A Twist of Doc: The 2013 NAMM Convention Performance Highlights

 By Devon “Doc” Wendell

The 2013 NAMM (National Association Of Music Merchants) convention took place in Anaheim California between Thursday, January 24^th and Sunday, January 27^th. Despite throngs of inebriated metal heads roaming the Anaheim streets, instrument booths in the convention hall, and thousands of music merchants packed into the Anaheim Convention center like sardines, there were several stellar musical performances by some legendary names and innovators in the music industry, especially in the jazz and blues categories.

Here are some of 2013 NAMM’s many concert highlights:

On Friday night, Hammond Organ presented its two-plus hour “Hammond Soul Summit” Concert at The Anaheim Marriot, which featured some of the instrument’s greatest and most influential practitioners.

Dr. Lonnie Smith

Kicking off the show was the legendary jazz and funk Hammond B3 pioneer, Dr. Lonnie Smith performing with the incredible Chester Thompson (Tower Of Power and Santana) and Larry Goldings (Al Jarreau, Maceo Parker, John Mayer).  The three organ titans performed a loose and funky rendition of Smith’s classic “Keep Talkin’.”  Backed by a dynamic rhythm section (Jay Didimo on drums and Jack Maher on electric guitar), Smith and Thompson began swapping bluesy organ licks, trying to upstage one another, pushing the exchanges to ecstatic heights. The energy was electric and took the predominately rock loving NAMM audience back to school. Goldings soloed on an acoustic piano preset on his electric keyboard, playing jazz-fueled gospel chops while Thompson and Smith comped rhythm changes and walking organ bass lines behind him. Unfortunately, they were only allotted time to play one number.

Marty Grebb

Up next, Marty Grebb (Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, Etta James) took the stage, backed by some of the greatest session players in the world (Reggie McBride on bass and Alvino Bennett on drums) with special guest, 12 year old blues guitar virtuoso, Ray Goren.  After a Jimmy Smith-esque blues shuffle showcasing the young Goren’s fiery electric blues guitar runs and Grebb’s down-home B3 style, another guest was introduced — Marty Grebb’s old musical partner from the Buckinghams,  Dennis Tuffano, on vocals.  Together, Tuffano and Grebb sang The Buckinghams’ 1967 hit “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.”

Though it was hard for Tuffano to come close to topping Grebb’s soulful, Ray Charles- inspired vocals, he proved to still have the fire. This was the most nostalgic and exciting moment of the convention. Goren played some tasteful B.B. King style licks with the maturity of a musician 3 times his age, proving that he’s definitely someone to watch out for.

Larry Goldings

Larry Goldings returned to the stage with his trio (Jack Maher: guitar, Jay Didimo: drums), performing a brilliantly original arrangement of the Sonny Rollins classic “Doxy.” Golding’s imagination, fluidity, and inspiring skills incorporated many of Rollins’ saxophone lines in his organ solo and made it look easy.

Although many hard-rock acts dominated the main stage throughout the convention, Nick Smith And Friends performed a set of pure jazz at 4:00pm on Saturday.  Tonight Show keyboardist Smith was joined by an all-star band consisting of Marvin “Smitty” Smith: drums, Cory Jacobs: keyboard, Trevor Ware: Upright bass, James Manning: Electric bass, Antonio Julius: trumpet, Ray Fuller: guitar, and Kamasi Washington on tenor sax.

Nick Smith

Performing a set of hard-bop originals such as “Alternative Way,” “Slow But Surely” (a masterful tribute to Thelonious Monk), and “Tony Williams” (a salute to jazz drum legend Tony Williams), Nick Smith And Friends proved to be one of the most consistently brilliant jazz bands around today.  Amazingly (believe it or not), Nick Smith played with the syncopation and humor of Monk and virtuosic energy and fluidity of McCoy Tyner in what I can already predict will be among my top ten performances of 2013. Marvin “Smitty” Smith’s bombastic drumming pushed the entire band to play beyond their comfort zone, which is what true improvised jazz is all about. And Kamasi Washington’s playing brought to mind the adventurous spirit of a young Wayne Shorter or mid-60s Joe Henderson.

