TRI Studios’ Weir Here webcasts have given us many magical moments both musical and otherwise. Last week’s episode was no exception as it featured Bobby teaming up with the impressive one-time-only band of guitarist Steve Kimock, bassist Dave Schools of Widespread Panic, vocalist Leslie Mendelson, Primus drummer Jay Lane and multi-instrumentalist Jason Crosby.
TRI has graciously shared video of the ensemble’s version of Cassidy…
Steve Kimock was slated to play the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco last night with his current band which includes Andy Hess on bass, keyboardist Bernie Worrell and drummer Wally Ingram. Knowing Kimock’s close relationship with Furthur / Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir it wasn’t a stretch to think the jorts-loving Weir would show, especially since Steve took part in Bobby’s Weir Here talk show at TRI Studios on Wednesday night. Not only did Bobby show up, but he brought his new comrades Leslie Mendelson and Jason Crosby with him. As if that wasn’t enough, Worrell’s former Talking Heads band mate Jerry Harrison sat in on a tune during the first set.
The guest-laden show featured multi-instrumentalist Jason Crosby throughout. Harrison emerged during the first set for a cover of Al Green’s Take Me To The River, which was a staple of Talking Heads’ live shows. Weir and Mendelson came out at the start of the second set to join Crosby, Kimock, Worrell, Ingram and Hess. During the second set Leslie sang To Love Somebody, Weir led the ensemble through Willie Dixon’s Little Red Rooster and Grateful Dead staples New Speedway Boogie and I Know You Rider, while Worrell sang a rendition of Burning Down The House. Weir, Mendelson and Crosby stuck around for an encore of a song that has made Bobby’s rotation as of late – a cover of Delbert McClinton’s Standing On Shaky Ground. Here’s a video of Little Red Rooster from last night…
It will be hard to top last Wednesday’s episode of TRI Studio’s talk show Weir Here in which Furthur / Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, bassist Phil Lesh, roadie Steve Parish and archivist David Lemieux told Pigpen stories and a one-off ensemble led by Weir and Lesh performed. However the show must go on and the lineup for the next episode of Weir Here has just been revealed.
Weir will be joined by guitarist Steve Kimock, Widespread Panic bassist David Schools, multi-instrumentalist Jason Crosby, drummer Jay Lane and singer Leslie Mendelson for the March 27th episode of Weir Here. You can watch Weir Here at TRIStudios.com starting at 5:30PM PT / 8:30PM ET every Wednesday night.
Here at Stormy Mondays we believe in recycling, and with that in mind, this week we present Steve Kimock’s free live album, LIVE 2012, from last year, featuring his current band of Bernie Worell on keys, Wally Ingram on drums and Andy Hess on bass, a group greater than the sum of its already great parts.
The album is a fantastic document, with a monster version of Thing One and a tight One for Brother Mike; Hey Man, a newer tune; and a must hear, wickedly funky instrumental cover of Come Together > The Thrill Is Gone. Now that the group, which is billed simply as Steve Kimock, has been together for a year, they’ve also expanded into some different grooves than aren’t represented here, including a large dose of dub magic in the form of 54-46, Congo Man Chant > Get Up, Stand Up, and Banana Walk, along with the soaring leads and driving rhythms one would expect from any Kimock project.
On Wednesday morning we lost innovative jazz pianist Dave Brubeck when he passed away after suffering heart failure a day shy of his 92nd birthday. Last night two HT faves paid tribute to Brubeck by covering a song which he may not have written but has become attached to him – Take Five.
Check out moe.’s version from The Independent in San Francisco…
[Recording by marcus at Live Music Archive]
And a quick clip of Kimock, Ingram, Hess and Worrell’s take on the tune…
[via @williaj9]
From the ten years ago file, this week’s Stormy Monday features four tracks from Steve Kimock Band’s Japan 2002 run of 12/5 – 12/8. These are among the last shows with the incredible lineup featuring Rodney Holmes on drums, Alphonso Johnson on bass and Mitch Stein on guitar, and the band was playing like a finely tuned machine. That meant they could easily crush a groove and just as easily reach out into the stratosphere for a star-gazing journey. It should come as no surprise that every night has songs that stretch well beyond the twenty minute mark (the Elmer’s here is just over thirty).
