GARAJ MAHAL | 03.14 | BOULDER

With fond memories of the Fareed Haque Group’s uplifting session weeks ago at Quixote's True Blue in Denver, I could hardly wait to catch Garaj Mahal on a Friday night in Boulder at the fabulous Fox Theatre. On its way through Colorado to Wyoming, California, Arkansas, Tennessee and even British Columbia, this band is racking up miles to spread the word. If they missed them on this round, Coloradoans can look forward to the band's return at NedFest: The Nederland Music & Arts Festival in early August.

With a typical Fox Theater late start, GM took the stage around 11pm and launched a twenty-minute jam of sassy and funky wah-wah grooves that would make James Brown proud. A little tease of "Wipeout" at the end of this jam referred to a small snowboarding event that the city of Boulder had held just outside the theater.

Bassist Kai Eckhardt then took a moment to comment on the upcoming war, wishing for peaceful, candlelight vigil pleas for peace because, in his eloquent words: "this shit is for real." The band then proved that politics could be funky as they laid down a Meters-influenced "Weapons of Mass Destruction."

Fareed brandished his custom electric guitar so far this evening and he really showed off its clean jazz sound in "The Shadow." The band then resumed its Meters homage with a tease of "Africa" that allowed Eric Levy to deliver a keyboard jam that just dripped funk. On a night where Hammond legend Jimmy Smith, who was scheduled to play the nearby Boulder Theater, had fallen ill to a stomach ailment, Eric’s funky organ seemed to invoke Jimmy’s spirit in the room.

"Semos" (the super simian, progenitor to the Planet of the Apes) followed in a freaky jazz-fusion mode, like Pat Metheny on a double espresso. I thought this rendition was a little sloppy, but in a good way. It was exploratory like a Sun Ra record. The song sounded different from previous renditions I’ve heard, and I’m guessing that’s just the nature of jazz.

After set break, Eric intro'd with a solo that immediately got the crowd engaged. Fareed had switched to his dark brown electric guitar and laid down a rockin’ solo. The next tune had a different personality with spacey keyboards and a dense, Indian influenced melody that Fareed explored, to the crowd’s delight. Drummer Alan Hertz, whom I’ve admired since his days with KVHW, is so good that his snappy rhythms blend seamlessly into the band’s ebb and flow. His performance on this and every song tonight just left me smiling.

GM then played, for the first time ever, a rendition of Marvin Gaye’s "What’s Going On." Kai sang soulfully while Fareed showed off his jazz chops. What made the song their own was when Fareed switched to his six-string custom Schwartz sitar/guitar for a beautiful solo. With this instrument, Fareed plays melody on the guitar strings and then strums the sitar strings for a resonating chord that lingers while he continues on. The sitar jam segued into a trance-influenced, keyboard-led, rolling soundscape.

Finishing the second set, Fareed donned his gold and red guitar for two crowd favorites: "Guitar Slut" and the amazing verbal exercise of "Poodle Factory." These funk gems got everyone dancing and having fun on this warm, winter Friday night. The encore of "The Chicken" was kooky and kept the party going.

All in all, this wasn’t the best Garaj Mahal show I’ve seen. But to paraphrase one fan's comments: "Even an average Garaj Mahal show is better than most bands best show." It’s just a pleasure to see these guys play because you are treated to four super musicians who have a lot of fun freeing your mind so your rump can follow. The musical scope of a GM show flows between cerebral to carnal, but you always enjoy the ride. If you missed them live in your town, you can also catch the experience via three recently released live CDs from shows in Chicago, Boulder and San Francisco that will keep your stereo happily busy for a while.

Words by Haig Assadourian
Photos by Tony Stack
JamBase | Colorado
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