art of the jam 4

darrin kobetich is one shreddin'-ass mofo. i'd heard him do his acoustic raga-bluegrass thang with mike padilla on percussion before, but never got to hear him go off on electric until he showed up for the wreck room wednesday night jam thingy last night. not only does my lawn guyland homeboy possess an uncanny facility with all manner of scalar and modal improvisational frameworks and a right hand like a bulldozer (albeit one that can _dance_), he's got a tone like liquid fire, the better to convey his seemingly endless flow of melodic ideas. the best moment in last night's festivities came when he and violinist steven huber made each other's musical acquaintance for the first time while the rest of the musos were busy socializing, buying beers, and waiting for a drummer to show up. by the end of the night, they were talking about pulling steven into the occasional acoustic bluegrass thang darrin has with his brother and busy confusatron/ph7 guy matt skates. (while it might be hard to imagine the escape from new york-lookin' kobetich brothers sittin' and pickin' around a campfire at the kerrville folk festival, it happened, dude, and you missed it.) darrin, acoustic, will be at the black dog on friday, june 17, following his normal wreck room happy hour stand.

a testament to andre edmonson's genius: when i asked him, "uh, dre, you weren't rolling tape at the very beginning, when it was just darrin and steven...were ya?" he smiled and said, "yes, i was."