10/6/2005: You know where you need to be tomorrow, but how about tonight?

Good afternoon beautiful people!

Long time, no Showy. It's not for lack of caring
believe me. Ever feel like you need 40 hour days to
get everything on your plate done? Me neither.

So you all know where to be on Friday night don't you?
Uncle McShow is taking his first shot at event
production/booking/promoting with 'A Very Showy
Birthday'. The bands are hot, the venue is cozy, the
price is right, and a good time will be had by all or
my name ain't Showy. I would love to see you there.

Another (not-so-timely) note is about tonight. It kind
of slipped my mind, but Mike Gordon is playing an
early gig with Leo Kottke at the Fillmore while the
Russo/Benevento Duo is playing a late gig at the
Independent. See where I'm going with this..? I'm
gonna catch the Independent gig not just because I
love Russo/Benevento, but also because I love Mike.
Hopefully he'll show his bass, er face, at some
point...

|||||| THURSDAY 10/6 ||||||

Russo/Benevento Duo (with Mike Gordon..?) @ Indpendent
$14
I'll be there be there and so should you! This
organ/drums freak jazz duo plays as if they were
telepathic. They improvise and react with precision
and speed and they'll amaze you with their skill and
energy. As if that weren't sweet enough, their website
says to "expect surprises when we're in SF as other
friends will also be around..." I take this to mean a
recreation of the Jazz Fest collaboration with Phish
bassist Mike Gordon. Something for Rockets opens up.
http://www.beneventorussoduo.com/

Dead Kenny G's @ Yoshi's $10-14
Comprised of Skerik (sax), Mike Dillon (vibraphone,
percussion), and Brian Haas (keys), this is as good a
freak jazz gets. These virtuoso talents (from Les
Claypool, Critters Buggin, Tuatara, Hairy Apes BMX,
Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, etc) have a tendency to go
nuts on their instruments. It's like psychadelic punk
jazz and it's a totally unique musical experience.
Check it.
http://thedeadkennygs.com/

Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon @ Fillmore $35
These two goofballs also happen to be outstanding,
creative musical talents. Leaning heavily on narrative
folk-song traditions, the guitar-and-bass duo serves
up inventive compositions with humor and skill. It's a
rare chance to see Phish bassist Mike in such
accessible form, but it don't come cheap. Rumor has it
he may show up later on in the night at the
Independent...
http://www.phish.com/index.php

Jazz Mandolin Project @ Sweetwater (Mill Valley) $18
Mandolin wizard Jamie Masefield leads this unique
revolving-cast jazz band. Mixing grooves and
experimentation, the musicianship is always a
priority, and for this iteration stellar upright
bassist Rob Wasserman will serve up the rhythm.
http://www.jazzmandolinproject.com/

|||||| FRIDAY 10/7 ||||||

A Very Showy Birthday @ Connecticut Yankee $7
Miss it at your unfunky peril! (Kid Beyond quote) I
want to extend a personal invitation to you all to
come and party down with yer Uncle Showy to some funky
tunes. Opening up (at 10pm) will be an amazing
organ/drums/guitar outfit called Kids & Hearts from
Oaktown. They do stellar freak-jazz in the realm of
MMW and Russo/Benevento and you should not miss 'em.
Headlining for ya'll I've got the Jazz Mafia's own
Shotgun Wedding Quintet bringin' the funky hip-hop
jazz straight to ya. They are truly bad ass musicians
and if you haven't seen 'em yet you are in for a
treat. Bring anyone cool, and be sure to say SHOWY
MCSHOW at the door to make your cover an extremely
reasonable $7.
http://www.theyankee.com/livemusic.htm

There m i g h t be some other shows tonight, but why
would you want to know..?