Vulfpeck Releases Stellar Concert Film To Accompany New ‘Clarity Of Cal’ Album

Vulfpeck's first new album in three years, Clarity Of Cal, arrived yesterday (March 4) along with a surprise treat. The Ann Arbor, Michigan-born band also shared a concert film for the highly-anticipated follow-up to 2022’s Schvitz.

The 11-song Clarity Of Cal album was recorded live during shows held last September at The UC Theatre in Berkeley and Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. Directed and edited by Carter Knopik, the concert film contains footage from the two Palladium concerts, which took place on September 23 and 24.

Vulfpeck founders Joe Dart, Jack Stratton, Woody Goss and Theo Katzman were joined for the Clarity Of Cal shows by supporting members Joey Dosik, Antwaun Stanley, Cory Wong, Charles Jones and Jacob Jeffries. Jack Stratton, who produced the LP, is shown laying down on a yoga mat at the start of the concert film. “Oh that’s real baby. That’s real life. We’re getting into real life,” an extremely relaxed Stratton exclaimed.

Stratton explained the genesis of the album’s title during the 45-minute movie:

“I moved to California and my dad would repeat ‘clarity of cal, clarity of cal,’ which he has phrases he repeats. So, it stuck. I asked him where it was from. It’s from a Jack Kerouac prose poem [October In The Railroad Earth] that I don’t even think he remembered but the phrase stuck. I’m just using that filter … it stuck in his brain for 50 years or whatever and that’s good enough. Just see what sticks.”

Clarity Of Cal finds Vulfpeck continuing to build upon inventive funk sound with elements of soul and R&B. Highlights include the Katzman showcase “Tender Defender,” Dart’s mindblowing bass work on instrumental “New Beastly,” Stanley’s powerful singing on opener “Big Dipper,” Dosik’s frenetic sax on “The Heist” and the anthemic closer “This Is Not The Song I Wrote.”

Watch Vulfpeck’s Clarity Of Cal concert film below: