jürgen fauth’s muckworld

OK, so Matisyahu covered the Flaming Lips, Rose Hill Drive and Leslie West raged Mountain’s Mississippi Queen, Sheryl Jones and Booker T did Born Under a Bad Sign (”and that’s fine”), that “smokeshow” Grace Potter got Warren Haynes to take her to the river, Big Head Todd and Squeeze’s Glenn Tilbrook joined Tea Leaf Green for Pulling Mussles, Chevy Chase is buddies with jamclown Keller Williams, Joan Osborne belted Come Together, Stanton Moore dueled Doug E Fresh, and Page McConnell had the balls to lead jazz heavyweights Nicholas Payton, Christian McBride, James Carter, and Roy Hanes through two Phish songs.

Not too shabby, but that’s to be expected from the Jammys, Relix Magazine’s annual Theater at Madison Square Garden get-together that combines surprise collaborations with pleasant scene fluffing. Also, awards.

The only award that really mattered on Wednesday night, though, was Phish’s Lifetime Achievement Jammy (it’s fun to say!) because it was supposed to lure Trey, Mike, Jon, and Page out of rehab, seclusion, or wherever else they’ve been hiding since the 2004 breakup. The rumor mill had been churning hard, and it sort of worked: all four members showed up, sharing the stage for the first time since Coventry — but they didn’t play together.

Instead, Fishman made a joke, Page was sincere, Gordo wore purple pants, and Trey gave one of those heartfelt, halting speeches that have brought many a Phish show to a screeching stop — except this time he sounded more humble, and more final, than ever: “It was an honor to watch you all dance.”

Then they walked off, and it would have been terribly depressing if Trey hadn’t just finished playing with deliciously cheesy yet surprisingly tight Beatles cover band The Fab Faux. Phish or no Phish, sick or sober, Big Red can still — what’s the technical term? — melt faces. Here’s While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

More on the Jammys:

• Full setlist at Hidden Track
• Photos at reax
• Relix
• Runaway Dinosaur
• Burlington Free Press

Fewer movies than usual because I’m working on several top secret plans for world domination, we’re still catching up with The Wire, and my obsession with Daniel Plainview shows no signs of abating. (Check out the new entries in the contest.) The notable exception was Etgar Keret’s Jellyfish, a sweet film that plays like minor-key Israeli version of Magnolia. I also tried to talk Marcy into watching Southland Tales, hoping that Richard Kelly’s sophomore disaster might improve upon second viewing. The answer was a resounding no — we didn’t make it past the 15-minute mark.

It’s been a good week for concerts, though. I never blogged about the March 19 benefit for Scotty Hard, a cause that brought all the champions of the downtown groove scene to the Highline Ballroom. My personal highlight was an outrageous and all-too-brief set by elusive dub god Bill Laswell, accompanied by Bernie Worrell. This weekend, Ratdog was back at the Beacon — unlike the Rolling Stones, they’re a band that actually belongs there. I missed Thursday’s sit-ins by Jimmy Herring, Warren Haynes, and Steve Molitz, but witnessed Friday’s ups (Tomorrow Never Knows! Hard Rain!) and downs (ridiculous sound problems during The Weight), as well as Saturday’s just-about perfect four hours of rock’n roll heaven. And now you’ll have to excuse me while I retire to my favorite secure undisclosed location.

The Wire. Season 3. ****
There Will Be Blood. Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007. *****
Jellyfish/Meduzot. Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen, 2007. ***
Southland Tales. Richard Kelly, 2007. *

Ratdog
4/4/08 Beacon Theatre, New York NY
I: Jam > Playin’ in the Band > Tomorrow Never Knows > Tennessee Jed, Sitting in Limbo > West L.A. Fadeaway, Even So > October Queen > The Deep End > Big Railroad Blues
II: K.C. Moan, A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, The Weight, Eyes of the World, The River Song > Stuff > Dear Prudence > China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider
E: Casey Jones

4/5/08 Beacon Theatre, New York NY
I: Jam > Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Maggie’s Farm, Row Jimmy, Dark Star > Weather Report Suite > Let It Grow
II: You Win Again, City Girls, Victim or the Crime, Lazy River Road > Jack Straw > Dark Star > Stuff, Days Between > Two Djinn > Slipknot! > Franklin’s Tower
E: One More Saturday Night

Stumbling into a performance by John Medeski isn’t all that difficult in New York City — I’ve recently seen him with The Word, Warren Haynes, and John Scofield, (and he’s all over the I’m Not There soundtrack) — but his original groove jazz combo has proven much more elusive lately.

So on Saturday, Dan, Jocelyn, and I took the quick roadtrip up to the Fairfield Arts Center in Bridgeport, CT for a healthy dose of MMW. I expected Bubblehouse and other well-worn MMW tunes, but this year, the trio is up to new tricks. They got together to write new songs before the tour, they’re expanding them during the shows, and they’ll then return to the studio to record an album. They plan on repeating this process in the summer and fall for three new Medeski Martin and Wood albums this year.

The new material was mesmerizing. Fresh, unheard-of grooves, mercurially shifting between jazzy, spacey, freaky, and funky, sometimes ripping in that balls-to-the-wall MMW style, sometimes cute, like when Medeski played the B3 with his melodica. When one of the befuddled ushers tried to make me move in the middle of an extended improvisation, I was so absorbed I could barely defend my seat. I’m looking forward to the album evolving out of this and just might have to get their kids’ CD Let’s Go Everywhere for my niece.

• MMW Official Site
• MMW on Wikipedia
• Tour Dates
• Download MMW from etree

Here’s a video of “Think”:

Any project featuring John Medeski is worth whatever Manhattan venues deem to charge, and The Word is no exception. A high-powered gospel/funk/jam outfit featuring Medeski, sacred steel guitarist Robert Randolph, as well as Luther Dickinson, brother Cody, and Chris Chew of the North Mississippi All-Stars, The Word has not played together since Bonnaroo 2005.

