 20th,” Ruch said. “That was a real fertile ground for this music to spread and be used. “
As he continued, very often logging operations would be deep in the woods and the lumber companies would have to build temporary housing units for workers to live in in the forest. By Ruch’s count, anywhere from 30-50 guys crammed into these small living spaces for an entire winter, working 6 days a week. Additionally no booze was usually allowed on the premises.
Workers in the Adirondack lumber camps pose for a picture | Photo from New York Heritage
“Singing and entertaining each other became really the primary form of entertainment for a lot of these guys,” Ruch said. “It was a living tradition as well, so they’d be making up new songs about somebody who died on the log drive or to complain about the boss.”
Adirondack music was also greatly influenced by the influx of Canadians and Irish immigrants who went to work in the iron mines and lumber camps. These influences found their way into the Adirondacks in a variety of unexpected ways.
“I was working on a project several years ago and I ended up finding at least one song that a man up in Wilmington, NY had been singing and he was the only person to ever be found in America that was reported to know and sing that song,” Ruch recalled. “It’s been recorded 20-30 different places in Atlantic Canada but it had only been found once in America and that was in that Northeastern corner of New York State. That song followed the people as they migrated.”
Through the Generations
While Adirondack music might seem like a thing of the past, its oral traditions trickle downward through the subsequent generations of music makers. Ruch said what makes this music special is that unlike other regions of New York, the Adirondacks seems to be the only place where you can still find people today who have a direct link to this old music.
Don Woodcock, pictured with his fiddle in hand | Courtesy of TAUNY Archives/Martha Cooper
Ruch has talked visited and befriended many of these multigenerational musicians who carry on family legacy and traditions. One such example he cited is Don Woodcock, a musician in St. Lawrence who holds the tile of “Grand Champion Fiddler of New York State.” Woodcock’s father played the fiddle for square dances and had learned such songs from older musicians. Decades later this combined knowledge was all passed down to Don. In some cases, Ruch said these songs don’t even have names, Woodcock simply knows them as “The song my dad always started the square dances off with.”
“He didn’t learn out of a book and he didn’t learn it because he wanted to learn about local music, he‘s what you’d call a tradition-bearer,” Ruch said. “He’s a living link to this old music that predates radio and T.V. and goes back to a time where people entertained themselves and their neighbors with this traditional music.”
Change and Loss Over Time
With each song passed down through the generations, the music of the Adirondacks changes as well.
Ruch cited another musician by the name of Ermina Pincombe who took her Grandma’s a cappella version of a song called The Lumberjack’s Alphabet – complete with a lumberjack term for every letter of the alphabet – and set guitar chords to the music, based on her own taste for the country and “hillbilly” music that came into the home via 1930’s radio.
Ermina Pincombe and Dave Ruch smile for the camera | Photo courtesy Dave Ruch
“A hallmark of all traditional music is that because there’s no known author and no one set way to do it, people feel pretty free to change a couple words or sing it to a different melody that’s okay, ” Ruch said. “An aspect of the tradition is that it can completely evolve and usually does over time.”
While Adirondack music continues on, there is an innate risk with the oral tradition. If not enough people carry on the songs, it can be lost forever. Ruch hopes to carry on the legacy of mountain music by sharing these types of songs and stories. As he explained, it’s not just a matter of educating people from across the country, it starts in his own backyard.
“The folk audiences will often say ‘we knew about music from Kentucky and the Ozark mountains but we had no idea there was this music from New York’ and I tell them, ‘well people in New York don’t realize there’s anything either.’”
A Night of Adirondack Music
For those interested in learning more about traditional Adirondack music, Ruch is hosting a show titled, “An Evening of Music and Stories from the Adirondacks and the Erie Canal” on January 18th at the Sportsmen’s Tavern in Buffalo, NY.
Dave Ruch pictured performing traditional Adirondack tunes on the banjo | Photo courtesy Dave Ruch
Ruch will be performing the traditional songs he has learned by talking with musicians in the region and sharing the stories behind the music and its creators. While Ruch’s talks are typically reserved for classrooms, historic societies or libraries, he said the cozy and casual environment of the bar will make for a nice change of pace.
“It’s always nice to bring it out where ordinary people are and you get to do it with a beer in hand,” Ruch said. “People really love the stories and love to learn the background of the music as much as they love the music itself.”
Ruch will be performing at the Sportsmen’s Tavern on 326 Amherst St in Buffalo, NY at 7 pm on Jan. 18.
You can buy tickets for the event here and learn more about the history of Adirondack music on Ruch’s website on traditional arts in Upstate New York (TAUNY) here.
The 2023 Black Star Line Festival, hosted by Chance the Rapper and Vic Mensa made its historic, inaugural debut in Accra, Ghana on Friday, January 6. The all star concert featured celebrities such as Erykah Badu, Dave Chappelle, T-Pain, Jeremih, Sarkodie, Tobe Nwigwe, Asakaa Boys, M.anifest and more.
More than 52,000 fans united at Black Star Square in Accra to enjoy an outstanding concert combining music, art, and culture. Prior to the performance, there was a week of events and panels at cultural centers throughout Accra. The free gatherings provided opportunities for education, enrichment and cultural diffusion.
The festival aims to improve the connection between Black people, artists of the Diaspora and the globe with the continent. The Black Star Square is a remembrance of the political freedom that was fought for and won by Ghanaians in 1957. Ghana was the first Sub-Saharan African country to fight for independence from colonialism. Under the leadership of its first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, several continents followed in the footsteps of Ghana. Dr. Nkrumah was inspired by the Jamaican-Born activist Marcus Garvey. The revolutionary believed in a free Africa and a global connection between the people of the continent and Black people globally.
The Black Star Line Festival is more than just a celebration of Black culture and music, it’s a chance for the Diaspora to come together as a community and remind ourselves of the power that lies within us. It’s an opportunity to honor the legacy of those who came before us, and to inspire and uplift each other. It’s a historic event and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the Black Star Line Festival.
Chance the Rapper
In 1919, Garvey founded the Black Star Line. It was a line that generated economic opportunities for Black people from North America, the Caribbean and Africa. The Black Star Line was a symbol of pride for Black people in all ports of call. Dr. Nkrumah insisted that these principles were cardinal to the forward mobility of its people. After almost 40 years, the Ghanaian government inaugurated their fleet with the same name, in homage to Garvey, and even added a black star to the country’s new flag.
Through groundbreaking installations and collaborating with artists from The Continent and The Diaspora, Chance spent 2022 welding the worlds of art and cinematography. His new works include “Child of God” (collab with Gabonese artist and painter Naïla Opiangah), “A Bar About A Bar” (collab with Chicago-based painter Nikko Washington and filmmaker Troy Gueno), “The Highs & The Lows” feat. Joey Bada$$ (collab with Gabonese photographer Yannis Davy Guibingua), all of which celebrate Black artists. Chance’s newly released “YAH Know” features prominent Ghanaian artist King Promise.
Chance the Rapper’s highly anticipated new project, Star Line Gallery is due out later this year
As 2022 was wrapping up its final week, Patti Smith returned to Brooklyn Steel for two nights on December 29 and 30 to celebrate her birthday (which coincided with the second evening). Brooklyn Steel was flooded with fans for the shows, seemingly sold out on the evening we attended and sold out on Dec. 30. The venue’s size and layout made it an excellent atmosphere for an intimate performance.
In her true spirit, Smith’s show was an amalgamation of poetry, beauty, and fierceness wrapped in a blanket of rock and roll. The show featured her high energy songs such as “Free Money,” “People Have the Power,” and her mainstay take on Them’s “Gloria.” Earlier that day, the world had lost iconic British fashion designer and cultural influencer Vivienne Westwood. Many musicians had taken to social media to pay tribute to her, and Smith dedicated her song about sadness and loss “Redondo Beach” to Westwood after saying a few words.
