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REVIEW: Dead Kenny G’s & Trio Subtonic @ Mt Tabor (Portland, OR – 10/16/10)
FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
OK, so I have to start this out with an apology. I absolutely wanted to see Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey. I had been up in Portland for a third night in a row (driving back to Eugene late each night)… and was thus quite tired and I couldn’t possibly stay for their set (which was posted to start at 12:30am). It’s a running theme on this blog… I miss them for one reason or another. Last night wasn’t gonna be a missed opportunity. Alas, it ended up as such. Damn. SO, JFJO, I’m sorry. I’ll do better next time. I dig your new one, Stay Gold. I’m getting old. I have no other excuse for bailing at midnight.
So, unfortunately this amazing triple modern jazz bill turned into an pretty damn good double bill for me.
Trio Subtonic started things off around 9:30. No Radiohead as in the past, but still a great groove for their 45 minute set. They really are what I’d consider to be Portland’s own Medeski Martin & Wood. Great piano-based three piece combo. They’ve got two killer albums out over at CD Baby (aka the best indie CD seller in the universe).
Skerik, Mike Dillon, and Brad Houser hit the stage after a short set change…
While also a three-piece modern jazz combo, the Dead Kenny G’s definitely weren’t a repeat of Trio Subtonic’s sound. Fitting with their name, they bring powerful elements of punk rock and a “fuck you” attitude to a jazz trio. Mix some sax groove from Skerik with some harder edged beats, avant-garde squeaks, gonzo drumming, and punk vocal belts…
I’d seen them before (at Sam Bond’s in Eugene), but it was nice to see them able to spread out a little more on the Mt Tabor Theater stage.
- Death Panel
- Birther Blues
- Black Goldman Sax
- “Black Death”
- unknown
- Bewildered Herd
- I’m Your Manager, I’m Your Pimp
- unknown
- Yeah, Cat
- Improv with some JFJO guys
more photos below
The Appropriate Linkage:
- DKG’s Site
- Skerik’s Site
- DKG’s on MySpace
- Skerik on MySpace
- Trio Subtonic’s Site
- Trio Subtonic on MySpace
- JFJO’s Site
- JFJO on MySpace
- Prior Related Reviews~
- Skerik / McTuff @ Sam Bond’s (Oct 2008)
- Skerik’s Maelstrom Trio @ Sam Bond’s (May 2008)
- Skerik / McTuff @ Sam Bond’s (July 2009)
- Trio Subtonic @ Lewis & Clark (Oct 2008)
- Trio Subtonic w/ Sex Mob @ Goodfoot (May 2009)
- Mt Tabor Theater
Check out more DKG’s tour dates below.
~Dan – np: Milli Vanilli – Girl, You Know It’s True
DEAD KENNY G’S & TRIO SUBTONIC PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2010 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
(click for larger)
DKG’s Fall 2010 Tour Dates
Date | Venue | Band |
10.9.10 | Coda San Francisco, CA |
With Mike Dillon’s Go-Go Jungle and Black Frames |
10.10.10 | Harlow’s Sacramento, CA |
Dead Kenny G’s |
10.12.10 | Forestville Club Forestville, CA |
Dead Kenny G’s |
10.13.10 | HumBrews Arcata, CA |
Dead Kenny G’s |
10.15.10 | Sam Bond’s Garage Eugene, OR |
Dead Kenny G’s |
10.16.10 | Mt. Tabor Theater Portland, WA |
Dead Kenny G’s and Jacob Fred Jazz Oddysey |
10.17.10 | Chop Suey Seattle, WA |
Dead Kenny G’s |
10.18.10 | The Top Hat Missoula, MT |
Dead Kenny G’s |
10.19.10 | Knotty Pine Victor, ID |
Dead Kenny G’s |
10.20.10 | The State Room Salt Lake City, UT |
Dead Kenny G’s |
10.21.10 | Aggie Theater Ft. Collins, CO |
Dead Kenny G’s |
10.22.10 | Cervante’s Otherside Denver, CO |
Dead Kenny G’s |
10.23.10 | Davey’s Uptown Kansas City, MO |
Dead Kenny G’s |
10.28.10 | Kessler Dallas, TX |
Dead Kenny G’s |
10.29.10 | Momo’s Austin, TX |
Dead Kenny G’s and Hairy Apes BMX |
10.30.10 | La Bon Ton Roule New Orleans, LA |
Dead Kenny G’s |
10.31.10 | The Blue Nile New Orleans, LA |
Dead Kenny G’s |
11.12.10 11.13.10 | Bear Creek Music Festival Live Oak, FL |
Dead Kenny G’s |
12.1.10 | Momo’s Austin, TX |
Dead Kenny G’s |
12.2.10 | Kessler Dallas, TX |
Dead Kenny G’s |
12.3.10 | The Deli Norman, OK |
Dead Kenny G’s |
12.4.10 | Eclipse Tulsa, OK |
Dead Kenny G’s |
12.5.10 | Chester’s Fayetteville, AR |
Dead Kenny G’s |
12.8.10 | Momo’s Austin, TX |
Dead Kenny G’s |
12.9.10 | Chelsea’s Baton Rouge, LA |
Dead Kenny G’s |
12.10.10 | DBA New Orleans, LA |
Dead Kenny G’s |
12.11.10 | Martin’s Jackson, MS |
Dead Kenny G’s |
REVIEW: Trio Subtonic @ Lewis & Clark College (Portland, OR – – 10/9/08)
Quick review… I didn’t make it to Jo Fed’s in Eugene a few weeks ago to see Portland jazz group, Trio Subtonic. Alas, they were playing in Portland last night, and I was in town for work.
(camera phones are kinda pointless)
Trio Subtonic are a piano/bass/drums jazz trio… in the same vein as Medeski Martin & Wood (to give you a frame of reference). What I’ve heard on record is really groove oriented jazz with keys, samples, etc. Last night was more organic, acoustic jazz (i.e.- still a nice groove, but with acoustic piano). They were recording the show at Lewis & Clark College for a future release. I stayed through the first break (about an hour), and of the songs that they announced, I caught: Not There, Subtronics, Why Are the Mountains Crying, and Kaleidoscoping. They played three or four others of which I didn’t catch the names.
Catch them if you’re in Portland or if they swing through your town… they were quite enjoyable. Check out their music below:
The Appropriate Linkage:
~Dan
REVIEW: Bill Frisell, Eyvind Kang & Rudy Royston @ the Shedd (Eugene, OR – – 6/7/08)
FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
Last night was my first time seeing all three gentlemen: Bill Frisell, Eyvind Kang, and Rudy Royston. I hope it is not my last.
I’m a big fan of Eyvind from his work with Secret Chiefs 3, Mr. Bungle, solo works on Tzadik & Ipecac (and other indie avant labels). On the upper right of every page on this blog, I have a quote attributed to Eyvind Kang: “I believe that music should be grown on trees, to be plucked like a fruit without the extravagance of harvest.” There’s just something about jazz (and the show last night) where this is most appropriate. Sure, much of Bill Frisell’s music is structured, melodic, and hinting at a modicum of “harvest,” as it were. However, it definitely lives and breathes and is open for exploration within the structure.
Probably the best proof of this with regards to last night’s show was that Eyvind (viola) and Rudy (drums) had only met 4 or 5 hours prior to the show. This was the world premiere of the Frisell/Kang/Royston trio. Judging by how they played so well together, I would have thought they met at least 7 hours prior. ;) No, seriously, they seemed like long-time jam partners. It was great to see the immediacy of the musical “fruit plucking.”
The trio played just over 90 minutes straight-through (with one short break prior to an encore piece), probably anywhere between 6 or 8 pieces. They started with 5 minutes or so of experimental flexing, bordering on avant-garde. By the next piece, Bill Frisell began laying down the melodies that worked well with this trio setting. Many times Eyvind and Bill mirrored each other’s melodies, but Eyvind still was able to cut loose on his own. Rudy knew how to play subtly, but he did let loose a few times as well, especially near the end of their set.
I just got Bill’s new one (History, Mystery); so I don’t know if the songs were from that or not, or just base melodies with improvisation. The set as a whole was very melodic, yet explorative. At several times, Bill pulled out what I thought was an e-bow, but it ended up being a music box that he was playing near his guitar pickup then through an echoplex-type looping device. Very harmonic tones… which would have been intriguing to have gotten from using guitar harmonic picking and an e-bow… alas, I was wrong.
Odd note: again, this was my first time seeing Bill Frisell. Does he always avoid facing the audience? He seemed to be facing towards Eyvind the whole night (so slightly away from the crowd). I never saw his hands or the front of the guitar all night. Odd, but at least the sound was sublime.
This was Bill’s fourth show at The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts over the years. That’s a good indication that he’ll be back. To that I say, “yay!” I hope he brings Eyvind and Rudy with him.
The appropriate links:
- http://www.myspace.com/billfrisellofficial
- http://www.myspace.com/floratone (recent collab with Bill, Eyvind, Matt Chamberlain, Tucker Martine, et cetera)
- http://www.billfrisell.com/
- http://www.myspace.com/eyvindkangeyvind
- http://www.myspace.com/rudyroyston
- http://theshedd.org/
In completely unreleated to Frisell/Kang/Royston news, but posted here since I didn’t want to add another post to “the pile”… you can listen to Sigur Rós‘ upcoming album (Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust) streaming here before it comes out in a couple of weeks: medsud-dot
Enjoy!
~Dan – np: Ken Laster – Jazz & Beyond podcast (link)
FRISELL / KANG / ROYSTON PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2008 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
(click for larger)