Throwback Tuesday: Bear Creek Music & Arts Festival 2014
[Ed. note: this is the four-part review I wrote for the very last Bear Creek Music and Arts Festival (of blessed memory) at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida, November 13-16, 2014. At the time, I was just scribbling for my own music blog, Tie Your Shoes Reviews. It was my sixth — and last — Bear Creek. I was swept up into MusicFestNews in February 2015.]
[And this one has professional photographs by Brian Hensley! Huzzah! And great videos from Barry2theB, TheFunkItBlog, The Sober Goat, and BOLD AF.]
THURSDAY 11.13.14
Surgeon General’s warning: If you are allergic to glowing adjectives, effusive superlatives and the occasional hyperbole, please skip the remainder of this review and the next three Bear Creek installments.
Still with me? OK, but you have been warned.
Most festival-goers have a favorite. Mine is Bear Creek. This is my sixth trip to the Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida, and every one has been an incredible musical journey.
Confession: when I looked at the line-up, I failed to look at the bottom of the list, where Paul Levine was clearly “hiding” the names of the artists-at-large, so I didn’t notice any ‘old-school’ representatives. Certainly, headliners Lettuce, the New Mastersounds, Dumpstaphunk and Soulive (plus skyrocketing The Nth Power) anchored the festivities properly, but about that bench strength? I was concerned.
I love being wrong. I must. I mean, I am wrong so often. This time, stupendously wrong. Bear Creek 2014 was mind-blowing, start to finish.
I have two mantras. The first is a general remark about music: make sure to check out bands you’ve never heard about before. There will always be wonderful surprises.
The second is: NEVER MISS A BEAR CREEK THURSDAY. EVER.
You may recall that I never make it to the Sunday afternoon > evening finale with the aforementioned headliners. To many, that must seem sacrilegious. I simply cannot swing three days off from school, and Thursday is sacred to me. Bear Creek Thursdays have always been amazing, but this… this… this was infinity… and beyond!
Music began at 2 PM. By 6, I’d already received my money’s worth of music. By the time the Main Squeeze shut down the Music Hall at 2:45 AM, I declared this as great a day of music as I’ve ever heard. (And there are three more to go!)
Every year, the first band I’ve seen at BC has set the tone for the weekend (Shak Nasti, the Heavy Pets, London Souls, Savi Fernandez Band, Johnny Sketch & the Dirty Notes). This year, it was the triple punch of the first three bands. Freddy’s Finest, a quintet out of the ATL, got the honor of opening the proceedings. It’s a mixed blessing, because many people are still arriving, and most don’t get to the park until Friday, some not until Saturday.
Freddy’s Finest came out smoking hot, jazzy funk jams filling the air while tents and campsites were popping up throughout the 600 acres of woods. The festy kids at Buffalo’s Amphitheater stage had a great time dancing and nodding, enjoying the official kick-off. Freddy’s Finest did us all proud.
The Dirk Quinn Band then amped up on DC’s Forest Stage (newly located just beyond the main festival grounds fences up the hill from the amphitheater). DQB, from the City of Brotherly Love, play engaging jammy rock, and everybody was digging the groove. Leader Quinn was a great front man and fine guitar slinger.
Mantra Number Three: IT’S THE RHYTHM SECTION, STUPID! (I’m talking to me, not you!) A powerful bass-and-drums combo is essential to success in this environment. FF had the formula down, and DQB even more so. A strong “Cissy Strut” in the middle of great originals gave everybody room to groove.
Back down the hill, there is simply no way we could have been prepared for what was about to unfold on stage as the Funky Knuckles (from Dallas) unveiled a brilliant set. The sextet strode confidently from Shorter/Hubbard/Jazz Messengers grooves to deep Brecker Brothers funk. Kenny Harvey (bass for Holey Miss Moley) and I just stood there with our jaws on the ground. They were magnificent (the band, not our jaws).
The Broadcast pairs a strong female singer with a superb band. This was not my favorite set, but the quartet is very strong, and her stage presence is engaging. I’ll check them out again, but I wanted to get to the Music Hall to see Herd of Watts. I had seen a brief portion of their Orange Blossom Jam set last May and said then I needed a second shot. I don’t remember what I heard at OBJ, but the Herd of Watts set at BC was about two light years beyond.
