The 33rd Annual North Sea Jazz Fest wrapped up a couple weeks ago, and the stunningly strong line-up boasted literally dozens of incredible performances.

As a way of getting digging into the flood of music, this Stormy Monday we’ll give a listen to some of Miles Davis’s best and brightest alumni, all of whom are the giant figures in modern jazz.

First up is a very oddly orchestral but lyrical and fun piece from Wayne Shorter with Imani Winds, who spent most of the summer on the road together. Next is Herbie Hancock covering one of Wayne’s best known songs, Footprints, which they both made famous back in the day with the Quintet and which remains a staple in Herbie’s many and varied projects. This one has a pretty incredible bass intro from Mr. Dave Holland, along with some fine work from guitarist Lionel Loueke- if you’re not hip to him yet, it’s time to learn.

I’m dropping in something almost entirely unrelated too, Diana Krall doing what she does best, a standard, a gorgeous take on Let’s Face the Music- a bit more mainstream than we usually swing around here, but the lady knows just what she’s doing. We close out this week with Ron Crater’s quartet featuring pianist Stephen Scott for a sprawling medley into Seven Steps to Heaven. Most of the medley melodies come from Scott, but there is ample room here from both solos and interactions, and percussionist Rolando Morales-Matos is a real stand out. His djembe solo is worth the download alone. Enjoy!

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Also don’t forget the Jerry Garcia Band set we put up on Friday, and while we’re mourning great guitarists, here’s a bonus show, a smoking’ soundboard of WSP in the spring of 97, Mikey at his finest…

Widespread Panic
04/29/97 Rochester Auditorium, Rochester, NY

MP3s: Pt. 1, Pt. 2, Pt. 3, Pt. 4,

Set 1: C. Brown, Glory > Weight Of The World, Dyin’ Man > Galleon > Diner > Jam > Send Your Mind, Jack, Chilly Water,

Set 2: Let’s Get Down To Business, Radio Child > Can’t Get High, Burned Faceless, Happy > Hatfield > I Walk On Guilded Splinters > Drums > Pilgrims > No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature
Encore: The Take Out > Porch Song

It struck me the other day at the Vibes just how young Jerry Garcia was when he died, just how much music his band mates have made since his passing, just how short his life really was and just what the possibilities could have been. That was a dark day 13 years back, and I’m missing JG this morning, but you gotta know the man would want people to celebrate, not mourn. So with that in mind, a choice set of JGB from the summer of 1982 on Cape Cod- a gorgeous recording of a gorgeous performance. Put it on and give a smile.

JGB, 6/18/82
South Yarmouth, Mass

Set: How Sweet It Is, Valerie, Dear Prudence, Mississippi Moon, Don’t Let Go, Simple Twist of Fate, Run for the Roses
Encore: They Love Each Other

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Now that we’re in the thick of the summer, it’s time to kick back with some good old rock and roll. This week’s Stormy Monday begins with The Stones doing a nice You Can’t Always Get What You Want back in 1989 in Philly, followed by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band getting down on Come to Poppa. That one comes from my very first rock concert back in August of 1986 at SPAC. Ah the memories.

Staying in the same frame of mind, the new school of Gov’t Mule offers a hard hitting Going Out West with Dave Schools on bass, followed by The Doors with a ripping Peace Frog Jam > Blue Sunday from 1968. To close, Mr. Anastasio covers Wind Cries Mary and Ooh Child from his first (and best) solo tour back in ‘99 at The Palace Theater. It’s even better than Freedom Rock, so turn it up!

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For this mid summer Stormy Monday we have a roots reggae mix, just right for these steamy days. First up is a show opening pair from Peter Tosh in the late seventies, just before he turned a little too heavily toward synthesizers, 400 Years > Steppin’ Razor. You’ve gotta love Tosh’s outrage and indignation, not to mention the machine gun guitar skills he wielded without reservation.

A more recent performance from Culture at WOMAD in 2000 gives us Zion Gate, a great tune with killer bass and nice ranting about “cooking reggae” and “raw reggae music”. A shade of Marley comes from a sparse 2001 Trey Anastasio Band version of Mellow Mood, and we close out the week with my personal favorite, Burning Spear’s sprawling jam of Red, Green & Gold > Happy Day. As always, enjoy!

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Last year Stormy Mondays celebrated the birth of the country with a selection of Brit rock covers by Mr. Warren Haynes. One good tune deserves another, so this year we have Mr. Phil Lesh taking on The Beatles’ songbook. First up is a rare Grateful Dead version of Rain from MSG in ‘93. The tune only became part of the GD repertoire in that final slew of weird covers in the mid ’90s.

Next up is the Q with She Said, She Said from Boston in ‘00, followed by You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away from Jimmy Herring’s last gig as part of Phil’s band. Warren does a killer job as guest vocalist (Joan was already the lead singer at this point) on this soundboard recording that does not circulate. (The song would stay a staple in the ensuing, and miserable, Chris Robinson PaF.)

Finally, the long jam comes from an often overlooked, but exceptional version of Phil and Friends that played only two shows in the spring of ‘05, featuring Barry Sless, Mookie Siegel, Molo, Jackie and Gloria, and Al Schnier. Across the Universe is the jumping off point for a jam that winds through Eyes and on into a smokin’ Love the One You’re With. The band is just about perfect, nailing the music in a way that is, let’s face it, rare for an inaugural night of a new Phil ensemble. And from where this week’s mix leaves off, the set continues with Millenium Jam into The Eleven into a stunning, one time only performance of Phish’s A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing (!!!!!!) > Man of Constant Sorrow. Certainly worth checking out while you’re eating hotdogs and launching illegal fireworks over the weekend. As always, enjoy!

