The Black Experience @ Durty Durham 5.3.13

The Black Experience, one of North Carolina's most forward-thinking jazz combos, took the stage at The Pinhook Friday night at the Durty Durham art collective's "Hyperspring" fundraiser.

The Black Experience likes to jam long in an open-ended way, pushing canonical jazz through a prism of contemporary and popular references, from Ray Charles to Black Sabbath. What we heard Friday might be the zenith of what they've accomplished so far. Leading one to ask:  Can The Black Experience get any better? I think it's safe to say that The Black Experience will go on and on, getting better and better, with something important to communicate.


Larry "Q" Draughan and Will Darity 


Ernest A. Turner II

Collectively, it's a band with deep North Carolina roots, impeccable musical pedigrees, and a huge reservoir of experience as educators, sidemen and bandleaders at the area's top jazz institutions and venues. The co-founders of the project are William Darity, electric guitar, Larry Q. Draughan Jr., drums, and Ernest A. Turner II, piano/organ. We also heard Brian Horton on sax and flute, and a special drop-in guest, Lynn Grissett on trumpet. (Educated at NC Central, Grissett travels out of town a lot with Prince. Yes, that Prince.)


Prince sideman Lynn Grissett sitting in with The Black Experience.

Here's some video of Grissett called on stage to solo with The Black Experience. Also features solos by Brian Horton on flute, and Larry "Q" Draughan on drums:






Among the local artists and musicians who turned out for The Black Experience: vocalist Kim Arrington, keyboardist Victor Moore and visual activist Luis Franco.

Shakori Fall Preview: Oct 6-9

Where to begin? This fall's Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival lineup is fitting to blow my mind: Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Toubab Krewe, Rosie Ledet, Bela Fleck, Hobex, Kairaba, Peter Lamb & The Wolves, The Brand New Life, Saludos Compay, Locos Por Juana, Preston Frank--just when you thought I'd be jaded, I've got Shakori fever like never before.

Two artists back-to-back at the Cabaret Tent on Saturday that I haven't heard, but hope to catch this time around:

Lakota John, a young, dobro bottleneck slide guitarist (he's 14) from Robeson County, who is half-Lumbee and half-Lakota. He is one of MusicMaker's Next Generation blues artists. I met him and his father down in Pembroke when I was researching this recent tale for the Indy about Dark Water Rising.

Leyla McCalla, a banjoist/cellist from New Orleans who is also a MusicMaker Next Gen artist. She reportedly plays jazz standards, originals, and the occasional Haitian folk song.

As often happens at Shakori Hills, musicians from different genres get together and mix it up. At the last Shakori festival in April, members of Orquesta GarDel gave a salsa workshop on the porch, and some oldtime fiddlers came up and jammed. Here's that video, to whet your appetite for whatever may happen this weekend (Thurs.-Sun., October 6-9):



SEE THE FULL FESTIVAL SCHEDULE, ADMISSION INFO, DIRECTIONS, etc. HERE

Shakori Hills Festival OPENS TODAY

The biannual grassroots fest at Shakori Hills near Pittsboro, NC, gets underway today, running Thursday through Sunday, April 21-24.

FULL SCHEDULE and TICKET INFO: Shakori Hills Website


Diali Cissokho & Kairaba performing at Nightlight in February


The beauty of Shakori is there is music going on on four stages all the time, so there's always something to do. Performers include The Lizzy Ross Band, Mount Moriah, Birds and Arrows, Greg Humphreys, John Howie Jr, Dave McCracken, Pura Fe, Deer Clan Singers, Kooley High, Big Fat Gap, The Travelin' McCourys, Tift Merritt, Midtown Dickens, The Beast and Dark Water Rising. With that wealth of entertainment in mind, here's a targeted selection of my personal picks:

THURSDAY: Cool John Ferguson and Arrested Development this evening. 7:30 - on...

FRIDAY: Umalali, the Garifuna women's collective from Central America. Meadow Stage, 10 pm. Repeats again on SATURDAY.

SATURDAY: Diali Cissokho and Kairaba. My strongest recommendation for a must-see new band on the rise. Led by Pittsboro-resident Cissokho, a Jimi Hendrix of the kora, with his nephew talking drummer Sidya Cissokho, plus an American-style backing band of drumset, congas, bass and electric guitar. The West African harp-lute may be dreamy and poetic solo, but Cissokho uses it to stoke a bluelight basement party in Kairaba, a word which means "love and peace" in Manding. Diali's natural charisma as a vocal performer may come from his centuries-old griot heritage, but he will also put you in mind of Marvin Gaye, James Brown, and other griots of New World soul. Dance Tent, 4:15-5:30.

ALSO SATURDAY: Orquesta GarDel promises special guests and '80s nostalgia during their salsa set at the dance tent, starting just after midnight.

SUNDAY: Shake it all out with zydeco guru Preston Frank in the Dance Tent, 4:15-6:15. An earlier dance with Frank's band happens FRIDAY around 3 pm.

But don't take it from me. Mix and match your own agenda at www.shakorihills.org.