They were excellent. HoW features the same instrumentation as the Funky Knuckles (guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, trumpet and tenor sax), presented differently. Whereas the trumpet and tenor sax were out front for FK, the HoW horns stood toward the back of the stage. They were no less effective, however, in funking up the place. Jam, rock, funk, jazz – like most of the bands on our scene, and especially those at BC, these boys are can do it all. Their set featured lots of great original tunes and a knock-out version of The Who’s “Eminence Front.” (Does anybody know what that song means? I have no clue. Doesn’t matter; I love it.) The nearly full Music Hall on an early Thursday was a welcoming sight. And it turns out I was camped right next to this group; they made great neighbors!
Because of the first real music overlap, I missed much of the set by See-I. During their sound check earlier, they laid down some superb straight-ahead jazz grooves. In performance, they are primarily a reggae hip-hop band. Normally, this would have been of marginal interest, but the band played so well, and the singers were so positive and engaging that they drew me in. See-I is also an acronym for State, Elaborate, Exemplify and Illustrate. It is a perfect description of the band’s musical message and delivery. And they quoted Chuck Brown: “I feel like bustin’ loose…”
From the amphitheater back to the forest, Locos Por Juana offered an interesting variation with Latino-reggae themes. Once again, the band was rock solid, often featuring their fine tenor sax player. The exuberant vocalist and front man was a treat to watch.
I bailed early, but only because I wanted to hear S.P.O.R.E. again. I had seen this Jacksonville band this summer (down a guitar), and they were superb. How would they be at full strength? Absolutely incredible, it seems. They were just blasting, funking, jamming, rocking, throwing down song after song with exuberant abandon. Somebody had told me S.P.O.R.E. planned to blow it up in the Music Hall. Truer words…
Early in the set, they called up guitar monster Savi Fernandez to join them on “Inoculate,” and he ripped a superb solo. I don’t know if this was the only opportunity he got to play all weekend, but I was sure glad I caught this one.
Zach Deputy was holding forth at the amphitheater. If you could not see the stage and only hear him, you’d swear there was an entire band behind him. There are other talented loopers out there, Keller first and foremost, Legacy in Central Florida, but Zach has a magic spin to his approach. In the thesaurus, ‘Zach Deputy’ is synonymous with ‘infectious’ and ‘irresistible.’ He was hitting an island groove when I arrived, later shifting to even heavier funk and a bit of James Brown’s “I Got the Feelin’.”
Austin’s Mingo Fishtrap had the next slot on the Forest stage, and they made the most of it. The vocalist reminded me simultaneously of Jans Ingber of the Motet and David Shaw of the Revivalists, visually and aurally. Punchy horns delivered the funk in flurries.
When I last saw Orgone in January in Jacksonville (with the New Mastersounds and Monophonics, just before they jumped on the Jam Cruise), I was totally knocked out. Singer Adryon deLeon was great, band leader/guitarist/singer Sergio Rios was amazing, and the band was on the one, but for me the star was bassist Tim Glum. He owned the evening.
Fast-forward to Bear Creek. This time, it was bassist Dale Jennings who stole the show (and the night)! You know how I feel about rhythm sections. If I never see another performer at Bear Creek impress me more than Jennings this night at the amphitheater, I will not be surprised. Wikipedia says “Orgone energy is a hypothetical universal life force originally proposed in the 1930s by Wilhelm Reich.” For me, this band puts theory into practice!
For those who understand the reference, singer deLeon is a soul belter who reminds me of Candy Givens of Zephyr. She was lit up all evening, and Rios was superb and fun to watch. This was as great a funk performance as I have ever seen, and I’m going back to Sly, P-Funk, EW&F and Graham Central Station.
When they hit “Time is Right,” I was beyond bliss, and the band just kept knocking out song after amazing song. These seem to be a bunch of new compositions, based on not seeing any of them on archive.org setlists as recent as August. “You Are the Sun,” “Keep the Fires Burning” and “Love is the Answer” were equally impressive (and I’m guessing at actual titles).
My musical ignorance potentially on display, she had a beautiful alto voice, although it could soar to the stratosphere when called upon. That provided an interesting comparison to follow.
I almost didn’t go to the Music Hall to see the Main Squeeze. That would have been a HUGE mistake! The band had similar instrumentation to Orgone and a very similar feel. Here was the fascinating part. Vocalist Corey Frye’s alto voice was a near-perfect match to deLeon’s! Very cool! It worked perfectly in back-to-back sets like these.
Once again, the playing was superb. After knocking out a few great tunes, they were joined by the name at the bottom right on the list of artists-at-large (you know, the part of the list I didn’t read): Brandon ’Taz’ Niederauer. Write that name down now, because you’ll be hearing it endlessly in the near future — and on the lips of every Bear Creeker.
