Dan Alford

In the interest of providing a soundtrack for the holiday weekend, and in case you missed one, we’re re-running the whole Stormy Mondays Acoustic Mix series, from Volume I up through last week’s installment. Hours and hours of gravely vocals and smoldering solos, Americana at its best. It’s just the right music for digesting some pumpkin pie, so as always enjoy!

SM Acoustic Vol. I
Dance, Dance, Dance – Neil Young
One More Day – The Wood Brothers
Blue Jeans Pizza – moe.
One > Take 5 – RyG
Stealin’ – Garcia Grisman
Living in the Country – Leo Kotke & Mike Gordon
Let the Morning In – The Slip

SM Acoustic Vol. II
Cassidy – GD
Predicting the Rain – The Slip
Intro > Almost Cut My Hair – David Crosby
Heart of Saturday Night – Tom Waits
Low Spark – JB and Friends

SM Acoustic Vol. II Bonus Mix
Blackbird – Bob Weir
Kind of Bird – Gov’t Mule
Motion Pictures – Neil Young
Castles in the Sand – Keller Williams

READ ON for three more Stormy Mondays – Acoustic Mixes…

Depending on where you’re living, the leaves are turning, falling or fallen; it’s getting dark early and Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and that means it’s time for another

Back in the mid-nineties I read an interview with Dick Latvala wherein the Grateful Dead archivist told a story about being in the Vault with Mickey Hart. The percussionist was

On October 12, our household welcomed a smiling baby boy named Nathaniel, and this week’s Stormy Mondays is here to herald him in. The mix kicks off with Jimi’s Belly

Rocktober begins later this week, and we’re gonna kick it off in style with a short, partial set from Led Zeppelin in the prime powerhouse year of 1969  – a

Back in late 1969 and early 1970, the Miles Davis Quintet boasted a line-up that included Chick Corea on keys, Jack DeJohnette on drums, Dave Holland on bass and the

Here at Stormy Monday we believe in recycling. Recently, I happened upon a podcast from Philadelphia’s livetronic trio Telepath  entitled Telepath Thirty Minute Mix, and found it to be a

Although The Bad Plus (bassist Reid Anderson, drummer David King and pianist Ethan Iverson) have spent most of 2009 touring with vocalist Wendy Lewis in support of their album For All I Care, it was back to basics, if that word can be applied to anything the trio does, for a pair of shows that were part of the Highline Ballroom’s piano series.

Of course, late August is a bad time for a series of anything in NYC, except for buses out of the city perhaps, which led to a full, but hardly packed room for Friday night’s late show. The Highline, a venue that opened with five nights of moe. followed by a series of gigs from the Disco Biscuits, has done plenty to make itself into the only larger jazz club in New York (aside from the relatively conservative Jazz at Lincoln Theater), hosting old masters like Charles Lloyd and McCoy Tyner and luminaries like Josh Redman and Brian Blade – mostly headier, edgier characters who can draw double the capacity of more storied clubs like Birdland and the Village Vanguard. So it was no surprise that the always hip and quirky Bad Plus found themselves featured artists during the weeklong celebration.

They opened the late show with Metal, a tightly syncopated composition seemingly designed to showcase King’s energetic, playful percussion in a series of solos (even if it is a cover). As the song progressed, those solos grew bigger and looser, an early indication of the set’s theme: the show was an exposition of David King and his huge personality and smile.

READ ON for more from Dan on The Bad Plus at Highline…

In stark contrast to the North East June Phish shows, there wasn’t a ticket to be had in the lots at Hartford as the cheering and hollering crowd made its way past security and into the Meadows, home to many a fond summertime memory. The lawn filled up quickly and it was plenty hot and humid inside the shed, the audience becoming particularly excited and singing along to the chorus of the Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer as it played softly over the PA.

[All photos by Jeremy Gordon]

There was excitement in the air, anticipation, and the quartet capitalized on both when they took the stage with a PYITE that had Trey bouncing right away. Following up with a tight, fiery AC/DC Bag into NICU, filled with organ and heavy cactus chunks, the band let everyone know it would be a high energy night.

Negotiations were taking place on stage, the four members seeming to pass messages across in a game of telephone from Page to Fish and back again, and then they hit the assembled masses with Col. Forbin’s Ascent out of the blue, the first since 2000. Unfortunately, there was no Gamehenge narration at all, even though the timing seemed perfect for a long Woodstock tale and perhaps a Star Spangled Banner. Instead, the group moved right into Famous Mockingbird, but a hot version at that, seemingly longer and heavier than older ones, with blissfully light accents marking the final descent.

READ ON for more of Dan’s thoughts and Jeremy’s photos from Hartford…