Kung Fu and Robert Walter’s 20th Congress @ The Aggie & Cervantes – January 24 and 25

Photos and Words: Mike Sherry

Robert Walter’s 20th Congress resumed session this past weekend on Colorado’s front range, joined by Kung Fu (having skied down from dates in Aspen, Breckenridge and Boulder), in a double-showcase of talents both sublime and ridiculous. On Thursday night The Aggie in Fort Collins got an extra treat on the bill as bassist Garrett Sayers of The Motet led his trio through a spunky, jazzy opening set. Friday’s show featured Jet Edison kicking off an evening that would stretch to nearly 3AM.

[All Photos by Mike Sherry]

Never a band in need of a warm-up number, Kung Fu took the stage and the funk by the horns with the greasy Do The Right Thing. Keeping a steady increase on the heat, the sultry vibe of Snaggle boiled to a kettle of frenetic notes blasted from all directions in a jumping Scapegoat Blues. As the band grooved through (let’s just get “Zappa-esque” out of the way) Letters From Bobby Portugal, guitarist Tim Palmieri showed why his style is so difficult to pin down yet so easy to love: tasteful, sustained phrasings washing into bright flourishes and not simply climaxing at the highest fret but then a peaceful return to terra firma.

But nobody was grounded for long. Robert Walter presented his newly sworn-in 20th Congress: incumbent Cochemea Gastelum on sax, Simon Lott on drums and Greyboy Allstars vet Chris Stillwell holding down the bottom end. The quartet eased into the jazzy Sweetie Pie with nonchalance and poise, how else to follow scorching heat but with the epitome of cool? But things only picked up as Robert introduced Dog Party (“…what your dogs do when you’re not at home.”) and the brand-new Hunk, a choice cut of Nawlins funk.

READ ON

Will It Go Round In Circles first appeared on the 1972 Billy Preston album Music Is My Life. The track would then be issued as a single the following year and eventually hit #1 on the Billboard Top Singles chart.

The Contestants:

Band From TV: Band From TV makes their second Cover Wars appearance this week, they previously were featured in the You Can’t Always Get What You Want edition back in July. As we mentioned then, this is a group made up of professional actors and all of their proceeds go directly to charity – pretty cool. Source: Hoggin All The Covers

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READ ON for the scoop on the rest of this week’s contestants…

Keller Williams won last week’s Cover Wars, where we looked at covers of Don’t You (Forget About Me). Ha Ha The Moose was a close second.

Moving on to this week, we look at a song The Beatles recorded during the Let It Be sessions, but didn’t make the album. Don’t Let Me Down was featured as the b-side of the single Get Back. I keep coming back to The Beatles because so many great artists have covered their tunes. Instead of copying and pasting a lot of fun facts and quotes about the song, I recommend just checking out the entry over at The Beatles Bible. For me, it’s all about the measure of 5/4 to start every verse.

As always, be sure to register/login to IMEEM before starting the playlist below to ensure you listen to full-length tracks.

Go ahead and click this link to launch the playlist in a new window.

READ ON after the jump for more information, the voting, and for entries that are only embedded with video and are not available on the playlist…

You know, with the weakening dollar and the currency exchange rates the way they are, I hear in England it’s now called “One for Onesday.” Financial jokes? Ugh.

Up first, the incomparably underrated Assembly of Dust:

• Man With a Plan – 8/18/06 — Gathering of the Vibes [vbr mp3]
• Space Oddity — 12/31/06 — Paradise Rock Club [vbr mp3]

Following closely, two gems from Robert Walter’s 20th Congress:

• 2% Body Fat – 9/21/04 — Ego’s [vbr mp3]
• Sing a Simple Song — 9/21/04 — Ego’s [vbr mp3]

And bringing up the read, a look back at Aquarium Rescue Unit:

• Working on a Building — 4/26/97 — Ripley’s [vbr mp3]
• No Egos — 4/26/97 — Ripley’s [vbr mp3]

That oughta keep you no-good fonzanoons occupied for a little while…