I went to see Gilles Peterson at the Hiro Ballroom last week with Michael, Gina and Michele. Stef was suffering from a rather serious bout of man flu, so he had to miss it. And oh, what a night he missed. We saw Tita Lima whose album I thought was not bad, but on stage seemed like some NYU student that got lost on the way from Washington Square Park. You barely noticed her and she had no stage presence.
The Soil & Pimp Sessions however blew our minds. None of us has ever seen anything like them. As Gilles so eloquently put it, they're a bunch of mentalists (see here for "mentalist" reference). They're a jazz band, but they play with such fervor, such unbelievable energy, it's like a Japanese punk rock band picked up some brass instruments and a keyboard by accident. My favorite part was "the agitator" which means a guy that stands on stage and gets the crowd involved and into it. And sometimes he uses a megaphone. I think it is described better in the video that Michele took (she's still getting used to it, so a lot of it is filmed on its side. But you'll get the idea).
Also playing was Taylor McFerrin with whom Gina was particularly enamored. We're going to see him next week at the Canal Room which is owned by our neighbor, Marc.
And speaking of live music, my friend Terje put me on to this itunes plugin which is going to change my life, and probably yours too. It searches through your music library and then tells you which of the artists in your library are playing in your home city in the next few months. So expect reports back from Mr Scruff, Taylor McFerrin, Datarock and RJD2. But not from Pat Benatar, I'll just save that for karaoke. 