Each member is featured prominently here: Rodney’s body shaking, concussion bomb drumming on Elmer’s Revenge; Alphonso’s rich, lively bass on the quartet’s cover of Bruce Hornsby’s Rainbow’s Cadillac; Mitch’s super-slick, slightly twisted guitar work on Long Form Part I (my all time favorite version of the song). And of course the transcendent Steve Kimock, who floats and shines and scorches and burns across it all (including the Kissing the Boo Boo opener). It’s about 80 minutes of music this time around, so settle in, and as always, enjoy!
After all these years, it still boggles my mind how the world isn’t more aware of the guitar prowess of Mr. Steve Kimock. Once called “his favorite unknown guitarist” by Jerry Garcia, Kimock’s bands of Zero and KVHW, along with varying lineups of his own Steve Kimock Band (SKB) have graced stages from the Bay Area to New York City’s jazz clubs to Japan over the past few decades. Having seen Kimock myself since about 1996 or so, I can honestly say he has a repertoire of songs that have impacted me in extremely emotional ways. The vast majority of Kimock’s songs are instrumental (at least in his solo band), which is all the more reason he lets his guitar do the talking for him. One song in particular, has resonated with me since the very first time I heard it: Tongue N’ Groove.
[Tongue N' Groove Sheet Music via Steve Kimock Discussion Group]
Tongue N’ Groove is a song that has always captured Kimock in a nutshell for me. Starting off slow and dreamlike, with a guitar tone that is unmistakably Kimock (something else he takes very, very seriously: tone and gear), it stretches its wings into the vast stratosphere before exploding into a rhythm-led funk/calypso type groove in the middle, eventually coming back to earth onto the landing pad of ethereal bliss and emotion that Kimock’s tunes can evoke.
Adding to the aura of what makes Kimock and his music – especially Tongue N’ Groove – so appealing to me and mesmerizes me every time I see him is his unassuming, closed eyes, often sit-down style of playing. With a rack of guitars for him to choose from at most times behind him, he is like a mad scientist of tone, pitch and perfection – and he is constantly tweaking with things until he gets it just exactly right. Tongue N’ Groove is exactly one of these songs that sees Kimock mess with volumes and tempos, all while steering the tune in a seemingly floating direction.
HT fave Steve Kimock has hit the road hard this year with current touring band mates Bernie Worrell, Wally Ingram and Andy Hess. That trend has continued into the fall as the quartet is in the midst of a three-week jaunt out West. Kimock, Worrell, Ingram and Hess will return to the East Coast this December where they are set to play four shows in the Northeast.
On December 5th the ensemble will play The Sellersville Theatre in Sellersville, Penn. followed by a December 6th performance at Stage One in Fairfield, Conn. Then, on the 7th, the quartet visits the legendary Bearsville Theatre near Woodstock before ending the run at one of New York City’s newest venues – Stage 48 – on December 8th.
Here’s the full list of currently scheduled Steve Kimock dates…
10/16/12 The State Room Salt Lake City, UT
10/17/12 Pac 3 – Perf. Arts Center at 3rd Carbondale, CO
10/18/12 The Aggie Theater Ft. Collins, CO
10/19/12 The Oriental Theater Denver, CO
10/20/12 The Oriental Theater Denver, CO
10/21/12 The Granada Theatre Lawrence, KS
12/5/12 The Sellersville Theater Sellersville, PA*
12/6/12 Stage One Fairfield, CT*
12/7/12 Bearsville Theatre Woodstock, NY *
12/8/12 Stage 48 New York, NY*
* New Dates
7 Walkers, Steve Kimock and Yarn @ Beekman Beer Garden, August 1
It’s been almost two years since the eponymous debut album from 7 Walkers arrived, and boy, does it hold up well to repeat listens: a swampy, humid, oddball curio collection of music that, to these ears, is the strongest, deepest studio release by any post-Jerry band featuring a surviving Grateful Dead member.
[Photo by Michael Stein from 8/3]
As a live unit, it’s taken them a little longer to fulfill that promise. Early 7 Walkers shows had the spark Malcolm “Papa Mali” Welbourne and Bill Kreutzmann stumbled on as kindred musical spirits, but little fire, as the band was still feeling itself out, and Welbourne, especially, was finding his way around music that required a different guitar attack than perhaps he was used to. In 2009 and 2010, 7 Walkers shows were fun and rollicking, but also tentative; Welbourne, Kreutzmann, bass ace George Porter Jr. and multi-instrumentalist Matt Hubbard knew they had something that would transcend just a really interesting side project, but the improvisational potential was barely tapped.
What’s appeared to have happened over three years, however, is beautifully organic growth: a band gradually developed, fed and cared for and subtly adjusted, versus something thrust out there to prove a point. The 7 Walkers of 2012 sounds even less like a Dead band and more like the spicy, chunky gumbo of New Orleans swamp-rock, R&B and blues it was intended to be. It’s a band really opening up its originals and playing Dead tunes less out of obligation and more out of feel, with the transitions more spry, the pace more patient and groovy, and the jamming — especially the jamming — more confidently aware.
Guitar hero Steve Kimock is currently in the midst of his first full-scale tour in over three years (read our preview HERE). Performing with Bernie Worrell, Wally Ingram and Andy Hess, Kimock and his quartet made it all the way down to South Florida on Sunday night, where the quartet played The Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale. Our friends from CHeeSeHeaDPRoDuCTioNS were on hand and captured most of the set including this scorching version of 5B4 Funk…
The next stop for Kimock and his band is Charleston, South Carolina, where the group will perform tonight at the Pour House.
I’m a little late calling Steve Kimock for a planned interview, but he’s totally cool. All he needs is 10 seconds to fix a bowl of… “What is this?” he says. “Gorilla munch and Honey Nut O’s? This is a special mixture. Somebody here is four.”
“Somebody” would be Kimock’s youngest boy, Ryland Cazadero, and why shouldn’t Kimock be firing up tasty cereal treats around this otherwise nondescript Thursday lunchtime? What did you expect him to be doing?
“He’s an absolutely lovely little terror,” Kimock laughs, checking to make sure I’m asking about the youngest of his four sons: John Morgan, 22, Miles, 18, Skyler Joe, 8, and Ryland, 4.
Family played a big role in Kimock’s decision, in 2006 or so, to retire the much-beloved Steve Kimock Band, a hard-touring unit that still represents the fullest expression of Kimock’s guitar wizardry. But then, Kimock, 56, is never too far from a stage, having toured since that time with the Rhythm Devils, filled in for RatDog during Mark Karan’s recovery, reunited with his old band Zero, got good n’dirty with Melvin Seals in Steve Kimock Crazy Engine, and had numerous one-offs, guest appearances, sit-ins and quick-hit projects and tours with a seemingly endlessly variable cast of friends and co-conspirators.
But what makes the current Steve Kimock spring schedule particularly interesting is that it’s Kimock’s first stab at a full-scale band tour in at least three years. Starting Wednesday (May 9), Kimock will canvas the Northeast, Midatlantic, Midwest and Southeastern U.S., kicking off in Bethlehem, Penn. and visiting such celebrated rooms as Brooklyn Bowl (May 11), Chicago’s Bottom Lounge (May 19), Nashville’s Exit/In (May 22) and Washington DC’s Howard Theatre (June 4) before his next break.
Guitarist Steve Kimock has never been one to stay with the same project for too long. You can always count on him to change things up and some bands he puts together are better than others. His latest group finds the Pennsylvania native teaming up with P-Funk founding member Bernie Worrell on keys, longtime collaborator Bobby Vega on bass and Wisconsin-born percussionist Wally Ingram on drums. This group pulled into Brooklyn Bowl this weekend augmented at times by John Morgan Kimock on drums plus Steven Bernstein and Peter Apfelbaum on horns.
Our pal LazyLightning55 was on hand this past Saturday night and filmed this ensemble performing a rollicking version of the Kimock chestnut Hillbillies on PCP…
Steve Kimock w/ Worrell, Vega, Apfelbaum, Ingram and Kimock – Hillbillies on PCP
If you liked what you saw here and will be in the NYC area on December 28th, you can catch the Kimocks, Vega and Worrell at the Hiro Ballroom after the Phish show (approx. 11:55PM).