A motif of the evening was time, given the impending change of year and two more important milestones – the birthdays of both Smith and her long-time collaborator and guitarist Lenny Kaye. While taking a brief break mid-set, the band covered “Time Won’t Let Me,” “If I Could Turn Back Time,” and “Time Is On My Side” while a cover of The Chambers Brothers’ “Time Has Come Today” came later in the show. With Kaye’s birthday a few days prior, Smith rallied the audience for a round of “Happy Birthday” for his day (Smith had her birthday moment with the sold-out crowd the next evening, with cake!).
Along with Patti Smith, her band includes Lenny Kaye and her son Jackson Smith on guitar, Tony Shanahan on bass/keys, and Jay Dee Daugherty on drums. Smith’s tradition of performing shows for her birthday (and by nice coincidence, celebrating the upcoming New Year) is one not to miss.
Patti Smith – Brooklyn Steel – December 29, 2022
Setlist: Dancing Barefoot, Redondo Beach, Free Money, Ghost Dance, Because the Night, My Blakean Year, Nine, Pissing in a River, Time Won’t Let Me (>) If I Could Turn Back Time, Time Is on My Side, One Too Many Mornings, Peaceable Kingdom / People Have the Power, Summer Cannibals, Ain’t It Strange, Time Has Come Today, People Have the Power
SUNY Oneonta student Mirabella Phinney has released a brand new EP titled Through Stained Glass, which came out on Nov. 5 2022.
The EP is beautifully written, with smooth and rich vocals. It has the perfect music needed to guide you through your day, through sad moments, or at any time. The record was mixed and mastered by Gabe Angelo, and it features Chris Alvarado on bass during the song “Ignorance is a Gem.” It guides the listener through the feelings of love and relationships, to finally the moments when you can look in their eyes and know all is going to be okay. Each song is a new journey, and Phinney invites you in.
The first song “Ignorance is a Gem” is a slow, nice song with soft guitar strums in the background. Phinney has a beautiful folk voice, that makes me want to sway to the music. I could see myself putting this song on in the background when I am sad, or just studying and doing something as it is so soft and slow. I like the bridge where Phinney’s vocals have some type of effect on them as she sings “Ignore what I said I’m not/I’m nothing what I dreamed of.”
The next song “Think of You Fondly” follows similar slow guitar strums, but has some electric strums in the background, amping the sound more. I interpreted this song as a breakup song, seeing the person you once adored existing in life without you, and how hard it is. I recently went through this, so I resonate with this song a lot more. The lyrics “And I can’t help but think of you fondly/When I finally fake my way to feeling healthy/The wrong time and place never hurt so bad” made me tear up because Phinney put my exact feelings into words, and it is so surreal to hear that, especially in music.
Following the track is the short yet sweet song “Culpability.” Her vocals are higher pitched in this song, and I find that beautiful. I love the way it is written, especially the lyrics “Stay another minute/So that we’re alone/In this car ride that I looked forward to all day” because it describes that feeling of euphoria you get liking someone new again, and how you always want to be around them. The next song “Sleep” has to be my favorite on the EP because it is different from all the other ones so far. It has this haunting rain effect added, which makes me feel like I need to listen to it during a thunderstorm or something. It is a love song, and Phinney takes the time to compare her lover to sleep, something everyone needs and craves.
The final song on the EP is “Apple Pie,” and it gives me a warm feeling throughout, just like the temperature of a fresh apple pie would. It is a lot more upbeat than the rest of the songs on the EP, and it is a good finale song because it brings all these longing feelings of love together to finally the feeling of being in a relationship. The lyrics “Let’s talk about dreams over tea and apple pie/Let’s talk about love and how it finally came by remember that time/Yes, we’ve changed a lot and well never go back to how it was,” make me feel happy inside and long for this feeling.
Overall, Mirabella Phinney’s voice shines super bright on Through Stained Glass. She talks about love and its feelings, the ups and downs of it, and the magical feelings. I enjoyed listening to it and I think it would be great music to put on when you’re sad or happy, and I can’t wait to have it on repeat and see her at a future show! You can find Mirabella Phinney on social media and stream her music here.
Originally published in The Royal Journal on They Might Be Royalty.
The latest from Jay Sanford’s project, Sanford, is at once an ending and a beginning. “Anymore” is the third release from an upcoming full-length album under Sanford; though just released it has been a staple of his live show sets, included among a wide range of artists in his diverse set lists — Sam Cooke, Joy Division, Fats Waller. “Anymore” has a positive message of optimism and action. It feels like a goodbye, but maybe it’s a hello.
“Anymore” is a twisty word, especially on its own, cut-off and isolated from the rest of his lyric: “Ain’t gonna walk these streets anymore.” Anymore, repeated thereafter on its own, projects almost a yearning, it asks, demands, “is there any more?” Though in the rest of the lyrics, it seems that Sanford is tired and dejected by his current location — “Walking these streets I’ve been a thousand times / Walking these streets got me out of my mind / Same old footprints I have left before / Ain’t gonna walk these streets anymore.” At the same time, he’s noticing the streets, reveling in his own footprints; it seems he’s savoring these last moments as they are fleeting. This duality is true for anyone moving, leaving and changing, you think you’re ready to stay goodbye, but in that farewell the places you feel you’ve been a million times suddenly look brand new. You see them as you never saw them before.
Anyway, “Anymore.” It has the southern twang of Jay Sanford’s hometown in South Carolina and a brooding, bouncing bass-line that evokes Sanford’s current locale, Brooklyn. The stellar horn section — made up of Wayne and Miles Tucker, on trumpet and tenor saxophone respectively — gently guides these two seemingly opposing forces together. Wayne Tucker is lending some star power to Sanford’s latest release, Tucker has played with many jazz, pop and country stars before Sanford, including Al Foster, Elvis Costello and Taylor Swift. His trumpet is subdued on this track, but still offers nuance to “Anymore.”
Each Sunday evening from 7-9 p.m. you’ll find EQXposure on WEQX, featuring two hours of local music from up-and-coming artists. Tune into WEQX.com this Sunday night to hear new music from, Timing, Teddy Bear Savage, and Ciarra Fragale.
WEQX has long been the preeminent independent station in the Capital Region of New York, broadcasting from Southern VT to an ever-expanding listening audience. NYS Music brings you a preview of artists to discover each week, just a taste of the talent waiting to be discovered by fans like you.
Teddy Bear Savage is an indie rock band from Balston Spa, formed in 2019. The group is composed of bassist and singer Paul Lambert, lead guitarist Zak Westbrook, guitarist Ryan Halpin, and drummer Mike Atwood. Their single “Oh do you see me shake” came out in July of 2022, and will be played on EQXposure on Sunday night.
Ciarra Fragale is an indie pop singer/songwriter, producer, and actor from the Hudson Valley. She blends nostalgia with new-wave songwriting, creating a unique blend. In addition to making her own music, she has also composed many works for theater and film. Her newest single “County Line” which came on Dec. 28 will be played on EQXposure.
No one in the world of jazz begat more violent debate and unsubstantiated myths than Albert Ayler. Now the works and life of this fearless musician are being re-told and reassessed in Holy Ghost: The Life & Death of Free Jazz Pioneer Albert Ayler (Jawbone Press), a compact yet comprehensive and impeccably researched biography from Richard Koloda.
A lawyer by trade and jazz musicologist by passion, Koloda spent over two decades researching Holy Ghost. It follows Ayler from his native Cleveland to France, where he received his greatest acclaim, to his mysterious death by drowning in the East River in November 1970.
Ayler synthesized children’s songs, the French national anthem “La Marseillaise,” American march music, funeral dirges and gospel tunes into uniquely powerful, sprawling and squalling free jazz improvisations. His overblown tenor honking and high-register squealing made some critics consider him a charlatan or simply insane. Others considered him a genius. One such man was John Coltrane who tirelessly championed Ayler to other musicians, critics and record label heads. Indeed, ‘Trane thought enough of Ayler to request he play at his funeral, alongside that other titan of free jazz, Ornette Coleman.
