VIDEOS: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead on Jam Cruise 2016 + Marco Benevento Trio

Joe Russo's Almost Dead on Jam Cruise - Marco Benevento & Tom Hamilton

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead 1/7/16 Jam Cruise, Pantheon Theater – Part 1 of 2:
Help On The Way > Slipknot! (with Riders On The Storm [The Doors] tease by Marco) > The Wheel (with Everyday People [Sly & The Family Stone] tease by Marco) > Uncle John’s Band > The Wheel (reprise) (with Uncle John’s Band & Jack A Roe teases) > Blues Jam (played over the changes to Since I’ve Been Loving You by Led Zeppelin) > Slipknot! (reprise)

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead 1/7/16 Jam Cruise, Pantheon Theater – Part 2 of 2:
Truckin (with Born Cross Eyed tease at the end), The Lemon Song [Led Zeppelin cover] (with Nicole Atkins), Don’t Do It [The Band] (with Amy Helm)

Joe Russo's Almost Dead on Jam Cruise - Dave Dreiwitz, Amy Helm & Scott Metzger

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead 1/6/16 Jam Cruise, Pool Deck
Encore: Viola Lee Blues > China Cat Sunflower Jam > Viola Lee Blues

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Marco Benevento 1/8/16 Jam Cruise, Black & White Lounge – Part 1 of 3:
If I Get To See You At All

Marco Benevento 1/8/16 Jam Cruise, Black & White Lounge – Part 2 of 3:
The Enabler [Instant Death / Dave Dreiwitz] (with Will Bernard)

Marco Benevento 1/8/16 Jam Cruise, Black & White Lounge – Part 3 of 3:
Why You Gotta Throw It Away? (with Will Bernard & Eric McFadden)

Marco Benevento 1/10/16 Jam Cruise, Brews At Sea Stage – Part 1 of 2:
Witches of Ulster

Marco Benevento 1/10/16 Jam Cruise, Brews At Sea Stage – Part 2 of 2:
Turn On Your Lovelight (with Colonel Bruce Hampton), I Just Want To Make Love To You (with Nicole Atkins)

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

More Late Night at the Maple Leaf – New Orleans Jazz Fest 2011

UPDATE: I just started a facebook page so people can get updates when new blog posts are made, please “like it”: Funk It on Facebook

Second night in New Orleans, back to the Maple Leaf again:
George Porter Jr, Johnny Vidacovich, Marco Benevento & Skerik.

Unfortunately there was no one recording audio this night, so these videos are the only recordings that exist. It was also unfortunate that I didn’t record the sublime gospel piece that Marco & George came up with. After they finished playing it George remarked that he hadn’t brought his recorder so it was all just going “into the air.” George even asked me after the set if I had gotten it, but alas.

Improvisation:

I Don’t Know:

Improvisation?:

Encore: They All Ask’d For You (a classic Meters tune):

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Third night in New Orleans, I couldn’t get into George Porter’s 2am Superjam with Brian Stoltz, Marco Benevento & Adam Deitch at the House of Blues because it sold out, so I ended up, you guessed it, back at the Maple Leaf.

Jacob Fred Fred Jazz Odyssey “Gets Horny” at 3am with Steven Bernstein on slide trumpet, Jeff Coffin on sax, Mark Southerland on all kinds of weird instruments, and Matthew Leland on trombone. It was a near mystical experience, maybe due to the lack of sleep, or maybe it was the haunting sounds coming from the stage, or both.

Excerpt from the Race Riot Suite:

Improvisation No. 1: Tatontious Was Not A Cat

Improvisation No. 2: Kitty Boy Floyd Is A Cat

We left at 5:15 a.m. as JFJO were beginning their second set. I only had three hours of sleep the night before (after being at Tipitina’s till 6 a.m. for Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe’s Cinco De Mayo throwdown) and I had hit the wall. I didn’t feel too bad though, as Steven Bernstein was calling it a night, I mean morning, also…

BTW, what the hell is this instrument Mark Southerland is playing? You should have heard it when he started swinging the tube around in the air. Whoa nellie!