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Words by: Dennis Cook | Images by: Susan J Weiand
New Monsoon/Izabella :: 02.06.10 :: Great American Music Hall :: San Francisco, CA
Talent will out.
It's an expression I adore because it basically says that one's gifts will shine through regardless of the hardships, disregard and other flotsam hurled at anyone brave enough to put their passion and art in the public eye. Frequently, riches, as defined by the culture at large, will elude even the most talented folks. It's just one of the cruel facts of life, where less-than-half-talents tapped by the corporate machine thrive and real artists chip away in their rag-and-bone way. However, there are rewards in this life far greater than a sack of silver, and following one's vision and fully exploring one's craft offer some pretty sweet satisfaction.
Such were my thoughts during this wholly enjoyable, musically dense evening inside one of San Francisco's most storied venues as two of the most consistently satisfying, sonically lush bands in Northern California plied their trade. I've known most of the members of New Monsoon for close to a decade, and the rhythm section of Izabella for close to the same, and yet each time I see both acts play they're all just a bit better – generally sharper, moving with greater group fluidity, full of a seemingly endless supply of solos that remind one why such spotlights flip our switch so thoroughly. And this long, happy night at the Great American Music Hall had an even more pronounced sense that every dude onstage was exactly where the universe meant them to be. An ebullient positivity permeated the room. I almost want to kick my own ass writing something so saccharine but there was no denying that being in this space, awash in this music, one felt slightly scrubbed and returned to the outside world a touch better. What drains the sap from the positive edge both bands possess is an insistence that reality be acknowledged and massaged into their compositions. Thus, one finds sounds that give them wings but have a very human weight, which may make it harder to achieve liftoff but make it all the more rewarding when one hits open air.
 Mark Karan & Jeff Miller :: 02.06 :: San Francisco |
In a nutshell, Izabella and New Monsoon are rock bands in the mold of the 60s/70s greats, where the basic character is rock but they're unafraid to incorporate numerous other elements. So one picks up on the jazz sweep of Chicago and the Allmans, the Latin bent of Traffic and War, the street soul of the Doobie Brothers and the folk leanings of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Poco, but only in the vaguest ways – like their forebears, they are doing their own thing. What amazes me, even after all these years, is how wonderfully accessible both groups are; not just approachable but active in their reaching out. They pull us from our spot on the bench and get us into the game. Even arriving to their show wicked tired or emotionally off-kilter, one soon finds themselves letting their resistance and hardness drop. I've experienced it countless times with their music, especially live, and dragging in after a particularly challenging working week this Saturday it happened again. From Izabella's opening notes – a warming breeze out of a rainy day - through two magnificent sets by New Monsoon – embiggened further by periodic guest spots from RatDog's guitar gaucho Mark Karan and former Monsooner and tabla stud Rajiv Parikh - one felt a connective charge surge between the large crowd and the musicians. Some trips we take together, whether we realize it consciously or not, and this was one of them. Such was the enfolding nature of both band's music, which sort of demanded smiles and cheers with its fundamental exuberance and joie de vivre.
This "review" may seem all broad strokes but neither New Monsoon nor Izabella can be easily summed up in a few words. Almost ten years on I'm still curious where they're gonna take me and the rest of an audience. I'm still intrigued with their highly individual senses of what constitutes "rock," and I'm continually impressed at their warmheartedness and ability to express it through song. I could wax poetic about the borderless interplay of NM's Bo Carper's glassy banjo and Parikh's heartbeat percussion, or the cool dovetailing of guitar styles with Karan and NM's Jeff Miller - two of my all-time favorite six-stringers full of classic rock feel and jazzbo chops. I might crow to you about the bang-up new Chuck Berry style rave-up written and sung by Izabella keyboardist Sam Phelps, or perhaps the delightful shiver the Garcia covers by both bands sent through the crowd - Izabella's "West L.A. Fadeaway" was sexy great and NM's tackling of "Mission In The Rain" was stunning and a bittersweet reminder of the incredible gigs they did at the much missed 12 Galaxies. But this night was too sweet, too dear to be picked apart and dissected for its constituent parts. Talent will out, or at least it surely did this evening in San Francisco.
New Monsoon tour dates available here.
Continue reading for more pics of Izabella and New Monsoon in San Francisco...
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