Star Kitchen Add Four Dates in March, Jazz Fest to Their Calendar
By Scott Hopkins on February 6, 2019
Star Kitchen Add Four Dates in March, Jazz Fest to Their Calendar
A thousands thanks to Jam Cruise and Cloud 9 for permission to include photographs by their outstanding crew: Jason Charme, Roger Gupta, and John-Ryan Lockman!
Star Kitchen have announced five more opportunities for you to hear their funktacular quartet in action — with guests and more mixed in along the way. Star Kitchen put that Philly funk on the table for everyone to enjoy. They debuted with four shows in November and then two more in January right before they jumped on Jam Cruise.
Boy, did they ever!
Their first set was a late-night slot on the Pool Deck Stage.
Another of my main focuses was Star Kitchen, the new project put together by Marc Brownstein (The Disco Biscuits, Conspirator). He had told me on last year’s cruise he planned to put this together, so it was great to see it come to fruition. This was the band’s sixth or seventh time on stage as a band. The introduced themselves with a blistering 13-minute opener titled “Let the Music Take Your Mind” that did exactly that and served to say: “NOW you who Star Kitchen is!” This was the day I anticipated after the relatively slow start Tuesday. Deanna and I confirmed we were in fact in the right place!
Star Kitchen with Eric Krasno and DeShawn dvibes Alexander
After that, they invited Krasno up for “After Midnight.” It moved along predictably — for a little while. Then it just seemed to explode. It morphed into a spot-on Allman Brothers jam that was almost “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” Kraz and Star Kitchen’s Danny Mayer magnificent on that twin lead guitar. The jam segued into a slinky jazz jam called “Nautilus.” (It sure sounded a lot like Herbie Hancock’s “Ostinato (Suite for Angela).” That was simply incredible. Karl Denson jumped into the fray, naturally. Rob Marscher had help from DeShawn dvibes Alexander on keyboards, and then it was Big Sam’s turn to keep the jam alive with his trombone during “Soul Power,” Kraz and Karl D still in the mix. 43 minutes plus it rolled, totally mind-blowing.
After a lovely “People Make the World Go ’Round” (Philadelphia song for the Philadelphia-based band), Shira Elias (Turkuaz) guested on “Livin’ for the City,” and the band knocked us out with “Poison” (yep, that one), Marlon B. Lewis’ drums driving it home.
[SK1: Let the Music Take Your Mind, After Midnight > almost In Memory of Elizabeth Reed > Nautilus > Soul Power, People Make the World Go ’Round, Living for the City, Poison]
Then they played an intimate set in the Spinnaker Lounge on Saturday.
There was music in the Stardust, but I was damned if I was going to miss Star Kitchen after that spectacular showing Wednesday night. I was rewarded, immediately, with a killer take on “Jan Jan” (yep, that incredible Grant Green tune from Live at the Lighthouse). And clearly I did not rave enough about what a superb guitarist Danny Mayer is, because he crushed this with some fine space guitar. That rolled for 14 minutes. Then Marc Brownstein shoved the funk into overdrive on another long romp, this one a feature for keyboard player Rob Marscher.
Star Kitchen with Roosevelt Collier
Josh Schwartz (Turkuaz) sang “Will it Go ’Round In Circles?” and played alto sax. The next song was bluesy jazz matching Roosevelt Collier’s lap steel with Marscher’s synthesizer. Taz rocked a tune that had possibly the nastiest baseline ever, and I mean ever. Brownie ripped this one up.
Star Kitchen with Taz
Finally, Jennifer Hartswick joined the fray to sing “You’ve Got the Love,” which featured Marlon B. Lewis on drums, and they finished with Hartswick belting “Rock Steady,” Marscher on backing vocals. DAMN
Star Kitchen with Jennifer Hartswick
[SK2: Jan Jan > 2, 3, Will It Go ’Round in Circles, 5 (with Roosevelt), 6 (with Taz), You’ve Got the Love, Rock Steady]
Brownstein, Mayer, Marscher, and Lewis take the act back on the road with four shows in early March (Albany, New York, The Cap, and The Ardmore) and then a Jazz Fest set at The Maison at the end of April. And the band shared this:
If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know that when we take Star Kitchen on the road we bring some great guests along! We’re thrilled to have James Casey & Natalie Cressman join us in NYC. Jennifer Hartswick is set to join us in Ardmore. And we’re very excited to be sharing the stage with Melvin Seals and JGB at The Cap!
STAR KITCHEN
03/01 Pearl Street Pub | Albany NY(post-Joe Russo’s Almost Dead) 03/02Nublu | New York NY 03/08The Ardmore Music Hall | Ardmore PA 03/09The Capitol Theatre | Port Chester NYw/ Melvin Seals & JGB 04/28The Maison | Jazz Fest | New Orleans LA