Taz is a superb guitar player with great technique, nice use of pedals, and amazing musical ideas and invention. Did I mention that he is ELEVEN YEARS OLD? Looks about four feet tall? Awed all of the musicians at Bear Creek? A straight-A student? Seriously, many, many adults I have heard on guitar don’t have his chops OR his ability to solo.
After Taz’s spot, they covered MJ’s “Off the Wall,” which was OK. Some time and several good originals later, they let a spacy jam lead its way into “No Quarter.” Zeppelin? From a funk band? Hell, yeah!
The day’s statistics: 12 performances seen, 8 new bands, 2 I’d only seen once. I liked everything, and seven sets were excellent. What a superb day and way to start Bear Creek 2014!
Great seeing my peeps at Short-Cut Camp (more about all of them in a later installment), the Herd of Watts folks, Kenny (HMM), Captain Mark, Paul Levine, Rev. Hugh and Jenifer.
Hey! Where’s Dale?
GO, LEHIGH! BEAT LAFAYETTE!
FRIDAY 11.14.14
Music is therapy for life.
So saith Isaac Teel, drummer for TAUK. These are my four favorite music days of the year. I feel cleansed. Renewed. Envigorated. Alive.
Unlike Thursday’s stage-hopping, the Friday and Saturday schedules make it impossible to see and hear everything, even if you could teleport. So you decide: see half of this set, second half of that, OR, do one; skip the other.
And when three stages are occupied simultaneously, even your clone can’t help you out. Well, not enough.
Straight out of the gates, decision time. I caught the beginning of Captain Green’s solid set in the forest. It was a strong opener from the Baton Rouge sextet, dripping with funk. I tore myself away, because I’d been promising myself forever to check out Copious Jones, another band out of the ATL. I was sure I would find Tami and Charles there, representing. What’s a man to do?
Check out the band, of course! They were wonderful. Copious Jones is the very definition of a jam band. Their grooves were endless, and the dancing in the field at the Purple Hat stage (near the main SoSMP stage not being used) was joyous. As for the weekend’s not-so-leitmotif, their rhythm section was excellent.
For once, I attempted to spend at least a bit more time with friends at my campsite at Short-Cut Camp and over at Camp Shenanigans. Given that anything is better than zero, they’d tell you I was there a little bit. Mostly, they like to stay in camp, where you can hear both the amphitheater and forest stages just fine. Actually, they are very kind in telling me they just read about the music once I get my reviews posted. I am humbled by their warmth and generosity. I will tell you more about them later.
I saw Curtis Harding only briefly in passing through the amphitheater to get back to the Purple Hat for Alan Evans’ Playonbrother. In retrospect, this became a brilliant move. On Evans’ POB website, he just announced that the band will play its last gigs in December and call it quits. Evans works regularly with Soulive, of course, but this is a shame. Three days before the BC show, his transmission blew, just the latest in a series of transportation woes. It is our loss, because the POB is pure dynamite.
POB is a power trio: drums, guitar and keyboards with bass pedals. And what power! They came out flame-throwing, and the set got progressively hotter. Jazzy funk again wafted over the field, and then suddenly they sprinted headlong into Mountain’s “Never In My Life” (with an unmistakable intro). Holy cow! Later in the set, they honored the late Jack Bruce with a great medley of “SWLABR (She Walks Like a Bearded Rainbow)” and “Sunshine of Your Love.”
I thought I should get over to check out at least a bit of the Yojimbo set. For whatever reason, I had not done my homework and didn’t not remember why that name was familiar. On my way, I passed Rev. Hugh, going the opposite way. He attempted to describe Yojimbo, unsuccessfully. Once I got to the forest stage, I appreciated his lack of success defining the band.
Yojimbo is the creative outlet for the whirling dervish named Carly Meyers, a member of the Mike Dillon Band. Drummer Adam Gertner also pulls double duty, and they are joined by Doc Sharp, a keyboard player manic enough to keep up with the duo.
If you’ve never seen Carly, then you’ve never seen anything remotely like her, either. She is the very definition of ‘unique.’ She sings, she plays wickedly inventive trombone belying her 22 years on the planet (she also plays mallets with MDB), but first and foremost she is a dancing, hopping, twirling hip-hopping pixie, a perpetual motion machine. AND she has a classic beauty and delightful fashion sense. What little I got to hear was deluxe. Doc Sharp was killer.
