Show Reviews

RJD2 takes his varied material, funk, jazz, hip-hop, electronic and all in between, and slashes it apart to rebuild it live. Production laden DJ numbers are changed and thrown to full band instrumentation, and vice versa, for a motley and unrestrained take on his material.

A rare mutual enthusiasm developed during this late winter/early spring night in New Hampshire while John Hiatt and The Combo played their extended single set. The group nurtured an exceptional bond of musical comradeship and community within the vintage Lebanon Opera House, the result of which was a palpable warmth in the room that had nothing to do with the temperature.

Founded in 1995 in Ithaca, a hippie-friendly, live-music–obsessed outpost in upstate New York, John Brown’s Body has always enjoyed the following of dedicated fans. After moving their operation to Boston and cycling through numerous line-up changes, the band has settled in and cultivated a substantial national audience.

Jeff Beck stole the show from Eric Clapton at Madison Square Garden February 19th. Or he would have if Slowhand had deigned to compete with him for the spotlight. But in a magnanimous gesture of generosity, similar to that which EC tender Steve Winwood two years ago around this time, the archetypal guitar hero preferred to let his successor in The Yardbirds take front and center the second of their two NY shows together. And to his tremendous credit, Jeff Beck made the most of his opportunity.

When Stefon Harris joined Imani Wnds on the Mainstage of the Flynn February 5, he helped crystallize the intensity of their playing and  at the same time, elicited a greater level of improvisation from their playing.The effect of the collaboration might well have been even greater had Harris' own band been present, but even so, the performance was impressive.

To anyone who has doubted the strength of the music scene in the New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina era, prepare yourself for a new tidal wave of funk that has been defining a different generation while still remaining loyal to its roots.  Last Thursday night, fans were prescribed a heavy dose of jazz-funk fused with sax and brass elements, when Galactic brought “The Big Easy” to the Theatre of Living Arts in Philadelphia.