Blog Archives
FAITU#30
FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE UNIVERSE
(FAITU#30)
1996-10-07 – SHACK PARTY IV
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MMW 1996-10-07 ticket stub
Source info:
1996-10-07.unknown.82482.t-flac16 [TSP1996#15]
– SET I (tracks 1-3) –
– SET II (tracks 4-9) –
FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE UNIVERSE (FAITU#30)
The Shack Project celebrates MMW @25 years!
– SHACK THOUGHTS — SHACK PARTIES I-VII ’96 –
Listen to these gigs. Listen to all of these gigs — it’s the best advice I can give you. These Shack Parties, where the band played for 7 Mondays in a row at the Knitting Factory in NYC, encompass such a wide range of the band’s talents and musical interests that a summation would simply do the music an injustice. Whether you dig a certain track or guest through this run, you have to admit that each guest brings something unique to the mix which in turn causes the band to react and shift, making the music they all create something adventuresome and real for that moment only. There are also plenty of moments where it’s just the trio and you’ll love it. As they explore both groove and open space with/out guests, it is clear this is a band out to make inspired music.
Oren Bloedow’s speech during Set II of the last Shack Party puts it best … so take a listen and Shack-out with these near 20 year-old musical explorations …
Knitting Factory
– SHACK PARTY IV THOUGHTS –
So this is WAY cool — I love when this happens! I was about to write that the opening of this 4th Shack Party contains one of my favourite improvisations from the run, maybe ever — I threw on the groove to listen as I write and it hit me: “That’s a tune! I know that tune! From where … ?!” A few years ago I discovered that a groove played during Nov-Dec ’96 labelled as an improvisation since the shows was actually an unidentified song — the “improvisation” was always the same groove, so that’s an MMW song to me! I named the tracked “Binghamton Slide Groove” because the first show I found containing the song was 11/2/1996 from Binghamton, NY — the song was played a few more times and then never heard from again … or so I thought, and it turns out this Shack Party version is actually the first known performance of the tune — it’s a great melody and groove, I don’t know why the band would drop it, but you can check it out at the opening of this show and Danny Blume adds some real nice guitar over the track (even has a cool little breakdown). From “Binghamton Slide Groove” the music moves to Open space before illyB cops a short Drum Solo leading to the start of the next groove, the first full Improv of the night, and the group moves through two more distinct improvisations before the last fizzles down to some nice piano from Medeski before it just drops into a thunderous vamp while Billy introduces the musicians. Rob Scheps has once again joined the guys on stage as well, a Shack Party regular, and his playing fits in perfectly with the players — you can hear Scheps getting more comfortable as he returns each week. The trio alone close the set with a Shack-take on Ellington’s Wig Wise, including an extended drum interlude — set break.
G. Calvin Weston joins for the start of the 2nd set, so he and illyB get things moving with a Drums jam (I’ve seen Weston with MMW in another setting, and he and Billy are kindred spirits — they have an extended history). Scheps once again steps up on sax, and Dean Bowman comes out to deliver some Dean-Bowman-like vocal riffing (coolest part is the initial take on the Murder by Numbers lyrics, but then he goes off the rails a bit for my tastes, per usual). Likewise, Goodbye Pork Pie Hat features Bowman’s vocal input with varying success (IMHO), but then IMPROVISATION takes over the remainder of the set — sans vocals — and the results are one of the BEST RUN OF GROOVES over this whole run. It’s just the trio at first, but then Danny Blume returns to the stage for what I can only call an Is There Anybody Here That Love My Jesus IMPROV! VERY COOL! Blume remains for the following section of groove that erupts into a celebratory climax, before fizzling down again and leaving only the trio on stage to wrap up the evening with one final kick at the Improvisatory-can, which begins with this wild melody being bowed by Chris on the stand-up and things just get wackier and more fun from there … by the time John lands on the piano … whoah … or maybe this is a song too? …
This is one of my personal favourite overall gigs from the Shack Party run, and hope it helps you enjoy this Friday Afternoon In The Universe, as we head into Canadian Thanksgiving – HAPPY T-DAY, MY FELLOW CANUCKS!
enjoy the grooves,
dug
THE SHACK STREAM
LISTEN/DOWNLOAD ANOTHER SHOW!
