To say Umphrey’s thrives in the Midwest would be the understatement of the year, and this fourth installment of Dream Focused drives the point home with a hammer, if say, that hammer was swung by Quincy Jones. Yes folks, the groove further develops on this legendary fall tour by the sextet from Chicago with perhaps its most glaring examples.

tammy

[Photo by Tammy Wetzel]

We start off this episode in Ann Arbor, MI at the pristine Michigan Theater. The run of Sociable Jimmy > Sweetness > Bottom Half is an exercise in patience and space. The outro jam to SJ floats away in an Andy Summers wash of tones from the guitar players and drifts into Sweetness. Sweetness then takes on a life of its own with its trademark mellow head it then escalates slowly to a rock peak usually saved for songs of a heavier nature.

Once we get near the end you can start to hear Bottom Half being teased and it gets pretty heavy. When Bottom Half gets to the jam we are treated to a Jaco vocal jam of Can’t You See by Marshall Tucker Band, showcasing the band feeling the vibe out of the jam and making the most of the moment which was pretty much the unspoken mantra of the fall tour.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.


Sociable Jimmy > Sweetness > The Bottom Half

READ ON for more tasty improv including the Wormbog of all Wormbogs…

And then the Wormbog that changed all Wormbogs from here to eternity. The Rave in Milwaukee, WI has always produced huge Umphrey’s moments. This night would go down in Umph History as “The Night The Groove Landed”. Up till now on this tour, we were merely seeing signs of a new jam style. Tonight Kris Myers held onto the groove in Wormbog for a truly memorable performance that will have Umph haters scratching their heads in disbelief.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Professor Wormbog

The vibe kept rolling with a HUGE Dear Lord that was sandwiched in between Utopian Fir.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Dear Lord

Then it was Dance Party Mil-i-rawk-kee when the band dropped The Who’s stab at the party scene, Eminence Front. So funky, in fact, that the “Jimmy Stewart” to follow had the whole place dancing their asses off.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Eminence Front > “Jimmy Stewart”

Keep a look out for the next Dream Focused. There is so much more to come from this amazing Fall Tour.