It was his aspiring songwriter dad who set Albert on the musical path, forcing him to practice hours a day and attend the Cleveland Academy of Music beginning at age 10. By the early ‘50s, he was gaining experience playing with artists like blues harmonica wizard Little Walter. His time in the Army would bring him to France in the latter ‘50s, where he saw Coltrane and Miles at the Paris Olympia and developed an unexpected love for French military music, including the national anthem “La Marseilles” which he quoted in his classic “Spirits Rejoice,” while playing in the 76th U.S. Army Band in Orleans.
His breakthrough, and perhaps his best times overall, would come in Europe, firstly in Scandinavia. Here he would meet and come to play with likeminded explorers like pianist Cecil Taylor and trumpeter Don Cherry and cut his first albums including My Name in Albert Ayler which contained his freewheeling interpretation of the classic “Summertime.”
By 1963, he was in New York City serving up music that was “playing pyramids and geometric shapes” while attired in a green leather suit, Cossack hat and slippers. His meeting with ESP-Disk head Bernard Stollman would lead to his best documented year of recording in 1964, one capped by “Spiritual Unity,” the classic trio disc with drummer Sunny Murray and bassist Gary Peacock, and the skronk-heavy film soundtrack, “New York Eye and Ear Control.” Even with growing press attention, New York City clubs were hesitant about booking this “New Thing” and Albert would head back to Scandinavia to record albums like The Hilversum Sessions and Ghosts.
In 1965, he returned to New York to lead a fierce quintet now featuring his younger brother Donald on trumpet. Albums like “Bells” and “Spirits Rejoice” continued to divide critics. Albert was labeled “further out than Coltrane” by Time Magazine and “a bizarre artifact, not art” by Downbeat. With Coltrane’s championing, he moved from the tiny ESP-Disk to the larger ABC Impulse! label. He went on to wax even more fierce and outré discs like “Live in Greenwich Village,” one that captured performances at The Village Gate and Village Vanguard. This album contains one of my favorite Ayler pieces, “Angels,” a duet featuring a kind of silent movie-styled accompaniment by pianist/harpsichordist Cal Cobbs to Albert’s balladeering tenor.
The last chapter of Ayler’s recorded life was perplexing, when he was moved to create a sort of accessible rock/R&B with vocals featuring “hippy dippy” lyrics by his new girlfriend Mary Parks. Love Cry and New Grass were albums that made no one happy, least of all Ayler, who blamed the commercial move on his producer at Impulse!, Bob Thiele. Albert would have one final victory when he took a turn back to his freer self in a July 1970 performance at the Maeght Foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France, something captured on a duo of fantastic 1971 albums.
With his return to New York City in fall 1970, his depression deepened as did his tenuous grasp on reality. There was increased talk about UFOs and spiritual visions, something that had been in the mix since his childhood. He would disappear on November 5 and be found 20 days later floating in the East River. Some said it was a hit for messing with a mobster’s woman or a drug deal gone wrong. One stubborn myth said he was found chained to a juke box. But Koloda works to put these long-held fallacies to rest. He concludes that the depressed 34-year-old jazz man most likely jumped from a ferry near the Statue of Liberty. This was in part due to the guilt of firing his brother from his band and the ceaseless financial pressures and criticism caused by a high-profile/low-profit life on the tip of the free jazz spear.
In his 20 years of research, Koloda has become the world’s foremost authority on all things Albert Ayler. He was a contributor to the critically-acclaimed documentary, My Name Is Albert Ayler, and a consultant on Revenant Records’ ten-CD retrospective of Ayler, Holy Ghost: Rare and Unissued Recordings (1962–70), which has been called “the Sistine Chapel of box sets.” His book includes quotes from his and others interviews with many of Albert’s closest collaborators, most notably from the writer’s long friendship with Albert’s brother Donald. There’s also a carefully balanced array of quotes from critics that demonstrate the reaction to Ayler throughout all the chapters of his short but action-packed recording and performing career. the book concludes with a pained portrait of the post-musical years of Donald Ayler, with his frequent hospitalizations for mental problems and fits and starts at reviving his career.