FAITU#29
FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE UNIVERSE
(FAITU#29)
1996-09-30 – SHACK PARTY III
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MMW mid-90s Promo
Source info:
1996-09-30.schoeps-cmc6.21608.t-flac16 [TSP1996#14]
– SET I (tracks 1-5) –
– SET II (tracks 6-12) –
FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE UNIVERSE (FAITU#29)
The Shack Project celebrates MMW @25 years!
– SHACK THOUGHTS — SHACK PARTIES I-VII ’96 –
Listen to these gigs. Listen to all of these gigs — it’s the best advice I can give you. These Shack Parties, where the band played for 7 Mondays in a row at the Knitting Factory in NYC, encompass such a wide range of the band’s talents and musical interests that a summation would simply do the music an injustice. Whether you dig a certain track or guest through this run, you have to admit that each guest brings something unique to the mix which in turn causes the band to react and shift, making the music they all create something adventuresome and real for that moment only. There are also plenty of moments where it’s just the trio and you’ll love it. As they explore both groove and open space with/out guests, it is clear this is a band out to make inspired music.
Oren Bloedow’s speech during Set II of the last Shack Party puts it best … so take a listen and Shack-out with these near 20 year-old musical explorations …
MMW c.1996
– SHACK PARTY III THOUGHTS –
illyB kicks down a beat to get the groove rolling, and the other musicians just start piling on, layering the sound, and a superb groove is born! Over the next 30min the group on stage, MMW + Logic, Bernstein, & Scheps, take us through 4 distinct improvisations before we hit some Open space that winds us down to just the trio with Logic on the Horace Silver tune/jazz standard, Cape Verdean Blues — nothing standard in MMW’s take on the tune though! The horns return after a Bass Solo from Chris, and stick out for another Improv > Organ’n’Trumpet jam that smoothly leads into Wiggly’s Way before the horns exit again. Bernstein is a perfect fit for MMW any time, and in this set he’s a monster on that slide trumpet — just KILLER! The set ends with Jennifer Jackson’s beautiful vocals accompanying the trio on an “Unknown Bassanova”.
And then there’s a 2nd set! It begins on a subdued note with Medeski solo on piano which opens up into a killer improvisation when the guests join in with Logic quite prominent and Oren (must be him on guitar) — I mean, Oren is nailing it here! Great stuff! We get a Drums’n’DJ breakdown at a few points (Weston eventually joins the percussive fray later in the set), some Open explorations, Bass’n’Drums, and incredible groove improvisations — where do all these melodies come from!?! Rufus Cappadocia on cello is an INCREDIBLE addition to this set of musicians and his input on the latter part of the set’s improvisations as well as on the tune Friday Afternoon In The Universe, makes this afternoon’s listen all the more special … the closing number is an Oren Bloedow tune that wraps up the set in a similarly subdued manner as Medeski’s solo started … some sweet sax from Aaron Heik on this number too …
Gotta say I just love how far out the FAITU tune gets in that 2nd set … and this quote makes me chuckle each time I hear Billy utter these words near the start of the show, “New record coming out in a couple of weeks, check it out. We’re *not* playing any of the music from that record tonight …” — HA!
enjoy the grooves,
dug
THE SHACK STREAM
LISTEN/DOWNLOAD ANOTHER SHOW!
FAITU#28
FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE UNIVERSE
(FAITU#28)
1996-09-23 – SHACK PARTY II
~ John Coltrane’s Birthday ~
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| Trouble playing tunes? | ||||
1996-09-23 ticket stub
Source info:
1996-09-23.gefell-m300.12.t-flac16 [TSP1996#13]
– SET I (tracks 1-12) –
– SET II (tracks 13-19) –
FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE UNIVERSE (FAITU#28)
The Shack Project celebrates MMW @25 years!
– SHACK THOUGHTS — SHACK PARTIES I-VII ’96 –
Listen to these gigs. Listen to all of these gigs — it’s the best advice I can give you. These Shack Parties, where the band played for 7 Mondays in a row at the Knitting Factory in NYC, encompass such a wide range of the band’s talents and musical interests that a summation would simply do the music an injustice. Whether you dig a certain track or guest through this run, you have to admit that each guest brings something unique to the mix which in turn causes the band to react and shift, making the music they all create something adventuresome and real for that moment only. There are also plenty of moments where it’s just the trio and you’ll love it. As they explore both groove and open space with/out guests, it is clear this is a band out to make inspired music.