It was back to the campsite, where I could hear Sister Sparrow but not see her or the band. Many of my compatriots will call me out for this, as they are Sister Sparrow fans. You can’t do everything. I did make it back to the amphitheater in time to catch my first Roosevelt Collier sit-in.
Now a triple dilemma: Alecia Chakour, the Floozies or Turkuaz. I knew Chakour had another set Saturday; Turkuaz won. I had seen them at a previous Bear Creek, and this 2014 set was tremendous! They and a number of other groups here at BC are working at redefining the meaning of ‘big band.’ For nine months (quite a gestation period), I have been studiously avoiding writing my Snarky Puppy review, which I had intended to post not long after a similar discussion about the Tedeschi Trucks Band.
Eight to twelve members, horns, back-up singers, percussionists – all popular options. And I haven’t neglected the required BC equipment: a nasty rhythm section. You ain’t got bass and drums; you ain’t got… jack.
Turkuaz brought it big-time. Super rhythm section, great back-up singers, three horns. Hot. They played an excellent song called “The Rules.” For the life of me, I could not remember where I’d heard it before. Until I got back into my car Sunday and discovered a Turkuaz disk in the player, with “The Rules” on it! And Roosevelt Collier sat in with his lap steel guitar for the last two songs.
A brief word about sit-in etiquette. If you ask a musician to sit in, LET HIM HAVE A SOLO. On the last tune, the guitar player took all the solo space, leaving none for Roosevelt (time was festival tight). TAUK did it right: they let YOU solo when you sat in with them. Off my soap box. For now.
It was Umphrey’s McGee time. There was great excitement when UM was announced as a two-night headliner earlier in the year. Tonight it was two separate sets with a long break in between.
There are relatively few bands that have that magic attraction and drawing power. I’m thinking Phish, Panic, SCI, DMB, and Mule in the H.O.R.D.E. mode in addition to founding fathers ABB and the Dead. UM is firmly ensconced in this musical Olympus.
And they did not disappoint. The first set featured tunes from their summer release, Similar Skin, and lots of others as well. The second set was filled with jazzy jams (well, my head was), befitting the BC mindset.
Sandwiched in between the UM sets was a second night of Orgone. Given that I thought they owned Thursday, I definitely wanted another shot in the closer confines of the Forest Stage.
It was brilliant. Again. This was funk as good as it gets. Let me say that again. As good as it gets. Toward the end of the set, they played several of the superb new tunes they had unveiled the previous night. And bassist Dale Jennings was again THE MAN. Just incredible. I was hoping they would make “Time is Right,” the song I loved from Thursday most of all, the last song of the set.
And suddenly, Jennings, man of the match, was handing off his bass. Whaa?? Who would dare take the bass out of this man’s hands?
OK, if George Porter, Jr., wants to sit in, you let him sit in. After all, he IS King of Bear Creek. I certainly think so. When Sergio Rios hit those opening notes to “Ain’t No Use,” pandemonium erupted. Brought the house down, and my first tears of joy. Legendary. Just unreal. [Cannot lie. This video made me cry AGAIN while prepping this.]
I split the Umphrey’s set two early to head back to the music hall to see NOLA’s Earphunk. (OK, that and warm up. It was gettin’ chilly!) Their twin-guitar funk attack is delicious. The first tune was sort of “meh,” but the second one grabbed me by the throat and throttled me but good. And soon, it was time for another Taz sighting. After this day (and the following two), Bear Creek 2014 will go down in history as the Taz Experience (and he soon after jammed a Hendrix tune with Soulive). His solo with Soulive was stunning, and, as it turned out, we hadn’t heard anything yet!
More decisions. TAUK or Soulive? The Soulive set last Wanee was the best I’d ever heard from them, but I had to hear TAUK again. Tough choice, but the right one for me. Their instrumental rock fusion drew a great crowd to the forest, many new to the TAUK aural assault. It was a deluxe outing; they made many new converts.
Also, it was chilly.
The New Mastersounds, one of the BC hierarchy (with Lettuce, Dumpstaphunk and Soulive) were next up at the amphitheater. They always knock me out, but even so this was special. They can launch into a tune at 90 miles an hour (144 KPH) and accelerate from there. They were nothing short of magnificent.
And there were lots of guests. Lots of guests. King George Porter, Jr., was first, followed by PeeWee Ellis and Grant Green, Jr., to provide proper historical context, and then it was Jennifer Hartswick, followed by the superb young Carly Meyers. And the Heard horns jumped on and off the stage on cue, filling up the glorious sound.
