Come on in, the jazz
is fine. I’ve been dipping my big toe into uncharted waters more and more
lately and brrrr, it’s cool. I can probably thank or
blame Monk for all of this.
Brooklyn experimental guitarist Adam
Caine (who incidentally claims to have become a
jazz musician at age 16, the night he first heard Monk’s Mysterioso) took us all for a
ride last Tuesday night in the Bop Shop Atrium. Caine’s
new album, Pipe,is concise and minimal, however his live
take on things was manic and multi-textural. Caine
was able.
The music had the
complexity of fine static, but each fuzzy bit had its own tone that wrestled,
bristled, whistled, and threatened to blow the lid off the joint. I went
upstairs to the balcony to where the notes’ steam
hammered about and got the echo’s perspective of the music and a view of Caine from above. Caine, bassist
Ken Filiano, and drummer Phil Haynes rode the chaos
like caballeros.
The scene: Main Street, Fairport, Saturday, 12:30 a.m. The Landing offers bad-ass blues for the most part but
opted for some slick rockabilly with Albany’s fresh outta the womb outfit Ian and the Aztecs. The quartet has
been assembled: there are parts of Rocky Velvet; bassist Todd Wulfmeyer (ex-Marti Brom, 8 1/2
Souvenirs); and The Hi-Risers/Los Straitjackets rhythm sensation Jay Smay. The group hugged the rails tight with a set of mostly
covers (I’ll forgive them this time, they’re new) and one fairly obscene tune
about a monkey.
Back downtown to the
Bug Jar to step into the carnage that The
NY Vaults (stay tuned for a new killer disc) had left for Bee Eater. The place was drunk and hot
and looked like a crime scene. Bee Eater sounded ragged and tight. The band
closed its set with a breakneck version of The White Cotton Panties classic,
“Things I Feel When I See You.”
This article appears in Mar 22-28, 2006.