Thursday night’s reunion/revival went down at Terminal 5, a brand-new venue way west on on 56th Street with a capacity of 3,000 heads. Supertight hallways and bad crowd management made the place feel like a death trap, but once inside, all was well — especially when the sweet sounds of the Word hit. Using traditionals (and one White Stripes cover) as jumping-off points for gleeful, uplifting improv, they worked their way through a setlist that also included covers of tunes by Stevie Wonder and James Brown as well as the occasional Zeppelin tease.

But you’re better off listening to the music than reading about it, so check out the clips below. My favorite moments included the crowd-surfing maniac during “I Shall Not Be Moved” and the ill shit Medeski was doing to “When the Saints Go Marching In,” which I hadn’t heard live since Springsteen broke every heart at Jazzfest. A special shout out to Ducky from Alaska, whom I see but once a year, and only at shows surrounding the holidays.

Two videos — one from Thursday with a snippet of “Joyful Sounds”, and one TV appearance from a few years ago:

• Buy the album
• Neddy’s Review
• The Wizard of the Word (Jambase)
• All About Jazz Review: The Word
• The Word at bt.etree.org
• Download 6/27/01 from nugs.net

With regular guitarist Mark Karan ill, Bob Weir’s Ratdog is currently touring with Steve Kimock, beloved originator of the K-Wave. Last week’s way-sold-out show at Summer Stage assured everybody who cared to know that wherever they play Grateful Dead music, it’s still “one of the safest places in the world“–and one of the funnest, too. More from Some Dude. Related: Dan compiles GD segues from ‘78.

July 9, 2007 - Central Park Summerstage -New York, NY
Jam > Tomorrow Never Knows > Playin on the Band > Ramble On Rose, El Paso, Corrina, The Weight, Good Morning Little Schoolgirl > Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Stuff > Dear Prudence > Bird Song (reprise) > Slipknot! > Franklin’s Tower
E: U.S. Blues

Listen to Dear Prudence or download the entire show from etree.

[audio:rd2007-07-09t12_Dear Prudence.mp3]

The storm that lashed New York last Sunday was wicked enough to merit its own name, but the Rocks Off cruise featuring San Francisco jam band Tea Leaf Green went full steam ahead anyway. The cheerful music made the downpour appear festive, fun was had on the rolling dance floor, and not until the Temptress was docked again did the weather get its due: swimming home would have been easier than trying to catch a cab on the West Side Highway–and just as wet.

See flickr for the rest of my photos and the fan forum for the setlist and reviews. There are a number of videos and a podcast on the official site; Live Music Archive has lots more. Here’s a catchy tune:

Sound Tribe Sector 9 have thrived on exploring the syncopated territory where electronica meets jam, laying down space-age grooves that still involve an actual band. Live PA sets, in which the members trade their instruments for laptops, are a natural extension of that approach, and STS9 has been performing them for a while–but until Friday night, never in New York.

Studio Mezmor, “the city’s #1 super club” formerly known as Crobar, served as venue for the occasion, creating a nice visual hodgepodge to go along with the music: dreadlocked hippies behind the velvet rope, grim-looking bouncers in dark suits and shades pointing spun-out girls in backless dresses down neon-lit hallways. I saw a marine in dress uniform and on crutches, sexy club kids raving it up on the speaker platforms, and the usual wookies doing the usual finger incantations/acid tracer dance, and a little bit of culture clash unpleasantness resulting in overturned trashcans outside the venue.

Sector 9 is at their best when the music seems to happen without effort or ego (nobody ever takes anything as selfish as a solo), and their setup on Friday enhanced that effect. There were drums, percussion, keyboards and a guitar on stage, but all five members were mostly engaged in button-tweaking, and the music just emerged, crystal-clear and bone-shatteringly deep, from speakers all around the room. You could never be too sure who was responsible for any particular noise. The club’s fog machines pumped fog to good effect but I was bitterly disappointed to see the gigantic disco ball go unused all night.

• Previously: Listening to Sector 9 in Tikal
• Official STS9 Downloads
• Sector 9 Podcast Home
• Latest Podcast (mp3)

Here’s a video of Sector 9 with their regular setup, playing a song called “Aimlessly”

The grids are out, which means it’s time to get serious about Bonnaroo 2007. After the insane deluge of 2004, when Trey Anastasio fiddled with the Nashville Chamber Orchestra while Manchester drowned in mud, I took a little break. The festival is getting further from its hippie roots every year, but I’ve got friends who live down the road, Sector 9 and Galactic are playing late night sets, and hey, why not? In the run-up to the festival, I’ll post some of the music I’m most excited about, drawing heavily on the fine work by Some Dude at Bonnawho’s Who. We might as well start off with people I’ve never seen before:

Wolfmother
With an album cover like this, what could possibly go wrong?

Tea Leaf Green
This band is steadily building a reputation on the third-generation jam band circuit.

Damien Rice
Fun fact: even though he’s not in it, Damien Rice sounds even better if you’ve seen the movie Once.

Ornette Coleman
When I was twelve, I gave a presentation about Ornette Coleman for music class. It was all about dates and categories–”free jazz,” as if the label explained anything–but I don’t remember hearing any of the music. The smart money says this will be the most adventurous set of the weekend.

Lilly Allen
The beauty of Bonnaroo is that when you’ve had it with Ornette’s way-out squeaking, you can walk across the lawn and be greeted by Lilly Allen’s super catchy pop. I’ll be in the front row, screaming like a Beatlemaniac!

A few more after the jump….

Read the rest of this entry »