Ain’t No Sunshine – in the Sky – but Plenty on Stage at Sunshine Music Festival
Photography from Boca Raton by kind permission of Rick Munroe
Audio recordings by kind permission of Butch Almberg
Video recordings courtesy of CHeeSeHeaDPRoDuCTioNS
Miss Erica Falls made this suggestion Saturday (January 13th) at the Sunshine Music Festival in St. Petersburg:
“I don’t know about you, but you’ve got to shake a tail feather out here to stay warm!”
No kidding! Saturday’s event, unlike the next day in Boca Raton, was miserably cold, but the music was so hot it made it all worthwhile. MC Larry Lisk of WMNF 88.5, working the second stage while waiting for Foundation of Funk, said, “It’s cool and breezy, but the music’s gonna keep you warm!” It certainly staved off frostbite.
In fact, some of the loudest applause from the crowd came when the sun made brief 10- to 15-second appearances during the afternoon — all six of them. *EEK*
[All the photographs are from Sunday in Boca Raton. We assure you the performers were bundled to the max Saturday, including Derek Trucks in his ski cap and Susan Tedeschi in a gorgeous coat and scarf ensemble.]
This was year six for the Sunshine Music Festival, brainchild of the Tedeschi Trucks Band. They invited six other superb bands to join them for the two-day, two-city traveling show.
The day began with The Suffers, an excellent soul and funk band from Houston. Due to some parking issues and a lengthy line of patrons waiting to get past bag check and into the venue, we only caught the last 20 minutes of their set. Kam Franklin is a whirlwind on stage, dancing, emoting, engaging, and singing up a storm. The band is powerful, and together they closed with a dynamite version of “Turn On Your Lovelight.”
Speaking of the gate delay, patrons were not allowed to bring in fruit. It would be one thing if they were vending that inside, but they were not. Many people depend on fruit for their diets, and expecting people to be there for nine or ten hours with the limited food options available inside is not reasonable. Same goes for 5-Hour energy drinks and the like. You DO want me to stay awake, right?
Then it was over to Lisk and partner-in-crime Ed Greene, also from WMNF, to introduce Foundation of Funk, anchored by The Meters’ rhythm section: George Porter, Jr., and Zigaboo Modeliste, two titans of the funk scene and Crescent City ambassadors. They were joined fathers-and-sons style by Eric Krasno and John Medeski.
There were several sound issues early in the day, most egregiously the volume of Porter’s bass and Modeliste’s bass drum. Those attempting to avoid ear damage found it necessary to get off the rail and farther back in the crowd. It appeared this was the band’s sound man; he did them no favors by cranking the levels that high.
Nonetheless, the band persisted — in funking us up! The opening jam in “Funky Miracle” led into “Hey Pocky-A-Way,” with Kraz soloing, Medeski dancing all over the Hammond B3, and then some Porter magic. Porter referred to Medeski as “Johnny B. Goode” during a Medeski feature on “Pungee.” Things got really heavy next on “Keep On Marchin’,” Medeski on clavinet and B3 and Kraz with a big solo. Modeliste is the quintessential funk drummer.
Kraz began a blues riff, and Porter teased enough so that we knew “Ain’t No Use” was about to wash over us, Medeski on piano. Partway through, the quartet suddenly slowed it down to a truly nasty blues that developed into a brief “Smokestack Lightning.” Krasno was scorching hot before they segued back into “Ain’t No Use,” even hotter than before. Porter and Modeliste set up a wonderful call-and-response vocal, Modeliste with a gorgeous falsetto.
Set done, Porter said, “We’re going to beam John over to the other stage!” That was because Medeski, Martin and Wood had the next set on the main stage. Billy Martin was standing up playing shakers of some sort while Chris Wood had his double bass thumping, waiting for Medeski’s arrival. During their hour-long set, we got six tunes. Every one was pure eclectic bass heaven. This was my favorite set of the day, no disrespect to the headliners.
That first song was simply awesome, spacey, with Wood on arco (bowed) bass. For my money, Wood was the man of the festival. He just exploded on the second tune after Medeski introduced it on electric piano. Wood picked up his bass guitar for a funk piece next, Martin all over his kit and Medeski with nasty electric piano.
It was the Medeski show on the fourth outing, sliding back and forth from clavinet and synth to electric piano and Hammond B3. Wood picked up the double bass again for a fine feature, just WOW. MMW certainly added to their fan bass with this magical set.
NOLA was back, this time in the form of Galactic, opening with smokin’ instrumental “Blackbird Special,” just loaded down with hot funk. Then they introduced the aforementioned Miss Erica Falls, wind tossing her hair all over as she sang “Higher and Higher.” They slowed it down for “Chasing Rainbows,” with Ben Ellman on harp. Falls left the stage for a master instrumental, “65 Bars and a Taste of Soul,” highlighting the pocket trumpet of Shamar Allen. He got incredible sounds form the tiny brass instrument and impressed with cyclical breathing for a loooooong note.
Falls returned to belt out “Heart of Steel,’ Stanton Moore’s drums and Robert Mercurio’s bass pushing the pace. Jeff Raines had a monster guitar solo. Later, Galactic offered a very different arrangement of “Like a Rolling Stone.” The tension was building as the set neared its end, and I turned to Rene Crabapple to comment how much I liked it when Moore would stand at his kit and bash away. He concurred, and within seconds there was Moore, standing up, bashing on “Going Down Slowly”! What a hot set!
Now it was time for the Phishman Mike Gordon and his band, featuring Robert Walter on keyboards. This was a stripped-down quintet, incredibly tight . Walter was all over his synths and clavinet on opener “Stealing Jamaica,” Gordon with his first solo with that distinctive tone, bouncing up and down, of course. Excellent guitarist Scott Murawski had a superb solo on “Say Something.” Walter’s spacey keyboards helped fill up “Marissa (She’s Got a Way of Thinking)” before a really uptempo version of The Talking Heads’ “Cities.”
“Steps” was the pinnacle of the group’s superb harmonies (Gordon, Murawski and percussionist Craig Myers). Walter’s B3, a Murawski solo, Gordon bouncing again and Myers and drummer John Morgan Kimock all took turns. Heads turned as the intro to the next song sounded remarkably like… “Sweet Emotion!” That was fun, and they closed with “Tiny Little World.”
The Hot Tuna boys, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Cassidy, have been around for more than 50 years, and yet quite a few patrons were unfamiliar. They’re most assuredly NOT unfamiliar any more, as the trio, with drummer Scoota Warner, launched another amazing set of music. The low-key intro moved into their signature “Hesitation Blues” and then the “I Don’t Worry Blues.” Cassidy was a titan on bass, and Kaukonen still has an amazing blues touch, and his voice is as crisp as ever.
The set wound through some of their classics, especially “Bowlegged Woman” and the heavy blues of the “Come Back Baby” finale.
It was time for our hosts to remind us of what BIG BAND means in the 21st century. The Tedeschi Trucks Band has a habit of covering some true buried treasures, as they did at Sunshine 2015 opening with Sly and the Family Stone’s “Are You Ready?” For this year’s first song, they whipped out an astounding version of Stevie Wonder’s “Love Having You Around,” the first song on Music of My Life, the brilliant album from 1972 that preceded Talking Book (“Superstition”+). Susan Tedeschi’s voice was a perfect match for ’72 Stevie, and the chorus — Mike Mattison, Mark Rivers and Alecia Chakour — were magnificent. Elizabeth Lea had a nice trombone solo.
“Do I Look Worried” and “Don’t Know What It Means” poured out next, Derek Trucks with his first great guitar solo on “Worried.” Then Mattison stepped down front to sing “Anyday” with Tedeschi. Trucks again killed on the powerful “Laugh About It,” Tedeschi exhorting everybody to “put your hands in the air!” Mattison was back for a lovely “Sailing On,” a band staple from the Derek Trucks Band days, with Kofi Burbridge on Hammond B3.
After “Part of Me,” Tedeschi told us, “I haven’t played this in about 15 years,” and the band responded with a heavy kickass version of “Talkin’ About.” Then she welcomed Kaukonen and Cassidy to the stage to help torch “The Sky is Crying.” Next up was a stripped-down version of “Don’t Think Twice,” basically just Tedeschi’s magnificent voice and Burbridge’s flute, plus some guitars, of course.
Bass player Tim Lefebvre had a great solo intro, then Ephraim Owens on trumpet and Burbridge on clavinet to help springboard Mattison into a glorious “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free.” Tedeschi joined in, but the best vocal exchange occurred between Rivers and Chakour, simply soaring. “I Want More” began with an “Uptight”-like vamp, then absolutely blew up. THIS is what a big band sounds like! Trucks was blowing our minds and melting our faces as the song reached a huge peak… and rolled right into “Soul Sacrifice!” Drummers Tyler Greenwell and JJ Johnson were just amazing.
JJ Johnson on drums
Cold though we were, we needed an encore. They opened with what became a sing-along, Tom Petty’s “You Don’t Know What I Feel.” We all had the feels. And TTB sent us home with a titanic “Made Up Mind,” title track on the band’s most recent album. Incredible!
Thanks to Butch Almberg, you can listen to the set and others from St. Petersburg. The videos are from Boca, courtesy of CHeeSeHeaDPRoDuCTioNS.
Sunshine number seven in 2018! Yes, please. WITH sunshine, next time!
The smart money took patrons to the nearby Ringside Café, where The Happy Campers opened for Green Sunshine. Mike Gordon and Jack Cassidy both thought so, as they were there, graciously taking pictures with people and talking to fans!
[Try as I might, I cannot remove the extra blank space beneath each audio recording.]
