Nels Cline‘s music brings tangibility to abstraction. Over the years, as bandleader or featured sideman, his approach has little preconception of where the music needs to go or how his audience will respond to it. It’s the next evolution in the jazz idiom. While younger generations might know Cline as the non-exemplary lead guitar of… Continue reading Nels Cline & Julian Lage | Berkeley | Review
New Year’s Day is always a time of recovery for most. Due to the holidays and previous night’s revelry and celebration ringing in the New Year, it can be difficult for some to motivate. For this reason, many bands take this opportunity to throw down for their dedicated. That is why I wanted to be… Continue reading Yonder Mountain String Band | 1/1/2015
There are plenty of instrumentally urbane bands touring that keep audiences captivated while still lacking true songwriting sophistication. It’s more than a challenge to play the weight of a show on strong original material. It’s an even larger feat to achieve that without being a mimic. Sometimes surroundings inspire robust and natural creativity. And its… Continue reading Brothers Keeper | Leo's Music Club | 1/7/15
For the third year running, jam-grass veterans The String Cheese Incident set up their New Year’s Eve residency at the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Colorado for three nights of songs and celebration in their own backyard. The rear of the seated bowl was sparse Monday, but a creeping night one buzz helped melt conversations… Continue reading The String Cheese Incident | 12/29/2014
This night was a party, and who could be surprised by that with the amount of talent at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom on this night. There were three bands and three painters that created an electric dance space under the giant disco ball to kick off the holiday festivities. The famous Frenchy, Scramble Campbell, and John… Continue reading DJ Russo & the Funky Meters Funk Up Denver
James Brown, dubbed the hardest workingman in show business, is long gone. If anyone were to carry the torch in the contemporary touring scene Karl Denson would be a chief contender. Aside from his two active main exploits, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe and the Greyboy Allstars, he recently toured with the Rolling Stones in Australia… Continue reading Karl Denson | The Independent | 1/3/2015
On a super busy concert night in this thriving state, which has seriously become even more of mecca for music than it already was over the last half a century, the Ogden Theatre hosted EOTO on their final night of their fall tour. It was a perfect place for them to go showcase their intergalactic… Continue reading EOTO Closes Their Outer Orbit Tour at Home in Colorado
“The older the song, the harder they slam” –Vince Herman Leftover Salmon celebrated 25 years of playing together on New Years Eve 2014 with Keller Williams opening at the Vic Theatre Chicago. If you want to see a band with deep roots and branches that are rapidly growing towards the sun, catch Leftover as soon… Continue reading Leftover Salmon | New Years | Chicago, IL
For the first time since Yonder Mountain String Band took up residence at The Boulder Theater for its holiday run (in 2011), the band decided to play three sets for New Year’s Eve. Each set had its own motif, but all three were governed by the same primary theme. When it initially hit the stage,… Continue reading Yonder Mountain String Band | Boulder Theater | 12/31/14
This past Friday, Philadelphia’s kings of trance-fusion The Disco Biscuits made their triumphant return to the Windy City, delivering a two-night holiday run at Concord Music Hall that marked some of their most well-rounded, creative shows seen in quite some time. Accompanied by electronic duo Modern Measure (12/26) and Cosby Sweater (12/27), the Concord Music… Continue reading The Disco Biscuits | Concord Music Hall