Even the band’s final tune, “Yeah” (which was a slight venture into funk/fusion) felt fresh and fun without the typical clichés of those genres. Nick Smith And Friends’ too short set was filled with an understanding and love of the history of hard-bop, modal jazz, with just a hint of fusion.  Later that evening Muriel Anderson’s “All Star Guitar Night” was presented by Yamaha guitars, and a benefit and silent auction for The Music For Life Alliance took place at The Anaheim Marriot’s Platinum Ballroom.

Though the big name acts like Stanley Jordan, Robben Ford (who received The Guitar Player Certified Legend award at the event) and host and performer Muriel Anderson were the big name draws of this “exclusive” event, it was some of the lesser known names who were the most interesting of the long showcase.

Mimi Fox

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Jazz guitarist Mimi Fox performed elegant and thoughtful versions of Wes Montgomery’s “Four By Six” and Chic Corea’s “Five Hundred Miles High,” using open harmonics and sweeping arpeggios, all while playing lead and rhythm simultaneously. It was easy to see why Fox has been sought after by Stevie Wonder, Diana Krall, and Branford Marsalis, among others.

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Ian Ethan Case

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Ian Ethan Case is a young guitarist with a style that is both sonically and visually original and unorthodox in all the best ways. Case’s performance at this showcase surely had many six-stringers rethink the possibilities of the guitar. Case plays a double neck acoustic guitar in a unique and percussive manner, strumming the six string side of the guitar with one hand, while fretting chords and lead sequences on the 12 string side with the other hand, over the neck of the guitar while occasionally thumping his fists on the instrument’s body, creating polyrhythms. One must see this to believe it. His ideas were endless, playing a style that had elements of country, acoustic rock, and bluegrass, but is a completely unique sound nonetheless.

Case’s ballad “Anthony’s Lullaby”, dedicated to his infant son, had a dream-like, dissonant yet dark, melodic quality to it. It was refreshing to witness a guitarist who has created his own style and is not emulating a host of other players.

Vocalist Toots Hibbert and guitarist Carl Harvey are know for their work in the prolific reggae band Toots And The Maytals, but their acoustic, Delta Blues renditions of the Maytals’ classics “Reggae Got Soul” and “54-46 Was My Number” was a brilliant departure for these two men from the reggae world.  As both men strummed acoustic guitars, with Harvy playing an occasional piercing lead, Hibbert’s vocals sounded like a cross between the late Reverend Gary Davis and Richie Havens.  Their country blues arrangements gave the songs new fire and soul. This was pure blues without any of the affectations that many guitarists of other genres who try to conquer the blues are often guilty of falling back on.

James Hill

Ukulele master James Hill and bassist Bakithi Kumalo (bassist on Paul Simon’s Graceland album) brought some much needed humor to this event, performing a witty reading of Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean,” with Hill singing and playing the chord changes on ukulele and Kumalo playing the funky bass line on a small, short scale bass.  The sound of Hill playing those syncopated minor ninth chords on a ukulele made his performance one to remember for a long time. Although Hill is a skilled musician, it’s rare and refreshing to see an artist at an event like this who doesn’t take himself too seriously and isn’t afraid to show it.

So that’s it for my NAMM 2013 highlights. At a huge event like this, it’s quality over quantity as there were hundreds of performances during the four day convention.

Like most of the NAMM attendees, I’m exhausted yet already curious about next year’s lineup of showcases and events.

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To read more reviews and posts by Devon Wendell click HERE.

Live Music: David Grisman and David Lindley at Royce Hall

By Mike Finkelstein

The David Grisman Sextet rambled through a CAP UCLA performance at Royce Hall on Friday night, playing to a warm and delighted reception from a smaller than anticipated crowd.   Still, it was a hugely satisfying night of music with none other than David Lindley opening up the festivities.

David Grisman

Both Grisman and Lindley are good friends, of the same basic hippie vintage, and are longtime keepers of the flame for mastery of their acoustic instruments and fine original acoustic performance.  You can also sense, in their long gray hair and beards, as well as their repartee with the audience, that both have retained their hippie personae.  And it certainly is captivating and reaffirming to see someone so completely in control of their instrument as both men were on Friday night.

