A belated Very Funky New Year to you all. Hope you're every bit as sexy as you were when last we spoke. Sexier in fact, as long as that's even possible. Which in your case it might not actually be, because you're already so damn sexy anyway.
Everyone here at McShow Global Enterprises wants to express to you the fact that we're not the least bit concerned with this little economic downturn that's happening of late.
Why not, you ask? The most obvious reason is that no matter what kind of shape the economy is in, it doesn't seem to have had even the slightest effect on the overwhelming amount of fantastic live music that's in our immediate future.
And, well, since we don't actually have any staff per se, and since we (and by 'we' I mean 'I') don't actually get paid at all for anything, we figure the chances of staff and/or pay cuts are drastically reduced in our case.
Relieved now? I know I am.
On to that overwhelming music thing, then. This week brings us the rare chance to see Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, a band I've been dying to catch for years. From what I'm told there is no truer representation of the roots of funky soul music, James Brown kinda funky soul music, on tour today than Sharon and her band. They're at the Warfield Wednesday night and you should be too.
I'll be away this weekend, so I need to include some stellar stuff from next week too. Marco Benevento kicks off a 4-week Tuesday residency at Yoshi's in Oakland, rippin' on the keys with a different and stellar band every week. Then the weekend of February 6-7 we'll be treated to the New Orleans funk powerhouses of Trombone Shorty and the Dirty Dozen Brass band doing double nights of double bills at the Independent. Oh, yeah, and 7-string guitar wizard Charlie Hunter plays an intimate gig with nasty drummer Scott Amendola that weekend too.
See? Told ya...
|||||| TUESDAY 1/27 ||||||
Baba Ken & the Afro-Groove Conexion @ the Elbo Room - $7
No credit for the lame-ass name, TONS of credit of the HOT-ASS music. Always on the lookout for a new Afrobeat band, I hit their Facebook link below on a whim. And damn, if the live show is anywhere near as good as the tunes on their website this is a band I've gotta see. Any takers for rockin' out on a Tuesday (sans Jazz Mafia for once)? Give the stuff a listen if you doubt me...
http://www.facebook.com/agx
|||||| WEDNESDAY 1/28 ||||||
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings @ the Warfield - $22.50
GO TO THIS SHOW. If there is a more authentic funk-soul act on the planet than Sharon Jones, since James Brown passed of course, then I haven't heard of 'em. Hailing from James' hometown in Georgia, Sharon is a 100% pure, not from concentrate, soul singer extraordinaire. Her band the Dap Kings are supposed to be the creme de la creme of funk players, literally second to NONE. Think Stax, think Motown, think about your favorite James Brown tunes. I've been wanting to see Sharon and the Dap Kings for years, and they rarely come around because they tour worldwide, so I REALLY wanna hit this one. I think it'll be somethin' truly special.
http://www.myspace.com/
|||||| SUNDAY 2/1 ||||||
Ska is Dead Tour: the Toasters | Voodoo Glow Skulls @ Slim's - $16
Skaaaank ON! Damn straight ska isn't dead. Headlining a four act bill are two legends of the genre that I've always wanted to see. The Toasters are bouncy, funky, high energy, and a blast. The Voodoo Glow Skulls have a harder edge, more of a punky ska-core outfit, and also a high energy rockin' good band. Bummed I'm gonna be outta town. If you go to this, I wanna hear all about it!
http://www.toasters.org/
http://www.myspace.com/
|||||| TUESDAY 2/3 ||||||
Marco Benevento w/ Reed Mathis & Andrew Barr @ Yoshi's Oakland - $10-16
First night of a 4-week Tuesday night Yoshi's residency with players various and sundry, hell yeah! Pianist Marco Benevento is one of my heroes. As half of the stellar Duo with Joe Russo, he has proven himself time and time again to be a freaky monster who can think and create on the keys in ways most players never even dream of. Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey bassist Reed Mathis is another hero of mine and he's one of the few players who is just crazy and skilled enough to keep up with Marco...
http://www.marcobenevento.com/
|||||| THURSDAY 2/5 ||||||
Fiction Family @ Independent - $20
Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek and Jon Foreman of Switchfoot are both incredible multi-instrumentalists and fantastic singers. The tunes I've heard from this collaboration are entrancing somehow, it's like a post-roots or electro-acoustic type sound. Very unique stuff, I'll bet this partially-seated show will be pretty wild.
http://www.fictionfamily.com/
|||||| FRIDAY 2/6 ||||||
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Ave | Dirty Dozen Brass Band @ the Independent - $22
Friday and Saturday shows (I'll be there Sat). Funk it UP y'all! This is one serious double dose of New Orleans funky fantasticness, and they're switching the headliners for each night. Shorty and his band are monstrously funky. The man himself is a bit of a prima donna, but you can't knock him too much for it because he just freakin' rocks the hell out of the place. Smokin' horns and a funk rock rhythms are what Shorty's band is all about. Opening this night are the legendary Dirty Dozen, a 12 piece New Orleans funky brass band institution if ever there was one. I say they're even better than that other big Crescent City brass band, what do you say..?
http://www.tromboneshorty.com/
http://www.dirtydozenbrass.
Charlie Hunter, Scott Amendola, & Friends @ Cafe du Nord - $20
Big, BIG men in a small, s m a l l room is a recipe that I'm rather hooked on. This night is drumming madman Scott Amendola's 40th birthday and he has 7-string guitar virtuouso/freak of nature Charlie Hunter along with a handful of other jazz powerhouse players joining him. This'll be a TON of talent in a tiny space. Eeeexcellent.
http://www.charliehunter.com/
http://www.scottamendola.com/
|||||| SATURDAY 2/6 ||||||
Dirty Dozen Brass Band | Trombone Shorty & Orleans Ave @ the Independent - $22
Join me on this night, it'll be hot! See above.
http://www.dirtydozenbrass.
http://www.tromboneshorty.com/
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