Ultimately, however, it was the NMS four. Their sound is so wonderfully steeped in the funky jazz tradition. And Eddie Roberts is STILL the coolest cat in all of jam-dom.
The Budos Band had the privilege of closing down the evening (well, not the silent disco, but on stage). Their dark, evil, adventurous set was great – angular, funky psychedelic and rocking by turns. The nonet took us all on a wild trip.
The last set of silent disco DJs (three sets of two DJs each) began at 3:45. By this time, the temperature had dropped below 40 degrees, but most attendees were pretty well insulated, one way or another. Ardency and Elliot Mess were duking it out. I listened back and forth for most of the hour time slot, then headed off to campfire, friends, and warmth.
Great to visit Camp Shenanigans and its denizens. Kelly and I could talk for-ever, I’m pretty sure. We get in the zone. Jensen B and Teresa and Winston and the Gov’nah and… (Brain fail) A bazillion thanks to Tami and Charles for being so kind as to bring me a case of Terrapin Liquid Bliss Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter (couldn’t find it in the Tampa area!).
The junky photos are mine. The really good one of Alric A.C. Carter of TAUK at the top was taken by Brian Hensley. [This TBT version has great photographs by real photographers!]
On to Saturday!
SATURDAY 11.15.14
The Bear Creek half-time lasted approximately seven hours (I got about five hours of sleep), from the last silent disco sets near 5 AM to Alecia Chakour sending out the noon wake-up call.
By the end of Saturday, it would be official (with a ceremony Sunday afternoon): the Taz Bear Creek. Remember this name: Brandon ‘Taz’ Niederauer. The day was full of spectacular performances, made more memorable by our gaze into the future. The 11-year-old displayed maturity, poise, flare and confidence many players twice or three times his age struggle to muster.
Chakour’s resume’ is rich and varied, as is her voice. She is a Bear Creek fixture, and for that we are grateful. She was joined by her fine band, featuring her dad on guitar. This being the land of sit-ins, who should come on stage but another funk/jazz icon, Bernard “Pretty” Purdie. What a supreme treat! I had met him 35 years ago at a drum clinic. He’s still got it, including a wonderfully playful flair. PeeWee Ellis and Eric Krasno (Soulive) also joined her onstage, originals and covers filling the air. My favorite was Leon Russell’s “Hummingbird.”
Decisions, decisions, again. Come Back Alice, Sarasota and Home Team favorites, and the Main Squeeze, who crushed their set closing out Thursday night, were on at the same time. Main Squeeze first, I thought. By the time they lit into “Dr. Funk,” it was ON! Corey Frye’s chameleon-like voice rode over top of another fine set.
Come Back Alice was blowing it up in the forest as I stage-hopped. Tony Tyler and Dani Jaye led their excellent rhythm section through “Southern gypsy funk” at its finest. The HomeTeam crowd was clearly thrilled, and rightfully so. And I would love to hear Tony on B3 playing more than just a snippet of “Ease On Down the Road,” their brief closer.
One of the most anticipated sets on the schedule was Rosie and Oteil. This is the sixth year I’ve seen Roosevelt Collier at BC (the first time with Shak Nasti in 2009 – still one of my favorite BC sets of all time – get it on archive.org 11.14.09), and he has risen from new face to royalty. And Oteil Burbridge has credentials beyond imagination. You can appreciate the enormity of the event when we saw Nikki Glaspie on drums and Nigel Hall on keyboards. This promised to be pure BC nirvana.
And nirvana it was. They blasted P-Funk’s “Put Your Hands Together” and grooved through Michael Jackson. And then: Taz time. Oteil launched into “You Got Me Floatin’,” and Taz took off. TOOK OFF. Tears for the second time at the festival. Roosevelt showed such respect that he stood up, stopped playing, and stood behind Taz to let him own the moment. At the conclusion of the song, Roosevelt went over and hugged Taz. Respect, my brother Roosevelt!
And then it was a cavalcade of stars on stage: horns, Krys Royal, PeeWee Ellis, Bernard Purdie, Grant Green, Jr., and Jennifer Hartswick. Eleven people minimum. They ended with James Brown’s “Ain’t It Funky Now.”
