The Jerry Outlaw Group: A Great History Lesson
Professor Jerry Outlaw held his Music Appreciation class February 9 at Cage Brewing in St. Petersburg. The evening’s lesson was focused on the decade from 1967-1976, with several earlier originals and two late outliers during the lesson. Guitarist extraordinaire Outlaw was ably accompanied by David Pate (tenor, soprano & baritone saxophones, flute, keyboards), Pat Buffo (lead vocals, keyboards), Leo Binetti (bass guitar), and John Spinelli, (drums).
The evening’s two sets of music ran the breadth and depth of that decade, with all sorts of gems popping out. They kicked it off with the Deep Purple radio hit “Hush,” and it was on! Buffo handled most of the vocals and sat at the keyboard, which could mimic piano, electric piano, and organ. Pate was on tenor, but he switched to bari for the Santana instrumental “Batuka,” with Buffo on congas and Outlaw ripping the first of many solos.
There is no need to get caught up in absolutes; those who have hear Outlaw play — in any context — acknowledge there is no better string-bender in the area… however you define it; extraordinaire is appropriate. The same goes for Pate on whatever he’s playing (especially soprano!).
“Batuka” slammed into “Who Do You Love,” although it actually seemed like a medley of some of Bo Diddley’s hits (yes, they are remarkably similar!), with Outlaw joining Buffo on vocals. And that barreled into “Not Fade Away.” All of that in the first 13 minutes of the show! “Deep Ellum Blues,” a traditional piece that goes back at least a century, got the Dead blues treatment. Buffo on congas helped to launch the Billy Cobham classic “Stratus,” and Outlaw and Pate (tenor) smoked this one.
Outlaw identified the next tune as one you might have skipped school to stay home to listen to: Frampton’s most identifiable “Do You Feel Like We Do.” Rather than use a talk box for the feature part, Outlaw recreated it with just the guitar and his skills. Pate then took over the keyboard, with Buffo on congas for a fun spin on “Sympathy for the Devil.” Pate then grabbed soprano as Buffo sang “Lido Shuffle.” Buffo’s amazing chameleon voice allowed him to do justice to virtually everything they played. Pate had a wizardly fine soprano solo here.
Next, the quintet sandwiched popular cover tune “Turn On Your Love Light” (Bobby “Blue” Bland debuted it in 1961) between two of The Band’s biggest hits: a bouncy “Turn On Your Love Light” with Binetti on backing vocals and the equally bouncy “Ophelia,” Pate again on soprano. Then it was Pate feature time with Grover Washington Jr.’s feature tune “Mr. Magic,” as he wailed on tenor and Outlaw honored Eric Gale on guitar.
The professor surprised us next with a step way outside the box, as he plugged in his 12-string acoustic for “Ahead by a Century,” a 1996 recording by Canadian band The Tragically Hip. He switched back to electric guitar and crushed those ever-identifiable open chords to “Voodoo Child (Slight Return),” and then Pate again played keyboards for “Badge.”
Spinelli was rock solid throughout the entire set, and Binetti was a beast. The rhythm section propelled the band throughout the evening.
The second set was a bit shorter, and in fact nine of the songs on the setlist were excised for time. The seven that remained, though!!!!
Pate had another great feature with “Europa,” the Santana tune that Gato Barbieri made a radio smash. They took that tune straight up, but the next one was a great variation on “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” with Outlaw and Pate again turning in excellent solos. The songs were stretching out this set, and it continued with “Third Stone from the Sun,” the Hendrix classic: more jamming, more great solos.
The unmistakeable opening piano chords from Buffo acknowledge that the Traffic fixture “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys” was about to explode all over Cage Brewing. Pate chose soprano, and his two dynamic turns bookended a guitar feature. Outlaw, he the leader of the world-renowned Zappa tribute band Bogus Pomp, introduced “Black Napkins.” Pate and Buffo are regular members of Bogus Pomp. This was a moving, tender version of the Zappa ballad.
Time was running out. What next? One more way outside the line, this time the Jeff Beck killer “Big Block,” so expertly rendered, and then, with Buffo on congas and Pate back at organ, they tore up a terse, intense version of “Soul Sacrifice” to close the evening’s lesson, with Spinelli crushing the drum solo, all of it powered by Binetti’s relentless bass lines.
Everybody took copious mental notes, Professor!
[ONE: Hush (Deep Purple ’68), Batuka (Santana ’71), Who Do You Love (Bo Diddley ’58, Quicksilver Messenger Service ’69), Not Fade Away (Buddy Holly & the Crickets ’58, Grateful Dead), Deep Ellum Blues (traditional, Grateful Dead), Stratus (Billy Cobham ’73), Do You Feel Like We Do (Peter Frampton ’76), Sympathy for the Devil (The Rolling Stones ’68), Lido Shuffle (Box Scaggs ’76), Up On Cripple Creek (The Band ’69), Turn On Your Love Light (Bobby Blue Bland ’61), Ophelia (The Band ’75), Mr. Magic (Grover Washington Jr. ’74), Ahead by a Century (The Tragically Hip ’96), Voodoo Child (Slight Return) (Jimi Hendrix ’68), Badge (Cream ’68); TWO: Europa (Gato Barbieri ’76, Santana ’76), Papa Was a Rolling Stone (The Temptations ’72), Third Stone from the Sun (Jimi Hendrix ’67), The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (Traffic ’71), Black Napkins (Frank Zappa ’76), Big Block (Jeff Beck ’89), Soul Sacrifice (Santana ’69)]