Eric Krasno & Friends
April 30, 2019
New Orleans, LA @ Central City BBQ – NOLA Crawfish Festival
Eric Krasno – guitar, vocals George Porter Jr. – bass, vocals Ivan Neville – keyboards, vocals Terence Higgins – drums
Eric Krasno & Friends
April 30, 2019 – New Orleans, LA @ NOLA Crawfish Festival @ Central City BBQ Part 1 of 3: Boogie On Reggae Woman [Stevie Wonder]
Eric Krasno & Friends
April 30, 2019 – New Orleans, LA @ NOLA Crawfish Festival @ Central City BBQ Part 2 of 3: Get Back [The Beatles], That’s What Love Will Make You Do [Little Walter], How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You) [Marvin Gaye], These Arms Of Mine [Otis Redding], Curse Lifter (with Danny Mayer), Jezebel (with Danny Mayer)
Eric Krasno & Friends
April 30, 2019 – New Orleans, LA @ NOLA Crawfish Festival @ Central City BBQ Part 3 of 3: Sweet Little Angel (with Marcus King), Sugaree [The Grateful Dead] (with Marcus King), Unconditional Love (with Marcus King & Danny Mayer)
Johnny Vidacovich, George Porter Jr. & Eric Krasno
April 25, 2019 – New Orleans, LA @ Maple Leaf Set 1: Watch The Mountains Grow (Johnny & Eric) > Improv > Improv, Improv, Whole Lotta Fun > I Don’t Know > Funkify Your Life [The Meters] > Third Stone From The Sun [Jimmy Hendrix] > Them Changes [Buddy Miles] > Stoop Down Baby [Chick Willis], Careful Who You Idolize
Johnny Vidacovich, George Porter Jr. & Eric Krasno
April 25, 2019 – New Orleans, LA @ Maple Leaf Set 2: Improv, I’ll Take You There [Al Bell / The Staples Singers] (with Donnie Sundal), If You Want Me To Stay [Sly & The Family Stone] (with Donnie Sundal & Tony Hall), Aint’ No Use (To Cut You Loose) [The Meters] > Come Together [The Beatles] > Sugaree [The Grateful Dead]
The New Orleans Jazz Festival is a 10 day marathon that fills the city with amazing musicians and music for 2 full weekends (and the daze between). I’ve found that there is a much more palpable energy on the first weekend, when you can feel the city coming alive and people aren’t yet worn down, hitting the wall, or already crashed and burned. Maybe you can’t separate the pros from the amateurs yet, but everyone is ready for magic to happen.
This year’s pleasure was hearing Johnny Vidacovich & John Medeski team up for 3 shows, on First Friday and then on Monday and Tuesday. Vidacovich’s playing on all 3 was fresh and invigorated, which you’re not guaranteed to get from him on second weekend gigs, whether he has his pre-show espresso or not.
These are once in a lifetime performances by musicians that are absolute masters of jazz, groove and intention in their playing. Much of it is improvisational, but at peak execution. It is extremely gratifying to capture these musical moments for posterity and help spread them far and wide, hopefully bringing attention and wider appreciation to this alluring city and it’s spectacular musical gumbo.
Medeski, Vidacovich & Wood with Skerik
Friday, April 27th, 2018
New Orleans, LA @ Maple Leaf
SET ONE: Hip Chops [Rahsaan Roland Kirk], Sham Time [Eddie Harris], Coffee [Vidacovich] > Improv > Improv > Improv (inc. Third Stone From The Sun [Jimi Hendrix] & A Love Supreme [John Coltrane]), Blues Improv Outro
Medeski, Vidacovich & Wood with Skerik
April 27th, 2018
New Orleans, LA @ Maple Leaf
SET TWO: Buster Rides Again [Bud Powell] (inc. Caravan [Duke Ellington]) > Wiggly’s Way [Medeski] > Improv > Improv
Medeski, Vidacovich & Wood
Monday, April 30th, 2018
New Orleans, LA @ d.b.a.
Set TWO: Chinoiserie [Duke Ellington], Bemsha Swing / Lively Up Yourself [Thelonious Monk / Bob Marley], Tootie Ma (Is A Big Fine Thing) [Danny Barker], You Haven’t Don’t Nothin’ [Stevie Wonder], Nostalgia In Times Square / Angel Race (I’ll Wait For You) [Charles Mingus / Sun Ra]
Unfortunately I didn’t arrive in time to capture video of the first set, as it was just too crowded. I did get in to see most of it though, and Picklemic has audio of both sets right here:
John Vidacovich, John Medeski & Will Bernard
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
New Orleans, LA @ Cafe Istanbul
Beatrice [Sam Rivers] > Y Todavia La Quiero [Joe Henderson], Mojet [Medeski], Improv > ?Improv? > Improv > Tubby [James Booker], Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise [Sigmund Romberg], Is It Nature’s Rock N’ Roll? [Vidacovich] > Coffee [Vidacovich] (coda)
Another phenomenal side project for the Lettuce krewe is bassist Jesus Coomes’ annual Big Lil Baby Jesus Peasant Party, an event that took this writer’s honors for finest late-night excursion in 2017. This year, the festivities were moved to the Howlin’ Wolf, which had both positive and negative consequences. The Peasant Party was the final installment to the annual Megalomaniacs Ball, traditionally held at the Wolf on the Wednesday of the daze between.
The band’s lineup once again consisted of the de facto bandleader Jesus on bass, his older brother Tycoon on drums; Ryan Zoidis on sax and synths; Khris Royal on keys, sax, synths, bass guitar; and Borahm Lee on keys and synths. The band of brothers and badasses was blessed with contributions from Adam Deitch, longtime ally and Berkelee-bruiser Amy Bellamy, and upcoming NOLA drummer AJ Hall.
Unfortunately, the Howlin’ Wolf wasn’t the ideal room for the vibe that this sort of improvised session requires; it was too big and hollow, and the situation suffered for it. Luckily, the music did not suffer even a little bit, and the highest highs of 2018’s Peasant Party were as good, if not better, than the mystical Maple Leaf show last year.
For the last forty-five minutes, the band and its small but engrossed audience turned the proverbial corner to take another mind-bending expedition into the annals of J Dilla, Flying Lotus, golden-era hip-hop, progressive psychedelia, and beyond. Tycoon delivered a choice assortment of classic breaks and wonky, filtered beats underneath baby bro’s adventurous boom-bap basslines, while Zoid and Khris Royal traded soaring leads and luminescent licks all night. Borahm Lee was the glue that held it all together, as he and Royal offered layers on layers on layers of sound design from a variety of keyboards, organs, and synths.
Jesus’ Peasant Party – May 2, 2018 – New Orleans, LA @ Howlin’ Wolf
Part 2 of 2:
Jesus’ Peasant Party
May 2, 2018
New Orleans, LA @ Howlin’ Wolf – late night (actually morning of May 3rd)
AUDIO: Sony EMC-MS908C stereo mic > Canon XA20 video camera
VIDEO 1: Canon XA-20 (tripod)
VIDEO 2: Yi 4K Action Cam (on-stage)
Recorded & Edited by Funk It Blog
01. Improv 1
02. Improv 2
03. Improv 3
04. Improv 4
05. Improv 5 (with Adam Deitch, AJ Hall, Nigel Hall & Amy Bellamy) >
06. Everybody Wants To Rule The World (Butcher Brown flip) (with Adam Deitch, Nigel Hall & Amy Bellamy) > Improv 6 (with DeShawn “D’Vibes” Alexander)
Jesus Coomes – bass Tyler Coomes – drums & drum machine Ryan Zoidis – saxophone & Korg X-911 synth rig Borahm Lee – keyboards Khris Royal – organ, clavinet & saxophone
Guests: Adam Deitch – drums & drum machine AJ Hall – drums & drum machine Nigel Hall – keyboards & vocals Amy Bellamy – keyboards DeShawn “D’Vibes” Alexander – organ & clavinet
And here are Bee Getz’ words on the 2017 Maple Leaf performance:
It’s hard to put into English what transpired from 4 to 7 a.m. uptown at the Maple Leaf Bar on Friday into the subterranean night, this one will go down in the annals of Jazz Fest lore. An unholy army of cosmonauts converged to turn loose what might be the defining performance of this writer’s fifteenth Jazz Fest—the Big Lil Baby Jesus Peasant Party was fantastic voyage from a band beyond description. Lettuce bassist/vibe-guru Jesus Coomes enlisted his older brother Tycoon Beats on the drum kit, and Break Science/Pretty Lights keyboardist/producer Borahm Lee to confound the masses ’til well beyond sunrise. The entirety of both sets were improvised, and this battalion dove twenty-thousand leagues into the virtual viscera. Joining this trio was The Shady Horns’ Bloom and Zoidis, as well as NOLA’s omnipresent Khris Royal who played both B3 and saxophone, and longtime Bloom buddy Mike Tucker on tenor sax. The first set was spiritualized electro-bass music, psychedelic yet controlled, mystical in it’s mayhem. Lee and Tycoon were crucial co-pilots, as each lent their fearless virtuoso to the cornucopia.
For the second set, the squad went subaqueous, then drilled even further on down the golden road. The Peasant Party was joined by The Nth Power’s Nikki Glaspie and Nicky Cake Cassarino, and this infantry began to probe the galaxies unknown. The group harnessed the lionhearted focus of Sun Ra, organically blending in the wonky and whacked-out beat-science of J Dilla, Flying Lotus and more while still maintaining their unique sound for the entire gig. The extra-terrestrials traversed the abyss, and conjured emotions recondite; the pulsing, filtered low-end from the Big Lil Wizard of Danger steered the spaceship skyward. The militant boom-bap and heavy metal head-nod of Tycoon’s demonstrative drumming and the kaleidoscopic color-ways emanating from Zoidis’ alto horn shall forever be burned into the recesses of my mind. The Peasant Party penetrated a sorcerous portal, taking us on a wonder-fueled bicycle ride up Oak Street and an excursion into the ethereal.
