ROBERT RANDOLPH > WAYNE KRANTZ

This is how good I think Robert Randolph is: I spent 1:45 total in a car driving to a 1:15 set consisting of essentially the same material I've seen at the six or so shows I've seen in the past four months (with several upcoming gigs much closer to home). Worth it? Hell YEAH!

I arrived at the Stanhope House around 9 and walked in to Robert and Co. doing their soundcheck. They were either just jamming or working out some new material, but it sounded great. Robert seemed surprised to see some of his NYC crew there, but I just needed my fix.

The set went along as it usually does. Opening with the sweet, melodic introduction to Robert's universe with The Prayer. It's fun to absorb a crowd that is largely new to the Robert Randolph experience. This opening tune certainly highlights the lyrical beauty of the sacred steel and catches people's attention. The second song, I believe it's called Ted's Jam, is the one that hooks 'em for good. Just an all-out assault on your notions of how uplifting music could be. Listening to Robert's music, you get the feeling of meeting someone for the first time and knowing instantly that you've met a lifelong friend.

Although the repertoire has not [yet] been expanded, the band seems content to explore and invent within the spaces of their material. Last night's show provided some fresh work, especially considering their organ player, John, was absent and was filled in by Dave from Nomadic Design (the band sharing the bill with Robert). This addition brought a new interpretation to the work. I wouldn't judge it as better or worse, just different.

The third tune, The March, featured another twist for the band. Danyell Morgan put down his bass and played guitar for the song. It took a while for him to get in tune and this sort of threw off the pace of the song. His playing was mostly chord strumming, but it added a softer texture to the usually thumping piece. During You've Got To Move, Danyell, who sings angelic falsetto on this Allmans flavored gospel number showed some sudden bursts of energy. The lyrics were expanded from the usual singular line of "you've got to move" and he built them up to the level of a soulful scream.

The whole evening, as is expected, belonged to Robert. His style and leadership seem to be evolving for the better with each gig. There seems to be no limit in the sounds he can get from his pedal steel guitar. Soft whispers make way for whining wah-wah driven screams. At one point he used some gizmo on the strings which held long, gorgeous sustained notes as opposed to his usual lightning staccato fingerwork.

The show was well-worth the drive, after which I hustled back to Manhattan (~1 hour drive) straight to 55 Bar in Greenwich Village for my 2nd taste of one of the better kept secrets in the city's music scene - Wayne Krantz's Thursday gigs.

This week I made it for the entire midnight set and the tiny dive of a bar was good and packed. The set was one coherent musical journey for me. There were definitely distinct songs that a more seasoned Krantz veteran might be able to distinguish for you. But to me the set flowed from one end to the other as one piece.

The whole vibe in 55 Bar is a little surreal to me to begin with. I get the feeling like there is some unwritten ettiquette that I'm not sure I'm hip to quite yet. I feel like a masqueraded party crasher biding his time in the ocean of music before asked to leave the beach.

Wayne's music is rich in deep, funk-fueled fusion. He operates in a power-trio format. It is heady, dense, mind-fuck headphone music for bobbing your head and dropping your jaw to.

Usually with talent and intricate stuff like this I like to stare deep at the musicians themselves, trying to pin movements of hands and feet to noise, trying to filter and separate the colors of the spectrum into distinct building blocks. But with Wayne and his band, I barely even paid attention to the individuals creating the sounds. The playing is bundled together so tightly that there is no point in taking it apart. I just closed my eyes and went on a nice hour-long journey.

Wayne is amazing. The music isn't for everyone, but if it's for you, it's REALLY for you. It combines way-out there fusion licks - scattered tempo and heavy tone - with the accessibility of funk and straight-up rock and roll. The band is stripped down raw and wonderfully textured all at once. Wayne employs some nice wah-wah as well as some cool effects that made his guitar sound a little like spooky bells. The bass lines were solid and fuzzy, with the bassist sometimes employing what I would call phaser effects. The drumming is excellent and ties the whole act together.

Both Robert and Wayne are seriously local right now, but if you are in or near NYC this is some of the best live music around, in my opinion. Seeing it live doesn't always mean catching the established act when they come to your town, it means finding that little nugget in a river of mediocrity and relishing it in intimate surroundings with a small, lucky crowd.

That's the view from here,
Aaron Stein
JamBase NYC Correspondent
Go See Live Music!