The Creator Ensemble: A Celestial Blues Exploration at The Blue Nile – Jazz Fest 2015

Creator Ensemble at Blue Niles

The Creator Ensemble:
Skerik – saxophone, percussion
Cochemea Gastelum – flute, saxophone, percussion
Joe Russo – drums
John Medeski – piano, organ, keys, percussion
Robert Walter – piano, organ, keys
James Singleton – bass
Alecia Chakour – vocals, percussion

“A celestial blues exploration celebrating the music of Sun Ra, Pharaoh Sanders, Nina Simone, Gary Bartz, Yusef Lateef, Archie Shepp, John Coltrane, Jim Pepper and Alica Coltrane”

The Creator Ensemble 4/29/15 New Orleans, LA @ Blue Nile
Part 1 of 3:
Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah-Hum Allah [Pharoah Sanders], Celestial Blues [Andy Bey / Gary Bartz]

The Creator Ensemble 4/29/15 New Orleans, LA @ Blue Nile
Part 2 of 3:
A Love Supreme [John Coltrane], I’ve Known Rivers [Gary Bartz]

The Creator Ensemble 4/29/15 New Orleans, LA @ Blue Nile
Part 3 of 3:
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free [Nina Simone], Newly-Weds Song [Jim Pepper], The Creator Has A Master Plan [Pharoah Sanders]

Creator Ensemble: John Medeski, Skerik, Joe Russo, James Singleton - A Love Supreme

The Creator Ensemble
April 29, 2015
New Orleans, LA @ Blue Nile

AUDIO DOWNLOAD: FLAC TORRENT

01. Colors [Pharoah Sanders]
02. Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah-Hum Allah [Pharoah Sanders]
03. Celestial Blues [Andy Bey / Gary Bartz]
04. Ballad For A Child [Archie Shepp cover]
05. I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free [Nina Simone]
06. A Love Supreme [John Coltrane]
07. I’ve Known Rivers [Gary Bartz]
08. Shiva-Loka [Alice Coltrane]
09. Newly-Weds Song [Jim Pepper]
10. The Creator Has A Master Plan [Pharoah Sanders]

The Creator Ensemble:
Skerik – saxophone, percussion
Cochemea Gastelum – flute, saxophone, percussion
Joe Russo – drums
John Medeski – piano, organ, keys, percussion
Robert Walter – piano, organ, keys
James Singleton – bass
Alecia Chakour – vocals, percussion

The Creator Ensemble at Blue Nile

Skerik’s Bandalabra, The Mike Dillon Band & The Dead Kenny G’s – Live at Cosmic Charlies

Skerik’s Bandalabra
September 18, 2012 Lexington, KY @ Cosmic Charlies

Charlie Don’t Like It, A Love Supreme (John Coltrane cover), ???, Equinox (John Coltrane cover), ?Freeborn?:

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The Dead Kenny G’s
May 27, 2012 Lexington, KY @ Cosmic Charlies

PART 1:
Black Truman (Harry The Hottentot), Birther Blues, ???, ???, Gazzelloni [Eric Dolphy cover]

The Dead Kenny G’s
May 27, 2012 Lexington, KY @ Cosmic Charlies

PART 2:
Punk Rock Girlfriend > Like A Rhinestone Cowboy, Gorelick, Daddy Issues (Skerik on guitar), Beer (Skerik on guitar), Trivial Assault, Kill The Poor [Dead Kennedy‘s cover] > ?Jam? (announced as “I Love Old Man Magoo”)

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Mike Dillon Band
August 11, 2012 Lexington, KY @ Cosmic Charlies

SET ONE:
???, Harris County, DVS, ???, GoGo’s Theme, Leather On, Fat Redneck Gangster > Percussion Outro

Mike Dillon Band
August 11, 2012 Lexington, KY @ Cosmic Charlies

Set TWO:
???, “The Rainbow Is Missing A Stripe”, Saturn Returns, River Is Burning, Bullsnake, Iphone/Android > “The Gangsta’s Can’t Keep Us Down” > Old Rock Star, Your Mother Was My Teacher, Flourescent Sunburn, Out Demons, Surfin With You, Cedar, Yeah It’s Christmas (So You Went and Shot Some Dope)

The Robert Glasper Experiment & Bilal @ Chicago’s Double Door – March 10, 2012

Last weekend I had the pleasure of finally witnessing The Robert Glasper Experiment do their thing. Although drummer Chris “Daddy” Dave wasn’t on this tour, replacement Mark Colenburg more than held his own. (As I knew he would after I saw him play with The Robert Glasper Trio last month in St. Louis. Don’t miss my audio recording of that here.)

On this chilly Chicago night, special guest Bilal joined the Experiment for 3 tunes: the David Bowie cover, Letter To Hermione, the J Dilla produced Reminisce, and his seminal piece, All Matter. On top of that, the Experiment played for well over 2 hours without a break. One of the highlights for me was Glasper repeatedly teasing Radiohead‘s Everything In Its Right Place during this 6 minute piano solo, which led into All Matter. I ended up shooting 48 minutes of footage using my video camera, external microphone and monopod. Check it out below:

The Robert Glasper Experiment
March 10, 2012 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door
Butterfly (Herbie Hancock & The Headhunters cover):

The Robert Glasper Experiment
March 10, 2012 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door
Lift Off (inc. drum solos):

The Robert Glasper Experiment & Bilal
March 10, 2012 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door
Reminisce:

The Robert Glasper Experiment & Bilal
March 10, 2012 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door
Piano solo (inc. Everything In Its Right Place teases) > All Matter:

The Robert Glasper Experiment & Bilal
March 10, 2012 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door
All Matter (continued):

The Robert Glasper Experiment:
Robert Glasper: keys
Casey Benjamin: saxophones, keytar, vocoder, keys
Derrick Hodge: bass
Mark Colenburg: drums
+ special guest Bilal: vocals

Full setlist: A Love Supreme (John Coltrane cover), A Tear To A Smile (Roy Ayers cover), Butterfly (Herbie Hancock & The Headhunters cover), Letter To Hermione (David Bowie cover) (with Bilal), Lift Off (inc. drum solos), Bass solo > Say Yes (Floetry cover), Cherish The Day (Sade cover), Reminisce (with Bilal), Piano solo (w/ Everything In It’s Right Place teases) > All Matter (with Bilal), Ah Yeah > Drum solo > Smells Like Teen Spirit

If you made it this far, then you’re probably interested in the other Robert Glasper recordings I’ve been posting lately:
(1) these 3/20/12 Experiment Chicago videos
(2) 2/27/12 Experiment WNYC radio session audio here
(3) Experiment with Roy Ayers & Pete Rock @ North Sea Jazz Fest last year here
and
(4) there are 2 other goodies, but you’ll have to search my facebook page for it (hint: March 3rd).

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