Up the hill in the forest, The Fritz (Asheville) was about to grab the stage. I had missed them the previous Saturday due to a late arrival in Dunedin, so I was looking forward to this. SPEC-TAC-U-LAR. This set was scorching from start to finish. The rhythm section is superb, and Jamie Hendrickson was just wailing on his guitar. What a deep, funky groove. And it was impossible not to watch front man, vocalist and keyboard player Jamar Woods, gyrating, provoking the funk. I need to see them over and over! What a delightful first show for me!
I jetted back to the campsite for some medicinal barley and hops before rolling back to the amphitheater for the much-anticipated Chris Robinson Soulive Revue. I’m on record as a lukewarm Robinson fan, but this was an energetic outing, starting early with “West L.A. Fadeaway,” “Sugaree” and a very nice “Space Captain.” They did justice to Otis Redding’s “Hard to Handle,” at which point the sit-in parade merrily began. From a stretch beginning with “Gimme Shelter” and climaxing with “Lovelight,” we were treated again to many of the BC all-stars, including Chakour, Hartswick, GPJr., GGJr., Roosevelt and Purdie. It lived up to its billing.
Another serious conflict arose. The Nth Power, the up-and-coming monster band with Glaspie and Hall. I took the road less travelled to the forest for more Earphunk. I was rewarded with another awesome set from this NOLA quintet. The great surprise for the band and us was the arrival of George Porter, Jr. As the band explained, they had never before played with their hometown hero. It was simply deluxe, smiles all around.
This night, Umphrey’s McGee was playing one two-hour set (two separate sets the night before). I decided to go check out the Nicholas Payton Trio in the Music Hall first. I love UM, but this was a very fortunate choice.
Nicholas Payton is a NOLA trumpet player who emerged in the ’90s out of the straight-ahead jazz cauldron that produced players such as Wynton Marsalis. He has more than a dozen CDs to his credit, a true jazz giant. You know I love to funk, but this was a beautiful, masterful respite. Payton was joined on stage by a truly amazing rhythm section: double bass player [??] and drummer Corey Fonville. I could have watched just those two. But Payton was amazing, a double threat.
Double threat? I’ve never seen anybody, to quote Christian Ryan (Holey Miss Moley and Leisure Chief), play trumpet with his right hand and comp on the Fender Rhodes with his left. If he had never picked up his trumpet that night, I would have said he was a great keyboard player. But he did both with great style. He also played the Hammond B3 organ and clavinet.
Payton featured a “number” of songs from his summer release, Numbers. I know we heard “Two” and “Five.” More than anything, I kept hearing Hubcaps (Freddie Hubbard) in his playing. Fellow NOLA compatriot George Porter, Jr., popped on stage for a great sit-in and solo. WOW. Just WOW. Also, how are you not loving a guy who titled one of his CDs Payton’s Place?
As I headed back to the amphitheater, UM was still keeping thousands of heads bopping and nodding with the second half of their set. When they “finished” at 10, because I had not read the schedule carefully, I thought they were done and started to head up the hill. Wrong again, as usual. They came back out for their encore, and as the synthesizer worked its way into an ethereal, spacey vamp, the bass started romping, and suddenly there was… Nicholas Payton! And for ten minutes – the best ten minutes of Bear Creek 2014 music for me – Payton and Umphrey’s McGee made me think I was listening to 1980s-era Miles meeting STS9. The song was “Day Nurse.” You cannot download it fast enough (it’s up on archive.org, bless ‘em). SICK, SICK, SICK.
Up the hill, Zach Deputy was reminding me why I love Zach Deputy and also why I sometimes don’t. Shortly into his set, ZD hit an irrepressible dance groove, and everybody was dancing. It was impossible not to. After a time, however, he segued into a reggae-ish tune much less melodic than before, and I became uninterested. Time for some Lettuce!
Bear Creek stalwarts Lettuce were delivering over on the Purple Hat stage. Alecia Chakour had joined them for much of the set I saw. You would think that I should have spent more time with Lettuce, but I was heading for TAUK, round two, in the music hall. Their blazing set the night before at the Forest stage helped to cut the night chill. What would happen inside?
The crowd erupted less than thirty seconds into the set. Wait! That was all the FSU fans watching the ’Noles squeak by Miami on the TVs over the bar. No matter. Back to music, I heard a saxophone, and I spotted Skerik on stage just before the band introduced him. Skerik is also a BC hero. He has played at previous events in the Dead Kenny Gs, Garage A Trois, silent disco with Freekbass (and Dennis Stadelman of CopE), and most impressively he organized the Orchestra At Large during the 2013 edition Sunday which was legendary. That’s the only word that fits.
