Tag: jazz-fusion

Saturday Matinee – Indiara Sfair, Nick Waterhouse & the Carl Verheyen Band

Brazil native and harp virtuoso Indiara Sfair has a tutorial for harmonica beatboxing here.

Nick Waterhouse has an eclectic mix of styles: rockabilly, R&B, jazz and soul, with traces of both old Americana and modern indie rock. He likes vinyl records too.

Besides being guitarist for Supertramp, Carl Verheyen is “one of LA’s elite ‘first call’ session players for the past 40 years, playing on hundreds of records, movie soundtracks and television shows.” Unfortunately Verheyen’s videos don’t credit the band, but that’s Dave Marotta on bass, John Mader / drums, Troy Dexter / keyboards and Hollye Dexter / vocals.

Message to 2025: Please STFD and STFU. We’ve had just about enough of your shit. Take a breather. Message to everyone else: Porch time commences at the crack of noon. See you there.

Saturday Matinee – Béla Fleck & the Flecktones, BIG DEZ, Joe Louis Walker, and Jackie Venson

Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, featuring Victor Wooten on fretless bass, his brother Roy “Futureman” Wooten on Drumitar. Alto saxman  Jeff Coffin joined the trio in 1996.

Nice laid back groove. BIG DEZ was formed in 1996 by Phil “Big Dez” Fernandez (guitar) and Bala Pradal (keyboards). They spent most of their time rehearsing in a cabin in the suburbs of Paris, and after adding Lamine Guerfi (bass) Archibald Ligonnière (drums), graduated to the bar scene, then moved on to the big time. [More here.]

Joe Louis Walker, a Blues Hall of Fame inductee and six-time Blues Music Award winner, NPR described him as “a legendary boundary-pushing icon of modern blues.”

Jackie Venson: “Singer-songwriter Jackie Venson’s version of the blues – with its R&B, psychedelic rock – has invigorated Austin’s music scene with its refreshingly electric sound.” — Rolling Stone

Dang. It’s almost December already. Porch time has been scheduled for whenenever you get here. See you tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Oz Noy (w/ Amitai Pariente), Ghalia Volt & Joanne Shaw Taylor

Oz Noy / guitar, Amitai Pariente / bass and (?)/ drums, with their version of Pee Wee Ellis’ The Chicken. The Utoobage lists the drummer as “Omer Punk” but that appears to be an alias.

Belgian guitarist (and occasional one-woman band) Ghalia Volt scored the number three slot on the Billboard Top Blues Albums Chart in 2019.

Joanne Shaw Taylor kicks the hoodoo loose all the way from the UK.

Batteries have been running low for the past few days, but I’ll be up at the crack of noon tomorrow. See you then.

The Saturday Matinee – Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express, Link Wray w/ Robert Gordon & Santana

Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express live at Winterland 29 November 1975, San Francisco, CA. Early jazz fusion at its best. Lineup:

Brian Auger – organ, vocals;
Jack Mills – lead guitar;
Alex Ligertwood – vocals, guitar, percussion;
Clive Chaman – bass;
Lennox Langton – congas;
Dave Dowle – drums.

Robert Gordon‘s 1977 cover of Billy Lee Riley‘s 1957 cover of Billy ‘The Kid’ Emerson‘s 1955 recording of Red Hot got a lot of radio play. Now about that legendary guitar ripper…

Link Wray‘s recording career spanned decades, 1958 to 2000, and it’s hard to pinpoint when he was really at his prime. Wray was ranked No. 45 of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time bu Rolling Stone, and is considered the “Father of the Power Chord.” Other fun facts: his parents were Shawnee and Cherokee; he was a Korean War veteran; he lost a lung due to tuberculosis in 1956.

Carlos Santana‘s 1999 album Supernatural is one of my favorites. Can’t believe it came out over two decades ago.

That kinda wraps things up until tomorrow. See you then.

Saturday Matinee – Ramsey Lewis Trio, Weather Report, Rickie Lee Jones, Southside Johnny, Procol Harem

Ramsey Lewis [h/t Coldwarrior].

Weather Report was THE jazz-fusion band of the 1970s, and the late Jaco Pastorius was one of the greatest fretless bassmen, with all his awesome burping, farting and growling.

About the same time, I was in love with Rickie Lee Jones. She always reminded me of Diane W., but don’t tell the missus that.

Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes was another favorite of mine back then.

The unwritten rule for posting videos is that one must post one, three or five for the karma to balance. So in order to keep things hunky and dory, here’s the fifth:

That’s Procol Harem from 1967, featuring the legendary Hammond B3 Organism.

Have a great weekend folks, and be back here tomorrow for more fun and games.