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Tonight, I caught a combined bill of Oteil Burbridge And The Peacemakers and Garaj Mahal. I've seen them both before (Oteil here and Garaj here). Given the hgih level of musicianship between all the members of the band (and especially Oteil and Kai), I was looking forwards to the show.
The Peacemakers started off the evening. Actually, they were late taking the stage (about twenty minutes or so). Looking around the audience (52 people -- I counted -- including venue staff), perhaps they were trying to decide if it was worth it. They came out and started up their set. The audience was appreciative, but not all that engaged. The Peacemakers were not quite as energetic as the last time I saw them; perhaps it's because they weren't doing a full night, perhaps because of the crowd, I don't know. Oteil would occasionally get into the show, doing his dancing thing that he does (a B.B. King side-to-side as well as full on limb-flailing dance steps), but not as much as I have seen on other occasions. Towards the end of their set, the crowd had about doubled, and they were starting to get into the music (even with some dancing going on, in that jamband, hippish style).
Oteil's band consisted of Oteil Burbridge on bass, Chris Fryar on drums, Mark Kimbrell on guitar, Jason Crosby on keyboards and Paul Henson on vocals. The majority of their set came from the Family Secret album. The show was capped by Oteil playing Amazing Grace as an unaccompanied solo. His version is no where near as kinetic as Victor's, featuring lots of chords as well as the occasional scat singing, but it's equally enjoyable.
After the set break, Garaj Mahal took the stage. The opening numbers were a bit slow and atmospheric, but then they went to one of their more popular tunes (Meatless Patty), an upbeat, fun, grooving song. The crowd completely went with the music, dancing and having fun. Garaj kept the pace moving, never letting the feeling stop.
As far as the musicians go, Kai was just on fire. Easily the best I have ever seen him play. Lots of rapid fire, staccato style with complex rhythms. Alan's pocket was so deep that even dead people couldn't help themselves but groove along to his drumline. Fareed played well, while Eric probably overplayed his vocoder/breath adapter a little too much.
At the culmination of Garaj's set, they invited The Peacemakers back on stage. Kai asked the crowd to clap out a beat (which ended up being something slow, around 102 or so), and they started jamming from there. The first tune went on for ten or fifteen minutes, mostly showcasing the guitarists (Fareed and Mark) as well as the keyboards (Eric and Jason). After a while, the song started to fall away, so Kai stepped up, laying down another thumping assault. The drummers jumped in soon afterwards, and it was a rhythm section bonanza for several minutes while the melody instruments either looked on or filled in light chords. After a while, the melody guys jumped in and a full bore funky song was underway.
While this was going on, Oteil kind of sat out a bit, smiling and enjoying the music around him while also seemingly trying to figure out where he was going to fit into the music. He played a few notes here and there, but that was about it. Towards the end of the piece, he stepped up to the mike and started his scat thing, which required all the rest of the musicians to find space for him (vocals tend to do that). This didn't last long, though.
As hard as this might be to believe, Kai then stepped up his playing during the jam. Oteil headed towards the back of the stage, took off his Fodera and grabbed his Modulus. As soon as I saw that, I knew that the serious bass playing was about to begin. Oteil likes his Fodera for the melody style stuff he does, but the Modulus is his slap machine. This was no exception; the full bore double thump Wooten-esque style bass playing was here to stay.
After the show, the members of the band came out into the crowd and talked for a while. It was interesting to overhear Kai and Oteil talk with each other. It seems like they really enjoyed playing together, as well as respected each other's playing. In fact, I'd speculate that the two of them playing together is probably what spurred Kai's level of performance that night.
CDs were also made on the spot for that night's show. I don't know if this is a Garaj thing (which I suspect it is, given that they had pre-printed, silk-screened CDs ready to go), a State theatre thing, or an independent 3rd party thing. In any case, I think it's a good idea.
Posted by Casper at August 6, 2004 02:27 AM