TAUK proceeded to throw down a superb set before a packed house. And something else was going on. Maybe it was just inside my head, but I really don’t think so. Sonically, it was just incredible. I had seen them five times previously, but the sound this night was perfect. Kudos to the band and the sound men. As usual, they mixed songs from Collisions, their new release, with ones from Homonculus and some of their favorite covers, including “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” and “Death Without Honor or Humanity (Kill Bill Theme).”
I knew I’d missed half of the Dumpstajam, anchored by the Dumpstaphunk boys. In years past, they have tackled entire nights of other artists’ music, such as Led Zeppelin, Sly Stone and George Clinton, so I was delighted to waltz in just as they rocketed into one of my very favorite P-Funk tunes (from Mothership Connection), “Unfunky U.F.O.” It was NOT ‘unfunky!’
So that was the first song I heard. Then, honoring their Zep set at Wanee, they veering into “Black Dog,” with Glaspie singing and drumming up a storm. Out came Taz. And he Tore. It. Up. The place was going bonkers. When the song finished, Tony Hall, or maybe it was Ian Neville, announced, “Tomorrow he’s giving me lessons!” All of these musicians were so nurturing, so warm in welcoming Taz to the musical Bear Creek family. It was a joy to behold.
So if you have two superb bass players in your band in Hall and Nick Daniels III, of course you need George Porter, Jr., on stage! And with that, and two Nevilles on stage, it was back to the Meters’ Rejuvenation for “People Say.” [You don’t HAVE Rejuvenation? With “Just Kissed My Baby,” “It Ain’t No Use,” “Hey Pocky A-way” and “Africa?” What are you waiting for?] It was superb. I know they closed with something else, but my brain was in a small puddle at that point.
The Heard, from Chicago, got the last slot of the night in the cozy Music Hall. It wasn’t as cold as Friday night, but thawing out was still a really good idea. This band had an absolute knock-out punch. Their syncopated horn lines were just amazing. Then Roosevelt Collier appeared on stage, and for the second time Saturday we got to hear Rosie tear up “Put Your Hands Together.”
Later, Carly Meyers and Nigel Hall sat in for a deluxe take on the Crusaders’ “Put It Where You Want It.” By the end of the night, we were also treated to Hartswick and some Nevilles. Adam Deitch (Lettuce) and Nick Casserino (The Nth Power) rolled in, as did trumpeter Farnell Newton, and somewhere along the line “Red Hot Momma” spilled out all over the place. If memory serves (and there is no guarantee of that), the show finally closed with Simon Allen of the New Mastersounds returning the favor (the Heard horns had played with NMS Friday night) on drums and an Earphunk guitarist and several more horns joining in on “Shake Everything You Got.” And, despite the clock creeping toward 3:40, everybody in the placed complied!
So you know that 15 and a half hours of music wasn’t quite enough. Off to the silent disco!
The last pair of DJs were just getting started at the silent disco. I open my chair, stick the headphones on, pull my hood up, and chill. Most people are dancing. Whatever works. I’ve heard Vlad the Inhaler before. He certainly had lots of fans, but his mix is a bit too dubby for me. I switched over to channel 2 to hear Chews. I only discovered as I was typing this that Chews is the drummer for Earphunk. Why am I NOT surprised?
Chews apparently tapped into my subconscious, because he knew exactly what I wanted to hear. James Brown, Brothers Johnson, War (“Galaxy!”) and last year’s surprise delight Space Capone (“Back to the House!!!”). What a superb set, with deep house stuff betwixt and between. At the end, Chews got a great round of applause and chants of “CHEWS CHEWS CHEWS!”
Campfire, yakking, nodding off, finally to bed at 6. AM.
Great to see Robert and Jordan of Serotonic (and their much better halves, Katy and KelliAnn), Clay Watson, Adam from Infinite Groove (well, I saw you), Winston, Jeff and Teresa, Volkemon, Captain Mark, Kelly B, the Gov’nah, Nicole and the little Gov’nah (Warren), and the rest of the troops at Camp Shenanigans.
It’s already Sunday.
And this, I am proud to say, is review number 100. My continued thanks to those who offer me encouragement and tell me they enjoy reading my scribbling. I do it for myself, yes, but I also do it for you. THANK YOU. You know who you are.
SUNDAY 11.16.14
The sun rose on a glorious and warmer Sunday morning at Bear Creek. The previous three days had been filled with every bit of magic and wonder I could have hoped for – and then some. I got to see many of my brothers and sisters and heard the most wonderful music. One day to go.
