Hidden Track Staff

HT’s Jeremy Gordon will participate in an exhibit in DUMBO starting Thursday night.

Taj Mahal Trio @ Brooklyn Bowl, Sept. 20 Photo and Words: Grace Beehler With a 50-year musical career under his belt, Taj Mahal and his band – Kester Smith on

Wyllys and the New York Hustler Ensemble @ Sullivan Hall – 8/18

Words: Scott Bernstein
Photos: Jeremy Smith

Last Thursday, HT contributor Wade “Wyllys” Wilby brought his New York Hustler Ensemble to Sullivan Hall on his wife/Hustler member Jennifer Hartswick’s birthday. Wyllys seized upon the celebratory mood from the get go and delivered a focused 90-minute set that blended pre-recorded electronic music with live gold from instrumentalists Hartswick, Natalie Cressman and Zac Lasher as well as special guests Rob Salzer (U-Melt), Todd Stoops (RAQ/Kung Fu) and Pete Pidgeon (Arcoda).

[All photos by Jeremy Smith]

Wyllys started the show up on the stage by his lonesome and showed off some of his turntablism skills. Wilby worked in clips of John F. Kennedy’s famous “we choose to go to the moon” speech and wound up bookending his set by dropping more quotes from JFK’s speech at the end. Hartswick and Cressman have spent plenty of time together on stage over the last 18 months and the connection they share and have honed over that time was clear throughout the evening.

Following Wyllys’ intro, he invited the core members of his group up for a few groove-laden tracks before welcoming the guests up. RAQ/Kung Fu keyboardist Todd Stoops made the most of his time on stage, banging away at Lasher’s rig to deliver one funky riff after another with a quickness using a meaty clavinet tone. Salzer made his first public appearance on guitar since leaving U-Melt and was exchanging smiles and energetic solos with Lasher, his former band mate. Yet Wyllys was the clear star of the show, directing the musical traffic in a way that kept things interesting throughout.

HT’s Jeremy Smith was in the house and took a number of fantastic snaps. READ ON for more of Jeremy’s killer photos from this show…

While one festival, Outside Lands, kicks off tomorrow in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park [read DaveO’s preview], we turn our attention to another event held in the historic park –

Words and Photos: Gerry Hardy

In the week before the Newport Folk Festival kicked off, the headlines in the music magazines read “Newport Folk Sells Out.”

Oh here we go, the moribund traditionalists are on again about the lineup not being “pure” enough for folk, adulterated this year by interlopers such as rockers Gogol Bordello and Elvis Costello ( both listed as acoustic), Wanda Jackson’s rockabilly, the Decemberists and Delta Spirit.

A closer read revealed that the headlines in fact referred to this year being the first time in its 52-year history that the Festival had sold out, 10,000 tickets for each of the two days. And this was two weeks in advance in a year that saw weak ticket sales nationally for concert events.

All this was due in no small way to Festival producer Jay Sweet and his team’s keen ear, strong musical sense and dedication to making the festival an event that looked both forward and backward. Sweet handpicked 36 acts in a mix that included old timers Ramblin’ Jack Elliot (79) and Earl Scruggs (93) alongside first timers The Civil Wars, Tegan and Sara and Sallieford. Pete Seeger (92) continued his unbroken streak of Festival appearances, sitting in for brief appearances with many of the younger acts.

READ ON for more on the Newport Folk Festival 2011…