There was enough room in Royce that the promoters invited the audience to come as close to the stage as they needed to get the right spot.    And the open space wasn’t only limited to the stage.    There were small and few amplifiers, a small drum kit, flutes resting on a piano bench.  Much of the stage was peripherally left bare and there was no backdrop.   It gave a very stripped down feel to the evening but the music was well suited to the setup.

David Lindley

Programs like CAP UCLA (Center for the Art of Performance UCLA, formerly UCLA Live) specialize in presenting performers –such as David Grisman and David Lindley — who depend on subtle acoustic nuances to make the connection with an audience.  Royce Hall is one of the calmest sounding big halls you’ll ever hear a performance in.   At times Friday, you could literally hear a pin drop … or hear a pick rub each wind of a mandolin string.  Remarkable.  So when Grisman and his five band mates hit the stage they were in their element and beaming gleefully.

Grisman’s band consisted of mandolin (Grisman, himself), acoustic bass (Jim Kerwin), guitar (Grant Gordy), fiddle (Mike Barnett), drums (George Marsh) and flute (Matt Eakle).   Basically he took the string foundation of bluegrass music, minus the banjo and, because there is a lot of traditional jazz in his original material, he added flute, too.   His compositions are very chordy but structured and directional.   You couls hear quite a bit of the Django Reinhardt/Stephan Grappelli influence in many of their arrangements — such as “Bluegrass at the Beach.”   The music was structured like traditional jazz but played on bluegrass instruments.

What really impressed was the way the band swatted around the musical focus between them like it was a game of hacky-sack, with Grisman presiding and nodding intensely every turn of the way.  Each player came alive when it was his turn to step out in front and solo.

Grisman himself would lurch into and out of his runs with flying fingers.  It’s quite entertaining to watch a large guy like Grisman work the neck of a little ol’ mandolin like it was a toy.

Gordy flatpicked superbly, and Eakle had a way of grooving to the music and prancing with his flute that at times suggested Ian Anderson.   He also had several great tonal moments with a massive bass flute that lay in waiting on the piano bench.

The rhythm section of Kerwin and Marsh has been with Grisman for more than twenty years and their comfort with the format really showed.   Though their solos were not long, they were melodically meshed with the tune and they always featured tasty dynamics, and contrasted speeds and volumes.   Every player in the band had the sort of soft touch to go with the speed that gives the best acoustic music its appeal.  And they all appeared to be enjoying the moments big-time.

Grisman told several small stories during the evening as he provided personal background and culled songs from a career that now spans five decades.   He alluded to the now old school practice of learning one’s instruments from a.) buying and listening to vinyl records and b.) watching people play live to steal their techniques.   Now, instructional videos on the internet make it all so available.   But seeing the process through organically makes a person that much more connected to the music.   Grisman learned all he could from Bill Monroe in person and from records and he recounted to us that Monroe eventually implored him to work up his own style, which we now know as “Dawg music.”   It turns out to have been sage advice.

David Lindley opened the show with a 45-minute set of deadpan humor and downright amazing playing on stringed instruments ranging from lap guitars to a proper lute.  These instruments were all tuned to beautiful open chords and with a slide in his hands they sounded huge and simply majestic at times.

There was one tune about the virtues and tangential possibilities of Excedrin and Lindley ended his set with a jaw-dropping instrumental workout in which he played gritty, hot shot, country blues on a lute! It made one wonder whether some unknown folks — back in the day when the lute was in its prime — might also have figured out how to make the thing talk this way.  We may never know, but Lindley surely proved it can be done.

To read more posts and reviews by Mike Finkelstein click HERE. 

Photos courtesy of CAP UCLA.

Live Bluegrass: Earl Scruggs in a UCLA Live Concert at Royce Hall

By Mike Finkelstein

Last weekend, UCLA Live presented legendary banjo picker Earl Scruggs and his band at Royce Hall in a well attended, if not sold out show.  As banjo players go, there simply hasn’t been one more influential than Scruggs throughout his long career.   Scruggs is now 87 years old and suffice it to say that he vaulted the instrument’s popularity from a mainstay in southern folk music to iconic status in bluegrass music throughout the world.    If one thinks of the most well-known banjo songs, the Beverly Hillbillies’ “Ballad of Jed Clampett,” and “Foggy Mountain breakdown” from Bonnie and Clyde usually surface very quickly.   These songs put Scruggs’ three finger banjo picking style in the ears of millions of people on a very regular basis.

After the band had walked unassumingly onstage, Scruggs and his banjo were escorted to center stage and the show began. To his right was son Randy on flat picked guitar and to his left was son Gary on electric bass, vocals, and basically doing emcee duties for the evening.   Earl Scruggs has always surrounded himself with outstanding players onstage and Saturday night’s show was no exception as his six-piece band deftly delivered the set. The band also included Grand Ole Oprey fiddler and all around journeyman Hoot Hester, longtime Scruggs drummer John Gardner, Dobro man Jimmy Stewart, and Keith Sewell on hot licks Telecaster guitar.

Earl Scruggs

At its core the bluegrass format features crisp musicianship so that each voice can be heard clearly using instruments that contrast and stand out next to each other.  In this case, the rhythm section was actually rather Spartan with Gardner using brushes on a minimalist drum kit.  The drums never got truly loud, they just nudged the band to keep the music skipping along.    The bass thudded along with a padded tone, evoking a standup bass or at times an old-time, wash-basin rig of rural origins. One could even make the case that this band had a four piece rhythm section.  The drums and bass meshed beautifully with the added tone of Randy’s acoustic guitar and Stewart’s Dobro resonator guitar.

The main soloists were Hester and Sewell and their work was remarkable.   Hester, in a perfectly fitting Western hat, carried his end of things with panache.  His fiddle work was super smooth, making quick complex runs look routine.   Electric guitarist Keith Sewell,  looking casually confident in jeans and a sport coat, was a lead player among lead players.  His lines were intricate with counter-harmonies and dazzling speed converging to wow both the guitar players and the non-players alike.   What stood out from within what Sewell put into his lines was the sheer clarity of it all.   He, too, made it look and sound disarmingly easy to be such a monster on one’s instrument while avoiding flashiness.

There is something about a well-conceived arrangement of instruments at a manageable live volume that sounds organically grand and Scruggs’ band had this working for them on Saturday night. Every song featured several instrumental breaks and as the program gathered momentum the contrast between the instruments became compelling.   In the middle of this beautiful swirl sat Earl Scruggs, picking and vamping away.   In terms of soloing, he picked his spots wisely, pacing himself without going overboard.   Not surprisingly, he really did let if fly for his signature tunes “Jed Clampett,” “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” and “Orange Blossom Special.”

Given the talented ensemble backing him, it was a treat to anticipate which tasty cover would be next.   The entries were sometimes over a century old and at other times often familiar, coming from sources ranging between Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Blind Boy Fuller.   But one rarely gets to hear them done this way.

In a set list chock full of high points, the old Joe Maphis tune “Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (and Loud, Loud Music),”  was a standout for its poignant description of a good friend who just cannot get out of the bar room lifestyle — a heartbreaking set of words.

   A home and little children mean nothing to you
A house filled with love and a husband that’s true
You’d rather have a drink with the first guy you meet
And the only home you know is the club down the street

“In the Pine,” a traditional tune from the mid/late 1800s, and popularized (somewhat) almost 20 years ago by Kurt Cobain, resounded as the band played up its twangy side and its rural roots.   Bob Dylan songs, too, have always lent themselves well to bluegrass arrangements and on Saturday the band went with “You Ain’t Going Nowhere.”

Also noteworthy was the chance to hear “Sitting On Top Of The World,” a stoic blues standard, receive the bluegrass treatment from a band of aces.   Hester’s and Sewell’s playing over the 4-piece rhythm section peeled back another layer or two of the elegance this song presents.

Randy Scruggs and his dad appeared throughout “Will The Circle Be Unbroken,” the legendary bluegrass album coordinated by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. On Saturday Randy gave us a beautiful flat-picked rendition of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” from that collection.

All in all this gig was as much about the band as it was about Earl Scruggs but he is such an influential player that every musician onstage owed quite a bit of their own musical direction to him.  Yes, indeed.

