eric mcfadden trio, art of the jam
san francisco-based gtr whiz eric mcfadden brought his versatile 'n' rawkin' trio to fonky fred's for two days this week. the second night, bad weather forced them inside at the wreck room, where they played two exuberant sets and then stuck around to hear the impulse of will jamcats over on the wreck west side.
mcfadden's a former george clinton and current eric burdon sideman whose own music touches bases from soulful flamenco to djangoesque gypsy jazz to slammin' metal, and his sidemen -- former symphony bassist james whiton and drummer jeff cohen (who has a local connexxxion here in the fort; i discovered last night that he's the son of a cat i usedta work with at radioshack a coupla lifetimes ago) stay with him every step of the way. the crowd at el wreck was prolly less than it woulda been at fred's -- some of the reg'lars might have been scared off by the $10 cover for the out-of-town talent -- but the e.m.t.'s set was enthusiastically received, especially "the ghostmaker" (a mcfadden toon the jamcats have been covering) and a slowed-down version of the parliament hit "flashlight."
jam-meister lee allen had wanted to sked an impulse of will _rehearsal_ (which woulda been the first one in two years) last week in preparation for fred's fest this sunday, but circumstances (in the form of stoogeaphilia) intervened and it didn't eventuate. this week, he said, "we only need to play three songs: 'ghostmaker, ''maggot brain,' and 'standing on the verge.'" in the event, the fred's fest edition of the jamcats -- who, besides the jam-meister and your humble chronicler o' events, included ron "the velvet hammer" geida on gtr, john "johnny peckerwood" shook on bass, and lucas white on drums -- wound up essaying a barber mack toon (junior byles' "fade away," which i remember from the soundtrack to the movie rockers back in prehistory) and a li'l improv funk jam-down before the p-funk toons (eric joining in on ron's gtr for "standing") and a coupla jeff beck ones ("you know what i mean" and "'cause we've ended as lovers," with the jamcats finally nailing the 6/8 section on the former and the velvet hammer shining on both). i wanted to bust out the riff that eric played on mandolin on george clinton's cover of curtis mayfield's "gypsy woman" from how late do u have 2bb4ur absent?, but that woulda been geeky and anyhoo, the oppo didn't present itself.
afterward, e.m.t. bassist james bought a copy of the wreck room book and waxed ecstatic about the jamcats, talkin' 'bout how he quit playing with the symphony because there was no more spirit in the music there (altho he still loves the classics), and how that spirit now resides in local scenes like el wreck. amen, brother. one 'n' all were happy to hear that the mcfadden trio will be back in the fort after labor day. i promised some impulse recordings (from andre's archive) to a female marine from plano who's deploying to iraq in a few weeks, and she was introduced to ex-jarhead artilleryman/outlaw chef terry chandler and marine brat johnny peckerwood. all in all, a good night.
hey, lee -- can we play "flashlight," too?
mcfadden's a former george clinton and current eric burdon sideman whose own music touches bases from soulful flamenco to djangoesque gypsy jazz to slammin' metal, and his sidemen -- former symphony bassist james whiton and drummer jeff cohen (who has a local connexxxion here in the fort; i discovered last night that he's the son of a cat i usedta work with at radioshack a coupla lifetimes ago) stay with him every step of the way. the crowd at el wreck was prolly less than it woulda been at fred's -- some of the reg'lars might have been scared off by the $10 cover for the out-of-town talent -- but the e.m.t.'s set was enthusiastically received, especially "the ghostmaker" (a mcfadden toon the jamcats have been covering) and a slowed-down version of the parliament hit "flashlight."
jam-meister lee allen had wanted to sked an impulse of will _rehearsal_ (which woulda been the first one in two years) last week in preparation for fred's fest this sunday, but circumstances (in the form of stoogeaphilia) intervened and it didn't eventuate. this week, he said, "we only need to play three songs: 'ghostmaker, ''maggot brain,' and 'standing on the verge.'" in the event, the fred's fest edition of the jamcats -- who, besides the jam-meister and your humble chronicler o' events, included ron "the velvet hammer" geida on gtr, john "johnny peckerwood" shook on bass, and lucas white on drums -- wound up essaying a barber mack toon (junior byles' "fade away," which i remember from the soundtrack to the movie rockers back in prehistory) and a li'l improv funk jam-down before the p-funk toons (eric joining in on ron's gtr for "standing") and a coupla jeff beck ones ("you know what i mean" and "'cause we've ended as lovers," with the jamcats finally nailing the 6/8 section on the former and the velvet hammer shining on both). i wanted to bust out the riff that eric played on mandolin on george clinton's cover of curtis mayfield's "gypsy woman" from how late do u have 2bb4ur absent?, but that woulda been geeky and anyhoo, the oppo didn't present itself.
afterward, e.m.t. bassist james bought a copy of the wreck room book and waxed ecstatic about the jamcats, talkin' 'bout how he quit playing with the symphony because there was no more spirit in the music there (altho he still loves the classics), and how that spirit now resides in local scenes like el wreck. amen, brother. one 'n' all were happy to hear that the mcfadden trio will be back in the fort after labor day. i promised some impulse recordings (from andre's archive) to a female marine from plano who's deploying to iraq in a few weeks, and she was introduced to ex-jarhead artilleryman/outlaw chef terry chandler and marine brat johnny peckerwood. all in all, a good night.
hey, lee -- can we play "flashlight," too?
posted by stashdauber at 5:03 AM
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