Live at Pour House: Q-bex + Isti Kaldor

From the backlog: Video from the remarkable Q-bex show at the Pour House, way back on May 8! Q-bex is frontman Greg Humphreys and bassist Andy Ware of Hobex, with drummer Jeff Sipe of Apt. Q-238. Sitting in on the gig was saxophonist and vocalist Tim Smith.

This short clip makes me sad because of the footage I didn't get--I was so into the rocking that I just didn't reach for my camera soon enough. Even so, these last few drops of "Pink Champagne" demonstrate Greg's inimitable way of squeezing the last soulful drop from a blues.



Special guests on stage included Caitlin Cary, Robert Cantrell, and John Teer of opening band The Jackets.



One of the night's highlights was John Teer, on violin, trading huge solos with Greg on table steel, on the Shuggie Otis cover "Sweet Thang." Just over 10 delicious minutes, so this is in two parts!





I also went gaga for their long rendition of "Groove, Baby"--the first Hobex tune I fell in love with, live at a long ago Shakori--with an ingenious detour through James Brown's "Sex Machine," and back again.

Durham artist Isti Kaldor "live painted" this show. With his dropcloths spread out in a niche in front of the Pour House sound booth, Isti quickly painted this large oil canvas as we listened--and watched:



Isti only paints to music, and signs his paintings with a simple handprint on the back, insisting that, "it's not about me--it's about everyone."

Here's the palette Isti used to paint that at the Q-bex show, which he gave me, and which is still drying on my wall 10 days later:



Meeting Isti is one of the things I love about Durham, and the whole Triangle music scene. Musicians and artists contribute so much to the quality of life we enjoy here. I love Isti's approach of using creativity to make connections, and making painting more interactive (i.e., more like live music.)

Says Isti, "Painting a moment in time creates a sense of belonging in an otherwise judgmental world."

Born in Hungary, Isti Kaldor has lived in North Carolina since 1992. He didn't paint until the onset of his first bipolar episode in college. Filmmaker Kevin Cullen is making a documentary about Isti, called "A Moment of Clarity." Check out the film website for great stills and more info!

Shakori Sugar: Sol's Blues & GarDel's Timba

I didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked at Shakori Hills this spring. But I did make it to see Orquesta GarDel in the Dance Tent Friday night. Of course, they led off with their signature Shakori tune, "Welcome to Shakori Hills."



At one point, emcee Pierce Freelon of The Beast jumped on stage to do an exuberant version of their joint tune "Translation," featured on last year's The Beast album Silence Fiction.

The GarDel song that debuted last year at Saxapahaw as "Eric's Timba" now has a new title: "Lo Que Tu Querias." Here's a full-length video from Shakori Friday night-- music by pianist Eric Hirsh and lyrics by sonero Nelson Delgado:



I appreciate Nelson's lyrical shoutout at about 2 min. 20 sec!

The set ended with their usual finale, the Gilberto Santa Rosa cover "La Agarra Bajando." Eric dressed it up with solos on both piano and Moog.

Sightreading: Orquesta GarDel's Shakori Setlist




Sol & Funk Root

I hung around to catch a few songs of zydeco priestess Rosie Ledet, as well as blues guitarist Sol with his band Funk Root. Sol had help from the Dynamite Brothers as well as vocalist/saxophonist Tim Smith.



At one point, Brevan Hampden, who played with GarDel, grabbed a tambourine and jumped onstage to join Robert Cantrell in the rhythm section.



Here's a song Sol introduced as new and unrecorded, with the official title "Sweet Sugah Momma":

Captain Luke at the MusicMaker Showcase

The MusicMaker Relief Foundation, a Hillsborough organization that aids North Carolina blues musicians, had its usual blues showcase at Shakori on Saturday. John Dee Holeman was there, among others, including one of my favorite gentlemen, the deep-voiced Captain Luke.









Dig that old Shakori wristband decorating his cap! They say the "L" around his neck stands for "Love." Captain Luke is all right.

Links:

Enhance your Captain Luke knowledge with this audio piece and slide show by Richard Ziglar and Barry Yeoman. (link added 5/10/09)

RADIO ALERT: John Dee Holeman LIVE on WXDU TODAY

Blues legend John Dee Holeman will perform live today (3/31) on WXDU's "Bull City Cosmic Hoedown" with host Washboard Dave. Andy Coates will play with Holeman; guest segment starts around 7 pm.

WHAT: John Dee Holeman w/ Andy Coates
WHEN: TODAY, Tuesday (3/31), "Bull City Cosmic Hoedown" 6-7:30 pm (guest segment: circa 7pm)
WHERE: WXDU 88.7 FM or live stream with iTunes at www.wxdu.org

More from Dave:

"John Dee Holeman is a North Carolina treasure and has won National Heritage Fellowship awards and NC Heritage Awards over the years for his guitar playing and singing. His style on guitar combines the Piedmont Blues sound (which developed in Durham in the '30s and '40s) with touches of Texas blues and R&B. You've likely seen him playing outdoors at street festivals, at the Eno River, or in clubs. He knows a million tunes, and tonight I hope he'll play a few for us.

John Dee Holeman turns 80 years young this weekend and there will be a birthday party for him Saturday night at Broad Street Cafe with a host of other blues artists on hand to help celebrate. Come on out if you can:
http://www.thebroadstreetcafe.com/events.html"