Joe Marcinek Winds Up JM3 Promo Tour
Guitarist Joe Marcinek wrapped up his series of shows promoting his superb new organ trio album JMIII (or JM3 — read our review here) at Dunedin Brewery on Sunday, December 16th. Improv band Skallop opened the show.
Skallop is the brainchild of DunBrew proprietor Michael Lyn Bryant, who plays keyboards, synths, and guitar. (He and Marcinek also just completed a three-night run together with their collaborative project Brain Emoji.) Joining Bryant in Skallop were Trevor McDannel (Future Vintage), bass; Dave Gerulat (shoeless soul), drums; and Joe King (Blackwater Grease), guitar. (And Bryant and King have yet another project, Follow the Monarchs.)
As usual, Bryant solicited imaginative song titles via the inter webs from those planning to go, with the usual awesome results. This band covers a wide swath of genres in their improvisations, but funk is always there at the base of the structure. I never tire of their explorations.
Marcinek must know where ALL the bodies are buried, because he always manages to assemble the most delicious bands for his three- and four-night runs all over the country. For this Florida run, he recruited Borahm Lee (Break Science, Pretty Lights) on keyboards, Nate Edgar (The Nth Power) on bass, and Michelangelo Carubba (Turkuaz) on drums.
Whereas Wil Blades had handled all the bass work via organ on the album, here Edgar was pure magic, his inventive bass lines weaving in and out of Marcinek’s and Lee’s playing. And the album was an organ trio proper: Hammond B3, guitar, and drums. And yet Lee was brilliant primarily on electric piano and synths, with organ thrown in for good measure.
They opened the set with four of the eight tracks on the album, properly with Track 1 “Mojo,” the best tune on an outstanding album. Marcinek soloed first, then Lee on synths and then electric piano, and we also got some Carubba flair. Next, we celebrated Marcinek’s Hoosier roots with “The Terra Haute Blues,” truly the blues, Lee dazzling on electric piano. He switched to organ for ballad-like “Funnily,” which featured a lovely Edgar solo. And they blew it out with the fabulous “Whatcha Gonna Do.”
Smiles all around, they shifted to Marcinek’s 2017 album Slink for “George Washington.” (Seriously, “Mojo” is my most favorite song of 2018; “G.W.” was my favorite the year before.) Lee tore this up on synths and electric piano before Marcinek took a shot, and Edgar and Carubba did the Vulcan mind meld for a great segment. Midtempo “Borra” followed, lovely again. Nook jumped up for a quick rap, and Marcinek played more great guitar.
They grabbed a third song from Slink, the tribute to “Bernie,” as in Worrell (of blessed memory, who played on the original recording). This was a joyous romp, Marcinek first, then Lee on electric piano, Edgar, and Lee on synths. And Carruba had a great feature on the set closer “Hyperbole” from Marcinek’s first solo album.
Do yourself a favor — check out all three of his albums AND catch him when he’s in your neck of the woods. Because he will be. At some point!
[SKALLOP: ]
[JMB: Mojo, Terra Haute Blues, Funnily, What Cha Gonna Do, George Washington, Soffa, Bernie, Hyperbole]