I had a decent knowledge of Ayler before reading Koloda’s Holy Ghost. But like any great touchstone musician biog, it set me off on a few weeks of very deep listening to the many well-trod and obscure corners of Ayler’s discography. In this way, Koloda has done a great service to both Ayler and every music lover with the curiosity to open up a pathway into this uniquely deep and spiritual canon of jazz.
Rochester’s It’s Just Al has just dropped “First Impressions,” a catchy tune for his first ever Spotify release. The song emphasizes a rap about a love that makes you constantly want to be with your significant other because of how real it is. Alex raps about how his love is like a drug, specifically cocaine.
When Alex was just twelve years old, his mother fell ill with a disease called vasculitis. This is when your immune system hurts your blood vessels by mistake. Over the next few months since diagnosis, Alex watched his mother grow weaker until her passing on Friday June 15th, 2018. For the next four years of his life Alex would deal with his grief in silence, only for it to be washed away when he heard his first ever rap song, mockingbird by Eminem.
From that day on, Alex fell in love with the emotional side of rap music. He became heavily inspired to make others feel happy inside, just as he felt when he listened to Eminem for the first time. To form his rap identity, he took this inspiration from popular rap artists such as Eminem, Kanye West, D-12, G-Eazy, Yelawolf, and more. From now on, Alex goes by It’s Just Al.
It’s Just Al’s single “First Impressions” is a pop song infused with rap, combining inspiration from his favorite artists. The vocals and lyrics of the song are very catchy, making it an irresistible hit.
Check out It’s just Al on Instagram by clicking the link here.
Two regional powerhouses, Rochester’s Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad and Buffalo’s Aqueous, descended on Water Street Music Hall, historically the area’s most prominent venue, which has come back in a big way this past year after being absent from the scene for some time. In two nights, Panda on the 30th and Aqueous on the 31st, they helped Water Street and the music fans of the area celebrate 2022 and welcome in 2023. It was the first time Rochester had live music as a New Year’s Eve option in three years. Panda returned to the venue for the umpteenth time, many of those for their year end shows, while Aqueous was there for the first time, and their first time bringing in the new year in Rochester. Though they’ve long found themselves a second home in the Flour City, having played many a special show here, including Halloween and an all-improv set.
After long stretches of no music at all, and too many continued COVID-19 cancellations to count, stretching to the present day, surprises have grown a bit tired. Surprises have mostly consisted of cancellations, so it is enough joy to just have show without a hitch, period. Each of these shows was billed as an “and Friends” affair. Who would be the friends? The opening acts would leave little guesswork as to who these bands would invite to join them on stage. Most everything proceeded as was expected, but there was nothing lost, maybe even something gained, without that element of surprise in the mix.
photo by Washington Torin
On the 30th, GPGDS opened up both sides of the Water Street venue, both the Club and Hall, maxing out it’s potential. The audience could move freely between both, utilizing both bars, and the ample space in the balconies, while two stages left minimal time with no live music to enjoy. The evening got going with party funk outfit The Sideways on the main stage. Hm, wonder if we’ll see that tight three-piece horn section a little later? Immediately following on the Club stage was The Frank White Experience, a full eight-member band paying tribute to the Notorious B.I.G. to incredible effect. There was a hip-hop party going on and the “raparazzi” were in full force capturing it from all angles. Hey, their lead man, Grant, he’s played with Panda before, guessing we’ll see him with them again tonight? Then even after Panda’s main stage set, Roots Collider took over on the Club side to keep the party going into the early hours of the 31st, not letting the joint cool down too much before Aqueous’ New Year’s Eve throwdown.
photo by Washington Torin
On the main stage, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad did not disappoint. The dub was grooving, and the legal weed was permeating the air. The band strung together a set of oldies, newer tunes, and as-yet released ones, with an announcement of a new album coming April 7. The songs flowed together, stitched by pitch-perfect instrumental breaks or blasted into each other with abrupt but chill needle jumps.
photo by Eli Stein
As was foretold by the obvious booking and later, staging, those horns from The Sideways did make it back on stage. Horns and reggae are like peanut butter and jelly. A glorious combination, and on this night, for these songs, they hit just right. A “Cool It” > “Stop Fighting” combo with the horns may have been the highlight of the night. A deep bass pocket, punched up organ, swirling echoed effects, those infectious reggae rhythms and then tasty horn blasts cutting through it all. Pretty much perfect, and a perfect vibe to either forget and/or enjoy the year that was quickly coming to a close.
