Monday, May 23, 2011

Lettuce / Soulive Review - Jambase.com

Need some greasy funk in your life? Look no further than Lettuce, the supergroup of all-star virtuosos which is guaranteed to slap you upside yo' head with a heavy dose of syncopated party groove. Lettuce recently headlined the Fillmore, sharing a triple-bill of epic proportions with Jazz-Funk trio Soulive and drummer extraordinaire Adam Deitch's Break Science. The coverage of this extravaganza is over at Jambase:

Here's a great clip of Soulive rockin' their Beatles medley. "She's So Heavy" is mutha-pluckin' heavy indeed:


There are a million clips of Lettuce getting dirty in your face, but this one from JazzFest 2010 gives a fine sense of the infectiousness of their grooves:

Monday, May 16, 2011

The Devil Makes Three Review - Jambase.com

One of the finest acoustic/Americana acts in the biz today, The Devil Makes Three possess a show-stopping catalog of near-classic anthems of and for the working man. Hailing out of Santa Cruz, this trio has got songwriting skills and three-part harmonies that slay, and when given a chance, are very likely to work their way into your "new favorite band" category very quickly.

I caught one of their two sold-out shows up north in the great little town of Petaluma, which they were using to record their new live album. Naturally, the crowd buzz was off-the-walls as a result. Here's my report back on the festivities, over at Jambase:

The Devil Makes Three:: 05.07.11 :: McNear's Mystic Theatre :: Petaluma, CA

To give a sense of the rowdy that permeated the evening, here's footage of one of their many numbers about drinking, "Beneath the Piano." The camera starts off shaky because of the moshpit that ensues, but it steadies out nicely:



But one of the band's most memorable, sing-along-worthy anthems is "All Hail," which contains a killer chorus that is guaranteed to have you unapologetically singing along by the second go-around. These guys are truly the real deal: