One of the show pieces for the late, great Garaj Mahal was Poodle Factory, a manic Zappa-esque tune that often gave Fareed Haque space to rant and explore his madness. Like so many GM songs, it could be vastly different from performance to performance and include long nasty bouts of funkiness.
This week’s Stormy Monday, another in the Ghosts of Jambands Past series, features what may be the single longest version of the song—together with a short Bajo to finish, it’s 28 minutes. And this one is notable not just for its length but because the narration is replaced by a fantastic What Side Of The Funk Are You On? vocal jam featuring Nick Baron on vocals. The performance is from the Big Wu Family Reunion in 2002, and also includes the set closing Use Me, also with Baron, which is equally nasty. This is 21st century funk at its best, so turn it up loud, and as always, enjoy!
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Fantastic band that didn’t get enough props. How they weren’t included in the early Bonnaroo fests is tragedy. In a perfect world Garaj Mahal would be headlining and My Morining Jacket would be who? Not to bash MMJ but Garaj Mahal was special.
Huge huge huge GM fam from the first time I saw them at the Family Affaire in Arizona Beach, OR….many other late nights in OR and CA after that. Miss them dearly. Really wish things could have held together w/ Alan. But, I am glad for the music they gave when they could. Cheers to the band, and thanks for sharing the music!