Saturday Matinee – Altered Five Blues Band, The Gabe Stillman Band (w/ Anson Funderberg), Vulfpeck, and Andrea De Luca

Award winning group from Milwaukee, Altered Five Blues Band features front man Jeff Taylor with Jeff Schroedl / guitar, Mark Solveson / bass, Alan Arber / drums and Steve Huebler / keyboard.

After graduating from Boston’s Berklee College of Music, Gabe Stillman formed his band  in 2015, and was a Blues Music Award nominee in the Best New Emerging Artist Album category in 2022.

Vulfpeck grooves with some speed bass. Formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2011, the group was founded by multi-instrumentalists Jack Stratton, Theo Katzman, Woody Goss, and bassist Joe Dart.

Johnny Winter once told Andrea De Luca, “Hey, you got it, man. Just keep on bluesin’.” Born in Roma, Italy, De Luca has been playing guitar since he was six years old, began touring at 14, and credits Jimi Hendrix for his inspiration.

Porch. Tomorrow. Sooner or later. Your call. See you then.

Saturday Matinee – Vulfpeck, Lettuce Funk & Curtis Mayfield

Vulfpeck has a cool funk/jazz groove, reminds me of Weather Report, except these guys make ridiculous “I’m About To Pop A Nut” faces while they jam.

Lettuce [aka Lettuce Funk] combines retro funk with retro future funk, and it works.

Jump to 5:08 for the Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie / Led Zeppelin funk mashup. (I hear some of Zappa’s “I Am The Slime” in there, too.) Lettuce even had the cojones to cover Curtis Mayfield, and they did him right.

Poor video quality, but the audio is good. Here’s Curtis Mayfield’s original “Move On Up” (with German subtitles).

Have a great weekend, folks, and Move On Up wit yo bad sef. See you back here tomorrow.