|
When I heard that Topaz would be making his first true trip to the Front Range, there was no way I could turn this down. His band is one of the best kept secrets on the East coast. They mix a beautiful fusion sound of jazz, funk, and straight up dance music that should keep everyone in the crowd going. The drive to Boulder was a joke, being in a car with a broken CD player. The radio played as if we were in hell blasting off such classics as “Carry on my Wayward Son” and “Radar Love.” But with the hope of another great Topaz show, it was funny to sing along with the bad classic rock. Their sound combines a beautiful mix of great rhythm and a brass section that can hold its own with any band across the country.
The Trilogy is one of the more interesting venues I have been in since I moved past the Mississippi. When you first walk in, the room seems to be some type of elegant dining hall. Then you slowly move through a small hallway that connects with the back room where the stage is. It looks a lot like Mississippi Nights in St. Louis or the Elbo Room in Chicago; a very small stage where you could easily touch any and all of the band members. I was hoping that Topaz would don his famous cowboy hat in the land of the open range. He did wear it, and the rest of his band looked like no one else in Boulder with their blend of East coast style. This septet consists of Topaz on tenor saxophone, Squantch on trombone and didgeridoo, Tewar on guitar, Ethan White on Wurlitzer, Jason Kriveloff on bass, and Christian Ulrich on drums. These six men produce music that puts together the sounds of Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock with some of the most improvisational music I have seen in a long time. As the men got on stage we knew we were in for a huge show and more important, one of the true new faces in jazz and jam music.
After a couple of drinks and finding a first row position, (that would be if we were in a venue with rows), we were set to surround ourselves with some of the best music on the scene today. We did miss the first song, being in Boulder and not being able to smoke in the venue. My first song of the night was probably my favorite studio Topaz song that includes all of the basics of great funk and vocals. “Let Go,” from his second album Listen, was a perfect second song with its melodic vocals. The horns on this song are melodic and flow well instead of going off on their own. The next song, “Son of Age,” was the first real jam including all the musicians. Squantch switched over to the didgeridoo, and produced a beat that the rest of the band followed very smoothly. The band as a whole performed this song perfectly and the sound of Topaz and Squantch put it together for everyone in the room with great rhythm. The next two songs fit very well together. Both were from their new album The Zone, these songs introduced us all to the new, more melodic sound of the band. “Naked>Zone” was a beautiful tribute to one of my favorite albums of the year. The whole band seemed to flow off each other, which can be rare in the turbulent world of solos. They did each have individual moments in the show that took me into another dimension, but as a true force the whole band was just about perfect. The closer was one of the top jams of the night. “Shrine” was a tribute to any band with a brass section supported by a strong rhythm section. Topaz and Squantch were in a tight groove together as the rest of the band followed their solos with beautiful improvisation that capped off a really damn good set. With this in mind, the band took a small break where we were very lucky to meet them.
Before the second set started, Squantch had approached my girlfriend and I and started a long conversation that wouldn’t quit until the show was over. He and Topaz have to be two of the nicest people on the scene today and I am proud to say that I got to meet two of my musical heroes in the midst of what they do best. This whole band is a great group of guys that promote the scene with kind attitudes. I really wish more bands would open up to the general public as these fine men did milling around in the crowd and getting a ton of feedback on the great show they were putting on.
After a couple of smokes and another Jack and coke, I was ready for the second set. It started out with the same intensity that the first ended with. The first tune of the set was one of my favorites of the year and was very much appreciated by all in the crowd. “Minha Mente,” another song from the new album, is my favorite jam that this band has in their repertoire. This song has all the right blends of funk with the horn section, and a great vocal improvisation that got everyone dancing and singing along, or trying too. The most impressive part of this song was the way that Squantch and Christian flowed together providing the sound behind the tenor power of Topaz. His trombonist is also a master who holds his own in each solo, and he had so many this show that he reminded me a lot of a young Fred Wesley with his crazy stage antics and beautiful brass work. The next three songs of the set were some of the best improv I had seen in the last year. “I Can See It>Ruta Maya” reminded me of when I first saw this band a couple of years ago. This was a pure funk/fusion delight with enough musical beauty to make anyone want to dance. The brass section was hot all night but thrived in the middle of the second set as did Tewar, who was kind of quiet all night in such a small venue. The brass and keys kind of drowned out the rest of the band but we got to hear plenty of their great vibes as well. Tewar let loose his afro in the second set and also seemed to shine a lot more on rhythm than he had during the first set. He played an almost perfect set that got everyone in the mood to play with the same style and beauty. “Tress” was a nice touch that I thought may close the second set, but we were treated with one more, “Fat City,” also off the new album. This was the perfect song to close the set. Each musician performed a beautiful solo capped off with a fiery jam that got everyone in the crowd wishing for a third set. Boulder has a curfew, which caused the band to do only one encore. “The World” was a beautiful tribute to where we live and gave props to 9-11 and increased my respect for the band. The message in this great instrumental is to embrace the world as if it was your last day on earth. The show was a beautiful solo effort for this band in one of their first shows in Colorado, and they performed expertly giving all 50 of us a treat we won’t forget for a long time.
This was my best show of the year so far. It had been almost a year and a half since I had seen this band in Chicago and I was hurting to see them again. Topaz has been a favorite of mine for a long time and I hope more and more people realize the true beauty that this band throws down, off and on the stage. These guys are some of the best musicians playing today, and I wish that they would tour past the Mississippi a couple of times a year. But I do believe they are getting there and with all of our support they can become a national act.
Dallas Kuykendall
JamBase | Colorado
Go See Live Music!
|