The cleverly named local country/rock trio Merle Jagger opened the show with an impressive if short half hour set.  They came onstage looking like they might have unloaded their gear from a hay wagon, and the bass player’s cabinet had most of its vinyl siding peeling away from the wood. No matter, their music is all-instrumental, featuring long unison and counter-harmonic scalar runs between bass and guitar.  Stephen Andrews’ style, in particular, on a vintage P-bass was buttery smooth and quick, a savory mix of tone and technique.  Their instrumental approach is appealing but their lines are catchy enough to beg for a vocal above them.   Just wondering about that…

Photo courtesy of Nashville Portraits.

To read other reviews by Mike Finkelstein click HERE.

Live Jazz and Bluegrass: The Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Del McCoury Band at Royce Hall.

By Michael Katz

The 2010-2011 UCLA Live season came to a rollicking end Thursday night, with a tandem performance by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and The Del McCoury Band. Casual observers of the scene might have expected the two bands to play separately, as bluegrass music and trad jazz don’t exactly seem a likely pairing, but the two groups opened on stage together and over two sets linked up in various permutations for renditions of New Orleans and bluegrass standards, as well as new and refreshing material. By the time the first set ended, the stage actually seemed empty when one of the groups was sitting out a tune.

Both groups shared a sense of history at Royce Hall, with tuba player Ben Jaffe, son of the Preservation Band’s co-founders Allan and Sandra, talking about coming to UCLA as a child while the band performed, and Del McCoury reminiscing about sharing the stage with Bill Monroe. Jaffe, who took over the tuba from his late father,  contributed the opening tune “The Band’s In Town,” which featured introductory solos by everyone. The Preservation Hall group is basically a seven man band, with a front line anchored by Clint Maedgen on tenor sax, Charlie Gabriel on clarinet, Mark Braud on trumpet and Freddie Longo on trombone, with all four of them taking the lead on vocals at one time or another.

Del McCoury is the scion of his band, leading on guitars and vocals with his sons Ronnie on mandolin and Rob on banjo. Alan Bartram’s bass adds depth to both groups, in the same manner as the Hall’s Rickie Monie and Joe Lastie, Jr. on piano and drums. Jason Carter rounded out the McCoury band on fiddle. After a rousing instrumental, McCoury’s group hushed the crowd with an inspirational gospel hymn, “Get Down On Your Knees and Cry.”

At different points in the evening, practically everyone had moments to shine. Clint Maedgen played a nasty tenor on “You Don’t Have To Be A Baby To Cry,” adding vocals as well. Trumpeter Braud teamed up with Del McCoury on “Muhlenberg Joys,” with a slam/bang drum solo by Lastie to close the first set. Rob McCoury took the lead on “Banjo Frisco,” abetted by his brother Ronnie who shone throughout on mandolin.

The second set featured some more traditional numbers, highlighted first by pianist Rickie Monie’s soulful intro to “After You’ve Gone.” Del McCoury picked up the vocals, with Freddie Longo accompanying him on the trombone. “Sugar Blues” was a showcase for Braud, who played an elongated muted trumpet solo that was one of the sweetest moments this side of Miles. “Down My Way,” featuring Charlie Gabriel on clarinet and vocals, had the audience clapping from the start, and was a fitting faux ending to the program. Because, of course, you couldn’t complete the performance without “When The Saints Go Marching In.” The combined troupe presented that with full regalia, Del McCoury providing the lead vocals, the Hall’s front line alternating solos and singing along. Parasols and beads sprouted up in the crowd, and the band led a good portion of the audience through the aisles and then back up onto the stage. It was a perfect pairing of musicians who love to entertain and an audience that was more than ready for them.

*****              *****              *****

Sonny Rollins

The evening was also notable for the announcement of UCLA Live’s 2011-12 schedule, which promises to be one of the best in years. From a jazz perspective, every concert is a knockout: the Keith Jarrett Trio, Sonny Rollins, Kenny Burrell’s 80^th birthday celebration with B.B. King and Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ravi Coltrane with Geri Allen and Timeline, and the Mingus Dynasty.

The World Music lineup includes Hugh Masekela, Itzhak Perlman highlights the classical presentation, the Roots section is loaded with Earl Scruggs, Lucinda Williams, Carolina Chocolate Drops and Bettye LaVette with Jon Cleary. As UCLA Live transitions to its new director Kristy Edmunds, it’s treating its audience to a stellar lineup. For the full schedule, click here:  www.uclalive.org

Photos courtesy of UCLA Live.