Oren Bloedow’s speech during Set II of the last Shack Party puts it best … so take a listen and Shack-out with these near 20 year-old musical explorations …
1996-09-23 ticket stub
– SHACK PARTY II THOUGHTS – JOHN COLTRANE’S BIRTHDAY
2nd of 7 weekly Shack Party gigs falls on the anniversary of John Coltrane’s birthday, so MMW (being obvious fans) sprinkle much of the evening with Coltrane music — three of the 6 actual songs played are Coltrane tunes (Naima, Syeeda’s Song Flute, & Africa), but songs aren’t really the focus. Coltrane’s music, like their own songs they play (Spy Kiss & ITAHTLMJ) along with one Ellington number (Chinoiserie), sends the band and their welcome guests out into the ether at times. The Africa that opens Set II, for example, is a MONSTER of space and groove with everyone contributing to the whole in true collaborative fashion — cool to hear Africa in here, but too bad the it took over a year for the song to return to MMW’s live shows, and then again too bad that it left again shortly after its return!). Outstanding group work here — this ain’t a case of 4+ guitar players on stage all strumming along together, this a mess of unique instrumentation all finding pockets to fill in the music — you have to hear this! Blume and Ribot offer contrasting styles in the guitar vein, but both have such invention and chemistry with MMW; Hammadi, Scheps and Blake provide sax at various moments, separately and together at times, with unique voices honouring Coltrane on this night. I could keep blabbing, but … just listen.
A nice treat at the end finds Sherri Jackson delivering some vocals on the MMW classic, their take on the old Spiritual, Is There Anybody Here That Love My Jesus … I’m still singing it now …
enjoy the grooves,
dug
THE SHACK STREAM
LISTEN/DOWNLOAD ANOTHER SHOW!
FAITU#27
FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE UNIVERSE
(FAITU#27)
1996-09-16 – SHACK PARTY I
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| Trouble playing tunes? | ||||
1996-09-16 ticket stub
Source info:
1996-09-16.b+k4021.127771.t-flac16 [TSP1996#11]
– SET I (tracks 1-12) –
– SET II (tracks 13-22) –
FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE UNIVERSE (FAITU#27)
The Shack Project celebrates MMW @25 years!
– SHACK THOUGHTS — SHACK PARTIES I-VII ’96 –
Listen to these gigs. Listen to all of these gigs — it’s the best advice I can give you. These Shack Parties, where the band played for 7 Mondays in a row at the Knitting Factory in NYC, encompass such a wide range of the band’s talents and musical interests that a summation would simply do the music an injustice. Whether you dig a certain track or guest through this run, you have to admit that each guest brings something unique to the mix which in turn causes the band to react and shift, making the music they all create something adventuresome and real for that moment only. There are also plenty of moments where it’s just the trio and you’ll love it. As they explore both groove and open space with/out guests, it is clear this is a band out to make inspired music.
Oren Bloedow’s speech during Set II of the last Shack Party puts it best … so take a listen and Shack-out with these near 20 year-old musical explorations …
1996-09-16 ticket stub
– SHACK PARTY I THOUGHTS –
Very open and loose with LOTS of improvisation — reports are there were only a handful of folks in attendance this first week, I believe. Bob Moses, MMW’s musical father, sits in for parts of the show adding some extra drums and piano at times; Rob Scheps wails on the sax, with some nice 3rd Stone From The Sun teasing during one of the Improvs; and Danny Blume plays a sweet guitar — love his input on the Uninvisible album years later, but check out this earlier sit-in. And I don’t know about you, but I prefer my Pork Pie Hat sans (Dean’s) vocals … very beautiful 100% instrumental take on the Mingus classic …
This is MMW in a purely raw and elemental form — dig those ears into these sounds! 20 years ago, eh? Sounds pretty fresh to these ears … music for the ages …
enjoy the grooves,
dug
THE SHACK STREAM
LISTEN/DOWNLOAD ANOTHER SHOW!
The Shack Project 