rocky mountain high time, kulcha far i, blues

so this thursday is confusatron night at the black dog, with a difference. the recently-voted "best ja[zz](m) band in fw" is about to head up to colorado for some shows, along with pablo and the hemphill 7, a-hummin' acoustical acupuncture, and darrin kobetich. to raise money for the trip, i suppose a car wash/bake sale woulda been out of the question, so all of the above will be performing in various permutations at the dog, and fans are encouraged to throw money (easier because there's no cover). after this friday, when confusatron plays the power plant and darrin plays fred's patio after his regular wreck room happy hour thingy, you won't be able to see any of these bands until they get back on tuesday the 26th, so be forewarned.

kulcha far i has a coupla busy weeks ahead. they're playing the ridglea this friday and the wreck this saturday, then they're holding down the fort at the black dog next week while the confusatron boys are out of town. if you haven't seen 'em yet, you oughtta.

listening again to the robert ealey cd that sumter bruton put out a coupla yrs ago, i've realized that young, chops-heavy rock 'n' jazz cats like the ones i've been playing with lately don't always have the correct feel to play blues. but _some_ ppl do. scanning the calendar on fwac.net this morning, i see my old frontman, hosea robinson, is at artistic blends on friday. hosea had some serious health problems last year and i dunno who all's playing with him these days, since john shook is now holding down the bass slot in kulcha far i, but if i were a wagering person like pete rose, i'd bet he still has the excellent gtrist jeff west (_don't_ call him "wild wild") onboard. anyway, it's good to see hosea back on the boards. i might even need to haul my ass over to wedgwood to check him out.

further blues-wise, i see that johnny mack, who always brings the party, has taken over the sunday night jam at the keys lounge on westcreek. and ray reed, brother of the late, lamented lady pearl, is at the keys on saturday the 23rd. i've missed ray's last coupla shows at j&j's and the keys, but he's always worth checking out, particularly if you dig electrified country-blues stuff like hooker, early muddy, and lightnin' hopkins. he does a nice, raw line in freddy king and albert collins instrumentalismo, too.

finally, just learned that stoney bass, who played bass with robert ealey, johnny mack, james hinkle, and just about everybody on the fw blues scene, just passed away. r.i.p. and go easy, bro.