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The start of my tenure as a music publisher almost coincided with the most recent Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. As much as I love the existence of the event, I remember being overwhelmingly relieved when I discovered my predecessor, Jordan adams, had already discussed the coverage of the festival. On the one hand, it’s a hell of a way to start: by covering a 10-day festival with multiple themed venues and events and more musicians than the “We Are the World†video. (Alas, there was no observation of a Bob dylan to this one.)
But my real problem was the feeling that I wasn’t quite ready to dive into Burlington’s rich, talented and sometimes complicated jazz scene. Due to the small nature of our beautiful city, the city scenes tend to blend together. Indie rockers, metal kids, jam bands, hip-hop artists, folk and even country singers – they all cross paths, swap members, and team up for shows. In contrast, the jazz scene has always seemed more like a stand-alone unit. I mean, you don’t see a Discover Microtonal Metal Festival, do you? (Oh, my God, did I just give someone an idea? Don’t!)
Well, I got over my reservations and got down to jazz this week, folks. Go to the Culture section for my Marty Fogel profile, one of the many incredible players in our current jazz scene.
Meeting Fogel and hearing him talk about all the great players he has met since moving to town in 2017 made me realize that our jazz scene is not as much of a unit as I thought it was. Rather, it is a collection of musicians playing very different forms of jazz, some of whom might not assess other forms very well.
This is where the complicated part comes in. I’m not 100% the guy to umpire a jazz battle between traditionalists and more fusion-prone players – who often talk shit about each other. What I’m going to do, however, is cover the full range of the scene. That’s right, I’m going to cover … all that jazz. (No, I will not see me, thank you.)
With that in mind, let’s talk about the jazz-funk fusion of EVNGwear. Composed by the bassist Alex budney (Seth Yacovone Group), guitarist Walker allen (Nico Suave & the Bodacious Supreme), drummer Ethan Snyder and keyboardist Eric Maier (Madaila), the quartet held a Wednesday night residency at Nectar’s all month. This week is the last chance to catch EVNGwear, which are more often seen in their alternate guise supporting Nectar’s open pickups like the Family evening group. Looks like they might be ready for bigger things.
“We’re starting to take this group more seriously for the first time,” Maier told me. “Both in terms of trying to play cool shows [and] in terms of music output. ”
Maier and Allen are co-owners of Burlington’s Future Fields Studios. Still, the band have no releases to date and have performed less than a dozen concerts since their formation in 2016.
“I think it could be due to the danger of having such easy access to the recording,†Maier said. “We still think we can record anytime, and then the years go by. We’ve all been busy with other things, but it’s also a challenge to find your audience when you play jazz music that is, in your ears. some people, arty and weird. ”
The dangers of jazz fusion aside, EVNGwear looks set to play a bigger role on the Burlington scene. More concerts are on the way, as well as a release, although Maier is not sure it will be a studio album.
“Maybe we’ll just pull out a soundboard recording from one of those Nectar shows and go there early. Phishing with that, â€he laughed.
EVNGwear is playing the last show of its September residence this Wednesday, September 29 at 8 p.m.
Hold the rush
Singer-songwriter and guitarist Liz cooper is back in Greater Burlington this week with a new album and a new tour. Cooper, based in Nashville, TN, performed until last year as Liz Cooper & the Stampede, releasing their 2018 debut album. Window flowers under this name. As her songs shifted from country and psychedelic folk to shameless psych-rock, she felt like the name mistakenly referred to her as an American act. So released the scramble for the release of his follow-up, the hardest rocker Hot panty.
“The new record is awesome,†Cooper told me over the phone as she began her tour. “I’m so proud of it. We recorded it in Burlington, actually. We went to a studio called Little Jamaica with our friend Benny Yurco. ”
Yurco (Grace Potter and the Nocturnes, Michel nau) checked in Hot panty with Cooper and his unnamed band consisting of Ryan usher, Joe bisirri and Michel libramento in one week at the end of 2019.
“I was so ready to break the record,†Cooper said. “After about a year, do something? Put out music and go on tour, be job – that makes me so happy right now. ”
Cooper is particularly excited about her show at Higher Ground on Thursday, September 30. His connections to Burlington are numerous, from recording at Yurco’s studio to performing a Creston Guitar custom made in Burlington. She remembers past shows at ArtsRiot and the 2018 Window awakening festival with great affection.
“It’s crazy to be on the road again,†Cooper said. “We’re all relearning to play, the bands and the audience. People are really losing their minds, and it’s so much fun to watch that again.”
Don’t forget to watch the first single from Hot panty, ” Slice of life “. Doom-laced indie rock track plays out on video with loud David Lynch vibes, ushering in the new era of Liz Cooper, psych-rocker.
BiteTorrent
What? Haven’t you had enough jazz from me yet, jazz hungry? Fine. Here are more!
Tony Award-winning musician and composer Michael chorney (house viper, Anais mitchell) has a new project called Clyde Highway. With Chorney on guitar, Will andrews (Willverine) on cornet and synthesizer, Matt LaRocca (Henri jamison) electric viola, Robinson morse (house viper, Vorcza) on bass, and Jeremy Frédéric (Swale) on drums, the group made their debut at this year’s BDJF.
Chorney formed the group to play songs he wrote after recently starting to play electric guitar. “I wrote a book of new pieces that I consider to be psych-rock-jazz soundtracks from movies that were never made,†he said.
If this intrigues you as much as I do, check out Freeway Clyde during their Thursday Night Residency at Radio Bean, starting September 30 at 9 p.m.
The Trey Anastasio Band will have to complete their current tour without a trumpeter and native of Vermont Jennifer hartswick, who tested positive for COVID-19 before the group performed their September 25 show at the Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheater in Charlotte, NC
According to Anastasio’s Instagram feed, Hartswick “is experiencing minor symptoms and should make a full recovery. Trey Anastasio Band will continue the tour without the brass section. We will all miss them.” The group also lacks a saxophonist James casey, currently undergoing treatment for colon cancer, and founding bassist Tony Markellis, who died earlier this year.
The latest video from Famous writer was released last week. The final track from the Plattsburgh, NY-based art-rock group’s debut album Warhola, the bewitching “Girl” speaks Andy warholthe mother of, Julia warhola, who was an artist in her own right. The song is about her loss of a child who would have been Andy’s older sister.
Like the other videos off Warhola, “Fille” is a low budget production. But in the creative hands of the husband and wife team behind Famous Letter Writer, Michael and Julia devine, it becomes an impressionist and dreamlike vignette. Go to the group’s YouTube page.
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