Everybody Loves the Sunshine: PYTHON at Bayboro Brewing 01.11.25

Everybody Loves the Sunshine: PYTHON at Bayboro Brewing 01.11.25

[Infinite thanks to archivist Marc Foster for his incredible archive.org recording

and to Hunter Nicole Bryant for her outstanding photographs!]

January a year ago, Adam Deitch and friends made a three-night stop through Florida, appreciating the sunshine and warmth of its music fans as well as the weather. This January, the quartet chose to thaw out again for a couple days (“It’s 15° in Denver!”), playing at Terra Fermata Tiki Bar in Stuart January 10 and then Bayboro Brewing in St. Petersburg January 11. A few days before the shows, the group even adopted a name: PYTHON.

The St. Petersburg event was special on a number of fronts. First and foremost, we were going to get a second opportunity to see and hear this astonishing ensemble. It also marked the first ticketed show promoted by Mike Bryant and Unusual Noise. Bryant is proprietor of Dunedin Brewery, where he hosts live music for free all year long, from local talent to national A-listers such as Python. 

He assembled this program at Bayboro Brewing, an outstanding venue just getting into the live music game. Zach Stafford is the wizard behind the lasers and the four video screens in the venue, and he outdid himself. Bryant also brought with him Chris Fama, Dunedin Brewery sound engineer extraordinaire, who helped create the masterpiece of sound. Talented DJ RisKay opened the show, and Bryant and the ubiquitous Joe Marcinek recreated their amazing Brain Emoji project with Vinny Svoboda and Yral ‘datdudeondrums’ Morris before Python closed the night. 

[We will post a review of the Brain Emoji set with audio as soon as it is available.]

Did we mention that the show SOLD OUT? Bravo to Unusual Noise and Bryant for their vision. We can expect more events like this in future.

Who ARE Python, exactly? Leader Adam Deitch, drummer for Lettuce and for Break Science, and Lettuce bandmate Eric “Benny” Bloom are the two names best known. Bloom is a superb trumpet player, a good singer, a lounge lizard, a standup comedian, and a country singer when he has time. He directs the madness. Bass player Brad Adam Miller is an incredible talent, playing with a number of different combos, including with Deitch. I’ll mention here and again later that this was the best set I’ve ever heard from him.

And then there is BIGYUKI (Masayuki Hirano). This Japanese keyboard master has been huge on the New York scene. We got a glimpse of what he could do last year. It is impossible to overstate his stunning performance this time around, and those who attended the Stuart show echoed the same sentiments. TITANIC!

The group took the stage shortly before 10 and dug into a Deitch tune titled “Gas Tank” after Bloom introduced the band members. BIGYUKI’s synths surfaced early over Deitch’s opening, followed by electric piano fusion gold and Bloom’s great trumpet. Everybody had an opportunity to strut during the jazzy track as the band and the audience settled in. 

BIGYUKI then played a repetitive piano figure before splashing it with synths. Deitch and Miller worked (all night) in perfect lockstep, and Bloom offered gorgeous trumpet through a great effects pedal. This was “Nunu” from the BIGYUKI recording Reaching for Chiron (2018).

Bloom then asked, “Wanna funk? Let’s take it back old-school funk,” and out poured “Ramblin’” mashed up with “Electric Relaxation.” “Ramblin” is Ornette Coleman’s 1960 classic, interwoven with “Electric Relaxation,” the A Tribe Called Quest’s track itself based on Miles Davis’ “It’s About That Time” (Lettuce recorded this and other Miles gems on Witches Stew in 2017). BIGYUKI’s electric piano was key here in addition to synths. Bloom was on fire, straight up, with effects pedal, and with wah-wah.

Bloom said they just finished a recording session and hoped they would be able to remember this tune. BIGYUKI’s piano introduced “Keep Going On,” with more beautiful trumpet work from Bloom. That eventually yielded to “Theiā,” a song from BIGYUKI’s 2021 album Neon Chapter; this is a beautiful piano-based piece. It fell into a fine Latin groove, synths dancing everywhere as Miller and Deitch kept the groove on track.

“Rock Steady” is the old smash from The Whispers, and this version, with Bloom on vocal, harkened back to the glorious days of soul fusion jazz from the ’70s and ’80s (think Ronnie Laws, Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd, The Crusaders, and many others). BIGYUKI had a superb piano segment before the quartet capped it off.

Next up was a Deitch composition titled “The Swirls,” and it certainly did that. Miller was at his space bass best on this undulating groove, completely swirled in synths. Bloom mentioned that they had just recorded an album, and we got another new one; “We don’t have a name for it!” This one was relentless, all four members attacking it with gusto. And another stunning synths fireworks show.

“Should we do one more or just go home? We’re not going to leave the stage and do the fake encore; we’re just going to do two.” Out poured “Drunk Funk,” the title perfectly descriptive. Early on, Bloom quoted “Flashlight,” ’50s hot jazz style. More space bass, magnificent trumpet, wicked keyboards, and deep funk drums. WOW!

And finally, the theme of Python’s Florida shows: “Everybody Loves the Sunshine”! Bloom introduced the band one more time, including “soon to be famous in the jam scene” BIGYUKI! The song travelled, by turns, from mellow to soulful to funky to CRUSH!

We hope that [1] they return next January (if not before), and that [2] they take this show on the road when they can fit it in. Looking forward to the album they just recorded!

Here is the link to Marc Foster’s superb recording!

https://archive.org/details/AdamDeitch2025-01-11.ck61

[PYTHON 011125: Gas Tank, Nunu, Ramblin’/Electric Relaxation (with It’s About That Time teases), Keep Going On > Theiā, Rock Steady, The Swirls, Drill Step; E: Drunk Funk, Everybody Loves the Sunshine]

SONG ORIGINS

Gas Tank  [Deitch]
Nunu  [BIGYUKI ‘Reaching for Chiron’ 2018]
Ramblin’  [Ornette Coleman ‘Change of the Century’ 1960]
Electric Relaxation  [A Tribe Called Quest ‘Midnight Marauders’ 1993]*
* based on It’s About That Time  [Miles Davis ‘In a Silent Way’ 1968]
Keep Going On  [Bloom]
Theiā  [BIGYUKI ‘Neon Chapter’ 2021]
Rock Steady  [The Whispers ‘Just Gets Better with Time’ 1987]
The Swirls  [Deitch]
Drill Step  [new tune]
Drunk Funk  [Deitch]
Everybody Loves the Sunshine  [Roy Ayers ‘Everybody Loves the Sunshine’ 1976]