In terms of live music, i had a blast. Friday night I caught
Zigaboo Modeliste (original drummer of The Meters) at Pier 23 (i do belive
he's playing there every friday from now on...). Zig was crazy dope, and
the joint was small enough to make the whole place a funkhouse. His
repetoire these days moves from Mteres tunes to R&B classics (done funked
up!) to new orleans second-line classics. Anyway, not strictly acid-jazz,
but seriously FUNK. Check him out if you're in the area.
I also spent two nights at the Up and Down Club. The first night
I caught Alphabet Soup (if you don't know them, they're jazzy-hip hop
stuff), who were pretty good. Scott Amendola (Charlie Hunter Quartet, TJ
kirk, etc) was playing Drums with them, and was sounding really good.
Worth checking out....I picked up their album too, but haven't heard it
yet.... The second night there i saw Junk. They played as a quartet
(guitar/bass/drums/baritone sax), but were just using a guitarist as a
sub (unrehearsed!) while their real guitarist was on his honeymoon (i
think that's what they said...), so their sound was pretty unpolished,
jam-format sounding. Howeever, they were overall pretty good....Their
bassist is pretty cool. Check them out if you get a chance. Thir stuff
seemed a bit formulaic and very similar sounding, but I think that may
have been due to the fact that they were just basically jamming to allow
for the fact that they were playing with a guitarist they had never
played with before....
The night before i left, I caught the Dave Ellis quintet at the Elbo
Room. They were pretty fresh, alternating between hip-hoppy jazz stuff
and straight jazz tunes. They'll be there every wednesday night, courtesy
of our list friend Deborah at Bluevision, so check them out if you're in
the area.
Meanwhile, while in the bay area, I dropped mad cash on vinyl and
whatnot. Rasputin's and Amoeba's in Berkeley and Groove Merchant on
Haight Street are DEFINITELY the hip joints. Higlights of my purchases:
D.I.G. - SPEAKEASY after my first listen, i'm ready to tell all those
listees who were asking about it that it is DOPE. I like it better than
Deeper, personally. The live disc is fresh.
GREYBREAKS VOL 1 - I got a vinyl copy at Groove Merchant, and it is fresh.
THE GREYBOY ALLSTARS - WEST COAST BOOGALOO Finally, I found it! I need
not say how dope it is, especially considering that it features my idol,
Fred wesley.
STEVIE WONDER - SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE bought it for $3.00. A classic!
Also, how bitter was i when i discovered that next week in San Francisco
there would be a show featuring The Greyboy Allstars WITH fred wesley and
also featuring Zigaboo Modeliste and DJ Greyboy. Four of my favorite
musical acts in one venue on one night, AND I WONT BE THERE. If you are
in the area and don't go to see this show, i personally will kill you for
missing such an opportunity!
Anyway, thanks to everyone for their help in San Francisco. I wish I
could live there year-round....
peace to all those chock full of funknutty goodness -
z-love