The Nth Power
November 7, 2017
Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar
Sony ECM-MS908C stereo mic > Canon XA20 video cam
01. Spirits
02. More & More
03. Only Love
04. What’s The Name Of This Town? [Booty Collins cover] intro > Shining Star [Earth, Wind & Fire cover] > Mighty Mighty [Earth, Wind & Fire cover] > Shining Star reprise
05. Take My Soul
Nick Cassarino – guitar & vocals Nikki Glaspie – drums & vocals Nate Edgar – bass
01. Joe Russo’s Almost Dead – Help On The Way > Slipknot! [Grateful Dead covers]
02. Zach Deputy – Next To You
03. The New Mastersounds – Just Gotta Run (with Charly Lowry)
04. Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe – My Baby (with Nicki Bluhm & Eric McFadden)
05. Robert Walter & Eddie Roberts Jam Room – You Got The Love [Chaka Khan cover] (with Michelle Sarah)
06. Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue – Sunny Side Of The Street (with Fred Wesley & Ivan Neville)
07. Stanton Moore Jazz Trio – Magnolia Triangle [James Black cover] (Stanton Moore, David Torkanowsky & James Singleton with Skerik, Eric Bloom, Will Bernard, Mike Dillon & Weedie Braimah)
08. Jans Ingber, Adam Deitch & Nate Werth – percussion jam on the deck
09. Adam Smirnoff Jam Room (with Jans Ingber, Mike Ballard, Joey Peebles, Congo Sanchez, DJ Williams, Borahm Lee, Justin Stanton, Iaan Neville & Nate Werth)
10. Adam Smirnoff Jam Room – A Message From The Meters [The Meters cover] (with Jesus Coomes, Ryan Zoidis, Alvin Ford Jr, Isaac Teel, Nigel Hall, Eric McFadden & Nate Werth)
11. Adam Smirnoff Jam Room – (with Jesus Coomes, Ryan Zoidis, Alvin Ford Jr, Adam Deitch, Emily Musolino, Corey Henry, Charly Lowry, Mike Olmos, Nate Werth, Oteil Burbridge, Isaac Teel & Nigel Hall)
12. The Infamous Stringdusters – My Destination
13. Stanton Moore Jazz Trio – All These Things [Allen Toussaint cover]
14. Snarky Puppy – Skate U
15. Bernard Purdie Jazz Lounge – Heavy Soul Slinger [with Pete Shand, Eddie Roberts, Todd Stoops, Karl Denson & Mike Olmos]
16. Lettuce – Phyllis
17. Brownout – What You Did
18. Dr. John – Mack The Knife (with Fred Wesley)
19. Marco Benevento Trio – I Just Want To Make Love To You (with Nicole Atkins)
20. Ivan Neville – Wrong Number (I’m Sorry, Goodbye) [Aaron Neville cover]
21. Ivan Neville – Joy Inside My Tears [Stevie Wonder cover] (with Nick Daniels, Nigel Hall, Eric Bloom, Karl Denson, Corey Henry, Trombone Shorty, Stanton Moore & Dan Oestreicher)
22. Soulive – Up Right (with Oteil Burbridge)
23. Roosevelt Collier Super Jam – Getten’ To Know You [Parliament cover] (Roosevelt Collier, Todd Stoops, Will Bernard, Fred Wesley, Ron Holloway, Corey Henry, unknown drummer, unknown bassist)
24. Eric Bloom Jazz Lounge – Mercy Mercy Mercy [Joe Zawinul cover] (Eric Bloom, Johnny Vidacovich, David Torkanowsky, Michael League, Will Bernard & Congo Sanchez)
25. Eric Bloom Jazz Lounge – How Blue Can You Get? (Eric Bloom, Alvin Ford Jr, David Torkanowsky, James Singleton, Eric McFadden & Skerik)
26. Snarky Puppy – Grown Folks (with Stanley Jordan)
27. Worship My Organ – Improv > The National Anthem [Radiohead cover] (Marco Benevento, Robert Walter, Adam Deitch & Skerik)
28. Brown Sabbath – N.I.B. [Black Sabbath cover]
29. The Floozies – Fat Bottomed Girls [Queen cover]
30. Lotus – The Legend of Zelda Theme Song > Improv
31. Dr. Klaw – Cardova [The Meters cover] (with Sugah Davis)
32. Dr. John (solo piano) – Wade In The Water
33. Southern Soul Assembly – ??? (JJ Grey, Luther Dickenson, Marc Broussard & Anders Osborne)
34. Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe – Monk Strap
35. Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe – Do It All Night [Prince cover] (with Ziek McCarter of Con Brio)
36. Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers – I’m Your Woman
37. Mike Dillon Jazz Lounge – ??? (Johnny Vidacovich, David Torkanowsky, James Singleton, & Will Bernard)
38. Mike Dillon Jazz Lounge – Dugout [Garage A Trois cover] (Stanton Moore, Marco Benevento & James Singleton)
39. Dumpstaphunk – Meanwhile (with Roosevelt Collier, Nigel Hall & Trombone Shorty)
40. Anders Osborne – Aim Way High (Carl DuFrene, Brady Blade, Eric McFadden & Ivan Neville)
41. Neville Jacobs – The Stakes (Cris Jacobs, Ivan Neville, Tony Hall & Brady Blade)
42. Joe Russo’s Almost Dead – Viola Lee Blues
43. Lettuce – “Neal Untitled”
44. Free Jazz Workshop – Improv (Skerik, Mike Dillon & Vernon Reid)
45. Nigel Hall – Never Gonna Let You Go (with Eric Benny Bloom & Ryan Zoidis – The Shady Horns)
46. Ivan Neville vs. Robert Walter – Improv (with Stanton Moore)
47. JJ Grey & Mofro – A Night To Remember
48. Soulive – Too Much (with Nigel Hall)
49. Everyone Orchestra – Keep Those Troubles Away (Matt Butler, Isaac Teel, Vernon Reid, Ron Holloway, Reed Matthis, Marco Benevento, Mihali Savoulidi, Scott Pemberton, Pappy Biondo, Paul Hoffman, Anders Beck, Jeff “Congo” Sanchez, Jans Ingber, Amy Helm & Nicki Bluhm)
50. Marco Benevento Trio – If I Get To See You At All
51. Dr. John – Walk On Guilded Splinters (with Leo Nocentelli)
52. Simon Allen Jazz Lounge – ??? (with Robert Walter, Dan Lebowitz, Daniel Carares & Mike Olmos)
53. Dumpstaphunk – Don’t Do It [The Band / Marvin Gaye cover] (with Cris Jacobs & Amy Helm)
54. Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue – Do To You (with Leo Nocentelli)
55. Galactic – Africa / New Orleans [The Meters cover] (with Erica Falls, Ivan Neville, Tony Hall, Skerik, Eric Bloom & Mike Dillon)
Lettuce 1/8/16 Jam Cruise – Part 1 of 2:
“Neal Untitled”, Let Bobby, Ghost of Jupiter, Squadlive > Lettsanity > Body Heat [James Brown cover] (with Nigel Hall) > Lettsanity
I am not sure I have vernacular to adequately describe what went down in that room. Lettuce is already leading the charge toward the new frontier; evolving, growing and exploding into a genre all their own. In the Pantheon Theater, twas a mixture of the hour, the elements, and environs. Riding the high of their film screening, this was a focused band on a mission. The willingness to dive headfirst into pure, free-form Type II jamming, as an eight or nine piece ensemble, was astonishing. That they are delivering these excursions to the netherworlds is enough; yet the physicality of their sound is a historical discovery, a breakthrough on the search for new land. Infinitely more bass gymnastics from the crooked cross became an assiduous assault. This was sonic ammunition for a frenzied dance-rage deep into the ocean waters, never mind thousands of leagues beneath.
From bombastic trap-thunderclaps, with humongous bottom end from the man they call Jesus, the question wasn’t bass, it was how low could they go. The sounds emanating from Neal Evans were grandiose; downright imperial in their psychedelia. The same can be said for the synth-rig Ryan Zoidis pumped through his alto, drenched in the dankest in dub arkology. Furious percussion grooves from Deitch, augmented by Tyler Coomes, created opulent hip-hop temples of boom, This new soundwave enabled their wide-open improvisations to be created with colors native to Tipper, or Thriftworks, yet the textures are in the late 70’s Bootsy Collins zip code, Benny Bloom was the G-code personified, blowing his bitch’s brew atop the wave. There is simply no other music being made like this. Period. On this night, Lettuce would drop no less than THREE of these magnum opuses, snowflake adventures bursting at the themes. The first two were Neal Evans‘ creations; dude is a mad freaking scientist, imagining post-apocalyptic galaxies and manifesting them in song. This was the spirit of ‘Choose Your Own Adventure,’ set to psychedelic crunk. Throw in a Nigel Hall and Shmeeans-led D’angelo tease (“Chicken Grease”) in the middle of “Do It Like You Do” and Lettuce officially shut down Jam Cruise. We have glimpsed the future. Get some shades, yo.
Lettuce 1/8/16 Jam Cruise – Part 2 of 2:
Blast Off > Trillogy > Making My Way Back Home (inc. Bustin Loose [Chuck Brown cover]) (with Nigel Hall) > Do It Like You Do (inc. Chicken Grease [D’Angelo cover]) (with Nigel Hall & ???)
Lettuce question & answer session 1/8/16 Jam Cruise:
Earlier in the afternoon, after they premiered the “Let Us Play” documentary there was a Q&A session with everyone from Lettuce plus Kunj Shah of Live 4 Live Music (producer of the film) and Jay Sansone of Human Being (director of the film)
The night before, Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff held down the Jam Room for no less than 3 hours. It started around 2:30am with Alvin Ford Jr. holding down the main drum chair for approximately 2.5 hours with only a short break for Trombone Shorty’s rhythm section to jump in.
Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff’s Jam Room 1/7/16 Jam Cruise – Part 1 of 4:
A loose Jam with Deitch on the 2nd drum kit and Ivan Neville, Borahm Lee & Nigel Hall flourishing on the keyboards.
Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff’s Jam Room 1/7/16 Jam Cruise – Part 2 of 4:
An hour later I stepped back in to find Trombone Shorty‘s rhythm section (Mike Ballard & Joey Peebles) laying it down and pumping and slinking through several improvisational grooves along with Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe guitarist DJ Williams and Jans Ingber (formerly of the The Motet).
Meanwhile, stuff like this happened:
Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff’s Jam Room 1/7/16 Jam Cruise – Part 3 of 4:
Then Nigel Hall and Jesus Coomes joined Ryan Zoidis, Eric McFadden and a dual drum assault of Isaac Teel from Tauk and Alvin Ford Jr. for a run through Nigel’s own tune “Don’t Change For Me” with a slight bridge to pay tribute to the godfathers The Meters on “A Message From The Meters”. Shit was hot.
Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff’s Jam Room 1/7/16 Jam Cruise – Part 4 of 4:
The jams just continued and continued with Charly Lowry (recent vocalist for The New Mastersounds) and many other players. Jesus gives up the bass to Oteil Burbridge and Deitch tries to battle it out with Alvin Ford Jr., but Ford the cyborg holds it down like a machine and prevails with Deitch throwing in the towel around 5am. Shortly after this video ended, the very talented unknown female guitaristEmily Musolinoseen here took over on bass duties and kept it rocking for 30+ more minutes. Does anyone know who she is?
The concept of the Jam Room is in its essence what makes this boat sail. Lettuce guitarist Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff had hosting duties on night two, and it was a gluttonous, rowdy affair; the funk and grooves were massive, and the sound was gargantuan. Ably assisted by members of Lettuce, Dumpstaphunk, Jans Ingber, Todd Stoops, Eric McFadden, Tyler and Jesus Coomes, Oteil Burbridge, among others, the first two hours of this Jam Room was maybe the best of the week. Alvin Ford Jr, drummer of Dumpstaphunk, showed everybody why he is a fucking cyborg. Word on the street is that Ford was created in a lab, fed only the highest grade supplements, and trained twenty hours a day for twenty years. He is now a veritable Terminator. built to destroy any drum kit or drummer, at any given moment in time. The ‘Boy Wonder’ Adam Deitch, and the new kid on the block Isaac Teel (Tauk) both sat down to double drum with Ford, and for a while they each pushed along and rode the train as best they could. In the end, Ford took them both down, as Deitch playfully gave up and threw his sticks in the air, signifying “defeat”, while Teel took it in stride, as he definitely had the most God-given steez of any player on the Divina. Daps go to Shmeeans for leading this ensemble through some of the heaviest funk on Jam Cruise. Key tunes- an uplifting, bouncing “Don’t Change for Me” (Nigel Hall), a raging “Hang Up Your Hang Ups” (Herbie Hancock), and “Thank You for Lettin Me Be Mice Elf, Again” (Sly Stone).
Eric “Benny” Bloom’s Jazz Lounge 1/7/16 Jam Cruise – Part 1 of 4:
The end of Mercy, Mercy, Mercy [Joe Zawinul cover] with Johnny Vidacovich, David Torkanowsky (both of Astral Project), Michael League (of Snarky Puppy), Will Bernard & Congo Sanchez
Eric “Benny” Bloom’s Jazz Lounge 1/7/16 Jam Cruise – Part 2 of 4:
Night Train [Jimmy Forrest cover] with Stanton Moore swapping out with Johnny Vidacovich and Mike Maher (of Snarky Puppy) joining on trumpet
Eric “Benny” Bloom’s Jazz Lounge 1/7/16 Jam Cruise – Part 3 of 4:
Passion Dance [McCoy Tyner cover] with Stanton Moore, David Torkanowky, James Singleton, Will Bernard, Skerik & Weedie Braimah
Eric “Benny” Bloom’s Jazz Lounge 1/7/16 Jam Cruise – Part 4 of 4:
How Blue Can You Get [Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers cover] with Alvin Ford Jr., David Torkanowsky, James Singleton, Eric McFadden & Skerik
