January 29, 2009

Last Friday, Brooklyn fans welcomed Tea Leaf Green for their first-ever performance at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Of course many of the faithful had been with the band from the last two nights at Mexicali Blues. They were grinning from ear to ear as they spoke of shows that brought the magic back, Reed Mathis singing, Josh Clark playing harmonica and the reintroduction of favorite songs that had fallen by the wayside during the band’s new transition. Filling the venue with their faces painted and bouncing balloons from the upper decks, it felt more like a re-birth than a rock show.

[All words by Carla Danca, photos by Jeremy Gordon]

The band has always had the strong musical personalities of Trevor Garrod and Josh Clark moving it forward, but it’s been Reed Mathis that has been the fan focus of late. Many understood that it would take time to integrate his magical gifts and diverse abilities to push the band to new heights, however this didn’t eliminate some of the frustration fans felt. During this run, it was apparent that the Reed they had been waiting for had arrived.

Looking more comfortable on stage (in his dapper hat) his body language showed off the new dynamic. Instead of standing on the side following, Reed was seizing the moment and showing off his immense skills. Leading the band into funky jams, taking Josh Clark’s challenges and throwing them back – with a smile – and joining in on harmonies with Trevor, the band has a rich new blend that sounds energetic and exciting again.

READ ON for more of Carla’s words and Jeremy’s photos from TLG…

One of the most popular series of B Lists, Digging Deep, has gone missing since I took the reigns of Hidden Track. It’s been nearly two years since the last time we scoured YouTube for fun covers of popular songs.

This time around we’ll be breaking up our list of ten videos into two parts to help speed up your load times. Better late than never, here’s part one of the fifth edition of The B List – Digging Deep…

1. Arcade Fire treated President Barack Obama’s campaign staff to a private concert last week in Washington D.C. The Canadian group offered their take on Bruce Springsteen’s Born In The U.S.A. for the staffers…

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37pX7KCYgDE

READ ON for four more great covers including U-Melt doin’ Paul Simon, Panic rockin’ out some Marley and Jason Mraz pressing the Peg Button…

This is a new idea around HT, where we’re gonna try to work with some of our favorite up-and-coming bands in a you scratch our back, we’ll scratch yours format where we’ll aim to exclusively release pro-quality, mixed recordings of some stellar shows that might fly under the radar.

Steve Neary, Andrzej Benkowitz, Chris Sell of Steez

By “exclusive,” we certainly don’t aim to prevent the show from making it’s way to the archive or anything like that, but rather just to let it out here first for a little publicity. Basically, it just makes us feel cool. Anyway, this is an experiment in progress, so any thoughts are welcome.

Band: Steez
Date: December 12, 2008
Location: High Noon Saloon, Madison, WI
Download: Click Here

READ ON for more details on this fantastic Steez recording…

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSpHmHABiyM Thin Lizzy – Whiskey In A Jar (Live 1973)

You wouldn’t expect a jazz show at the Highline Ballroom to be packed on a Wednesday night with people fighting over tables, but that was exactly what happened at Joshua Redman’s Double Trio performance last week.

The concert featured little more than a horn player backed by a monster rhythm section, and that was enough. In fact, he was brave just to stand on that stage, framed by a pair of young, in-demand bassists; Larry Grenadier, with his broad movements and low end, on his right, and Reuben Rogers, with his elastic responsiveness and tightly tucked peaks, on his left; and beyond that, a pair of the best drummers of a generation, Gregory Hutchinson, with his versatility and locked-up grooves, and Brian Blade, with his dynamic rolls and crashes.

Even late in the set during Little Ditty, when the music was quiet, almost moody, the symmetry was striking: Redman cascading brightly down the middle of dramatic rhythmic soundscape. He is a bit of a regal lion when it comes to the tenor sax, a strong, confident player whose clean tone is comfortable in any variety of settings, from his recent “real jazz” trio (to use Scofield’s term) to Chicago’s jam titans Umphrey’s McGee, although it’s fair to say that his jazz work has at times relied too heavily on precision and sharp edges. READ ON for more on Joshua Redman’s Double Trio…