On March 21st at Brooklyn Bowl jazz-rock trio Soulive ceremoniously concluded its 6th annual Bowlive residency in stellar fashion with a little help from their friends. The brainchild of Bowl owner Peter Shapiro, Bowlive has evolved into a must-see event at the iconic flourishing venue. Soulive invites different special guests on each night and one witnesses where the musical journey goes from there. During the 2015 run they played over 100 songs and enlisted over 30 guests to participate including Charles Bradley, Aaron Neville, Sam Kininger, Jennifer Hartswick, Chris Robinson and George Porter, Jr. However, it was fitting that the final guest was keyboard pioneer Marco Benevento. In my recent interview with Soulive’s Eric Krasno he stated that guests may rotate each year but Marco would remain a mainstay because of what he brings to the table. He did not disappoint on this night.
Clad in a suit and a dapper top hat, Krasno (guitar) led the veteran band consisting of brothers Neal Evans (keys) and Alan Evans (drums) through a melodic and tight first set of instrumental ditties. “Rudy’s Way” started off the show with a deliberate slow burn before setting off “Spark” which saw the addition of the talented Shady Horns duo. The jazzy musings entranced the crowd for a solid hour, but the audience clearly was anticipating Benevento’s arrival with bated-breath.
Benevento arrived to start the second set and the palpable energy elevated itself to monstrous levels. “Limbs of a Pine”, the first cut on his 2012 Tigerface album set the stage for an epic jam session that provided layers of depth. The rambunctious song went on for nearly twenty minutes which allowed each player space to improv. “At the Show”, a must hear single on Benevento’s 2014 release Swift was a fiery racous romp that provoked intense fan participation. The crowd erupted with set up cheers of “Hey!” as Benevento brilliantly delivered the lines from the first song he ever recorded with a vocal and the horns provided pin point fills. Marco oozes talents and again proved why he is the premiere player in the scene. As the tune reached the peak of crescendo, he jumped up and danced behind Neal at the keys in a fury. It was a joyous foray into the unknown as the song continued to fire up the audience proper. The incendiary Led Zeppelin classic, “The Ocean” closed the proceedings in exemplary fashion and the night was perfect way close out yet another successful Bowlive run. Soulive delivers the goods each year, surprising us with varied guest artists and knows how to get the best out of them – we look forward to next year!
Photos by Scott Harris Photography
Setlist: Rudy’s Way, One In Seven, Spark *, Backwards Jack *, PJ’s *, Up Right *@,
Set Two: Soulful Strut *@#^, Limbs Of A Pine @ ->, At The Show *@, The In Crowd *@#,
Encore: The Ocean *@
* w/ The Shady Horns – Ryan Zoidis (Saxophones) and Eric Bloom (Trumpet)
@ w/ Marco Benevento (Keyboards / Vox)
# w/ Maurice Brown (Trumpet)
^ w/ Weedie Braimah (Percussion)
