It seemed tentative at first. There was a bit of tuning. Then Bill Frisell started something more substantial on guitar. Eyvind Kang added colors with the violin and Rudy Royston accented on drums. Now and then, Bill or Eyvind would crouch down and fiddle with knobs on the electronics boxes on the floor.
Born in Paris, raised in the rich landscapes where Impressionists first painted, Stephane Wrembel blends many influences with his Django Reinhardt guitar stylings. The greatest influence seems to be his own dedication to the music.
The Meters meet Fela? Ethiopian soul? Staten Island funk? Words fall short when you try to describe The Budos Band, and as great as they sound on record, it's the kind of stuff that begs to be heard live.
Early on in his first performance at Harro East, Saturday in the Rochester Jazz Festival, multi-instrumentalist Lucky Peterson took to the keys, alternating between Hammond B-3, the Yamaha, vocal accents, actual vocals, and the art of facial expression. Sometimes doing a combination of them at the same time. A most captivating performance.
Bill Frisell first caught my attention when he included compositions by Aaron Copland, Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters, Sonny Rollins, John Philip Sousa, Stephen Foster and Madonna on his 1992 album Have A Little Faith. It doesn't seem like a mix like that could hang together.
In preparation for my show Mystery Train, I often head to the library and check out a couple dozen CDs at a time. Some I know, some I've heard of, some just have interesting covers. I spend an afternoon wading through, finger poised in case a track doesn't grab me.
Me minus you. Obviously a bad idea. That's why it feels so good to get back together. It's easy to dismiss the 1987 Peaches & Herb smash “Reunited.” Let's be cool about it. Let's call it "romantic schlock," like NPR's John Murph, but let's also praise The Jazz Passengers for their clever remake.