Please don’t ask me about the end of the day. Please don’t ask me about The Nth Power > Dumpstaphunk > The New Mastersounds > Lettuce. Just don’t. Because I wasn’t there. For the sixth time, I traded Bear Creek Thursday for the Sunday slam-bang finale. Insane? Of course, but it’s the only way to manage my life schedule.
After being blown away by the mastery of Nicholas Payton Saturday night, I was more than ready for a second helping to kick off Sunday at the amphitheater stage. I was delighted to see his trio augmented by tenor giant PeeWee Ellis. It was the perfect way to start the day that began only six hours after my head hit the pillow last night (well, earlier that morning, technically).
This was a straight-ahead romp, mixing chitlins’ circuit with clavinet funk and Charlie Parker (a little “Scrapple for the Apple” for breakfast, anyone?). Payton again played electric piano, Hammond B3 and clavinet when he wasn’t playing trumpet, and even sometimes when he was! The last song I recall, after Ellis left, was a tune many Bear Creek musicians could croon: “I Want to Stay in New Orleans.” Sounds like a plan.
Skerik’s Orchestra at Large took shape last year on Sunday with an amazing line-up of musicians. Beyond Skerik’s mind-blowing talent on saxophone, his ability to arrange and produce such an event, in the vein of his Syncopated Taint band, is second to none. For that reason alone, it would be worth seeing what he had “thrown together.”
As if…
Here was the initial line-up, as I looked from left to right: Skerik, PeeWee Ellis, Pretty Purdie, Roosevelt Collier, Brandon ‘Taz’ Niederauer, Oteil Burbridge, Grant Green, Jr., Jennifer Hartswick, Farnell Newton, Carly Meyers and Khris Royal.
Immediately, the band launched into “Watermelon Man,” not Herbie’s original version but the one from Headhunters, and that led into “The Chicken,” a jam favorite if ever there was one. PeeWee, Newton, Taz and Roosevelt all took solos. Then Hartswick stepped up to the mic (mike?) to blast Stevie’s “Higher Ground,” with Roosevelt, Taz, Carly, Khris, Nicholas Payton (yep, he’d hurried from over from the amphitheater), and Roosevelt again taking a turn.
Next up was a stomp through Billy Preston’s “Will It Go ‘Round in Circles?” I don’t remember when George Porter, Jr., had taken over on bass, but Eric Vogel was bass-ifying things as well. Taz got a great solo on this one, and Khris evoked Eddie Harris with his electrified alto sax. Corey Fonville, Payton’s drummer, had also slipped into the other drum kit. One of the greatest aspects of the entire event was watching Fonville and Purdie looking at each other, having a blast. Purdie is such a great showman and has that elan, that flair.
It might have been at this point that I said to Rev. Hugh and Jenifer: “Past, present and future.” I would like to amend that remark. There is nothing – I REPEAT – nothing past about Ellis, Purdie, Porter, Payton and Green. Every one of these cats still has it. Every bit of it. But we were certainly seeing three distinct musical generations on stage. Carly Meyers, at the ancient age of 22, is a true revelation. She was the trombone queen for the day. And volumes will be written about Taz, the 11-year-old guitar whiz. Kudos to Paul Levine and crew for having all these musicians at Bear Creek and for assembling them for the Orchestra at Large. Levine was stage left beaming. We saw you!
Perhaps you’ve seen a band twist one song into another. I remember seeing the Col. with Panic play “Smokestack Lightning” but sing “Spoonful” (OK, they are practically the same song, but…). In this case, with Payton singing, the band played Sly’s “If You Want Me to Stay,” except that he sang the “Family Affair” lyrics. And it worked! Grant, Payton (trumpet), Carly, Roosevelt, and Payton (keyboards) all soloed, and then the horns took a marvelous unison romp. The set closed with a terse take on Herbie’s “Chameleon” (time constraints, you know). Skerik took a couple of great rounds on his tenor during the show, but more often he seemed content to direct and enjoy his creation.
WOW.
I walked past the amphitheater, where St. Paul and the Broken Bones were holding services. It sounded good, but I was full. My sponge was completely saturated. Skerik and his crew had done me in. Time to head home.
Many thanks once again to my Short-Cut Camp family for tolerating me. Great to be with Scrog, Brenna, Meredith, Malcolm, DeAnna, Rob, and everyone else!
Thank you once again, Paul Levine and crew. I LOVE BEAR CREEK.