As the horns departed, the good vibes continued as Grant entered and the band kicked into “Mr. Cop.” He added some quality rapping while throwing joints out into the crowd, as the band sang “We been all day workin’, Just a little herb that we smokin’, They calling up the cops, Cause it smell like ganja.” There was no stopping the party at Water Street on stage or off on this night, nor the next.
Hours later another friendly party would get started. New day, same place, similar vibe. For their New Year’s Eve show, Aqueous invited local jazz-forward trio The Pickle Mafia to kick off the night. Drummer Marco Cirigliano’s kit remained on stage for The Funky Dawgz set and even after theirs as well. Hm, wonder if he’ll be playing with Aqueous some? The Funky Dawgz, a brass band out of Connecticut, revved up the crowd with their upbeat and familiar set, mixing in Gnarls Barkley and Snoop Dogg in with similarly fun originals. You had to wonder though, think we’ll see some of those horns again?
Aqueous themselves were unsurprisingly ready to jump head first into lengthy improvisations. An hour-long first set featured only four songs. Each one built and existed within it’s own universe. “Second Sight” and “Kitty Chaser (Explosions)” built up layer by layer, the musicians patiently developing soundscapes, finally realizing their final destinations which they then explored even further, funky for the former, spacey for the latter. The two saxophones from the Dawgz and Cirigliano came out for the first set closer, a cover of LCD Soundsystem’s “Daft Punk is Playing at My House,” which brought more of the funk, on a tighter scale, that had the floor positively bouncing.
photo by Eli Stein
The slinky funk continued with the start of the second set a few ticks before midnight, the last few minutes of the year. With some heavy “2001” teases, a la Phish via Eumir Deodato via Richard Strauss, the groovy jam wound its way to the traditional “Auld Lang Syne.” With little to no bombast Aqueous did what Aqueous does best, just kept playing. A monster “Don’t Do It” followed, featuring some of guitarist Mike Gantzer’s best playing of the night.
Craig Brodhead served incredibly filling in for David Loss who is on paternity leave. Brodhead sang lead on a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “West LA Fadeaway” that quickly left West LA for aural landscapes as yet undiscovered. Deep into the jam they were joined by a saxophone which re-centered the jam completely. Before long he was stepping off and Cirigliano was back behind the second kit. This double-drummer version of the band was really something, locked in and firing on dual engines. Eventually they found their way back to “West LA Fadeaway” and the dream of a two-drummer Aqueous was over.
But the dreams of a music-filled 2023 were just getting underway. Dates are already on the books for Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad and an album on the way. Road warriors Aqueous are sure to continue their rock and roll journey throughout the year, and Water Street Music Hall’s calendar is filling in nicely.
Aqueous – Water Street Music Hall 12/31/22
Set 1: Second Sight, Kitty Chaser > Weight of the Word, Daft Punk is Playing At My House¹²
Set 2: Also Sprach Zarathustra jam³ > Auld Lang Syne, Don’t Do It, West LA Fadeaway ⁴⁵, Strange Times > Mandela Effect, Everybody Wants To Rule the World⁶
Encore: One Headlight ⁷
1 LCD Soundsystem 2 Rob on vox, Marco Cirigliano on drums, Tommy Weeks and Colin Walters on sax 3 Countdown 4 Grateful Dead 5 Craig on vox 6 Tears For Fears 7 The Wallflowers
Check out more photos of Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad from Water Street Music Hall here and photos of Aqueous here.