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Since the single track editions of Stormy Monday seem to be pretty popular, here’s another one from a recent Wayne Shorter Quartet gig in Philly. The band, featuring Danilo Perez on piano, John Patitucci on bass and drumming superstar Brian Blade, is widely considered to be one of the greatest working jazz units under the direction of the grandmaster jazz composer, but I’m willing to go a step further- it’s the greatest improvisational band on the planet.

While all the band members are down right prolific, not one of them plays with the intensity and ferocity that they do in this setting - the music is volatile, ranging from delicate to moving to explosive. During this gig at the Kimmel Center, the geriatric crowd was literally driven out of their seats by the music. Once the first person broke protocol and left, it was a wave a shawls and canes, like a scene from the stories of that first performance of “Rites of Spring”.

Those of us who stayed got to watch the masters at play in an absolutely stunning setting. Unfortunately I don’t have the Prometheus Unbound encore, but the full set should be enough to spark interest to check out some youtube clips of the band, and their two live releases, Footprints Live! and Beyond the Sound Barrier for the very best jazz has to offer. Enjoy!

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• Wayne Shorter Quartet - Joy Ryder
• Wayne Shorter Quartet - Over Shadow Hill Way
• Wayne Shorter Quartet - Masqualero

With all the buzz going ’round about Trey’s hints at a Phish reunion - which was reported here significantly earlier than other sources of jam news, by the way - there’s no better time to offer up another single track edition of Stormy Mondays.

[Photo From Phish.com's Big Cypress Gallery]

And so now, without further ado, from the source that dare not speak its name, here’s Rock and Roll from Big Cypress. Thirty-two minutes of pure love. Enjoy!

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With the long weekend coming up, it’s time to bust out some serious driving music. First off is the super-bad encore from Widespread Panic’s recent Saturday night in Chicago, Driving Song > Disco > Driving Song- ‘nuff said about that one.

Next is ABB’s cover of DTB’s cover of Susan Tedeschi’s cover of Aretha Franklin’s cover of The Band’s The Weight (or some such convoluted order like that), which is mighty bad in its own right. This one comes from the Camden show near the end of last summer. To cap off the week’s Stormy Monday is moe’s cover of Gimme Shelter with Nadine Lafond on lead vocals from the recent spring tour. Try to keep it somewhere near the speed limit.

As a bonus (and cuz I know my drive is close to five hours long), we also have the Dark Star > Weather Report Suite that closed Ratdog’s first set Saturday at the Beacon in April, easily the best night of the three. It was pretty amazing to see Mark Karan up there simultaneously underneath a ghoulish specter with glowing eyes and a sign reading “LIVE”, knowing that in the interval since the last Beacon shows he was diagnosed with stage four throat cancer, and now has a clean bill of health. Listen to him tear it up at the end of Let It Grow. As always, enjoy!

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Every few weeks I change the answer: If played an instrument, I would play freaky _____. And often enough I come back to the sax. There are times when I’m listening to Trane, say I Want to Talk About You, a tune that’s we’ve featured here a couple times, and think, that’s what the human voice really sounds like.

No Trane this week, but we’ll start in his house with a cut from McCoy Tyner’s McCoy Tyner Quartet, a killer live release taken from a New Year’s Eve show in 2006. The band features Christian McBride, Jeff Watts and Joe Lovano on sax, a prolific musician who is quickly becoming one of the most highly regarded players around. Together with Tyner they offer Sama Layuca, a dramatic and expansive piece worth hearing over and over.

Next up is Charles Lloyd with Eric Harland on the kit and Zakir Hussain on tabla- quite a trio. From the 2006 release Sangam comes a wonderfully fluid and mystifying number, Hymn to the Mother. And closing out this weeks’ Stormy Monday is Jay Rodriguez covering The Duo’s Abduction Pose with none other than Marco and Joe as his band. This is still one of my all time favorite Duo performances- an absolute must hear with stunning playing all around, especially that left handed bass work from Benevento. As always, enjoy!

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Just to balance out last Stormy Monday’s Singer/Songwriter Mix, this week we’re headed entirely in the opposite direction with a dubby, bass and percussion heavy improv mix, opening with a piece by master bassist and producer Bill Laswell.

In the late ’90s, just as Miles Davis’s ’70s fusion was finally getting its due for both its bravery and its experimental musicality, Laswell put out a four song “reconstruction”, as he calls it, rather than “remix”, of Miles’s music from 1969-1974 called Panthalassa. It’s a stellar record with the best elements of world dub and gritty fusion-funk seamlessly melded- it‘s also a bit more listenable than the source material, for those faint of heart. Here we have a collage called Black Satin > What If > Agharta Prelude Dub.

Keeping with the percussion mindset, next is a roughly nine minute sample of the Rhythm Devils at the closing of Winterland with Lee Oskar sitting on harmonica for an amazing moment of spontaneous improvisation that’s way ahead of its time. And finishing out this week’s mix is old school STS9 with a spacey version of Equinox from the Seasons double disc live set. Chill out and enjoy!

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