The first go-round of Steve Kimock’s recent NYC residency at Sullivan Hall included some sublime interplay between Kimock and New Orleans keyboard vet Henry Butler as evidenced by this rendition of Franklin’s Tower. Franklin’s wrapped up a meaty quadruple stack of Donna-led Grateful Dead material that also included Crazy Fingers, Scarlet Begonias and Eyes of the World.
[Hat Tip - Lucky Souls Productions]
For three Wednesday nights in March and April, guitar maestro Steve Kimock has assembled a rotating cast of All-Stars to accompany him for a residency filled with completely improvisational, free-form jamming. I was able to catch the middle of these three nights at New York City’s Sullivan Hall last Wednesday, which featured a truly stellar lineup of Marco Benevento (The Duo/GRAB) on keys, Adam Deitch (Lettuce/Pretty Lights/Break Science) on drums and Marc Friedman (The Slip) on bass joining Kimock. The results were inspired, daring and overall, very impressive.
[All photos by Marc Millman]
While I have included links to videos and audio below, for one to truly grasp the events of this evening, one needs to understand Kimock’s, and these other super-talented musicians’, schools of thoughts. While Benevento and Friedman are well known on the jamband and indie scenes, and have played together in many instances prior, this was the first time that these four musicians had formally played a gig as a whole. Deitch was in my mind the wild-card on this evening, bringing an impressive funk and hip-hop swagger to the fold that I wasn’t quite sure how it would fit into this scene of loose, laidback, patient, and at times, very psychedelic playing. In the end, Deitch held the backend down, but never really stepped into the spotlight as I would have hoped to showcase his nasty chops.
Incorporating some Kimock numbers throughout the evening, things really seemed to open up with the first set cloer of 5 B4 Funk. A number that relies on heavy bass thumping, Friedman crushed the low-end and had the near sell-out crowd bobbing and moving. You’re The One was another highlight as it really kick started a fiery set two and allowed Kimock to really get cooking – something I wish he’d do more of, frankly. While he is the most impressive guitarist I have ever seen in terms of sound, tone and technicality, he manages to stay true to his philosophy of exuding patience in nearly any situation. That may be the reason that I have always found his fans to be jazz lovers, as you really need to focus, peel back the layers and pay attention to gain the full effect and receive the ultimate payoff.
READ ON for more of this week’s Postcards From Page Side…
Legendary guitar guru Steve Kimock kicked off an exciting spring residency at New York City’s Sullivan Hall last Wednesday, which over the course of three weeks will find the Bethlehem, PA native joined by a Yankee-esque stacked roster of big hitters including Marco Benevento, John Morgan Kimock, Adam Deitch, John Molo, Marc Friedman, Andy Hess, Henry Butler and Pete Sears.
By all accounts, the first iteration of the weekly residency exceeded all expectations as the various members gelled in ambitious improvisation. In fact, in Kimock’s own words, “The show on Wednesday was awesome! It was ridiculous, so much better than I could have hoped. I knew it would be fine, since it’s a nice place with decent people, so the nature of the event was that it should have been cool, but it was extraordinary. I’m reeling.”
With two more weeks to go in the series, we caught up with Steve Kimock to chat about what went into to preparing for the Sullivan Hall shows as well as a whole host of topics including his job working at Mesa Boogie back in the 1970s, the direction of his recent writing and playing music with his son.
Hidden Track: Let’s kick it off with the residency. Obviously, you’ve got a lot of crack shot musicians involved, but I was curious what kind of preparation goes into when there are so many different players, moving parts, and so on?
Steve Kimock: Ay Ay Ay. Not a lot, honestly [laughs]. There’s not a lot that you can do other than get the logistics of it together. If it was any other kind of gig, like if I was a singer/songwriter type or if I had a hit song on the radio, the people that would have been involved would have a pretty simple task. They’d know what the song was, I could send them a chart, and that’s that.
The way I like to work is to prepare the groundwork for something creative or serendipitous to happen in an authentic improvisational way. You know, you don’t really know what people are good at, and what the chemistry ultimately can provide. To dictate too much upfront screws that up. There’s a certain amount of preparation, maybe half of the material we played last week, we touched on briefly. Then we got up and played, and as we played together, it became obvious that if I went too hard toward telling everyone what to do, I would have screwed that gig up. And no kidding, that was a monstrous gig. READ ON for more of Ryan’s chat with Steve Kimock…
