> having seen last night's show in NYC, I must add my name to the list of
> admirers Greyboy Allstars have collected on this list...I could only watch
> about 25 minutes though! therefore I was so sorry I wasn't able to hook up
> with those of you who were there and couldn't send those hellos to the band
> for you (sorry teresa & tim) teresa, your beau is extremely talented and
> focused and has that subdued Rhodes touch -- which got me to thinking about
> how ALL the members groove together so well as many of you noticed -- what I
> think is this and forgive me if I'm repeating what any one else already
> said: they don't OVER-play. They just groove well together because they
> listen and subtly play together...could that be the difference between east
> & west coast that someone wrote that they heard...because the times when
> I've seen the Groove Collective live (which was cited as the example of east
> coast) it's just down right sloppy playing by a ton of people who all want
> to be heard as the baddest retro cats around. Could the difference cited
> between gritty east vs. "sunny sounding" west be as simple as the difference
> between sloppy and rehearsed? Just my $0.02...
Hey, i won't disagree with anything there! :) I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Quite ok on the "hello's" too. Maybe next time!
> But THEN I was disappointed after their great live show and the raves you
> all have given the Greyboy records stuff when I then bought the band's "D is
> for Diesel." Is it just me or does the recording sound very dry and
> unnecessarily digital? Their arrangements are so similar to much in the
> Jamiroquai/BNH vein and yet the production sounds more like a rehearsal in a
> basement than a finished record...was that the intent? Is it supposed to be
> like an anti-record record? Because I don't think that succeeds in making
> them sound more vintage, just more poorly recorded.
Well, your not the first. I've gotten a similar response from a few
others who thought the production on that recording was sub-par. It's
still a good CD, but I personally think that it doesn't touch the true
talent these guys have, and I prefer just about any live rendition of
those tunes to the CD. I'll even go so far as to say that I prefer Karl's
live rendition of Bougainvillea over the CD's. Andy Bey is a great singer
and all, and I don't want to bash him, but I just think it sounds better
with Karl singing it. (IMHO) Do you have West Coast Boogaloo?
- Tim