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Words by Shain Shapiro
Keller Williams :: 01.20.06 :: Lee's Palace :: Toronto, ON
Keller Williams |
Some things never change. For me, it is a predilection towards hummus and flatbread while for many of our most prominent, successful improvisational-based bands, the constant lies in the sameness of their music over a period of time. Yet, this fact is not only true for jambands; it stretches over all styles of music, from punk to metal and from hip-hop to jazz. But let me get one thing straight before I continue - this is not necessarily a negative musical trait. Consistency and the ability to lay down the goods night-after-night is tough to accomplish. It translates into forcefulness, power, and most importantly, highly detailed, stringently disseminated music.
Keller Williams by Jake Krolick |
So consistency can be, and often is, a good thing; this is definitely an unarguable tidbit of common sense. But in our progressive, musically expansive scene, staying the same over time is harmful. Nothing is worse than playing the exact same set two nights in a row, because that would soak up any-and-all conversational drips the next day on Phantasy Tour. New exploration, "Drums" into "Space," acid freak outs, and musical growth planted the seeds of the jamband scene, and going against such history is often viewed as not acceptable. Simply put, the first rule of thumb is that a jamband must jam. This is fairly easy to understand and explains why Guster and The Shins are not jambands but Bela Fleck and the Flecktones are. Labeling aside because the term "jamband" itself is ambiguous, extended instrumentation, improvisation, and inventive exploration more-or-less define our scene.
Yet, I see a hypocrisy that has seemingly gone unnoticed throughout the progression and expansion of our scene. As long as a band jams, they are given an open door policy, labeled a jamband (which may or may not be positive), and that's that. Still, what if the jam is always the same? What if the exploration is a repetitive rehashing of earlier travels? Should the nametag and complimentary gift basket be rescinded, or does it really matter? Music is music, and as Duke Ellington so eloquently uttered, the only two types that exist are good and bad. Therefore, if the music was good in 1998, regardless of the exact same set being laboriously dusted off night-after-night for seven years, it is still good now. Regardless, at this moment I am not poised to answer any questions, just to raise them for debate and discussion. All this because of Keller Williams on Saturday night in Toronto.
Keller Williams by Jake Krolick |
Keller has never headlined Toronto, and his inaugural solo appearance was greeted by a sold-out crowd of about six-hundred at Lee's Palace. After an opening set from Ari Up of Nine Mile, Keller emerged strumming from backstage and proceeded to deliver two long sets of spurious, feisty folk. Mixing the odd cover with an arsenal of originals including "Tribe," "Fuel for the Road," and "Water," Keller's effulgent strum entranced the sold-out contingent as he rotated from acoustic guitar to electric, bass, drum-machine, and percussion while looping his vocals and instruments together, creatively bringing about his trademark live-band sound through the series of layering. In addition, the set capriciously wound through enough genres to outfit a music store, including bluegrass, classic blues, euro-pop electronica, folk, rock, jazz, and Latin. Furthermore, the quality of cover choices fit nicely alongside the originals, including an opening extended foray into Bowie's "Golden Years," a generic choice for the picker, and a bluegrass-infused trip to "High Time," complete with a jam into "Man Smart, Woman Smarter." The same can be said for the second set, as Keller cleverly worked through "Maggie's Farm," "Best Feeling," and "Hypnotize."
Keller Williams by Jake Krolick |
It was virtuosic, damned interesting, and feverishly eclectic; but one issue berated me all evening. I have seen Keller perform the exact same set - loops, instrumentation, and tricks - half-a-dozen times before, ever since my first Keller show in 2001. On this night, I grew tired of his antics, and halfway through the second set I found myself at the back of the venue enjoying more conversation than music. Yet, I cannot blame Keller for doing his thing, because what he does is unique, interesting, and aurally entrancing. However, I remember hearing the exact same drum loop introducing "Best Feeling" the moment I fell in love with his music four years ago, and having seen it several times, the virtuosity turns to shtick, transforming previous excitement to a bore.
I think this would have been acceptable in almost any other scene, but Keller Williams is a jam artist and his set completely contradicted the general theory that tends to override our musical community. This was not an "off" night for Keller Williams, nor was it a poor night musically. However, it lacked any experimentation that had not already been pursued before. The looping has not changed, neither have the song structures or the rhythmic techniques. I could easily have witnessed the exact same set at the inaugural Bonnaroo, at last year's Jam in the Dam festival, or at the Opera House in Toronto where I first discovered his acoustic ramblings in 2001. Minus the augmented cover choices, a shiny new guitar, or a fresh album's worth of songs, too many things have not changed with Keller Williams. And in our expansive, musically exploratory scene, the gig just didn't cut it at Lee's Palace. The show was excellent on its own, but Keller Williams has been there and done that. In punk or hip-hop music, this consistent diffusion is acceptable; in our scene, I do not believe it is. Agreement or disagreement aside, I guess even when they are supposed to, some things never change.
JamBase | Toronto
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